Criterion's February slate (1 Viewer)

[Jon Robertson]

La commare secca

Thieves Highway

Night and the City

Tout va bien

My Own Private Idaho

Not everything I was hoping for, I have to say (where's all that Bunuel, John Ford, Mizoguchi, Bresson and Welles we know is stacked up waiting to get released?)

 

[Walter Kittel]

Night and the City. Yes! Another big title on my wish list is finally announced. Also looking forward to Dassin's Thieves Highway.

Sorry it isn't your cup of tea Jon ( and thanks for the post ) but that is a pretty solid lineup. Having more works from Dassin, Goddard, Bertolucci, and Van Sant on DVD is a good thing.

Since Fox has seen fit to license Night and the City, Thieves Hightway, and Pickup on South Street to Criterion, hopefully they will continue to license more of their noirs to them.

- Walter.

 

[Jon Robertson]

I'm pretty sure Fox's home-grown Noir line will be pretty damn fantastic (and roughly 1/3 of the price of Criterion's discs to boot). Besides, Criterion have done so much gangster/crime/noir-type stuff recently, I'd love to see them license some other films from Fox, like Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter, Bigger Than Life, Seventh Heaven (the Frank Borzage silent, not the TV show) or a full-blown SE of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (astoundingly, Criterion have never released anything by Howard Hawks, even on laserdisc).

I am pretty keen on My Own Private Idaho and Night and the City, but I was really hoping for things that Criterion seem to have had under their belt for a long time, like Young Mr Lincoln, Ugetsu, F for Fake, Pickpocket, Au Hazard Balthazar and The Phantom of Liberty.

 

[Bradley-E]

Seems Odd that Fox would license Night and the City and such considering they are releasing a batch of Noir titles themselves. I look forward to them regardless of who releases them, the only issue is that Fox would sell them for then $10 - $15 range while Criterion will be more.

 

[Peter M Fitzgerald]

Woo hoo! My top two most-wanted Fox noirs, NIGHT & THE CITY and THIEVES HIGHWAY, released simultaneously! Though the lower price-point they'd have gotten as in-house Fox releases would've been nice, these two flicks are easily well worth shelling out for the higher Criterion price (after some on-line bargain-hunting, natch!).

Hopefully, Fox will take on their other noirish stuff like FOURTEEN HOURS, ROAD HOUSE (1948), CRY OF THE CITY, etc, under their own label, however.

 

[Marc Colella]

The Dassin's are nice, but I'm sure we'll be paying twice as much (at least) as we would have if Fox were releasing them.

Almost had a heart-attack when I saw the name "Bertolucci"... thinking it might be il Conformista.

Other than the Dassin's, not really interested in the rest.

 

[Derek Estes]

This is an over-whelming line-up! The two Dassins are at the top of my list, These are two of my favorite Film Noir. I am excited to see how good the print of Thieves Highway looks, the only version I have ever seen was a terrible bootleg video that was various shades of Pink and Purple. With the Warners Gangster Collection, the Fox Noir line, and these Criterion Films released within weeks of each other, I am going to be in movie heaven, which is O.K. because then I won't notice I'm broke.

 

[PaulP]

Can't have a Criterion announcement thread without cover art (some won't show up just yet), it's like a rule:

 

[Herb Kane]

It's great to see all the "noirheads" coming out of the woodwork... Seriously though, this is terrific news and has made my week.

Bradley... I suspect the reason is as simple as the sheer amount of noir titles 20th Century Fox has. While WB would be sitting on the majority of them through their own releases and those produced by RKO, MGM and many of the A.A. films, Fox would be a close second with dozens upon dozens waiting to be picked. I'm sure they're going to test the waters come February or March before they rush to release everything at once.

Thanks Jon.

 

[Thomas T]

Apparently Night And The City was released in Britain with a score by Benjamin Frankel and released in America with a score by Franz Waxman. It would be nice if Criterion released both audio tracks.

 

[Jim_K]

Excellent news. I'll be picking up Night and the City & Thieves Highway.

 

[John Hodson]

Ditto!

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

Great films, but I was expecting some Tati in February. I can't wait to finally get Night and the City, though!

 

[SteveGon]

What Jim said. January and February are shaping up to make me a poor man...

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

"Night And The City"

"Thieves' Highway"

...

I've never seen either of these films but am a HUGE fan of classic American noir.

Would you guys reccommend a blind purchase on these titles?



PS - Wasnt "Night And The City" remade in the early 90's w/ Deniro?

How was that?

 

[Jon Martin]

Wow, all the NIGHT AND THE CITY FANS.

Am I the only one more excited over TOUT VA BIEN (which never even got a VHS release) and MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO (one of the most visually inventive films of the last 20 years)?

Also have to add BIEN has JLG's LETTER TO JANE film on it as well. Very cool.

IDAHO is a two disc set. Don't know what the extras will be. Those that are listed on the site don't seem to be enough to warrant a second disc.

 

[AlexHL]

I'm also excited about Idaho, Jon. It's been a long time coming..

So far I've seen three movies of Jules Dassin (Rififi, Naked City, Brute Force). I found them okay but not that great.

 

[Peter M Fitzgerald]

"I hold here, in the palm of my hand, the means to control wrestling in ALL London!"

-Harry Fabian (Richard Widmark), NIGHT & THE CITY

 

[Will*B]

Whilst I welcome any new Godard additions to the Criterion library, I was kind of hoping for Pierrot le Fou or even La Femme Mariée. Oh well, maybe next time!

(Looking forward to Tout Va Bien though, despite it representing Godard moving into his early 70's "rant at everything" phase, which personally I don't care for as much as his early 60's output).

 

[PaulP]

My Own Private Idaho cover is up.