The latest in the ongoing wave of restored and/or recut Francis Ford Coppola movies (The Conversation is next up) coincides with the Cannes premiere and first footage of Megalopolis, which confirms all suspicions that Coppola has returned to the soundstage maximalism that defined so much of his 80s work. What great news this is for all devotees of One From the Heart, where Coppola overcomes minor roadblocks (like making a romance where you don’t want the separated main couple to get back together at the end) by teaming with Vittorio Storaro to make the best-looking movie of either of their careers, and thus very likely the best-looking movie of all time. That’s out this week in a much-deserved 4K release, along with a 4K-restored Blu-Ray of The Rain People, remembered as “the one he made before The Godfather” and not much else (it’s one of several footnotes for New Hollywood directors out this week, including two forgotten Sydney Pollack movies crammed onto one Blu-Ray). There’s also 4Ks of High Noon and The Crow (to commemorate the remake finally, somehow, getting off the ground) but the big news is the 4K of Stop Making Sense, which would be even bigger news if it wasn’t getting relegated to a pricey A24-exclusive release ($58 before tax and shipping unless you’re a member of their paid membership club). But at least one of the greatest of all movies is back in circulation in a better-than-washed-out version, the new restoration doesn’t wow but instead lifts the veil that’s been in front of Jonathan Demme and Jordan Cronenweth’s workman brilliance until now.
The Addams Family 1&2 Double Feature 4K (the animated ones whose existence I keep forgetting about) (Shout Factory)
The Crow 4K (Paramount)
Devil’s Doorway (Warner Archive Collection)
Director Spotlight: Sydney Pollack (Castle Keep / Bobby Deerfield) (Mill Creek)
Fletch (Kino)
Fletch Lives (Kino)
High Noon 4K (Kino)
Joysticks (MVD)
The Mask of Fu Manchu (Warner Archive Collection)
Monk: The Complete Sixth Season (Kino)
Night Falls on Manhattan (Arrow)
One from the Heart 4K (Lionsgate)
The Rain People (Warner Archive Collection)
Secret Beyond the Door (Kino)
Seeing Red: 3 French Vigilante Thrillers (Fun City Editions)
Stop Making Sense 4K (A24)
A Story of Floating Weeds / Floating Weeds (Criterion)