MovieChat Forums > SubUrbia (1997) Discussion > Criterion DVD in the works

Criterion DVD in the works

posted 16 years ago by GuruAskew
18 replies | jump to latest

For years some of the major film studios would license their properties out to companies like Criterion, Anchor Bay, Shout Factory! etc. Universal would. Fox would. Disney would.

However, three major film companies had a firm non-licensing policy. These companies were Paramount, Sony and Warner Bros.

Though the DVD format is still beating Blu-Ray handily (and HD-DVD is obviously dead as a doornail) sales are dropping (this probably has as much to do with the economy as anything else. Again, Blu-Ray isn't much of a threat) and film studios are starting to turn to licensing their properties more than ever before. The studios are finding that getting a smaller piece of the pie by letting a smaller company tackle their unwanted properties is better than getting nothing at all.

Paramount was the first one to relent to companies like Criterion. Sony recently started, and now it seems as though Warner Bros., the last holdout in the "no-licensing" camp has finally caved.

Word of this started a few weeks ago when a handful of obscure titles wound up being announced for DVD release in the UK by Warner Bros but licensed to another company. In the past few days Criterion producer Kim Hendrickson appeared at a DVD release party and announced that they had Warner Bros. titles in the works.

A poster at the Criterionforum.org message boards emailed the Detour website and the webmaster Kirsten replied thusly:

There aren't any current plans for Before Sunset and Before Sunrise to be released on Criterion, but there is a Criterion SubUrbia disc in the works.

Thanks,
Kirsten

How great is that? A year ago we all wanted a Criterion "Bottle Rocket" but we couldn't have it because it was Sony. Now I have it on my shelf. Now Warner Bros. managed to get with the times and we're finally going to have the "lost" Linklater film on DVD.

I remember when Warner Bros. was promising to "out-Criterion Criterion" and as promising as that sounded I'm glad there's now no need. We'll be getting the real deal and it's almost like the wait was worth it.

By the way: here's the forum post: http://www.criterionforum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9359&s tart=25

[–] grandeprairieboy 16 years ago

I can't wait! It will be nice to finally see this on dvd...a criterion no less!!

[–] LiquidDrainerFilms 16 years ago

YES!!
I am so glad that Warner Bros and Paramount have decided to stop being greedy and stubborn!

SubUrbia is my 2nd favorite Linklater film, after Waking Life, so I cannot wait to see what kinds of amazing things Criterion does with it. I would love to see it with a commentary by Linklater and Bogosian. Maybe some deleted scenes or a director's cut too? There are several scenes (some that are pretty important) that got cut in the translation from play to (the released) film- I've always wondered if these scenes were shot for the movie, but left on the cutting room floor by studio execs who thought the scenes would make it less palatable to mainstream viewers (especially since they tried to sell the film as a comedy when really it isn't). Maybe now we'll find out, since Criterion cares about special features and director approval in a way that WB clearly does not!

Maybe this also means there is hope for some other out-of-print movies I love that have been buried by WB or Paramount- specifically Wim Wenders' Until The End of the World (it would be great to have a legal American release of the 4 1/2 hour uncut version) and Steven Soderbergh's Kafka (which he apparently re-worked into a director's cut form, which the studio has not seen fit to release).
Upgrades to some of the great films that have really poor-quality, featureless WB releases would be nice too- the VHS-quality, full-screen DVD of David Byrne's True Stories is the first one that comes to mind.

[–] turbo_monster 16 years ago

I can't wait for a dvd release of this movie. I have the criterion of Dazed and Confused and would love to add subUrbia to my collection.

[–] woodyallex 16 years ago

sweet mother of... i had nearly given up hope...

now i may be greedy, but having seen this movie 7 times in theatre, owning the vhs and not having seen the movie widescreen since the last time i saw it in theatres (now like 12 years ago), i feel justified in expecting all of these :

commentary by bogosian (maybe with linklater)
actor's commentary (ribisi zahn and katt would be nice, maybe linklater too)

and here's where i get crazy kids :

soundtrack commentary with sonic youth!!! and the soundtrack producer guy or whatnot....

plus of course normal deleted scenes featurette and whatnots....

hey, a guy can hope right?

[–] LoveTag 16 years ago

woodyallex said:

sweet mother of... i had nearly given up hope...

Took the words right out of my mouth!

Thank goodness Criterion is going to release this. (finally!)

[–] brand0000 16 years ago

I'd like to see a Criterion release of Gregg Araki's Nowhere.
personally.

www.myspace.com/stillborn_savior

[–] turbo_monster 16 years ago

Nowhere is awesome.

[–] SuperSonicX 16 years ago

I had to transfer "Nowhere" to DVD from a VHS tape.

Better than nothing, eh?

"Don't believe everything you hear on the radio." - Charles Foster Kane

[–] turbo_monster 16 years ago

I got my dvd of Nowhere of a torrent then made a dvd out of that.

[–] ccmcdowell 16 years ago

Actually you can buy Nowhere on DVD. I did the other day on Play.com. It was only 3 pounds! Am really looking forward to seeing it (it hasn't arrived yet).

Yay for a subUrbia DVD! I recorded it off tv a couple of years ago. Good film.

[–] LiquidDrainerFilms 16 years ago

Yeah, but the Nowhere DVD is region 2, and PAL, so for people in America without region-free and multi-system DVD players, it's a bit inconvenient, and just transferring their VHS copies of the film onto homemade DVDs is much easier.

It's a film that really should be available on DVD here too, so while I have no problem importing European DVDs of movies since I have the means to watch them, it's still not enough, since good movies should be accessible to everyone, not just people with multi-region/multi-system DVD players. The fact that a movie is available in Europe is no reason for American distributors to not care.

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] LiquidDrainerFilms 15 years ago

Why?
Criterion isn't just for really influential movies- it's also for really good independent or arthouse films that other studios wouldn't bother giving a quality release to. SubUrbia certainly falls into that category. Think about Chasing Amy and Kicking & Screaming: two loved-by-their-fans but lesser-seen mid-90's indie movies which were being neglected by their home studios, so Criterion came in and gave them the releases their fans wanted. If those two deserve Criterion, surely SubUrbia does as well, besides that it is the only unavailable film by a major indie filmmaker.

[–] alissak8 15 years ago

Unfortunately, it looks like we may never get Suburbia on Criterion. I emailed Linklater's production company and got the following response back when I emailed about the possibility:

"That's what Richard would like to do someday but as of now there are no plans to move forward with it."

Seems like they might have had plans for it at one time and they must have fell through.

[–] The_Manchurian_Nominee 15 years ago

You might want to forward that to Criterion and see what they say?

In their forum they say it's definitely in the works.

Do you always know why you do things?

[–] Savageman76 14 years ago

It's almost the end of 2010 and still no sign of a Criterion release. It was a cool idea but to bad it was only a dream.

[–] SuperSonicX 14 years ago

I imagine they'll use a high definition master; would love to have the Criterion on blu-ray..

"Don't believe everything you hear on the radio." - Charles Foster Kane

[–] coop032 14 years ago

Just put the damn thing on DVD so I can add it to my collection. Criterion or not, why can't they just print a fair amount of copies for those who want it? Same thing for Greg Araki's Nowhere.

Wow! They've got the Internet on computers now? - Homer Simpson