Criterion Collection's May And June Release Slate Features Ace In The Hole, Red River, Picnic At Hanging Rock And More!

Let’s just say this right up front.   There are plenty of “modern” filmmakers out there — from indies working on a shoestring to those high-profile studio-backed auteurs — who would make better films if they took time out every now and then and simply watched some of those old moldy, out-of-date black and white cinematic gems from 50, 60 years ago.

Park the ego.  Watch and learn.   Oh yes, enjoy!  

If you need something to watch — whether a filmmaker or film consumer — then you need look no further than the Criterion Collection’s May and June release calendar.

May 6 will see a new 2K digital restoration of director Billy Wilder’s 1951 film noir triumph, Ace in the Hole (aka: The Big Carnival).  Bonus features for this Blu-ray/2 DVD Combo Pack include commentary from film historian Neil Sinyard, a vintage interview with Kirk Douglas and the 1980 documentary titled Portrait of a “60% Perfect Man”: Billy Wilder.

Another black and white treasure with a new 2K restoration is to be found on May 27.   That’s the street for a 2 Blu-ray/2 DVD Combo Pack presentation of director Howard Hawks’ 1948 Western, Red River, starring John Wayne, Montgomery Clift and Joanne Dru.

Bonus features here include two different cuts of the film — a longer “prerelease” version and the final theatrical release — this comes with a video interview with filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich who discusses the two different versions.  He is also featured in a vintage interview with director Howard Hawks.

Elsewhere on the May/June release calendar from the Criterion Collection is a remastered hi-def digital film transfer approved by director Peter Weir of his 1975 film masterpiece, Picnic at Hanging Rock.   It is being made available on June 17 as a Blu-ray/2 DVD Combo Pack.

Also include in his package is his early 1971 film Homesdale, which is making its domestic home entertainment debut.   There is a also a making-of documentary titled A Recollection . . . Hanging Rock 1900 and a new video introduction to the film itself presented by film scholar David Thomson.

June 24 marks the release of a 50^th Anniversary edition of director Richard Lester’s A Hard Days Night.   It will reach fans as both a Blu-ray/2 DVD Combo Pack or as a single-disc DVD product offering.

Other film releases in May include a Blu-ray edition of Overlord (May 13); DVD and Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack SKUs of director Abbas Kiarostami’s Like Someone in Love (in Japanese with English subtitles — the ARR is 459 days and domestic ticket sales from the film’s arthouse run were $221,390) arrive on May 20; and lastly, a new 4K film transfer of director Wes Anderson’s Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou streets as a Blu-ray only edition on May 27.

In June, a Blu-ray/2 DVD Combo Pack of director Douglas Sirk’s 1955 bittersweet romantic drama, All That Heaven Allows, starring Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson will be available on the 10^th of the month; so too will be a Blu-ray/2 DVD Combo Pack of Italian filmmaker Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1962 film, L’eclisse; and finally Hearts and Minds (a Blu-ray/2 DVD Combo Pack) and Judex (a Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack) street on June 17.

To download this week's complete edition of the DVD and Blu-ray Release Report:  DVD & Blu-ray Release Report