Thursday, May 21, 2009

Criterion Watch, August 2009

Next month begins my quest to watch all of the movies included in the Criterion Collection that I've never seen and to review them, which you'll be able to follow right here. But before we get to that, there'll be a few more titles to add to the list.

First, August's Blu-Ray releases:

I don't have a Blu-Ray player, but both of these are sweet choices, even though I realize the Kurosawa is kind of a compromise pick after the folks at Criterion weren't able to do the Ran Blu-Ray they'd promised. Play Time should be pretty great on Blu-Ray, with more of those wonderful Tati details now legible. And the colors of Kagemusha should really pop in the new format.

This could be a fun set for those looking to watch Japanese action (or "aku-shon") movies that involve handguns instead of samurai swords. I've seen one of these (A Colt Is My Passport), and while it's not great by any means, it's pretty entertaining, especially with Joe Shishido in the lead. Plus how can you not love a box set that includes a Seijun Suzuki film entitled Take Aim at the Police Van?

I've never been a big Stillman fan, and this is probably my least favorite of his three films to date. Still, nice to see Criterion staying committed to the indie stars of the nineties. Maybe one day they'll get around to releasing some Hal Hartley.

Finally, there's no cover for this one yet, but it's nonetheless the best DVD news I've read in a while. Hard to say how this will play on DVD for first-timers, but I can't wait.

1 comment:

Jeff McMahon said...

Having just seen both Playtime and Jeanne Dielman for the first time within the last year - and both on the big screen - I'd say that both need to be seen projected, but that both are very welcome in their new versions.