Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne
An early effort from influential French director Robert Bresson that's hardly typical of his better-known later work, but that does hint at the mastery of style and technique yet to come. Only a stills gallery and two short essays provide supplemental material.

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I Am Curious: Yellow / Blue
These two Swedish films were once notorious for their frankness in dealing with politics and (especially) sexuality, but are quaint, slow-moving motion pictures by today's standards. Once again, the supplements provide a superlative degree of historical context.

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Straw Dogs
Sam Peckinpah's highly controversial was clearly ripe for a critical reappraisal, and no format lends itself as well for experiencing this disturbing, powerful and brilliantly edited film than this two-disc special edition DVD. Get it while it's out there, for this release will only be available for a limited time.

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Solaris
Stanislav Lem's sci-fi novel was recently revisited by Steven Soderbergh in the critically praised but commercially unsuccessful new adaptation, but Andrei Tarkovsky's 1972 original remains in a class all its own. Presented on DVD in a generous two-disc set boasting an immaculate transfer and an outstanding audio commentary track among its many supplements.

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Wrong Men, Notorious Women
Five Hitchcock Classics: 1935 - 1946
The Criterion Collection has released special edition DVD's of five of Hitchcock's finest masterpieces over the past years, which have now been combined in a five-disc box set that streets in May 2003. The five discs are identical to those that have appeared previously, and which will also remain available individually.

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The Killers
Robert Siodmak's seminal film noir and Don Siegel's 1964 thriller, along with Andrei Tarkovsky's film school short, form the spine of this exhaustive two-disc case study documenting the various screen adaptations of Hemingway's memorable short story.

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Beauty and the Beast [La Belle et La Bête]
Reissued to replace the OOP early release (bearing the same spine number), this second Criterion DVD of Jean Cocteau's fairy tale masterpiece is well-served by a major restoration effort and many new supplements, including an additional audio commentary track.

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Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
The third Terry Gilliam picture to appear on DVD under the Criterion flag is one of his more controversial efforts: a brilliantly conceived midnight movie that brings Hunter S. Thompson's dark but tremendously funny book to the screen without any form of concessions. Gorgeously packaged and stuffed to the hilt with the finest supplements, this set is a dream come true.

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Band of Outsiders [Bande à Part]
Godard's ode to American heist films remains fresh and endearing nearly half a century onward, including among its most avid fans such notables as Quentin Tarantino, who named his production company A Band Apart after it. Supplements on this release, which boasts a terrific transfer, are good if not all that wide in scope.

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Pépé le Moko
The stylish, exotic French romantic thriller that set the template for innumerable Hollywood pictures of the late 1930s and the 1940s, with an excellent Jean Gabin as the scoundrel with a heart of gold, holed up in Tangiers, where love will prove to be his downfall. The surviving print material is highly variable and supplements aren't of the highest order, but still an essential release for French cinema fans.

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Trouble in Paradise
This long-running entry in our Most Wanted List is finally - and thankfully - brought to DVD in an outstanding Criterion Collection special edition, complete with a wide variety of compelling extras that add value to this finest of all romantic comedies.

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Spellbound
One of Hitchcock's more pedestrian thrillers is burdened by its over-emphatic use of novelty science psychoanalysis, used here to explain major plot points for the first time in film history. The film is most famous today for its Salvador Dalí-designed (and Cameron McKenzie-directed) dream sequence, which also makes up the main focus of the impressive extras found on-board.

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The Complete Monterey Pop Festival
Going a good way towards replacing all-time favorite Brazil as the crown jewel of the Criterion Collection, this massively impressive, gorgeously packaged three-disc box set is nothing short of the ultimate representation of the historic musical event. Boasting technical specifications that are through the roof and a treasure trove of extras, this is truly the 1960s music fan's dream come true.

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Hearts & Minds
This impassioned, influential and highly affecting film won the 1975 Oscar for Best Documentary, and rightfully so: over 25 years later, it remains a powerful statement about the American government's policies for involvement in Vietnam. The director-approved DVD edition includes an impressive booklet with essays and articles and an outstanding director's commentary.

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Tokyo Olympiad
An epic, impressionist and highly cinematic registration of the 1964 Olympics, held for the first time in Tokyo. The Criterion Collection DVD restores the film to its original 'scope aspect ratio and three-hour running time, making it one of the great sports films of all time.

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Red Beard
One of master director Akira Kurosawa's lesser-known films outside Japan, this three-hour drama shows off his mastery of the cinematic form to its full extent, delivering a powerhouse emotional drama that's as moving as it is gorgeous to watch. It's presented on DVD in a flawless transfer and original four-channel surround mix, accompanied by a formidable audio commentary track.

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Ballad of a Soldier
Another 1950s Soviet film classic set in WWII and focusing on a doomed youthful soldier in war-torn Russia, Ballad of a Soldier is an impeccably staged road movie, given a superb DVD transfer by the Crititerion Collection.

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The Cranes Are Flying
The melodramatic tale of two young lovers separated in war-torn Russia during WWII is enlivened by outstanding production design and hugely impressive cinematography, captured on this DVD in an immaculate transfer.

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The Importance of Being Earnest
The great Oscar Wilde's wittiest play is performed flawlessly by a dream cast, impeccably staged and directed by veteran Anthony Asquith. The restored transfer looks as good as it ever will, and a fine selection of still galleries with text notes adds sufficient background information.

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General Idi Amin Dada [A Self Portrait]
A fascinating close-up look at one of the twentieth century's most infamous dictators, who allows Barbet Schroeder's drily observant cameras closer than one would think any ruler would allow. Both funny and disturbing, this is a unique record of a deeply psychotic buffoon of a dictator, sublimely presented in an impressive transfer and an illuminating new interview with the director.

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Bob le Flambeur
Long a relatively obscure work from French New Wave director Jean-Pierre Melville, Bob le Flambeur has by now been recognized as a highly interesting mix of American genres with the newly invented stylizations of the Nouvelle Vague. The new Criterion release boasts an impeccable transfer and a few interesting extras.

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The Horse's Mouth
A lesser-known comic gem featuring Alec Guinness, who also scripted this adaptation of Joyce Carey's novel charting the misadventures of a gruff, eccentric painter obsessed with bringing his vision to life no matter what the cost. A sterling anamorphic transfer, a long interview with the director and a handsome booklet with three essays are among the decent extras accompanying this Criterion release.

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George Washington
David Gordon Green's directorial début takes its cues from the likes of Terrence Malick and Harmony Korine in its combination of languid, poetic cinematography and the documentary-style depiction of directionless youth in a decaying small-town environment. Among the many supplements are Green's student films, other inspirational work, deleted footage, interviews and more.

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Wild Strawberries
One of Swedish director Ingmar Bergman's true masterpieces remains one of his most accessible films, with an outstanding central performance by legendary actor/director Victor Sjöström. The movie is given deservedly royal treatment on DVD from the Criterion Collection, with a pristine transfer and an exemplary audio commentary.

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Children of Paradise [Les Enfants du Paradis]
Marcel Carné's majestic opus of romance and the theater gets the DeLuxe treatment in this exquisite double-disc Criterion Collection release of 'the French Gone With the Wind'.

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Rashomon
The movie that jumpstarted Akira Kurosawa's international career as a director and that introduced the world to post-war Japanese cinema, Rashomon is a film school classic that holds up remarkably well today.

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Rebecca
An amazing, near-flawless transfer and restored audio grace this welcome special edition release, with its huge amount of great supplements spilling over onto a second disc in this must-have set.

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Notorious
One of Hitchcock's most exquisitely crafted and most memorably staged thrillers still more than holds its own today, especially in this newly restored transfer with a boatload of great extras on board.

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Spartacus
An amazing release not only due to the transfer that actually manages to improve even further on the 1991 Harris/Katz restoration and the abundant goodies on disc 2, but above all for the audio commentary featuring (often conflicting) recollections from a few of the fascinating principals involved with the memorable production.

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Rushmore
Writer/director Wes Anderson's second film is an astonishingly accomplished bittersweet comedy that manages to strike just the right elegiac tone, helped along no end by the superlative cast (including Bill Murray in the role of a lifetime) and the film's attention to quirky detail. The Criterion DVD comes in gorgeously designed packaging and includes a Winnie-the-Pooh style 'hand-drawn' map of the movie's major events.

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