Archive for the 'The Criterion Collection' Category
June 15th, 2020 by Aaron Neuwirth
This September, Claire Denis’ long-unavailable, ravishingly sensual masterpiece Beau travail will join the Criterion Collection in a new, restored 4K digital transfer. Turning forty this year, David Lynch’s atmospheric, Oscar-nominated The Elephant Man, stars John Hurt and Anthony Hopkins in the poignant true story of John Merrick. Never before available on home video, the full version of Francesco Rosi’s Christ Stopped at Eboli is a revelatory humanist epic set in the dark days of fascist Italy. Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project No. 3 will gather six newly restored gems from around the world: Héctor Babenco’s Pixote, Humerto Solás’s Lucía, Usmar Ismail’s After the Curfew, Bahram Beyzaie’s Downpour, Med Hondo’s Soleil Ô, and Juan Bustillo Oro’s Dos Monjes. And that’s not all: two hard-hitting noir classics from genre master Jules Dassin, Brute Force and The Naked City, will make their Blu-ray debuts in new restorations.
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Continue reading ‘Scorsese, Lynch, Dassin & More Coming to The Criterion Collection September 2020’
May 15th, 2020 by Aaron Neuwirth
This August, Paul Schrader’s seductive thriller
The Comfort of Strangers– adapted by Harold Pinter from the novel by Ian McEwan- will join the Criterion Collection in a new 4K restoration. A landmark of poetic realism that went on to influence the French New Wave, Jean Renoir’s Provence-set drama
Toni will make its first appearance on Blu-ray and DVD. Also debuting on home video is Chris Hegedus and D. A. Pennebaker’s
Town Bloody Hall, an electrifying record of second-wave feminism and its discontents that captures a legendary 1971 debate between Norman Mailer and four prominent female thinkers and activists. Volker Schlöndorff and Margarethe von Trotta’s urgent political thriller
The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum will also debut on Blu-ray. Plus, our
previously announced fifteen-Blu-ray box set The Complete Films of Agnès Varda will collect the life’s work of an artist who never stopped expanding the notion of what a movie can be.
Continue reading ‘Renoir, Schrader, Varda & More Coming to The Criterion Collection August 2020’
May 11th, 2020 by Aaron Neuwirth
The
Criterion Collection is celebrating the boundless creative vision of
Agnès Varda with a comprehensive collection of her genre-blurring, culture-shaping films. Bringing together all thirty-nine of her features, shorts, and documentaries for the first time, this fifteen-Blu-ray box set also contains extensive special features- many created by Varda herself- including introductions to the films, interviews with and tributes from family and friends, once-banned and unfinished works, behind-the-scenes footage, archival programs, and more. The edition is accompanied by a lavishly illustrated 200-page book, with notes on the films and essays on Varda’s life and work, as well as a selection of her photography and images of her installation art.
The Complete Films of Agnès Varda captures the restless curiosity and radical imagination of a true original who invented a new cinematic language.
Continue reading ‘This August – The Criterion Collection Celebrates THE COMPLETE AGNÈS VARDA, A 15-Disc Collectors Set’
April 15th, 2020 by Aaron Neuwirth
This July, Byron Haskin’s genre-defining sci-fi classic The War of the Worlds, an Oscar-winning adaptation of H. G. Wells’s influential novel, will join the Criterion Collection in a new 4K restoration. One of the most acclaimed films of 2019, Noah Baumbach’s bittersweet Marriage Story will make its home-video debut in an edition featuring behind-the-scenes footage and extensive interviews with the cast and crew. The battle of the sexes takes a breezier turn in Preston Sturges’s screwball classic The Lady Eve, starring Henry Fonda and Barbara Stanwyck, which will appear on Blu-ray for the first time. Also making its Blu-ray debut is Abbas Kiarostami’s Palme d’Or-winning masterpiece Taste of Cherry, a gorgeously complex meditation on mortality. And that’s not all: our previously announced Blu-ray box set Bruce Lee: His Greatest Hits will collect five kung-fu classics starring the international martial-arts legend, along with a dizzying array of supplemental features.
Continue reading ‘Marriage Story, War of the Worlds & More Coming to The Criterion Collection July 2020’
April 13th, 2020 by Aaron Neuwirth
The Criterion Collection couldn’t be more excited to announce our tribute to the life and work of the iconic Bruce Lee with five dazzling, action-packed kung-fu landmarks starring the international martial-arts legend. Capturing Lee at the height of his artistry and superstardom, this seven-disc Blu-ray box set is loaded with special features, including alternate versions of the films, interviews with Lee’s collaborators and admirers, documentaries about his life and philosophies, commentaries, promotional materials, and so much more! Coming this July, Bruce Lee: His Greatest Hits is a collection of high-flying classics from the ultimate fighter, whose unmatched persona and influence in cinema live on.
– Continue reading ‘The Criterion Collection Tribute to BRUCE LEE: HIS GREATEST HITS, A 7-Disc Collectors Set of Kung-Fu Classics’
April 10th, 2020 by Aaron Neuwirth
Back in the 00s, after years of short films and performance art, Miranda July wrote and directed her first feature film, Me and You and Everyone We Know. The offbeat comedy-drama was met with a lot of acclaim, including a win for the Camera d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. It has since held a lot of respect for arthouse film fans, while July has continued producing films and being involved in various projects. The Criterion Collection now has a Blu-ray upgrade for the feature, complete with a set of extras that include some of July’s shorts, and more.
– Continue reading ‘Me and You and Everyone We Know – The Criterion Collection (Blu-ray Review)’
March 18th, 2020 by Aaron Neuwirth
This June, Elem Klimov’s long-unavailable masterpiece Come and See, a harrowing child’s-eye vision of World War II, will join the Criterion Collection in a new 2K restoration. Céline Sciamma’s ravishing romance Portrait of a Lady on Fire, one of the most acclaimed films of 2019, will appear on home video for the first time. Buster Keaton will join the Collection with The Cameraman, a riotous farce that finds the silent-screen legend at the peak of his slapstick powers, appearing in a landmark 4K restoration. Jill Clayburgh embarks on a journey of self-discovery in Paul Mazursky’s heartfelt character study An Unmarried Woman, making its Blu-ray debut. And that’s not all: Tokyo Olympiad, Kon Ichikawa’s visually astonishing documentary about the 1964 Olympic Games, will appear on Blu-ray in a stunning 4K restoration. Continue reading ‘Sciamma, Keaton, Mazursky & More Coming to The Criterion Collection June 2020’
March 16th, 2020 by Aaron Neuwirth
If ever there was a movie ready for re-examination, it’s Spike Lee’s Bamboozled. A theatrical bomb with audiences, and the recipient of mixed reviews from critics, there’s no denying a lack of ambition on Lee’s part with a film satirizing racism in American pop culture, but was the film ahead of its time or a misguided way to tackle the system? Lee has a way of taking big swings and landing them every so often. Perhaps The Criterion Collection putting out this film now is a way of showing audiences what Lee was up to back in 2000, showing just how tapped into the continued issues of the day he was aware of. Of course, being aware of certain problems doesn’t mean putting them on display automatically makes the film great. Still, it’s hard to ever say Lee isn’t trying.
Continue reading ‘Bamboozled – The Criterion Collection (Blu-ray Review)’
February 27th, 2020 by Aaron Neuwirth
In considering how to adequately express my admiration for director Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cold War, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the nature of epics. From a general sense of the term, classifying this Polish romantic drama as an epic would disregard some of the typical elements of this categorization. Cold War is half the length of a standard epic, with a budget that would hardly cover the catering for Middle Earth. However, the span of time covered in this film and the sweeping nature of the romantic bond shared between the two lead characters feel like more than enough reason to place this film in that realm. There’s also the backdrop of the Cold War in Europe, which is never removed from the narrative. Regardless, even if one wants to justify calling Cold War a piece of science fiction, it doesn’t take away from just how stunning a feature this is. Now The Criterion Collection has put out a terrific release for one of my favorite films from 2018.
Continue reading ‘Cold War – The Criterion Collection (Blu-ray Review)’
February 25th, 2020 by Aaron Neuwirth
I was elated when The Criterion Collection announced When We Were Kings as an upcoming entry, complete with a brand-new restoration and extras to go with it. It is one of my favorite documentaries, as it does a great job tracking a meaningful event in sports history. The film puts some of what made Muhammad Ali the man that he was on display and adds in plenty of interviews from those who knew him and had thoughts on his legacy. There’s a lot to take in, and even with so many documentaries that have since covered the legendary heavyweight champion, this 87-minute documentary is both incredibly entertaining and full of insight.
– Continue reading ‘When We Were Kings – The Criterion Collection (Blu-ray Review)’
February 23rd, 2020 by Aaron Neuwirth
I suppose I have a bit of a Scottish blindspot (at least with older Scottish films). I was not aware of Local Hero until The Criterion Collection announced it. By all accounts, it’s a well-regarded film that many celebrate writer/director Bill Forsyth for, but it went unknown to me until recently. Fortunately, I found a lot to like about what this quaint film had to offer, beyond the idea of seeing Burt Lancaster, Wedge Antilles, and a young Peter Capaldi in a movie together. It’s a story about culture clashes, small-town life, and 80s greed all coming together in a lovely way.
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Continue reading ‘Local Hero – The Criterion Collection (Blu-ray Review)’
February 23rd, 2020 by Aaron Neuwirth
The Cold War period allowed many filmmakers to experiment with storytelling, filmmaking styles, and social commentary in their movies. Fail Safe is the sort of Cold War thriller that banked on cultural paranoia as much as it did skilled filmmaking and intense performances. The Criterion Collection has finally brought more justice to Sidney Lumet’s tense picture, providing a spectacular new release, restoring its cinematic quality. This will ideally give many a chance to revisit a film that seems to be regarded more for its similarity to another feature than the quality it contains.
– Continue reading ‘Fail Safe – The Criterion Collection (Blu-ray Review)’
February 14th, 2020 by Aaron Neuwirth
This May, John Sturges’s World War II adventure classic The Great Escape, with a stellar ensemble cast led by Steve McQueen, will join the Criterion Collection. Scorsese Shorts will collect five newly restored short films by Martin Scorsese, including the intimate documentaries Italianamerican and American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince and three student films that illuminate the artistic development of one of our greatest directors. Feminist trailblazer Dorothy Arzner, the only woman of her time to work as a director in the Hollywood studio system, joins the Collection with Dance, Girl, Dance, a subversive backstage melodrama starring Maureen O’Hara and Lucille Ball. Husbands, John Cassavetes’s fearlessly honest portrait of American manhood in crisis, and his first collaboration with stars Ben Gazzara and Peter Falk, will make its Blu-ray debut. Paul Dano’s acclaimed directorial debut, Wildlife, anchored by a revelatory Carey Mulligan performance, will appear on home video for the first time. And that’s not all: Eric Rohmer’s wildly influential series Six Moral Tales will return to the Collection on Blu-ray.
Continue reading ‘The Great Escape, Scorsese, Wildlife & More Coming to The Criterion Collection May 2020’
January 15th, 2020 by Aaron Neuwirth
This April, check in to The Grand Budapest Hotel: Wes Anderson’s extravagantly nostalgic caper, widely hailed as one of the greatest films of the 2010s, will join the Criterion Collection. Miranda July’s playful and transgressive Me and You and Everyone We Know, one of the most original debut features in recent memory, will make its Blu-ray debut. A marvel of studio craftsmanship, Destry Rides Again pairs Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart for a boisterous comic western, presented here in a new 4K restoration. Juraj Herz plumbs the horrors of fascism in the black-as-ashes comedy The Cremator, a macabre marvel of the Czechoslovak New Wave, long unavailable on home video. And that’s not all: Jean-Pierre Melville’s Army of Shadows, widely hailed as the summit of the director’s career and the greatest film ever made about the French Resistance, returns to the Collection.
Continue reading ‘Wes Anderson, Miranda July & More Coming to The Criterion Collection April 2020’
December 16th, 2019 by Aaron Neuwirth
Next March, John M. Stahl’s singular Hollywood masterpiece Leave Her to Heaven– a stunning Technicolor melodrama infused with the darkness of film noir and graced with a chilling performance by Gene Tierney- will join the Criterion Collection, making its Blu-ray debut in a new 2K restoration. Spike Lee’s provocative satire Bamboozled, a scathing indictment of racism in American pop culture, will also appear on Blu-ray for the first time. Irene Dunne and Paul Robeson star in James Whale’s beloved screen version of Show Boat, Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern’s classic American musical, featuring Robeson’s soul-shaking rendition of “Ol’ Man River.” Director-producer-star Barbra Streisand’s The Prince of Tides, an emotionally wrenching adaptation of Pat Conroy’s best-selling novel, will appear in a new 4K restoration. And that’s not all: the Maysles brothers’ Direct Cinema classic Salesman and Mikhail Kalatozov’s visually exhilarating Soviet-cinema landmark The Cranes Are Flying will arrive on Blu-ray, newly restored.
Continue reading ‘Spike Lee, Streisand & More Coming to The Criterion Collection March 2020’
November 15th, 2019 by Aaron Neuwirth
Next February, the Criterion Collection is proud to present Alfonso Cuarón’s Oscar-winning masterpiece Roma, making its home-video debut in a director-approved edition packed with special features. Three Fantastic Journeys by Karel Zeman collects a trio of the renowned special-effects fabulist’s most enchanting films- Journey to the Beginning of Time, Invention for Destruction, and The Fabulous Baron Munchausen– newly restored and in a limited-edition deluxe Blu-ray set featuring gorgeous pop-up art. Jennie Livingston’s wildly influential Paris Is Burning, an extraordinary celebration of 1980s Harlem’s vibrant drag-ball culture, will make its Blu-ray debut in an edition featuring more than an hour of never-before-seen outtakes. Teorema, a provocative and poetic treatise on sexuality, faith, and the bourgeois family from enfant terrible Pier Paolo Pasolini, will appear in a new, restored 4K digital transfer. And that’s not all: Hiroshi Teshigahara’s Antonio Gaudí, a hypnotic tribute to the visionary Catalan architect, will make its first appearance on Blu-ray.
Continue reading ‘Roma, Teorema, Paris Is Burning & More Coming to The Criterion Collection February 2020’
October 16th, 2019 by Aaron Neuwirth
In January, the Criterion Collection will kick off the New Year with one of Pedro Almodóvar’s most beloved films: All About My Mother, the Spanish auteur’s Oscar-winning ode to maternal love and female fortitude. George Cukor’s effervescent romantic comedy Holiday, starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant in one of their most memorable pairings, will appear on Blu-ray for the first time in a new 4K restoration. Jean-Luc Godard’s long-unavailable sophomore feature Le petit soldat, the director’s first collaboration with his iconic muse Anna Karina, represents a major rediscovery from a legendary career. And that’s not all: we’ll celebrate Sidney Lumet with a new 4K restoration of his arresting nuclear-war thriller Fail Safe and a Blu-ray edition of his Tennessee Williams adaptation The Fugitive Kind, starring Marlon Brando and Anna Magnani.
Continue reading ‘Almodóvar, Lumet, Cukor & More Coming to The Criterion Collection January 2020’
September 23rd, 2019 by Aaron Neuwirth
Godzilla is on the way and I cannot wait. As detailed previously, all 15 films from the original Showa Era of the Godzilla franchise are heading to Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The 1000th spine from The Criterion Collection will arrive in stores October 29th, but for now, enjoy this all-new trailer to keep you psyched for this monster release. You get a good look at the many foes Godzilla has taken on, along with a reminder of who the king of the monsters really is. Enjoy!
– Continue reading ‘NEW TRAILER – GODZILLA: THE SHŌWA ERA FILMS from The Criterion Collection’
This September, Claire Denis’ long-unavailable, ravishingly sensual masterpiece Beau travail will join the Criterion Collection in a new, restored 4K digital transfer. Turning forty this year, David Lynch’s atmospheric, Oscar-nominated The Elephant Man, stars John Hurt and Anthony Hopkins in the poignant true story of John Merrick. Never before available on home video, the full version of Francesco Rosi’s Christ Stopped at Eboli is a revelatory humanist epic set in the dark days of fascist Italy. Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project No. 3 will gather six newly restored gems from around the world: Héctor Babenco’s Pixote, Humerto Solás’s Lucía, Usmar Ismail’s After the Curfew, Bahram Beyzaie’s Downpour, Med Hondo’s Soleil Ô, and Juan Bustillo Oro’s Dos Monjes. And that’s not all: two hard-hitting noir classics from genre master Jules Dassin, Brute Force and The Naked City, will make their Blu-ray debuts in new restorations.
