One of the busiest months of Criterion additions in some time, as six films get their introduction in the famed physical media collection, while two other films get 4K upgrades. Kicking things off this May are the premium 4K-Blu ray re-releases of Criterion classic’s The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and In the Heat of the Night. Jacques Demy’s musical not only launched star Catherine Deneuve into international stardom, but is one of the most visually important musicals of all time, revered for its unique, unorthodox style, told entirely though Michel Legrand’s impeccable music and Demy’s exquisitely vibrant colors; it’s a must own if you don’t already have it. For all of you Oscar lovers out there, you can add to your collection In the Heat of the Night on 4K for the first time; the Best Picture winner of 1967. Known for being one of the most enduring Hollywood films of the civil rights era, director Norman Jewison splices relevant social commentary into this thrilling police procedural. With Haskell Wexler’s vivid cinematography, Quincy Jones’s iconic score, and two stellar performances from Sidney Poitier and Rob Steiger, this is an important piece of film history you will want to pick up in the first week of May.
The second week of May brings us the work of two master filmmakers in Abbas Kiarostami and Wim Wenders with The Wind Will Carry Us and Room 666 / Room 999. With one of his greatest cinematic achievements, Kiarostami delivered a brilliant piece of self-reflexive commentary on his own work, as we follow an undercover documentarian (Behzad Dorani) whose assignment to cover a small village’s funeral rites is continually frustrated by an elderly woman’s refusal to die. Injected in the film is the director’s love for people, various forms of art, and the beauty of rural Iran. It’s a meditative, introspective film that will transfix you with how intimate and graceful it is. Wenders, on the other hand, uses his project to ponder an important cinematic question; “Is cinema a language about to get lost, an art about to die?” It’s a question that he tries to answer over the course of two films, and with countless interviews from directors like Michelangelo Antonioni, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Jean-Luc Godard, Werner Herzog, Susan Seidelman, Steven Spielberg, David Cronenberg, Claire Denis, Asghar Farhadi, James Gray, Lynne Ramsay, and more. By doing so, he connects the past and present of cinema to explore what could be the future of the art form, and if it will survive. Both fascinating pieces of filmmaking coming out together on May 13.
The following week brings two Bruce Robinson directed cult British comedy classics into the collection, Withnail and I and How to Get Ahead in Advertising. In 1987, Robinson teamed with Oscar-nominee Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann for a semi-autobiographical account of a bender with quick dialogue delivered brilliantly deadpan by two actors playing unemployed actors in the 1960s. One of the most quotable British comedies of all time, Withnail and I is a cult classic is hilarious as well as bittersweet in its depiction of a friendship slowly coming apart over the course of the events of the film. Two years later, Robinson and Grant reunited for a gonzo business satire set within Thatcher–era England. With How to Get Ahead in Advertising, Grant delivers one of the best performances of his career as a crazed, Jekyll-and-Hyde figure in a tale about going for broke and learning that greed can destroy you.
Lastly, we take a look at two vastly different projects from the 1970s. Ricard Lester, known for making films with The Beatles in the 1960s with A Hard Day’s Night and Help, cashed in his blank check to make two swashbuckling epics with The Three Musketeers, and just a year later, The Four Musketeers. In breathing new life into author Alexandre Dumas’s classic tales, Lester made the finest adaptations these stories ever put to screen, with dazzling swordfights, slapstick, inventive action set pieces with incredible attention to detail within the time period, and an all-star supporting cast that includes Raquel Welch, Faye Dunaway, Geraldine Chaplin, and Charlton Heston. These films are pure fun and a welcome addition to the Criterion Collection. In 1977, a revelation of American independent filmmaking was released in Charles Burnett’s directorial debut Killer of Sheep. As lyrical of a film as you will ever see, we watch as we see a mosaic of Black life in the Watts Neighborhood of Los Angeles, and the common struggles people of all ages go through. Acting as the film’s acting as director, writer, producer, cinematographer, and editor, Burnett was able to find the humanity and poetry found in these character’s everyday lives, and thus explore the beauty within. Though unseen for decade, it has been restored and remastered by UCLA Film & Television Archive, Milestone Films, and the Criterion Collection for all to see this masterpiece.
Below are the special features for each other films from the May 2025 Criterion Collection releases.
THE UBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG Special Edition Features:
IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT Special Edition Features:
WITHNAIL AND I Director Approved Special Edition Features:
HOW TO GET AHEAD IN ADVERTISING Director Approved Special Edition Features:
THE WIND WILL CARRY US Special Edition Features:
THE THREE MUSKETEERS/ THE FOUR MUSETEERS: TWO FILMS BY RICHARD LESTER Special Edition Features:
KILLER OF SHEEP Director Approved Special Edition Features:
ROOM 666/ROOM 999 Special Edition Features:
It’s safe to say that moviegoers are experiencing major cases of Sinners fever. Between its… Read More
Andrew Scott, André De Shields, Jonathan Groff Score Double-Nods; Megyn Hilty, Audra McDonald, Nicole Scherzinger, … Read More
Benito Skinner had just seen Charli XCX at the Barclay's Center the night before but… Read More
Trey Edward Shults is a trailblazer. When your early work in film includes being on… Read More
Back in March, I kicked off my early predictions for the 98th Academy Awards with… Read More
The 2025 BAFTA TV Awards were held last night where first time nominees Marisa Abela,… Read More
This website uses cookies.