Criterion‘s lineup of titles to be released in May has been revealed and it’s a doozy! In addition to two more Bergman films making their high-def debut and a long-awaited upgrade of Mathieu Kassovitz‘s La haine, the studio has unveiled that it’ll be releasing Spike Jonze‘s groundbreaking Being John Malkovich as well as the brilliant Certified Copy, Abbas Kiarostami‘s first dramatic feature to be shot outside of his native Iran. I’m going to need to get my hands on each and every one of these bad boys. In particular, I can’t wait to check out the Italian ‘making of’ doc on Certified Copy and all the extras on Bergman’s Summer with Monika. I’ll also add that I’m a bit disappointed in the lack of bonus goodies on Summer Interlude but, as is the case with just about every bare bones Criterion release, I’m just pleased that we’re getting the film in high-def. I’ll take a movie-only Blu-ray graced with a decent transfer over no Blu-ray release at all, any day of the week!
BEING JOHN MALKOVICH
(May 15, 2012 – MSRP $39.95)
Video: 1.85:1 1080p
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Special Features:
- New high-definition digital restoration, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
- New selected-scene audio commentary featuring filmmaker Michel Gondry
- New behind-the-scenes documentary by filmmaker Lance Bangs
- Conversation between John Malkovich and humorist John Hodgman
- Director Spike Jonze discusses Being John Malkovich via photos from its production
- Two films within the film: 7½ Floor Orientation and “American Arts & Culture” Presents John Horatio Malkovich, “Dance of Despair and Disillusionment”
- An Intimate Portrait of the Art of Puppeteering, a documentary by Bangs
- Trailer and TV spots
- PLUS: A booklet featuring a conversation between Jonze and pop-culture critic Perkus Tooth
CERTIFIED COPY
(May 22, 2012 – MSRP $39.95)
Video: 1.85:1 1080p
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Special Features:
- New high-definition digital restoration, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
- New interview with director Abbas Kiarostami
- Let’s See “Copia conforme,” an Italian documentary on the making of Certified Copy, featuring interviews with Kiarostami and actors Juliette Binoche and William Shimellli>
- Trailer
- New English subtitle translation
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Godfrey Cheshire
LA HAINE
(May 8, 2012 – MSRP $39.95)
Video: 1.33:1 1080p
Audio: monaural soundtrack
Special Features:
- Restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised by director Mathieu Kassovitz, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
- English-language audio commentary by Kassovitz
- Introduction by actor Jodie Foster
- Ten Years of “La haine,” an eighty-minute documentary that brings together cast and crew a decade after the film’s landmark release
- Featurette on the film’s banlieue setting, including interviews with sociologists Sophie Body-Gendrot, Jeffrey Fagan, and William Kornblum
- Production footage
- Deleted and extended scenes, each featuring an afterword by Kassovitz
- Gallery of behind-the-scenes photos
- Trailers
- PLUS: A new essay by film scholar Ginette Vincendeau and an appreciation by acclaimed filmmaker Costa-Gavras
SUMMER INTERLUDE
(May 29, 2012 – MSRP $29.95)
Video: 1.33:1 1080p
Audio: monaural soundtrack
Special Features:
- New high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- New English subtitle translation
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film scholar Peter Cowie
SUMMER WITH MONIKA
(May 29, 2012 – MSRP $39.95)
Video: 1.33:1 1080p
Audio: monaural soundtrack
Special Features:
- New high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- Introduction by director Ingmar Bergman
- New interview with actress Harriet Andersson, conducted by film critic Peter Cowie
- New interview with film scholar Eric Schaefer about Kroger Babb and Babb’s distribution of Monika: Story of a Bad Girl as an exploitation film
- Images from the Playground, a half-hour documentary by Stig Björkman with behind-the-scenes footage shot by Bergman, archival audio interviews with Bergman, and new interviews with actresses Bibi Andersson and Harriet Andersson
- Trailer
- New English subtitle translation
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film scholar Laura Hubner, a 1958 review by filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard, and a publicity piece from 1953 in which Bergman interviews himself
[...] Criterion May Blu-ray titles: Being John Malkovich, La haine, Certified Copy, Summer Interlude, Summ… from The Blu-ray Blog on February 20, 2012 at 07:47AM [...]
[...] Criterion May Blu-ray titles: Being John Malkovich, La haine, Certified Copy, Summer Interlude, Summ… from The Blu-ray Blog on February 20, 2012 at 07:47AM [...]