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December 2
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
(1939) This 4K remastering celebrates the film's 75th anniversary. Jean Arthur, James Stewart and Claude Rains star in Frank Capra's award-winning 1939 classic about an idealistic, small town senator who heads to Washington and suddenly finds himself single-handedly battling ruthless politicians out to destroy him. When Capra decided to film the novel "The Gentleman From Montana", he ran into an obstacle: Director Rouben Mamoulian owned the rights to the story. Unwilling to sell, Mamoulian eventually traded the material to Columbia on the condition that he be allowed to direct "Golden Boy." As Capra began working on the film, it was suggested that Gary Copper, the star of "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town," take the lead. Capra selected Jimmy Stewart instead and the film solidified Stewart's movie career, garnering him his first Academy Award nomination. Receiving a total of eleven 1939 Oscar nominations (including Best Picture and Best Director), and winning one (Best Motion Picture Story), "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" is considered one of Capra's, Stewart's and Columbia's finest films. It also marked the end of an era: It was Capra's final film for the studio. Presented in Digibook packaging with rare photos and a new essay by film historian Jeremy Arnold. Extras: Audio commentary by Frank Capra Jr.; original theatrical trailer; rare international trailer which includes footage deleted from the final film; feature-length documentary: "Frank Capra's American Dream," narrated by Ron Howard and incorporating interviews with the director's friends, colleagues and admirers; "Frank Capra Jr. Remembers ... Mr. Smith Goes To Washington" featurette; four additional featurettes offering a behind-the-scenes look at one of Hollywood's greatest and most influential directors. (Sony).
Stanley Kubrick: The Masterpiece Collection Blu-Ray
Ten-disc Blu-ray set ($199.99 SRP) includes eight Kubrick classics as well as the newly-produced documentary: "Kubrick Remembered," which captures intimate moments in Kubrick's very personal life, two new-to-Blu-ray documentaries: "Stanley Kubrick In Focus" and "Once Upon a Time ... A Clockwork Orange," plus two additional documentaries: "Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures," and O' Lucky Malcolm! Also included will be a new 78-page hardcover photo book using film archive photographs. Films in the collection are "Lolita" (1962), "Dr. Strangelove" (1964), "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968), "A Clockwork Orange" (1971), "Barry Lyndon" (1975), "The Shining" (1980), "Full Metal Jacket" (1987) and "Eyes Wide Shut" (1999). "Kubrick Remembered" offers a new look into the Kubrick archives, with special appearances by the director's wife, Christiane Kubrick, as well as never-seen footage of Kubrick's works, his house and his film production facilities. "Stanley Kubrick In Focus" presents such directors as Steven Spielberg, Steven Soderbergh, Oliver Stone, William Friedkin and Martin Scorsese relating how Kubrick's directorial style influenced them. (Warner).
Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season Seven
(1993-94) Six-disc set with all 25 episodes of the final season with some of the most acclaimed episodes of the series: the two-part episode "Descent"; Worf's (Michael Dorn) conflict with his human foster brother who violates the prime directive to save a doomed primitive race in "Homeward"; the two-part episode "Gambit"; Data meeting a woman who claims to be his mother in "Inheritance"; and the stunning, final confrontation between Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Q (John de Lancie) in the series finale "All Good Things ..." Extras: Never-before-seen interviews with cast and crew, three-part documentary "The Sky's The Limit: The Eclipse of Star Trek: The Next Generation," "In Conversation: Lensing Star Trek: The Next Generation," commentaries, "Archival Mission Logs," gag reel, deleted scenes. (Paramount).
Star Trek: The Next Generation – All Good Things
(1994) The epic feature-length series finale remastered into high-definition. The 1995 Hugo Award winner for "Best Dramatic Presentation" is a journey that takes fans to the end of the universe and beyond the boundaries of time itself, and begins when Q tells Captain Picard that he is to be the cause of humanity's ultimate annihilation. Thus begins an incredible adventure through space and time that follows Picard's first voyage on the Enterprise to 25 years into the future. Extras: Commentary, "The Unknown Possibilities of Existence: Making All Good Things ...," deleted scenes. (Paramount).
Tales from the Crypt and Vault of Horror
Features the rare, uncut version of "Vault of Horror," the two disc set includes three different cuts of the cult classic. The first disc includes "Tales from the Crypt" and "Vault of Horror's" uncut widescreen presentation. The second disc includes "Vault of Horror's" theatrical PG cut and a rare open-matte version of the BFI master. The release also includes an original trailer and an alternate opening scene for "Vault of Horror." "Tales From The Crypt" (1972): When five unwary travelers with dark hearts stumble into a series of catacombs, they find themselves in a cavern with no way out. But the horror's only just begun as a mysterious figure appears to reveal to each person the shocking events that will lead to their well-deserved, untimely -- and unavoidable -- demise. Starring Joan Collins, Peter Cushing, Patrick Magee, Ralph Richardson. "Vault of Horror" (1973) Five unsuspecting hotel guests step into an elevator, which leads them into an underground vault. Trapped with no way out, each guest shares a gruesome tale of an encounter with death. But as the stories unfold, the men begin to suspect that their presence in the vault is no coincidence, and that the only way out ... is death. Starring Tom Baker, Denholm Elliott, Curt Jurgens, Michael Craig, Daniel Massey, Terry-Thomas, Glynis Johnst. (Scream Factory/Shout! Factory).
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December 9
The Night Porter
(1974) In this unsettling drama from Italian filmmaker Liliana Cavani ("Ripley's Game"), a concentration camp survivor (Charlotte Rampling) discovers her former torturer and lover (Dirk Bogarde) working as a porter at a hotel in postwar Vienna. When the couple attempt to re-create their sadomasochistic relationship, his former SS comrades begin to stalk them. Operatic and disturbing, "The Night Porter" deftly examines the lasting social and psychological effects of the Nazi regime. New 2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray.
Formats: DVD, Blu-ray Disc. Extras: New interviews with director Liliana Cavani and screenwriters Barbara Alberti and Amedeo Pagani;
"Women of the Resistance," a 50-minute 1965 documentary by Cavani, composed of interviews with female partisans who survived the German invasion of Italy, with an intro by the filmmaker; an essay by scholar Gaetana Marrone-Puglia, author of "The Gaze and the Labyrinth: The Cinema of Liliana Cavani." (The Criterion Collection).
Safe
(1995) Julianne Moore gives a breakthrough performance as Carol White, a Los Angeles housewife in the late 1980s who comes down with a debilitating illness. After the doctors she sees can give her no clear diagnosis, she comes to believe that she has frighteningly extreme environmental allergies. A profoundly unsettling work from the great American director Todd Haynes ("Far from Heaven"), "Safe" functions on multiple levels: as a prescient commentary on self-help culture, as a metaphor for the AIDS crisis, as a drama about class and social estrangement, and as a horror film about what you cannot see. This revelatory drama was named the best film of the 1990s in a Village Voice poll of more than 50 critics. New 4K digital restoration, supervised by director Todd Haynes, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack. Extras: Audio commentary featuring Haynes, Moore, and producer Christine Vachon; new conversation between Haynes and Moore; "The Suicide," a 1978 short film by Haynes; new interview with Vachon; trailer; an essay by critic Dennis Lim. (The Criterion Collection).
Time Bandits
(1981) In this fantastic voyage through time and space from Terry Gilliam, a boy named Kevin (Craig Warnock) escapes his gadget-obsessed parents to join a band of time-traveling dwarves. Armed with a map stolen from the Supreme Being (Ralph Richardson), they plunder treasure from Napoleon (Ian Holm) and Agamemnon (Sean Connery) -- but Evil (David Warner) is watching their every move. Featuring a darkly playful script by Gilliam and Monty Python's Michael Palin (who also appears in the film), "Time Bandits" is at once a giddy fairy tale, a revisionist history lesson, and a satire on technology gone awry. New 2K digital restoration, supervised by director Terry Gilliam, with uncompressed stereo soundtrack. Extras: Audio commentary featuring Gilliam, co-writer/actor Michael Palin, and actors John Cleese, David Warner and Craig Warnock;
new piece narrated by film writer David Morgan and featuring production designer Milly Burns and costume designer James Acheson on the creation of the film's various historical periods and fantasy worlds; conversation between Gilliam and film scholar Peter von Bagh at Finland's Midnight Sun Film Festival in 1998; excerpt from a 1981 appearance by actor Shelley Duvall on Tom Snyder's "Tomorrow" show; trailer; an essay by critic David Sterritt. (The Criterion Collection).
December 16
Lord of Illusions
(1995) Scott Bakula, Famke Janssen, Daniel von Bargen. In the world where magic is real, death is the ultimate illusion. From best-selling author and director Clive Barker comes a supernatural thriller that rips apart the boundaries between sanity and madness, and between the art of illusion and the terrifying forces of magic. Bakula stars as Harry D'Amour, a private detective visiting Los Angeles on a routine investigation. D'Amour gets more than he bargains for when he encounters Philip Swan, a performer whose amazing illusions captivate the world. But are they really illusions? Harry isn't so sure as he is thrust into a nightmare of murder, deception and terrifying assaults from the dark beyond. Two-disc set contains both the theatrical cut and a new high-definition transfer of Clive Barker's director’s cut. Formats: Blu-ray Disc. Extras: Commentary by Barker, "A Gathering of Magic" original behind the scenes featurette, "Illusion of Reality" vintage interviews and unseen on-set footage; deleted scenes, new interview with storyboard artist Martin Mercer, photo gallery. (Shout! Factory).
This Month's BR
(1939) This 4K remastering celebrates the film's 75th anniversary. Jean Arthur, James Stewart and Claude Rains star in Frank Capra's award-winning 1939 classic about an idealistic, small town senator who heads to Washington and suddenly finds himself single-handedly battling ruthless politicians out to destroy him. When Capra decided to film the novel "The Gentleman From Montana", he ran into an obstacle: Director Rouben Mamoulian owned the rights to the story. Unwilling to sell, Mamoulian eventually traded the material to Columbia on the condition that he be allowed to direct "Golden Boy." As Capra began working on the film, it was suggested that Gary Copper, the star of "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town," take the lead. Capra selected Jimmy Stewart instead and the film solidified Stewart's movie career, garnering him his first Academy Award nomination. Receiving a total of eleven 1939 Oscar nominations (including Best Picture and Best Director), and winning one (Best Motion Picture Story), "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" is considered one of Capra's, Stewart's and Columbia's finest films. It also marked the end of an era: It was Capra's final film for the studio. Presented in Digibook packaging with rare photos and a new essay by film historian Jeremy Arnold. Extras: Audio commentary by Frank Capra Jr.; original theatrical trailer; rare international trailer which includes footage deleted from the final film; feature-length documentary: "Frank Capra's American Dream," narrated by Ron Howard and incorporating interviews with the director's friends, colleagues and admirers; "Frank Capra Jr. Remembers ... Mr. Smith Goes To Washington" featurette; four additional featurettes offering a behind-the-scenes look at one of Hollywood's greatest and most influential directors. (Sony).
uncut widescreen presentation. The second disc includes "Vault of Horror's" theatrical PG cut and a rare open-matte version of the BFI master. The release also includes an original trailer and an alternate opening scene for "Vault of Horror." "Tales From The Crypt" (1972): When five unwary travelers with dark hearts stumble into a series of catacombs, they find themselves in a cavern with no way out. But the horror's only just begun as a mysterious figure appears to reveal to each person the shocking events that will lead to their well-deserved, untimely -- and unavoidable -- demise. Starring Joan Collins, Peter Cushing, Patrick Magee, Ralph Richardson. "Vault of Horror" (1973) Five unsuspecting hotel guests step into an elevator, which leads them into an underground vault. Trapped with no way out, each guest shares a gruesome tale of an encounter with death. But as the stories unfold, the men begin to suspect that their presence in the vault is no coincidence, and that the only way out ... is death. Starring Tom Baker, Denholm Elliott, Curt Jurgens, Michael Craig, Daniel Massey, Terry-Thomas, Glynis Johnst. (Scream Factory/Shout! Factory).
