This announcement came as such a surprise, we thought it’s worthy of its own post.
The Criterion Collection just pre-announced that their latest addition to their catalog of “important classic and contemporary cinema from around the world” will be Mark Region‘s 2009 experimental thriller After Last Season, which has been out-of-print and highly sought after since the original DVD run sold out. (We spotted a copy on E-bay recently; the asking price was over $200).
The lone film by the reclusive Region, After Last Season may seem like a strange edition to the Criterion catalog, but the art-house label has recently added the transgressive early works of John Waters to their catalog as they expand their range from stodgy art movies and begin to include more culturally significant cult films with edgy, DIY aesthetics.
These photographs (leaked onto the Internet by an unknown Criterion insider) are early boxcover mockups, not the finished product (which won’t go on sale until July 2020 at the earliest). Thanks to El Rob Hubbard for bringing them to our attention. According to the Criterion Collection website, the final release will have the following special features:
- New 4K digital restoration, not approved by Region
- The original trailer that rocked the Internet
- “Region Free”: a documentary attempting to track down the mysterious Mark Region (the name has long been suspected to be a pseudonym for Spike Jonze or another established director)
- “I’ve Never Been to That Town, but I’ve Been Through It”: a feature-length appreciation by Martin Scorsese
- New interview with star Jason Kulas
- A free copy of the trial animation software used to compose the special effects sequences (works on Windows 95 systems only)
- PLUS: An essay by IMDB entry Lloyd Nickell
After Last Season has been one of the rarest titles on our list of Canonically Weird movies, and we’re thrilled that the general public will finally get the chance to experience this… um… unusual film.
At last, at last. I’m pre-ordering this–I know it’s going to sell out, and it’s just a matter of time before this print is fetching its own investment-grade price tag.
This has GOT to be April Fools!
I. Wish.
Just watched the trailer and it looks really narcotized. I’ll keep an eye out for it.
oh man, you got me.
If only!!
Wow. Just wow. I really, really got excited by this post.
And your entry – now realizing I’ve been duped – is so convincing that it is actually a great case for why Criterion SHOULD release a movie like this. Sometimes the strange, incompetent or unclassifiable have longer cinematic legs than the ordinary, professional or plain great.
I’ve always wanted to see this. I’ve avoided watching clips on Youtube because I’d like to have a clear experience of absorbing the whole thing on its own dislocated, bizarre terms.
Good job with your post though!
A reader once indicated that “archive.org” has the movie in full–and in rather decent resolution. (Truly capturing the full detail of the wall-breaking 3D rendering.)