Archive for the 'The Criterion Collection' Category
September 16th, 2019 by Aaron Neuwirth
This December, the 287-minute director’s cut of Wim Wenders’ magnum opus Until the End of the World, a globe-trotting sci-fi epic featuring a dizzyingly eclectic soundtrack, will appear on home video for the first time in a new 4K restoration. Kelly Reichardt’s breakout feature Old Joy, a revelatory microbudget indie, will make its Blu-ray debut in a new 2K restoration. Never before available on Blu-ray or DVD, the riveting pre-Code melodrama The Story of Temple Drake stars Miriam Hopkins in an astonishing adaptation of William Faulkner’s most controversial novel. And that’s not all: Ronald Neame’s classic military drama Tunes of Glory, starring Alec Guinness and John Mills at their finest, will appear on Blu-ray in a new 4K restoration.
Continue reading ‘Wenders, Reichardt & More Coming to The Criterion Collection December 2019’
August 22nd, 2019 by Aaron Neuwirth
This year, Academy Award-winning writer-director Spike Lee’s 1989 modern classic, Do the Right Thing celebrated its 30th anniversary. With all the acclaim received by the prolific filmmaker just recently for his Oscar-winning film BlacKkKlansman, it’s incredible to look back at one of his earliest films and not only see how far Lee has come but to what degree things have changed. Having previously been released by the Criterion Collection on LaserDisc and DVD, the film has finally received its Blu-ray upgrade. This fantastic package features both a stunning technical presentation, as well as a great film diving into racial tension on a hot summer day.
Continue reading ‘Do The Right Thing – The Criterion Collection (Blu-ray Review)’
August 15th, 2019 by Aaron Neuwirth
This November, the Criterion Collection will celebrate the incomparable Bette Davis, one of Hollywood’s greatest stars, with two releases that demonstrate her extraordinary range. The swoon-inducing melodrama Now, Voyager, appearing on Blu-ray for the first time, finds her at the height of her reign as the queen of the women’s picture. Then All About Eve, Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s beloved theater-world satire, features Davis in an acid-tongued comeback performance, a turn that now defines her legacy. Also coming in November: Paweł Pawlikowski’s sweeping, Oscar-nominated Cold War, a tumultuous, passionate love story that traverses the Iron Curtain, debuts on home video. Béatrice Dalle stars in Betty Blue, Jean-Jacques Beineix’s intoxicating tale of amour fou, appearing in its three-hour director’s cut. And Greg Mottola’s irresistible comedy The Daytrippers – starring Hope Davis, Parker Posey, Anne Meara, Liev Schreiber, and Stanley Tucci – will appear in a new 4K restoration.
Continue reading ‘All About Eve, Cold War & More Coming to The Criterion Collection November 2019’
July 18th, 2019 by Aaron Neuwirth
Spine number 1000 will be announced next week, but for now, this October, John Sayles’s galvanizing labor saga Matewan–starring Chris Cooper, James Earl Jones, David Strathairn, and Mary McDonnell–will join the Criterion Collection in a new restoration. When We Were Kings, the indelible portrait of Muhammad Ali’s late-career journey to Africa for the Rumble in the Jungle will appear in an edition featuring Soul Power, a documentary on the all-star concert that accompanied the fight. Häxan, Benjamin Christensen’s occult history of witchcraft, one of the most bizarre and captivating films of the silent era, will appear on Blu-ray in a new restoration, just in time for Halloween. And three mesmerizing silent-film classics by Josef von Sternberg–Underworld, The Last Command, and The Docks of New York–will make their Blu-ray debuts in a collector’s set.
Continue reading ‘Muhammad Ali, Matewan & More Coming to The Criterion Collection October 2019’
June 17th, 2019 by Aaron Neuwirth
This September, John Waters’ first studio picture, Polyester, the trash maestro’s delirious take on the Douglas Sirk-style melodrama, will appear in an edition complete with a scratch-and-sniff Odorama card. Jennifer Jones stars in the topsy-turvy comedy Cluny Brown, the final film by Ernst Lubitsch, long unavailable on home video. Ritwik Ghatak’s family tragedy The Cloud-Capped Star, a masterpiece of Bengali cinema, will appear on Blu-ray for the first time. Bill Forsyth’s offbeat small-town fable Local Hero, one of the most beloved Scottish films of all time, will arrive in a new 2K digital restoration. Charlie Chaplin pulls off an outrageous high-wire act in The Circus, featuring some of the most uproarious pratfalls and audacious stunts of his legendary career. And that’s not all: Marco Bellocchio’s provocative debut film, Fists in the Pocket, will make its Blu-ray debut in a new 4K restoration.
Continue reading ‘Lubitsch, Waters, Chaplin & More Coming to The Criterion Collection September 2019’
June 16th, 2019 by Aaron Neuwirth
Who’s ready to put on a show? Musical comedies were huge in the 1930s, and many studios were happy to deliver. One of the highlights of this era were the many films starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, with Swing Time being looked as possibly the best of their collaborations. Winner of an Oscar for Best Original Song (for “The Way You Look Tonight”), the film has often been looked at as one of the best cinema has had to offer, and has even been entered into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. Now the Criterion Collection has gone the extra mile in providing a brand-new digital restoration of the film, with plenty of terrific supplements to go with it.
–
Continue reading ‘Swing Time – The Criterion Collection (Blu-ray Review)’
May 15th, 2019 by Aaron Neuwirth
This August, Abbas Kiarostami’s The Koker Trilogy, an eye-opening triptych of playful films that blend fiction and reality, will join The Criterion Collection, bringing three of the Iranian master’s most sought-after works to Blu-ray for the first time. The Flavor of Green Tea over Rice, Yasujiro Ozu’s beautifully observed study of a marriage on the rocks, will appear in an edition that also features Ozu’s 1937 film What Did the Lady Forget? Lucille Carra’s The Inland Sea, a poetic and insightful meditation on tradition and self-discovery, based on Donald Richie’s renowned travelogue on Japan, will come out in a new, restored 4K digital transfer. And that’s not all: Jane Campion’s revelatory biopic An Angel at My Table and Douglas Sirk’s delirious melodrama Magnificent Obsession will appear on Blu-ray.
– Continue reading ‘Ozu, Sirk, Campion & More Coming to The Criterion Collection in August 2019’
April 21st, 2019 by Aaron Neuwirth
A couple of years before this Criterion Collection release of Police Story and Police Story 2, international martial arts star Jackie Chan received an honorary Academy Award for the impact he has had on cinema. Having been in the business for over 50 years, it’s only right to some of this older and most famous films get the deluxe treatment. It further helps to cement Chan’s cinematic contributions into history, which is pretty great when you can see a couple of gritty (and occasionally quite funny) martial arts flicks sit on the same shelves as classic Hitchcock or Bergman features. Whatever the case may be, read on to hear more about what this release for two entries in Chan’s classic Police Story series has to offer.
–
Continue reading ‘Police Story / Police Story 2 – The Criterion Collection (Blu-ray Review)’
April 15th, 2019 by Aaron Neuwirth
When the summer heats up this July, the Criterion Collection will celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of Spike Lee’s 1989 masterpiece Do the Right Thing with a definitive director-approved edition, featuring a new 4K restoration. Jane Fonda gives one of the most electrifying performances of her career as a sex worker in peril in Alan J. Pakula’s Klute, appearing on Blu-ray for the first time. Agnieszka Holland’s Europa Europa, a breathless adventure story set amid the chaos of World War II, will appear in a new 2K restoration. Michael Radford’s 1984 stars John Hurt and Richard Burton in the definitive screen adaptation of George Orwell’s prophetic novel, appearing in a new restoration approved by cinematographer Roger Deakins. Marcel Pagnol’s enchanting comedy The Baker’s Wife, featuring the legendary actor Raimu in a new 4K restoration. And that’s not all: Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s career-crowning BRD Trilogy — The Marriage of Maria Braun, Veronika Voss, and Lola — will return to the Collection on Blu-ray.
–
Continue reading ‘Do The Right Thing, Klute, 1984 & More Coming to Criterion Collection in July 2019’
April 2nd, 2019 by Aaron Neuwirth
Silent comedy legend Harold Lloyd has had a few of his films entered into the Criterion Collection before, including The Freshman and the iconic Safety Last. The Kid Brother has the distinction of being Lloyd’s favorite of his films, and you can see why. Playing with a fun concept that incorporates comedy, romance, and adventure, this is a laugh-a-minute feature that packs in plenty of jokes, physical gags, and stunts. Now that it has been restored for Blu-ray, plenty of fans, old and new, can dive into this delightful feature starring Lloyd as the bespectacled everyman who gets into many kinds of hijinks.
– Continue reading ‘The Kid Brother – The Criterion Collection (Blu-ray Review)’
March 21st, 2019 by Aaron Neuwirth
Not too dissimilar from when the Criterion Collection finally produced a spectacular release for Night of the Living Dead, Detour’s status as an acclaimed film noir that’s remained in the public domain has made the Edgar G. Ulmer classic an ideal movie deserving of special treatment. Thanks to a substantial amount of work, detailed in one of this release’s supplements, audiences can now take in this wonderfully atmospheric feature in a whole new way. Even those who know this film well may feel they’ll be seeing an all-new version, given the care done to restore the film. That’s not a bad thing for a movie that lasts barely over an hour, yet does everything needed to work as an essential entry among the many great noir movies out there.
–
Continue reading ‘Detour – The Criterion Collection (Blu-ray Review)’
March 15th, 2019 by Aaron Neuwirth
This June, John Cameron Mitchell’s trailblazing queer rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch will join the Criterion Collection, making its Blu-ray debut in a new 4K restoration. Sergei Bondarchuk’s Oscar-winning epic War and Peace, an awe-inspiring adaptation of Tolstoy’s classic novel, will appear in a major new restoration. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers play out a fine romance and perform some of Hollywood’s greatest dance numbers in the irresistible musical comedy Swing Time, appearing on Blu-ray for the first time. The French iconoclast Bruno Dumont explores the human condition through the brutality and beauty of small-town life in his first two films, La vie de Jésus and L’humanité, both appearing in new 4K restorations approved by the director. And that’s not all-our year of releases commemorating Ingmar Bergman’s centennial draws to a close with a Blu-ray edition of the Swedish master’s trilogy of chamber dramas exploring faith and alienation: Through a Glass Darkly, Winter Light, and The Silence.
Continue reading ‘Swing Time, Hedwig and the Angry Inch & More Coming to The Criterion Collection in June 2019’
February 28th, 2019 by Aaron Neuwirth
For every In the Heat of the Night, the Criterion Collection has found time to pick films to add to their library depicting black life that stays away from focusing on racial oppression, crime, gangs, or other tropes. To Sleep with Anger is an interesting choice. Not a wildly popular film, but the winner of multiple Independent Spirit Awards, and one that’s been added to the National Film Registry. It’s a slow-burn drama that puts focus on a family dealing with tensions that are beginning to boil over. There’s a poetry to what we are seeing and hearing on screen, which was undoubtedly the intention of award-winning writer/director Charles Burnett. Now the film has been restored and fitted with some new interviews and more for this wonderful Blu-ray package.
–
Continue reading ‘To Sleep With Anger – The Criterion Collection (Blu-ray Review)’
February 15th, 2019 by Aaron Neuwirth
This May, the Criterion Collection will present Agnès Varda’s poignant feminist musical One Sings, the Other Doesn’t, making its debut on DVD and Blu-ray just in time for the beloved director’s ninety-first birthday. Olivia de Havilland gives a heartbreaking, Oscar-winning performance opposite Montgomery Clift in William Wyler’s psychologically piercing period drama The Heiress, appearing on Blu-ray for the first time. David Lynch’s career-defining masterpiece Blue Velvet will join the Collection in an edition featuring a new 4K restoration and “Blue Velvet” Revisited, a feature-length documentary on the making of the film. The radiant Juliette Binoche plays a woman searching for love in Claire Denis’s richly observed Let the Sunshine In, hailed upon its U.S. release as one of the best films of 2018. Michael Haneke’s notorious Funny Games, a home-invasion nightmare that serves up a disquieting treatise on the nature of screen violence, will appear in a new 2K restoration. And that’s not all: David Mamet’s directorial debut, House of Games, a twisty thriller that revels in the art of the con, will appear on Blu-ray for the first time. Continue reading ‘Lynch, Haneke, Varda, Mamet & More Coming to The Criterion Collection in May 2019’
February 3rd, 2019 by Aaron Neuwirth
Starting the year with a bang, The Criterion Collection has released In the Heat of the Night, one of the bigger box office hits of the 60s, along with a major award winner. The mystery drama starring Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and is memorable for many reasons. In addition to the characters and quotable lines, the film tells a topical story involving murder, police officers, and the role a black man plays in a small town in Mississippi during the 1960s. As a result, you have a cinematic classic still relevant today, and Criterion has that film on a packed, new Blu-ray release.
a Continue reading ‘In The Heat Of The Night – The Criterion Collection (Blu-ray Review)’
January 15th, 2019 by Aaron Neuwirth
This April, Jackie Chan smashes into the Criterion Collection through a plate-glass window with a double-bill edition of his action-comedy classics Police Story and Police Story 2, newly restored in 4K. Andy Griffith plays a boisterous folk hero turned TV demagogue in Elia Kazan’s eerily prescient satire A Face in the Crowd, appearing on Blu-ray for the first time. Jan Němec’s haunting and hallucinatory feature debut Diamonds of the Night, one of the most visionary films of the Czechoslovak New Wave, will make its first appearance on home video in a new 4K restoration. Australian auteur Gillian Armstrong will join the Collection with her coming-of-age classic My Brilliant Career, a breakthrough film for the director and for its magnetic star, Judy Davis. And there’s more: two beloved Jim Jarmusch films-the minimalist masterpiece Stranger Than Paradise and the taxicab odyssey Night on Earth will make their Blu-ray debuts.
Continue reading ‘Jackie Chan, Jim Jarmusch & More Coming to The Criterion Collection in April 2019’
December 15th, 2018 by Aaron Neuwirth
This March, two iconoclastic landmarks of American cinema will join the Criterion Collection, making their Blu-ray debuts in long-awaited new restorations: pioneering writer-director-actor Barbara Loden’s lone feature, Wanda, a wrenching character study that charted a course for independent film; and Edgar G. Ulmer’s Detour, a pitch-dark Poverty Row thriller that distills film noir to its bitter essence. Carlos Reygadas will join the collection with his preternaturally assured debut, Japón, an existential journey through the Mexican countryside. Robert Zemeckis revisits the frenzy of Beatlemania in his raucous first feature, I Wanna Hold Your Hand, appearing in a new 4K restoration. Harold Lloyd journeys out west-and delivers some of his most elaborately inventive set pieces-in the delightful comedy The Kid Brother, appearing on Blu-ray for the first time. And there’s more: Criterion’s yearlong series of Ingmar Bergman releases will continue with a stand-alone edition of The Magic Flute, the director’s effervescent take on Mozart’s beloved opera.
a Continue reading ‘Zemeckis, Lloyd, Bergman & More Coming to The Criterion Collection in March 2019’
November 15th, 2018 by Aaron Neuwirth
In February, Charles Burnett will join the
Criterion Collection with
To Sleep with Anger, his 1990 masterpiece starring a magnetic Danny Glover, appearing on Blu-ray for the first time in a new 4K restoration. Luchino Visconti’s
Death in Venice, the Italian master’s lush adaptation of Thomas Mann’s novella starring Dirk Bogarde in a devastating performance, will also make its Blu-ray debut. Brigitte Bardot stands trial in Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Oscar-nominated courtroom thriller
La vérité, appearing on home video for the first time. Criterion’s yearlong series of Ingmar Bergman releases will continue with a stand-alone edition of
Shame, a wrenching study of life during wartime starring Liv Ullmann and Max von Sydow. And that’s not all: Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s monumental, fifteen-hour
Berlin Alexanderplatz, based on the novel by Alfred Döblin, will make its first appearance on Blu-ray.
a
Continue reading ‘Fassbinder, Bergman & More Coming to The Criterion Collection in February 2019’
This December, the 287-minute director’s cut of Wim Wenders’ magnum opus Until the End of the World, a globe-trotting sci-fi epic featuring a dizzyingly eclectic soundtrack, will appear on home video for the first time in a new 4K restoration. Kelly Reichardt’s breakout feature Old Joy, a revelatory microbudget indie, will make its Blu-ray debut in a new 2K restoration. Never before available on Blu-ray or DVD, the riveting pre-Code melodrama The Story of Temple Drake stars Miriam Hopkins in an astonishing adaptation of William Faulkner’s most controversial novel. And that’s not all: Ronald Neame’s classic military drama Tunes of Glory, starring Alec Guinness and John Mills at their finest, will appear on Blu-ray in a new 4K restoration.
