It’s the 16th of a month, which means that Criterion delayed and announced yet another round of titles. These titles all come out in September, and just in time for the leaves to change, Criterion introduces several directors of note to the Collection, including Mark Robson, Jacques Tourneur, and Russ Meyer. In addition, they’re continuing their relationships with Kenji Mizoguchi, Krzysztof Kieślowski, and los hermanos Coen, and throwing in one utterly unexpected Blu-Ray upgrade. Cover art and specs for all titles (save for the Blu-Ray-only rerelease of the Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman set) are below.
- New 2K digital restoration, with 3.0 LCR DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
- Audio commentary from 2006 featuring actor Barbara Parkins and journalist Ted Casablanca
- New interview with author Amy Fine Collins about author Jacqueline Susann and the film
- New video essay by critic Kim Morgan
- Footage of Marc Huestis Presents Sparkle Patty Sparkle!, a 2009 gala tribute to actor Patty Duke at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco
- A World Premiere Voyage and Jacqueline Susann and “Valley of the Dolls,” two promotional films from 1967
- Archival interviews
- Trailers and TV spots
- PLUS: An essay by film critic Glenn Kenny
- High-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
- Audio commentary from 2003 featuring screenwriter Roger Ebert
- Audio commentary from 2006 featuring actors Dolly Read, Cynthia Myers, Harrison Page, John La Zar, and Erica Gavin
- New interview with filmmaker John Waters
- Archival interviews with writer, director, and producer Russ Meyer
- Q&A about the film from 1992 featuring Meyer, Ebert, La Zar, Read, and actors David Gurian, Charles Napier, Michael Blodgett, and Edy Williams
- Above, Beneath, and Beyond the Valley; Look On Up at the Bottom; The Best of Beyond; Sex, Drugs, Music and Murder; and Casey & Roxanne, five documentaries from 2006 about the making of the film, featuring the cast and crew
- Trailers and TV spots
- PLUS: An essay by film critic Glenn Kenny
- New, restored 2K digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
- Audio commentary from 2005 featuring film historian Gregory Mank, with excerpts from an audio interview with actor Simone Simon
- Val Lewton: The Man in the Shadows, a 2008 feature-length documentary that explores the life and career of the legendary Hollywood producer
- Interview with director Jacques Tourneur from 1977
- New interview with cinematographer John Bailey about the look of the film
- Trailer
- PLUS: An essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien
- New, restored 4K digital transfer, approved by cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld and filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
- New conversation between Sonnenfeld and the Coens about the film’s look, featuring Telestrator video illustrations
- New conversation between author Dave Eggers and the Coens about the film’s production, from inception to release
- New interviews with composer Carter Burwell, sound mixer Skip Lievsay, and actors Frances McDormand and M. Emmet Walsh
- Trailers
- PLUS: An essay by novelist and critic Nathaniel Rich
- New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtracks on the Blu-rays
- New high-definition digital restorations of A Short Film About Killing and A Short Film About Love,with uncompressed monaural soundtracks on the Blu-rays
- Selection of archival interviews with director Krzysztof Kieślowski, culled from footage from the 1987 production of Dekalog: Two, excerpts from the 1995 documentary A Short Film About “Dekalog,” and a 1990 audio recording from the National Film Theatre in London
- New program on the visual rhyming of Dekalog by film studies professor Annette Insdorf
- New and archival interviews with Dekalog cast and crew, including cowriter Krzysztof Piesiewicz, thirteen actors, three cinematographers, editor Ewa Smal, and Kieślowski’s confidante Hanna Krall
- Trailers
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay and film analyses by film scholar Paul Coates and excerpted reprints from Kieślowski on Kieślowski
- Restored high-definition digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- Conversation from 2010 between film scholars Peter Evans and Bruce Babington about director Carol Reed, screenwriters Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat, and the social and political climate in which Night Train to Munich was made
- PLUS: An essay by film critic Philip Kemp
- New, restored 4K digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
- New interview with critic Phillip Lopate about the evolution of director Kenji Mizoguchi’s style
- New English subtitle translation
- PLUS: An essay by film scholar Dudley Andrew