Criterion just announced their selections for July, and surprisingly they’re led by not one, but six films from director Josef von Sternberg and actress Marlene Dietrich. Also getting the Criterion treatment is Ron Shelton’s classic “Bull Durham,” Steven Soderbergh’s breakout hit “sex, lies, and videotape,” as well as classics “A Matter of Life and Death” and “Dragon Inn.”
The biggest announcement, literally, is the six-film boxed set, titled “Dietrich & von Sternberg in Hollywood,” commemorating the collaboration between legendary actress Marlene Dietrich and director Josef von Sternberg. The films “Morocco,” “Dishonored,” “Shanghai Express,” “Blonde Venus,” “The Scarlet Empress,” and their final collaboration “The Devil is a Woman” all are collected and remastered in this new box set. But considering this is the Criterion Collection, the audio and visual remastering is just the tip of the iceberg. There are new interviews with film scholars, two new documentaries about Dietrich’s life and her legacy, a new video essay from critics, as well as a radio adaptation of “Morocco” featuring Dietrich and a book featuring essays from a variety of critics. Without a doubt, this is a must-own for fans of classic film.
READ MORE: Steven Soderbergh Shooting Panama Papers Movie Next, Title Revealed & Much More
For fans of more modern classics, “Bull Durham” and “sex, lies, and videotape” are both getting some pretty great collected editions. “Bull Durham” has a brand-new 4k transfer that was personally supervised and approved by director Ron Shelton. There is also a new conversation between Shelton and film critic Michael Sragow.
“Sex, lies, and videotape” is getting a new transfer, as well as a slew of new special features. There’s a new program from Soderbergh featuring responses to questions from fans. There’s also a new documentary featuring the actors from the film, as well as a new conversation with composer Cliff Martinez, who launched his amazing film score career with the film.
Let’s not forget about Powell and Pressburger‘s “A Matter of Life and Death” and “Dragon Inn,” either. Both these classic films are getting new digital restorations and a ton of new special features, with “Dragon Inn” also scoring a new English translation.
All told, July is going to be a great (and perhaps expensive) month to be a film fan.
Yes… been waiting for Dragon Inn and Matter of Life and Death forever. And they hit the month of B&N’s bi-annual half off sale, thank god.