Just in time for the holidays (and possibly some Black Friday sales), Criterion will be releasing some major cinematic milestones for you and the other cinephiles in your life, including the American Film Institute's greatest comedy of all time, a gigantic box set on one of the greatest directors of all time, and the only film made by the lead singer of the Talking Heads.
The month kicks off with a trip to Japan, with Kenji Mizoguchi's A Story from Chikamatsu (also known by the metal-as-hell title The Crucified Lovers), available November 6. Part of the director's early '50s resurgence, it was nominated for the Palme d'Or at Cannes. The brand new 4K restoration includes revised subtitles, a new interview with actor Kyoko Kagawa and two essays.
November 13 sees the release of Some Like It Hot, which AFI named No. 1 on its list of 100 Greatest Comedies. The Tony Curtis-Jack Lemmon romp featured great performances (including Marilyn Monroe) and an incredible script, which ended with one of the best last lines of a movie ever. But while "nobody's perfect," this disc is. Another brand new 4K restoration brings the movie to its full glory. Special features include vintage TV interviews with Lemmon and Curtis, as well as director Billy Wilder, plus a featurette on the film's terrific costuming.
Then, just before Thanksgiving, Criterion has a red letter day with three important releases. First is True Stories, one of the quirkiest films of the '80s. Shot in my hometown of Dallas, the film is a series of vignettes based on supermarket tabloid stories. Featuring a great cast of character actors, including John Goodman and Swoosie Kurtz, plus counter-culture figures like Spalding Gray and Byrne himself, this is an odd film that's full of life. The film gets a much-needed restoration and plenty of brand new special features. The real treat is the bonus CD, which includes all 23 songs from the film.
And for the first time on Blu-ray, Orson Welles' The Magnificent Ambersons. Though the print itself is restored, not even Criterion could get the 40-plus minutes RKO cut from the original version. That's been presumed lost forever, but even so, the film is considered one of the best ever. The disc includes several written and video essays, plus excerpts from other versions of the film and radio dramas from Welles' Mercury Theater.
Finally, there's the motherlode: a 30-disc box set of every single Ingmar Bergman film. The Swedish director has been a staple of the Criterion Collection from the very beginning, and some of his more obscure films are finally getting their high-def upgrades, plus some that even they haven't released before. All 39 films have been restored, some even with brand new revisions (including The Seventh Seal). There are tons of interviews, commentaries and making-of documentaries, plus a 248-page book on the legendary filmmaker's career.
