Monday, March 24, 2014

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


DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey
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— who would make better films if they took time out every now and then and simply watched some of those old moldy, out-of-date black and white cinematic gems from 50, 60 years ago.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.

DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey
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.
DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey


June 24 marks the release of a 50th 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 10th 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 

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