Criterion releases for November 2008
08-15-08, 02:27 PM
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Criterion releases for November 2008
Fanfan la Tulipe
Synopsis
Legendary French star Gérard Philipe swashbuckled his way into film history as the peasant soldier Fanfan in Christian-Jaque’s devil-may-care romantic action-comedy. In eighteenth-century France, Fanfan joins King Louis XV’s army to avoid a forced marriage to a local lass. And thus begins an adventure that sees Fanfan getting himself out of close scrapes and into tight squeezes with Gina Lollobrigida’s impostor fortune teller, Adeline, on his way to fighting in the Seven Years’ War. Filled to the brim with dazzling stunts and randy innuendo, Fanfan la Tulipe, which won the best director prize at Cannes and was a smash hit upon its initial release, remains one of France’s all-time most beloved films.
Special Features
* - New, restored digital transfer
* - New video program about actor Gérard Philipe
* - A clip from the colorized version of the film
* - Theatrical trailer
* - Optional English-dubbed soundtrack
* - New and improved English subtitle translation
* - PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by Kenneth Turan and an excerpt from Georges Sadoul's monograph on Philipe
Bottle Rocket
Synopsis
Wes Anderson first illustrated his lovingly detailed, slightly surreal cinematic vision in this witty and warm portrait of three young middle-class misfits. Fresh out of a mental hospital, gentle Anthony (Luke Wilson) finds himself once again embroiled in the machinations of his best friend, elaborate schemer Dignan (Owen Wilson). With the aid of getaway driver Bob (Robert Musgrave), they develop a needlessly complex, mildly successful plan to rob a small bookstore—then go “on the lam.” Also featuring Lumi Cavazos as Inez, the South American housekeeper Anthony falls in love with, and James Caan as local thief extraordinaire Mr. Henry, Bottle Rocket is a charming, hilarious, affectionate look at the folly of dreamers. Shot against radiant southwestern backdrops, it’s the film that put Anderson and the Wilson brothers on the map.
Special Features
* - DIRECTOR-APPROVED DOUBLE-DISC SET SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES:
* - New, restored high-definition digital transfer supervised and approved by director Wes Anderson and director of photography Robert Yeoman
* - Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack
* - Commentary by director/co-writer Anderson and co-writer/star Owen Wilson
* - The Making of “Bottle Rocket”: an original documentary by filmmaker Barry Braverman featuring Anderson, James L. Brooks, James Caan, Temple Nash Jr., Kumar Pallana, Polly Platt, Mark Mothersbaugh, Robert Musgrave, Richard Sakai, David and Sandy Wasco, Andrew and Luke and Owen Wilson, and Robert Yeoman
* - The original thirteen-minute black-and-white Bottle Rocket short film from 1992
* - Eleven deleted scenes
* - Anamorphic screen test, storyboards, location photos, and behind-the-scenes photographs by Laura Wilson
* - Murita Cycles, a 1978 short film by Braverman
* - The Shafrazi Lectures, no. 1: Bottle Rocket
* - PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by executive producer James L. Brooks, an appreciation by Martin Scorsese, and original artwork by Ian Dingman
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
Synopsis
John Le Carré’s acclaimed bestselling novel, about a Cold War spy on one final, dangerous mission, is every bit as precise and ruthless onscreen in this adaptation directed by Martin Ritt. Richard Burton delivers one of his career-defining performances as Alec Leamas, whose hesitant but deeply felt relationship with a beautiful librarian (Claire Bloom) puts what he hopes will be his last assignment, in East Germany, in jeopardy. An intelligent, hard-edged, and even tragic thriller, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is etched with realism and suffused with genuine political and personal anxiety.
Special Features
* - SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET FEATURES:
* - New, restored high-definition digital transfer
* - New interviews with author John Le Carré and cinematographer Oswald Morris
* - The Secret Center: John Le Carré (2000), a BBC documentary on the author’s extraordinary life and work
* - Acting in the ’60s: Richard Burton, a 1967 interview with the BBC’s Kenneth Tynan examining the actor’s performances and accomplishments
* - Gallery of set designs
* - Theatrical trailer
* - PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Michael Sragow and a reprinted interview with Ritt
* - More!
Chungking Express
Synopsis
The whiplash, double-pronged Chungking Express is one of the defining works of nineties cinema and the film that made Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-wai an instant icon. Two heartsick Hong Kong cops (Takeshi Kaneshiro and Tony Leung), both jilted by ex-lovers, cross paths at the Midnight Express take-out restaurant stand, where the ethereal pixie waitress Faye (Faye Wong) works. Anything goes in Wong’s gloriously shot and utterly unexpected charmer, which cemented the sex appeal of its gorgeous stars and forever turned canned pineapple and the Mamas and the Papas’ “California Dreamin’” into tokens of romantic longing.
Special Features
* - New, restored high-definition digital transfer
* - Remastered Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack supervised by director Wong Kar-wai
* - Audio commentary by noted Asian cinema critic Tony Rayns
* - Episode excerpt from the British television series Moving Pictures featuring Wong and cinematographer Christopher Doyle
* - U.S. theatrical trailer
* - New and improved English subtitle translation
* - PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Amy Taubin and excerpts from a 1996 Sight and Sound interview with Wong by Rayns
Last edited by Sondheim; 08-15-08 at 02:31 PM.
08-15-08, 02:33 PM
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I must say, I'm not a fan of any of the covers besides "Chungking Express". "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold" especially looks like it was done in about two minutes.
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Other than that, I'm very excited for all of these releases. "Chungking Express" has been in need of a better R1 release for a long time.
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Other than that, I'm very excited for all of these releases. "Chungking Express" has been in need of a better R1 release for a long time.
08-15-08, 02:36 PM
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wish there is more extra on Chungking Express...
wonder if this is really the brend new picture/sound transfer, or the same one current available from Korean DVD (double pack with Fallen Angle)?
wonder if this is really the brend new picture/sound transfer, or the same one current available from Korean DVD (double pack with Fallen Angle)?
08-15-08, 03:02 PM
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All these titles have me at least a bit interested.
Bottle Rocket will most definitely be mine. Chungking Express was a title I thought I would indeed be purchasing but the extras are not close to enough to get me to double-dip on this one.
The Spy who came in tfrom the cold extras sound pretty paltry for a 2-dsk set as well but who knows maybe they'll be mroe substantial than how they sound. Still a rental for me at least.
As for FanFan la tulipe I thought the version they were relasing was the one from a few years ago or earlier this decade.
Bottle Rocket will most definitely be mine. Chungking Express was a title I thought I would indeed be purchasing but the extras are not close to enough to get me to double-dip on this one.
The Spy who came in tfrom the cold extras sound pretty paltry for a 2-dsk set as well but who knows maybe they'll be mroe substantial than how they sound. Still a rental for me at least.
As for FanFan la tulipe I thought the version they were relasing was the one from a few years ago or earlier this decade.
08-15-08, 03:10 PM
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I love Criterion's art design, but seriously, this month's efforts are not a high point.
Chris_sc77...Spy Who Came in is the only one that has MORE in it's features, so they must still be working on content.
Chris_sc77...Spy Who Came in is the only one that has MORE in it's features, so they must still be working on content.
08-15-08, 03:11 PM
#7
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Chungking Express
Synopsis
The whiplash, double-pronged Chungking Express is one of the defining works of nineties cinema and the film that made Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-wai an instant icon. Two heartsick Hong Kong cops (Takeshi Kaneshiro and Tony Leung), both jilted by ex-lovers, cross paths at the Midnight Express take-out restaurant stand, where the ethereal pixie waitress Faye (Faye Wong) works. Anything goes in Wongs gloriously shot and utterly unexpected charmer, which cemented the sex appeal of its gorgeous stars and forever turned canned pineapple and the Mamas and the Papas California Dreamin into tokens of romantic longing.
Special Features
* - New, restored high-definition digital transfer
* - Remastered Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack supervised by director Wong Kar-wai
* - Audio commentary by noted Asian cinema critic Tony Rayns
* - Episode excerpt from the British television series Moving Pictures featuring Wong and cinematographer Christopher Doyle
* - U.S. theatrical trailer
* - New and improved English subtitle translation
* - PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Amy Taubin and excerpts from a 1996 Sight and Sound interview with Wong by Rayns
08-15-08, 03:12 PM
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I expected Bottle Rocket and Chungking Express (along with El Norte and the reissue of Walkabout, due to the Blu-Ray announcements). I'm looking forward to those, along with The Spy Who Came In From The Cold.
08-15-08, 04:33 PM
#13
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No big surprises there. I'll pass on Fanfan, in for the other three. I agree that the Spy cover is total dullsville, but Bottle Rocket and Chungking look all right to me. Fanfan looks as if their heads have been pasted on.
