Criterion U.K.

[torgones]

No July announcement??

[dwk]

Not that I've seen.

In fact, the most recent news I've seen is Smooth Talk has been delayed and will be out in June instead of May.

[rapta]

Weird no announcements for July...very disappointing, was hoping for more titles from Warner Bros (e.g. After Hours, Barry Lyndon, Malcolm X, Blow-Out) and MGM (e.g. Raging Bull, Thelma & Louise, Blue Velvet, The Great Escape) at some point this year but the silence is disconcerting.

[rapta]

Got an email response from Jon Mulvaney stating "we are committed to keeping Criterion in the UK and are taking an extended summer break while we change distributors. Stay tuned for new title announcements for the Fall and thanks for your support!"

So that's something, at least...

[dwk]

I assume this means Sony is stopping distribution services in the UK.

[rapta]

Great news, seems that Spirit Entertainment has emerged as the new distributor for Criterion in the UK, as evidenced by this BBFC submission for After Hours.

Great news that they're returning with a title I actually would pre-order, let's keep that momentum up! That Tod Browning set would make a nice Christmas gift to myself...

[yoloswegmaster]

Freaks was submitted to the BBFC for a home video rating today by Spirit Entertainment, so it seems like a U.K. release will be coming as well.

[yoloswegmaster]

Listings for the release of After Hours on 4K UHD and the Tod Browning set have been found on Amazon UK.

[tenia]

The £29.99 price tag for the UHD/BD release seems crazily high to me, but I suppose it was predictable when the standard BDs are already non-sensically priced at £23 anyway.

[yoloswegmaster]

It doesn't seem that high in comparison to the £25 that Arrow charges for the standard edition for their 4K releases, which doesn't even include the BD disc or a booklet.

[dwk]

£29.99 converts to $38.18. So the UK UHDs are $11 cheaper than the US UHDs

[rapta]

Very glad to see Criterion back in the UK with two of the biggest FOMO announcements of recent months. I have immediately pre-ordered both from Amazon, and since I had a promo on my account, splashed out the extra £7 to 'future-proof' my copy of After Hours (it's Scorsese, so I'll bite). They'll be this year's birthday present to myself! I've never seen Freaks in full, let alone the other two Browning films, so this will be fun I'm sure.

Let's hope they continue with more Warner Bros titles soon (personal requests: Barry Lyndon, Malcolm X, Blow-Up, High Sierra, The Asphalt Jungle; I'd even double-dip on Citizen Kane and McCabe & Mrs Miller actually), but there are plenty from the other studios too such as Sony (The Last Picture Show, One False Move) and MGM (Raging Bull, Thelma & Louise, The Silence of the Lambs, Blue Velvet, The Great Escape, Some Like it Hot etc) as there's not much left from Universal (mostly just a few older titles). No idea if Paramount UK will play ball, but if I were Criterion I'd start hassling them for UK rights and finally release Days of Heaven (for example).

[tenia]

£29.99 converts to $38.18. So the UK UHDs are $11 cheaper than the US UHDs

US Criterion UHDs are sold $34.99 on Amazon.com all year long (except when at 50% off) so the UK ones actually are $3 more expensive. I don't recall the UK having 50% Criterions sales but smaller savings only (33%, IIRC) so there is also that.

We also don't know how the UK-specific oncost for digipack releases might go on on BDs and be applied on UHD releases, so it might very well be that a Thelma & Louise type UHD release would be priced around £34.99, while the US one still is sold $34.99.

It doesn't seem that high in comparison to the £25 that Arrow charges for the standard edition for their 4K releases, which doesn't even include the BD disc or a booklet.

I do think those Arrow price tags also are too high. I see for instance that Ringu LE UHD will be £22, Blackhat UHD also will be £22, Time Bandits, Weird Science, and a couple of others.

[dwk]

US Criterion UHDs are sold $34.99 on Amazon.com all year long (except when at 50% off) so the UK ones actually are $3 more expensive. I don't recall the UK having 50% Criterions sales but smaller savings only (33%, IIRC) so there is also that.

I assumed that £29.99 was the MSRP and Amazon has not discounted it. Am I wrong and the MSRP is more than £29.99?

[tenia]

It might be me that wrongly assumed there won't be a discount later, but with regular BDs at £23 already and BD preorders having always be straight away at the "discounted" prices (£18 then £23), it seemed very likely that this is what they're going to be sold at.

[dwk]

November 2023 releases:
Last Picture Show (UHD or Blu-ray)
One False Move (UHD or Blu-ray)

[yoloswegmaster]

November 2023 releases:
Last Picture Show (UHD or Blu-ray)
One False Move (UHD or (Blu-ray)

Both are 4K releases.

[dwk]

Yeah, that is what I mean, both are available on either UHD or Blu-ray.

[Stefan Andersson]

November 2023 releases:
Last Picture Show (UHD or Blu-ray)
One False Move (UHD or Blu-ray)

I wonder -- will the bluray be taken from the UHD master?

[rapta]

Yeah, that is what I mean, both are available on either UHD or Blu-ray.

Well, technically Dual Format (UHD + Blu-ray) or regular Blu-ray...

November 2023 releases:
Last Picture Show (UHD or Blu-ray)
One False Move (UHD or Blu-ray)

I wonder -- will the bluray be taken from the UHD master?

Good point...it's actually not clear in the specs whether this is just a repress of the 2010 Blu-ray disc with Texasville on a separate disc (with the "Introduction to Texasville" extra), or they're encoding entirely new discs for these two standalone editions. The Criterion site says "4K digital restoration of the director’s cut" on the UHD edition, but "High-definition digital restoration of the director’s cut" on the Blu-ray edition, which makes me wonder if this is just a standalone repress of the BBS disc with Texasville tacked on...

I'm sure some people who aren't set up for 4K and already own the BBS set might blindly buy the Blu-ray edition, only to find they actually just payed for Texasville...and similarly, some collectors might own both the BBS set and the Columbia Classics Collection: Vol. 3 set and will be wondering if it's worth buying this just for Texasville. Hopefully Criterion see this controversy coming down the line and actually bother to put the new master onto the Blu-ray.

EDIT: Okay, someone else has basically assured me my hunch is correct and this is basically a reissue of the BBS Story disc with Texasville added (2 cuts + new extras) and UHD disc of the main feature (for those that want the 4K bump). Since that's settled, I'm not gonna pre-order this, but may pick it up in a sale instead. Have gone for One False Move instead since that's an entirely new edition with no caveats, as well as being a film I'm excited to finally check out (much like After Hours).

[dwk]

Well, technically Dual Format (UHD + Blu-ray) or regular Blu-ray...

True.

I wonder -- will the bluray be taken from the UHD master?

The only UHD upgrades that used the new master on the included Blu-ray was Le cercle rouge and In the Mood for Love.

[M-A]

Well, technically Dual Format (UHD + Blu-ray) or regular Blu-ray...

True.

I wonder -- will the bluray be taken from the UHD master?

The only UHD upgrades that used the new master on the included Blu-ray was Le cercle rouge and In the Mood for Love.

+ The Seventh Seal. But that and ITMFL are only because they already had a remastered blu-ray in the boxsets

[dwk]

Wait, I thought The Seventh Seal used the older Blu-ray disc?

[yoloswegmaster]

The standalone 4K release uses the old master for the BD.

[cdnchris]

Yes, The Seventh Seal included the old 2009 disc, not the one from the set.