10 Essential New Additions to the Criterion Collection

The Tree of Life
Having gestated for almost 30 years, The Tree Of Life is, in many ways, the ultimate expression of the style and worldview of legendary director Terrence Malick. A young man comes of age in Texas of the 1950s under the care of a nurturing mother and a tyrannical father—a story which Malick places in the broader scope of creation, pulling back to some trippy sequences set at the very beginning of time, with the aid of gorgeous cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki. The director-and-cinematographer approved Criterion edition includes a (significantly) extended cut of the film.

The Princess Bride
A reminder that Criterion’s idea of what makes a film “important” isn’t at all snobbish, as this is certainly one of the most beloved movies of the modern era. The silly, sweet, and very quotable adventure starts with a sick kid and the grandpa who just wants to read him a story…minus the kissing parts. He gets a lot more than he bargained for. In addition to an array of new and classic extras, this edition boasts a new 4K digital restoration.

The Magnificent Ambersons
Mercilessly edited by the studio before its release, Orson Welles’ follow-up to Citizen Kane was long (and unfairly) seen as a minor work in the master’s oeuvre, and the film that set the stage for a lifetime of complicated and compromised work. Nevertheless, this carefully restored version retains more than enough of Welles’ genius to establish it as a film classic and a well observed bit of Americana. In turn of the 20th century Indianapolis, an affluent family begins a slow decline when faced with the march of progress. It’s a lovely and haunting film, featuring fine performances and brilliant camerawork.

Some Like It Hot
In a career full of hits in a variety of genres, director Billy Wilder never made a more lasting impact than with this witty and sparkling comedy. A couple of Chicago musicians (played by Tony Curtis and JackLemmon) drag it up and skip town after witnessing a mob hit, joining up with Marilyn Monroe and her all-female band. To stay one step ahead of their pursuers, their lies must grow increasingly more extravagant—and funnier. This is classic Hollywood filmmaking at its best. This freshly restored version includes new documentaries and vintage interviews, radio spots, and more.

Andrei Rublev
One of the greatest films to come out of the Soviet Union, Andrei Tarkovsky’s dreamlike masterpiece follows the life of the title’s renowned icon painter as he journeys through metaphorical scenes as part of a life-long struggle to preserve his artistic and religious integrity in the face of oppression. The restored edition includes the original cut of the film, long surpassed by Soviet authorities, as well as the director’s preferred version.

Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema
For Bergman’s 100th birthday, Criterion is pulling out all the stops—and all the films—for an extraordinary new box set. Thirty-nine of the great director’s works are included here, 18 of them new to the collection and many of them newly restored. From his directorial debut, 1946’s Crisis, to his final film, 2003’s Saraband, to in-between masterpieces like The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, The Virgin Spring, Persona, Cries and Whispers, Scenes from a Marriage, and Fanny and Alexander: essential stuff. There’s also a 248-page book and a whopping 30 hours of extras. It’s a Bergman lover’s paradise and a masterclass in filmmaking.

True Stories
Though it will certainly make you nostalgic for the music of ’80s icon David Byrne and The Talking Heads, there’s much more to love about Byrne’s sole foray into directing. A juke box musical stitched together with one great song after another, it takes us to the fictional everytown of Virgil, Texas on the eve of its Celebration of Specialness. The genuinely striking narrative is held together not just by the music, but by Byrne’s conviction that there’s something weird and wonderful at the core of even the most ordinary-seeming places. This director-approved edition includes a new4K transfer, a new documentary, and, for the first time ever, a complete copy of the soundtrack on a bonus CD.

Shampoo
There’s sharp social commentary at the heart of Warren Beatty’s 1975 farce about a self-absorbed Beverly Hills hairdresser navigating complicated love  affairs at the waning end of the 1960s. As Beatty’s George encounters various complications relating to the multiple women in his life, Richard Nixon is about to be elected president. Satirizing sexual and social mores of the era, the film suggests that the spirit of the ’60s died not with a bang, but with an indifferent whimper.

Sisters
New on Bluray, this early Brian DePalma film became a cult classic as much for its homages to Hitchcock as for its shocking and graphic nature. Margot Kidder stars as a young model separated from her conjoined twin, Dominique. Everything’s fine, until Dominique commits a murder witnessed by a reporter from across the way. The twisty-turny thriller is packed with surprises, and has more than a few things to say about the women’s movement of the ’70s. A chilling score by legend Bernard Hermann is just icing on the creepy cake—as are the new 4K restoration and new and vintage interviews included on this director-approved disc. 

My Man Godfrey
One of the quintessential screwball comedies, My Man Godfrey is timeless and hilarious—a cutting social satire that feels just as relevant today as it did during its initial Depression-era release. Wealthy socialite Carole Lombard is on the hunt for a “forgotten man”—a bit of fun and part of a high-society scavenger hunt. She comes across seeming drifter William Powell at the dump and takes him home, training him to be a butler. Her efforts to indoctrinate him into her own social class (as well as her wild dysfunctional family) are complicated by the fact that she’s in love with him. This newly restored version also includes a vintage radio adaptation and new interviews and critical essays.
What are you picking up in our Criterion sale?