The Leopard (Luschino Visconti; 1963) [Blu-ray]Mystery Train (Jim Jarmusch; 1989) [Blu-ray]
Red Desert (Michelangelo Antonioni; 1964) [Blu-ray]
and on DVD we have:
Close-Up (Abbas Kiarostami; 1990) [DVD]
Everlasting Moments (Jan Troell; 2009) [DVD]
Night Train to Munich (Carol Reed; 1940) [DVD]
Red Desert and Night Train to Munich are certainly most welcome, as neither are available on DVD in North America, and the latter Carol Reed film stars Margaret Lockwood, Rex Harrison and Paul Henreid!
Jan Troell's Everlasting Moments is a very good film (it made my Top 10 list) and Luschino Visconti's lush period drama, The Leopard, is an obvious in-house choice, considering Criterion already had the rights and simply had to convert it to high-def.
Cover art? Carol Reed's Night Train to Munich takes the cake, easily. I'm a little disappointed in Red Desert, it's a little boring, I have to say.
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The import blu-ray of RED DESERT looks amazing but is region locked. I agree, the cover is boring because Antonioni purposely used vibrant colors to heighten the dissasociation between reality and waking dream...or how about a nice photo of the beautiful Monica Vitti! I would love to see THE PASSENGER with the sweeping desert vistas and that last profound tracking shot in HD.
ReplyDeleteVisconti's LEOPARD is also released overseas but it has a digital flaw in the last act causing the image to darken and, on some players, to freeze. I'm sure Criterion will either fix the problem or use a diferent source.
I'm also a Jarmusch fan and GHOST DOG, DEAD MAN, and BROKEN FLOWERS are out in high-def in France but again, the discs are region locked (and have force French subtitles, which is a tiny bit annoying).
I've actually never seen RED DESERT, so I'm looking forward to it, ditto on THE LEOPARD - they should be wonderful Blu-rays to own.
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