Along with the mind boggling collection of single-film releases Criterion is planning to shower down on us this November, the studio has also announced plans to release an incredible looking 7-film boxed set called America Lost and Found: The BBS Story, containing the films made and produced by Bob Rafelson, Bert Schneider, and Steve Blauner between 1968 and 1972.
I can hardly believe that Criterion was able to license all of these films from the various studios that hold the rights. I mean, it hasn’t even been a year since Sony gave us Easy Rider on Blu and I’ve been fairly certain that it was only a matter of time before they delivered one of my all time faves, Peter Bogdanovich‘s The Last Picture Show a high-def release. Not that I’m complaining, of course. I’m always happy when Criterion is able to license a title – any title – and give it the respectful release it deserves.
Speaking of Last Picture Show, I see that Criterion lists the run-time as the lengthier 126 minutes, as opposed to the original 118 minutes. This suggests, though it goes without mention anywhere in the studios documentation, that the film will be presented on Blu-ray in its newer, longer Director’s Cut. No big deal there. Just saying.The more Bodanovich, the better, as far as I’m concerned!
AMERICA LOST AND FOUND: THE BBS STORY
(November 23, 2010 – MSRP $124.95)
Special Features:
Head
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer with DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and uncompressed monaural soundtracks
- Audio commentary featuring Monkees Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, and Peter Tork
- New video interview with director Bob Rafelson
- New documentary about BBS, featuring critic David Thomson and historian Douglas Brinkley
- More!
Easy Rider
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer (with DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
- Audio commentary featuring director Dennis Hopper
- Easy Rider: Shaking the Cage, a 1999 documentary featuring behind-the-scenes footage
- Footage of Hopper and star Peter Fonda at Cannes in 1969
- New video interview with BBS’s Steve Blauner
- More!
Five Easy Pieces
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
- Audio commentary featuring director Bob Rafelson and interior designer Toby Rafelson
- Soul Searching in Five Easy Pieces, a 2009 video piece in which Rafelson discusses the film
- BBStory, a 2009 documentary
- Excerpts from an audio recording of Rafelson at the American Film Institute in 1976
Drive, He Said
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
- A Cautionary Tale of Campus Revolution and Sexual Freedom, a 2009 video piece in which director Jack Nicholson discusses the experience of making this film
- Theatrical trailer
- More!
A Safe Place
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
- Audio commentary featuring director Henry Jaglom
- Henry Jaglom Finds “A Safe Place,” a 2009 video piece in which the director discusses the film
- Notes on the New York Film Festival, a 1971 video piece featuring an interview conducted by critic Molly Haskell with directors Peter Bogdanovich and Jaglom about their films The Last Picture Show and A Safe Place
- Deleted scene and screen tests
- Theatrical trailer
The Last Picture Show
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
- Two audio commentaries, one featuring director Peter Bogdanovich and the other featuring Bogdanovich and actors Cybill Shepherd, Randy Quaid, Cloris Leachman, and Frank Marshall
- Picture This, a 1990 documentary by George Hickenlooper
- “The Last Picture Show”: A Look Back, an hour-long 1999 documentary
- 2009 interview with Bogdanovich
- Screen tests and location footage
- Theatrical trailers and more!
The King of Marvin Gardens
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
- Selected-scene audio commentary featuring director Bob Rafelson
- Reflections of a Philosopher King, a 2009 documentary about the making of the film
- Afterthoughts, a short 2002 documentary about the film, produced by Rafelson
- Theatrical trailer
