Happy New Year! It’s the top of 2015, so in sticking with tradition, the Criterion Collection has released their annual “wacky drawing” that hints at releases that will come out later in the year. This of course leads to a lot of speculation; some of it turns out to be right, sometimes it’s wrong, but it’s fun to play along. Though it should be said, some of Criterion’s clues are pretty obvious while some of them are pretty obscure and perhaps wishful thinking.
So here’s the drawing and some guesses from The Criterion Cast. The picks that seem most obvious? Well, a bearded guy carrying a cat and a guitar surely seems like the Coen Brothers’ “Inside Llewyn Davis” (though that’s slightly odd since it would mean less than a year that it’s already been on Blu-Ray). A moon above a castle or domain suggests Wes Anderson’s “Moonrise Kingdom” which feels like a natural fit given that all Anderson releases hit Criterion eventually, while two suns and a moon hint at the Dardennes’ “Two Days One Night” featuring Marion Cotillard which also doesn’t feel like any stretch at all either. The two suns and moon also make many believe that Richard Linklater’s “Before Sunset/Sunrise/Midnight” trilogy will be finally hitting Criterion. There’s been talk of that one for years so it could be true too.
Additional salient guesses (in my opinion anyhow) include Terrence Malick’s "The New World" (most of his films are already part of the collection) and Wim Wenders’ road movies (the director already told us late last year that more of his early restored films will be hitting Criterion soon). One guess based on Napoleonic-era soldiers is Kubrick’s “Barry Lyndon” or Abel Gantz’s “Napoleon,” and who knows, but yes, please! No guesses around Satyajit Ray’s seminal Apu Trilogy (which totally rules, btw), but Criterion has already teased that the series is being restored and it’s on the way… maybe late 2015? No guesses or word on Krzysztof Kieślowski’s “The Decalogue” either, but our guess is that one’s coming in the next year or two.
Check out the Criterion Cast for all their well-put-together guesses, and if you have any of your own guesses, by all means, weigh in. And below, check out Cinefamily’s promo for the Apu trilogy from a few years back — essential cinephile viewing.
