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Your 5 MOST WANTED Criterion DVDs?

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Your 5 MOST WANTED Criterion DVDs?

Old 04-28-08, 11:56 AM
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Night of the Hunter is so totally needed!

The Game would be awesome too

EDIT: Now that I think about it, Judgment at Nuremberg & It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad Mad World (Robert Harris is rumored to be working on this) would be added there too. And lastly, it would probably be one of my personal favorites, In Cold Blood. Decent DVD from Sony, but 0 extras.

And one more tidbit, if Criterion ever got into the TV show business, Batman would be at the top of the list, followed by Lucky, Touching Evil (US).

Last edited by macnorton; 04-28-08 at 12:09 PM.
Old 04-28-08, 12:11 PM
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The Fisher King would be great to finish off a Gilliam set, I would say Baron Munchausen but they finally released a 2 disc of it (which I haven't gotten yet ).
Old 04-28-08, 05:56 PM
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My picks...

1. Napoleon (1927, Abel Gance) - rights held with Universal, StudioCanal, and Zoetrope

- 5 1/2 hr. 2000 restoration with original tints/tones
- 3-panel finale presented in 3.99:1 anamorphic widescreen
- Both the Carmine Coppola and Carl Davis scores in 5.1
- Maybe also add the original Arthur Honnegger score
- Commentary by Kevin Brownlow
- 1934 sound re-issue version
- Kevin Brownlow's 1968 documentary "The Charm of Dynamite"
- Include all the alternate/deleted footage not used in the restoration
- Include the behind-the-scenes footage shot during production
- Reprint Brownlow's book and Gance's screenplay

2. Betty Boop cartoons (1930-1939) - rights held by Lionsgate (via Paramount)

- Use the UCLA restorations, newly remastered
- Add commentaries by animation historians (like Warner's Popeye and Looney Tunes sets)

3. More Orson Welles

Touch of Evil (1958) - Universal

- Include the 1958 theatrical cut, the 1975 partial re-edit, and the 1998 restoration
- All new high-def transfers (or at least on the '98 version)
- Commentary by Peter Bogdanovich (supposedly recorded already)
- Commentary with others like the restoration team (Walter Murch, Bob O'Neil, and Rick Schmidlin)
- Include the "Restoring Evil" documentary left off the Universal DVD
- Include a PDF of the original Welles memo
- Include the trailers
- If available, maybe a music-only track for Henry Mancini's score

Othello (1952) - Welles Estate

- Restored high-def transfer of the original version
- Include the Jonathan Rosenbaum commentary from the laserdisc
- Include "Filming Othello"
- Include all the other Criterion LD extras like interviews

Macbeth (1948) - Lionsgate (via Paramount)

- Include both the '48 altered cut and the restored director's cut
- Include the extras from the R2 French DVD like the "Voodoo Macbeth" footage, the restoration documentary, the Mercury Theatre radio adaptation, etc.

Maybe also do Chimes at Midnight and along with Othello and Macbeth, issue a "Welles Shakespeare" box set like the Oliver set.


Also, a decent restored DVD of Welles' The Trial would be good. Milestone's DVD kind of sucks, but the R2 French StudioCanal DVD has excellent picture quality. Not sure what would be done for extras besides a commentary. Maybe a reprint or PDF of the screenplay.


I know this is going beyond 5 picks, but I think the following would also be good projects for Criterion, too:

- The African Queen (restored, licensed from CBS-Paramount and Carlton)
- The Quiet Man (use UCLA's restoration, licensed from Lionsgate and Paramount)
- Eclipse set of Republic serials licensed from Lionsgate and Paramount (especially Spy Smasher and Secret Service in Darkest Africa)

Last edited by PatrickMcCart; 04-28-08 at 11:43 PM.
Old 04-28-08, 06:21 PM
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Originally Posted by PatrickMcCart
My picks...

1. Napoleon (1927, Abel Gance) - rights held with Universal, StudioCanal, and Zoetrope

- 5 1/2 hr. 2000 restoration with original tints/tones
- 3-panel finale presented in 3.99:1 anamorphic widescreen
- Both the Carmine Coppola and Carl Davis scores in 5.1
- Maybe also add the original Arthur Honnegger score
- Commentary by Kevin Brownlow
- 1934 sound re-issue version
- Kevin Brownlow's 1968 documentary "The Charm of Dynamite"
- Include all the alternate/deleted footage not used in the restoration
- Include the behind-the-scenes footage shot during production
- Reprint Brownlow's book and Gance's screenplay

2. Betty Boop cartoons (1930-1939) - rights held by Lionsgate (via Paramount)

- Use the UCLA restorations, newly remastered
- Add commentaries by animation historians (like Warner's Popeye and Looney Tunes sets)

3. More Orson Welles

Touch of Evil (1958) - Universal

- Include the 1958 theatrical cut, the 1975 partial re-edit, and the 1998 restoration
- All new high-def transfers (or at least on the '98 version)
- Commentary by Peter Bogdanovich (supposedly recorded already)
- Commentary with others like the restoration team (Walter Murch, Bob O'Neil, and Rick Schmidlin)
- Include the "Restoring Evil" documentary left off the Universal DVD
- Include a PDF of the original Welles memo
- Include the trailers
- If available, maybe a music-only track for Henry Mancini's score

Othello (1952) - Welles Estate

- Restored high-def transfer of the original version
- Include the Jonathan Rosenbaum commentary from the laserdisc
- Include "Filming Othello"
- Include all the other Criterion LD extras like interviews

Macbeth (1948) - Lionsgate (via Paramount)

- Include both the '48 altered cut and the restored director's cut
- Include the extras from the R2 French DVD like the "Voodoo Macbeth" footage, the restoration documentary, the Mercury Theatre radio adaptation, etc.

Maybe also do Chimes at Midnight and along with Othello and Macbeth, issue a "Welles Shakespeare" box set like the Oliver set.
Nice choices, and very well informed post.
Old 04-28-08, 07:21 PM
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I'm not going to bother ordering them. Except for the first one.

1.) Stan Brakhage: Ten Series (containing Arabic Numeral Series, Roman Numeral Series, Sincerity, Songs, 23rd Psalm Branch, Duplicity, Visions in Meditation, Interpolations, Sexual Meditation, Scenes From Under Childhood. Should add up to about 6 discs.)

Cassavetes's Love Streams, via Columbia Tristar (I think they're getting ready to start licensing films at last).

Nick Ray's Johnny Guitar, via Lionsgate

Sadao Yamanaka box, containing his three surviving films (one of them is confirmed, at least by Donald Richie).

Charles Burnett's To Sleep With Anger (perhaps with a second disc collecting as many of Burnett's short films as possible).
Old 04-28-08, 08:33 PM
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To Sleep With Anger is forthcoming from Milestone
Old 04-28-08, 09:26 PM
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- Shohei Imamura's Black Rain

- Pier Paolo Pasolini's The Gospel According to St. Matthew

- Luis Bunuel box set of some of his mexican films
(Nazarin, Los Olvidados, The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz & The Exterminating Angel )

- Alain Resnais' Last Year at Marienbad

- Philip Ridley's The Reflecting Skin
Old 04-28-08, 10:20 PM
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Originally Posted by inri222

- Luis Bunuel box set of some of his mexican films
(Nazarin, Los Olvidados, The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz & The Exterminating Angel )

- Alain Resnais' Last Year at Marienbad
Resnais is confirmed forthcoming from Criterion, as are some of the Bunuels you mention
Old 04-29-08, 08:52 AM
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given how Last Year at Marienbad is currently have a go around the country with a new 35mm print from Rialto, I would assume, as it's been in the past, the Criterion edition will show by the end of the year, or early 2009
Old 04-29-08, 10:48 AM
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Originally Posted by Giles
given how Last Year at Marienbad is currently have a go around the country with a new 35mm print from Rialto, I would assume, as it's been in the past, the Criterion edition will show by the end of the year, or early 2009
I hope it includes the short documentary In The Labyrinth Of Marienbad. That short greatly deepened my appreciation for Last Year at Marienbad
Old 04-29-08, 11:10 AM
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Not to be redundant or go too far off topic, but I am one of those people that checks out Criterion's site and sees a cool looking cover and decides to research a little more. And 9 out of 10 times it is usually a great film (Tokyo Drifter was a little weird at first, but now I dig it). So anything they release by my standards is OK. And there are some great lists in this thread...some I have never heard of. So I guess that means the system works right?
Old 04-29-08, 11:17 AM
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Originally Posted by domino harvey
To Sleep With Anger is forthcoming from Milestone
Don't leave me hanging. Any more information? How exciting!
Old 04-29-08, 11:22 AM
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LOL probably mostly movies Criterion would never touch with a ten-foot pole, but:

1) Gattaca
2) The Abyss
3) The Godfather Trilogy
4) Malcolm X
5) The Talented Mr. Ripley

Oh, and I third the need for a Summer of Sam SE.
Old 04-29-08, 11:24 AM
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Originally Posted by MrDs10e
LOL probably mostly movies Criterion would never touch with a ten-foot pole, but:

1) Gattaca
2) The Abyss
3) The Godfather Trilogy
4) Malcolm X
5) The Talented Mr. Ripley
The only one on that list really worth it is The Abyss, since Fox will not redo the current transfer (waiting for Blu I guess). Otherwise, there are fine editions out now and a pending Godfather upgrade.
Old 04-29-08, 11:28 AM
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Originally Posted by MrDs10e
LOL probably mostly movies Criterion would never touch with a ten-foot pole, but:


4) Malcolm X
5) The Talented Mr. Ripley

Oh, and I third the need for a Summer of Sam SE.
Whats wrong with the current releases of these titles?
Old 04-29-08, 12:00 PM
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However, Summer of Sam SE is a must!
Old 04-29-08, 01:48 PM
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Originally Posted by PatrickMcCart
Andy Warhol Eclipse set with Empire, Sleep, Fuck, Blowjob, and Eat
God, I would snatch this up ASAP. Warhol's shorts and well, films, are vastly neglected on DVD. I think they're important avant garde/cinema verite films.
Old 04-29-08, 03:15 PM
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1984
Tampopo
Rich Man, Poor Man
Old 04-29-08, 03:45 PM
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Originally Posted by chris_sc77
Whats wrong with the current releases of these titles?
I thought the recent Warner 2-disc Malcolm X was pretty thin for a masterwork film about a figure of such historical import. I'd like to see a set with multiple historical documentaries, interviews with those who were a part of Malcolm's life that are still alive. The current SE is a lot on the filmmakers, and the filmmaking process, not much on the events and personalities that the film actually deals with, which to me is a tragedy.

The Talented Mr. Ripley disc is fairly bare, and I think it is a significance film that has been largely overlooked. Especially given Anthony Minghella's recent sad and untimely death, I'd like to see this movie get a better treatment since it is one of my favorites.

And I know a Godfather update is supposedly in the works, but I'd trust Criterion to handle it better. Then again, maybe that trust is misplaced since they let Storaro butcher The Last Emperor.
Old 04-29-08, 03:46 PM
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Originally Posted by macnorton
The only one on that list really worth to me it is The Abyss, since Fox will not redo the current transfer (waiting for Blu I guess). Otherwise, there are fine editions for me out now and a pending Godfather upgrade.
fixed
Old 04-29-08, 04:44 PM
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Originally Posted by Zodiac_Speaking
God, I would snatch this up ASAP. Warhol's shorts and well, films, are vastly neglected on DVD. I think they're important avant garde/cinema verite films.
I don't ever think we'll see a R1 release of Warhol's films. His estate feels that the films should only be viewed in a museum setting, since they're "art". The Raro R2 set is excellent, and worth the $119.95 from www.xploitedcinema.com if you're a Warhol fan. It is not a complete collection, with eleven films on 8 dvds, but extensive booklets and a few video extras are also included. Eat and Bike Boy are available on torrent sites.

Last edited by NoirFan; 04-29-08 at 04:49 PM.
Old 04-29-08, 11:06 PM
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A re-release of Picnic at Hanging Rock, with all the extras from the PAL edition.
Old 04-30-08, 01:24 AM
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Originally Posted by MrDs10e
I thought the recent Warner 2-disc Malcolm X was pretty thin for a masterwork film about a figure of such historical import. I'd like to see a set with multiple historical documentaries, interviews with those who were a part of Malcolm's life that are still alive. The current SE is a lot on the filmmakers, and the filmmaking process, not much on the events and personalities that the film actually deals with, which to me is a tragedy.
The 2-disc Warner DVD for Malcolm X has the 1972 feature-length documentary on the real guy, along with the new one on the making of the film

And I know a Godfather update is supposedly in the works, but I'd trust Criterion to handle it better. Then again, maybe that trust is misplaced since they let Storaro butcher The Last Emperor.
Well, their alternative is to tell the director or cinematographer to f*ck off if they want any changes from the theatrical cut.
Old 04-30-08, 09:25 AM
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in regards to the Godfather films, there's this import getting released on June 2nd (is this the supposed recent 4K restoration/transfer??)

Godfather Trilogy: Remastered - Steelbook Edition (R2) - June 2nd
Old 04-30-08, 09:28 AM
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if and when Criterion gets around to releasing on bluray - they should try to obtain the rights to the longer 182 minute version of Kwaidan

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