The Criterion Collection have announced their upcoming slate for May 2024. It’s a very strong lineup that includes a recent Oscar-nominated film, a new box set from a famed Senegalese director, and a long-awaited classic from Ozu. Here’s what’s coming:
A Story of Floating Weeds / Floating Weeds: Two Films by Yasujiro Ozu (Blu-ray)
Ozu’s Floating Weeds (1959) is my second favorite film of all time. A 4K restoration was made several years ago, and I had the pleasure of seeing it in theaters on two separate occasions. So it goes without saying that I was extremely happy to finally see this title announced, alongside the original 1934 silent version, A Story of Floating Weeds. From the screenshots posted at Criterion, both films look better than they ever have. You can find info on extras below.
SPECIAL FEATURES
- 4K digital master of Floating Weeds, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack (Blu-ray); high-definition digital transfer of Floating Weeds (DVD)
- High-definition digital master of A Story of Floating Weeds, featuring a score by composer Donald Sosin, presented in 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio on the Blu-ray
- Audio commentary for A Story of Floating Weeds by Japanese-film historian Donald Richie and for Floating Weeds by film critic Roger Ebert
- Trailer
- English subtitle translation by Richie for Floating Weeds
- PLUS: An essay by Richie
Covers by Lucien S. Y. Yang
Anatomy of a Fall (Blu-ray)
Justine Triet’s excellent courtroom thriller/drama Anatomy of a Fall will be coming from Criterion on May 28th. I wrote a brief review of the film here. The film was acquired in the US by NEON, who looks to have licensed it to Criterion.. I was surprised to see it only announced as a Blu-ray, as I figured it would be a 4K release too, but it appears to only have a 2K master. Among other awards, the film has been nominated for 5 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and Best Actress.
DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- 2K digital master, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
- New interview with director Justine Triet
- Deleted and alternate scenes with commentary by Triet
- Audition footage of actors Milo Machado Graner and Antoine Reinartz and rehearsal footage of Machado Graner and actor Sandra Hüller
- Trailer
- PLUS: An essay by critic Alexandra Schwartz
New cover by Greg Ruth
Peeping Tom (4K UHD)
4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
- Two audio commentaries, one featuring film scholar Laura Mulvey and one featuring film historian Ian Christie
- Introduction by filmmaker Martin Scorsese
- Interview with editor Thelma Schoonmaker
- Documentary about the film’s history, featuring interviews with Schoonmaker, Scorsese, and actor Carl Boehm
- Documentary about screenwriter Leo Marks
- Program on the film’s restoration
- Trailer
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: An essay by author Megan Abbott
New cover by Eric Skillman
Three Revolutionary Films by Ousmane Sembène (Blu-ray)
THREE-DISC SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- New 4K digital restorations of all three films, with uncompressed monaural soundtracks
- New conversation between Mahen Bonetti, founder and executive director of the African Film Festival, and writer Amy Sall
- The Making of “Ceddo,” a 1981 documentary by Paulin Soumanou Vieyra
- New English subtitle translations
- PLUS: An essay by film scholar Yasmina Price
New cover by Ify Chiejina
Girlfight (2000) (Blu-ray)
DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- New 4K digital restoration, supervised by director Karyn Kusama and director of photography Patrick Cady, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
- Audio commentary featuring Kusama
- New interviews with Kusama, editor Plummy Tucker, and composer Theodore Shapiro
- Trailer
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: An essay by author Carmen Maria Machado
New cover by Jillian Ade
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