Blu-ray disc news, reviews, opinions and deals. Everything that's fit to print about the world's favourite HD format!

Criterion February Blu-ray titles: Fantastic Mr. Fox, Foreign Correspondent, Blue is the Warmest Color

Criterion February Blu-ray titles: Fantastic Mr. Fox, Foreign Correspondent, Blue is the Warmest Color

Wha?! Fantastic Mr. Fox on Criterion Blu?! Has Christmas come early? I mean, we all know Criterion loves them some Wes Anderson, so I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised, but seriously dudes, it’s a rare animated film that gets the deluxe treatment (the last one was Akira on Laserdisc in 1993!) I’m pretty satisfied with the quality of the previous Fox Blu-ray release so I’ll be grabbing this one solely for the bonus goodies.

The other surprise this month is that Criterion is letting it be known that they’ll be releasing a more deluxe version of Blue is the Warmest Color in the future, just as they put a bare-bones disc on the market. Hm. I’m not sure why they’re rushing this scaled down edition if that’s their intention. At least they’ve set the price point of this one lower.

One final note: Breathless is a dual-format re-release. Nothing new here. Just Blu and DVD in the same package.


Jules and Jim (1962) - The Criterion Collection


JULES AND JIM


(February 4, 2014 – MSRP $39.95)
Video: 2.35:1 1080p
Audio: Uncompressed monaural soundtrack

Special Features:

  • New, restored 2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
  • Two audio commentaries: one featuring coscreenwriter Jean Gruault, longtime François Truffaut collaborator Suzanne Schiffman, editor Claudine Bouché, and film scholar Annette Insdorf; the other featuring actor Jeanne Moreau and Truffaut biographer Serge Toubiana
  • Excerpts from The Key to “Jules and Jim” (1985), a documentary about author Henri-Pierre Roché and the real-life relationships that inspired the novel and film
  • Interviews with Gruault and cinematographer Raoul Coutard
  • Conversation between film scholars Robert Stam and Dudley Andrew
  • Excerpt from a 1965 episode of the French TV program Cinéastes de notre temps dedicated to Truffaut
  • Segment from a 1969 episode of the French TV show L’invité du dimanche featuring Truffaut, Moreau, and filmmaker Jean Renoir
  • Excerpts from Truffaut’s first appearance on American television, a 1977 interview with New York Film Festival director Richard Roud
  • Excerpts from a 1979 American Film Institute seminar given by Truffaut
  • Audio interview with Truffaut from 1980
  • Trailer
  • PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic John Powers, a 1981 piece by Truffaut on Roché, and script notes from Truffaut to Gruault

    New cover by David Downton


Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) - The Criterion Collection


FANTASTIC MR. FOX


(February 18, 2014 – MSRP $39.95)
Video: 1.85:1 1080p
Audio: 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack

Special Features:

  • Digital master, approved by director Wes Anderson, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
  • Audio commentary featuring Anderson
  • Storyboard animatic for the entire film
  • Footage of the actors voicing their characters, puppet construction, stop-motion setups, and the recording of the score
  • Interviews with cast and crew
  • Puppet animation tests
  • Photo gallery of puppets, props, and sets
  • Animated awards acceptance speeches
  • Audio recording of author Roald Dahl reading the book on which the film is based
  • Fantastic Mr. Dahl, an hour-long 2005 documentary about the author
  • Gallery of Dahl’s original manuscripts
  • Discussion and analysis of the film
  • Stop-motion Sony robot commercial by Anderson
  • PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Erica Wagner; a 2002 article on Dahl’s Gipsy House by Anderson; White Cape, a comic book used as a prop in the film; and drawings, original paintings, and other ephemera

    New cover by Turlo Griffin, with F. Ron Miller


Foreign Correspondent (1940) - The Criterion Collection


FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT


(February 18, 2014 – MSRP $39.95)
Video: 1.37:1 1080p
Audio: Uncompressed monaural soundtrack

Special Features:

  • New 2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
  • New piece on the visual effects in the film with effects expert Craig Barron
  • Hollywood Propaganda and World War II, a new interview with writer Mark Harris
  • Interview with director Alfred Hitchcock from a 1972 episode of The Dick Cavett Show
  • Radio adaptation of the film from 1946, starring Joseph Cotten
  • Have You Heard? The Story of Wartime Rumors, a 1942 Life magazine “photo-drama” by Hitchcock
  • Trailer
  • PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film scholar James Naremore

    New cover by Patrick Leger, with F. Ron Miller


Blue Is the Warmest Color (2013) - The Criterion Collection


BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR


(February 25, 2014 – MSRP $24.95)
Video: 2.35:1 1080p
Audio: 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack

Special Features:

  • New digital master, approved by director Abdellatif Kechiche, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
  • Trailer and TV spot
  • New English subtitle translation
  • PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic B. Ruby Rich

    A full special edition treatment of this film will follow at a later date.


King of the Hill (1993) - The Criterion Collection


KING OF THE HILL


(February 25, 2014 – MSRP $39.95)
Video: 2.35:1 1080p
Audio: 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack

Special Features:

  • New restored 2K digital film transfer, supervised by director Steven Soderbergh and supervising sound editor and rerecording mixer Larry Blake, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
  • New interviews with Soderbergh and source memoir author A. E. Hotchner
  • Against Tyranny, a new video essay by :: kogonada exploring Soderbergh’s unique approach to narrative
  • The Underneath (1995), Soderbergh’s follow-up feature to King of the Hill, with an interview with the director
  • Trailers
  • PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Peter Tonguette, a 1993 interview with Soderbergh, and an excerpt from Hotchner’s 1972 memoir

    New cover by Gregory Manchess


Tess (1979) - The Criterion Collection


TESS


(February 25, 2014 – MSRP $39.95)
Video: 2.35:1 1080p
Audio: 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack

Special Features:

  • New 4K digital restoration, supervised by director Roman Polanski, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master audio soundtrack
  • Once Upon a Time . . . “Tess,” a 2006 documentary about the film
  • Three programs on the making of the film—From Novel to Screen, Filming “Tess,” and “Tess”: The Experience—featuring interviews with Polanski, actors Nastassja Kinski and Leigh Lawson, producer Claude Berri, costume designer Anthony Powell, composer Philippe Sarde, and others
  • Interview with Polanski from a 1979 episode of The South Bank Show
  • Forty-five-minute documentary shot on location for French television during the making of the film
  • Trailer
  • PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Colin MacCabe

    New cover by F. Ron Miller


Breathless (1960) - The Criterion Collection


BREATHLESS


(February 25, 2014 – MSRP $39.95)
Video: 1.33:1 1080p
Audio: Uncompressed monaural soundtrack

Special Features:

  • Restored high-definition digital transfer, approved by director of photography Raoul Coutard, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
  • Archival interviews with director Jean-Luc Godard and actors Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Seberg, and Jean-Pierre Melville
  • Contemporary interviews with Coutard, assistant director Pierre Rissient, and filmmaker D. A. Pennebaker
  • Two video essays, one on Seberg and one on Breathless as film criticism
  • Chambre 12, Hôtel de suède, an eighty-minute 1993 documentary about the making of Breathless
  • Charlotte et son Jules, a 1959 short by Godard starring Belmondo
  • Trailer
  • PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by scholar Dudley Andrew, writings by Godard, François Truffaut’s original treatment, and Godard’s scenario

    New cover by Rodrigo Corral



Related posts: