Say what you like about the cover art, I want them all! (realistically, I’ll only get the two Bergmans though)

criterioncorner:

CRITERION’S MAY 2012 LINEUP ANNOUNCED!

- CERTIFIED COPY: Well, it’s nice to see that Criterion tacked on a few extras to elevate their disc above the pre-existing Artificial Eye Blu-ray (improved english subs? already?), but it’s hard not to be disappointed that we’re not receiving a more lavish edition of what might be the best film of the last 10 years (i say with my head firmly lodged in that gift horse’s esophagus). the cover art… while thematically appropriate and evocative of a key prop in the film… is rather horrid. the font of Kiarostami’s name is ghastly.

- BEING JOHN MALKOVICH: YES. i had a feeling Criterion was gonna strike out on their own with the cover art for this one, shying away from any of the promotional designs to which fans of the film have become accustomed. and… well, yeah. i gotta stare at this one for a bit longer, toss it around in my hands and such before i make my verdict… but content here is key, and the disc is gloriously loaded with neat-sounding extras. this is major.

- SUMMER WITH MONIKA / SUMMER INTERLUDE curious decision not to package these minor (yet vital) bits of early Bergman together, but options are nice even if Criterion obviously wants you to think of these as two parts of a whole. the Summer With Monika cover might be the winner, this month… obvious and hard to fudge up, for sure, but they nailed it. that disc is loaded with goodies, whereas the Summer Interlude package is bare-bones, but still priced at north of $20 (no Makioka Sisters kinda bargain, here).

and hey, La Haine on blu and a Robert Downey Sr. Eclipse Series… not bad.