There are few events movie fans look forward to quite like the Barnes & Noble 50% off Criterion Collection sale. It happens twice a year – once in July and again in November – and it’s a perfect opportunity for physical media enthusiasts to acquire some of the very best Blu-rays, loaded with special features and anchored by exemplary video and sound. Sure, the Christmas holiday might be the wonderful time of the year. But Criterion sale time at Barnes & Noble is a close second for those of us still collecting physical media.
This year, there are plenty of amazing titles to choose from and we thought we’d highlight a handful if you’re having trouble narrowing down what to get. These are all titles that have come out since the last sale (in November 2021) and include some that are coming out towards the end of July, when the sale ends.
“Miller’s Crossing”
Only the third Criterion release of a Coen Brothers film (!?!), “Miller’s Crossing” is the duo’s noirish gangster movie, as crisp and entertaining as any of their more openly lionized achievements. Gabriel Byrne stars as a mobster working for a powerful crime boss (Albert Finney), whose loyalty begins to waver, with increasingly deadly and suitably Coens-esque consequences. Remarkably assured for what was only the brothers’ third film, it was shot by future big time filmmaker Barry Sonnenfeld and features outstanding performances from Coens regulars John Turturro, Steve Buscemi and newcomer Marcia Gay Harden (this was her first movie!) Supplemental features include a new transfer supervised by Sonnenfeld (it’s actually a slightly shorter cut of the movie, done by the Coens), new interviews conducted by novelist Megan Abbott and a host of archival materials.
“Walker”
Finally. “Walker” has been a part of the Criterion Collection for a while now (its spine number is a practically archaic #423). But it has finally been remastered and released on Blu-ray and that is very much worth celebrating. An insane, one-of-a-kind biography from provocateur Alex Cox (his “Repo Man” and “Sid & Nancy” also have Criterion editions) and starring Ed Harris in what might be his greatest role, that of William Walker, one of those 19th century jack-of-all trades (he was physician, journalist and mercenary, among other things).
While much of Walker’s life was deeply insane, the movie chooses to dramatize his attempt to overthrow the government of Nicaragua (it was actually shot in the same country during the Contra Wars which is also deeply insane). Filled with anachronisms and purposefully outrageous absurdity, it was dismissed when it was initially released but has rightly become a cult classic in the years since. Everything from the original DVD version has returned (including Cox’s audio commentary and a documentary about the movie’s production), along with new cover art and a pair of additional short films by Cox.
“Okja”
Before Bong Joon-ho won a Best Picture Oscar for “Parasite” (also part of the Criterion Collection, along with his sophomore triumph “Memories of Murders”), he made “Okja” for Netflix. Ostensibly the tale of a young girl (Ahn Seo-hyun) and her relationship with the titular giant “super-pig,” “Okja” is, quite obviously, so much more. As the story ping-pongs from the South Korean countryside to the urban sprawl of Manhattan, it introduces a host of extraordinarily colorful characters (Tilda Swinton’s manic CEO, a group of cuddly eco-terrorists, Jake Gyllenhaal as a deranged kids show host) alongside some of the most memorable set pieces in Bong’s career. On one of the supplemental features, Bong’s producing partner reminds him that he once said his movie isn’t real until he’s holding the Blu-ray. Now, for “Okja,” it’s finally real. This includes new interviews (with visual effects producers, performers and more), archival materials and trailers.
“Raging Bull”
Martin Scorsese’s black-and-white masterpiece “Raging Bull,” which earned Robert De Niro an Oscar, is finally in 4Ks. De Niro stars as Jake La Motta, a boxer who is just as destructive outside the ring as he is within. It’s a searing character study and Michael Chapman’s monochrome cinematography somehow makes the boxing matches more dreamlike and more brutal. This deluxe edition features new video essays, three audio commentaries, documentaries and archival footage. Truly a knockout.
“Pink Flamingos”
Not all movies in the Criterion Collection are high-minded arthouse fare. They also release things like “Pink Flamingos,” the most notorious midnight movie of all time. The film that made John Waters a household name is the same one that concludes with drag queen Divine eating actual dog poop. Ah, things were simpler back in the ‘70s. If you’ve owned previous versions of “Pink Flamingos,” this release is definitely the ultimate – it includes the terrific, feature-length 1998 documentary “Divine Trash,” archival Waters commentary tracks from both Criterion’s 1997 laserdisc and New Line’s 2001 DVD release, deleted scenes and alternate takes, plus a new conversation between Waters and Jim Jarmusch and a new video tour of Waters’ beloved Baltimore where he walks around and talks to people who now live in some of the famous (or is it infamous?) locations where they originally shot the movie. Also, this version of “Pink Flamingos” features incredible new packaging that includes a custom barf bag. You know, for the viewers with weak stomachs.
“Devil in a Blue Dress”
Weirdly overlooked upon its initial release (it was a box office flop but mustered some critical enthusiasm, particularly for the performances), “Devil in a Blue Dress” is now rightly regarded as one of the very best movies of the 1990s. Denzel Washington stars as Easy Rawlins, a World War II veteran in 1948 Los Angeles who becomes an unlikely private eye, on the case of a missing woman. Written and directed by Carl Franklin and produced by Jonathan Demme (it was shot, beautifully, by Demme’s regular cinematographer Tak Fujimoto), “Devil in a Blue Dress” simmers with postwar intensity. If anybody talked about the movie at the time, it was probably because of the star-making supporting performance of Don Cheadle as Mouse, Easy’s sidekick.
If there was any justice in the world, Washington would have starred in several more movies as Easy Rawlins (there were fifteen novels, all by Walter Mosley). Previously only available in a long out-of-print Twilight Time Blu-ray, the Criterion edition features an audio commentary, new conversations with Franklin and Cheadle (plus another new conversation with Mosley), Cheadle’s original screen test, and an archival conversation about the film from 2018. Released at the end of the month, this can’t come quickly enough.
“The Worst Person in the World”
One of the quickest theatrical-releases-to-Criterion inductees, “The Worst Person in the World” was just nominated for two Oscars a few months ago and is now among the celebrated Collection. (“Drive My Car,” another foreign language sensation from last year, which won the Oscar, also hits Criterion this month and is very much worth picking up.)
Renate Reinsve, in a breakthrough performance that won her an award at Cannes, stars as a young woman, emotionally adrift in modern day Oslo, Norway. Oscillating between romantic endeavors of varying temperatures, she discovers who she really is. Director Joachim Trier turns what could have become a pat romantic comedy into something thrilling and breathless, thanks to perfectly calibrated performances and lush moments of imagined fantasy. It’s a movie you can’t help but fall in love with. And Criterion has thankfully given it a lot of love too, with new interviews with director Trier; co-screenwriter Eskil Vogt; actors Reinsve, Anders Danielsen Lie, and Herbert Nordrum; cinematographer Kasper Tuxen; and sound designer Gisle Tveito, some behind-the-scenes footage, deleted scenes and marketing materials. Swoon.
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