The CRITERION DVD and Blu-ray Thread

[Susan Foreman]

'The Virgin Suicides' (1999) - Pre-order available from Criterion Films direct for 4K UHD + Blu-ray Combo (2 Discs) - $39.96, Blu-Ray (1 Disc) - $31.96, DVD (1 Disc) $23.96

Release date: July 5

"With this debut feature, Sofia Coppola announced her singular vision, exploring the aesthetics of femininity while illuminating the interior lives of young women. An adaptation of Jeffrey Eugenides’s highly acclaimed first novel, The Virgin Suicides conjures the ineffable melancholy of teenage longing and ennui in its story of the suicides of the five Lisbon sisters, stifled by the rules of their overprotective religious parents—as told through the collective memory of a group of men who were boys at the time and still yearn to understand what happened. Evoking its 1970s suburban setting through ethereal cinematography by Ed Lachman and an atmospheric score by Air, and featuring a magnetic performance by Kirsten Dunst, the film secured a place for its director in the landscape of American independent cinema and has become a coming-of-age touchstone."

Special features:

• New 4K digital restoration, approved by director Sofia Coppola and supervised by cinematographer Ed Lachman, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the 4K UHD and Blu-ray
• Interviews with Coppola, Lachman, actors Kirsten Dunst and Josh Hartnett, novelist Jeffrey Eugenides, and writer and actor Tavi Gevinson
• Making of “The Virgin Suicides,” a 1998 documentary directed by Eleanor Coppola and featuring Sofia Coppola; Eleanor and Francis Ford Coppola; actors Dunst, Hartnett, Scott Glenn, Kathleen Turner, and James Woods; Eugenides; and others
• Lick the Star, a 1998 short film by Sofia Coppola
• Music video for Air’s soundtrack song “Playground Love,” directed by Coppola and her brother Roman Coppola
• Trailers
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

[Susan Foreman]

'Raging Bull' (1980) - Pre-order available from Criterion Films direct for 4K UHD + Blu-ray Combo (2 Discs) - $39.96, Blu-Ray (1 Disc) - $31.96

Release date: July 12

"With this stunningly visceral portrait of self-destructive machismo, Martin Scorsese created one of the truly great and visionary works of modern cinema. Robert De Niro pours his blood, sweat, and brute physicality into the Oscar-winning role of Jake La Motta, the rising middleweight boxer from the Bronx whose furious ambition propels him to success within the ring but whose unbridled paranoia and jealousy tatter his relationships with everyone in his orbit, including his brother and manager (Joe Pesci) and gorgeous, streetwise wife (Cathy Moriarty). Thelma Schoonmaker’s Oscar-winning editing, Michael Chapman’s extraordinarily tactile black-and-white cinematography, and Frank Warner’s ingenious sound design combine to make Raging Bull a uniquely powerful exploration of violence on multiple levels—physical, emotional, psychic, and spiritual"

Special features:

• New 4K digital master, approved by director Martin Scorsese, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
• In the 4K UHD edition: One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
• New video essays by film critics Geoffrey O’Brien and Sheila O’Malley on Scorsese’s mastery of formal techniques and the film’s triumvirate of characters
• Three audio commentaries, featuring Scorsese and editor Thelma Schoonmaker; director of photography Michael Chapman, producers Robert Chartoff and Irwin Winkler, casting director Cis Corman, music consultant Robbie Robertson, actors Theresa Saldana and John Turturro, and sound-effects supervising editor Frank Warner; and boxer Jake La Motta and screenwriters Mardik Martin and Paul Schrader
• Fight Night, a making-of program featuring Scorsese and key members of the cast and crew
• Three short programs highlighting the longtime collaboration between Scorsese and actor Robert De Niro
• Television interview from 1981 with actor Cathy Moriarty and the real Vikki La Motta
• Interview with Jake La Motta from 1990
• Program from 2004 featuring veteran boxers reminiscing about La Motta
• Trailer
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: Essays by poet Robin Robertson and film critic Glenn Kenny

[Susan Foreman]

'Summertime' (1955) - Pre-order available from Criterion Films direct for Blu-Ray - $31.96, DVD - $23.96

Release date: July 12

"With this sublimely bittersweet tale of romantic longing, director David Lean left behind the British soundstage to capture in radiant Technicolor the sun-splashed glory of Venice at the height of summer. In a tour de force of fearless vulnerability, Katharine Hepburn embodies the conflicting emotions that stir the heart of a lonely, middle-aged American tourist who is forced to confront her deep-seated insecurities when she is drawn into a seemingly impossible affair with a charming Italian shopkeeper (Rossano Brazzi) amid the ancient city’s canals and piazzas. Lean’s personal favorite among his own films, Summertime is an exquisitely tender evocation of the magic and melancholy of a fleeting, not-quite-fairy-tale romance"

Special features:

• New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• New interview with film historian Melanie Williams
• Interview with director David Lean from 1963
• Audio excerpts of a 1988 interview with cinematographer Jack Hildyard
• Trailer
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: An essay by film critic Stephanie Zacharek

[Susan Foreman]

'Drive My Car' (2021) - Pre-order available from Criterion Films direct for Blu-Ray - $31.96, DVD - $23.96

Release date: July 19

"Only Ryusuke Hamaguchi—with his extraordinary sensitivity to the mysterious resonances of human interactions—could sweep up international awards and galvanize audiences everywhere with a pensive, three-hour movie about an experimental staging of an Anton Chekhov play, presented in nine languages and adapted from Haruki Murakami stories. With Drive My Car, the Japanese director has confirmed his place among contemporary cinema’s most vital voices. Two years after his wife’s unexpected death, Yusuke Kafuku (Hidetoshi Nishijima) arrives in Hiroshima to direct a production of Uncle Vanya for a theater festival and, through relationships with an actor (Masaki Okada) with whom he shares a tangled history and a chauffeur (Toko Miura) with whom he develops a surprising rapport, finds himself confronting emotional scars. This quietly mesmerizing tale of love, art, grief, and healing is ultimately a cathartic exploration of what it means to go on living when there seems to be no road ahead"

Special features:

• New 2K digital master, approved by director Ryusuke Hamaguchi, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• New interview with Hamaguchi
• Program about the making of the film, featuring behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with actors Reika Kirishima, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Masaki Okada, Yoo-rim Park, Dae-Young Jin, and others
• Press conference footage from the film’s premiere at the 2021 Cannes International Film Festival
• Trailer
• New English subtitle translation and English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: An essay by author Bryan Washington

[Susan Foreman]

'Devil In A Blue Dress' (1995) - Pre-order available from Criterion Films direct for 4K UHD + Blu-ray Combo (2 Discs) $39.96, Blu-Ray - $31.96

Release date: July 19

"The bone-deep disillusionment of postwar film noir becomes a powerful vehicle to explore America’s racial injustices in Carl Franklin’s richly atmospheric Devil in a Blue Dress, an adaptation of the hard-boiled novel by Walter Mosley. Denzel Washington has charisma to burn as the jobless ex-GI Easy Rawlins, who sees a chance to make some quick cash when he’s recruited to find the missing lover (Jennifer Beals) of a wealthy mayoral candidate in late-1940s Los Angeles—only to find himself embroiled in murder, political intrigue, and a scandal that crosses the treacherous color lines of a segregated society. Featuring breakout work by Don Cheadle as Rawlins’s cheerfully trigger-happy sidekick, this stylish mystery both channels and subverts classic noir tropes as it exposes the bitter racial realities underlying the American dream."

Special features:

• New 4K digital restoration, approved by director Carl Franklin, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
• In the 4K UHD edition: One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
• Audio commentary featuring Franklin
• New conversation between Franklin and actor Don Cheadle
• New conversation between Walter Mosley, author of the novel on which the film is based, and novelist and screenwriter Attica Locke
• On-stage conversation between Franklin and film historian Eddie Muller, recorded at the 2018 Noir City Film Festival in Chicago
• Screen test for Cheadle
• Trailer
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: An essay by critic Julian Kimble

[The Reaper Man@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Susan Foreman

'Raging Bull' (1980) - Pre-order available from Criterion Films direct for 4K UHD + Blu-ray Combo (2 Discs) - $39.96, Blu-Ray (1 Disc) - $31.96

Release date: July 12

"With this stunningly visceral portrait of self-destructive machismo, Martin Scorsese created one of the truly great and visionary works of modern cinema. Robert De Niro pours his blood, sweat, and brute physicality into the Oscar-winning role of Jake La Motta, the rising middleweight boxer from the Bronx whose furious ambition propels him to success within the ring but whose unbridled paranoia and jealousy tatter his relationships with everyone in his orbit, including his brother and manager (Joe Pesci) and gorgeous, streetwise wife (Cathy Moriarty). Thelma Schoonmaker’s Oscar-winning editing, Michael Chapman’s extraordinarily tactile black-and-white cinematography, and Frank Warner’s ingenious sound design combine to make Raging Bull a uniquely powerful exploration of violence on multiple levels—physical, emotional, psychic, and spiritual"

Special features:

• New 4K digital master, approved by director Martin Scorsese, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
• In the 4K UHD edition: One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
• New video essays by film critics Geoffrey O’Brien and Sheila O’Malley on Scorsese’s mastery of formal techniques and the film’s triumvirate of characters
• Three audio commentaries, featuring Scorsese and editor Thelma Schoonmaker; director of photography Michael Chapman, producers Robert Chartoff and Irwin Winkler, casting director Cis Corman, music consultant Robbie Robertson, actors Theresa Saldana and John Turturro, and sound-effects supervising editor Frank Warner; and boxer Jake La Motta and screenwriters Mardik Martin and Paul Schrader
• Fight Night, a making-of program featuring Scorsese and key members of the cast and crew
• Three short programs highlighting the longtime collaboration between Scorsese and actor Robert De Niro
• Television interview from 1981 with actor Cathy Moriarty and the real Vikki La Motta
• Interview with Jake La Motta from 1990
• Program from 2004 featuring veteran boxers reminiscing about La Motta
• Trailer
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: Essays by poet Robin Robertson and film critic Glenn Kenny

NOW YOU'RE ****ING TALKING!

[MrBarlow]

Originally Posted by The Reaper Man@Cult Labs

NOW YOU'RE ****ING TALKING!

Every time I see Raging Bull I always think of Ewan Bremner "Raging Spud".

[Susan Foreman]

Originally Posted by Susan Foreman

'Pink Flamingos' (1971) - Pre-order available from Criterion Films direct for Blu-ray - $31.96

Release date: June 28

This is now available for pre-order on Amazon UK - £22:99

Release date: July 25

According to Melon Farmers:

"Cut by the BBFC for varying amounts for an 18 rating between 1990 and 1999. Uncut and 18 rated for 2008 DVD but this was never released. Formally uncut and BBFC 18 rated for 2022 Blu-ray. Uncut and MPAA NC-17 rated in the US.

UK: Passed 18 uncut for sexual violence, strong real sex, nudity:

2022 Sony/Criterion Collection (RB) Blu-ray at UK Amazon #ad released on 25th July 2022

The BBFC agreed to an uncut 18 rated DVD release in 2008 but the release was cancelled. The BBFC commented in 2008 about the 3 cuts to be waived:

• Probably the most difficult scene was the one featuring a man assaulting a woman with live chickens. However, a careful viewing of the scene suggested that the handling of the chickens, although rough, was no stronger than other scenes of animals being manhandled that had been passed in other films. Furthermore, although the chickens were killed, the killing was quick and clean and therefore not in breach of BBFC policy on animal cruelty.
• The scene showing a man masturbating and injecting semen into a woman's vagina was grotesque and repulsive, rather than erotic. Although the Board had previously expressed concerns about the non-consensual nature of the scene, the datedness of the film and the lack of credibility of the scene, argued against intervention. With regard to the sexual violence in the scene, the Board's conclusion was that the scene was so over-the-top and so divorced from reality, that the likely response was disgust, shock and horror, rather than arousal.
• The brief explicit fellatio could be justified by the wider context of the film, in that the whole purpose of the film was to shock, disgust and amuse (in a blackly comic fashion), rather than to arouse, and the explicitness of the image was important in creating the film's effect

The BBFC's ratings info from 2022 reads:

nudity : There is focus on a man's dilating anus, in close-up detail. There is wider full nudity.

sex : There is a scene of unsimulated fellatio between a fictional mother and son. There are other strong sex scenes, as well as references to ejaculation, masturbation and troilism. A man's semen is seen, in close-up detail.

sexual violence and sexual threat : A man rapes a woman, while daubing her in chicken blood. After masturbating over her, a man artificially inseminates an unconscious female prisoner. A man exposes himself to schoolgirls.

other issues: In unsimulated footage, a woman puts dog excrement in her mouth. There is infrequent very strong language ('c**t'), regular strong language ('f**k', 'motherf**ker') and discriminatory terms such as 'fag', 'dyke' and 'queen'. A chicken is killed on-screen. Threat, gore and implied violence are strong. There is brief drug misuse. "

"When a pair of sociopaths (MINK STOLE and DAVID LOCHARY) with a habit of kidnapping women in order to impregnate them attempt to challenge her title, Divine resolves to show them and the world the true meaning of the word filthy. Incest, cannibalism, shrimping, and film history’s most legendary gross-out ending—Waters and his merry band of Dreamlanders leave no taboo unsmashed in this gleefully subversive ode to outsiderhood, in which camp spectacle and pitch-black satire are wielded in an all-out assault on respectability"

[The Reaper Man@Cult Labs]

2 for thirty quid in HMV started today.

I Bought Twelve Angry Men and Anatomy of a murder.

[Justin101]

It's 2 days until payday but I plan on picking a couple up after I get paid