There is no better time than the winter months to curl up with a long movie—or a few long movies—and stave off the cold in the comfort of your own home. The Criterion Collection are gonna make it a bit easier with some pretty great cinephile buys headed your way just in time for Christmas.
First up, Robert Altman‘s classic, sprawling opus “Nashville” gets the Criterion treatment. The nearly three hour film, chronicles 24 different characters in the titular city, moving from politics to the music industry, from comedy to drama, to everything in between. It’s icon of the ’70s golden age of American filmmaking, it would influence countless filmmakers and is one of the crown jewels in Altman’s already impressive body of work. The Criterion set will include a commentary from the director (obviously lifted from a previous release of the film), along with a new documentary about the movie featuring Keith Carradine, Michael Murphy, Allan Nicholls, Lily Tomlin, assistant director Alan Rudolph and screenwriter Joan Tewkesbury. There will also be music demos by Carradine, behind-the-scenes footage and more.
And if that isn’t enough to occupy an afternoon, how about a nine-disc set of movies hosted by Martin Scorsese? The director’s World Cinema Project is unveiling it’s first volume of releases via Criterion, granting exposure to whole host of films that from around the globe, now given new life thanks to some generous restoration. Bangladesh/India (“A River Called Titas“), Mexico (“Redes“), Morocco (“Trances“), Senegal (“Touki bouki“), South Korea (“The Housemaid“), and Turkey (“Dry Summer“) are all represented in the set, which features a surprisingly healthy amount of extra features too.
Lastly, Elio Petri‘s Oscar winning thriller “Investigation Of A Citizen Above Suspicion” gets the treatment, with a whole new audience getting a chance to experience this gripping, aburdist tale of a Roman police officer investigating himself for a heinous crime he’s committed. Loaded with interviews new and old (including chats with Ennio Morricone and Petri) and a full length documentary on the filmmaker, this looks like it’ll be one worth taking home.
Bonus: The Maysles’ classic “Grey Gardens” is going Blu starting in December.
