This is more great news for me. I think I can actually put aside my laser disc conversion project and wait for the last few crucial titles to come out on DVD.
Of course this made sense as just about everything regarding Love Actually was obviously inspired by the works of Robert Altman - especially Short Cuts.
I'd really love to see this film again! This film has the special distinction to this day of being the film my sister always uses as an example of one she hates for being stupid and boring! I, of course, thought it was fantastic. It still brings tears to my eyes when I remember Andie McDowell saying:
and i thought i was coming in here to tell marc that "maybe he should consider putting question marks on thread titles, to avoid us getting excited for no reason" i cant wait for this one, should be great.
In my initial excitement I didn't even notice a director's commentary track wasn't listed. Although it would be nice if they could recycle the LD commentary, I have to say the list of extras announced so far is looking very very good. So many interesting features are listed there. (The only thing I personally might not be interested in is the advertising print materials, but if you're going to include the trailers, expanding the section on advertising materials makes sense if there is source material available. I'm sure collectors will be happy.)
It's been a long time since I saw this film, and I'll be more than happy to add a Criterion edition to my collection.
I'm not really sure it needs an Altman commentary. On the 3 Women track he already went into his theories and methods as a filmmaker quite admirably, I thought. Any anecdotes or working methods will, I'm sure, be covered in the new video interview with Tim Robbins or the 90-minute on-set documentary.
What is disappointing is that at this stage two audio discussions of the film by Michael Wilmington and Pauline Kael recorded for the LD appear to have been dropped for the DVD. These weren't screen-specific pieces that were only about an hour long each and discussed the film in more general terms (as far as I'm aware, Wilmington loved it, while Kael felt the movie was a disappointment), but were full of insight and food for thought on this highly complex film.
I can't believe Criterion would be so foolish as to veto the inclusion of Pauline Kael's only (sort-of) commentary. They don't need to be played alongside the film, and if they were included on the second disc, they'd take up less than the equivalent of four minutes of video (if they were encoded as mono tracks).
The commentary controversy keeps my laser version alive- at least until the dust settles. I'm glad to get the DVD- (no side flips,) But I do tend to sigh a bit of sadness as I lose another prized Laser off my shelve. (Short cuts was $$ and my wife gave me heck for buying it) I just dumped several Scorsese lasers and soon "Ed Wood". With that said, what's worse is when the new, replacement DVD contains just about everything, but not quite. (some Spielberg discs come to mind) Being forced to hold onto the laser for a few deleted scenes, a commentary, or an extra hour of the documentary is a drag. A special edition spread across two formats feels untidy.
So, please criterion, give us "The Player" with the works!
Are you guys sure that there was an Altman commentary on the LD? I'd swear that there isn't one, but if they drop the Wilmington & Kael audio tracks, I would be greatly disappointed.