peerpee wrote:Not every film that is unavailable on DVD is immediately available to our fingertips for MoC release. For many reasons, from lack of a film restoration, to owners demanding "modern art" prices even just for access -- there are often huge obstacles.
Films that have been film restored and which become available to us often have a small window of opportunity where we can try and pick them up. For example, with F FOR FAKE -- a rare chance to get Welles in the MoC Series -- we snapped it up to bolster our range. Folk who buy F FOR FAKE might want to take a risk on ABHIJAN, TARTUFFE, MICHAEL, ASPHALT, etc etc.
Not to be petty, but half of our "Criterion overlaps" were released by us first --- PITFALL, THE FACE OF ANOTHER, FRANCESCO GIULLARE DI DIO, VENGEANCE IS MINE, SCANDAL, THE IDIOT, etc.
For these choices to be "bothersome" because there are "much better choices [for MoC release] than rehashes of already issued Criterion titles" completely ignores the situation here in the UK, and glosses over the day-to-day struggle to acquire acceptable materials. OliverB, are you American? -- Criterion releases are not readily available in UK stores.
Perpee, I'm Canadian actually and I think you might be misunderstanding my point of view although I do appreciate your input greatly.
All I ever stated in this thread, to the point where it's now simply getting repetitive, is that I simply hope that in future, it does not become a continual and prominent factor in the collection. I'm not terribly bothered by the odd overlaps here and there. Of course as an avid enthusiast and collector of MOC releases, I would hope it remain minimal. Though I'm very happy for titles like F For Fake which would bring in more sales and profits better spent towards remastering and releasing more films.
I am also not oblivious to the fact of rights ownership and licensing fees. I know it's not magic and you cannot simply snap your fingers and pull a dvd out of your sleeve. I'm sure there are dozens of tentative selections on your list for future releases that have not yet been lovingly restored and/or released on home video in the sort of packages that your company constantly produces. And
those are the sort of releases that I personally look forward to!
I just hope that in a year or two from now, when many of said titles are made available and the range of foreign and arthouse entries in your collection grows more extensive, that you will not turn your focus primarily to stuff that is already done by companies like Criterion.
I think everyone is simply reading into my statements wrongly. I'm just expressing the fact that I would PREFER to not see it become an expected or usual occurance or habit or what have you. And for the record, those that were done by your company first, with the exception of one or two titles, are the ones that I own the MOC releases of. I'm really just expressing my personal opinion here.
And btw, I am in fact happy with certain overlaps like KWAIDEN... in which MOC vastly improved upon Criterion's LACKLUSTER release (to say the least!)