Criterion New Releases

[John Johnson]

Found this over at FSM.

http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/board/p ... &archive=0

[AndyDursin]

That's...well...a very strange choice. Outside of the movie's novelty value and the cast, personally, I think it's a mediocre film and seldom funny. And I had to watch it through a couple of times when I wrote the Rykodisc CD notes back in the '90s.

Probably good news for the people who want the extra footage that's still lying around though. Hopefully Criterion will dust it off, restore it or something along those lines.

[Eric Paddon]

Hey if this means we're getting the LD cut on Blu-Ray I'm all for that! Be great to retire the LD box at long last, plus there's the chance that more material discovered since the LD restoration might be included.

The film is a misfire on a number of levels, but it does have some good moments and a great cast.

[AndyDursin]

The problem with it is that those good moments are spread out over one of the longest running times ever. lol. So I do find it painful, but on a novelty level, I understand the appeal. It's kind of like going to a museum.

[mkaroly]

Are people on the forum complaining because it is not the usual fare released by Criterion (ie art films or foreign films)? It is a hard film to watch at times, but there are several moments in it that are funny - for me at least it is an overindulgence of the "screwball comedies" of that time with legends of comedy...and at times it reminds me of Spielberg's 1941 in that he (they) threw everything in there but the kitchen sink and went for broke. Some of it stands up, some of it doesn't, but I don't see why Criterion SHOULDN'T release it, especially if they are going to do it right archivally.

[Eric Paddon]

This is one Criterion title I'd get. 80% of what they've released in the past on DVD is stuff I wouldn't bother to get at all.

[AndyDursin]

Are people on the forum complaining because it is not the usual fare released by Criterion (ie art films or foreign films)

I'd imagine that's it, they're complaining because it's not really a Criterion type of film. Most Criterion titles are offbeat indies, esoteric foreign films or cult movies. They do major studio titles here and there, but it's usually because either the film is highly celebrated or the director is someone they've released in the past. Given their catalog as a whole, MAD WORLD is admittedly an odd fit for them.

That said, I don't blame them for doing it, because it'll probably sell. Criterion works with MGM a lot now because their catalog is wide open -- and they can't tap into some of the other studios as easily. It's not like it was when they made their name on laserdisc, when Criterion was the only label in existence doing Special Editions with extra features. Nowadays they're commonplace amongst every label, and there are some studios like Warner Bros. who basically never work with Criterion at all.

Certainly I would expect a restoration of the longer version -- or else this a pointless endeavor with a perfectly fine Blu-Ray in existence of the shorter version.

[Monterey Jack]

Are people on the forum complaining because it is not the usual fare released by Criterion (ie art films or foreign films)

I'd imagine that's it, they're complaining because it's not really a Criterion type of film. Most Criterion titles are offbeat indies, esoteric foreign films or cult movies. They do major studio titles here and there, but it's usually because either the film is highly celebrated or the director is someone they've released in the past. Given their catalog as a whole, MAD WORLD is admittedly an odd fit for them.

Considering Criterion has released two Michael Bay films, a three-hour slapstick farce from the 60's can only be an upgrade.

[AndyDursin]

To be fair, those two titles -- back in the mid '90s -- were just as much about them trying to grow the brand/name recognition by getting involved in a couple of blockbusters back when studios weren't doing special editions the way they would be in the heyday of DVD. It's not something they repeated and served a function at the time.

[AndyDursin]

Great October releases, perfect for Halloween!

THE UNINVITED

New 2K digital film restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
New visual essay by filmmaker Michael Almereyda
PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Farran Smith Nehme

http://www.criterion.com/films/27964-the-uninvited

I MARRIED A WITCH

New 2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
Audio interview with director René Clair
Trailer
PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by filmmaker Guy Maddin and a 1970 interview with Clair

http://www.criterion.com/films/27771-i-married-a-witch

EYES WITHOUT A FACE

New high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
Blood of the Beasts, Georges Franju’s 1949 documentary about the slaughterhouses of Paris (new high-definition digital restoration on the Blu-ray edition)
Archival interviews with Franju on horror, cinema, and the making of Blood of the Beasts
New interview with actor Edith Scob (Blu-ray only)
Excerpt from Les Grands-pères du crime, a 1985 documentary about Eyes Without a Face writers Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac
Trailers
Stills gallery of rare production photos and promotional material (DVD only)
Plus: A booklet featuring essays by novelist Patrick McGrath and film historian David Kalat

http://www.criterion.com/films/950-eyes-without-a-face

[jkholm]

Criterion just announced their January titles, including the aforementioned IT'S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD.

•Restored 4K digital film transfer of the general release version of the film, with 5.1 surround Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
•New high-definition digital transfer of a 197-minute extended version of the film, reconstructed and restored by Robert A. Harris using visual and audio material from the longer original road-show version—including some scenes that have been returned to the film here for the first time—with 5.1 surround Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
•New audio commentary featuring It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World aficionados Mark Evanier, Michael Schlesinger, and Paul Scrabo
•New documentary on the film’s visual and sound effects, featuring rare behind-the-scenes footage of the crew at work and interviews with visual-effects specialist Craig Barron and sound designer Ben Burtt
•Talk show from 1974 hosted by director Stanley Kramer and featuring Mad World actors Sid Caesar, Buddy Hackett, and Jonathan Winters
•Press interview from 1963 featuring Kramer and members of the film’s cast
•Interviews recorded for the 2000 AFI program 100 Years . . . 100 Laughs, featuring comedians and actors discussing the influence of the film
•Two-part 1963 episode of the CBC television program Telescope that follows the film’s press junket and premiere
•The Last 70mm Film Festival, a program from 2012 featuring cast and crew members from Mad World at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, hosted by Billy Crystal
•Selection of humorist and voice-over artist Stan Freberg’s original TV and radio advertisements for the film, with a new introduction by Freberg
•Original and rerelease trailers, and rerelease radio spots
•Two Blu-rays and three DVDs, with all content available in both formats
•PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Lou Lumenick

The other titles are:
ECLIPSE SERIES 40: LATE RAY
THRONE OF BLOOD
THIEF
RIFIFI
LA VIE DE BOHEME
THE LONG DAY CLOSES

[AndyDursin]

Looks like a great package, even if I won't be reviewing it!

[Mike Skerritt]

I'm a little (but pleasantly) surprised to see THIEF among the new batch, though I guess if any Mann were going to make the Criterion cut it would be that one. Or perhaps MANHUNTER, which IMHO is strangely remembered as better than it actually is.

[AndyDursin]

Good point on MANHUNTER -- I like the film a lot, but it IS overrated by some. With the myriad of different cuts out there, it would be ripe for Criterion treatment, and seeing that MGM has no issue licensing out anything and everything in their back catalog (not to mention soundtrack albums too!), I'm surprised that hasn't come down the pike...so far. Perhaps Criterion was more motivated in THIEF since it hasn't been released on Blu-Ray yet, and there's a fine HD master already going on MGM-HD channel they can use.

[Eric Paddon]

Mad World I will get beacuse it will be nice to dispense with the LD transfer insomuch as that this new cut will retain every new scene that was part of the LD cut and give more (this is different from what's been proposed for "1776" where even the most optimistic of scenarios will NOT duplicate the LD cut). I think as a film it is more miss than hit in the laughs department ("The Great Race" always struck me as a funnier film) but as an epic film of the early 60s it has an irresistible quality to it, especially with that ensemble of names.