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I'd be so ecstatic if Quiz Show got the Criterion treatment.

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The stiffs at Warner won't license their crap to anybody and won't do proper releases on many films.

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Wacky rosemary. (wacky_rosemary.jpg)

If we're to add Wacky to the equation... Pirates is getting its DVD/BD debut! j/k

Is "wacky rosemary" a euphemism for pot? (Hey, I was born in the 80's, there's a lot of 60's vocabulary that died before I was born)

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Rosemary's Baby? Not likely but would be awesome.

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it's 100% likely and that's exactly what it'll be

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That image is definitely 100% Rosemary's Baby. Any other interpretation would be too much of a stretch.

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This is why I haven't bought these two yet. I was hoping for a box set with all three films. But if the other post is correct, Criterion may never get the rights to Barcelona.

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And it was already hinted at with the previously discussed medallion/necklace around Ruth Gordon's (who, of course, was in both Baby and Maude) neck in the 2012 preview drawing.

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Wouldn't Carnage make it an "Apartment Tetralogy" now? Or are we just counting horror-themed efforts?

And yes, please Criterion, get on The Tenant; probably my favorite Polanski film. Also, if you can strike a deal with Columbia and get ahold of his Macbeth, that would be swell, too.

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I was just about to post something similar. It is pretty disheartening to me to see MoC releasing such landmark films while Criterion isn't keeping up at all.

I understand it is a matter of taste and one man's Last Days of Disco is another man's Touch of Evil. But, to me, a "big" title is a landmark classic film, not a new release or something more contemporary.

Criterion DVD was a way for young people or new film fans to get a crash course in foreign classics (Bergman, Fellini, Kurosawa, etc), but so far, it has been pretty slim pickings on Blu-ray for the foreign masters. MoC is blowing them away with their Antonioni and Pasolini output alone.

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I've actually been a bit disappointed in Masters of Cinema over the past year or so, mainly because the past several announcements seem to represent a change in focus to big, canonical classics. It's not that those classics aren't (usually) great, rather it's that the reason I started loving MoC in the first place is because of all the hidden gems in their catalog. Fortunately, there's still an occasional release like A Man Vanishes and Coeur fidèle that I find really exciting (I thought both films were masterpieces.)

In terms of Criterion, I'd say, just from their announced titles this year, Anatomy of a Murder, Late Spring, and The Gold Rush are all "landmark classic films." I'd also say they're all better than The Lost Weekend, but I've never been a fan of that particular Wilder film (Double Indemnity, on the other hand...)

Those "foreign masters" are Criterion's bread and butter, but at this point I get a lot more excited about the hidden gems - the Czech New Wave set, The Letter Never Sent, The Organizer. None of them have the name status of the Wilders or the Chaplin, but I would rank them among the greatest films ever made - higher than many of the more established classics, even. They may not be focusing as much on the obvious choices, but they still manage to release one or two (or more) genuinely great films most months - even if the titles or directors aren't as well known as Kurosawa or Fellini.I don't really get that. If we're looking at their Blu-ray output as a whole, Criterion is "beating" MoC pretty handily. Even Criterion's schedule of upcoming releases includes two previously unreleased Bergman films, along with upgrades of Ozu and Hitchcock films. The Bergmans and the Hitchcock may not be among those directors' most highly regarded titles, but MoC's two recent Antonioni releases aren't generally considered among his most major works either (though I absolutely loved La signora senza camelie.)

Of course, Criterion releases a lot more every year than MoC, so that gives them an advantage. But while the past six months have seen fewer upgrades, in the past few years we've seen Criterion HD releases of major films from such masters as Fellini, Bergman, Godard, Truffaut, Ozu, Powell & Pressburger, Antonioni, Nicholas Ray, Satyajit Ray (my favorite BD release of last year,) Bunuel, Cocteau, Malle, Pontecorvo, Melville, Lumet, Vigo, Lubitsch, Clouzot, etc.

Which isn't to turn this into an MoC vs. Criterion thing - I love both companies equally - Criterion simply has a lot more resources than MoC, so they're able to put out a lot more. Even if I am sometimes underwhelmed by their choices, I will always be grateful to them for introducing me to a lot of genuinely great films, and I have full faith that the average quality of their releases over the course of any given few year period will always be pretty high (if that makes any sense.)

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^ I see your point, but while MoC has moved towards those "big, canonical classics," Criterion has moved away from them. So, I think the two collections still compliment each other, but in the inverse manner than they used to.

Unfortunately, MoC releases are much more expensive (for those of us in the US at least) and while I appreciate both companies and the types of films they release, I much preferred it when the cheaper alternative was the canonical classics and I was able to cherry pick the few more obscure releases I wanted from overseas.

I'm probably in the minority here, but I cannot stand the Criterion-IFC partnership. I enjoyed it when each month's announcement was a collection of classic gems. The contemporary stuff, even if deserving, just never feels right. And unfortunately, results in stuff like Tiny Furniture (a rant for a different time and thread) being given a Criterion BD release.

It may not be the most rational frustration to have and I freely admit that, but in my magical ideal world, Criterion would be reserved for classics, not contemporary films they are betting will be deemed classics at some later date.


Or maybe I am just reeling a bit from the July announcements...only 4 films and none from before the 80s (only particularly interested in picking up Down by Law right away).

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Criterion's mission statement has included 'important' contemporary films from their very beginning.

"The Criterion Collection is a continuing series of important classic and contemporary films on home video."

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I was just about to type meh myself, I have no use for any of these.

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ok, well excuse me while go and do a merry jig. It's one my favorites and I thought it'd gone into Paramount's forgotten bin.

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Just looking through the collection sorted by spine number, the idea of Criterion regularly releasing a "new release" had been fairly novel up until the IFC deal where we now generally get a "new release" film per announcement.

I didn't expect Criterion to begin releasing Blu-rays and then just open the Fellini floodgates, but it would be nice to have more than two Fellini films in 3 years. And it seems they have gone heavier on US films than normal, which is not in and of itself a bad thing at all, just a difference I've noticed. But don't get me wrong, I was thrilled to add The Killing/Killer's Kiss, Sweet Smell of Success, and Anatomy of a Murder (seen for the first time) to my collection.

But alas, it is Criterion, satisfaction with them ebbs and flows from release announcement to release announcement.

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I've started preparing for the July sale and am trying to narrow down the list of titles I'll be getting. If anyone has any recommendations of blu-ray releases they very strongly recommend that aren't in my collection yet (see the link below), feel free to let me know!

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I'll chime in with another "nothing for me", but great news on Rosemary's Baby. I've only seen it once, years ago, and I'm anxious to revisit it.

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Blow Out
The War Room
Videodrome

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Blow Out and Videodrome are definitely on my shortlist. As for The War Room, I tend to stay away from documentaries unless the subject matter really interests me, and I can't say that politics do. I've heard great things about this one though.

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talking about IFC...I'm still waiting for Y Tu Mama Tambien.

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The Thin Red Line
Days of Heaven

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Also both on my shortlist, but I have to admit that The Tree of Life has scared me off of Malick a bit.

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Understandable but don't let that dissuade you. Both those are far better than Tree of Life.

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I would love to see Polanski's Macbeth on BD. Incredible film.

Glad to see the apparent Rosemary's Baby hint. Hopefully that might be coming our way in August.

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I'm guessing October, as with Island of Lost Souls and Kuronoko last year, and Hausu in 2010.

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I love Videodrome, the film and the Criterion release. But the last person who watched it because of my praise, he hated it. I like Videodrome, but I don't think I or anyone can make accurate recommendations without knowing what you like.

If I use your Criterion collection as indication of what you like, I think Kuroneko would fit in given your predilection for Japanese films & films with stunning black & white cinematography (think maybe Yojimbo by the way of Cocteau, with a dash of Edgar Allan Poe). It's a haunting & atmospheric supernatural ghost story with beautiful b&w cinematography. Videodrome's one of my all-time favorite films, but for your collection I'd recommend Kuroneko.

Do the recommendations have to be Blu-ray? Because I'd think Kwaidan should be in your collection, being one of the most influential Japanese horror films; also an influence on anthology horror films. Would you settle for an anamorphic widescreen DVD? :)

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^
Do not buy the Criterion disc of Kwaidan! It is missing twenty minutes, and sports a weak transfer. The Masters of Cinema release is uncut, of superior quality, and includes a 76-page booklet. Here is a comparison.

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I like to think Criterion will fix that when they release it on Blu-ray.

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I'm sure they will, but in the meantime, the DVD should be avoided.

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Yeah, that's mainly the reason why I'm concentrating on their blu-ray releases. Knowing that they will get around to upgrading most of their titles and that I'll surely want to upgrade as well, and with so many already available on blu-ray, I'd rather go for these right now.

I enjoyed all of the Cronenberg films I have seen, so I'm tempted to get Videodrome on the back of that.

As for my preferences, I do enjoy gorgeous black & white cinematography (or color), but I'm afraid the amount of Japanese titles in my collection has been skewed by my project of collecting IMDb's top 250. I am very interested in seeing Kuroneko however.

I should also probably say that I think I would be okay with 'hating' one of my Criterion purchases, given the 'collection' aspect of it all. That has yet to happen though.

I'm thinking I'm going to have to watch some of the trailers. I know trailers can somewhat be deceiving but it should provide me some sort of basis to help me decide.

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Well, shit! That's the first I knew about the missing 20 minutes. I searched around to find what was cut. DVDcompare.net says:

Was the footage missing at the time Criterion released the DVD? This is also posted under IMDB's "alternate versions": Originally a four-episode anthology released in Japan at 183 minutes. Can you link to any articles that explain the cut histories? Or would you rather chide me than educate me. ;)

Well, unlike Kwaidan, Criterion features Videodrome's UNCUT unrated version with the footage excised from Universal's R-rated release. It also has 2 great audio commentaries. Cronenberg's commentary is great as usual, but James Woods is the rare actor who delivers an equally insightful commentary; in fact he does a better job of explaining who Marshall McLuhan was. Also, a bonus feature I consider a real treat is an archival 1982 roundtable interview with Cronenberg, John Carpenter & John Landis (all making films at Universal at the time), hosted by a young Mick Garris! Carpenter's current production is The Thing, another one of my all time favorites, and I love seeing the dynamic between these directors.

But it's ever-shifting. Different films are constantly bumped in and out of the 240's depending on the user voting averages. I remember Shaun of the Dead was once up there but got bumped out. What are you going to do with your purchases that get bumped out of the 250? Are you going to continually buy every movie that briefly gets voted up into the top 250? I swear, there are fanboy mobs of certain popular directors (especially Chris Nolan & James Cameron) that ensure their latest film gets into the top 250 through mass voting. The Nolan mob's going to jam The Dark Knight Rises up there come hell or high water, regardless of Bane's intelligibility. I dunno, I just can't lend much credence to a list where Revenge of the Sith is one of the best films internationally of all time. I say exercise free will and make your own top 250. "There is no fate but what we rate for ourselves." :)

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It has become a little problematic indeed. The new releases showing up in there don't bother me so much, because so far they're all movies I would've ended up buying anyways. But 240-250 has been shifting pretty frequently lately, and I haven't been jumping out and buying every single one of them instantly. I usually wait and see if it will stick around and rise or not. I've recently decided I will probably at least wait until they make it above the 240 mark.

I know it doesn't make a lot of sense, but I used it as a way to broaden my horizons and be introduced to films I had never heard of. Some I've loved, some less, but I have been able to take something away from each of them I have watched so far. It's also turned me into a Criterion enthusiast (before that I think the only two I owned were Benjamin Button and Man Bites Dog), and that can't be a bad thing, right?

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^Nice collection.

I would recommend the upcoming La Haine disc. The movie is awesome and the disc should be reference quality. The black & white looks amazing.

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Thanks! I'm most definitely getting La Haine, I am pretty set on the May/June titles I'm planning on getting.

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Harris Savides visits "the closet" - i'd say THE GAME is a sure thing now...

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I. cannot. wait.

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Never heard of this film...I'm now interested in it. Love seeing Olmos when he was younger.

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and I never get tired of CC's 3 Reasons.

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For? what?

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The more-than-likely release of The Game.