The Criterion Collection has staked out its release turf for
the month of October with street dates for five restored film treasures
destined for both Blu-ray and DVD.
Kicking off the month the month is the Oct. 6 Blu-ray debut
of writer/director Gus Van Sant’s 1991 film, My Own Private Idaho,
starring River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves as two-bit street hustlers on a road
trip of self-discovery.
This new 4K transfer features the vintage 2005 making-of
documentary, deleted scenes and other material from the 2005 DVD release.
The following week, Oct. 13, cult filmmaker David Cronenberg
gets the Criterion treatment with newly prepared DVD and Blu-ray editions of
his 1979 creepy horror classic, The Brood. Samantha Eggar stars as a woman with a
terrifying genetic secret and Oliver Reed plays the role of her estranged
husband who tries to protect their daughter and sort out the mysterious
killings that seem to follow his wife’s wake.
Bonus features include a new documentary on the making of
the film (and earlier works of the director), a restored presentation of
Cronenberg’s ultra-creepy 1970 film, Crimes of the Future, and a pair of
video sessions — one featuring Cronenberg with Fangoria editor Chris Alexander (2011) and the second with actors
Art Hindle and Cindy Hinds (who played Oliver Reed’s daughter).
Next up, and also streeting on Oct. 13 as both DVD and
Blu-ray product offerings, is Italian filmmaker Ettore Scola’s 1977 Oscar
nominee for Best Foreign Language Film, A Special Day, starring Marcello
Mastroianni (nominated for Best Actor that year — losing out Richard Dreyfuss
for his performance in The Goodbye Girl) and Sophia Loren.
Bonus features here include a new video session with Sophia
Loren (who turned 80 last September) and director Ettore Scola (now 84) and two episodes from The
Dick Cavett Show (1977) featuring Loren and Mastroianni.
Shifting
to Oct. 20, the Criterion Collection has a new film restoration ready for
Japanese filmmaker Masaki Kobayashi’s 1964 (1965, domestic) Best Foreign
Language Oscar-nominee, Kwaidan.
Bonus
features here include commentary from film historian, author and Professor of
Cinema, Stephen Prince, a vintage interview with filmmaker Masaki Kobayashi
(1993) and a newly-prepared video session with assistant director Kiyoshi Ogasawara.
The
month of October closes out on the 27th with Blu-ray and DVD (two
discs) editions of auteur filmmaker
David Lynch’s 2001 neo-noir thriller,
Mulholland
Drive, teaming Naomi Watts with Laura Harring (of note, David Lynch was
nominated Best Director for his work here — his third; Blue Velvet and The
Elephant Man were the other two).
This
new 4K transfer includes newly-prepared video sessions with Lynch, actors Naomi
Watts and Laura Harring, director of photography Peter Deming, composer Angelo
Badalamenti and casting director Johanna Ray, plus there is also a vintage
session with Lynch, cast members and footage from the film’s set.
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