The Criterion Collection Announces Its June Of 2020 DVD And Blu-ray Release Calendar

The Criterion Collection announced its June of 2020 DVD and Blu-ray release calendar this past week.   Topping the list is a new 4K film restoration of director Edward Sedgwick’s 1928 silent comedy classic, The Cameraman, starring Buster Keaton.

The hilarious hijinks of the world’s worst newsreel cameraman, Buster Luke Shannon (Buster Keaton in his last silent film), arrives on both DVD and Blu-ray from Criterion on June 16.

The release of The Cameraman is actually a double feature presentation from Criterion.   His following film, also directed by Edward Sedgwick, Spite Marriage, was Keaton’s first “talking picture.”   This is a new 2K restoration.

As to bonus features, both The Cameraman and Spite Marriage come with commentary — the former featuring a vintage 2004 commentary from author Glenn Mitchell (“A-Z of Silent Film Comedy: An Illustrated Companion”) and the later features a vintage commentary from film historians John Bengtson and Jeffrey Vance.

Other bonus goodies include a new documentary by Daniel Raim titled Time Travelers, a 2004 documentary titled So Funny It Hurt: Buster Keaton & MGM and a new video session with author James L. Neibaur (“The Fall of Buster Keaton: His Films for MGM, Educational Pictures and Columbia”).

Also making its way to both DVD and Blu-ray on June 23 is writer/director Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire.

This new theatrical release arrives with an ARR of 200 days.  Domestic box office receipts for this Golden Globe Best Foreign Language Picture nominee and César Awards nominee for Best Picture are an impressive $3.8 million.

Bonus features for this French-language import include a newly-prepared video session with filmmaker Céline Sciamma (Tomboy) and film critic Dana Stevens, a 2019 Cannes Film Festival interview with cinematographer Claire Mathon (César Awards winner for Best Cinematography) and a 2019 video session with artist Hélène Delmaire on the paintings used in the film.

Rounding out the June release calendar from Criterion are … An Unmarried Woman (June 9 … directed by Paul Mazursky; nominated for Best Picture and Best Actress for Jill Clayburgh), The Tokyo Olympiad (June 2) and director Elem Klimov’s Come and See (June 30).