Leopards, Deserts and Trains: Criterion in June

Criterion announced their June titles yesterday, with a DVD and Blu-ray of Michelangelo Antonioni's first color feature Red Desert [Il deserto rosso], starring a brunette Monica Vitti, among the releases. Red Desert, easily one of my favorite films, will hit shelves on the 22nd. Luchino Visconti's lavish historical epic The Leopard [Il gattopardo], which stars Burt Lancaster, Claudia Cardinale, Alain Delon and Pierre Clémenti among others, will hit Blu-ray on the same date. Jim Jarmusch's Mystery Train, one of the two "episodic" Jarmusch films I like, is bowing on DVD and Blu-ray on the 15th. Abbas Kiarostami's Close-Up is set for the 8th; the DVD only release includes Kiarostami's The Traveler from 1974. Strangely the release doesn't include Nanni Moretti's short doc Il giorno della prima di Close Up, which was featured on both the UK and French editions. It is however available on Cinema 16's European Shorts collection. The other two DVD releases are Jan Troell's Everlasting Moments [Maria Larssons eviga ögonblick] on the 15th and Carol Reed's 1940 thriller Night Train to Munich on the 22nd. Correction: (Thanks Blake) Everlasting Moments and Close-Up will also be Blu-ray releases (they weren't listed yesterday).

On the horizon from Criterion, I've been told two more Ozu films are coming. Also, they mentioned in the February newsletter that Andrea Arnold would soon be included in the Collection later this year, which must be in reference to Fish Tank through their partnership with IFC Films. It'd be great to see the two shorts Arnold made before her Oscar-winning Wasp (Dog and Milk) on their release.

Douglas Sirk + Barbara Stanwyck + Daria; DVD Update 12 February

Universal has announced a Barbara Stanwyck box set as part of their Blacklot Series. The six titles included are listed below, but the two that are most alluring are the two Stanwyck did with Douglas Sirk: All I Desire and There's Always Tomorrow. The set will be available on 27 April.

A couple of weeks ago, E1 Distribution announced their plans for a 50th Anniversary DVD and Blu-ray edition for Fellini's La dolce vita, set to be released sometime in 2010. In addition to that, they also acquired the rights to a quartet of Italian films: Vittorio De Sica's Shoeshine [Sciuscià] and Luchino Visconti's La terra trema, Bellissima and Ossessione. Image released Shoeshine, La terra trema and Ossessione previously.

And in distribution news, Strand acquired François Ozon's latest, The Refuge [Le refuge], which stars Isabelle Carré and Melvil Poupaud. Keep in mind that the date for The White Ribbon is likely to change if it wins the Oscar. The DVDs below are in descending order of release.

- The Crucifier of Blood, 1991, d. Fraser Clarke Heston, Warner, 30 March, w. Charlton Heston
- Marina Abramovic: 7 Easy Pieces, 2007, d. Babette Mangolte, Microcinema, 30 March
- The Italian Straw Hat [Un chapeau de paille d'Italie], 1928, d. René Clair, Flicker Alley, 6 April
- Lord, Save Us from Your Followers, 2008, d. Dan Merchant, Virgil Films, 20 April
- The Descent: Part 2, 2009, d. Jon Harris, Lionsgate, 27 April
- The End of Poverty?, 2008, d. Philippe Diaz, Cinema Libre, 27 April
- Euro-Fantastico Double Feature [The Black Cobra (Die schwarze Kobra) / No Survivors Please (Der Chef wünscht keine Zeugen)], 1963/1964, d. Rudolf Zehetgruber, Hans Albin, Peter Benies, VCI, 27 April
- Georgia O'Keeffe, 2009, d. Bob Balaban, Sony, 27 April
- The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, 2009, d. Terry Gilliam, also on Blu-ray, Sony, 27 April
- Is Everybody Happy But Me?, 1981, d. Bob Emenegger, VCI, 27 April
- The White Ribbon [Das weiße Band], 2009, d. Michael Haneke, Sony, 27 April
- California Dreamin' (Endless) [California Dreamin' (Nesfârşit)], 2007, d. Cristian Nemescu, IFC Films, 4 May
- Eye for an Eye, 2008, d. Ahn Kwon-tae, Kwak Kyung-Taek, Cinema Epoch, 4 May
- Paper Covers Rock, 2008, d. Joe Maggio, IFC Films, 4 May
- Daria, The Complete Series, 1997-2001, Paramount, 11 May
- Jermal, 2008, d. Ravi L. Bharwani, Rayya Makarim, Orlow Seunke, IndiePix, 11 May
- American Bandits: Frank and Jesse James, 2010, d. Fred Olen Ray, E1 Distribution, 18 May, w. Peter Fonda
- Gamera: The Giant Monster, 1965, d. Noriaki Yuasa, Shout! Factory, 18 May
- The Girl on the Train [La fille du RER], 2009, d. André Téchiné, Strand, 18 May
- Stigma, 1972, d. David E. Durston, Code Red, 18 May
- Bottomland, 1992, d. Ed Radtke, Facets, 25 May
- Dany Laferrière: Films from a Poet's Imagination [On the Verge of a Fever (La goût des jeunes filles) / How to Conquer America in One Night (Comment conquérir l'Amérique)], 2004, d. John L'Ecuyer, Dany Laferrière, Art Mattan/Facets, 25 May
- Kamikaze Hearts, 1986, d. Juliet Bashore, Facets, 25 May, w. Sharon Mitchell
- What's Underground About Marshmallows?, 1996, d. Jill Godmilow, Facets, 25 May
- Yesterday Girl [Abschied von gestern - (Anita G.)], 1966, d. Alexander Kluge, Facets, 25 May

Barbara Stanwyck Collection, Universal, 27 April
- Internes Can't Take Money, 1937, d. Alfred Santell
- The Great Man's Lady, 1942, d. William A. Wellman
- The Bride Wore Boots, 1946, d. Irving Pichel
- The Lady Gambles, 1949, d. Michael Gordon
- All I Desire, 1953, d. Douglas Sirk
- There's Always Tomorrow, 1956, d. Douglas Sirk

Blu-ray

- Dune, 1984, d. David Lynch, Universal, 27 April
- The Jackal, 1997, d. Michael Caton-Jones, Universal, 27 April
- Out of Africa, 1985, d. Sydney Pollack, Universal, 27 April
- Traffic, 2000, d. Steven Soderbergh, Universal, 27 April
- Escape from L.A., 1996, d. John Carpenter, Paramount, 4 May
- K-19: The Widowmaker, 2002, d. Kathryn Bigelow, Paramount, 4 May
- The Getaway, 1972/1994, d. Sam Peckinpah, Roger Donaldson, Warner, 8 June
- Mutiny on the Bounty, 1935, d. Frank Lloyd, Warner, 16 November

Visconti's Sandra Coming Soon on DVD

I e-mailed Sony Pictures about a R1 DVD release of Luchino Visconti's Sandra [Vaghe stelle dell'Orsa...], as they're releasing the film (with English subtitles) in Italy this summer, and this was the response I got:

"We do hope to release the movie here, hopefully next year, but nothing's confirmed yet."

I thought I'd pass that along.

Quick DVD Update

Eric posted about Koch Lorber's upcoming release of Luchino Visconti's final film L'innocente, which is set for 10 March. Sony also announced Wong Kar-wai's Ashes of Time Redux for 3 March. Dark Sky will release Juraj Herz's The Cremator on 31 March. And finally, look for Aleksandr Sokurov's Alexandra on 7 April from New Yorker (though with all New Yorker announcements, note that the date is not solid, though the chances are better for one of their Cinema Guild releases like this one).

Ballons, Parks, Abortions, Rides, and Kabuki

Here are some more DVD updates. Unfortunately, I've been rather busy in a job hunt, so I haven't had time to review a bunch of films as I'd like to. So, hopefully this will hold you over. Oh, and if you have any fine job suggestions, send 'em my way!

IFC has announced their October releases, which includes a new date for the Palme d'Or winner 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days for the 14th. The June release was delayed, although the film is available for rent at Netflix, seeing as how their Red Envelope Entertainment co-released the film. Gus Van Sant's Paranoid Park and Hou Hsiaso-hsien's Flight of the Red Balloon will also hit shelves on the 7th and 21st respectively.

The Weinstein Company has also announced Boy A, which is hitting theatres right now, for 7 October; the film, directed by John Crowley (Intermission) and starring Peter Mullan, has received some positive notices from critics. Through Dimension, they will also be releasing Hell Ride just in time for Halloween on the 28th. The violent biker film looks like it'll skip a theatrical release and head straight to video. It stars Dennis Hopper, Vinnie Jones, Michael Madsen and Eric Balfour. Elite Squad [Tropa de Elite] from Brazil will also be out on 14 October; the film won this year's Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival.

As previously mentioned by Eric, Luchino Visconti's Ludwig, starring Helmut Berger, will be out on 14 October from Koch Lorber. The film will be presented uncut and contain two-discs. I'm sure you've already read about this, but MGM will release their long-overdue Hitchcock boxset on the same day. The set includes: Rebecca, Lodger: A Story of the London Fog, The Paradine Case, Spellbound, Notorious, Young and Innocent, Sabotage and Lifeboat.

AnimEigo will release Kon Ichikawa's Revenge of a Kabuki Actor, formerly known as An Actor's Revenge, on 14 October. Sommerhouse, a division of Koch Vision, has re-announced The Apprentice, aka Fleur bleu, starring a young Susan Sarandon for the same date. Tarsem's The Fall, starring Lee Pace, will be released by Sony on 9 September. Wolfe will release Jamie Babbit's Itty Bitty Titty Committee on 2 September.

Fox will release as part of their film noir set Moontide, directed by Archie Mayo and an uncredited Fritz Lang and starring Jean Gabin and Ida Lupino, and Road House, directed by Jean Negulesco and starring Lupino and Richard Widmark, for 2 September. And finally, TLA is releasing Hormoz's I Dreamt Under Water [J'ai rêvé sous l'eau], which co-stars Caroline Ducey (Romance) and is an extension of his short film of the same name, on 30 September.

UPDATE: Eric was right. MGM will also release Elia Kazan's Boomerang on 2 September as part of the Fox Film Noir collection. Thanks! Also, I forgot to mention, if you want overkill, The Weinstein Company will also have a 3-disc set of Rob Zombie's Halloween sometime in October.