Another week, another onslaught of Blu-ray releases, another late, late list of recommendations. Sigh. Sorry about getting this out to you so late. The old day job has really cut into my Blu-ray watching/writing time lately but I’m looking down the barrel of a week off and you know what that means…non-stop Blu-ray festival!

I hope.

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1. PALE FLOWER

“In this cool, seductive jewel of the Japanese New Wave, a yakuza, fresh out of prison, becomes entangled with a beautiful yet enigmatic gambling addict; what at first seems a redemptive relationship ends up leading him further down the criminal path. Bewitchingly shot and edited and laced with a fever-dream-like score by Toru Takemitsu (Woman in the Dunes, Ran), this breakthrough gangster romance from Masahiro Shinoda (Samurai Spy, Double Suicide) announced an idiosyncratic major filmmaking talent. The pitch-black Pale Flower (Kawaita hana) is an unforgettable excursion into the underworld. “

Don’t go into Pale Flower looking for a run-of-the-mill gangster flik. This is dark, languid Japanese noir, with more focus on a destructive relationship than gangland gunplay. The cast is exceptional, with Ryô Ikebe in the lead as recently paroled, ultra-cool hitman Muraki and toy-like Mariko Kaga as the unblinking, thrill-seeking Saeko. The couple meet over a game of cards and quickly escalate their gambling addiction to more dangerous pleasures. A feeling of doom grips the entire picture, in no small way profoundly effected by Toru Takemitsu dissonant, landmark, found-sound score. But the real highlight here, for me, is the stunning, inky photography by Masao Kosugi, perfectly composed and eking out brilliant shards of pure white in his otherwise shadowy Yokohama.

Pale Flower is simply gorgeous on Blu-ray. Criterion have really done an exceptional job with this new transfer. Kosugi’s work absolutely sings here, in this pitch-perfect, film-like high-def presentation. Detail is impressive, blacks are appropriately deep and there’s a nice sheen of grain present, keeping it ‘reel’ (sorry!) The lossless mono audio is clean and clear throughout.

Extras are a bit on the lite side of things, with only a 22-minute director interview, 34-minutes worth of ‘Selected-scene Commentary’ and a trailer to speak of. But it’s good stuff. The Shinoda interview is informative and fairly candid, touching on the script and studio conflicts of the production and the commentary provides a fair amount of analysis of the film, despite the fact that Peter Grilli‘s chief focus is the score and sound design.

Highly recommended!

Special Features:

• New high-definition digital restoration with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• New video interview with director Masahiro Shinoda
• Selected-scene audio commentary by film scholar Peter Grilli, coproducer of Music for the Movies: Toru Takemitsu
• Original theatrical trailer
• New and improved English subtitle translation
• PLUS: A new essay by film critic Chuck Stephens

AMAZON: $27.99

2. DIABOLIQUE

“Before Psycho, Peeping Tom, and Repulsion, there was Diabolique. This thriller from Henri‑Georges Clouzot (Le corbeau, The Wages of Fear), which shocked audiences in Europe and the U.S., is the story of two women—the fragile wife and the willful mistress of a sadistic school headmaster—who hatch a daring revenge plot. With its unprecedented narrative twists and unforgettably scary images, Diabolique is a heart-grabbing benchmark in horror filmmaking, featuring outstanding performances by Simone Signoret (Casque d’or, Army of Shadows), Vera Clouzot (The Wages of Fear), and Paul Meurisse (Le deuxième souffle, Army of Shadows). “

I haven’t had a chance to screen Criterion’s new Blu-ray release of Diabolique but by all accounts it’s head and shoulders above the previous DVD release of the film. Those suffering with their old spotty looking, bare-bones Criterion disc from 1999 will be happy to upgrade to this new feature-rich, high-def edition. I’ll post further thoughts on the BD when I finally get my hands on a copy. It’s at #2 on my list this week for it’s status as a classic and my faith in Criterion to deliver the best quality release possible.

Special Features:

• New digital restoration with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• Selected-scene commentary by French-film scholar Kelley Conway
• New video interview with Serge Bromberg, codirector of Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Inferno
• New video interview with horror film expert Kim Newman
• New and improved English subtitle translation
• PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by film critic Terrence Rafferty

AMAZON: $26.99

3. THE HUSTLER

“With his boyish grin and laid-back good looks, Fast Eddie Felson has fleeced his share of pool-hall gamblers. Now the brash pool shark is after the king of the cue stick: Minnesota Fats. But after losing to Fats in a grueling, 36-hour match, Eddie hits the skids. Only the intervention of a ruthless gambler, who stakes his claim to Eddie’s soul, can teach this hustler the cruel art of winning.“

Paul Newman won an Academy Award for playing the roll of Fast Eddie Felson, the troubled young pool-shark in Robert Rossen‘s The Hustler. The thing is, he won it in 1986, when recreating the role for Martin Scorsese‘s sequel film The Color of Money, playing Eddie years later in the role of Obi-Wan mentor to Tom Cruise‘s up-and-coming hustler. But looking back at the original now, on this great looking new Blu-ray from Fox, the Academy was right to nominate the young Newman, as they did (along with most of his co-stars in the film). His cock-sure yet nuanced take on the man, making his pool-hall reputation here by taking on the best-of-the-best, Minnesota Fats (played to perfection by Jackie Gleason), is far from the glamorous, Hollywood image a young actor of the time would care to conjure. This is seedy, unsavory stuff and Newman isn’t afraid to get his hands or his cue dirty.

The new Blu-ray disc comes in a great little digi-book, hardcover package and is filled with tons of facts, bios and images from the film. The transfer is, as you’d expect, an improvement over previously available DVD editions of the film, showing greater detail and improved contrast. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is a revelation, for the most part, allowing Kenyon Hopkins’ score more dynamic headroom than ever before. Special features are plentiful and mimic those of the 2007 DVD release. This is a great package, well worth an upgrade or a blind buy!

AMAZON: $22.99

4. THE COMMANCHEROS

“John Wayne is Capt. Jake Cutter, a Texas Ranger determined to crush a powerful outlaw gang that’s selling guns to the Indians. Cutter is also trying to bring in gambler Paul Regret (Whitman), who’s wanted for murder. Both missions get entangled when Cutter crosses paths with Regret unexpectedly, and the men form an unlikely friendship while Regret decides which side of the law he’s really on. Co-starring Ina Balin, Nehemiah Persoff and Lee Marvin, “The Comancheros” is a rousing western, and the last film of director Michael Curtiz.“

The Comancheros might not have been director Michael Curtiz’ best film but it was his last. It was also his only collaboration with John Wayne. And it’s certainly worth checking out for some rugged good cowboy fun. Fox‘s new Blu-ray disc is a beauty, packaged in a hardcover digi-book of the exact sort that houses The Hustler. The film looks nice on Blu, thick with grain and bursting with colour. It can appear soft at times but considering the work the studio has been putting into these upper-tier catalogue releases, it’s likely a source related issue. Elmer Bernstein‘s score will do nothing if not impress you in this muscular DTS-HD Master 5.1 audio track. The original 4.0 channel track is also included, for those purists among you. Extras are plentiful, carrying over the special features from the previously released DVD.

AMAZON: $22.99

5-7. SOPHIA LOREN AWARD COLLECTION

This trio of Blu-ray discs should really be called the ‘Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni starring in Vittorio De Sica Films Collection‘. Hm. I guess it would be tough to cram that on the top banner of the packaging and make it legible, huh? Nevermind. This collection of films making their Blu-ray debut is a godsend to fans of Italian cinema. All three are available in a bundle from Kino or individually through most retailers. The discs are lite on special features (trails and galleries only) with the exception of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow which contains a DVD of the documentary Vittorio D – a look at the life, career and legacy of director De Sica.

AMAZON: $29.95, $29.99, $29.95

8. BEVERLY HILLS COP

“The heat is on in this fast paced action-comedy starring Eddie Murphy as Axel Foley, a street smart Detroit cop tracking down his best friend’s killer in Beverly Hills. Axel quickly learns that his wild style doesn’t fit in with the Beverly Hills Police Department, which assigns two officers (Judge Reinhold and John Ashton) to make sure things don’t get out of hand. Dragging the stuffy detectives along for the ride, Axel smashes through a huge culture clash in his hilarious, high-speed pursuit of justice. Featuring cameos by Paul Reiser, Bronson Pinchot and Damon Wayans, “Beverly Hills Cop” is an exhilarating, sidesplitting adventure.“

Beverly Hills Cop has no right to be as good as it is. The story is as pedestrian as cop fliks come, playing the old ‘fish-out-of-water trope for all it’s worth. It’s predictable and uninspired from top to bottom. But then there’s Eddie Murphy. And damn if he doesn’t light up the screen. And damn if he doesn’t make every scene work. And goddamn if he doesn’t just turn in the performance of a career here. A star-maker, some might call it. Thanks to Murphy (and, to be fair, a truly talented cast of co-stars) Cop still holds up today. Watching it again, I laughed like it was my first viewing. Everything ’80s is new again this film is no exception.

And speaking of new, this new Blu-ray transfer from Paramount make the film look like it hasn’t aged a day! Well, that’s not exactly true – that softer, cheaper ’80s film stock is as recognizable as Murphy’s laugh – but you get my point. The disc looks good. Better than the film has a right to look. Audio, on the other hand, doesn’t fare quite as well, with a relatively thin 5.1 DTS-HD MA track that could use a little life breathed into it. A little bottom end.

Bonus features are carried over from the previously available DVD and are plentiful. They include an excellent commentary track from director Martin Brest, a ‘making of’ doc, a brief look at the casting process as well as the music, an interactive map and the trailer.

AMAZON: $16.99

9. DEEP RED

“An English jazz pianist living in Rome witnesses the brutal hatchet murder of a renowned psychic and is quickly drawn into the savage crime. With the help of a tenacious female reporter, the pair track a twisted trail of deranged clues and relentless violence towards a shocking climax that has ripped screams from the throats of audiences for more than 35 years!

DEEP RED stars David Hemmings (GLADIATOR, BLOW-UP) and Daria Nicolodi (PHENOMENA, SHOCK), and is widely considered by both fans and critics alike to be Dario Argento‘s true masterpiece. Now this classic shocker has been newly transferred in stunning High Definition from its original camera negative, and is presented in both the Uncensored English Version and Full-Length Italian Director’s Cut for the first time ever!

“

Ahhh! Another Argento from Blue Underground!! My copy just showed up today so, needless to say, I haven’t had a chance to look at it yet. But if it compares to BU’s previous Argento discs this one should be a stunner. There is a potential digital space issue, however, as it contains two entire cuts of the film, which could erode image quality if compression isn’t handled carefully. I have every faith in BU, though. So I’m expecting good things. Extras include Interviews with Argento, co-criter Bernardino Zapponi and the music group Goblin , the U.S. Trailer, the Italian Trailer, a Goblin Music Video and a Daemonia Music Video.

AMAZON: $14.99

10. THE FIVE DEADLY VENOMS

“The dying master of the powerful Poison Clan assigns his final martial arts student one last, epic quest find his 5 most mysterious and dangerous disciples, each trained in a different fighting style, and bring them together to root out a conspiracy that could divide and destroy the entire clan. “

Okay, I’ll just put this plainly – I have no faith in Weinstein‘s Dragon Dynasty label to do justice to any film at this point. They’ve really butchered quite a few Kung-Fu classics over the past couple of years. But even though it’ll no doubt end up looking trashier than it should, I can’t help but get excited The Five Deadly Venoms coming to Blu. This has been my families favourite martial arts flik for as long as I can remember. And I have to pick it up, no matter the discs deficiencies. I kid you not, my mother would be angry with me if I left this film of the list this week.

AMAZON: $15.99

ALSO AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY THIS WEEK
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