Criterion Additions

APRIL: The Kennedy Films of Robert Drew & associates; Phoenix; Barcelona (and a "Stillman Trilogy" box); Only Angels Have Wings; and a Brief Encounter upgrade.

A Stillman Trilogy box!!!

In A Lonely Place confirmed in latest newsletter.

saw I Knew Her Well -- in its premiere US theatrical run, 51 years after its making -- last weekend; it's REALLY good, Stefania Sandrelli perfect and haunting against all odds.

https://www.criterion.com/films/28600-i-knew-her-well

Last two days at Film Forum.

MAY: Wenders Road Trilogy; The Player; The Naked Island; In A Lonely Place: and a standalone Easy Rider.

Flash sale. Didn't known The Emigrants/The New Land was available!

i did, bcz people are writing about it for the first time in 40 years.

The New Land was spun into a weekly US TV series.

Sigh...so they're seriously going to be reissuing all of Altman's movies after I've just more or less completed my DVD collection, aren't they?

saw The New Land in 2005 in ratty VHS form

Confirmations for both Dr. Strangelove and The New World in latest newsletter.

Many years too late - but better late than never

http://variety.com/2016/film/global/criterion-collection-u-k-sony-1201724067/

JULY: Dr. Strangelove; Clouds of Sils Maria; Fantastic Planet; La chienne; Here Comes Mr. Jordan; and Le amiche.

^^JUNE, I MEAN

...and La chienne is paired with Renoir's first talkie On purge bebe.

I wonder if it's easier for them to get the rights to major studio titles now that the blu-ray/dvd market is in decline.

A Touch of Zen confirmed in latest newsletter.

And Fantastic Planet!

JULY: The New World; Muriel, or The Time of Return; A Touch of Zen; The In-Laws; and remasters of both Night and Fog and Carnival of Souls.

Crossposted from the TCM thread, they and Criterion are doing a streaming thing starting this fall.

https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/4032-introducing-filmstruck

Some careful wording here: "FilmStruck subscribers will also be eligible to sign up for the Criterion Channel, a premium service that will be all Criterion’s own. Once we’re up and running, the Criterion Channel will not only offer continual access to our library of more than 1,100 films, along with their special features, it will also give us the chance to approach the Criterion mission in a whole new way."

So, 2 pricing tiers, with and without Criterion? Also, the Hulu Criterion channel has somewhere between 900-950 films, so it looks like they'll be streaming a fair number that were previously DVD/Blu only.

what a stupid thing imo

It works for me, since I never used Hulu for anything other than Criterion, but I can see how it might be a pain for anyone using them for other stuff as well.

Cat People confirmed in latest newsletter.

The Tourneur one, I'm assuming?

Naturally, as the good people at Criterion are clearly building their release schedule from a spreadsheet of non-Criterion DVDs I own, pretty much just to spite me.

the remake sounds like one of the worst ideas ever -- an erotic furry fantasy from paul schrader. a young woman's sexual awakening brings horror from milan to minsk.

I haven't seen the remake, but it actually has a fairly solid reputation. It is interesting to me (and perhaps only me) that it was written by Alan Ormsby, whose My Bodyguard contains what I take to be a visual reference to the original CP.

big(ish) bowie song on the soundtrack of the remake of course...

I haven't seen the Schrader Cat People since it came out, but my memory is that it has good things - eg the Moroder/Bowie soundtrack, some impressive production design/cinematography - and also some not so good things - eg the rapey treatment of Natassja Kinski.

Alan Ormsby also wrote a trio of interesting early Bob (Porkys) Clark-directed horrors - Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things, Deranged and Deathdream.

AUGUST: The Immortal Story; Chimes At Midnight; McCabe & Mrs. Miller; A Taste of Honey; Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words; and a standalone upgrade of Woman In The Dunes.

On closer inspection, A Taste of Honey comes with Momma Don't Allow as an bonus.

v stoked about both chimes and a taste of honey, two of my very fav films ever

Sigh. Okay, I guess I'm gonna have to find someone to start donating my Altman DVDs to since Criterion is clearly on a roll here.

If they put out H.E.A.L.T.H. and an unedited California Split, I'm sure my wallet will find a way to forgive them.

September: Valley of the Dolls, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, Blood Simple, Cat People, and Dekalog

Dekalog could be interesting, but I already have it so doubt I would buy it again.

The Story of the Last Chrysantheum out as well, along with upgrades of Zatoichi and Night Train to Munich

Is Night Train to Munich worth a watch?

His Girl Friday confirmed in latest newsletter.

October: The Executioner, The Tree of Wooden Clogs, Short Cuts Blu, Boyhood, and Pan's Labyrinth (Plus a Del Toro Trilogy Box)

The Short Cuts blu doesn't appear to contain the collection of Carver stories that came with the DVD.

Also, the Boyhood essay is done by Jonathan Lethem!

XP The Carver book has been unavailable w/Criterion disc for a number of years.

Woah, glad I grabbed the set when I did then!

Surrously. I guess that's one that there's no point in upgrading.

McCabe seems to have slipped into an October release for anyone else who's got that on their radar. also while I'm on the subject of Altman, Short Cuts is one of his movies that I just absolutely despise so I have no qualms about skipping it entirely. their edition of The Player is GREAT though, easily my favorite Altman CC which isn't Nashville (The Long Goodbye does have a fantastic release on Arrow if you can play UK discs though).

I am an immense stan for Linklater (I consider his adaptation of A Scanner Darkly to be one of the, like 10 or so best releases since the turn of the millennium) so I will gladly double-dip on Boyhood. ditto for the Dekalog box set (had the Facets DVD for ages but the presentation held it back), although Arrow's Dekalog + TV Works set is immensely tempting since it includes so much more stuff.

can I take a second to sing the praises of A Brighter Summer Day? I loved Yi Yi but ABSD absolutely blows it out of the water. it looks flat-out gorgeous but entirely non-pretentious - in a way it kind of reminds me of The Best Years Of Our Lives, where the depth of focus was so immense that your eyes wandering all over the frame is part of the experience.

if I was POXing the Criterion Collection, I believe mine would be:
- In The Mood For Love
- Nashville
- Playtime (actually the Tati box set if I could get away with that)
- Koyaanisqatsi (ditto regarding picking the box)
- A Brighter Summer Day
- Fanny & Alexander (long version 4 life)
- Code Unknown
- Unfaithfully Yours
- Crumb
- The Times of Harvey Milk

F&A long version otm

NOVEMBER: One-Eyed Jacks; The Squid & The Whale; Akira Kurosawa's Dreams; Punch-Drunk Love; and Lone Wolf & Cub.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_pHvRwctdU

what in the living fuck is ASMR and how do people not go apeshit listening to that voice