It looks like The Criterion Collection has something extra special for your trick or treat bag this Halloween, as the company unveiled their October slate, and it's a great one.
Kicking things off, Roman Polanski's stone cold horror classic "Rosemary's Baby" gets the wacky C with a fresh edition on DVD and Blu-Ray. In addition to boasting a brand new restoration, the disc will feature new interviews with Polanski, Mia Farrow, and producer Robert Evans. Even more, there will be "Komeda, Komeda," a feature-length documentary on the life and work of jazz musician and composer Krzysztof Komeda, who scored the film. If you haven't seen this tale of paranoia and the occult, do yourself a favor, and buy it blind. You will not be disappointed.
From the late '60s into the early '70s, underrated director John Schlesinger's "Sunday Bloody Sunday" will hit shelves on DVD and Blu. The followup to the director's groundbreaking "Midnight Cowboy," the film is a chronicle of a middle aged doctor and a divorcée who are both sleeping with the same artist. Oh, the '70s. The meat of the extras here are new and archival interviews with Schlesinger, actor Murray Head, DoP Billy Williams, production designer Luciana Arrighi, writer William J. Mann, and photographer Michael Childers, Schlesinger’s longtime partner.
Next up, one of The Playlist's Best Films Of 2012…So Far gets "the treatment" with Joshua Marston's "The Forgiveness Of Blood" entering the collection and both formats. The film takes place in Albania where traditional methods for dealing with disputes between neighbors clash with an evolving, slowly progressing society, in a powerful look at familial responsibility. It's an excellent film and we're glad to see Marston get the recognition the film truly deserved on its theatrical release, and hopefully a brand new audience will find it on home video. The disc will include an audio commentary, rehearsal and audition footage as well as, "Acting Close to Home," a discussion between Marston and actors Refet Abazi, Tristan Halilaj, and Sindi Laçej, and "Truth on the Ground," featuring new and on-set interviews with Mezey, Abazi, Halilaj, and Laçej.
The Eclipse line adds a new collection with "Three Wicked Melodramas from Gainsborough Pictures," highlighting three popular, over the top, 1940s costume dramas from the British production company during an era when realism was king. The set will include "The Man In Grey," "Madonna Of The Seven Moons" and "The Wicked Lady." DVD only folks.
Finally, Wong Kar-Wai's gorgeous and shatteringly romantic "In The Mood For Love" gets an upgrade to BluRay.