Le Samourai was never really oop in the sense that Criterion lost the rights. They had just run through their stock and were not doing another printing until the upgrade came along. You could have been relatively confident selling your dvd knowing that eventually it would get an upgrade. It was just a question of how long you'd be willing to be without it. The stuff that's actually oop doesn't usually ever come back.

Only in rare instances like Straw Dogs.

And of course, everyone's favorite holiday film : Salo.

Is this confirmed somewhere or are you just speculating?

Yes, and sometimes.

Criterion doesn't actually own any of the movies they release. They rely on licensing arrangements with the rights-holders of each film. Some studios are more willing to license to them than others.

Criterion already has a close working relationship with Wes Anderson, who has a desire for all of his movies to be in the Criterion Collection and has pressured his distributors to make that happen. A movie like Fantastic Mr. Fox is a very easy "get" for Criterion, and Anderson's films tend to sell well to the Criterion audience, regardless of whether they've already had decent Blu-ray releases or not. It was a no-brainer decision for Criterion to put out their own edition of that film. Doing so has no impact on their ability to license any other title you may desire.

Releasing Fantastic Mr. Fox doesn't prevent Criterion from releasing Matewan. What prevents Matewan from being released is that the film was a small independent production from a distributor that doesn't exist anymore (Cinecom Pictures), and its right are likely a mess to sort out. The last DVD in the U.S. was released in the early 2000s by Artisan Entertainment, which was later absorbed into Lionsgate. I'm not aware of Lionsgate ever licensing a title they own to another label. Whether Lionsgate even still holds the rights to this movie is questionable. It may have just fallen through the cracks.

I had Fantastic Mr. Fox on Bluray before Criterion released theirs, but I upgraded to have it in my Criterion group.

And it's probably the most watched Criterion title I own (let's see the heads spinning at that one...)

Don't they own Janus (or Janus owns them)?

They're both owned by the same parent company. Which means that they have a close relationship, but doesn't guarantee that everything in the Janus catalog will get a Criterion release.

I hope someday they will release some more of the HVE titles. It has happened before with Pale Flower and La Cienaga. I'd especially like to see them put out the three titles by Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Cure, Charisma & Séance) and the ones by Kinji Fukasaku (Graveyard of Honor, Under the Flag of the Rising Sun, Sympathy for the Underdog, Street Mobster, If You Were Young: Rage, Blackmail Is My Life, Fall Guy).

I hope so too...some of their "lesser" samurai titles deserve a great release like
Samurai Rebellion, Kill! and Sword of the Beast.

Most of those sound like they'd be more up Arrow Video's alley.

I wouldn't mind if arrow releases them, don't know who owns the rights. The last time Cure was around it was streaming on Hulu a couple of years ago with the Criterion logo.
I guess that for now for now I'll just hold on to my dvd of this chilling masterpiece.

Excited for Le Samourai & The Philadelphia Story!

the press release does say "NEW high-definition digital restoration" unless that's code for "do additional cleanup/work and enhance the 2005 master"

Speculating, but every time they have specified a (new) HD restoration/master, it's turned out to be the master they have used for DVD (with maybe some more work done):

https://www.criterion.com/films/925-the-sword-of-doom

https://www.criterion.com/films/712-3-women

https://www.criterion.com/films/548-fat-girl

https://www.criterion.com/films/1426...of-eddie-coyle

https://www.criterion.com/films/743-harakiri

https://www.criterion.com/films/543-high-and-low

https://www.criterion.com/films/2954...-days-of-disco

https://www.criterion.com/films/612-...tion-of-christ

https://www.criterion.com/films/298-late-spring

https://www.criterion.com/films/220-naked

https://www.criterion.com/films/823-sansho-the-bailiff

https://www.criterion.com/films/553-solaris

https://www.criterion.com/films/860-...-from-the-cold

https://www.criterion.com/films/371-umberto-d

https://www.criterion.com/films/826-woman-in-the-dunes


Obviously, some of those fare better than others.

Anyone yet to dive into Criterion's Straw Dogs? How's The a/v? Good, interesting extras?

..criterions straw dogs is an excellent release with some very good extras..

I gave Sid & Nancy a spin last night... Wonderful transfer. I saw it theatrically when I was in high school and - memory being subjective and all that - it looks and sounds (the stereo mix) as close to that original screening as I can remember. So happy that it is back in the collection.

A real puzzler of a cartoon in the mail today



Apparently it played on TCM earlier this year preceded by the Criterion/Janus logo.

So, the "What's New Pussycat?" video played 7 times in a row, one "It's Not Unusual" followed by 7 more "What's New Pussycat?"

I love that bit.

..but very dark, much darker than the previous UK blu-ray. So dark that detai is often missing, masked in shadow.

The encode, however is excellent, and the grain structure is completely natural and intact.

..but very dark, much darker than the previous UK blu-ray. So dark that detail is often missing, masked in shadow.

The encode, however is excellent, and the grain structure is completely natural and intact.

So... what movie is "it"?

Probably "Tom Jones".