Criterion September 2016 releases

Night Train to Munich (Carol Reed, 1940) - 9/6
The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1939) - 9/13
Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman (Kazuo Ikehero, 1962-73) - 9/13
Blood Simple (Joel & Ethan Coen, 1984) - 9/20
Cat People (Jacques Tournier, 1942) - 9/20
Valley of the Dolls (Mark Robson, 1967) - 9/27
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (Russ Meyer, 1970) - 9/27
Dekalog (Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1988) - 9/27

 

BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS!!!!! AMEN!

 

Wow. Big month.

Delighted with 'Dekalog' - the old DVDs are close to unwatchable. Day one purchase guaranteed.

'Blood Simple' I might be excited about, but I'm not really sure yet. Did they restore the original music? Seems weird not to include the commentary track from the previous BD and DVD editions, no? And why is it credited to BOTH Coen brothers instead of just Joel? I'll wait and see if DVDBeaver rate this as an improvement over the current edition.

I dunno about the Valley films. Let's see if Glenn Kenny can talk me into giving them another chance.

The others fall into the "maybe" camp, at the moment. I was hoping for some John Waters or David Cronenberg.


So, have they just given up completely on the Eclipse series now?

 

Dekalog, Cat People, and Blood Simple have always been on my "need to watch" list. It's also nice to see the Zatoichi box set back in print.

 

I'll probably get "Blood Simple", but nothing else looks interesting.

That's the one that's a complete joke/fake commentary, right? I won't miss it, but it wouldn't bother me if it were included.

 

Yep. (To be fair, though, it IS genuinely funny)

I guess it wouldn't really bother me either, except that my bookcases are already FAR too crowded (with discs being piled right up to the ceiling) so half the fun of getting a new and improved edition of either a CD or a BD is replacing the old edition. When they jettison features it means I have to keep both copies and that's just no fun. I try and avoid duplications when I can.

 

But what can they bring that the existing deluxe DVD doesn't deliver?

 

Ha! Beyond the Valley of the Dolls was on my "movies Criterion will probably never release list." Cool!

I'm curious if the Blood Simple release means there will finally be a US Blu-ray release for Barton Fink coming.

 

Triple and last dip.
.

 

Too bad Criterion wasn't able to include THE SEVEN MINUTES as a special feature on their Blu release of BVD, like Arrow did on their UK-only release (albeit only in standard definition). Maybe Fox wanted too much money to make a US release feasible. It's never been released officially on home video here, but in addition to its inclusion on the UK BVD set, Arrow's recently announced a standalone DVD release as well.

 

Another strong slate for Criterion.

I have the Artificial Eye Mizoguchi box, but the prospect of a significant upgrade of The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum is hard to resist. It's one of his absolute masterpieces. I'll wait and see if they announce this title for the U.K. If not, I won't hesitate to import it.

 

"It's the Same Old Song" has been restored on the DVD and BluRay releases so far.

 

Blu-ray, 1080p 2K scan

 

When are they going to do the unaltered Star Wars original trilogy? Would really like to see them do some more modern stuff too. Terminator is one that never got a good Blu-ray release imo. Nor did T2.

 

Why would Disney let someone else handle a video release of Star Wars? Criterion has to license every film they release, and that includes titles that studios as inactive on the video front as Paramount see no profit in releasing themselves; same with active studios like Warner Brothers. Given there has been some complaining about the encoding quality and color grading of some of their recent releases, I'm not certain people know this label can't perform miracles on problematic films by themselves.

 

Yeah , they need to more modern movies Dragonslayer there was 3 hour cut
I read in cinfex.. And RoboCop 2 directors cut I read about the work print..
Some say it's better...

 

Good question. I haven't heard anything about the series being finished, but it's been almost 8 months since the last set was released, which I believe is the longest they've ever gone without releasing a new volume. For the majority of their 2007-2015 run, they were releasing a new set every 3 or 4 months.... hopefully they haven't decided to call it quits. I'm assuming the Eclipse sets don't sell anywhere near as well as the "regular" Criterions.... (although personally I only need 3 more of the Eclipse sets to finish the series, whereas I'm still missing around 80 of the "regular" releases).

 

I thought the transfer of the "Blood Simple" MGM bluray was plenty good enough- the only reason I'd get this again would be if it was the version shown in theaters when it came out. I only remembered visual stuff changing- was'nt aware of the soundtrack switches.
Probably in on Valley of the Dolls- more room for improvement there since I think it's only been on DVD.

 

Here is a comparison between "standard" blu-ray and the new Criterion 4K blu-ray at DVDbeaver: Blood Simple Blu-ray Frances McDormand »

I don't think it's a close call -- the 4k has deeper, richer colors and appropriate amount of grain. I'm not impressed by some 4K restorations, but this one is a significant upgrade in PQ.

 

Other than the obvious 1080p upgrade, there are a *few* more additional bonus features on this issue of BTVOTD: A 1990 Q&A with several members of the cast that was to be included on the Criterion LD that ultimately never was (though, the raw footage is on YouTube), a new interview with John Waters, a 1988 episode of The Incredibly Strange Film Show devoted to Russ Meyer, as well as a booklet w/ an essay.

Maybe nothing earth-shattering if one already owns the stellar deluxe DVD, but I'll be primarily buying it for the PQ bump. Also sort of sad to think that several (more) people associated with the film have passed since the DVD same out in 2006...Ebert, Cynthia Myers, Phyllis Davis, Michael Blodgett and Charles Napier.

 

Is Criterion going to include a regular Blu-ray with the 4K Blu-ray releases? I would get them in case I upgrade in the future. But it's no deal if I only get the 4K Blu-ray.

 

Some strong titles ,and a lot of so so stuff ,They still have next to nothing from Bertollucci ,and I am still waiting for Victor Erice while lesser works seem to be coming out Not sure why the Chaplin titles take so long,since their extras are slim on those

 

The "4K" Blu-ray releases refer to the source transfer, not the disc itself. They are standard 1080p Blu-ray discs that use a downconverted 4K transfer.

 

Ahh ok. I'm surprised they haven't gone to 4K Blu-ray yet and done like the big studios where they do a 4K/Standard Blu-ray pack.

 

Seems not... the next set (Vol.45) is being released on Jan. 23