Fantastic news on Mizoguchi - looks like there is minimal crossover with the existing MoC titles,with only Street of Shame previously released.
Link to Criterion's Coming Soon page, which includes extras for all titles. Also Cassavetes' Killing of a Chinese Bookie and A Woman Under the Influence will be released separately from the box set, and a discounted Short Cuts (presumably now sans book) will also be available.

Missing
Costa-Gavras
Missing is political filmmaker extraordinaire Costa-Gavras's compelling, controversial dramatization of the search for American journalist Charles Horman, who mysteriously disappeared during the 1973 coup in Chile. Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek give magnetic, emotionally commanding performances as Horman’s father and wife, who are led by U.S. embassy and consulate officials through a series of bureaucratic dead-ends before eventually uncovering the terrifying facts about Charles’s fate and disillusioning truths about their government. Written and directed with clarity and conscience, the Academy Award–winning Missing is a testament to Costa-Gavras's daring.

Special Features

* - New, restored high-definition digital transfer
* - Video interviews with Costa-Gavras, Joyce Horman (wife of Charles Horman), producers Edward and Mildred Lewis and Sean Daniel, and Thomas Hauser, author of Missing, the film’s source
* - Interviews from the 1982 Cannes Film Festival with Costa-Gavras, Jack Lemmon, Ed Horman (father of Charles), and Joyce Horman
* - New video essay with Peter Kornbluh, author of The Pinochet File, examining declassified documents concerning the 1973 military coup in Chile and the case of Charles Horman
* - Video highlights from the 2002 Charles Horman Truth Project event honoring the twentieth anniversary of Missing, with actors Sissy Spacek, John Shea, and Melanie Mayron
* - Theatrical trailer
* - PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Michael Wood, an interview with Costa-Gavras, the U.S. State Department’s official response to Missing, and an open letter from Horman family friend Terry Simon




Le doulos
Jean-Pierre Melville
Synopsis
The backstabbing criminals in the shadowy underworld of Jean-Pierre Melville's Le doulos have only one guiding principle: “Lie or die.” A stone-faced Jean-Paul Belmondo stars as enigmatic gangster Silien, who may or may not be responsible for squealing on Faugel (Serge Reggiani), just released from the slammer and already involved in what should have been a simple heist. By the end of this brutal, twisty, and multilayered policier, who will be left to trust? Shot and edited with Melville’s trademark cool and featuring masterfully stylized dialogue and performances, Le doulos (slang for an informant) is one of the filmmaker’s most gripping crime dramas.

Special Features

* - New, restored high-definition digital transfer
* - Selected-scene audio commentary by film scholar Ginette Vincendeau, author of Jean-Pierre Melville: An American in Paris
* - Video interviews with directors Volker Schlöndorff and Bertrand Tavernier, who served as assistant director and publicity agent, respectively, on the film
* - Archival interviews with Melville and actors Jean-Paul Belmondo and Serge Reggiani
* - Original theatrical trailer
* - New and improved subtitle translation
* - PLUS: A new essay by film critic Glenn Kenny




Le deuxieme souffle
Jean-Pierre Melville
Synopsis
With his customary restraint and ruthless attention to detail, director Jean-Pierre Melville follows the parallel tracks of French underworld criminal Gu (the inimitable Lino Ventura), escaped from prison and roped into one last robbery, and the suave inspector, Blot (Paul Meurisse), relentlessly seeking him. The implosive Le deuxième souffle captures the pathos, loneliness, and excitement of a life in the shadows with methodical suspense and harrowing authenticity, and contains one of the most thrilling heist sequences Melville ever shot.

Special Features

* - New, restored high-definition digital transfer
* - Audio commentary by film scholar Ginette Vincendeau, author of Jean-Pierre Melville: An American in Paris, and film critic Geoff Andrew of the British Film Institute
* - New video interview with director Bertrand Tavernier, who served as publicity agent on the film
* - Archival footage featuring interviews with Melville and Lino Ventura
* - Original theatrical trailer
* - New and improved subtitle translation
* - PLUS: A new essay by film critic Adrian Danks

I'm in for all four of these releases.

Looks like the selected-scene Vincendeau commentary and Volker Schlöndorff video interview have been ported over from the 2004 BFI of Le Doulos ,with the Travernier video interview and archive interviews being new extras. Great to see the powerful Missing get the treatment it deserves.

The Mizoguchi box is the one I'm most excited about, by far...I already own the R2 box with Akasen Chitai, but the other three titles...especially the two '36 films...I've been eager to see for *years*.

I just saw Sisters of Geon recently. I thought the story itself was a bit underwhelming, but as usual the performances were wonderful, and the film is directed with Mizoguchi's customary sensitivity. I'll stick with my R2 Le Doulos, though I'll happily double dip on Missing.

Have the BFI Doulos but will probably get the CC. In on everything.

More Melville? Hell yeah!

^^^

! ! !

I'm very excited for all of these releases - especially the Melville and Mizoguchi films.

But, if my memory serves me, October is when they were planning to start releasing Blu-Ray titles. I wonder if they've delayed them - or if they're just waiting a little longer to make the announcement.

It was October. Up until this announcement, I had thought SD editions of Bottle Rocket, Chungking Express and the remastered Walkabout were slam dunks for October, considering their anticipated coinciding Blu-Ray releases.

I would rather see Costa-Gavras's The Confession released. The best film of his that I have seen.

Better than Z? I'd also love to see State of Siege get a proper dvd release - the dubbed VHS I saw was a real eye (and ear) sore.

I am curious about the same thing... "Bottle Rocket" was one of my most anticipated releases, so I expected to open this thread and see the Blu-Ray info. as well as the info. for the SDs of these. Maybe there will be a separate announcement though. I hope.

Definitely, in my estimation.

I have two different versions of Le deuxieme souffle, the Rene Chateau and the Russian english-subbed copy. It would be interesting to see how this Criterion releases compares as the Chateau disc is practically flawless. The Gavras release would be a real treat. I would probably consider Mizoguchi as well...

Pro-B

I was looking forward to those as well...

Hopefully November for these then, just in time for the 20% off sale.

two more melville for me

...and me. Fantastic.

Missing? Awesome!

Good stuff, but where the hell is White Dog?

More Meliville can only be a good thing. I'm in for both of those titles without question.

Getting these:and I'm very excited.
I've seen Missing, but I haven't seen the Melvilles, though I absolutely love all the other Melville films I've seen, so...

Though, to be fair, their initial press release does make it sound like they're going to start releasing Blu-Rays in October - and the titles listed would just be the first thirteen they release in the first few months. So even if their first Blu-Ray titles haven't been delayed, "Chungking Express", "Bottle Rocket", etc. might still be several more months away.

Here's the relevant wording in the announcement:It is rather vague - which I why I'm hoping we get a more definite announcement soon, so we can know exactly what to expect.