Article on Criterion in Nov. 11 Chicago Tribune
 

Today's Chicago Tribune has a nice little feature on Criterion, detailing how they set the standards back in the laser disc day, how those standards have been adopted by most of the studios in the era of DVD, and how they are still at the forefront in ensuring that the highest quality prints are used. The full article is here:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/featur...1,540066.story

but the really interesting part comes in the last two paragraphs:

:up: There can never be enough Fritz Lang .... there can never be enough Sam Fuller ... there can never be enough Kurosawa .... etc. etc,

Any wagers on what this might be?

LA DOLCE VITA?

Jason

The Leopard

This thread had already mentioned "The Leopard/Il Gattopardo", so I don't know whether they are referring to that one or something else.

I hope that Criterion is able to continue on in the marketplace, I hadn't heard about their deal with Fox ... looks as if they have a full slate of projects on the table.

I had the great pleasure of seeing Godard's "A Woman Is a Woman/Une Femme est une Femme" in a theater recently, I hope an anamorphic widescreen release of this would be something that they would consider.

It looks to me like the Italian film is definately going to be The Leopard, though The Bicycle Thief or La Docle Vita would be nice.

I have no idea what the John Ford could be. Maybe Grapes of Wrath from Fox, but isn't that already confirmed? I don't think Warner or MGM would lend their Ford titles.

I also don't know what the Cassavettes could be. Hopefully, Shadows.

The Godards are most likely the three from Rialto...A Woman Is A Woman, Two Or Three Things I Know About Her, and Masculine Femminine. Maybe Breathless or My Life to Live from Wellspring.

The Kurosawa, we already know about Ikiru and The Lower Depths. Kagemusha from the Fox deal is also a good bet.

The Altman is most definately 3 Women, and maybe A Wedding. Would anybody double dip for a M*A*S*H Criterion?

With the Renoir, I'm betting on French Cancan or La Bete Humaine.

Regarding the Kurosawa reference, weren't there rumors about Stray Dog and The Bad Sleep Well from Criterion not so long ago?


"An Italian masterpiece" must be a reference to La Dolce Vita.

As a reminder (before the rumors get out of hand) ...

Koch Lorber owns the US rights to Fellini's La Dolce vita, and is planning a deluxe, 2-disc edition. It was to have been released this past September, but has now been postponed until July 2004.

I think Peter Becker's reference to "a long-awaited Italian masterpiece" refers to Visconti's The Leopard / Il Gattopardo.

Some very exciting teasers in that last paragraph. Looks like another stellar year to come from Criterion.

Counting the seconds until the inevitable "What's the big deal about Criterion?" post...

What's the big deal about Criterion?

yeah I'm pretty sure Koch Lorber has the rights to La Dolce Vita.

If you would have posted this two minutes later, I would have won a toaster oven.

Damn you! :(

Well, congratulations to Jeff Schwartz. Ease up on those pizza bagels, chunkbutt.

The "Italian Masterpiece" is most definitely The Leopard; it's being done in conjuction with the British Film Institute, this is from their site...


bfi Video - In Production

The Leopard

Luchino Visconti’s epic film will be released on DVD and VHS in spring 2004

bfi Video is currently working on the production of The Leopard in conjunction with Twentieth Century Fox and the Criterion Collection, for release on both DVD and VHS formats.

Although we had initially hoped to release The Leopard this November, we have recently had the unforeseen opportunity to access original 70mm elements of the film. This will enable us to release the best possible version with superb picture and sound quality, but the technical process has meant that it will not be ready until early 2004.

The DVD will contain several extras. Currently confirmed are a full feature commentary by David Forgacs, Professor of Italian at University College London, extracts from an interview with Claudia Cardinale and the original trailer.

As soon as we can confirm the release date we will announce it here.

Direct link http://www.bfi.org.uk/videocat/index.php

s0rry, d00d. i don't caer about dum movies from japan and italie and stuff. as long as xXx is releesed in a 4-disk sooper speshul edishun, i wont beat u up.

bring on some john ford films. :) especially the westerns.

whats a criterion collection?

Apparently you dont care about grammar and english either.

<a href='http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb008' target='_blank'><img src='http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/37.gif' border=0></a>

Methinks his Sarcasm Clock was set at roughly 10:47 PM ;)

They take really great movies (Grand Illusion, Seven Samurai, Contempt, etc.) and turn out fantastic special editions for them.

A Criterion La Bete Humaine would be awesome. Just the thing to go with Rules of the Game.

Any chance that the Criterion Altman could be Short Cuts?

I think its most likely that the Criterion Altman will be Three Women, from Fox.

Der Zorn Gottes...... Why???? Who controls the rights for Short Cuts? If it's Paramount I'll cry.

Could you PLEASE paste the entire article, so that I don't have to register for yet another newspaper, which I will most likely only look at for this one article. Thanks!

I would like to see more Criterions of Asian movies, maybe even venture into the world of Korean cinema.

Yeah, that John Ford news is just plain neat.

The Searchers!