From Criterion:

This March, we bring three new filmmakers to the collection—
idiosyncratic, daring directors every one: Nicholas Ray, with his 1950s suburban nightmare Bigger Than Life, starring James Mason; Marco Ferreri, whose Dillinger Is Dead, with the ever-charming Michel Piccoli, is all kinds of crazy; and Pedro Costa, an important name in contemporary cinema whose Fontainhas trilogy will introduce you to people, real and imagined, you’ll never forget. All this and Blu-ray Kurosawa and Days of Heaven, too!***

***It's been mentioned in HD TALK, but the Kurosawa BDs are Yojimbo and Sanjuro and Criterion is also releasing Days of Heaven and Bigger Than Life on Blu.

Letters from Fontainhas: Three Films by Pedro Costa



One of the most important artists on the international film scene today, Portuguese director Pedro Costa has been steadily building an impressive body of work since the late eighties. And these are the three films that put him on the map: spare, painterly portraits of battered, largely immigrant lives in the slums of Fontainhas, a neighborhood on the outskirts of Lisbon. Hypnotic, controlled works, Ossos, In Vanda’s Room, and Colossal Youth confirm Costa as a provocative new cinematic poet, one who locates beauty in the most unlikely of places.

Bigger Than Life



Though ignored at the time of its release, Nicholas Ray’s Bigger Than Life is now recognized as one of the great American films of the 1950s. When a friendly, successful suburban teacher and father (James Mason, in one of his most indelible roles) is prescribed cortisone for a painful, possibly fatal affliction, he grows dangerously addicted to the experimental drug, resulting in his transformation into a psychotic and ultimately violent household despot. This Eisenhower-era throat-grabber, shot in expressive CinemaScope, is an excoriating take on the nuclear family; that it came in the day of Father Knows Best makes it all the more shocking—and wildly entertaining.

Dillinger is Dead



In this magnificently inscrutable late-sixties masterpiece, Marco Ferreri, one of European cinema’s most idiosyncratic auteurs, takes us through the looking glass to one seemingly routine night in the life of an Italian gas mask designer, played, in a tour de force performance, by New Wave icon Michel Piccoli. In his claustrophobic, mod home, he pampers his pill-popping wife, seduces his maid, and uncovers a gun that may have once been owned by John Dillinger—and then things get even stranger. A surreal political missive about social malaise, Dillinger Is Dead finds absurdity in the mundane. It is a singular experience, both illogical and grandly existential.

I'm up for Bigger Than Life, along with the Yojimbo/Sanjuro and Days Of Heaven Blus.

'Colosal Youth' - finally!!!!

Sanjuro is the only one I'll probably skip on.

Nah, they'll sucker me in somehow.

This is the best month in *ages*.

Days of Heaven is the most beautifully shot film i have ever seen, I can not wait to own it on blu-ray, now if Criterion could grab the rights to Badlands.

I've been mostly entertained by the Marco Ferreri films I've seen, but not blown away. I'll definitely check out "Dillinger Is Dead" but I am not expecting much.

I'm excited for those Kurosawa blus though.

In for the blu-ray Ray!

I'm kind of surprised that 'Rashomon' isn't part of the next batch of Kurosawa blu's since alot has been made of it's recent 4K restoration.

I was hoping for Rashomon, Seven Samurai or Ikiru. I'm not a fan of Yojimbo or Sanjuro, so I'll be skipping these. It's interesting that they would go with Yojimbo and Sanjuro considering new DVD transfers were just recently (comparatively) released.

Four HD releases, very nice! Dillinger is Dead and the Costa films will be rentals for me.

Nothing of interest for me this month

You should at least give Bigger Than Life a rental, it's a near-masterpiece.

I'm surprised Everlasting Moments wasn't announced this month.

Seems kind of disturbing, but I'll add it to my queue.

Bigger Than Life definitely, maybe the Costa set.

I thought Criterion did acquire Badlands?

Solid bunch. Criterion's on a roll for 2010.

and the next Barnes & Nobles 50% off Criterion sale is in April - right??

when i saw it at the Senator, it looked amazing. Sure it had a few scratches here and there, but compared to how it looks on dvd, and when its aired on TCM, it was a revelation

anyone hear about a Criterion BD release day for WALKABOUT?

I saw it at the senator too! Do you live in Baltimore?

Afraid not. Been waiting month after month for this announcement ever since they first said it was supposedly coming (which was more than a year and a half ago). It was supposed to be in their first waves of BDs, and get a new SD release as well. I now fear it may become another one of those titles that just slips into indefinite status, as a number of CC titles have.

Apparently a lot of people want this. Posts pop up periodically asking about it. I just bought a Blu-ray player myself and would definitely rebuy it on BD if announced; it's one of my top three choices for best-photographed color film.

Has anybody contacted Criterion and gotten any kind of definitive response on the status of a re-release? If not, I may have to try myself.

Definitely plan on getting Dillinger is Dead.

Love that Bigger Than Life cover.

baltimore county. i drive there all the time

Cool, I live in Howard.