Chat Transcript: Criterion on Home Theater Forum

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Chat Transcript: Criterion
on The Home Theater Forum

The following is a complete transcript of the on-line chat with several staffers from The Criterion Collection, held on Tuesday, October 23rd on The Home Theater Forum. Thanks to Ron Epstein, Parker Clack and the staff the HTF for all their hard work, and for providing the transcript for all to read. Enjoy!

Subject: CRITERION COLLECTION live chat
Date: October 23rd, 2001

[RonEpstein] Good evening everyone. As always, we are so appreciative that you take time out of your evening to join us in these chats. It's a pleasure to have THE CRITERION COLLECTION here with us tonight. After all, CRITERION is the mark of quality DVD product, and many of us have known CRITERION since the laserdisc days.

[ParkerClack] The best laserdiscs I own.

[RonEpstein] With us tonight is Jon Mulvaney and Peter Becker

[PeterBecker] It's a pleasure to be here.

[JonMulvaney] Hi, Ron. Hi, Parker. Hello, everyone. I'm really happy to see such a big crowd in here tonight.

[RonEpstein] Could you both tell us what your affiliation with CRITERION is?

[JonMulvaney] I am the official Customer Liaison with the company, but I wear many hats here.

[PeterBecker] I am the president, and I run the production part.

[RonEpstein] Gentlemen, welcome! Okay...We are going to open the floor to questions. I am sure our participants here have many.

[NeilEdwards] The scope of your catalogue is breathtaking. Thank you! However, your titles seem to go out of print too quickly. Do you underestimate their sales potential? What is your policy on doing a second run when you have sold out of the first one and have to disappoint a lot of people? Thanks for coming.

[JonMulvaney] We actually do many runs of each of our titles and have run into multiple printings on most of them. But in the case of some titles, we only are able to release them for a short period time. After that, they have to be removed from our catalog and can't be repressed.

[PeterMFitzgerald] Hi, thanks for joining us tonight. What determines which Universal-owned titles you are allowed to licence from them? Cretainly they're doing the classic monsters and Hitchcock titles themselves...but your Preston Sturges and Douglas Sirk titles are pretty major too. I'll save my Criterion wish list for the Studio Feedback forum. Thanks for HIDDEN FORTRESS and RIFIFI!

[PeterBecker] We've had a longstanding working relationship with Universal, and there are many other films in their vaults that are worthy of great editions. We'd love to work on more, and we hope we will. The core answer to your question is that it has to make sense both to Universal and to Criterion. I just wanted to get this question answered right at the top, because I think it's one of the most common. We work with studios to find opportunities in their catalogs. That's the sort of blanket principle that will underlie many of Jon's answers to questions about title in many major studio libraries. We do appreciate the many suggestions we receive, and we do often follow up on them in our discussions with film libraries around the world, but it's never possible for us to work on every film we'd like to do.

[Terrance] First thanks for releasing the many quality films. There is a whole genre of film the so-called avant-garde classics that have not yet been addressed by the dvd world. They are on the verge of being forgotten. Does Criterion have any plans of looking into releasing say the likes of Stan Brakhage, Michael Snow, etc. etc.?

[JonMulvaney] We'd love to supplement our catalog with 'avant-garde' cinema releases. I'm a big fan of them myself, in fact. But the fact of the matter is that the acquisition and restoration of these titles is often very difficult and the right opportunity hasn't arisen. But we'll keep our eyes open!

[TerryW] Hello, Criterion. First, thanks for all your great releases over the years. I've been buying your product since about 1991 and I'm constantly defending the fact that your company was the first to have all these extras and commentaries that are now commonplace with most of the big studios. Now, please tell me you're working on The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp for the near future, and other Powell/Pressburger titles.

[JonMulvaney] Yes! That title is currently in production, but doesn't have a release date.

[Brook_K] My question is when will we see some Kenji Mizoguchi films like Ugetsu, Oharu and Sansho? He has almost no prescence on DVD right now, a disservice to such a great director.

[PeterBecker] Well, first of all, I am really grateful for the support of people like you who have been with us since laser days. Colonel Blimp is in the works. We are hoping to have a new high def master done before the end of the year. I don't know how much digital restoration the film will require, but I am certain that we're going to give it the best we have. Michael Powell was, after all, the first director whose commentary we ever recorded on a film....although no one here really remembers which was recorded first, Blimp, or Black Narcissus. Anyway, to the core of your question, we will bring Mitzoguchi to DVD, and we hope, in better shape. None are actually in the release schedule, but we are hoping to have new masters made in the coming year or so on at least one Mizoguchi film.

[MatthewChmiel] Hi, thanks for coming tonight. My question for tonight is do you have any plans to release Solaris onto DVD anytime soon (rumor has it you'll be releasing it sometime in late 2002)?

[JonMulvaney] We are planning a 2002 release for this film, but don't have a definite date yet.

[JamesGarner] Thank You. Will the Criterion version of Evita make its way on DVD soon?

[JonMulvaney] That title currently belongs to another studio, unfortunately.

[Jun-DaiBates] Is there any chance of seeing An Actor's Revenge (esp. w/ Donald Richie commentary)? Luchino Visconti, Satyajit Ray, Maya Deren, and Robert Bresson have no films currently available on dvd, will we get to see them on Criterion? Also, are you hiring?

[JonMulvaney] Are we hiring? How fast can you type? (Joking) I'll let Peter handle the other part of your question, since it involves so many directors.

[PeterBecker] That certainly is a mouthful of directors...We have some a bit of Bresson, a sad dearth of Ray, no foreseeable Deren. Visconti is a question mark. Sorry to be cryptic. The Bresson is likely to be Diary of a Country Priest for starters, or Dames du Bois du Boulogne. I'd love to do more.

[JonMulvaney] If I can chime in here, I'd like to add that a lot of the titles we mention tonight may be in the works, but don't currently appear on the schedule. Just in case I get 12 emails tomorrow asking when DIARY is coming out. :-)

[AgeeBassett] Janus restored the 106 min cut of the Devil and Daniel Webster, did they not?....that being the case, can Criterion get a hold of this marvelously imaginative fantasy for DVD restoration?

[JonMulvaney] This is definitely a question for Peter...

[PeterBecker] Yes, and we're still on the lookout for better material, so if you know anyone.... There's no question. Devil and Daniel Webster will be a Citerion DVD. When is a question. It wil take a lot of time and effort.

[Gacole] I have recently gotten into DVD's and have acquired some Criterion and all of your Kurosawa, what is on the table for this year, Throne of Blood? any chance of Ran? and what is the release date for Rashomon Thanks, looking forward to exploring more of your titles!

[JonMulvaney] RAN currently belongs to another company. We have several Kurosawa titles tentatively on the 2002 schedule, including RASHOMON. No set release dates for them yet, though. Keep an eye on our website for more announcements. We love Kurosawa here.

[PeterBecker] The new Rashomon master has taken more time than we'd hoped. The rest of the release is more or less complete. As for more Kurosawa, there is a great deal of chatter about Red Beard and Ikiru, in addition to Dodeskaden which has been announced and pushed for too long...

[Joseph_Goodman] for the Kurosawa films, do the film elements you use for your transfers come straight from Japan, or somewhere else?

[JonMulvaney] Again, I defer to Peter...

[PeterBecker] We work with the Japanese studios to find the best elements available. Very often we transfer those elements in Japan according to standards that we make very clear and do additional digital work in the States. In other cases, we acquire pristine preprint elements, such as fine-grain masters and do the telecine here under our direct supervision.

[DomeVongvises] Thanks, let me be one of many to congratulate you on your wide diversity of titles from Hollywood blockbusters to foreign film. This leads to my question regarding diversity. Is there an explanation for the lack of titles from the Western and/or animation genre? It seems strange that they're overlooked. BTW, I'd also like to add a thanks for the Kurosawa films. They rock!!! RAH!!!

[JonMulvaney] Kurosawa does indeed rock. Thank you. We have considered releasing some Westerns, but nothing concrete is in the works. There are a lot of American classics that we'd love to get a chance to work on.

[PeterBecker] I'd like to see more Westerns and animation in the collection, and we'd always welcome suggestions. We did an edition of High Noon on laser, and we'd certainly love to work on that again.

[JonMulvaney] As for animation, what kind do you mean?

[DomeVongvises] Anything, cel, clay, or computer

[BenM] Thank you so much for the wonderful presentation of Haxan, and for your ongoing commitment to the films of Akira Kurosawa. (I MUST second the request for Throne of Blood). I would like to know if there is any chance that Criterion may pursue Pink Floyd at Pompeii. The last I knew, Polygram had the rights, but I'm not sure if they even exist anymore. This is my utmost "want" title, and has been since dvd came into existence. I would be extremely pleased if Criterion were able to produce this title on dvd. If nothing else, it would make a great companion piece for your Beastie Boys dvd, which includes the B. Boys homage to Pink Floyd at Pompeii, "Gratitude" ;) . So, is there any hope here for me? Oh, and would either of you have a spare copy of The 400 Blows? ;)

[JonMulvaney] Pink Floyd is more part of Peter's generation than mine... I hear there are some 400 BLOWS on eBay.

[PeterBecker] So glad you liked Haxan. I'm very proud of the work on that one... I have to say, I haven't seen Pink Floyd at Pompei... but I'll check it out. You might be interested to know that we just made a deal with Eddie Kramer to to the sound mix on the upcoming Monterey Pop box set. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I think it's going to be amazing. As to 400 Blows and other Truffaut, some wishes do come true, so keep hoping. done.

[JonMulvaney] Yes - MONTEREY POP will be one of our biggest and most loaded releases of 2002.

[Michael_S] Hi, what's the status on re-releasing audio commentaries and possbibly other supplementary materials that were done for lasers or out-of-print DVDs? Can we expect a book of transcripts or CDs with mp3 tracks? I'll put my vote in for the latter, but I'll buy this stuff in any way, shape or form you release them! I specifically would really like to listen to the late John Sturges' Great Escape audio commentary.

[JonMulvaney] We hadn't really considered this possibility before.

[PeterBecker] That's not really true. We're always looking for ways that we might bring the Criterion idea and the content we've developed to new media. We put movies on laserdics, on cdrom. We've been developing a website that we hope may someday feature rich content and we're even developing content outside of our disc releases, or starting to, in the FOCUS section of the website, where we're currently featuring a gallery of players from Preston Sturges' stock company, which we hope will complement Criterion viewers' enjoyment of the Lady Eve and Sullivan's Travels discs we just released. At one point we were even in discussions with a book publisher to create shot-by-shot books from a number of our commentaries, but the business reality of small-edition print publishing is brutal. CDs are an interesting idea, but sync is so important in a commentary. "In this shot" is hard to get across without the movie.

[SteveRussell] Any plans for a DVD release of one of my personal faves, Victor Erice's "Spirit of the Beehive"? And thanks for coming!

[PeterBecker] Spirit is a distinct possibility, but we haven't even begun to look at the film elements, so I have no details or projections about when you might actually see a Criterion edition.

[PatrickMcCart] Hi Criterion! I don't have any of your excellent DVD's in my collection yet...but I do have my eyes set on My Man Godfrey and The Third Man. Now for my question...Do you have any plans to release Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (directed by Sergei Parajanov) or the silent animated film from Germany, The Adventures of Prince Achmed? Both seem like films that would really benifit from the Criterion treatment.

[JonMulvaney] GODFREY and THIRD MAN would be a terrific start to your collection.

[PeterBecker] Shadows is a very interesting suggestion, and a good possibility for us. I believe Achmed belongs to Milestone so it may be coming from Image.

[Miguel_Rod] Tell us more about the Pop Festival! What musical goodies might you be working on after the Pop Fest?I LOVED the Beastie Boys Collection!!!

[JonMulvaney] Thanks for the Beasties. We love them, too. Peter can fill you in more on the details of MONTEREY...

[PeterBecker] Monterey is the only music-based title that's currently in production. The current plan is to make a three disc set incorporating as much of the festival as possible. The Pennebaker crew shot everything, and our hope is to be able to present the complete Monterey experience. There will be some extras, but the core of the project is the first-ever complete presentation with amazing sound.

[JustinStokes] Thanks for coming. Could you please tell what horror titles, if any, you will be releasing in the future? Also, I would like to suggest the following films for possible release...Videodrome, The Sentinel, and John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness, all from Universal, and Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes.

[JonMulvaney] Hi, Justin. These are all great films in their own way, and good suggestions. We can certainly bring these titles up with Universal - we'd love to work with David Cronenberg again. HILLS is also a good suggestion, but more of a problem regarding the rights.

[RobWilley] Thanks for joining us tonight. I wanted to ask about the possibility of a 75th anniversary release of PANDORA'S BOX in 2003. If so, might we also see the other brilliant Pabst/Brooks collaboration, DIARY OF A LOST GIRL? Thanks!

[PeterBecker] Oh, my... We were just talking about Pandora today. I was asking Gillian Anderson, who worked with us on the Haxan score, if there was any info that would allow us to do Pandora with a historical score... She's going to poke around for us. I have a very soft spot for Pandora because we never released it on laser, always hoping for better materials or the grand restoration to materialize. I am determined to see Pandora out in a strong DVD edition, but it is another title that won't be ready until it's ready. I know it can be hard to understand why sometimes we take so long to come out with certain films, but the answer is almost always that the effort to find, and in certain cases, when we are fortunate enough to participate in actual film restoration work (as oppoed to digital) there's no predicting what tiny thing is going to trip up your carefully laid plans. It takes time to do things right, and though we do make mistakes, we always try our best to get it right. So don't hold your breath on Pandora, but rest assured that we will give it the attention it deserves.

[Hunter] Outside of the two John Woo films you released early in your DVD days, we've seen no modern films from Asia from your company. Right now, there are some INCREDIBLE movies being made over in Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand and South Korea, but many are unavailable in North America. Is there any chance of you releasing more recent Asian films? For example, from Japan there are the films of Takashi Miike ("Audition," "Dead or Alive," "City of Lost Souls," etc) and Takeshi Kitano. Or perhaps the Milkyway films [directors Johnnie To & Wai Ka Fai] from Hong Kong ("Too Many Ways to Be No. 1," "A Hero Never Dies," "The Mission," etc.). There are so many great films being made that we can't see (outside of imports and "other methods"because no one in North America has purchased the rights or they are too controversial for most companies to release (Kinji Fukasaka's "Battle Royale," for example).

[JonMulvaney] Hunter, I'm familiar with a lot of these films but it appears that you're quite an expert. I'd appreciate it if you could put your thoughts on this into an email - we often use customer suggestions as a roadmap for research. Mike in particular is getting a lot of press these days and seems to be a real discovery. You never know - thanks for the suggestions.

[JasonHughes] When can we expect Spellbound (and any other Hitchcock's (aside from Rebecca)). Also, what is the status on Children of Paradise and has Criterion looked into obtaining La Dolce Vita? Artisan (who I think has it) seems to has no interest...Keep up the awsome work! Thanks for coming!

[JonMulvaney] CHILDREN is due in January - expect an official announcement soon. SPELLBOUND is later in 2002. Look for REBECCA in a glorious two-disc edition in the middle of next month.

[PeterBecker] Gorious... please. Spellbound is due midyear. It was delayed for internal reasons and to make time for additional sound work. As to La Dolce Vita, we've been in discussons with Artisan... hope for the best.

[Bob_Trumble] First of all, thanks for all the excellent films you've been releasing over the years. My question is...Is there any chance of acquiring the rights to release the Canadian comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall's feature film Brain Candy? Paramount seems to have no interest. The group has a large cult following, and fans are anxiously awaiting the movie to arrive on DVD. I would love to see it treated by Criterion since there are a lot of supplemental materials out there, including an alternate version. Since the group continues to work together on projects, I think they would be very interested in contributing to the making of a DVD. Just something it might be worth looking into... Also, any chance for Marc Caro & Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Delicatessen?

[JonMulvaney] Unfortunately, we have no plans to release BRAIN CANDY. Despite the fact that many of us are big Kids in the Hall fans, it hadn't even occurred to us!

[PeterBecker] I'm a Jeunet fan, and I loved Amelie, but... no plans at the moment.

[JonMulvaney] DELICATESSEN would be appropriate given the upcoming release of AMELIE, but we don't own the rights.

[Mark_Walker] Wow! Well, first of all, I would like to thank you for exposing me to some great films! THE THIRD MAN, in particular! What I am wondeing is this: Jon e-mailed me and said that A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH and DOUBLE INDEMNITY are titles you would persue if you could get the rights. Is there any help we can give to encourage Universal to let you do these?

[JonMulvaney] These are perennial favorites with the Criterion crew. They're always possibilities, but so far the opportunity hasn't arisen.

[Ryan_Petrich] First off thanks for coming. I was wondering if there is a chance that you will release any of Hayao Miyazaki's (Princess Mononoke) works. He is one of Japan's greatest artists and deserves a place in your collection. Also are there plans to release any more Japanese Animation in general? Thanks for your time.

[JonMulvaney] The Miyazaki titles are owned by Disney in the US. This doesn't mean it's out of the question, but we haven't discussed it with them. I personally think that Miyazaki would fit in perfectly with the rest of the Criterion Collection. As for other Japanese animation, we're always open to suggestions and new ideas. Nothing concrete on the schedule right now, though.

[TimFleming] Greetings and salivations... I am wondering now that you have completed Peter Weir's Last Wave, are there any plans for "The Cars That Ate Paris" (a far superior film imho). Additionally, is there any chance that you might be able to get your hands on John Huston's "Wise Blood" (currently in the possession of New Line I believe) and Kurosawa's "Dreams"?

[JonMulvaney] DREAMS is one of our most-requested titles. We'd love to release it, but we don't hold the rights.

[PeterBecker] Thanks, and good questions... Last Wave is wrapping up nicely. We're helping Peter Weir put together new materials for Cars That Ate Paris, and you should get a good version on DVD soon. I believe it will be coming out from Home Vision as a part of their line... As to Dreams, perhaps the most requested title, Jon tells me, we don't have the rights. Wise Blood is a personal favorite film, and to be honest, I haven't even explored the rights. I appreicate your asking. I'll check it out.

[joekun] First of all, love the Criterion Collection, especially your Kurosawa films!! I was going to ask about Miyazaki as well, so I second that idea especially with the report that Disney has lost interest. Will there be any more Seijun Suzuki films released by Criterion? Are there any plans to obtain the rights for his new film "Pistolera Opera"? Also, will we ever see a Criterion version of the original Japanese "Gojira" that was cancelled long ago? Thank you.

[JonMulvaney] I just saw PISTOL OPERA the other night, and loved it. It's a semi-sequel to BRANDED TO KILL (which we did on DVD, of course), but in color. It's as insane and kinetic as his other late 60s films and we'd love to release it. But since it is a brand-new title (it was just released in Japan this year), we don't have a definite plan. But we are looking into it.

[PeterBecker] Gojira, sadly is a no go. We are in discussions about Pistol Opera, but as a policy we don't talk about negotiations.

[JonMulvaney] There's also the possibility that we may release one or two of the Suzuki films currently available on tape from Home Vision on DVD in the future. We'd love to devote our attention to more of his work.

[BrianGHopps] I have your excellent Night at the Opera on LD. Any chance you will do this on DVD?

[PeterBecker] Not on the slate. Many regrets, but not likely in the near future.

[Jon_Robertson] Many congratulations on your recent releases of The Lady Eve and Haxan, both of which were exquisite! I await The Last Wave and The Ruling Class (and now The Cars That Ate Paris) with bated breath. :) Now, I'm sorry to come to you with a negative question, but can we expect a re-pressing of Discreet Charm? With all the numerous spelling and grammatical errors in the subtitles corrected? Nothing seems to be have done so far, and I hate to say it, but it really rips you out of the film, and is a black mark against an otherwise terrific set. Thanks very much for coming along this evening.

[JonMulvaney] Thanks for the kind words about LADY EVE and HAXAN. We're aware of this problem & attention is being devoted to it. Please email me directly with any technical problems or questions. I'll be able to keep you up-to-date on the latest developments.

[PeterBecker] If and when we do repress the disc, the subtitles will be fixed. Do keep in touch through Jon Mulvaney, because he is there to help people out.

[Kenneth_Cummings] First off, many thanks for releasing Rushmore on DVD. Anyways, is there a chance of releasing a new DVD for "The Game"? Thanks for coming and also thank you to Ron for this event.

[JonMulvaney] Glad you like RUSHMORE.

[PeterBecker] Game is a distinct possibility. But I can't comment further than that.

[Chadferguson] First off, thanks for coming!!, My question is, do you have any plans on rereleasing the John Woo films? Also, if you can comment on this, why did you guys never release the Buena Vista films you had planned? As a suggestion I wish you guys can push for some more Japan Anime titles (Cowboy Bebop), Akira was great on LD. Thanks

[JonMulvaney] Thanks again for the anime suggestion. We'll keep all these titles in mind. Which Buena Vista titles do you mean, Chad?

[Chadferguson] Trainspotting. English Patient

[JonMulvaney] Those titles were never announced, though we did release them on laserdisc. They're also commonly-requested titles, though, and some of our favorite work. We simply don't have the rights - sorry. Same goes for the Woo films right now - no plans on a re-release at this point.

[GregoryM] What about titles listed in the old cataloge, but not listed in the new one, like Tales of Hoffman, Knife in the Water, Olympia... And what's the status of Eisenstein:Sileny Years boxset? Thank you.

[PeterBecker] Well, we were probably being overly optimistic when we announced these. We've learned our lesson. We're still working on them all. Hoffmann the issue is the film elements. A new IP may need to be made, so we are far from a master. Knife has been delayed for Polanski's schedule. Olympia, actually, I misspoke, is not on the slate, but the Eisenstein Silent box is we hope due before the end of the year.

[JonMulvaney] That's the end of 2002, of course.

[PeterBecker] There are many bridges to cross between here and there, of course. New scores to be recorded. Actual film restoration work. Plus additional digital stuff.

[Craig_Montoya] I too am a big fan of your music titles and hope there will be more in the future beyond Monterey Pop -- Bob Dylan's 'Renaldo and Clara' would make an amazing Criterion release. My question: I was excited to see 'George Washington' is upcoming, do you have any more modern American films in the works that you can tell us about?

[JonMulvaney] There are one or two exciting, recent American films on the schedule for next year, but nothing that we can talk about yet.

[StefanPedersen] I would like ti know if any of the following will be released by Criterion : Bunuels "The Phantom Of Liberty" , Bergmans "Fanny And Alexander" and Dreyers "Vampyr" (a Casper Tybjerg commentary please) ? Thanks for coming. "The Passion Of Joan Of Arc" is my all time favorite DVD!

[JonMulvaney] Hi, Stefan. Glad you like PASSION & we hope you also enjoy the Dreyer boxed set. Peter can fill you in on the other titles...

[PeterBecker] I think you're likely to see some, but not all from your wishlist. I'm very glad you like Casper's work and hope you've heard his Haxan commentary as well as the Passion of Joan one.

[DerekMiner] Could you give us some background how Criterion's commentary from the Monty Python & the Holy Grail LD ended up on Columbia Tristar's DVD? We all understand how you like to hold on to your supplement materials as they represent your company's hard work and brand name. Is this an instance where Criterion is not the owner of the recording? Also, thanks for being here and my eternal thanks for the Fishing With John DVD!

[PeterBecker] The Criterion commentary turned up on the Holy Grail because we made an agreement with Columbia. I'm glad you liked Fishing with John.

[JorgenLaukholm] Beeing a big fan of Lars Von Trier I was wondering if there were any plans of more Trier films? Any chance of seeing Breaking the waves (so I can throw the Artisan disc out the window), The Kingdom miniseries (would love this from Criterion), The idiots, Europa, Epedemic or any other Trier film released by Criterion? BTW: Really loved the Element of crime disc with the Tranceformer documentary. Will we be seeing a Man bites dog disc from Criterion? Keep up the awsome work :o)

[PeterBecker] Many people here share your appreciation of von Trier. We are looking into more releases, including most of theones you've mentioned, but we haven't got the deals in place. As to Man Bites Dog, you will see a Criterion edition, but it hasn't been scheduled yet. Very glad you liked Tranceformer on Element of Crime.

[AlexGuzeman] Thank you for chatting with us tonight and for exposing us to truly great films! I am wondering if Criterion plans to expand their output of Russian titles. You have three Russian films in the catalog, and two films coming up (as far as I know), but Russian cinema isn't limited to Tarkovsky or Eisenstein. What are the chances of seeing some others, such as, for example, Georgi Daneliya and his excellent "Kin-Dza-Dza!" or "Tears were Falling"? And if I may suggest another anime title, please consider the classic "Grave of the Fireflies." Thanks.

[JonMulvaney] GRAVE is an extraordinarily moving film - thanks for the suggestion.

[PeterBecker] We are working on Ballad of a Soldier and Cranes Are Flying right now, but if you are an aficionado, I would appreciate any input you want to offer about Russian films you think would make great Criterion editions.

[AlexGuzeman] The two I mentioned from Danelia, especially Kin-Dza-Dza

[PeterBecker] Also, thanks for the suggestion of Graves. Haven't seen it, but I'll do so.

[RonEpstein] Parker and I would like to take this opportunity to thank Jon Mulvaney and Peter Becker of THE CRITERION COLLECTION. We appreciate the fact that they stopped by tonight to talk to all of us. Thanks for coming, gentlemen! You are invited back anytime you wish!

[ParkerClack] You guys do a great job. Keep them coming.

[PeterBecker] Thanks for having us here. I really appreciate all of the support people show Criterion.

[JonMulvaney] Thanks for having us, Parker and Ron. Thanks for listening, everyone, and keep checking our new website at www.criterionco.com for the latest in title announcements.

Session Close: Tue Oct 23 23:24:47 2001

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