Next up: The Best New Blu-ray Discs of the Year!

MORE GIFT IDEAS:

* GIFT & BOXED SETS
* TV ON BLU
* ANIMATION
* THE BEST OF THE YEAR

• The Criterion Collection: Black Orpheus Blu-ray Disc Review
• Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of September 14 – BREATHLESS (À BOUT DE SOUFFLE)
• criterion.com

AMAZON: Click for price list

The Complete Metropolis is unquestionably one of the finest and most important Blu-ray releases of the year. This restoration, incorporating 25-minutes of newly discovered footage back into the film for the first time in decades, is absolutely stunning in high-def and is necessary viewing for every film fan. This disc receives our highest possible recommendation.

READ MORE: The Complete Metropolis Blu-ray Disc Review

AMAZON: $29.49

David Lean‘s Lawrence of Arabia might not be available on Blu yet but Sony has given us the next best thing in their brilliant new high-def transfer of The Bridge on the River Kwai. The boxed set contains a bunch of unnecessary collectibles, but the disc is to die for!

READ MORE: The Bridge on the River Kwai Blu-ray Disc Review

AMAZON: $19.99

And speaking of Lean, his very fine and highly under-rated Doctor Zhivago was released on Blu-ray earlier this year in a nice, new digi-book edition from Warner. If the photography and the music don’t get you, Omar Sharif surely will. Purely briliant!

READ MORE: Doctor Zhivago: 45th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray Disc Review

AMAZON: $28.99

Who doesn’t just absolutely love the original King Kong?! The Merian C. Cooper film has inspired a couple of remakes, tons of knock-offs and countless filmmakers over the years. And it’s never looked or sounded better on home video than on this gorgeous new Blu-ray edition from Warner. Highly recommended!

READ MORE: Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of September 28 – KING KONG

AMAZON: $25.99

And while we’re on the subject of brilliant films made with stop-motion animation, don’t miss out on the incredible Blu-ray edition of Ray Harryhausen‘s Jason and the Argonauts! I still can’t get over what a great job Sony did restoring and transferring this to Blu. You have to see it to believe it!

READ MORE: Jason and the Argonauts Blu-ray Disc Review

AMAZON: $20.99

As I stated in my review of the A Star is Born Blu-ray, I really hate musicals. But I’m always willing to make an exception for a well made film presented in a pretty great Blu-ray edition. This is classic Judy Garland and James Mason in a classic George Cukor film. Don’t miss this WHV digi-book edition of the Blu-ray!

READ MORE: A Star is Born Blu-ray Disc Review

AMAZON: $24.99

There aren’t a whole lot of special features on this new Blu-ray edition of the 1935 version of Mutiny on the Bounty but the film itself has never looked or sounded better on home video. This isn’t a flawless restoration here but it’s a great package, including a hardcover digibook, that most collectors and fans will be satisfied with.

AMAZON: $22.99

This gorgeous restoration has been a long time in coming! We film fans have been waiting to get our grubby mitts on a cleaned up, digital copy of The African Queen for ages. It’s one of those few titles that didn’t appear on DVD at all until just this year, when it also saw release on Blu-ray. John Huston‘s classic starring Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn has never looked or sounded better and is a must for all film fans.

READ MORE: Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of March 23 – THE AFRICAN QUEEN

AMAZON: $24.99

Speaking of Bogey and Huston, Warner recently hit us with amazing Blu-ray editions of a couple of their finest collaborations – The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and The Maltese Falcon! Both look fantastic, considering their ages, with the transfer for Treasure often quite breathtaking. The discs both contain a myriad of special features, which you can read about here.

AMAZON: $18.49, $17.49

Kino has been absolutely killing it this year with silent film releases on Blu-ray! Aside from their killer high-def version of Metropolis, I think my favourite title has to have been Douglas Fairbanks‘ The Black Pirate. I never thought a two-strip Technicolor film of this age could look this good in high-def! Amazing!

AMAZON: $22.99

ALSO AVAILABLE FROM KINO:

Nuts to the Coen brothers! This here original version of True Grit is the real deal. This classic John Wayne film co-starring the likes of a very young Dennis Hopper and Robert Duvall, is pretty stunning here in its new Blu-ray incarnation. The special features are all carried over from the previously issued DVD but hold up well.

AMAZON: $17.99

CLASSICS ALSO AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY
Clicking an image will take you to Amazon.com where you can learn more about and purchase the Blu-ray disc:

MORE GIFT IDEAS:

* GIFT & BOXED SETS
* TV ON BLU
* ANIMATION
* THE BEST OF THE YEAR

Related posts

• Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of November 23 (1)
• Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of August 17 (0)
• [VIDEO] The Bridge on the River Kwai Blu-ray Trailer (1)
• Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of November 2 (1)
• The Criterion Collection: Black Orpheus Blu-ray Disc Review (1)

THE COMPLETE METROPOLIS (1927, Blu-ray released November 23, 2010 – MSRP $39.95)

Stunning. Absolutely stunning. You’ll never believe how beautiful, rich and detailed an old silent, black and white film from the twenties can look in high-def until you feast your eyes on Kino‘s new The Complete Metropolis Blu-ray disc.

I’m sure you’re well familiar with Fritz Lang‘s landmark cinematic vision of the future, Metropolis. Without which there would be no Blade Runner or Star Wars or Universal Monsters or, to be frank, no films being made as we know and love them today. Yeah, it’s a pretty important piece of work that’s influenced damn near every director, screenwriter and production designer working in the medium today. But chances are, unless you were lucky enough to catch it as it played the festival circuit in the last year, you haven’t seen The Complete Metropolis – a reconstruction of the previously truncated and heavily edited original film using a newly discovered 16mm print, which brings Lang’s masterwork closer to his cut of the film than its been in decades.

The 25-minutes of added footage are a welcome addition, significantly altering the pacing and the structure of the film. But these scenes, moments and quick cuts now spliced into clean, nearly-pristine 2001 restoration appear markedly different – scratched and dirty, dull with less detail and in a slightly different aspect ratio (a black bar crops the top portion of most images). Sadly, this is the best that could be done with the newly discovered footage. In fact, there are instances where available elements were too far gone to recover and exist now in the film as text, explaining the moments of lost story. Despite the less-than-perfect nature of this “complete” edit, we film fans can now watch this, one of the finest films ever made and rejoice that we’re finally able to experience the story as it was meant to be seen.

To make a blanket statement about the quality of the image on The Complete Metropolis Blu-ray disc would be misleading but to say that the overall transfer is accurate, free of digital tampering and mostly astounding wouldn’t be steering you wrong. To be honest, I found it quite breathtaking. Sure, the source is uneven, with images ranging from rich, detailed perfection to those that are cropped, scraped, low contrast and barely watchable, but all things considered, it’s tough to complain about the results. As wonderful as it is to see this complete, restored version of Metropolis in all its high-def glory, its equally great to hear the original, full Gottfried Huppert score, presented here in both a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track and a LPCM 2.0 track. Both presentations are dynamic, full and very impressive. Intertitles are in English. There’s no option to watch with original German titles.

Special features on the Blu-ray disc are excellent but few in number. The hour-long “Voyage to Metropolis” covers the history of the film, from production to restoration, to present day. Featuring interviews with the director himself and HD production art and stills, every fan owes it to themselves to see this doc. It’s almost worth the price of the disc alone. An interview with the museum curator who discovered the 16mm print used for the new footage and a trailer for the film round out the package. Sadly, none of the extras from the 2003 release are present this time around, so you might want to hold on to your old DVD. Also absent is the commentary track from the Masters of Cinema U.K. edition of the Blu-ray (locked to Region B.) The MOC and Kino discs are otherwise identical.

Super-extra-highly recommended!

Related posts

• Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of November 23 (1)
• The Complete Metropolis Blu-ray officially announced and detailed (1)
• UK Masters of Cinema Blu-ray edition of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis revealed (2)
• Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of December 14 (1)
• Restored "Metropolis" better than anyone thought. Review from Independent (UK) (0)

This is an amazing week for Blu-ray – not only in that there are a handful of pretty amazing new releases (and some duds) to grab up but that there are more deals to be had this week on titles and players than at any time of the year, thanks to the incredible BLACK FRIDAY sales in the USA. If new releases aren’t your thing this week, you can find a handy, constantly-updated Black Friday Blu-ray Guide to sales and sale prices here.

1. AMERICA LOST AND FOUND: THE BBS STORY

I know I’ve said this a few times recently, but this really might be the Blu-ray release of the year. Criterion have assembled a box full of seven of the most important and influential films from the late 60s/early 70s, all made and produced by Bob Rafelson, Bert Schneider and Steve Blauner. And of course, each one has been prepped and transferred with the same love and care that Criterion give each standalone release, individually stacked with great special features.

Less well-known films, Head, A Safe Place and Drive, He Said hold up well amongst their popular siblings. In fact, though most film fans will pick up the boxed set for The Last Picture Show or Five Easy Pieces, I think the true delight will be the discovery (or re-discovery, as the case may be) of these hidden gems.

Higher profile Blu-ray releases and boxed sets might steal the spotlight this holiday season but the true coveted prize for any true film-fan will be this incredible, robust collection of films from Criterion. America Lost and Found: The BBS Story receives our highest possible recommendation.

FULL DETAILS HERE: Criterion Collection America Lost and Found: The BBS Story Blu-ray set contains Easy Rider, Last Picture Show, Five Easy Pieces

Amazon: $87.49

2. THE COMPLETE METROPOLIS

Speaking of incredible, influential and must-own releases of the week, The Complete Metropolis Blu-ray release from Kino is the newly released disc that you don’t put on your Christmas list – you run out and buy it today. Metropolis is inarguably one of the most important films ever made and now, for the first time in decades, we have the opportunity to see it in its complete form. Well, as close as technology and available resources allow.

The film was censored, ravaged from its initial length to a truncated 90-minutes. This version, which looks incredible on Blu-ray, for the most part, restores a good deal of the story and brings the run-time to a more film-accurate 145-minutes. This is a landmark Blu-ray release that shouldn’t be missed at any cost!

Amazon: $29.49

3. DEADWOOD: THE COMPLETE SERIES

On any other week, this would have easily been the number one release. The Deadwood: The Complete Series Blu-ray boxed set showed up at my door just as I was stepping out on vacation. As a result I haven’t been able to watch it yet but I’ll tell you, the damn thing weighs a ton! It’s packed with 13-discs of one of the best shows to ever have aired on television. And knowing HBO as I do, I’d be willing to bet that the quality of the packaging and the transfers are all beyond reproach. It’s an expensive set but an easy recommendation, even without having viewed a single one of the 13 discs.

Amazon: $137.99

4. THE EXPENDABLES

Ahhh, Sly. I totally missed this one in the theatres. (I know, you’re shocked, right?) But strangely, I have a feeling that this testosterone-fueled 80s callback will be better enjoyed on the smaller screen, just as we all truly fell in love with this type of film on cable and VHS back in the day. Call me crazy, but I’m actually more excited to check this out on Blu-ray than in the theatre. I’m looking forward to having the boys over, ordering pizza and busting out The Expendables very soon. Too bad the disc doesn’t have a VHS-quality transfer as one of the special features. … I can’t believe I just wrote that…

Amazon: $19.99

5. THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH

I have a feeling I’ll take a little heat for this but I loved The Pillars of the Earth! After steadfastly avoiding the television mini-series format for ages, I found myself quickly sucked into this brilliantly executed medieval melodrama, adapted from the bestselling novel by Ken Follett. Admittedly, the fact that the show is produced by Ridley and Tony Scott and stars a ton of amazing actors (Donald Sutherland, Gordon Pinsent, Hayley Atwell, Ian McShane, Matthew Macfadyen to name a few) makes watching what could have been a very weak movie of the week-style program an easier pill to swallow. The castles and bloody battles look great on the 3-disc Blu-ray set, despite the fact that the 6-episodes are actually encoded in 1080i (the back of the packaging incorrectly states that the encoding is 1080p.)

Amazon: $38.99

6. SALON KITTY

Another week, another sixth title in the Top 5 list. I’m sorry, but I can’t wrap up this column without pointing out that the lude, rude and all-together very nude (see what I did there, with the rhyming?) Salon Kitty has made its way to Blu-ray thanks to the dirty boys and girls of Blue Underground. Three years before he would shock the world with Caligula, Tinto Brass delivered a lengthy, somewhat muddled World War II-era film about a madame whose brothel is bugged in an attempt to gather bedside intel from unsuspecting Nazi soldiers. Brass takes the subject matter seriously but undermines his intent with over the top tits and ass. Fans of the film will be happy to know that Salon Kitty looks and sounds better than ever on Blu-ray and includes a limited but informative collection of extras (“Inside ‘Salon Kitty:’ Interview with Director Tinto Brass“, “Designing ‘Salon Kitty:’ Interview with Production Designer Ken Adam“, international trailer and three radio spots)

Amazon: $22.49

ALSO AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY THIS WEEK
Clicking an image will take you to Amazon.com where you can learn more about and purchase the Blu-ray disc:

Related posts

• Criterion Collection America Lost and Found: The BBS Story Blu-ray set contains Easy Rider, Last Picture Show, Five Easy Pieces (3)
• Blu-ray Holiday Gift Guide 2010: Gift Sets (5)
• The Pillars of the Earth Blu-ray Disc Review (1)
• Top 10 New Blu-ray Discs for Halloween 2010 (4)
• The Complete Metropolis Blu-ray officially announced and detailed (1)

We got our first look at the UK Masters of Cinema Metropolis Blu-ray boxed set back in May and holy crap did it appear to be the best thing ever. I was really, really hoping that the North American version from Kino International would be an exact copy, complete with commentary track and comparable packaging (take a look at the gorgeous MoC version here.) Sadly, it seems the Kino edition might be a bit more of a stripped down affair.

From the looks of things, the Kino Blu-ray will only have a single feature to hold over its UK counterpart – an interview with the museum curator where the new footage from Fritz Lang’s classic of the silent cinema was discovered. As nice as that sounds, I have to lament that we won’t be getting the David Kalat and Jonathan Rosenbaum commentary track or the incredible-looking 56-page book of the MoC boxed set on this side of the Atlantic. Those seem like fairly significant extras to miss out on – a couple hours of analytical discussion as well as pages upon pages of essays, photos and art.

But I really shouldn’t complain. I mean, at the end of the day, the film is the thing, right? And it shouldn’t really matter who gets what extras. We’re all getting a Blu-ray disc with a transfer of the film based off of this brand new, best-ever print, so it’s Christmas-time for all of us! I think we’re all very fortunate to have as much. And perhaps the Kino edition will actually live up to the MoC at the end of the day. Either way, I can’t wait to get my hands on Metropolis on Blu-ray. November can’t come soon enough!!

Special Features:

• Voyage to Metropolis, a 50-minute documentary on the making and restoration of the film (in HD)
• Interview with Paula Felix-Didier, curator of the Museo del Cine, Buenos Aires, where the missing footage was discovered
• 2010 re-release trailer
• Limited Edition Collectible 3-D Lenticuar Box Packaging

Via: The Digital Bits.com

Related posts

• Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of November 23 (1)
• The Complete Metropolis Blu-ray Disc Review (2)
• UK Masters of Cinema Blu-ray edition of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis revealed (2)
• Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of December 14 (1)
• Restored "Metropolis" better than anyone thought. Review from Independent (UK) (0)

Wow. There isn’t even a contender for the number one slot this week that can stand up to my top pick. I mean, I dearly love some of the other films newly available on Blu today but man, the top pick rules them all!

In addition to one of the most necessary Blu-ray purchases of the year hitting the shops today, you’ll also find some genuine classics from the 70s and 80s, some of which are new to Blu, others available for the first time outside of boxed sets. It’s quite a good crop of discs today!

1. M

This may very well be the year of Fritz Lang. With the newly restored, extended version of his classic film Metropolis making the art-house rounds now and expected on Blu in a few months time, we all need to sit up and take notice of another Lang masterpiece available for the first time in North America on Blu-ray today. M is a stunning film, starring Peter Lorre in a creepy performance in this, his first speaking role. In fact, this was Lang’s first “talkie” film, and the one that he considered his finest work. M stands high, even today, as the ultimate psychological thriller, providing the blueprint for those who would follow in his footsteps. Highly recommended!

Oh, wait. Did I mention that this is a Criterion Collection release with an absolutely stunning transfer and tons of bonus features? Yeah…SUPER HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

Amazon: $32.49

2. THE KARATE KID, THE KARATE KID II

What more can I say about The Karate Kid that I haven’t blathered on about in my review already? Well, first, let me remind you of how much I love these shmaltzy 80′s films and how impressed I am with Sony‘s wonderful treatment of them on Blu. Second, let me recommend to you that you pick up the 2-disc boxed set of both films, which nets you all the Karate Kid action you’ll ever need for a pretty good discount (currently $27.96 on Amazon!). WAX ON!

Read more: The Karate Kid (1984) Blu-ray Disc Review

Amazon: $17.46, $22.49
Boxed set: $27.96

3. EDGE OF DARKNESS

I haven’t had a chance to check out Edge of Darkness yet but I hate to admit that I’m excited as hell to dig into it! I, like most people, have developed a particular aversion to Mel Gibson of late. But this film has so much more to offer! A great setup, much like last years hit Taken, a fantastic supporting actor (Ray Winstone of Sexy Beast fame) and a director who can deliver a taught action thriller (Martin Campbell, who helmed Casino Royale and Goldeneye and who is currently filming Green Lantern!) And as this is a brand, spanking new film, I expect the transfer to be pretty great.

Amazon: $19.99

4. THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN COLLECTION

This is a four disc set containing The Magnificent Seven, Return of the Magnificent Seven, Guns of the Magnificent Seven and The Magnificent Seven Ride! and you need to own this. But, as you’d expect, you’re actually buying the set for the first, original film, famously adapted from Akira Kurosawa‘s The Seven Samurai and stunning here in its high-def debut. High bitrate encode, lots of extras and all the sequels – I can’t say I see anything wrong with this set, outside of the fact that the sequels are nowhere near as good as the original and you probably won’t return to them as often. If the higher price tag doesn’t scare you away, grab this up immediately. If you’re a little gun shy, hold out for the eventual single release of the first film on Blu.

Amazon: $51.99

5. ROCK N’ ROLL HIGH SCHOOL

If you love the Ramones, if you love Roger Corman‘s cheap, low-rent style of filmmaking, you won’t want to miss out on Shout Factory‘s brave new release of Rock N’ Roll High School. This is not the type of film that will shine on Blu-ray but every effort seems to have been made to polish up the musty, mistreated print to look better than it deserves to. The disappointment of the mono-only audio is somewhat assuaged by the delicious bounty of special features on the disc. Recommended for fans and cult enthusiasts!

Amazon: $16.99

SPECIAL MENTION: New Action/Fantasy Vampire/Angel films with Blue Covers! BLUE COVERS!!!

LEGION

Amazon: $22.99

DAYBREAKERS

Amazon: $24.99

ALSO AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY THIS WEEK
Clicking an image will take you to Amazon.com where you can learn more about and purchase the Blu-ray disc:

Related posts

• The Karate Kid (1984) Blu-ray Disc Review (1)
• Original 1984 Karate Kid and Karate Kid Part II coming to Blu-ray (2)
• New Masters of Cinema Blu-ray Announcements: Lang’s M, Murnau's City Girl, Godard's Une Femme Mariée (0)
• Fritz Lang's M Blu-ray Detailed (0)
• Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of November 23 (1)

The full original cut of Fritz Lang‘s silent masterpiece Metropolis was thought lost for the better part of the last century. When a nearly complete copy of the film was discovered in Argentina in 2008, restoration experts in Berlin were almost immediately put to work repairing and completing a version of the film that is as close to the original intent as modern audiences have ever witnessed. The restored original version of Metropolis was screened this past February, nearly 83 years since its initial premiere in 1927. It’s been a known fact for quite some time that the film would make its Blu-ray debut some time this fall but now we have the first glimpse of the drool-worthy UK Masters of Cinema release.

Packaged in a gorgeous reproduction of Boris Bilinsky‘s stunning, vintage French four-sheet poster (that’s a big piece of paper at 96 by 120 inches!) as a wraparound and embossed sleeve, this Blu-ray release will ship with a 56-page book and a ton of special features, some of which have been already been revealed! Check out the details below for what we know so far. We will, of course, update you when more information becomes available and when we learn the details of Kino‘s North American release. Let’s hope it can live up to this incredible looking effort from the Masters of Cinema collection!

METROPOLIS (2010 Restoration – UK)
Video: 1.33:1 1080
Audio: TBA

Special Features:

• 150-minute feature film (including 25 minutes of footage previously thought lost to the world)
• Special-edition packaging with lavish wraparound sleeve and embossed printing
• Pristine film transfers presented on Blu-ray (1080p) and DVD (2-disc)
• Newly translated optional English subtitles
• Full-length audio commentary by David Kalat and Jonathan Rosenbaum
• Die Reise nach Metropolis (2010) documentary about the film
• 56-page booklet featuring new essays, archival interviews, vintage production stills, and more

Via: www.metropolis1927.com

Related posts

• Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of November 23 (1)
• The Complete Metropolis Blu-ray officially announced and detailed (1)
• The Complete Metropolis Blu-ray Disc Review (2)
• New Masters of Cinema Blu-ray Announcements: Lang’s M, Murnau's City Girl, Godard's Une Femme Mariée (0)
• Fritz Lang's M Blu-ray Detailed (0)

Related posts

• Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of November 23 (1)
• The Complete Metropolis Blu-ray officially announced and detailed (1)
• The Complete Metropolis Blu-ray Disc Review (2)
• Must see, cat smells maggots and old meat in Blu-ray of BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN (0)
• May titles announced! STAGECOACH, Fritz Lang's M, Roeg's WALKABOUT, Brakhage on Blu-ray (0)

Related posts

• Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of May 25 (5)
• Twenty questions with Criterion designer Eric Skillman (0)
• Trailer for Renoir's LA BETE HUMAINE, complete with great retro typefaces and train noises (0)
• Top 10 Japanese documentaries from jfilmpowwow (0)
• RT @theauteurs: Leo McCarey's screwball comedy masterpiece THE AWFUL TRUTH, starring Cary Grant, in its entity on YouTube (0)

It was almost exactly a month ago that we told you all about Masters of Cinema‘s upcoming slate of Blu-ray releases, including Fritz Lang‘s M. But at that time, we didn’t have any details to share. Well, here they are! And the disc looks amazing! The special features don’t duplicate Criterion‘s DVD release at all (all new commentary tracks and documentaries!) so hold onto those editions if you’ve got them. Remember, however, that these MOC releases are UK only for the time being, so if you live on the same side of the Atlantic as me, you’ll have to import from Amazon.co.uk or the like, if you want them for yourself. Details below:

M
(February 22, 2010 – MSRP £24.99)
Video: 1.19:1 1080p AVC
Audio: TBA

Special Features:

• Two audio commentaries:
  • German film scholars Anton Kaes and Eric Rentschler
  • Film restoration expert Martin Koerber, filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich, historian Torsten Kaiser and excerpts from Bogdanovich’s 1965 audio interviews with Lang
• The original 1932 British release version of ‘M’, presented in its entirety, recently rediscovered after 70 years, featuring different actors, alternate takes and Peter Lorre’s first performance in English
• Zum Beispiel Fritz Lang, a 1968 documentary with Fritz Lang discussing his career in German cinema
• 48-page illustrated booklet, including writing by Fritz Lang, historian Robert Fischer, details of a missing scene, behind-the-scenes stills and production drawings

Related posts

• New Masters of Cinema Blu-ray Announcements: Lang’s M, Murnau's City Girl, Godard's Une Femme Mariée (0)
• Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of May 11 (0)
• UK Masters of Cinema Blu-ray edition of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis revealed (2)
• Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of November 23 (1)
• The Complete Metropolis Blu-ray officially announced and detailed (1)

It’s days like these that make me wish I was living back in the UK. The brilliant Masters of Cinema label have just announced their first three Blu-ray titles of 2010 – Fritz Lang’s M, F.W. Murnau‘s City Girl and Jean-Luc Godard‘s Une Femme Mariée. We’ve got package art for all three and details for two of the titles. Still waiting to find out what’s going to be on the M disc. If the incredible MOC edition of Murnau’s Sunrise is any indication, we’re in for a real treat with this next batch of releases. Guess I better put my ordering finger to work on Amazon.co.uk. I’ve got me some importing to do!

Special Features:

• New 1080p/24fps transfer of the film in its original 1.37:1 aspect ratio
• New and improved English subtitle translations
• The original trailer for the film (presented in 1080p/24fps), created and edited by Jean-Luc Godard at the time of the film’s original French release

80-page book containing:

• A new “overture” by legendary French critic and filmmaker Luc Moullet
• A lengthy roundtable discussion between Luc Moullet; writer/critic and American correspondent for Cahiers du cinéma Bill Krohn; writer/critic Andy Rector; and MOC’s Craig Keller – on the film, and its relationship to Godard’s oeuvre from the 1950s through the 2000s
• A concentrated investigation into the film by Bill Krohn
• An image-essay by Andy Rector
• A new statement about the film by star Macha Méril
• A transcript of Godard’s late-‘70s lecture on Une femme mariée, Bergman’s Persona, Flaherty’s Nanook of the North, and Rossellini’s Francesco giullare di Dio, originally presented in Introduction à une véritable histoire du cinéma, translated here into English for the first time
• Relevant excerpts from Jean Racine’s Bérénice, in the original French, accompanied by a new parallel English translation
• An editorial preface on the role of Blu-ray and DVD booklets in the modern film-viewing era
• A short aside on the nature of ‘production stills’ reproduced in Blu-ray and DVD booklets, film books, and film magazines
• The reproduction sof a late-‘70s collage by Godard on the subject of Alfred Hitchcock
• A lengthy conversational afterword by Craig Keller and Andy Rector

CITY GIRL
(February, 2010 – MSRP £24.99)
Video: 1.19:1 1080p
Audio: TBA

Special Features:

• Restored high-definition transfer of the silent version by 20th Century Fox
• A new score, composed and arranged in 2008 by Christopher Caliendo
• Full-length audio commentary by film scholar David Kalat
• 40-page illustrated booklet with new writing and reprints

M
(February, 2010 – MSRP £24.99)
Video: TBA
Audio: TBA

Related posts

• Fritz Lang's M Blu-ray Detailed (0)
• Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of May 11 (0)
• UK Masters of Cinema Blu-ray edition of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis revealed (2)
• Top 5 New Blu-ray releases for the Week of November 23 (1)
• The Complete Metropolis Blu-ray officially announced and detailed (1)