I don't know, reminds me more of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

But with Universal releasing their own Blu-ray version earlier this year, doesn't that make it less likely that Criterion would release it, at least so soon after the Universal disc?

I agree, but it doesn't look like the creature from naked lunch.

I'm not really getting Naked Lunch or Fear & Loathing... The latter though, maybe. Hmm... If so, I may just pick up the Uni and keep the CC DVD for the extras.



CassavetesGodard over on blu-ray dot com tossed out Wall Street... Gordon Gekko. I dunno. Doubt it.

Good teaser this month...

Yeah, my first thought was Wall Street, but in 2008, Fox put out a BD with a decent slate of extras from the 20th anniversary edition in 2007. BTW, one of the featurettes was called "Money Never Sleeps."

Dancing at the Blue Iguana?

You were right. Upon further review, it is the sharp-dressed lizard from Fear and Loathing. Lifted from the Criterion Forum:

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I sincerely hope that comes out on Criterion. I love the DVD set and would gladly upgrade to Blu.

that's bizarre if it is Fear and Loathing. But hey, it gives me hope for a Spartacus criterion BD still.

glad i didn't pick up FEAR AND LOATHING yet

If it's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas I'll gladly upgrade from my HD DVD to the Criterion Blu-ray.

Exactly! I really hope that it is Fear and Loathing for this reason. I have no interest in the film, but it would re-set a nice precedent for parallel Criterion releases in the BD era. This would be the first one, wouldn't it?

Are you watching, Studio Canal?

The DVD CC already exists...so it's possible. It would be an odd release, but Universal will probably make bank on this (and discontinue to the current BD).

Though I'd be first in line to get a CC Fear and Loathing BD, I can't help but wonder what's taking so long for Brazil to come out (Gilliam had been quoted that he was working on some new bonus features months ago).

Some filmmakers who have longstading relationships with Criterion have been able to pressure studios into one-off licensing arrangements for specific titles. Fox doesn't usually license to Criterion, but Wes Anderson convinced them to make an exception for The Darjeeling Limited. Likewise, Fincher convinced Paramount to work with Criterion on Benjamin Button.

I'm not saying this is a lock or anything, but there's a possibility that if Fincher wants it badly enough, he can talk to Sony about letting Criterion work on The Social Network.

I remember reading/hearing somewhere that Anderson actually has a clause in all of his contracts stating that his films will be released by Criterion.

Those relationships could make things a little awkward if the filmmakers ever produce anything that Criterion doesn't especially want to release.

Fincher: So, let's get to work on Pencil Case of the Mind, shall we?

Criterion: Uh... have a seat, David...

Speaking of Darjeeling Limited, the Amazon pre-order just dropped to $24.99 for anyone interested.

Having put out Armageddon, I doubt that will ever be the case.

Armageddon was (inexplicably) a big mainstream hit- in other words, a potential money-spinner for Criterion.

Suppose one of these cozy-relationship directors makes a flop, a movie that Criterion doesn't really want in the Collection and has little chance of making large bank...

Ben Button is a worse movie than Armageddon.

Yeah, I said it.

Established directors like Anderson and Fincher have enough fans that a Criterion release of even one of their lesser movies would still generate a fair amount of interest. And being a box office flop has never deterred Criterion in the past.

Think of a movie like Schizopolis. I happen to like that movie, but it's certainly an extremely limited interest title. But Criterion wanted to work with Soderbergh again, and that was available at the time, so they put it out on DVD. It was sold strictly on Soderbergh's name and the Criterion label alone. I'm sure that 90% of the people who bought it had no idea what it was until they watched the disc (and probably still didn't afterwards).

In a worst case scenario, Criterion could shuffle a title off to their Eclipse line and release it bare-bones.

Criterion can always make the justification that even if it's a bad movie, it's still an important stepping-stone in the evolution of an artist, blah blah blah. They've done that more than a few times before.

How many units do they need to move to break even? 1,000? 10,000?? I really don't know, but I don't think it's a very large number.