Playtime special features
- Spectacular digital transfer, with restored image and sound and enhanced for 16x9 televisions
- Video introduction by writer, director and performer Terry Jones
- Cours du Soir, a 1967 short written by and starring Jacques Tati
- New and improved English subtitle translation

Damn it! I just bought Brazil on sale at Amazon! Oh well, looks like I'll be grabbing these. *Sigh*

Finally some Criterion news for me to get excited about. Definitely will pick up the 1-disc BRAZIL and 3-disc SEVEN SAMURAI. I'm interested in PLAYTIME if Terry Jones likes it (assuming) enough to appear on the video introduction, never heard of it before.

at this point why doesn't Criterion just throw us a frickin bone and just give us an actual HiDef DVD version of Brazil

as for Playtime - awesome news - again, in HiDef this would be amazing - since the 70mm print I saw a couple of summers ago was jaw dropping (very three dimensional)

I'm sure these will be coming soon, since I just picked up a legit copy of The Killer on ebay. Isn't that how these things work?

http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=353



http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=352



http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=4

I don't even care about that goofy new style anymore. It is slightly growing on me. I mean, the cover art is still gorgeous no matter how you slice it.

http://criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=112

Playtime is now 5 minutes longer and in stereo.



SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET FEATURES

All-new, restored high-definition digital transfer

Video introduction by writer, director, and performer Terry Jones

Selected scene commentary by film historian Philip Kemp

Au-delà de "Playtime," a short documentary featuring archival behind-the-scenes footage from the set

Tati Story, a short biographical film about Tati

“Jacques Tati in Monsieur Hulot’s Work,” a 1976 BBC Omnibus program featuring Tati

Rare audio interview with Tati from the U.S. debut of Playtime at the 1972 San Francisco International Film Festival

Video interview with script supervisor Sylvette Baudrot

Cours du soir, a 1967 short film written by and starring Tati

Alternate international soundtrack

New and improved English subtitle translation

PLUS: A new essay by Jonathan Rosenbaum


124 minutes
1.85:1
Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0

Big news. Great news.

Wow, amazing news! Waited a long time to replace some of these, especially Seven Samurai and a new Brazil transfer.

What's with all the hate for these? Seriously, some of you people are just Fcking whiners. These are some amazing films, and in a day-and-age when companies release 2-3 versions or more of mainstream junk within a few years, I think some improved re-releases of these timeless films after 6 or 7 years is beyond justified.

I'd also gladly welcome newer versions of Naked Kiss and Branded to Kill.

good news, will probably get seven samurai and brazil like most others.

Double dips that I gladly do

To be fair, no one wants to hear someone bitching about someone bitching either. It's a waste of MY time. Everything is relative and no one forces anyone to read these threads.

It's a valid point and is worth discussion.

As far as the feature of "new and improved subtitle translation" being offered on some of the Criterion re-releases, I only hope they offer both the older subtitle track as well as the new one (I won't call it "improved" because that might be subject to debate). From what I've read, at least about Linda Hoaglund's subtitle work, she might be skewing it a little more contemporary and Westernized. I'm not sure how keen I am on that idea especially for a period effort such as "Seven Samurai".

As I wait for delivery of a handful of Mizoguchi DVDs from France, I get where you're coming from. I am currently devouring all the classic Japanese cinema I can get my hands on. Thankfully I am region-free where I can pick up stuff like the UK's "Masters of Cinema" series (with some Naruse, as you wished for, upcoming), or classic Japanese horror via Greek DVD (including "Jigoku"). I own "Masters of Cinema: Twenty-Four Eyes" and it is a great film...and certainly superior to some Kurosawa titles. I hope everyone gets where I'm coming from when I say this, but the more I see of other classic Japanese directors, the more I feel Kurosawa is over-rated. I'm not saying that he wasn't very good. But I do submit that he wasn't as head-and-shoulders above his Japanese colleagues as he is made out to be. This discussion on Kurosawa and his "blue-eyed boy" status would likely merit a thread of its own so I'll end my comments on the matter right now.

http://www.cgj.org/en/c/vol_10-4/title_01.html

What can I say about Seven Samurai other than what a privilege it was to write new subtitles for one of the greatest films ever made.

Taking my cue from Kurosawa, who milked his actor's spontaneous range for all its comic effect, I took liberties with Mifune's character, maximizing his humor for a Western audience.

My goal is to wring every possible laugh from the audience before the film pits poorly armed villagers and a handful of samurai against a troop of vicious bandits.

In creating characters and setting tone, not to mention conveying humor, I stray brazenly from literal translation.

Agreed. Yes. The long awaited Playtime re-issue.

so does anyone recommend Spirit of the Beehive, I've never heard of it before. I checked out the imdb page, but is it one worht checking out ?

I agree with you wholeheartedly -- my Criterions are almost entirely of the more unusual variety, save for a number of Hitchcocks, Andersons, and the Cassavetes and Antoine Doniel sets -- and while it's certainly not a popular opinion, I couldn't give a flip about more Kurosawa, Fellini, or whoever. I do understand their importance and appeal to many people, though, and can certainly appreciate the work that goes into these reissues.

With Spirit of the Beehive finally seeing a US release (do I ditch my UK disc or not... decisions, decisions! ) and that really intriguing Jigoku, September simply looks like a win-win no matter what you're into.

The Spanish Spirit of the Beehive is often compared to the wildly popular* Italian film, Cinema Paradiso--both deal with small village life in the years around or following World War II, the experience of children, and the power of cinema--but I think Erice's film is the greater work of art. Beehive is by turns mysterious and sublime where Tornatore's film is (IMHO) prosaic and manipulative and sentimental (my apologies for stepping on the toes of those who adore Cinema Paradiso).

I would definitely recommend a rental of Spirit of the Beehive, though it may leave you underwhelmed on first viewing. The film is shaped more by a succession of images and small details rather than a propulsive narrative. Your reaction will depend upon whether you find the whole film greater than the sum of its parts.

Some critical opinions:

Michael Atkinson in the Village Voice
Dan Callahan at Slant Magazine
A.O. Scott in the New York Times



* for a foreign language film, at least

cheers,

does look interesting. I personally thought Cinema Paradiso was sentimental claptrap too.

My memory fails me - were the other Tatis ever re-released/remastered?

Unfortunately, I'm still behind on buying some of my other Criterion re-issues - Beauty and the Beast, Charade, 400 Blows, Wages of Fear. Already upgraded my copy of M. Any others I'm forgetting about?

I saw it at the cinema this past Saturday. It's quite wonderful - very unlike most things you'll see.

Not sure if this was mentioned earlier, but it looks as if Seven Samuai will be getting a new 4.0 mix---according to the website, it was created from the original optical track recordings, original stereo music masters, and original production sound effects masters. A restored 1.0 mono mix will also be included.

"Seven Samurai is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1. The picture has been slightly window-boxed to ensure that the maximum image is visible on all monitors."

Asshats.