Criterion and Warner Bros.

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neeb
Joined: Sat Nov 26, 2011 10:51 pm

Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#701 Post by neeb » Wed Dec 13, 2017 8:31 pm

So I was listening to the Director's Club podcast episode on James Whale. And they mentioned SHOWBOAT and how they didn't watch it because they couldn't locate a copy.

I checked the Warner Archive page and...

SHOW BOAT (1936) is out of print.

There is no James Whale in the Collection and there was a report of a phantom page a year back so this movie is now a possibility.

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Minkin
Joined: Thu Aug 06, 2009 11:13 pm

Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#702 Post by Minkin » Wed Dec 13, 2017 9:50 pm

I'm sure Show Boat is coming at some point - as it was a former Criterion Laserdisc title. Oddly, the laserdisc commentary has shown up on the TCM broadcast of Show Boat as a SAP audio option (strange since the commentary has never appeared on any other video release).

Its a great film, although I mostly just remember the Paul Robeson performances.

Speaking of which - Criterion apparently has the rights to the 30s King Solomon's Mines. Thus I wonder if they'd pair it with the 50s version as well (which WB owns). They could also do the same sort of thing with including the remake of Show Boat with the 30s version, although I think the Whale version is far superior and can exist on its own.

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Ashirg
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:10 am
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Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#703 Post by Ashirg » Mon Jan 08, 2018 8:52 pm

Ashirg wrote:Whatever happened to Linklater's Suburbia?
To respond to myself, it's getting a DVD-R release from Warner Archive in January...

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Mr. Deltoid
Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2011 8:32 am

Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#704 Post by Mr. Deltoid » Tue Jan 09, 2018 10:16 am

Ashirg wrote:
Ashirg wrote:Whatever happened to Linklater's Suburbia?
To respond to myself, it's getting a DVD-R release from Warner Archive in January...
Bloody hell, that's annoying! Not even a WB Archive Blu-ray, but a DVD-R? You'd think Linklater's name alone would have persuaded them to bump it up to a pressed disc. Do we know if Warner have the UK rights to this as well? Something in the back of my mind says it was a different distributor, but I could be wrong.

demonknight
Joined: Thu Jan 04, 2018 1:30 am

Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#705 Post by demonknight » Wed Feb 14, 2018 3:15 pm

Apparently, last night at a spoken word show, John Waters confirmed Criterion was doing Female Trouble for 2018 and Polyester for late 2018/early 2019.

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Dentists
Joined: Mon Jun 06, 2016 9:19 pm

Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#706 Post by Dentists » Wed Mar 28, 2018 10:24 pm

criterion10 wrote:
ianungstad wrote:Stop (Bill Gunn)
Last Summer (Frank Perry)
I do know that the Warner Archive was planning to release both of these, only to be postponed after having trouble locating quality prints.
Bill Gunn’s STOP! - quality print does exist...
Ganja & Hess soundtrack by Sam Waymon out 4/21/18. Contact your local record store to make sure they stock this.

Also I heard from Warner Bros the definitive reason why Bill Gunn’s “Stop!” Hasn’t been released - copyright issues:
“This is mostly in relationship to street music heard in the distant background of the film during interior scenes”.

KJones77
Joined: Wed Aug 23, 2017 11:35 pm

Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#707 Post by KJones77 » Thu May 31, 2018 9:21 pm

FrauBlucher wrote:
Mon Jul 31, 2017 7:55 am
Was wondering what was left from the initial group of WB oop titles that were speculated to be heading to Criterion. Ian's post was from November of 2014 (page 15)
ianungstad wrote:About a week ago Warner Brothers discontinued a number of Archive releases that generated some speculation that they may have been licensed to Criterion including:

Dreams (Akira Kurosawa)
Blow Up (Michelangelo Antonioni)
The Breaking Point (Michael Curtiz)
Barcelona (Whit Stillman)

The OOP list this week has a few more Warner titles that seem like they may go to Criterion:

Magnificent Ambersons (Orson Welles)
The Asphalt Jungle (John Huston)
A Face in the Crowd (Elia Kazan)
Klute (Alan Pakula)
Day for Night (Francois Truffaut)
Before Sunset (Richard Linklater)
Cat People (Jacques Tourneur) Both the individual Cat People and the Val Lewton box are officially discontinued this week.
Before Sunrise (Richard Linklater)
The only titles left from this list. Ambersons, Klute and A Face in the Crowd.
Now we (seemingly) wait for Klute and A Face in the Crowd...

flyonthewall2983
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Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#708 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Thu May 31, 2018 11:41 pm

Local Hero and Altered States are on Criterion Channel. Any chance for those?

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Omensetter
Yes We Cannes
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Location: Lawrence, KS, U.S.

Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#709 Post by Omensetter » Fri Jun 01, 2018 12:15 am

Those seem as good bets as any. I'm team Zabriskie Point myself. It's really hard to go wrong with their catalogue, but then they opted for The In-Laws and Woman of the Year. I heard murmurings of 42nd Street in another thread----why not a Busby box? Maybe Minnelli? The Best Years of our Lives, surely. And so forth until you end up on a miracle of a film you didn't even realize you knew you wanted (The Breaking Point).

I'm hoping The Wild Bunch in September will set off another straight year of a Warner a month like the below list. Perhaps Ambersons in October and Bringing Up Baby in November.

02/16 --- The Emigrants/The New Land
04/16 --- Barcelona
07/16 --- The In-Laws
07/16 --- The New World
09/16 --- Cat People
10/16 --- McCabe & Mrs. Miller
11/16 --- Akira Kurosawa's Dreams
12/16 --- The Asphalt Jungle
02/17 --- Before Sunrise / Mildred Pierce
03/17 --- Blowup
04/17 --- Woman of the Year
06/17 --- They Live by Night
07/17 --- Lost in America
08/17 --- The Breaking Point
10/17 --- Barry Lyndon
11/17 --- The Philadelphia Story

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swo17
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Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#710 Post by swo17 » Fri Jun 01, 2018 12:34 am

Omensetter wrote:
Fri Jun 01, 2018 12:15 am
Maybe Minnelli?
The only rational explanation for some of WAC's most recent BD announcements

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Minkin
Joined: Thu Aug 06, 2009 11:13 pm

Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#711 Post by Minkin » Fri Jun 01, 2018 12:50 am

Didn't A Face in the Crowd end up with a different company than WB in the past few years? I seem to recall reading somewhere that WB didn't have the rights anymore, so people were wondering where it ended up. But, maybe I'm just imagining things.

We also have this secondary list of WB DVDs that went OOP:

Round Midnight
The Roaring Twenties
Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid
O Lucky Man
Lone Star
Captain Blood
Mean Streets
Scaramouche
The Cameraman
Freaks
----------------------------
The Philadelphia Story
Barry Lyndon

Hedwig & The Angry Inch - confirmed
Death in Venice - confirmed
Bringing Up Baby - possibly confirmed
Arsenic and Old Lace - possibly confirmed

Scarecrow - WB Archive released

==========================================
Have there been any other suspicious WB OOP titles - than the ones listed above? I just checked WBshop and the following don't show up:

Swing Time
Adam's Rib
A Night at the Opera
Show Boat
King Solomon's Mines (Criterion owns the '37 version, so it would make for a great pairing)

I also find it strange that WB didn't include Horror of Dracula or Quatermass and the Pit in their Hammer collection.
Last edited by Minkin on Thu Sep 06, 2018 2:27 am, edited 1 time in total.

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okcmaxk
Joined: Tue Jan 05, 2016 12:37 am

Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#712 Post by okcmaxk » Fri Jun 01, 2018 1:04 am

Minkin wrote:
Fri Jun 01, 2018 12:50 am
Have there been any other suspicious WB OOP titles - than the ones listed above? I just checked WBshop and the following don't show up:

Swing Time
Adam's Rib
A Night at the Opera
Show Boat
King Solomon's Mines (Criterion owns the '37 version, so it would make for a great pairing)
After Hours and Lone Star don’t show up on WBShop either, if that’s indicative of both being OOP.

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senseabove
Joined: Wed Dec 02, 2015 3:07 am

Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#713 Post by senseabove » Fri Jun 01, 2018 1:16 am

Omensetter wrote:
Fri Jun 01, 2018 12:15 am
Those seem as good bets as any. I'm team Zabriskie Point myself. It's really hard to go wrong with their catalogue, but then they opted for The In-Laws and Woman of the Year. I heard murmurings of 42nd Street in another thread----why not a Busby box? Maybe Minnelli? The Best Years of our Lives, surely. And so forth until you end up on a miracle of a film you didn't even realize you knew you wanted (The Breaking Point).

I'm hoping The Wild Bunch in September will set off another straight year of a Warner a month like the below list. Perhaps Ambersons in October and Bringing Up Baby in November.
SpoilerShow
02/16 --- The Emigrants/The New Land
04/16 --- Barcelona
07/16 --- The In-Laws
07/16 --- The New World
09/16 --- Cat People
10/16 --- McCabe & Mrs. Miller
11/16 --- Akira Kurosawa's Dreams
12/16 --- The Asphalt Jungle
02/17 --- Before Sunrise / Mildred Pierce
03/17 --- Blowup
04/17 --- Woman of the Year
06/17 --- They Live by Night
07/17 --- Lost in America
08/17 --- The Breaking Point
10/17 --- Barry Lyndon
11/17 --- The Philadelphia Story
The murmurings of 42nd St, I think, were just a reboot phantom page, now gone, that folks suspected was only for Filmstruck anyway. A Busby box would be wonderful, though, and I expect it'd be the best way for Warners and Criterion to sell the later Berkeley/Gold Diggers movies.

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FrauBlucher
Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2013 8:28 pm
Location: Greenwich Village

Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#714 Post by FrauBlucher » Fri Jun 01, 2018 6:01 am

I think I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang is also on Criterion's radar and a film that's in their wheel house. Plus, the DVD has been OOP for a while. And during the era of the phantom page Mervyn LeRoy did have one.

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jwd5275
Joined: Tue Jun 08, 2010 12:26 pm
Location: SF, CA

Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#715 Post by jwd5275 » Fri Jun 01, 2018 10:40 am

flyonthewall2983 wrote:
Thu May 31, 2018 11:41 pm
Local Hero and Altered States are on Criterion Channel. Any chance for those?
Local Hero is indeed oop.

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domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#716 Post by domino harvey » Fri Jun 01, 2018 11:00 am

Again, it's worth remembering that many, many, many WB titles have gone out of print and the studio is gradually adding them back to the Archive as MODs, so this doesn't necessarily mean anything as it could just be a while til they get around to a given title

Noiradelic
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2009 12:45 am

Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#717 Post by Noiradelic » Fri Jun 01, 2018 4:08 pm

Has there been a specific rumor about The Wild Bunch? Because I don't think WB's ready to let go of that and Mean Streets just yet.

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domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
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Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#718 Post by domino harvey » Fri Jun 01, 2018 4:16 pm

The Oiled Bunch newsletter clue

flyonthewall2983
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Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#719 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Fri Jun 01, 2018 4:20 pm

Did we speculate at all that might be a clue for There Will Be Blood by any chance?

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hearthesilence
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Location: NYC

Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#720 Post by hearthesilence » Fri Jun 01, 2018 4:21 pm

The Wild Bunch definitely needs a new scan. I posted about this elsewhere in the forum, but during Lincoln Center's fairly recent Peckinpah retrospective, they projected a good 35mm print of the '90s re-release of the "director's cut." After watching that screening, I went home and put on the Blu-Ray disc, and the transfer looked incredibly dated, like an "early HD video" look with that crummy detail and texture. A lot better than VHS, but nothing that could be called "film-like."

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dwk
Joined: Sat Jun 12, 2010 6:10 pm

Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#721 Post by dwk » Fri Jun 22, 2018 4:51 pm

We can cross Pink Flamingos off the list of possible Criterion titles
Warner Brothers called me yesterday. They’re doing Pink Flamingos again. And who would’ve ever thought that Warner Brothers would distribute Pink Flamingos?

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Feego
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Location: Texas

Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#722 Post by Feego » Sat Jun 23, 2018 11:28 am

A little off-topic, but Warner Brothers will happily release a movie that contains actual coprophagy, but won't release The Devils?

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Big Ben
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Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#723 Post by Big Ben » Sat Jun 23, 2018 2:23 pm

Feego wrote:
Sat Jun 23, 2018 11:28 am
A little off-topic, but Warner Brothers will happily release a movie that contains actual coprophagy, but won't release The Devils?
I have never, ever received an actual concrete reason as to why Warner Brothers won't put it out. Even the man who joined it at the hip, Mark Kermode has never really given an explanation. All I ever hear are rumors that one particular executive faints on his couch whenever it's mentioned and doesn't want it released.

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jedgeco
Joined: Tue Nov 23, 2004 11:28 am

Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#724 Post by jedgeco » Tue Jun 26, 2018 10:18 am

The Devils is almost 50 years old, and pretty tame by contemporary standards; I find it hard to believe that there is anyone at Warner Bros.--or their new bosses at AT&T--who gives a shit about The Devils.

Which is probably the problem: Warner's catalog contains about a billion movies, a lot of which would make money, so nobody gives a shit about The Devils.

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MichaelB
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Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#725 Post by MichaelB » Tue Jun 26, 2018 10:55 am

Criterion would put it out in a heartbeat, and I’d be astonished if they hadn’t made enquiries.

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