Criterion Slacker might be a reality
 

From the Criterion board:

I recall that a little while back , there was a rumor about Criterion prepping Linklater's "Slacker" for DVD release. As I recall, the rumour was based on "Slacker" allegedly appearing briefly on the "Coming Soon" section of Criterion's website.

Whether or not that info about the "coming soon" section was true, there is now another potential reason to believe that the rumour of a Criterion edition of "Slacker" is true. I was just looking over the list of Film Classes for Spring/Summer at Facets in Chicago, and found a entry for a class on the films of Louis Malle to be taught by an instructor named Dan Mucha. In the biographical capsule for Mucha, we find the following text:

"Dan Mucha is an independent filmmaker who served as the video archivist for the Austin Film Society from 1996-2002. He is currently involved with the post-production of the forthcoming Criterion DVD release of Slacker, directed by Richard Linklater. "

The original link is here:

http://www.facets.org/asticat?functi...ummersession04

we can dream can't we?

I'll take it us substantially stronger than just a rumor!

Either that, or he's a DVD Talk Forum reader who was making a little joke.

Mulvaney flat-out denied that Criterion was putting out Slacker - usually he'll just say that he can't talk about it or it's not on the release schedule if one of us asks him about a disc that's actually coming out.

Not to add fuel to the fire, but I definitely remember reading, before I had a DVD player, that Criterion was planning to put out 'La Strata' with the English-dubbed track which hadn't been seen since its initial theatrical release ... and then, by the time I had a player, Mulvaney was denying it up and down, saying Fellini was still against that track and whatnot. And this kept up for many years, but I held out, 'cause I just had a feeling...

and, lo and behold, there it is, with the track and everything.

I think they've been burned by announcing things prematurely, and thus they won't do it, but that doesn't mean that you can't use other evidence; I'd say a guy saying "I'm working on it" in the way that guy did is definitely good evidence (I know it's happened exactly that way with some of the Kurosawa discs which are only now coming out).

And even putting all that aside ... what other company is gonna release 'Slacker'? I don't think anybody other than Criterion would, to be honest.

Actually, at least in his email to me, he did not say that. He responded to my question about a claim from a new member that information had appeared on the Criterion home page with:

<b>Dear Marty,

No mention of SLACKER ever appeared on our site.

Best,
JM</b>

I did not specifically ask if it was a title in the works, and he did not volunteer any further information.

I don't know if I should post a private e-mail to me on this forum, even if it came from a person working at a DVD company. I asked if a Criterion version of Slacker was in production, and was told that they didn't have the rights to that title and that they would not be releasing it.

FWIW, MGM has the video rights for this title, and they've never licenced content to Criterion. So it's a longshot if true.

This is one of the last movies that I have been waiting on to come to DVD, and it would be so sweet to see Criterioin do it, maybe one day.

I was told it was coming out from criterion and it will be this year.
Enjoy.

Really? Criterion officially denied this release. Where/when were you "told" this?

I was told when I was sitting in a chair thinking about a potential vacation pretty recently. it was fun!

Ah, I see. Nice threadcrap.

Not a threadcrap, but something I was actually thinking about while I was being told that slacker was coming from criterion this year. Fret not!

I wasn't that surprised when I heard it was coming. I like slacker, but I'd much prefer a criterion dazed and confused.

Sunday Morning, where was this chair you happened to be sitting in? I thirst for more info!

I've been waiting so long for Slacker to hit DVD. If these rumors are true, and MGM licenses to Criterion, would it be reasonable to assume they'd license other films they have the rights to?

Ah, I see. I missed your joke the first time. Mea culpa.

It's just that Criterion has said that they're not working on it, and so far no one has provided any proof other than things they "heard" or were "told." It just doesn't look good.

As stated in the first post of this thread, the information comes from Facets' website:

FACETS FILM SCHOOL: Summer 2004 Session
Under the course TRUE TO LIFE: The Films of Louis Malle, the instructor is described as follows:
Sure sounds like independent confirmation to me ...

I'm not trying to contradict you at all, and you're probably aware of this, but I figured I'd relay this info from the Criterion Forum's thread (it was mentioned in the Salo CC thread here on DVDTalk as well):

Post #1:
"I was Director of Programming for the Austin Film Society from 1995 to 1999 and I've never heard of Dan Mucha."

Post #2:
"I would like to formally apologize to Dan Mucha for forgetting about him. He was indeed the video archivist for the Austin Film Society and a damn fine one. My confusuion stemmed from the fact that I knew Dan as "the dude in the back of the theater who's always taping my introductions" rather than "Dan Mucha."

And his tip is as good as gold."

In response to someone asking if the rights to Slacker have reverted back to Linklater
Post #3
"They have."


So basically it looks like if this Criterion does happen (and from what this guy is posting, he appears to have talked to Dan Mucha or something, because something prompted him to apologize, hehe) it's not a deal with MGM, but a project done solely with Linklater (and his production company).

I read that thread, but it does seem strange that Mulvaney would deny that it was in the works while Dan Mucha had already stated that he was working on it. Maybe Dan is working directly for Linklater and Linklater hasn't finalised a deal for home video distribution yet?

I doubt I'll be able to talk to anyone at MGM that knows anything about the rights to "Slacker," but I'll give it a shot on Monday.

I'm an Austinite who knows a number of people who worked ON and acted IN the film Slacker so I talked to someone this weekend and was told that a Criterion version of Slacker will probably be out in the Fall but the release date is not 100%.

seriously. a lot of people (myself including) have been waiting a long time for a decent release of dazed.

Didn't JesusRockers announce this like 6 months ago or so. What happened to that guy?

I don't know why but this seems like an odd comment. I know it probably isn't so but JesusRockers wasn't a second handle for you was it?