kanedaa
24-10-2001, 04:23
Hi all.
Got the HTF Criterion chat report for you. I really enjoyed this one, unlike last weeks dire Warner chat (it wasn't just because I didn't know of/like many of the films announced, they were just really boring people!). Anyway, I missed a few mins due to reconnection on my crappy 56k, it was around Narshty's question so shouldn't have been too important :D
Definitely read the transcript when its up as they elaborated on most stuff, although I caught most of the interesting bits :)
Criterion Chat
General Stuff
Criterion/Universal relationship - what titles get chosen and why? "We've had a longstanding working relationship with Universal, and there are many films in their vaults that are worthy of great editions. We'd love to work on more, and we hope we will. The core answer to your question is that it has to make sense both to Universal and Criterion." goes on to say about licensing in general "We do appreciate many suggestions we receive, and we do often follow them up in our discussions with film libraries around the world, but its never possible for us to work on every film we'd like to"
The following statement sounded promising???
"As to 400 Blows and other Truffaut, some wishes do come true, so keep hoping"
Discreet Charm (think Narshty asked this one, recognised the name so I may have a report rival :D ) - Aware of subtitle issues and are working on it - suggested Narshty e-mail them regarding technical details and they'll get back to him and keep him upto date.
Monty Python & the Holy Grail Criterion Commentary and how it ended up on the Columbia Tristar DVD - they made an agreement with Columbia! (simple eh!).
Films/Announcements/In Production
Gave a little disclaimer 40mins in saying 'Titles mentioned here may be in the works but don't currently appear on the schedule.
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp - High Def master hopefully complete by end of year
Kenji Mizoguchi - none on schedule, but they are working on something - hope to have at least one new master by next year.
Solaris - 2002, no definite date yet.
Robert Bresson - bit of his work, likely to be Diary of a Country Priest, or Dames du Bois du Boulogne
The Devil and Daniel Webster - Yes (they can get hold of the restored 106min cut by Janus) and Yes it will be a Criterion DVD, and they're still on the lookout for better material. As for when - will take a lot of time and effort.
Kurosawa - several titles tentatively slated for 2002....
Rashamon - master taken longer than they hoped, rest of the title is finished though.
Red Beard, Ikiru and Dodeskaden all in the pipeline.
regarding Kurosawa source materials..."we work with the Japanese studios to find the best elements available. Very often we transfer these elements in Japan according to standards taht we make very clear and do additional digital work in the States. In other cases, we acquire pristine preprint elements, such as fine-grain masters and do the telecine here under our direct supervision".
Ran - another company owns this.
Dreams - don't own it.
Monterey Pop Box Set - Just made a deal with Eddie Kramer to do the sound mix. One of their biggest and most loaded releases of 2002. Only music based title in production, plans to make it a 3-disc set incorporating as much of the festival as possible. Pennebaker crew shot everything, hope to be able to present the complete Monterey experience. Will be some extras but core of the project is the first ever complete presentation with amazing sound.
Children - Expected January, official announcement soon.
Spellbound - Later in 2002/mid 2002 (they said both).
La Dolce Vita - in discussions with Artisan, hope for the best.
Last Wave (Peter Weir) "is wrapping up nicely. We're helping Peter Weir put together new materials for Cars that Ate Paris, and you should get a good version on DVD soon. I believe it will be coming out from Home Vision as part of their line.."
The Game - distinct possibility, thats it though.
Tales of Hoffman - film elements issue, a new IP may be needed so they are far from a master.
Knife in the Water - delayed for Polanski's schedule
Eisenstein Silent Box - hopefully due before end of 2002. Much work needed, new scores, film restoration, additional digital stuff etc.
Man Bites Dog - will happen, nothing scheduled though.
Ballad of a Soldier and Cranes are Flying Right Now - Russian films being worked on. Asked for suggestions, maybe Michael Brook ought to mail them.
Suggestions they seemed to like
Spriits of the Beehive - distinct possibility, but NO plans at all yet.
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (Sergei Parajanov)
Adventures of Prince Achmed (Silent animated film from germany) - belongs to Milestone so could be coming from Image.
Pandoras Box (determined to see a good release but will take a long time)
A Matter of Life and Death & Double Indemnity - would like to do em but the opportunity hasn't arose.
Studio Ghibli titles - Disney own them, they haven't discussed it with Disney so its not out of the question and they feel they would fit in well with the Criterion Collection.
Wise Blood - going to look into it.
Pistol Opera (Seijun Suzuki) - Love to release it but as its brand new they have no definite plan but are looking into it. In negotiations about it apparently, but they don't talk about negotiations!
Seijun Suzuki - possibly release one or two of his films currently available on tape from Home Vision on DVD in the future.
Hong Kong/Japanese Cinema - asked for people to e-mail suggestions/use the HTF feedback forum - seemed interested in Takeshi Miike (Audition).
Von Triers films - looking into deals, nothing solid yet.
Unlikely to happen - didn't start taking notes on these till near the end (sorry).
Gojira - not possible
Night at the Opera - not likely in the near future
Trainspotting - don't have the rights
English Patient - don't have the rights
John Woo titles - don't have the rights.
Olympia - not on the slate.
Evita - belongs to another studio.
I didn't actually ask a question (too slow) but most of the important stuff was covered (I think?)....
I was shocked when they said they hadn't discussed Miyazaki/Ghibli with Disney as I swear in a previous chat transcript someone asked them the same questions regarding any possibilities! Someone suggested Grave of the Fireflies, response to which was "GRAVE is an extraordinarily moving film - thanks for the suggestion".
Great Kurosawa news, shame they never properly mentioned Thone of Blood, plenty of people asked but no-one got a straight answer on that one (BFI here I come!).
useless piece of info - I got 4 shipping notices from TAU during the chat :)
dave.
Got the HTF Criterion chat report for you. I really enjoyed this one, unlike last weeks dire Warner chat (it wasn't just because I didn't know of/like many of the films announced, they were just really boring people!). Anyway, I missed a few mins due to reconnection on my crappy 56k, it was around Narshty's question so shouldn't have been too important :D
Definitely read the transcript when its up as they elaborated on most stuff, although I caught most of the interesting bits :)
Criterion Chat
General Stuff
Criterion/Universal relationship - what titles get chosen and why? "We've had a longstanding working relationship with Universal, and there are many films in their vaults that are worthy of great editions. We'd love to work on more, and we hope we will. The core answer to your question is that it has to make sense both to Universal and Criterion." goes on to say about licensing in general "We do appreciate many suggestions we receive, and we do often follow them up in our discussions with film libraries around the world, but its never possible for us to work on every film we'd like to"
The following statement sounded promising???
"As to 400 Blows and other Truffaut, some wishes do come true, so keep hoping"
Discreet Charm (think Narshty asked this one, recognised the name so I may have a report rival :D ) - Aware of subtitle issues and are working on it - suggested Narshty e-mail them regarding technical details and they'll get back to him and keep him upto date.
Monty Python & the Holy Grail Criterion Commentary and how it ended up on the Columbia Tristar DVD - they made an agreement with Columbia! (simple eh!).
Films/Announcements/In Production
Gave a little disclaimer 40mins in saying 'Titles mentioned here may be in the works but don't currently appear on the schedule.
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp - High Def master hopefully complete by end of year
Kenji Mizoguchi - none on schedule, but they are working on something - hope to have at least one new master by next year.
Solaris - 2002, no definite date yet.
Robert Bresson - bit of his work, likely to be Diary of a Country Priest, or Dames du Bois du Boulogne
The Devil and Daniel Webster - Yes (they can get hold of the restored 106min cut by Janus) and Yes it will be a Criterion DVD, and they're still on the lookout for better material. As for when - will take a lot of time and effort.
Kurosawa - several titles tentatively slated for 2002....
Rashamon - master taken longer than they hoped, rest of the title is finished though.
Red Beard, Ikiru and Dodeskaden all in the pipeline.
regarding Kurosawa source materials..."we work with the Japanese studios to find the best elements available. Very often we transfer these elements in Japan according to standards taht we make very clear and do additional digital work in the States. In other cases, we acquire pristine preprint elements, such as fine-grain masters and do the telecine here under our direct supervision".
Ran - another company owns this.
Dreams - don't own it.
Monterey Pop Box Set - Just made a deal with Eddie Kramer to do the sound mix. One of their biggest and most loaded releases of 2002. Only music based title in production, plans to make it a 3-disc set incorporating as much of the festival as possible. Pennebaker crew shot everything, hope to be able to present the complete Monterey experience. Will be some extras but core of the project is the first ever complete presentation with amazing sound.
Children - Expected January, official announcement soon.
Spellbound - Later in 2002/mid 2002 (they said both).
La Dolce Vita - in discussions with Artisan, hope for the best.
Last Wave (Peter Weir) "is wrapping up nicely. We're helping Peter Weir put together new materials for Cars that Ate Paris, and you should get a good version on DVD soon. I believe it will be coming out from Home Vision as part of their line.."
The Game - distinct possibility, thats it though.
Tales of Hoffman - film elements issue, a new IP may be needed so they are far from a master.
Knife in the Water - delayed for Polanski's schedule
Eisenstein Silent Box - hopefully due before end of 2002. Much work needed, new scores, film restoration, additional digital stuff etc.
Man Bites Dog - will happen, nothing scheduled though.
Ballad of a Soldier and Cranes are Flying Right Now - Russian films being worked on. Asked for suggestions, maybe Michael Brook ought to mail them.
Suggestions they seemed to like
Spriits of the Beehive - distinct possibility, but NO plans at all yet.
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (Sergei Parajanov)
Adventures of Prince Achmed (Silent animated film from germany) - belongs to Milestone so could be coming from Image.
Pandoras Box (determined to see a good release but will take a long time)
A Matter of Life and Death & Double Indemnity - would like to do em but the opportunity hasn't arose.
Studio Ghibli titles - Disney own them, they haven't discussed it with Disney so its not out of the question and they feel they would fit in well with the Criterion Collection.
Wise Blood - going to look into it.
Pistol Opera (Seijun Suzuki) - Love to release it but as its brand new they have no definite plan but are looking into it. In negotiations about it apparently, but they don't talk about negotiations!
Seijun Suzuki - possibly release one or two of his films currently available on tape from Home Vision on DVD in the future.
Hong Kong/Japanese Cinema - asked for people to e-mail suggestions/use the HTF feedback forum - seemed interested in Takeshi Miike (Audition).
Von Triers films - looking into deals, nothing solid yet.
Unlikely to happen - didn't start taking notes on these till near the end (sorry).
Gojira - not possible
Night at the Opera - not likely in the near future
Trainspotting - don't have the rights
English Patient - don't have the rights
John Woo titles - don't have the rights.
Olympia - not on the slate.
Evita - belongs to another studio.
I didn't actually ask a question (too slow) but most of the important stuff was covered (I think?)....
I was shocked when they said they hadn't discussed Miyazaki/Ghibli with Disney as I swear in a previous chat transcript someone asked them the same questions regarding any possibilities! Someone suggested Grave of the Fireflies, response to which was "GRAVE is an extraordinarily moving film - thanks for the suggestion".
Great Kurosawa news, shame they never properly mentioned Thone of Blood, plenty of people asked but no-one got a straight answer on that one (BFI here I come!).
useless piece of info - I got 4 shipping notices from TAU during the chat :)
dave.