How did you all do after the Criterion/Barnes & Noble sale? Now we prepare for the October flash sale. While this month is relatively lighter in heavy hitters than the previous months, this is a month with some incredible documentaries and some major late 20th century bangers. Criterion is dropping six new releases, a 4K+Blu-Ray upgrade to an existing Blu-Ray in the collection, one new 4K+Blu-Ray release, two new Blu-Ray releases, a new Eclipse Blu-Ray set, and a 4K+Blu-Ray upgrade to a long standing DVD release.
Safe (1995)
Safe is a film that unsettled me to an extraordinary degree. A film about a woman who develops and learns to live with a debilitating and mysterious illness, Safe is one of Todd Haynes’s best films. Even about 5 years removed from first watching it, this film has shaken me all these years later. While Safe isn’t a traditional horror film, the suburban horror is as haunting as the most gruesome of horror pictures. You can see Haynes’s character splattered all over this film, which is a rare feat for a film so early in one’s career. The fact that TikTok hasn’t discovered the early films of Julianne Moore is a travesty (but will seemingly come soon). Safe is a 4K+Blu-Ray combo pack featuring a new 4K digital restoration supervised and approved by director Todd Haynes.
Coup de torchon (1981)
Coup de torchon is an adaptation of American hard boiled novel Pop. 1280 but replaces the American Southern setting to 1930s French West Africa. While the material within is consistent with that of the novel, the change in setting – especially coming from a French filmmaker – brings fire on subjects like police brutality, colonialism, and the nasty side of human behavior. While those added elements add a delicious amuse bouche of thematic depth, the pulpy nature of the novel is still retained. All in, filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier creates something that is cold, provocative, and filled with style. You will certainly not have a bad time with this picture. Coup de torchon is a Blu-Ray release featuring a new 4K digital restoration.
Eclipse Series 49: Five Radical Documentaries by Kazuo Hara and Sachiko Kobayashi
While I was unaware of Kazuo Hara prior to the announcement of this set, his start in film is inspiring. Hara dropped out of school to work at a special education school and in doing so he started developing his first documentary feature – Goodbye CP – which follows the experience of people with cerebral palsy. In Goodbye CP, Hara would follow his subjects and give a sincere look at people who don’t fit into modern society. This would be a staple across all of his documentaries, following outsiders in the most fearless and direct approach possible. Hara’s background, minus a few notes about how he started in film, is not publicly known and not easy to glean through simple research. If you’re a Netflix documentary fiend, someone curious about how different societies operate, or just someone who gets down with bold filmmaking you should seek this set out. The films in this set are Goodbye CP, Extreme Private Eros: Love Song 1974, The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On, A Dedicated Life, and Sennan Asbestos Disaster and they are all featured in a Blu-Ray box set.
Little Odessa (1994)
Criterion is a fan of releasing the feature films of modern filmmakers. The debuts of Christopher Nolan, the Safdie Brothers, and Barry Jenkins have been added to the Collection – and with Little Odessa, James Gray can join those same ranks. James Gray, the Ad Astra filmmaker, was only 25 when Little Odessa hit a film festival stride and won the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival and placed him amongst one of the rising voices in American filmmaking. Little Odessa is a gritty crime film that is set in New York City – I’m sure you’ve heard that before. Now, gritty crime films that are set in New York City aren’t hard to find – but I’d be hard pressed to find a bad or simply unenjoyable one. Additionally, a gritty crime film with Tim Roth? The “total banger alarm” is firing off at the thought of this. Little Odessa is a 4K+Blu-Ray combo pack featuring a new 4K digital restoration supervised and approved by director James Gray.
American Dream (1990)
Barbara Kopple has to be one of the most important documentary filmmakers ever. While some documentary filmmakers cover topics of the chase for greatness, unique work and lifestyles, and a time and place for celebrities – Kopple opts to point the camera at the underserved and those fighting for a better tomorrow. American Dream is the follow up to Harlan County USA, and while the setting is different the issue still persists. The film captures the 1985-1986 strike against meat processing brand Hormel, a strike that ended in failure for the striking workers. While Kopple gained success through Harlan County USA, her development with American Dream proved to be difficult now that she was known following her Oscar success. The approach in American Dream looked at the people of Austin, Minnesota – the city in which the strike occurred – rather than just the strike itself and developed a more holistic picture that wasn’t created in Harlan County USA. American Dream is a Blu-Ray release featuring a new 4K digital restoration supervised and approved by director Barbara Kopple.
Harlan County USA (1976)
Barbara Kopple’s second documentary, which would end up winning the Academy Award for Best Documentary, is one of the boldest and bravest pieces of cinema I’ve ever seen – a tremendous piece of filmmaking. A 20something Kopple went deep into the heart of miner union bureaucracy and the protests around it in the small town of Harlan County, Kentucky. Harlan County USA is an intense and incredibly sad film but is one of the most inspiring documentaries put to celluloid. Hauntingly, the material within is still as relevant today as it was 50 years ago. Few films have made me tear up in the theater, and I can’t recount a time when a documentary brought a tear to my eye (but Harlan County USA did that to me). I would recommend this be picked up expeditiously. Harlan County USA is a 4K+Blu-Ray combo pack featuring a new 4K digital restoration supervised and approved by director Barbara Kopple.
