Eyes Wide Shut is the Pick of the Week

After my disastrous semester attempting to get a master’s degree, I got a really great job working on an EPA-funded project in northeastern Oklahoma. Being young and single, I moved myself to Joplin, Missouri, which was the nearest place approximating a city, and thus had things for a young, single man to do after work.

I went to the movies nearly every weekend and often invited my various coworkers. I have very specific memories of inviting a friend to see Eyes Wide Shut and both of us walking out with that look in our eyes. Neither of us had any idea what to make of the film, but we were sure we’d seen something special.

I’ve only come to appreciate it more as the years have gone by. Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman have hardly been better, and watching Cruise wander through an increasingly paranoid labyrinth of sexual obsession is a deep and enjoyable ride.

The Criterion Collection is releasing it in 4K UHD and I’m happy to make it this week’s pick.

Also out this week that looks interesting:

The Long Walk: Based on a Stephen King book (who was using the nom de plume Richard Bachman), this dystopian film pits a group of young men in a contest to the death, that will be televised. A game show offers a major prize to the man who can continue walking at a steady pace the longest. If anyone slows down, they are shot (by a gruff military man played by Mark Hamill). I’ve heard good things.

The Conjuring 4: Last Rites 4K UHD: I love The Conjuring. I think it is one of the best horror films of the last fifteen years. I love the story, I love the filmmaking, and it has ample amounts of jump scares and an unsettling atmosphere. The sequels have been a series of diminishing returns. I hear this fourth and probably last film (at least the last Conjuring film; I suspect the various spin-offs will continue churning out films for some time to come) is pretty lousy. Still, I love finishing a series so I’ll no doubt get to this soon.

Pride and Prejudice (2005) 20th Anniversary Edition 4K UHD: I’ve never been able to get into Jane Austen. I’ve tried to read several of her books several times and never managed more than a few chapters. I don’t know why, exactly. My wife absolutely adores her. For a long time I hated the cinematic adaptations of her stories.  But one day I got offered to review the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. That is my wife’s very favorite thing, so I thought it would be a wonderful present for her. But as it was a review item, I had to watch it.  So I did, and then I reviewed it. Turns out I rather loved it. I’ve since come around to several other Austen adaptations (but I still haven’t managed to read anything by her.)

This adaptation of Pride and Prejudice doesn’t get quite the love the BBC miniseries does, but my wife says it is still quite lovely. It stars Keira Knightley as Elizabeth and Matthew Macfayden as Mr. Darcy. It has a new UHD print and lots of extras.

The Agatha Christie Collection 4K UHD: We are big fans of Christie in our house, and especially of the various cinematic adaptations that have been made of her work over the years. There is something so cozy about watching a murder mystery be solved amongst the beautiful English countryside.  This set includes four films (Murder on the Orient Express (1974), Death on the Nile (1978), The Mirror Crack’d (1982), and Evil Under the Sun (1982) all of which I might argue are the definitive versions of each story.

Anemone 4K UHD: Daniel Day-Lewis stars in this drama directed by his son Ronan Day-Lewis about a hermit living in the woods who is contacted by his estranged brother (played by Sean Bean) in an attempt to put their lives back together after a tragedy.

The Death Wish Collection: The original Death Wish stars Charles Bronson as a man who starts out as a pacifist, but once his daughter is sexually assaulted all bets are off. The first one attempts to have something to say beyond just Charles Bronson blowing people away, but it isn’t very good at it. The sequels get increasingly silly (but strangely better once they drop all pretense of depth).  Kino Lorber has packaged them all up in a nice looking little set.

French Film Noir Collection Vol. II: When I first learned about film noir, I thought it was a very small genre. In my mind I thought it was relegated to classics like The Third Man, and The Big Sleep. That was a silly thought, and I don’t know how it got into my head, but it wasn’t until years later that I realized how big the genre really is. The thing is, of course, that film noir is a very malleable genre without any hard rules as to what it really is. And it wasn’t just relegated to the United States; you can find noirs in just about every country that makes film. I’ve not actually heard of these four films, but I love a good film noir and I’m excited to see what the French have done with it. This set includes the following films: Rhine Virgin / The Beast is Loose / Trapped by Fear / The Passion of Slow Fire.

Alec Guinness Masterpiece Collection 4K UHD: My generation knows Guinness as Obi-Wan Kenobi from the Star Wars films, but the actor had a very long career making all sorts of films.  This set collects four films (Kind Hearts and Coronets, The Lavender Hill Mob, The Man in the White Suit, and The Ladykillers) from his early years making comedies for Ealing Studios. I’ll have a full review up soon.

Sleepless 4K UHD: Dario Argento’s giallo-esque thriller from 2001 is far from his best work, but it isn’t bad either. It feels a bit like a great artist reimagining his hits rather than a brand new work by a master firing on all cylinders.  You can read my Friday Night Horror review of the film here. Vinegar Syndrome has this release.