Criterion will kick off the New Year with a combination of A-list Hollywood entertainment and knockout B-movie pulp, on Blu-ray and DVD: James L. Brooks’s Broadcast News, the incisive and romantic eighties newsroom comedy starring Holly Hunter and William Hurt; and the killer Sam Fuller classics Shock Corridor and The Naked Kiss, two twisted looks at sixties America, restored and back in the collection. Plus: Army of Shadows and Robinson Crusoe on Mars go Blu, and Basil Dearden gets Eclipsed.

Broadcast News:



DISC FEATURES

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION

New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised by director James L. Brooks and editor Richard Marks (with DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)

New audio commentary featuring Brooks and Marks

New documentary on Brooks’s career in television and film, featuring actors Marilu Henner (Taxi) and Julie Kavner (Rhoda, The Simpsons) and several other of Brooks’s collaborators

Deleted scenes and an alternate ending, with commentary by Brooks

New video interview with veteran CBS news producer Susan Zirinsky, one of the models for actress Holly Hunter’s character and an associate producer on the film

Featurette containing on-set footage and interviews with Brooks, Hunter, and actor Albert Brooks

Original theatrical trailer

PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Carrie Rickey

Shock Corridor:



DISC FEATURES

New, restored high-definition digital transfer (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)

New video interview with star Constance Towers by film historian and filmmaker Charles Dennis

The Typewriter, the Rifle and the Movie Camera, Adam Simon’s 1996 documentary on director Samuel Fuller

Original theatrical trailer

PLUS: Illustrations by cartoonist Daniel Clowes (Eightball, Ghost World) and a booklet featuring an essay by critic and poet Robert Polito and excerpts from Fuller’s autobiography, A Third Face: My Tale of Writing, Fighting, and Filmmaking

The Naked Kiss:



DISC FEATURES

New, restored high-definition digital transfer (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack onthe Blu-ray edition)

New video interview with star Constance Towers by film historian and filmmaker Charles Dennis

Excerpts from a 1983 episode of the BBC’s The South Bank Show dedicated to director Samuel Fuller

Interview with Fuller from a 1967 episode of the French television series Cinéastes de notre temps

Interview with Fuller from a 1987 episode of the French television series Cinéma cinémas

Original theatrical trailer

PLUS: Illustrations by cartoonist Daniel Clowes (Eightball, Ghost World) and a booklet featuring an essay by critic and poet Robert Polito and excerpts from Fuller’s autobiography, A Third Face: My Tale of Writing, Fighting, and Filmmaking

Eclipse Series 25:
Basil Dearden’s London Underground



SYNOPSIS: After mastering the mix of comedy, suspense, and horror that helped define the golden age of British cinema, Basil Dearden (along with his producing partner Michael Relph) left the legendary Ealing Studios and, in the late fifties and early sixties, created a series of gripping, groundbreaking, even controversial films. In dealing with racism, homophobia, and the lingering effects of World War II, these noir-tinged dramas burrowed into corners of London rarely seen on-screen. This set of elegantly crafted films—Sapphire, a dissection of a hate crime; The League of Gentlemen, a deft heist adventure suffused with postwar melancholy; Victim, a landmark gay character study, starring Dirk Bogarde; and All Night Long, a provocative transposition of Othello to the swinging London jazz scene—brings this quintessential figure of British cinema out of the shadow

I would purchase this on release day.

Army of Shadows I understand, but I am surprised/confused that Robinson Crusoe on Mars is getting reissued on blu sooner than a lot of titles that seem to be more in demand from the CC fanbase.

Finally some love for "Broadcast News"!

I can finally toss that non-anamorphic thing away!

That Dearden set looks nice. Victim is the first of the Home Vision titles re-released by Criterion.

Broadcast News and Shock Corridor for me. Thanks for the info-

I'm actually surprised that Army Of Shadows is getting a Blu release, since I thought this would be one of the eventual Studio Canal releases to go OOP.

Mind you, I'm not complaining. I look forward to snagging all of this month's releases on Blu...

army of shadows and Fuller re-releases are great news

ewww another Fox/Criterion release - how about a musical say like ... Ken Russell's 'The Boyfriend' (nudge nudge wink wink) and 'The Innocents'

[broken record]and the longer cut to boot[/broken record]

If you're region-free, BFI just released a stacked Blu-ray of this.

That doesn't mean it won't in the future, since a few have already gone that way (Pierrot Le Fou comes to mind). I really wonder how Criterion decides which "catalog" titles they decide to re-release and if some are in anticipation of the possibility of going OOP. I can't imagine that there are positive financial repercussions for releasing titles (like PLF) that are pulled back quickly by the studios.

It seems like a good balance of titles across the board.

I have only seen Army of Shadows from this list and the film didn't resonate with me. I realize fully that the whole of film criticism is against me with that comment. I'll eventually Netflix all of these, but I don't have any that require a purchase, which is a welcome relief after the past few months.

Sweet!

I'm in for everything except Broadcast Gnus and Robinson Crusoe. The Dearden set sounds like an interesting choice.

Hey, you've offended him!

I'm surprised Criterion isn't coming out with the Chaplins a little sooner.

Is 'Modern Times' the only one that's been announced so far?

Fuller on Blu, my god I need more money for these guys.

Modern Times has been the only official announcement from Criterion, but here is the link to the Janus festival poster:
http://www.criterion.com/shop_produc...estival-poster

My guess (and this is purely my own speculation) would be that we see standalone releases of films like The Gold Rush, The Great Dictator, and/or City Lights and we see Box Sets of the others (I'm thinking along the lines of the new America Lost and Found Box Set).

The real question is would these release on Eclipse? If so, would Eclipse finally move over to BD/DVD. I can't see these Chaplin films getting release in SD only.

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what a boring month... as much as i like Sam Fuller.

not a huge fan of anything but might bb Broadcast News