Criterion has announced that a pile of StudioCanal titles will go OOP in March, with rights going to Lionsgate. I knew the two weeks hence StudioCanal Collection Blu-rays (Ran, Contempt) were something of a precursor to this. Most notable among the disappearing are Grand Illusion (spine #1), Le corbeau, Pierrot Le Fou (second Blu to go!), Alphaville, Carlos Saura's Flamenco Trilogy and Peeping Tom. I'm not optimistic about Lionsgate handling these titles, but I'm open to being proven wrong. A full list with Amazon/Criterion prices (and links) follows after the jump.
"Have you heard the terrible news?"
I've listed links for both keeping in mind that Amazon often cuts their prices to match or beat competitors on top of the fact that one may run out of some of these before the other. I will update this post with pricing changes and updates over the coming weeks, so either bookmark this page or keep an eye on my Twitter feed.
My passion for home video and for Criterion specifically is born of the fact that this is the only way people will be introduced to classic movies in an era of ever-fewer repertory and retrospective screenings. Speaking of, there is a screening of Tati's Trafic in Chicago on the 13th & 15th of February.
I'm re-arranging my writing schedule for the day to get my Pierrot le fou review done a week ahead of when I'd planned. It should hit in the morning.
Eclipse
Carlos Saura's Flamenco Trilogy (Blood Wedding, Carmen, El Amor Brujo) [$37.49 Amazon/$30.96 Criterion Store]
This is the first Eclipse set to go out of print, and it's a blow to the Collection. Carmen is one of my favorite films: at once a dance film and a surreal romantic classic.
Criterion editions
Godard's Alphaville [$24.99 Amazon/$18.96 Criterion Store]
Spine Number 25 was Godard's surrealist science fiction classic, one of the least "conventional" films ever made.
Clouzot's Le corbeau [$26.99 Amazon/$18.96 Criterion Store]
This came out before Wages of Fear and caused the director no end of ill will at home in France from both the Vichy surrender monkeys and the liberal opposition. Once upon a time in Nazi-occupied France, it was unpopular to be anti-Gestapo.
Coup de torchon [$27.99 Amazon/$18.96 Criterion Store]
A bumbling police chief (Philippe Noiret) turned killer and his mistress (Isabelle Huppert) go on the run in French West Africa.
Bresson's Diary of a Country Priest [$35.99 Amazon/$26.96 Criterion Store]
Bresson's fourth film about a priest summarily rejected by his new parish. At least we didn't also lose Au hasard Balthasar, my favorite Bresson.
Carol Reed's The Fallen Idol [$23.99 Amazon/$18.96 Criterion Store]
The third collaboration between Carol Reed and writer Graham Greene (after The Third Man and Our Man in Havana). As one of the post-rebranding titles, I was really hoping to see a Blu-ray of this eventually. Alas and alack.
Clement's Forbidden Games [$26.99 Amazon/$18.96 Criterion Store]
Winner of a special Foreign Language Academy Award, this Rene Clement "loss of innocence" film from 1952 features a girl whose family and dog are killed by the Nazis. She is taken in by the family of a young boy. They team up to found their own little animal graveyard where they start burying all sorts of animals they find. They court trouble by stealing crosses...
Renoir's Grand Illusion [$32.49 Amazon/$26.96 Criterion Store]
The biggest hole in the Collection will now be the first spine number. If a film studies professor never showed this to you in an introduction to film course, they are a failure to academia. Erich von Stroheim's be-gloved supporting performance as von Rauffenstein is still brilliant. It kinda breaks my heart that Criterion may never do a deluxe re-do of this one for Blu-ray.
Cocteau's Orphic Trilogy (The Blood of a Poet, Orpheus, Testament of Orpheus) [$62.49 Amazon/$58.96 Criterion Store]
Cocteau's subversive trilogy spread across 29 years (1930, 1949, 1959) includes his final film.
Powell/Pressburger's Peeping Tom [$32.49 Amazon/$26.96 Criterion Store]
Another heartbreaker, this film was reviled at the time of release but is now considered an all-time great. It is still shamelessly ripped off by student (and professional) filmmakers to this day.
Godard's Pierrot le fou (Blu-ray) [$25.99 Amazon/$26.96 Criterion Store]
Godard's Pierrot le fou (DVD) [$35.49 Amazon/$26.96 Criterion Store]
Only a few weeks ago, I ordered this one myself, and it's crushing that it is going out of print less than a year after release. This is the second Criterion Blu-ray to go out of print (after The Third Man). It's one of the best uses of Jean-Paul Belmondo, and one of the last collaborations between Anna Karina and her ex-husband, Jean-Luc Godard. I was going to review this next week, but now's the time. The Blu-ray is the way to go, even if you don't have the equipment. Get it now or (possibly) never.
Port of Shadows [$27.49 Amazon/$23.96 Criterion Store]
A favorite of Carl Theodor Dreyer, it makes a brief appearance in Atonement.
Clouzot's Quai des Orfevres [$26.99 Amazon/$23.96 Criterion Store]
This untranslated title refers to a famous Paris police precinct. Clouzot's followup to Le corbeau is a jealous husband/actress wife story that shouldn't be ignored due to a perplexing-to-Americans title.
Powell/Pressburger's The Small Back Room [$35.99 Amazon/$26.96 Criterion Store]
The followup Powell/Pressburger project to The Red Shoes was not only done in black & white, but much more an individual character study. If it helps encourage anyone to seek it out, I'd call it something of a spiritual precursor to The Hurt Locker (the main character is a bomb disposal expert). This is one of the best WWII movies you've probably never seen.
Powell/Pressburger's The Tales of Hoffmann [$29.99 Amazon/$26.96 Criterion Store]
I have two words for you: Powell/Pressburger. I have four more words for you: Martin Scorsese commentary track. Click the link, it describes it better than I can here.
Tati's Trafic [$35.49 Amazon/$26.96 Criterion Store]
It's difficult to put into words how much I wanted there to be a Blu-ray edition of this, the last Monsieur Hulot movie, so I won't try. The next thing that comes to mind is, "does StudioCanal also own M. Hulot's Holiday and Mon oncle?" Anyone budgeting for this Get It While It Lasts Sale should have this on their acquisition list. There's a 2-hour 1989 doc about Hulot on here. That should be enough for Tati aficionados.
Le trou [$26.99 Amazon/$18.96 Criterion Store]
"The Hole" is the true story of five inmates tunneling to freedom. The director died months after finishing the movie, and one of the real-life participants acted in the movie. Most of the cast are non-actors.
Fellini's The White Sheik [$29.49 Amazon/$18.96 Criterion Store]
A slapstick comedy was Fellini's solo directorial debut. Nino Rota did the score, and his wife Giulietta Masina acts.
Essential Art House editions
The Essential Art House collection are all movie-only, and I'm leaving out links for now in the interest of getting this posted. Criterion started this series so that people interested in just the movie could get their hands on it. Titles denoted with a (*) are also OOP in their Criterion editions.
Forbidden Games* [$17.99 Amazon/$10.96 Criterion Store]
Gervaise [$17.49 Amazon/$10.96 Criterion Store]
Grand Illusion* [$17.99 Amazon/$10.96 Criterion Store]
Le jour se leve [$19.49 Amazon/$10.96 Criterion Store]
Last Holiday [Amazon/$10.96 Criterion Store]
Mayerling [$17.99 Amazon/$10.96 Criterion Store]
The Tales of Hoffmann* [$17.99 Amazon/$10.96 Criterion Store]
Variety Lights [$17.99 Amazon/$10.96 Criterion Store]
The Criterion edition is already OOP, but Amazon will still let you order the Criterion version for $26.99 even though it shows as "Temporarily Out of Stock".
The HD Guide's Out of Print Watch is designed to give a head's up to collectors and fans of movies that are going out of print before they're hard to find, over-priced, or both.
