Criterion Collection

[Randall]

Good grief, yes. I don't know if I need Fellini, but it's yet another big box set to consider. But I think my wish list is already full for November. I am still getting caught up, and Bruce ate up a lot of budget this time around.

Ben and I placed our order at Canada's Unobstructed View. Just 40% off, but free shipping for me and no duty. I grabbed the Lee box, of course. I got Showboat on a preorder sale earlier. War of the Worlds was my most exciting pick, though it's on backorder along with Leave Her to Heaven. I also got Dance, Girl, Dance, for the early Lucille Ball appearance.

[Ben]

Just for the record...

Bruce Lee
The Graduate (finally...its a long story)
The Lady Eve
Fail Safe
The Cameraman
The Great Escape
The Grand Budapest Hotel (from Rand's previous Show Boat-acquiring sale)
In The Heat Of The Night
War Of The Worlds

Fellini? Hmmm...kind of glad I didn’t pick up 8 1/2 now, but wonder if I need another big set like that. I don’t have the Bergman yet either, but have been catching the occasional film and can’t say that they’re repeaters that I feel I need on disc or would gather pals around for a movie night and say "hey, you gotta watch this!"

But Fellini makes a good movie, mostly. Whether I need them is another matter, especially with Covid looming on the finances and, again, a lack of true repeaters in there. Eager to see the contents though... Here we go again!

[Dan]

Essential Fellini is 15 discs and contains the following:

Variety Lights (Previously out of print, First time on Blu ray)
The White Sheik (Previously out of print, First time on Blu ray)
I vitelloni (First time on Blu ray)
La strada (Became unavailable recently, First time on Blu ray)
Il bidone (New to Criterion Collection)
Nights of Cabiria (Previously out of print, First time on Blu ray)
La dolce vita
8 1/2
Juliet of the Spirits (First time on Blu ray)
Fellini Satyricon
Roma
Amarcord
And the Ship Sails On (First time on Blu ray)
Intervista (New to Criterion Collection)

Special Features:

• New 4K restorations of 11 theatrical features, with uncompressed monaural soundtracks for all films

• New digital restorations of the short film Toby Dammit (1968) and the television film Fellini: A Director’s Notebook (1969), with uncompressed monaural soundtracks

• Feature documentaries Fellini: I’m a Born Liar (2002) and Marcello Mastroianni: I Remember (1997), the latter presented in its 193-minute version

• Two-hour, four-part 1960 interview with director Federico Fellini by filmmaker André Delvaux for Belgian television

• Four behind-the-scenes documentaries: Reporter’s Diary: “Zoom on Fellini” (1965), Ciao, Federico! (1969), The Secret Diary of “Amarcord” (1974), and Fellini racconta: On the Set of “And the Ship Sails On” (1983)

• Fellini racconta: Passegiatte nella memoria, a 2000 documentary featuring interviews with a late-in-life Fellini

• Giulietta Masina: The Power of a Smile, a 2004 documentary about Fellini’s wife and frequent collaborator

• Once Upon a Time: “La dolce vita,” a French television documentary about the film

• Audio commentaries on six of the films

• Program from 2003 on Fellini's 1980s television advertising work

• Archival interviews with Fellini stars and collaborators, including Mastroianni, Sandra Milo, Anouk Aimée, and Magali Noël

• Archival audio interviews by film critic Gideon Bachmann with Fellini, Mastroianni, and Fellini's friends and family

• Video essays, trailers, and more

• PLUS: Deluxe packaging, including two lavishly illustrated books with hundreds of pages of content: notes on the films by scholar David Forgacs, essays by filmmakers Michael Almereyda, Kogonada, and Carol Morley; film critics Bilge Ebiri and Stephanie Zacharek; and novelist Colm Tóibín, and dozens of images spotlighting Don Young’s renowned collection of Fellini memorabilia

Auto-buy for me. I only ever got Amarcord and 8 1/2 on blu and was lucky to nab White Sheik when I had the chance, so it's not much of a double-dip. But I'm actually surprised just now many Fellini films ever made it to blu.

[Randall]

I'm sure they're great films, but not really of my interests, especially with so many other discs still unwatched in my collection. I might check out one or two on the Channel when I can.

[Ben]

Of course this being a stacked release of an important filmmaker makes it a "must", but I’m with Rand and wonder just how *much* of a must it is. Like Rand, and probably most of us, I have so many discs sitting unwatched, and to be frank, much higher in my priorities for enjoyment and getting to earlier than some, and apart from the three or four Fellinis that I have seen (The White Sheik long ago, La strada, La dolce vita, 8 1/2), I must say that 8 1/2 aside, I usually find them a little bit of a slog to get through if I’m not in the right mood.

I may just stick with the singles for Vita and 8 1/2, though just as a set this is tempting, if only to see the other films and learn a lot more about the man. But *when* will it all be watched!??!!?

[Dan]

Resurrecting the thread as Criterion just announced they're gonna start putting out 4K releases beginning in November (in time for the next Barnes and Noble sale).

Kicking off the releases is a biggie in Citizen Kane, which is a return for what was the very first Criterion release ever via laserdisc. Also getting the 4K treatment in November will be upgrades for The Red Shoes, A Hard Day's Night, and Mulholland Drive, another returning entry Menace II Society, and new to Criterion in The Piano.

Welp, better get my clown shoes ready for November.

[Ben]

Kane may be a must, for their different extras (please please please license feature documentary The Complete Citizen Kane from the BBC, unseen since its broadcast), though I’ll be on the fence for Red Shoes and Hard Day's Night, neither of which I can see being significant updates due to the stock, although various places will go Gaga over the usual "shadow detail" and vibrant colors. Here, Shoes *might* be worth another look, but the titular footwear already pops on Criterion’s current BD, and it’s a spotless transfer. I haven’t been blown away enough by things like Oz in 4K to think that films from this vintage *all* really need new grades or can significantly look much better than a Blu.

Still…awesome that Criterion is jumping into 4K, and neat that they chose (and were able to) their first ever release as their first title on what will likely be the last physical format!

[Randall]

I am not 4K capable just yet, but this is cool news. The Kane collector's set Blu-ray from Warner was already pretty awesome, but I'll be interested to see what Criterion has up their sleeve.

[Ben]

Talking of sleeves, and not that I really have the space for it, but it might be quite cool if they did a LaserDisc replica package, with the three or four discs (4K, BD, extras) tucked into a 12" gatefold jacket, just as a one-off "landmark release".

As genuinely one of my favourite films, this one will all be about the extras for me. And I hope they get that BBC doc — although you're already covered there Rand m'boy, since I sent you a copy a few years back…not that you’ve ever watched it, probably, grumble grumble…

No, The Complete Citizen Kane is an awesome documentary, has stuff in it never repeated in other retrospectives, and comes from a time when such programs took the time to focus on their subject. It’s about 80 minutes or so and worth every minute! This is where I discovered the cult of Kane and a big part as to why the film remains one of my favourites.

[Dan]

The special features were announced and good news, Ben!

New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack

In the 4K UHD edition: One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and three Blu-rays with the film and special features

Three audio commentaries: from 2021 featuring Orson Welles scholars James Naremore and Jonathan Rosenbaum; from 2002 featuring filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich; and from 2002 featuring film critic Roger Ebert

The Complete “Citizen Kane,” (1991), a rarely seen feature-length BBC documentary

New interviews with critic Farran Smith Nehme and film scholar Racquel J. Gates

New video essay by Orson Welles scholar Robert Carringer

New program on the film’s special effects by film scholars and effects experts Craig Barron and Ben Burtt

Interviews from 1990 with editor Robert Wise; actor Ruth Warrick; optical-effects designer Linwood Dunn; Bogdanovich; filmmakers Martin Scorsese, Henry Jaglom, Martin Ritt, and Frank Marshall; and cinematographers Allen Daviau, Gary Graver, and Vilmos Zsigmond

New documentary featuring archival interviews with Welles

Interviews with actor Joseph Cotten from 1966 and 1975

The Hearts of Age, a brief silent film made by Welles as a student in 1934

Television programs from 1979 and 1988 featuring appearances by Welles and Mercury Theatre producer John Houseman

Program featuring a 1996 interview with actor William Alland on his collaborations with Welles

Selection of The Mercury Theatre on the Air radio plays

---

While not getting the 4K treatment (yet), another new addition coming in November is the complete Once Upon a Time in China series!

[Ben]

Thanks Dan — yes, yes, yes!! Great news, and you guys are in for a treat with The Complete Citizen Kane! It is seriously serious, and seriously awesome.

I was likely to get this anyway, but that seals it…though I’m slightly confused by the 1990 interviews date, since that looks like the original LD lineup, but that came out way earlier…? I remember seeing a promo of the Scorsese interview, since that’s what got me interested in looking into the LD format. I wonder how they will present these as I think they overlapped before with multiple switchable audio tracks from what I saw/remember.

Either way, this is going to be a great release for the extras alone, and it doesn’t overlap very much with the Warners Blu, which is nice. The only thing I can think of that would be cool is an HD update for RKO-281, though understandable that this wouldn’t make this particular release. Now let’s hope for that "Big Sleeve" four-disc LD replica jacket!

[Dacey]

I don't collect Criterion titles, but this one I will be getting for sure!

[Randall]

Well worth getting, while also worth keeping the big set from Warner. No shelf space saved, but we will be in Kane heaven.

And a Once Upon a Time in China set, too! Awesome. Now I'm glad that I had not yet picked up Eureka's trilogy release from the UK.

[Dan]

A notable thing about the November releases is that it looks like, beginning with those releases, Criterion will pause on releasing new DVDs. It would appear that physical releases from then on will be Blu-ray with the transition into 4K as they're able to.

[Ben]

I’m just glad that most of my Criterions are older, mainly b/w movies that wouldn’t benefit significantly from going 4K, so Kane apart (and as I said, that’s mainly for the extras), I won’t be updating my older titles, especially those that were recently 4K restored already and will look comparable anyway with upscaling.

Yeah…I just checked, and I don't really have anything from the 1970s onwards that I would need — except *maybe* Brazil, and even that’s debatable given the soft look it was shot with (I remain totally unimpressed with CE3K's 4K), and anything earlier will do me fine on BD for the one or two times I am ever likely to watch them again in my lifetime.

New titles I’ll look at on a case by case basis, but then I usually wait for the sales anyway!