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'Seconds' Dated and Detailed for Blu-ray

Fri May 17, 2013 at 09:00 AM ET
Tags: Criterion, Disc Announcements (all tags)

The 1966 sci-fi thriller starring Rock Hudson is bound for Blu-ray in August.

In an early announcement to retailers, Criterion will be bringing 'Seconds' to Blu-ray on August 13.

'Seconds,' directed by John Frankenheimer, concerns a middle-aged businessman dissatisfied with his suburban existence, who elects to undergo a strange and elaborate procedure that will grant him a new life.

The Blu-ray will feature a 4K 1080p digitally restored transfer, uncompressed monaural soundtrack, and supplements include: Audio commentary featuring director John Frankenheimer; Actor Alec Baldwin on Frankenheimer and Seconds; New program on the making of Seconds, featuring interviews with Evans Frankenheimer, the director's widow, and actor Salome Jens; Interview with Frankenheimer from 1971; New visual essay by film scholars R. Barton Palmer and Murray Pomerance; and an essay by critic David Sterritt.

Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $39.95.

You can find the latest specs for 'Seconds' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it is indexed under August 13.

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Seconds (Blu-ray)

'Lord of the Flies' Blu-ray Announced and Detailed

Thu Apr 18, 2013 at 09:00 AM ET
Tags: Criterion, Disc Announcements (all tags)

Peter Brook's 1963 film based on the acclaimed novel by William Golding will hit Blu-ray this summer.

In an early announcement to retailers, the Criterion Collection is readying 'Lord of the Flies' for Blu-ray on July 16.

In the hands of the renowned experimental theater director Peter Brook, William Golding’s legendary novel on the primitivism lurking beneath civilization becomes a film as raw and ragged as the lost boys at its center.

The Blu-ray will feature a 4K digital transfer supervised by cameraman and editor Gerald Feil, an uncompressed monaural soundtrack, and supplements include: Audio commentary featuring director Peter Brook, producer Lewis Allen, director of photography Tom Hollyman, and Feil; Audio recordings of William Golding reading from his novel Lord of the Flies, accompanied by the corresponding scenes from the film; Deleted scene, with optional commentary and reading by Golding; Interview with Brook from 2008; Collection of behind-the-scenes material, featuring home movies, screen tests, outtakes, and stills; New interview with Feil; Excerpt from Feil's 1972 documentary The Empty Space, showcasing Brook's theater methods; Something Queer in the Warehouse, a piece composed of never-before-seen footage shot by the boy actors during production, with new voice-over by Tom Gaman, who played Simon; Trailer; and a booklet featuring an essay by film critic Geoffrey Macnab and an excerpt from Brook's book The Shifting Point.

Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $39.95.

You can find the latest specs for 'Lord of the Flies' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under July 16.

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Lord of the Flies (Blu-ray)

'Babette's Feast' and 'The Ice Storm' Announced for Blu-ray

Wed Apr 17, 2013 at 03:00 PM ET
Tags: Criterion, Disc Announcements (all tags)

Acclaimed films from Gabriel Axel and Ang Lee will be available on Criterion Blu-ray this July.

In an early announcement to retailers, Criterion has revealed 'Babette's Feast' for Blu-ray on July 23.

At once a rousing paean to artistic creation, a delicate evocation of divine grace, and the ultimate film about food, the Oscar-winning 'Babette’s Feast' is a deeply beloved cinematic treasure.

The Blu-ray will feature a 2K transfer, a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 soundtrack, and supplements will include: New interview with actor Stéphane Audran; Karen Blixen: Storyteller, a 1995 documentary about the author of the film's source story, who wrote under the pen name Isak Dinesen; New visual essay by filmmaker Michael Almereyda; New interview with sociologist Priscilla Parkhurst Ferguson about the significance of cuisine in French culture; Trailer; and a booklet featuring an essay by film scholar Mark Le Fanu and Dinesen's 1950 story.

Criterion will also be bringing 'The Ice Storm' to Blu-ray on the same date.

With clarity, subtlety, and a dose of wicked humor, Academy Award–winning director Ang Lee renders Rick Moody’s acclaimed novel of upper-middle-class American malaise as a trenchant, tragic cinematic portrait of lost souls.

The Blu-ray will feature 1080p video supervised and approved by director Ang Lee and director of photography Frederick Elmes, a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack, and supplements will include: Audio commentary featuring Lee and producer-screenwriter James Schamus; Documentary featuring interviews with actors Joan Allen, Kevin Kline, Tobey Maguire, Christina Ricci, Sigourney Weaver, and Elijah Wood; Interview with novelist Rick Moody; Deleted scenes; Footage from a 2007 event honoring Lee and Schamus at New York’s Museum of the Moving Image; Visual essays featuring interviews with the film’s cinematographer and production and costume designers; Theatrical trailer; and an essay by critic Bill Krohn.

Suggested list price for each Blu-ray is $39.95.

You can find the latest specs for 'Babette's Feast' and 'The Ice Storm' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where they're indexed under July 23.

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Discs mentioned in this article: (Click for specs and reviews)
Babette's Feast (Blu-ray)
The Ice Storm (Blu-ray)

'The Devil's Backbone' Dated and Detailed for Blu-ray

Wed Apr 17, 2013 at 11:00 AM ET
Tags: Criterion, Disc Announcements (all tags)

Another Guillermo del Toro favorite will be getting the Criterion Blu-ray treatment with the fitting spine number of #666 in July.

In an early announcement to retailers, Criterion is preparing 'The Devil's Backbone' for Blu-ray on July 30.

Set during the final week of the Spanish Civil War, 'The Devil’s Backbone' tells the tale of a ten-year-old boy who, after his freedom-fighting father is killed, is sent to a haunted rural orphanage full of terrible secrets.

The Blu-ray will feature a 2K digital transfer approved by director Guillermo del Toro and cinematographer Guillermo Navarro, a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack, and supplements include: Audio commentary featuring Del Toro; Video introduction by Del Toro from 2010; New interviews with Del Toro about the process of creating the ghost Santi and the drawings and designs made in preparation for the film; ¿Que es un fantasma?, a 2004 making-of documentary; Spanish Gothic, a 2010 interview with Del Toro about the genre and its influence on his work; Interactive director’s notebook, with Del Toro’s drawings and handwritten notes, along with interviews with the filmmaker; Four deleted scenes, with optional commentary; New featurette about the Spanish Civil War as evoked in the film; Program comparing Del Toro’s thumbnail sketches and Carlos Giménez’s storyboards with the final film; Trailer; a booklet featuring an essay by critic Mark Kermode; and a Blu-ray exclusive selected on-screen presentation of Del Toro’s thumbnail sketches alongside the sections of the final film they represent.

Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $39.95.

You can find the latest specs for 'The Devil's Backbone' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under July 30.

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Discs mentioned in this article: (Click for specs and reviews)
The Devil's Backbone (Blu-ray)

'The Life of Oharu' Blu-ray Dated and Detailed

Wed Apr 17, 2013 at 09:00 AM ET
Tags: Criterion, Disc Announcements (all tags)

Kenji Mizoguchi's 1952 drama is bound for Blu-ray in July.

In an early announcement to retailers, the Criterion Collection will proudly present 'The Life of Oharu' on Blu-ray on July 9.

This epic portrait of an inexorable fall from grace, starring the incredibly talented Kinuyo Tanaka as an imperial lady-in-waiting who gradually descends to street prostitution, was the movie that gained its director international attention, ushering in a new golden period for him.

The Blu-ray will feature a new 1080p digital transfer, an uncompressed monaural soundtrack, and supplements include: Introductory commentary by scholar Dudley Andrew; Mizoguchi’s Art and the Demimonde, an illustrated audio essay featuring Dudley Andrew; Kinuyo Tanaka’s New Departure, a 2009 film by Koko Kajiyama documenting the actor’s 1949 goodwill tour of the United States; and a booklet featuring an essay by film scholar Gilberto Perez.

Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $39.95.

You can find the latest specs for 'The Life of Oharu' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under July 9.

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Discs mentioned in this article: (Click for specs and reviews)
The Life of Oharu (Blu-ray)

'Things to Come' Blu-ray Announced

Mon Mar 25, 2013 at 01:00 PM ET
Tags: Criterion, Disc Announcements (all tags)

The 1936 sci-fi classic will be getting the Criterion Blu-ray treatment this summer.

In an early announcement to retailers, Criterion says 'Things to Come' will be available on Blu-ray on June 18.

A landmark collaboration between writer H. G. Wells, producer Alexander Korda, and designer and director William Cameron Menzies, 'Things to Come' is a science fiction film like no other, a prescient political work that predicts a century of turmoil and progress.

The Blu-ray will feature 1080p video, an uncompressed monaural soundtrack, and supplements include: Audio commentary featuring film historian and writer David Kalat; Interview with writer and cultural historian Christopher Frayling on the film's design; Film historian Bruce Eder on Arthur Bliss's musical score; Audio recording from 1936 of a reading from H. G. Wells's writing about the "wandering sickness," the plague in Things to Come; a booklet featuring an essay by critic Geoffrey O'Brien; and More!

Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $39.95.

You can find the latest specs for 'Things to Come' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under June 18.

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Discs mentioned in this article: (Click for specs and reviews)
Things to Come (Blu-ray)

'Marketa Lazarová' Blu-ray Bound

Mon Mar 25, 2013 at 09:00 AM ET
Tags: Criterion, Disc Announcements (all tags)

The 1967 Czech film from František Vlácil is bound for Blu-ray in June.

In an early announcement to retailers, Criterion will release 'Marketa Lazarová' on Blu-ray on June 18.

Based on a novel by Vladislav Vancura, this stirring and poetic depiction of a feud between two rival medieval clans is a fierce, epic, and meticulously designed evocation of the clashes between Christianity and paganism, humankind and nature, love and violence.

The Blu-ray will feature a 1080p transfer, an uncompressed monaural soundtrack; and supplements include: New interviews with actors Magda Vášáryová, Ivan Palúch, and Vlastimil Harapes and costume designer Theodor Pištek; New interviews with film historian Peter Hames and journalist and critic Antonín Liehm; a booklet featuring new essays by film scholar Tom Gunning and author and translator Alex Zucker and a 1969 interview with Vlácil by Liehm; and More!

Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $39.95.

You can find the latest specs for 'Marketa Lazarová' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under June 18.

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Discs mentioned in this article: (Click for specs and reviews)
Marketa Lazarová (Blu-ray)

'Safety Last!' Announced and Detailed for Blu-ray

Fri Mar 22, 2013 at 09:00 AM ET
Tags: Criterion, Disc Announcements (all tags)

The 1923 silent comedy classic featuring Harold Lloyd will debut on Blu-ray in June.

In an early announcement to retailers, Criterion is preparing 'Safety Last!' for Blu-ray on June 18.

The comic genius of silent star Harold Lloyd is eternal. Chaplin was the sweet innocent, Keaton the stoic outsider, but Lloyd—the modern guy striving for success—is us. And with its torrent of perfectly executed gags and astonishing stunts, 'Safety Last!' is the perfect introduction to him.

The Blu-ray will feature a new 1080p 2K digital film restoration, musical score by composer Carl Davis from 1989, synchronized and restored under his supervision and presented in uncompressed stereo on the Blu-ray edition, alternate score by organist Gaylord Carter from the late 1960s, presented in uncompressed monaural on the Blu-ray edition; and supplements include: Audio commentary featuring film critic Leonard Maltin and director and Harold Lloyd archivist Richard Correll; Introduction by Suzanne Lloyd, Lloyd's granddaughter and president of Harold Lloyd Entertainment; Harold Lloyd: The Third Genius, a 104-minute documentary from 1989; Three newly restored Lloyd shorts: Take a Chance (1918), Young Mr. Jazz (1919), and His Royal Slyness (1920), with commentary by Correll and film writer John Bengtson; Locations and Effects, a new documentary featuring Bengtson and special effects expert Craig Barron; New interview with Davis; and a booklet featuring an essay by critic Ed Park.

Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $39.95.

You can find the latest specs for 'Safety Last!' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under June 18.

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Discs mentioned in this article: (Click for specs and reviews)
Safety Last! (Blu-ray)

'Shoah' Blu-ray Announced and Detailed

Thu Mar 21, 2013 at 03:00 PM ET
Tags: Criterion, Disc Announcements (all tags)

Claude Lanzmann's 1985 holocaust film will debut on Blu-ray in June.

In an early announcement to retailers, Criterion is working on 'Shoah' for Blu-ray on June 25.

Over a decade in the making, Claude Lanzmann’s nine-hour-plus opus is a monumental investigation of the unthinkable: the murder of more than six million Jews by the Nazis.

The Blu-ray will feature 1080p video, an uncompressed monaural soundtrack, and supplements include: Three additional films by director Claude Lanzmann: A Visitor from the Living (1999, 68 minutes), Sobibor, October 14, 1943, 4 p.m. (2001, 102 minutes), and The Karski Report (2010, 54 minutes); New conversation between critic Serge Toubiana and Lanzmann; Interview with Lanzmann about A Visitor from the Living and Sobibor; New conversation between associate director of photography Caroline Champetier and filmmaker Arnaud Desplechin; Trailer; and a booklet featuring an essay by critic Kent Jones and writings by Lanzmann.

Suggested list price for the 4-disc Blu-ray set is $99.95.

You can find the latest specs for 'Shoah' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under June 25.

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Discs mentioned in this article: (Click for specs and reviews)
Shoah (Blu-ray)

'Wild Strawberries' Blu-ray Dated and Detailed

Wed Mar 20, 2013 at 01:00 PM ET
Tags: Criterion, Disc Announcements (all tags)

The long-awaited Ingmar Bergman classic will finally hit Blu-ray in June!

In an early announcement to retailers, the Criterion Collection will proudly present 'Wild Strawberries' on Blu-ray on June 11.

Traveling to accept an honorary degree, Professor Isak Borg—masterfully played by veteran director Victor Sjöström—is forced to face his past, come to terms with his faults, and make peace with the inevitability of his approaching death.

The Blu-ray will feature a 1080p digital transfer, an uncompressed monaural soundtrack, and supplements include: Audio commentary by film scholar Peter Cowie; Introduction by director Ingmar Bergman; Ingmar Bergman on Life and Work, a ninety-minute documentary by filmmaker and author Jörn Donner; Behind-the-scenes footage shot by Bergman; and a booklet featuring an essay by film writer Mark Le Fanu.

Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $39.95.

You can find the latest specs for 'Wild Strawberries' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under June 11.

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Discs mentioned in this article: (Click for specs and reviews)
Wild Strawberries (Blu-ray)


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