The CRITERION DVD and Blu-ray Thread

[Justin101]

Double Indemnity in 4k? Yes Please!

[Susan Foreman]

'Chan In Missing' (1982) - Pre-order available from Criterion Films direct for Blu-Ray - $31.96

Release date: May 31

"A mystery man, a murder, and a wad of missing cash—in his wryly offbeat breakthrough, Wayne Wang updates the ingredients of classic film noir for the streets of contemporary San Francisco’s Chinatown. When their business partner disappears with the money they had planned to use for a cab license, driver Jo (Wood Moy) and his nephew Steve (Marc Hayashi) scour the city’s back alleys, waterfronts, and Chinese restaurants to track him down. But what begins as a search for a missing man gradually turns into a far deeper and more elusive investigation into the complexities and contradictions of Chinese American identity. The first feature by an Asian American filmmaker to play widely and get mainstream critical appreciation, Chan Is Missing is a continuously fresh and surprising landmark of indie invention that playfully flips decades of cinematic stereotypes on their heads."

Special features:

• High-definition digital master, approved by director Wayne Wang, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• Is Chan Still Missing?, a making-of documentary directed by Debbie Lum
• New conversations between Wang and critic Hua Hsu and Wang and filmmaker Ang Lee
• Conversation between Wang and film programmer Dennis Lim
• Trailer
• New English subtitle translation and English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: An essay by critic Oliver Wang

[Susan Foreman]

'Mississippi Masala' (1991) - Pre-order available from Criterion Films direct for Blu-Ray - $31.96 or DVD $23,96

Release date: May 24

"The vibrant cultures of India, Uganda, and the American South come together in Mira Nair’s Mississippi Masala, a luminous look at the complexities of love in the modern melting pot. Years after her Indian family was forced to flee their home in Uganda by the dictatorship of Idi Amin, twentysomething Mina (Sarita Choudhury) spends her days cleaning rooms in an Indian-run motel in Mississippi. When she falls for the charming Black carpet cleaner Demetrius (Denzel Washington), their passionate romance challenges the prejudices of both of their families and exposes the rifts between the region’s Indian and African American communities. Tackling thorny issues of racism, colorism, culture clash, and displacement with bighearted humor and keen insight, Nair serves up a sweet, sexy, and deeply satisfying celebration of love’s power."

Special features:

• New 4K digital restoration, supervised by director Mira Nair and director of photography Ed Lachman, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• New audio commentary featuring Nair
• New conversation between actor Sarita Choudhury and film critic Devika Girish
• New interviews with Lachman, screenwriter Sooni Taraporevala, and production designer and photographer Mitch Epstein
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: An essay by critic Bilal Qureshi and, for the Blu-ray, excerpts from Nair’s production journal

[Susan Foreman]

'The Funeral' (1984) - Pre-order available from Criterion Films direct for Blu-Ray - $31.96 or DVD $23,96

Release date: May 17

"It’s death, Japanese style, in the rollicking and wistful first feature from maverick writer-director Juzo Itami. In the wake of her father’s sudden passing, a successful actor (Itami’s wife and frequent collaborator, Nobuko Miyamoto) and her lascivious husband (Tsutomu Yamazaki) leave Tokyo and return to her family home to oversee a traditional funeral. Over the course of three days of mourning that bring illicit escapades in the woods, a surprisingly materialistic priest (Chishu Ryu), and cinema’s most epic sandwich handoff, the tensions between public propriety and private hypocrisy are laid bare. Deftly weaving dark comedy with poignant family drama, The Funeral is a fearless satire of the clash between old and new in Japanese society in which nothing, not even the finality of death, is off-limits."

Special features:

• High-definition restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• New interviews with actors Nobuko Miyamoto and Manpei Ikeuchi
• Creative Marriages: Juzo Itami & Nobuko Miyamoto, a short program produced by the Criterion Channel
• Commercials for Ichiroku Tart by director Juzo Itami
• Trailers
• New English subtitle translation
• PLUS: An essay by author Pico Iyer and, for the Blu-ray, excerpts from Itami’s 1985 book Diary of “The Funeral” and from a 2007 remembrance of Itami by actor Tsutomu Yamazaki

[Susan Foreman]

'Mr. Klein' (1976) - Pre-order available from Criterion Films direct for Blu-Ray - $31.96

Release date: May 10

"One of the crowning achievements of blacklisted Hollywood director Joseph Losey’s European exile, the spellbinding modernist mystery Mr. Klein puts a chilling twist on the wrong-man thriller. Alain Delon delivers a standout performance as Robert Klein, a decadent art dealer in Paris during World War II who makes a tidy profit buying up paintings from his desperate Jewish clients. As Klein searches for a Jewish man with the same name for whom he has been mistaken, he finds himself plunged into a Kafkaesque nightmare in which his identity seems to dissolve and the forces of history to close in on him. Met with considerable controversy on its release for its portrayal of the real-life wrongdoings of the Vichy government, this haunting, disturbingly beautiful film shivers with existential dread as it traces a society’s descent into fascistic fear and inhumanity.."

Special features:

• New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• Interviews with critic Michel Ciment and editor Henri Lanoë
• Interviews from 1976 with director Joseph Losey and actor Alain Delon
• Story of a Day, a 1986 documentary on the real-life Vél d’Hiv Roundup, a central historical element of Mr. Klein
• Trailer
• New English subtitle translation
• PLUS: An essay by film scholar Ginette Vincendeau

[The Reaper Man@Cult Labs]

Yawn!

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

I haven't heard of most of those films, let alone desired to own an expensive Blu-ray release of them.

[Susan Foreman]

According to an article in Time magazine...'Pink Flamingos' (1972) is coming to The Criterion Collection in June!

“For those of us who grew up loving him, it’s gratifying to see Waters, in his filth-elder era, enjoy the same open-mindedness he’s promoted for decades. Call him an accepted radical, cherished by cinephiles and cultists as well as the little kids who flock to him at airports following his cameo in an Alvin and the Chipmunks movie. Waters had a recurring role in the recent final season of madcap millennial self-parody Search Party; one of its stars, John Early, told Seth Meyers that the director “created the entire sensibility that the show lives in.” Waters says he’s flattered by the comparison—and he gets it. “Millennium Maniacs would be a great title” for the show, he jokes, pointing out that his character, who sells babies to gay couples, parallels a story line in Flamingos. (Once banned in multiple countries, that movie entered the National Film Registry last year and will get a 50th-anniversary Criterion Collection reissue in June.)”

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Nosferatu@Cult Labs

I haven't heard of most of those films, let alone desired to own an expensive Blu-ray release of them.

Before i had a Blu-ray player Criterion seemed to be the watchword for quality releases.

Now i have a few i must say i think they are pretty poor in comparison to the likes of Indicator, BFI and Arrow.

Often extras are serviceable rather than exhaustive and the majority of their cover art to be blunt is f*cking crap and they are way over priced. I generally groan when i see something i want is released via Criterion.

[Justin101]

Originally Posted by Susan Foreman

According to an article in Time magazine...'Pink Flamingos' (1972) is coming to The Criterion Collection in June!

Finally! Desperate Living next please!!