The Criterion Collection in May

Look: if I have to explain, in 2020, what the Criterion Collection is, you probably don't care about Blu-rays and DVDs. So I won't be offended if you toddle off, looking for some out-of-print music to download. Enjoy!

For those of you sticking around, here's what Criterion has coming in May. I've had mixed feelings about the 2020 lineup so far: my copy of The Grand Budapest Hotel is en route as I write this, and I'm planning on surprising Mrs. Ape with a copy of Leave Her to Heaven for her half birthday. But (and I know this is such a quibbling complaint) there really hasn't been any title released this year that's knocked me on my ass...until May.

May 5

May kicks off with a Blu-ray reissue of the 2006 "Six Moral Tales" box set, featuring the six short and feature-length films in the cycle by the French director Éric Rohmer. It looks like we get 2K remasters of each film, along with the extras that came in the DVD box set: interviews, essays, trailers, and short films.
My expertise on the French New Wave is - well, let's just say I'm familiar with everyone's name, but I'm not really keyed in on everyone's oeuvre. I've been trying to broaden my viewing a lot over the past couple of years, but I'd still prefer to watch someone like Truffaut or Godard take on a genre film than tackle a film like Claire's Knee. This is the perfect example of something I'll pick up used in the future; I recognize the gap in my film viewing, and I know this is important, but I can't be talked into picking it up at full price or right away.
May 12

NOW we're cooking. The Great Escape is one of my earliest movie memories; I'm pretty certain that I watched it with my granddad when I was still a toddler, because I've been aware of the motorcycle chase for most of my life. It has such iconic moments and characters, not the least of which is Steve McQueen as "the Cooler King". There are three hour movies that feel like six, and there are three hour movies that feel like 90 minutes. This is the latter. The pacing is so strong, and the performances by the cast so engaging, you never really feel a drag in the film. It's occurring to me that I've never watched this on anything other than a CRT TV, so I'm really excited to see Daniel Fapp's photography shine in widescreen. And the cast: it's such a strong lineup that James Coburn gets billed seventh.
So, whadaya get on this Criterion Edition? How about a 4K restoration of the print, which I think has only been seen at 2019's 75th anniversary screening in London? There's two separate audio tracks on the Blu-ray: an uncompressed mono track, and a DTS-HD 5.1 mix. The commentaries are older, but are still cool, considering how many of the principals are now dead. I'm also jazzed to re-watch "The Great Escape": Heroes Under Ground, because who doesn't love a good stalag escape story from real life?
Oh, and Elmer Bernstein's theme song? Try not to whistle this:

Finish the whole package off with a fantastic Sean Phillips cover, and we have a quintessential Criterion release.
May 19

The third week in May gets a pair of new releases. First up is the debut film from Paul Dano, 2018's Wildlife. I've been racking my brain, trying to figure out why Mrs. Ape & I haven't seen this yet. I probably has everything to do with this being the first home media release of this movie. Everything I've read so far about this makes it seem like a throwback to 1950's style melodrama. I could watch Jake Gyllenhaal and Carey Mulligan read the phonebook, so I'm willing to give it a go.
This comes with a 2K digital master on the original print, with a DTS-HD 5.1 mix on the Blu-ray audio. I'm probably most interested in hearing Paul Dano share his thoughts on production, editing, and release via the various interviews and conversations contained on the disc. Like the Rohmer box, this isn't something I need to own right away. But it IS something I'll check out from the library once it reopens.

Dance, Girl, Dance is a movie I just kinda tripped over in the past twelve months. I'm always on the lookout for classic Hollywood DVDs when I hit up a thrift store, and I knew nothing about this other than the cast when I found it for $3 at a Goodwill last year. Then I watched it, and discovered this really amazing proto-feminist musical melodrama. It got me reading about director Dorothy Arzner, one of the first successful American female directors. Here's this queer woman, making movies dating back to the silent era, and making money for the studios she works for. But post-Hays Code, she makes two movies and retires with her partner to Palm Springs. It's very sad, yet super fascinating to me.
At first glance, the extras seem a little spare on this reissue. There's a 4K transfer on this release, which tells me it's going to look a lot better than the 2007 Warner Bros. DVD release. There's also an new interview with Francis Ford Coppola included. I'd have liked to see some commentary recorded, helping to place Dance, Girl, Dance within the context of female filmmaking. But, hey, you can't have it all.
May 26

It feels weird to realize that it's been six years since Criterion's last John Cassavetes release (Love Streams, for those of you scoring at home). The "Five Films" box set was the first Criterion release I preordered, and I just assumed that they'd already released the balance of his work. Yet here we are, with the release of Cassevetes' 1970 dramedy, Husbands. I don't remember watching this in class, per se, but I do remember watching it for the first time in college. I'm excited to check this out again, as I'm sure a film about three middle-aged men coming to terms with their mortality for the first time will probably have more of an impact now than it did in my 20s.
There are some cool extras on the release. The commentary and making-of featurette carry over from the 2009 SPHE release, but there are also new interviews with cast and crew members, as a "video essay" featuring audio from Cassavetes talking about directing. Pretty cool. For fans of awkward promotional appearances, there's also a circa 1970 episode of The Dick Cavett Show featuring John Cassavetes, Ben Gazzara, and Peter Falk, all liquored up and giving Dick the business. HIGH-larious.

I was curious, when Criterion acquired the home video rights for The Irishman, what other Scorsese titles might end up getting the Criterion treatment. The 2018 release of The Age of Innocence, while I thought it was a super weird title to add, led me to revisit it for the first time since its theatrical release, and the digital transfer looks incredible. So I'm very curious about the release of Scorsese Shorts, a collection of five short films by the master. It's super cool to have these collected in one place for the first time. There's a pair of student films, his Vietnam War short film "The Big Shave", and a pair of documentaries that I've only ever seen available on VHS. I'm also keen to watch the discussion between the Safdie Brothers and Ari Asher, a group of filmmakers with obvious Scorsese influences who have put out masterworks in the past 12 months.

Here's the part where I say, "visit your local retail outlet for fine media products to pick these up", but who the hell knows when we're all going to be allowed to get out of the house. Instead, go ahead and visit the good folks at www.criterion.com, and cut out the middle man. I'm pretty certain that if you order $50 worth of stuff, it ships for free, and ALL movies are currently 30% off SRP for the month of May. So treat yourself.