Studio Canal Collection blu-rays

Many folk have been melancholy upon discovering this new <a href= “http://www.studiocanalcollection.com/”>StudioCanal Collection of blu-ray releases, mostly for dual reasons: 1) because The Criterion Collection have been losing rights (for films such as <a href= “http://studiocanalcollection.com/en/collection/show/6-Le_M%C3%A9pris”>Contempt, <a href= “http://studiocanalcollection.com/en/collection/show/11-Pierrot_le_fou”>Pierrot Le Fou, and <a href= “http://studiocanalcollection.com/en/collection/show/7-Ran”>Ran) to StudioCanal, and 2) because it appears (particularly from the consensus of the reviews as they’ve been pouring in) that the StudioCanal BD releases have been poorly handled (particularly in the cases of Contempt and Ran). I, too, was a bit sullen in hearing all of this news.

However, I would imagine that the StudioCanal Collection will be around awhile. So, any sins aside, it’s probably best simply to hope that they’ll handle future releases with the utmost integrity. We’ve heard that they’re releasing <a href= “http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=4189”>Mulholland Drive, for instance; as much as I’d love nothing more than to see a Criterion release of Mulholland Drive, there’s no reason to necessarily be displeased that StudioCanal is handling it (after all, the film may have never been completed in the first place had it not been for StudioCanal [I’d rather it be StudioCanal than, say, Universal, who released the DVD]). And on the Lynch note, <a href= “http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Elephant-Man-Blu-ray/5809/”>the reviews for the StudioCanal Collection release of <a href= “http://studiocanalcollection.com/en/collection/show/8-The_Elephant_Man”>The Elephant Man have been generally favorable.

Having a look~

To date, it appears that the StudioCanal Collection consists of 13 titles:
3 Days of the Condor (Region A & B)
Belle de Jour (Region B only)
The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum (Region A & B)
The Deer Hunter (Region A & B)
L’Année dernière à Marienbad (Region A & B)
Le Mépris (Region A & B)
Ran (Region A & B)
The Elephant Man (Region A & B)
Breathless (Region A & B)
Pierrot Le Fou (Region A & B)
The Ladykillers (Region A & B)
The Go-Between (Region B only)
Senso (Region B only)

And upcoming titles include:
Peeping Tom
Mulholland Drive
That Obscure Object of Desire
Grand Illusion
The Third Man

I interpreted “Region A & B” to mean that the UK and US releases may be one and the same, and I nearly swung over to Amazon UK to buy The Elephant Man (which isn’t yet available in the US.. will it soon be?), but I saw that there may well be some differences, indeed (e.g. variation in cover designs between the <a href= “http://studiocanalcollection.com/system/attachments/products/6/cover_en/large_LE_MEPRIS.jpg”>UK Contempt and the <a href= “http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/519kijsVQhL.SS500.jpg”>US Contempt), so I may hold out for a proper US release of The Elephant Man to be sure.

As for you all, what StudioCanal releases interest you, if any? Most of us would agree to snag up Criterion BDs over StudioCanal BDs anyday for Pierrot Le Fou, Last Year at Marienbad, and The Third Man, and most of us are holding out (for how long, though, would we have to hold out?) for decent releases of Contempt and Ran. However, I may well buy the StudioCanal releases of The Elephant Man and Mulholland Drive the very day that they hit the US shelves (presuming that they both will). And the other releases? Can anyone vouch for the quality of any of them? Breathless, for instance?

I’m with you, I’d probably always rather go criterion but if these guys do good enough work with the Lynch movies I’ll snag them up.

I’m not on Blu-Ray yet, unfortunately, but my want of it became much greater when I discovered StudioCanal’s range of BR titles. It helps that, being in the UK, I don’t have to suffer the constant temptation of Criterion. But if I can get (once I upgrade to Blu) Pierrot le Fou, Last Year in Marienbad, Peeping Tom and Senso in high-definition, I’m be a very happy man indeed. I love the packaging as well, for what it’s worth.

I too find the Le Mepris_/_Contempt difference strange – in the UK it is always referred to as Le Mepris, although I have absolutely no idea why.

As for Breathless, you can take a look at this page on DVD Beaver. I think it’s quite clear that it is worth an upgrade from the Criterion SD edition.

Some Criterion vs. Studio Canal – Pierrot Le Fou Blu Ray screens.

1:
Criterion – http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews46/pierrot_le_fou_blu-ray/large/large_pierrot_le_fou_blu-ray_2.jpg

Studio Canal – http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews49/pierrot_le_fou_blu-ray/large/large_pierrot_le_fou_blu-ray2.jpg

2:
Criterion – http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews46/pierrot_le_fou_blu-ray/large/large_pierrot_le_fou_blu-ray_5.jpg

Studio Canal – http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews49/pierrot_le_fou_blu-ray/large/large_pierrot_le_fou_blu-ray5.jpg

3:
Criterion – http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews46/pierrot_le_fou_blu-ray/large/large_pierrot_le_fou_blu-ray_6.jpg

Studio Canal – http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews49/pierrot_le_fou_blu-ray/large/large_pierrot_le_fou_blu-ray6.jpg

Criterion..

StudioCanal..

Criterion..

StudioCanal..

Criterion..

StudioCanal..

This ought to be interesting.. Blu-ray.com is showing listings, including artwork, for five upcoming StudioCanal Collection blu-ray titles, all set for September 2010 release:

<a href= “http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Delicatessen-Blu-ray/11184/”>Delicatessen
<a href= “http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Graduate-Blu-ray/11185/”>The Graduate
<a href= “http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Le-cercle-rouge-Blu-ray/11183/”>Le Cercle Rouge
<a href= “http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Pianist-Blu-ray/11186/”>The Pianist
<a href= “http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Third-Man-Blu-ray/10492/”>The Third Man

Distribution for all five titles is listed as Optimum Home Entertainment (a UK company), not Lionsgate, so who can say as to whether or not these titles will see a US release (but as Criterion lost rights for The Third Man to StudioCanal, one would expect a forthcoming US release..).

They’re choosing fine films.. I’ll give them that. But how well will they handle the transfers, subtitles, etc? That’s what only time can tell. Re: the artwork, StudioCanal’s is easily inferior to Criterion’s in that the StudioCanal titles are all shades of the same design.. seems disrespectful to the films, which deserve to stand alone.

(Are they really going to attempt a US blu-ray release for The Third Man? That’s asking for criticism.. especially considering Criterion’s release is <a href= “http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/top.php?show=userrating”>the third highest-rated blu-ray title on Blu-ray.com.)

And.. <a href= “http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Mulholland-Drive-Blu-ray/11187/”>Mulholland Drive. ~Also a September release, but unlike the aforementioned titles, Optimum Home Entertainment isn’t listed; it’s likely UK-/Region B-only, but who can say.

More UK StudioCanal Blu-ray releases set for September 13 as part of the Studio Canal Collection: Breathless (À bout de soufflé, Jean-Luc Godard, 1960); Le cercle rouge (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1970); Delicatessen (Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro, 1991); The Graduate (Mike Nichols, 1967); Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001); The Pianist (Roman Polanski, 2002); and The Third Man (Carol Reed, 1949).

Details can be found here

Can anyone here tell me what’s the lowdown with the Studio+Canal blu-ray collection? Their website hasn’t been updated since late last year and the films they are claiming to release haven’t been released, at least here in the U.S.. If I were to go to a Barnes and Noble I could probably find Ran, Contempt, The Lady Killers, The Third Man, and Delicatessen and these are films I can get through Amazon also. But when it it comes to films like Mulholland Drive, The Elephant Man and the rest of the catalog, I can’t find them, not even on Amazon. What gives?

I bought Godard’s Contempt on Studio Canal BD, to test the quality of their product. I didn’t watch the whole movie juste somes sketches, the sound looked really HORRIBLE. Al grinchy and noisy…. DOes anybody else notice this? Does anybody know if it’s the case with other Studio Canal released?

I can’t speak for anything else other than Belle de Jour but their release of it was fantastic. A tremendous image. I had no complaints whatsoever.

Well, Criterion has the rights to Belle de Jour and Pierrot Le Fou, so I guess the StudioCanal Colection has become a Region B-only company. Such a shame, they were going to release Mel Brook’s The Producers on Blu-ray.

the sound looked really HORRIBLE

?

Jedi – As far as I know, Criterion still doesn’t have the rights to Pierrot le Fou back. Although the release of Belle Du Jour and I think a couple other studio canal films suggests that they might get them back…

I think the obvious answer Z. Bart is that this man can see sound. Being the only the only human being in existence who can see this must be a chore, so I’ll take his word for it and believe that it did in fact look terrible.

Or English isn’t his first language and he got his words mixed up.

Or he could have synesthesia…

Thanks Drunken Father of Old! Hopefully Criterion will release The Producers (1968) as well.