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January 6
Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh
(1995) Dir.: Bill Condon; Tony Todd, Kelly Rowan, Timothy Carhar, Veronica Cartwright. A victim of unspeakable evil while he lived, the "Candyman" (Tony Todd) has become evil incarnate in his afterlife. In this sequel to 1992's "Candyman," he haunts the city of New Orleans, where a young schoolteacher named Annie Tarrant (Kelly Rowan) is struggling to solve the brutal murder of her father. The locals insist that he was slain by the Candyman, but Annie is not convinced ... until she unwittingly summons the monster forth, learns the secret of his power, and discovers the link that connects her to him. Extras: Commentary with director Bill Condon, "The Candyman Legacy" new interview with Tony Tood, "Down Memory Lane" new interview with Veronica Cartwright, Theatrical Trailer. (Scream Factory/Shout! Factory).
The Sword of Doom
(1966) Tatsuya Nakadai and Toshiro Mifune star in the story of a wandering samurai who exists in a maelstrom of violence. A gifted swordsman plying his craft during the turbulent final days of shogunate rule in Japan, Ryunosuke (Nakadai) kills without remorse or mercy. It is a way of life that ultimately leads to madness. Kihachi Okamoto's swordplay classic is the thrilling tale of a man who chooses to devote his life to evil. New high-definition digital restoration,
with uncompressed monaural soundtrack. Extras: Audio commentary featuring film historian Stephen Prince, trailer, an essay by critic Geoffrey O'Brien. (The Criterion Collection).
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January 13
The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant
(1972) In the early 1970s, Rainer Werner Fassbinder discovered the American melodramas of Douglas Sirk and was inspired by them to begin working in a new, more intensely emotional register. One of the earliest and best-loved films of this period in his career is "The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant," which balances a realistic depiction of tormented romance with staging that remains true to the director's roots in experimental theater. This unforgettable, unforgiving dissection of the imbalanced relationship between a haughty fashion designer (Margit Carstensen) and a beautiful but icy ingenue (Hanna Schygulla) -- based, in a sly gender reversal, on the writer-director's own desperate obsession with a young actor -- is a fully Fassbinder affair, featuring exquisitely claustrophobic cinematography by Michael Ballhaus and full-throttle performances by an all-female cast. New 4K digital restoration, supervised by director of photography Michael Ballhaus, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack. Extras: New interviews with Ballhaus and actors Margit Carstensen, Eva Mattes, Katrin Schaake, and Hanna Schygulla; new interview with film scholar Jane Shattuc about Fassbinder and the film; "Role Play: Women on Fassbinder," a 1992 German television documentary by Thomas Honickel featuring interviews with Carstensen, Schygulla, and actors Irm
Hermann and Rosel Zech; an essay by critic Peter Matthews. (The Criterion Collection).
Fitzcarraldo
(1982) Dir. Werner Herzog; Klaus Kinski, Claudia Cardinale. Extras: Commentary with Herzog, trailer. (Shout! Factory)).
My Left Foot
(1989) Daniel Day-Lewis, Brenda Fricker, Ray McAnally, Fiona Shaw. Extras: "The Real Christy Brown" featurette, "An Inspirational Journey: The Making of My Left Foot" featurette. (Lionsgate).
Skin
(1981 -- Italy/France) Marcello Mastroianni, Burt Lancaster and Claudia Cardinale. Director Liliana Cavani's ("The Night Porter") Palme d'Or nominee. Based on the short stories of Curzio Malaparte, the film is Cavani's controversial look at the aftermath of German occupation of Italy during World War II. After the Allies liberate Naples in 1943, life for the locals is not much easier, especially for women; many must sacrifice their dignity and morals in order to survive. Marcello Mastroianni plays Malaparte, a diplomatic liaison between the Allied and Italian forces, who chronicled the desperate measures taken by his Italian countrymen to endure even after the defeat of their enemy. Burt Lancaster plays liberating American Gen. Mark Clark, who struggles to fathom the devastation around him. Restored and remastered for its U.S. debut. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray Disc. Extras: Four featurettes, including three with director Liliana Cavani and one with production designer Dante Ferretti ("At the Frontier of the Apocalypse," "Malaparte, Great Reporter," "The Individual and History" and "Dante Ferretti Revisits Naples"); commentary by critics Wade Major and Andy Klein; original French release trailer; 2014 re-release trailer. (Cohen Film Collection).
Supernova
(2000) Dir.: Walter Hill; James Spader, Angela Bassett, Lou Diamond Phillips, Robert Forster, Peter Facinelli, Robin Tunney. In the farthest reaches of deep space, the medical vessel Nightingale keeps a lonely vigil for those in trouble. When a frantic cry for help pierces the void, the crew responds with a near fatal, hyper-space dimension jump into the gravitational pull of a dying star. The disabled ship rescues a shuttlecraft containing a mysterious survivor and a strange alien artifact. Now the crew must unravel a chilling secret and escape the nearby imploding star before the rapidly forming supernova blasts them and the entire galaxy into oblivion. Extras: "The Making of Supernova" featurette with new interviews with actors Lou Diamond Phillips and Robert Forster, producer Daniel Chuba and filmmaker Jack Sholder; deleted scenes; alternate ending; theatrical trailer. (Scream Factory/Shout! Factory).
January 20
My Winnipeg
(2007) The geographical dead center of North America and the beloved birthplace of Guy Maddin, Winnipeg is the frosty and mysterious star of Maddin's "docu-fantasia." A work of memory and imagination, Maddin's film burrows into what the filmmaker calls "the heart of the heart" of the continent, conjuring a city as delightful as it is fearsome, populated by sleepwalkers and hockey aficionados. Take part in Winnipeg's annual epic scavenger hunt! Pay your respects to the racehorses forever frozen in the river! Help judge the yearly homoerotic Golden Boy pageant! What is real and what is fantasy is left up to the viewer to sort out in Maddin's hypnotic, expertly
conceived paean to that wonderful and terrifying place known as My Hometown. New high-definition digital restoration, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. strong>Extras: Conversation between Maddin and art critic Robert Enright; "My Winnipeg Live in Toronto," a 2008 featurette; various cine-essays by Maddin on Winnipegiana; three Maddin shorts, with introductions by the director: "Spanky: To the Pier and Back" (2008), "Sinclair" (2010), and "Only Dream Things" (2012); deleted scene; trailer; an essay by critic Wayne Koestenbaum. (The Criterion Collection).
On Golden Pond Collector's Edition
(1980) Henry Fonda, Katharine Hepburn, Jane Fonda, Dabney Coleman, Doug McKeon. Nominated for 10 Academy Awards including Best Picture, "On Golden Pond" earned legendary actor Henry Fonda his first Oscar after a lifetime of outstanding performances, and solidified Katharine Hepburn as one of film's greatest actresses when she received her unprecedented fourth Best Actress Oscar. Ernest Thompson won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Extras: Commentary with director Mark Rydell, "Reflections on Golden Pond" featurette, "A Woman of Substance: Katharine Hepburn Remembered" featurette, trailer. (Shout! Factory).
The Palm Beach Story
(1942) This wild tale of wacky wedlock from Preston Sturges takes off like a rocket and never lets up. Joel McCrea and Claudette Colbert play Tom and Gerry, a married New York couple on the skids,
financially and romantically. With Tom hot on her trail, Gerry takes off for Florida on a mission to solve the pair's money troubles, which she accomplishes in a highly unorthodox manner. A mix of the witty and the utterly absurd, "The Palm Beach Story" is a high watermark of Sturges's brand of physical comedy and verbal repartee, featuring sparkling performances from its leads as well as hilarious supporting turns from Rudy Vallee and Mary Astor as a brother and a sister ensnared in Tom and Gerry's high jinks. New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack. Extras: New interview with writer and film historian James Harvey about Sturges; new interview with actor and comedian Bill Hader about Sturges; "Safeguarding Military Information," a 1942 World War II propaganda short written by Sturges; Screen Guild Theater radio adaptation of the film from March 1943; an essay by critic Stephanie Zacharek. (The Criterion Collection).
January 27
La cienaga
(2001) The release of Lucrecia Martel's "La cienaga" heralded the arrival of an astonishingly vital and original voice in Argentine cinema. With a radical take on narrative, disturbing yet beautiful cinematography, and a highly sophisticated use of on- and offscreen sound, Martel turns her tale of a decaying bourgeois family, whiling away the hours of one sweaty, sticky summer, into a cinematic marvel. This visceral take on class, nature, sexuality, and the ways political turmoil and social stagnation can manifest in human relationships is a drama of amazing tactility and one of the great contemporary film debuts. New 4K digital film transfer, approved by director Lucrecia
Martel, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. Extras: New interview with filmmaker Andres di Tella about Martel and the film, trailer, an essay by critic David Oubina. (The Criterion Collection).
This Month's BR
