Hello!

Criterion released its November disc lineup yesterday: of seven features, six will be available in 4K Ultra-HD; the titles include John Hughes’  The Breakfast Club, Reginald Hudlin’s  House Party  and a Blu-ray of  Abbas Kiarostami Early Shorts and Features.

Four titles grab us as extra-special. We can hear the sound of pocketbooks being put at risk —

•  Howard Hughes’  Hell’s Angels will be in 4K. Announced as the ‘Magnascope’ Road Show version, it may not be longer than what we’ve seen before, but it’s been re-formatted a 1.54:1 aspect ratio. Criterion says that a 1:37 encoding is present as well. One of the extras is a selection of outtakes and rushes from the picture. It will be interesting to see the color dirigible sequence in 4K; it’s been 20 years, and I can’t remember if there’s more than one.

•  Based on how good the making-of docu  Hearts of Darkness looked last week, we’ll also want to get a look at Les Blank’s  Burden of Dreams, the epic story of the making of Werner Herzog’s  Fitzcarraldo. It’s an epic in its own right. Besides capturing Herzog’s all-time classic ‘nature is vile and murderous’ harangue, Blank filmed some of the wildest out-of-control real-life filming ever. Smashing into rocks, the untethered steamship drifts toward a dreaded waterfall with no power, and with Herzog trying to direct a panicked, screaming Klaus Kinski on board. It’s reality madness, did Herzog take the risk just to see Kinski blow a fuse?

•  Luis Buñuel’s  Él is one of his creepiest semi-surreal explorations of ‘everyday perversity.’  Within the strict confines of Mexican censorship he suggests taboo weirdnesses that remain disturbing. Did the Mexican cast not know what they were getting into?  It’s another Buñuel gem that’s difficult to see in a decent presentation, which makes a 4K encoding seem miraculous. This is excellent … more Buñuel, please!

•  Finally, Criterion’s 4K edition of Stanley Kubrick’s  Eyes Wide Shut promises some special extras, but the news will be that it’s the International Version that went unreleased in America back in 1999. Is the film a triumph for Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman?  Gee, it’s been 26 years already, and the debate over the film’s merits has yet to die down.

Thanks for reading! — Glenn Erickson