Every month, the Criterion Collection adds a few more excellent titles to its esteemed library and restores ones that already CC titles for a rerelease or two. And in March 2023, it’s none other than David Lynch‘s “Inland Empire“ that frontlines the new release. It’s a long-awaited release for Lynch fans, as the director’s last feature film hasn’t had a readily available home video release for almost a decade.
Criterion’s version of “Inland Empire” comes with a new HD digital master, made from the 4K restoration supervised by Lynch himself. The release also includes two films 2007 by blackANDwhite, the makers of “David Lynch: The Art Life,” “LYNCH (one)” and “LYNCH 2,” as well as “Ballerina,” a 2007 short film by Lynch. Over 75 minutes of extra scenes from the film are included, as well as a new conversation with actors Laura Dern and Kyle MacLachlan.
Next up, John Woo‘s wuxia spectacle from 1979, “Last Hurrah For Chivalry.” The film follows a pair of rambunctious swordsmen who join forces with a nobleman on a quest for vengance. The release includes an audio interview with Woo, a new interview with Grady Hendrix, author of “These Fists Break Bricks,” and an essay by scholar Aaron Han Joon Magnan-Park.
Joan Micklin Silver‘s 1979 film “Chilly Scenes Of Winter“ also comes out from Criterion in March. Micklin Silver was one of only five women to direct a film for a Hollywood studio in the 1970s. This one, based on Ann Beattie‘s best-selling novel, follows John Heard‘s lovelorn civil servant as he’s haunted by an affair with a coworker that he desperately tries to rekindle. The new release features a new 4K digital transfer, a 1983 documentary by Katja Raganelli about Micklin Silver, excerpts from a 2005 interview with Micklin Silver, and more.
Lastly, Michael Curtiz‘s classic noir melodrama “Mildred Pierce“ gets a 4K UHD release. No new bonus features in this rerelease, but who wouldn’t want to see one of Joan Crawford‘s greatest performances in the best transfer on the market?