re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
 

That seems like a good guess, given that Criterion released that movie on Laserdisc and still has a good relationship with Terry Gilliam. However, the bird in the sketch looks way more like a hawk than a kingfisher.

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Speculation is BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME.

I wonder if they managed the rights to some of Errol Morris' other, earlier and unavailable docs.

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The Maltese Falcon is Warner Brothers (not to mention one that they released already). It's not that one.

I'd like to see Criterion do a release of The Fisher King, but I agree that signs do point to A Brief History Of Time.

http://criterioncast.com/news/errol-...story-of-time/

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criterion.com is having a 50% off sale for the next 23 hours.

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According to this link, Criterion will be releasing Moonrise Kingdom - which isn't too much of a surprise since it's Anderson, but there was some doubt due to the fact that they've never released an animated film (at least not on DVD.)

I already own and am happy with the Fox BD, but at least they'll finally be breaking the animation barrier. I'd love if it they'd release some slightly harder-to-find animated films at some point in the future.

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Moonrise Kingdom is animated?

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The current release of MC is just fine. Move on to something else, Criterion.

Confused with Mr. Fox? :hscratch:

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Yes, the article indicates that Criterion is looking to release The Fantastic Mr. Fox, not Moonrise Kingdom.

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Does Criterion need to release every single Wes Anderson film.
They could be releasing titles that aren't out on BD or have a bad transfer, instead of releasing something that already has a nice BD out - even if the extras aren't substantial.

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Yeah, sorry, I meant Fantastic Mr. Fox - my mind was apparently somewhere else when I posted last night.Oh, I completely agree. I really like Wes Anderson - and obviously someone at Criterion does too - but both of his most recent features already have good quality BD releases.

Economics arguments aside, I'd prefer it if they focused their attentions on things that could really use the upgrade. There are a LOT of really good movies that have never had good releases (and quite a few that weren't released on DVD at all.) That's why I get most excited about releases like the Rossellini/Bergman set and the Satyajit Ray titles.

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I know you were referring to Fantastic Mr. Fox, but I thought the doubt about Criterion releasing it that came into play was less about it being animated and more about Fox's Blu-Ray already having quite a bit of content, meaning that there wouldn't be too much more Criterion could add (not to mention being released at the same time as the DVD, something which hadn't been the case with Anderson's previous films).

I mean, MGM supposedly offered Criterion The Silence Of The Lambs again, which if that rumor is true, they turned it down because they felt there wasn't anything more they could add to the Blu-Ray already available. If that story is true, I would think the same scenario would apply here...

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That Silence rumor is interesting. I would guess it's more about economics than anything else though; they don't think it would turn out to be a big seller if there wasn't anything to largely improve on.

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A Wes Anderson film is likely going to cost less to 'do' and have bigger sales over an artsy fartsy film. Think of it this way - that Fantastic Fox will help pay for your artsy fartsy 1950's film to hit Blu-ray.

We all win.

Still, no reason to remastered Fox. It looked and sounded great on Blu-ray. I'd take Life Aquatic over it.

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Supposedly Wes Anderson is close personal friends with the guy running Criterion, which is why we keep getting every single movie he did as a Criterion edition.

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I'm not so sure it'll sell better due to a few reasons.

The market for physical discs is dying, and catalog titles don't sell well outside of blockbusters. Fantastic Mr. Fox did small boxoffice-wise, and it's not a big artsy title either (it kind of falls in between the two). The BD has been out for over 3 years already - the few that want it and don't already have it will probably just get the cheaper current release than the more-than-likely more expensive Criterion.

I can understand Criterion being less discerning in the name of revenue, I just don't think they're doing much good with yet another Wes Anderson title.

Maybe if Anderson decides to make a different style of film, my thoughts would be different. He's beaten that over-the-top quirky horse to death a few films ago. Change it up already.

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Coral doesn't understand the power of the spine number. :)

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Is that as big a factor as it was years ago?

With the Criterion collection the size it is and containing many questionable titles, I figured most of the collectors would've given up at some point. It's a lot of money to spend just to own a shitload of films - most of which you wouldn't have enough time to watch more than once, nevermind a chunk of them being films you won't even like.

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Sometimes I find their release choices a little odd as well. There's been a few times where I'll look at their upcoming releases and question "why released this, but not that" or "why upgrade this but not that"? Sometimes I think they release certain movies just so there's a DVD or Blu-ray of the movie out. I don't have a problem with that if the film in question is something that is significant or has never had a video released before, but some of their choices just strike me as very odd. Just off the top my head some of the releases I've found questionable are The Rock, Armageddon, that Beastie Boys music video collection they released, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I can't help but think there were other films out there more deserving of these spine numbers than these movies.

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The Criterion Collection is dedicated to gathering the greatest films from around the world and publishing them in editions of the highest technical quality, with supplemental features that enhance the appreciation of the art of film.

In the case of Mr. Fox, the 'highest technical quality' is already available. As to supplemental features, what is available is more than sufficient with most fans.

This isn't like the early days where their efforts at cleaning up and restoring film elements and soundtracks from existing schlock were dramatic and appreciated. The example with the Silence Blu-ray is a good one, where there was very little they could do to improve upon what was already in commercial release. Move on to something else, spine numbers be damned.

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not to digress but I still find it pretty amusing that 'The Devil's Backbone' was spine number 666 - wonder if 'Rosemary's Baby' was ever in the consideration for that number...

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It's probably not as big of a deal now, but you have people buying (and rebuying) films just because of slipcovers. I'm sure that Criterion has data on a guaranteed minimum number of sales for every title from the people that are still keeping up with the entire collection.

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Just to play devil's advocate, but the studio pretty much bought the Criterion name for Benjamin Button, so I doubt it prevented them from releasing anything.

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You don't really need much market data. They just need to look at their worst seller. That's as good an indicator of their completionist/spine number fetishist base right there.

No Wes Anderson film is going to fall towards the bottom of their sales. I suspect we'll see TFMF and TLAWSZ in 2014 and that MK probably will come after 2 or 3 years of exclusivity with the studio release and at that point you'd probably see all 7 of his films in Criterion's top 20 best sellers, so why is this even being discussed?

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What do you mean? I apologize if I come off as ignorant, but I know nothing about the film's production.

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Paramount produced the Benjamin Button release, not Criterion. They worked out a deal with Criterion to get it included in the collection (which they claimed to have done as a favor to David Fincher), complete with spine number, while still being the distributors of the title.

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How are you lumping Button in with Armageddon and The Rock? It's Fincher for crying out loud and it's based on an F. Scott Fitzgerald story.

I'm a fan of The Beastie Boys and bought that set on day one, but I realize it's a bit of a stretch but their excuse for the Michael Bay flicks is just laughable.

I see nothing wrong with Benjamin Button being included.

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The Rock deserves to be in there far more than Benjamin Button.

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Any movie starring The Rock deserves to be in there far more than Benjamin Button.

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:rimshot:

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A case full of actual buttons instead of the movie? More deserving.

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And it's also a remake of Forrest Gump.

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Wow, tough crowd.

Guess I'm just a big ole softy, I thought it was pretty moving and it was by Fincher so I don't have a problem with it being in the collection.


I've never been able to watch a minute of a Michael Bay movie without getting seasick, so that's a pretty clear reason to keep those flicks out of my personal Criterion Collection.

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Button is a better movie than Gump, but that's damning with faint praise as both are pretty freakin' terrible.

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Gump is a movie about an ordinary person who has an extraordinary life. Button is about an extraordinary person who has a very ordinary life.

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Don't worry, Milo, I'm with you on this. Bay's work is superficial, condescending, manipulative movie-making at its worst. The Button film was transcendental. Rarely does a film so well bring together the interconnections of life and death as well as that movie. It's beyond the characters.

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I have not seen Benjamin Button myself because the story didn't really interest me. However, if it's standard David Fincher, regardless of what one thinks of the story, I'm sure the look of the film itself is artistically/visually stunning. He's definitely an auteur with his control of everything including art direction, cinematography, lighting, etc. He does not phone in his films.

Now, and this is not intended to stir anything up, but there are other films in the Criterion Collection by very reputable directors where I feel that the story and/or acting is subpar but the films are considered classic or are imminently watchable because of the directing, art direction or cinematography.

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Wes Anderson films aren't "artsy fartsy"? :confused:

P.S. By definition, anyone who uses the phrase "artsy fartsy" automatically sounds like a tool. I'm sorry to have to inform you of this, but that's just a fact.

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You're on the nose.

The movie's sentimental bullshit, but I can overlook that with how amazing it looks.

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If anyone else was waiting for their regularly scheduled announcement:However, there are already some indications that Michael Mann's Thief may be among the January titles.

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Bummer.