The Ice Storm From Criterion

Of all of Ang Lee's films, the one I like best is The Ice Storm, without a doubt - there's a great cast, a top drawer score, some astonishingly clever lighting courtesy of Frederick Elmes and... er... well... a great cast, a top drawer score and some astonishingly clever lighting. It can live alongside Sense and Sensibility and Crouching Tiger in my small Ang Lee DVD collection quite happily - and, I'm happy to report, this will be as a Criterion edition of the film

How do I know? Well, technically, I don't. Technically I'm just guessing - but the latest Criterion newsletter included the above image of keys and slogan and, frankly, I don't think they could possibly be referring to anything else.

Zombie Drew may have other ideas. He correctly identified the last Criterion clue as indicating Cornel Wilde's The Naked Prey for which I am now awarding him an imaginary gold star (which may, or may not, look just like Claire Danes, the star of David or the bath mat in Ozzy Osbourne's en suite depending on which Zombie Drew would prefer).

Charles Bryant Or William Dieterle? Or Cornel Wilde?

I assume the snake you can see below, from the latest Criterion newsletter, is indicating a DVD release for Salome. But which one? Charles Bryant's 1923 version? Or William Dieterle's 1953 interpretation? Or another Salome entirely?

Or... is it Cornel Wilde's The Naked Prey? A comment below suggests so...

Which I find a little disappointing.

White Dog Coming From Criterion

Samuel Fuller's long lost White Dog is coming home.

After nearly three decades of ill treatment at last somebody is going to take care of the final, and very possibly most powerful film of one of cinema's greats. And how do I know? The following was posted on Criterion's latest Eclipse newsletter:

In 2008 Criterion will release a Samuel Fuller movie that was deemed too controversial to release by its studio and that was allegedly based on the true story of a pet once owned by Breathless star Jean Seberg. Name the film and you'll be entered in a drawing to receive a free Criterion DVD of your choice. Two runners-up will receive Criterion T-shirts.

Don't send your entries to me, of course, but to Criterion.

Criterion Going On The Love Parade

The wacky animal teaser on this month's Criterion newsletter seems to suggest a forthcoming release for Ernst Lubitsch's The Love Parade. Excellent.

Two-Lane Blacktop From Criterion?

The latest Criterion newsletter seems to indicate an upcoming release of Monte Hellman's Two Lane Blacktop. At least I think so. What do you think?

I have a very nice version from Anchor Bay and it doesn't need to be replaced desperately, but I'm still keen to see what Criterion offer.

Edward Yang Has Died

Edward Yang - simply put, one of the very few greatest film directors of all time - has died, aged 59. He died on Friday, from 'complications from colon cancer'.

Yang's last film is perhaps his best known, Yi Yi or A One and a Two, at least in the UK and US. So far, it is the only film in his catalogue to be available through Criterion, though several prior DVD releases of the title featured a commentary track from Yang and if you don't want to stretch to Criterion prices, pick any of them up. His greatest film, I'm sure, was A Brighter Summer Day - I'm sure because it's definitely one of the five best films of all time.

I've never been able to find A Brighter Summer Day on DVD but I caught a TV screening years ago and, in one of my favourite trips to the cinema, saw it at the ICA shortly after the release of Yi Yi in England (me and about twelve other people - which has always annoyed me; where were you all?). If you ever have a chance to see this film - even if you'll have to drive a few hours to get to it - then do so.

Incredibly, over a hundred 'amateur' actors take on significant roles in Day across the four-hour running time. Yang managed to attain an almost entirely consistent, not to mention consistently compelling, convincing and fresh bank of performances.

Yang's grasp of mise en scene and montage were exemplary, his ambition and scope genuinely awe inspiring and the depth and sophistication of his characterisations and narrative and thematic construction belie only brilliance of cinematic thinking and understanding.

This came out in lumps, and was clunky, because I only found out the news seconds before writing the first words of the post. But I love Yangs films - love them - and I had to say something now, so that you know.

Two Bunuel Classics From Lionsgate

By my disreputable powers of recollection, neither Gran Casino or The Young One have been released on R1 DVD before, so Bunuel fans rejoice: Lionsgate are putting them together in the same 2-disc set and popping it out on August 7th.

Phillip Kemp has recorded a commentary for Gran Casino, Peter Evans and Isabel Santolalla will provide the same for The Young One. Seeing as the masters are coming from Studio Canal, expect a better quality than the shrugged-off Criterion Eclipse range at a directly comparable price point.

Two Men For The Third Man

Criterion have announced that Steven Soderbergh and Tony Gilroy have recorded a commentary track for their upcoming release of The Third Man. Sign me up.

Talking Turkey With Forster's Knife

Criterion's latest 'wacky animal' is above. What does it mean? Well, I think it's suggesting that Criterion will be releasing Pabst's version of The Threepenny Opera this Autumn. Superb. Sign me up now.

Criterion's Ace In The Hole

Billy Wilder's masterpiece Ace in the Hole - aka The Big Carnival - is coming to Criterion DVD. So says this penguin.

Criterion Coming To Berlin Alexanderplatz

Twitch have a nice, extensive piece about the release of the remastered Berlin Alexanderplatz. Curiously, however, they haven't mentioned Criterion's upcoming release of the whole epic heap later this year. The image below is their sort-of-announcement.

New Brazil Special Edition DVD On The Cards

According to Terry Gilliam himself, a new, Region 2 special edition DVD of Brazil is on the cards. He told Film 4's website, "I think Twentieth Century Fox are doing one, with some extras on it. I got involved with something about that recently, because they wanted to put all the Criterion extras on it, but I said, 'Well, not unless I get proper accounting on the film.' And I think the Criterion one is still the only one which includes the 'Love Conquers All' version. I'm quite keen on supporting Criterion because they're so good - they're very serious about what they're doing. Unlike the studios, trying to make as much money as possible, they really are serious archivists."

Well, yes. They are serious archivists - apart from when they're putting out unrestored versions of films at too-high price points. It looks to me like Criterion Eclipse is a sad, sorry scam, I'm afraid. Anybody who can use the internet and has a credit card can import these titles, almost always in better editions, very often at a lower price point. We've supported Criterion's overpriced discs in the past because of the restoration work carried out on the titles, and for their well curated supplements - Eclipse puts them more at the level we'd associate with much lesser publishers.

It isn't clear if the new Brazil disc will have any new or exclusive extra features, but it certainly doesn't seem so. Hopefully, however, the transfer will be worth the price tag alone.

Walsh, Coens, Mamoulian And Soderbergh Added To US National Film Registry

A list of this year's 25 additions to the National Film Registry (of America, that is) has been run in Variety, and it is a mixed bunch. Of course.

sex, lies and videotape and Fargo are the two higher-profile, recently-made additions, and I love them both dearly (though not as much as the same directors' Solaris and The Man Who Wasn't There, say). A couple of my favourite directors from the first 50 years of cinema scored a film each, too - Rouben Mamoulian's debut Applause taking a seat alongside Raoul Walsh's The Big Trail. I suspect John Wayne's inclusion secured Big Trail a slot, while Applause probably got the nod because of an overall affection for the whole backstage-musical subgenre.

The obligatory Hitchcock was Notorious. Hurrah!

Note that Halloween was also included - and rightly so, it's an A+ graded, bonafide masterpiece of the highest order. I wonder if Rob Zombie's remake will ever be so honoured...

Well, actually, no, I don't wonder that at all. If I'm being honest, I'm sure it won't be.

The Library of Congress are now charged with ensuring these films remain well preserved for all future generations. Hopefully the folk at Criterion Eclipse will take the hint and know where to find some decent prints that won't suffer from their skimping on the remastering.

Criterion's Eclipse

Long hinted at and now, finally, announced, Eclipse is the Criterion imprint dedicated to non-cleaned up, extras-free issues of films. That's right: Criterion will be releasing films that they have neither restored nor supplemented with additional materials. Sounds like an awful idea to me.

The price is set to be under $15 per film - but the films will be sold in box sets, of at least three a piece. So, for $45 you can buy a not-cleaned, barebones set of three movies on DVD - when, from a different publisher, I can buy plenty of lovely boxes of fully scrubbed, extra-heavy films for less (notably Warner Bros. or Star films in Asia).

The theory is, the Eclipse line will carry titles that are otherwise hard to find - though, truth be told, I expect this is going to mean titles that are hard to find if you can't be bothered to look very hard. With the wonder of online imports from every nook and cranny of the world of cinema, I doubt very much that Criterion are going to dig up any genuinely hard-to-get gems.

But I hope to proven wrong.

On a similar note, the film ick top tens for 2006 are on their way - alongside a list of 'Lost Classics' - films you really will find it hard to aquire on DVD. Let it double up as a wish list for Eclipse.