It’s time to start budgeting for the next wave of Criterion releases. The boutique home-video label have unveiled their slate for May, and it’s even more impressive than usual, with some true treats for cinema buffs. So you might want to start clearing some space on your shelves.
The big attraction of the month is the release of Wim Wenders‘ Road Trilogy. Comprised of "Alice In The Cities," "Wrong Move," and "Kings Of The Road," these are a terrific trio of early works by the director, and for those only familiar with his more recent films, they may be surprised by their looseness and how much different in tone they are. Criterion will be bulking up the box set with shorts "Same Player Shoots Again" and "Silver City Revisited," plus audio commentaries, interviews, and more.
READ MORE: The Essentials: The 10 Best Wim Wenders Films
Shifting gears, Robert Altman‘s scathing Hollywood satire "The Player" gets the deluxe treatment. The release will feature a new 4K restoration, plus a 1992 commentary by Altman, along with a handful of featurettes, interviews, and much more.
Swinging back to the era of classic films, Nicholas Ray‘s "In A Lonely Place," starring Humphrey Bogart, will join Criterion’s roster. The biggest extra here will be a condensed version of the 1975 documentary on the director, "I’m a Stranger Here Myself," with the set rounded by interviews and more.
On the foreign-film front, Kaneto Shindo‘s dialogue-free "The Naked Island" will get the Criterion treatment, and the release will feature, among other things, an appreciation by Benicio del Toro.
Lastly, Dennis Hopper‘s "Easy Rider," previously available in the "America Lost And Found: The BBS Story" boxset, will get a standalone release.
