Criterion and IFC

News on Criterion and Janus Films.
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Jeff
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:49 pm
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Re: Criterion and IFC

#701 Post by Jeff » Mon Jan 13, 2014 11:01 pm

ianungstad wrote:IFC does seem to have North American rights.
Sounds like a done deal. In the Sundance festival guide, Sehring is listed as an executive producer and IFC's Lauren Schwartz is the media contact.

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Jeff
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Re: Criterion and IFC

#702 Post by Jeff » Sun Jan 19, 2014 6:46 pm

Jeff wrote:
ianungstad wrote:IFC does seem to have North American rights.
Sounds like a done deal. In the Sundance festival guide, Sehring is listed as an executive producer and IFC's Lauren Schwartz is the media contact.
Not so fast, says Deadline:
IFC has been involved in this since the beginning, but I am hearing that buyers will be there anyway. If there’s some big offer for theatrical distribution, conversations will ensue.

flyonthewall2983
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Re: Criterion and IFC

#703 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Tue Jan 21, 2014 10:46 pm

Off-topic, but what's the over-under on IFC changing their name since the channel has pretty much admitted that it doesn't stand for "Independent Film Channel" anymore?

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Yaanu
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Re: Criterion and IFC

#704 Post by Yaanu » Wed Jan 22, 2014 12:29 am

flyonthewall2983 wrote:Off-topic, but what's the over-under on IFC changing their name since the channel has pretty much admitted that it doesn't stand for "Independent Film Channel" anymore?
About the same as A&E, Bravo, TLC, or History Channel changing their names.

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Minkin
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Re: Criterion and IFC

#705 Post by Minkin » Wed Jan 22, 2014 1:48 am

flyonthewall2983 wrote:Off-topic, but what's the over-under on IFC changing their name since the channel has pretty much admitted that it doesn't stand for "Independent Film Channel" anymore?
Channel Drift

flyonthewall2983
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Re: Criterion and IFC

#706 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Thu Jan 23, 2014 12:53 pm

I mean the film studio.

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Ashirg
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Re: Criterion and IFC

#707 Post by Ashirg » Thu Feb 20, 2014 11:54 pm

IFC Films/MPI is releasing Is the Man Who Is Tall Happy? on May 13, 2014. No Criterion for that title.

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bainbridgezu
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Re: Criterion and IFC

#708 Post by bainbridgezu » Sat Feb 22, 2014 12:01 pm

MPI is releasing DVD editions of Claire Denis' Bastards and Michael Winterbottom's Everyday on April 8th.

ianungstad
Joined: Wed Mar 16, 2005 9:20 pm

Re: Criterion and IFC

#709 Post by ianungstad » Sun Mar 23, 2014 1:19 am

While Criterion has mostly ignored IFC's genre offerings; word on Jennifer Kent's The Babadook has been excellent. After Sundance it's sitting at a pretty lofty 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and 88% on metacritic. I haven't read a less than excellent review yet.

Trailer

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Ashirg
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Re: Criterion and IFC

#710 Post by Ashirg » Wed Apr 09, 2014 7:52 pm

MPI/IFC is releasing Koreeda's Like Father, Like Son on July 1. DVD only

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manicsounds
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Re: Criterion and IFC

#711 Post by manicsounds » Tue Apr 29, 2014 8:52 pm

Still don't see a listing for the "Like Father Like Son" DVD anywhere yet, but the Arrow Blu-ray is out. Unfortunately with non removable subtitles and no extras. Since Criterion already announced their July releases and this wasn't included, what are the chances now of a Criterion edition? Then again, Koreeda's previous "I Wish" is still DVD only in the US, right?

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RyanGallagher
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Re: Criterion and IFC

#712 Post by RyanGallagher » Tue Apr 29, 2014 9:58 pm

manicsounds wrote:Still don't see a listing for the "Like Father Like Son" DVD anywhere yet, but the Arrow Blu-ray is out. Unfortunately with non removable subtitles and no extras. Since Criterion already announced their July releases and this wasn't included, what are the chances now of a Criterion edition? Then again, Koreeda's previous "I Wish" is still DVD only in the US, right?
Right here

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FrauBlucher
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Re: Criterion and IFC

#713 Post by FrauBlucher » Wed May 21, 2014 12:01 pm


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bainbridgezu
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Re: Criterion and IFC

#714 Post by bainbridgezu » Sun Jul 20, 2014 3:15 pm

MPI will release Polanski's Venus in Fur on October 14

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tavernier
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Re: Criterion and IFC

#715 Post by tavernier » Sun Jul 20, 2014 3:19 pm

^ so no Blu-ray, I guess

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swo17
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Re: Criterion and IFC

#716 Post by swo17 » Sun Jul 20, 2014 3:30 pm

At least Artificial Eye is putting out a Blu-ray next week.

rrenault
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Re: Criterion and IFC

#717 Post by rrenault » Sun Jul 20, 2014 4:22 pm

Why did Venus in Fur do so poorly? It wasn't completely panned or anything, was it?

ianungstad
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Re: Criterion and IFC

#718 Post by ianungstad » Sun Jul 20, 2014 4:43 pm

Reviews were solid. Check out IFC's trailer on youtube. It's horrid.

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FerdinandGriffon
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Re: Criterion and IFC

#719 Post by FerdinandGriffon » Sun Jul 20, 2014 5:37 pm

I don't know about the trailer, but the film has its charms. Seigner and Amalric are very dextrous, agile, and funny, past the instant pleasures of the very meta casting. They're so good, in fact, that they carry the script at times I suspect it would like to limp a bit. But even if it's not as clever as it would like to be, it's still good fun, and the wordless coda is pure Polanski. I have no idea why it's flopped, as it's easily my favorite of his stage adaptations after Macbeth, and has a lot more personality than his last couple films in general.

ianungstad
Joined: Wed Mar 16, 2005 9:20 pm

Re: Criterion and IFC

#720 Post by ianungstad » Fri Sep 05, 2014 9:39 pm

From Hollywood Reporter:

More than a year ago in Cannes, IFC Films picked up rights to Abel Ferrara's Welcome to New York — a retelling of the downfall of former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn starring Gerard Depardieu. But now the controversial director known for such sexually explicit films as Bad Lieutenant is speaking out against his distributor, accusing executives of trying to compromise his film.

Ferrara is bristling at a letter he says he received from IFC svp Arianna Bocco telling the filmmaker to deliver an R-rated version of Welcome so that it could match the version to be released on Showtime during its pay TV window. The film, which screened in Cannes in May, is currently beyond the R-rated threshold (The Hollywood Reporter's review described it as a cross “between performance piece and soft-core porn").

For Ferrara, there's no backing down. “Welcome to New York is not being distributed in the U.S. because of this company, IFC, which I'm totally disgusted with," Ferrara tells THR in Venice, where he’s promoting his latest film, Pasolini, a biopic of Italian filmmaker, poet and novelist Pier Paolo Pasolini. "They knew from day one when they bought this film that they had the final version and that it wasn’t going to be changed."

But sources say sales agent Wild Bunch, which sold the film to IFC based on a 10-minute trailer, is contractually obligated to deliver an R-rated cut.

Ferrara, 63, who’ll be in Toronto for the Sept. 8 screening of Pasolini, sees the issue as indicative of a larger problem facing independent filmmakers. "I've f—ing had it with this corporate assault on the artists and the freedom of the artist, period. It's like a war against movies," he says. "Because 90 percent of the marketplace is owned by five guys masquerading as corporations. They're vultures and they're vampires, and they're trying to suck the blood out of the life of the filmmaking community."

IFC Films is owned and operated by AMC Networks.

“F— them and f— IFC and the Center. Any filmmaker that's worth anything should go and burn that theater down," he continued, referencing the New York cinema owned by IFC, which has been home to many of his works in the past.

"And as for my brother and sister filmmakers, don’t roll over to these punks,” he continued. “And don’t let Arianna Bocco and (Sundance Selects/IFC Films president) Jonathan Sehring and the other thousand just like them come on as big friends of the independent film community. They don’t give a shit about movies or the people that make them."

IFC wouldn't address Ferrara's accusations directly. But Sehring says IFC still plans to bring the film to the big screen despite the filmmaker's criticism. “We have been fans of Abel Ferrara for years and think he is an incredible filmmaker," Sehring said. "We supported his work on this particular film over several years in the production process and plan to release this riveting film early next year for U.S. audiences."

But Ferrara sees parallels between his own struggle and his latest subject, Pasolini. “If there’s anything to learn from Pasolini, it’s that he died for his films, man,” says Ferrara. “To re-cut these films is to destroy them. And to not give back to the film community is to destroy it."

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zedz
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Re: Criterion and IFC

#721 Post by zedz » Mon Sep 08, 2014 1:03 am

A non-graphic version of Welcome to New York would be completely pointless (and probably run under an hour!) What film did IFC think they were buying?

ianungstad
Joined: Wed Mar 16, 2005 9:20 pm

Re: Criterion and IFC

#722 Post by ianungstad » Sat Sep 13, 2014 4:24 pm

Some acquisition news out of Toronto:

Duke of Burgundy
(Peter Strickland). This has been getting rave reviews. Hopefully Criterion releases it. I was sort of surprised they passed Berberian Sound Studio off to MPI.
Phoenix (Christian Petzoid). Another film that's been getting fantastic reviews.
The Riot Club (Lone Scherfig). Hardly a disaster but reviews have been pretty middle of the road.

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domino harvey
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Re: Criterion and IFC

#723 Post by domino harvey » Sat Sep 13, 2014 4:46 pm

Nice! I'd love to see Petzold join the Criterion roster and hopefully get some good critical appraisal of his work in the extras

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colinr0380
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
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Re: Criterion and IFC

#724 Post by colinr0380 » Mon Sep 15, 2014 5:31 am

ianungstad wrote:The Riot Club (Lone Scherfig). Hardly a disaster but reviews have been pretty middle of the road.
Kim Newman's film notes on this one are fun to read: "Eden Lake for Socialists"!


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