BLACHEFAN

Dustin O’Halloran is an Emmy-winning pianist and composer with four acclaimed solo albums under his own name. He’s also a member of the band A Winged Victory for the Sullen, with Adam Wiltzie. His film and television career began with Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette (2006), and he has since been nominated for an Oscar, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, and a Critics Choice Award for his score to Lion (2016), which was written in collaboration with Volker Bertelmann (a.k.a. Hauschka). His new album, Silfur, was released this June. O’Halloran currently lives in Los Angeles and Reykjavik. https://www.criterion.com/current/top-10-lists/386-dustin-o-halloran-s-top-10

Menace II Society (1993) Directed by Albert and Allen Hughes Country: United States Duration: 97 minutes Language: English Spine #1105 DVD BONUS FEATURES Two audio commentaries from 1993 featuring directors Albert and Allen Hughes Gangsta Vision, a 2009 featurette on the making of the film New conversation among Albert Hughes, screenwriter Tyger Williams, and film critic Elvis Mitchell New conversation among Allen Hughes, actor and filmmaker Bill Duke, and Mitchell Interview from 1993 with the directors Deleted scenes Film-to-storyboard comparison Trailer

Citizen Kane (1941) Directed by Orson Welles Country: United States Duration: 119 minutes Language: English Spine #1104 DVD BONUS FEATURES Three audio commentaries: from 2021 featuring Orson Welles scholars James Naremore and Jonathan Rosenbaum; from 2002 featuring filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich; and from 2002 featuring film critic Roger Ebert The Complete “Citizen Kane,” (1991), a rarely seen feature-length BBC documentary New interviews with critic Farran Smith Nehme and film scholar Racquel J. Gates New video essay by Orson Welles scholar Robert Carringer New program on the film’s special effects by film scholars and effects experts Craig Barron and Ben Burtt Interviews from 1990 with editor Robert Wise; actor Ruth Warrick; optical-effects designer Linwood Dunn; Bogdanovich; filmmakers Martin Scorsese, Henry Jaglom, Martin Ritt, and Frank Marshall; and cinematographers Allen Daviau, Gary Graver, and Vilmos Zsigmond New documentary featuring archival interviews with Welles Interviews with actor Joseph Cotten from 1966 and 1975 The Hearts of Age, a brief silent film made by Welles as a student in 1934 Television programs from 1979 and 1988 featuring appearances by Welles and Mercury Theatre producer John Houseman Program featuring a 1996 interview with actor William Alland on his collaborations with Welles Selection of The Mercury Theatre on the Air radio plays featuring many of the actors from Citizen Kane Trailer

Once Upon a Time in China: The Complete Films Spine #1103 Films Included in This Set: Once Upon a Time in China (1991) Directed by Tsui Hark Country: Hong Kong Duration: 134 minutes Language: Cantonese Once Upon a Time in China II (1992) Directed by Tsui Hark Country: Hong Kong Duration: 112 minutes Language: Cantonese Once Upon a Time in China III (1993) Directed by Tsui Hark Country: Hong Kong Duration: 112 minutes Language: Cantonese Once Upon a Time in China IV (1993) Directed by Yuen Bun Country: Hong Kong Duration: 101 minutes Language: Cantonese Once Upon a Time in China V (1994) Directed by Tsui Hark Country: Hong Kong Duration: 101 minutes Language: Cantonese DVD SET BONUS FEATURES Once Upon a Time in China and America (1997) in a 2K digital transfer, featuring 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio and monaural Cantonese soundtracks, along with a stereo Mandarin track with the voice of actor Jet Li New interviews with director Tsui Hark, Film Workshop cofounder Nansun Shi, editor Marco Mak, and critic Tony Rayns Excerpts from audio interviews with Li conducted in 2004 and ’05 Deleted scenes from Once Upon a Time in China III Documentary from 2004 about the real-life martial-arts hero Wong Fei-hung From Spikes to Spindles, a 1976 documentary about New York City’s Chinatown featuring uncredited work by Tsui Excerpts from a 2019 master class given by martial-arts choreographer Yuen Wo-ping Archival interviews featuring Tsui and actors John Wakefield, Donnie Yen, and Yen Shi-kwan Behind-the-scenes footage for Once Upon a Time in China and Once Upon a Time in China and America Making-of program from 1997 on Once Upon a Time in China and America Trailers

Night of the Kings with Philippe Lacôte and Alex Stapleton (Ep. 310) Director Philippe Lacôte discusses his new film, Night of the Kings, with fellow director Alex Stapleton in a virtual Q&A. Set in Ivory Coast’s MACA Prison — an institute ruled by its inmates — the film tells the story of an ailing inmate king who assigns a young new prisoner to entertain the population with stories, but the ritual storyteller must keep the tales going all night long or forfeit his own life. Please note spoilers are included. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2021/September2021/GCS_NightoftheKings_0721.aspx

False Positive with John Lee and Sarah-Violet Bliss (Ep. 309) Director John Lee discusses his new documentary film, False Positive, with fellow director Sarah-Violet Bliss in a Q&A at the DGA theater in New York. The film tells the story of Lucy and Adrian, a couple attempting to conceive who find a dream doctor in the illustrious Dr. Ingle. But after becoming pregnant with a healthy baby girl, Lucy begins to notices something sinister through Hindle's gleaming charm.

Devi (1960) Directed by Satyajit Ray Country: India Duration: 93 minutes Language: Bengali Spine #1102 DVD BONUS FEATURES New program featuring interviews with actors Sharmila Tagore and Soumitra Chatterjee, recorded in 2013 New video essay by film scholar Meheli Sen

Uncut Gems (2019) Directed by Josh and Benny Safdie Country: United States Duration: 135 minutes Language: English Spine #1101 DVD BONUS FEATURES Audio commentary from 2019 featuring writer-directors Josh Safdie and Benny Safdie, writer and editor Ronald Bronstein, and producer Sebastian Bear-McClard New interviews with cinematographer Darius Khondji, costume designer Miyako Bellizzi, and casting director Jennifer Venditti Documentaries from 2019 and 2020 on the making of the film and soundtrack Screen test featuring actors Adam Sandler and Julia Fox Goldman v. Silverman, a 2020 short film by the Safdies, featuring Sandler and Benny Safdie “Question & Answer,” a 2020 short film featuring the Safdies, Sandler, actor Jason Bateman, and comedy writer Megan Amram Deleted and extended scenes, including a full performance of “The Morning” by the Weeknd Trailer

The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) Directed by Jack Arnold Country: United States Duration: 81 minutes Language: English Spine #1100 DVD BONUS FEATURES New audio commentary featuring genre-film historian Tom Weaver and horror-music expert David Schecter New program on the film’s special effects by effects experts Craig Barron and Ben Burtt New conversation between filmmaker Joe Dante and comedian and writer Dana Gould Auteur on the Campus: Jack Arnold at Universal (Director’s Cut) (2021) Interview from 2016 with Richard Christian Matheson, novelist and screenwriter Richard Matheson’s son Interview with director Jack Arnold from 1983 8 mm home-cinema version from 1969 Trailer and teaser narrated by filmmaker Orson Welles

High Sierra (1941) Directed by Raoul Walsh Country: United States Duration: 100 minutes Language: English Spine #1099 DVD BONUS FEATURES Colorado Territory, director Raoul Walsh’s 1949 western remake of High Sierra New conversation on Walsh between film programmer Dave Kehr and critic Farran Smith Nehme The True Adventures of Raoul Walsh, a 2019 documentary by Marilyn Ann Moss Curtains for Roy Earle, a 2003 featurette on the making of High Sierra Bogart: Here’s Looking at You, Kid, a 1997 documentary aired on The South Bank Show New interview with film and media historian Miriam J. Petty about actor Willie Best New video essay featuring excerpts from a 1976 American Film Institute interview with High Sierra novelist and coscreenwriter W. R. Burnett Radio adaptation of High Sierra from 1944 Trailers

The Craft of the Director with Barry Jenkins (Ep. 308) Director Barry Jenkins participates in a conversation with DGA President Thomas Schlamme on Jenkins' filmography, drawing examples from Medicine for Melancholy, Moonlight, If Beale Street Could Talk, and The Underground Railroad. https://soundcloud.com/thedirectorscut/the-craft-of-the-director-with-barry-jenkins-ep-308

The Boy from Medellín with Matthew Heineman and Ondi Timoner (Ep. 307) Director Matthew Heineman discusses his new documentary film, The Boy from Medellín, with fellow director Ondi Timoner in a Q&A at the DGA theater in Los Angeles. The film provides an immersive look at a dramatic week in the life of international superstar J Balvin. As he prepares for his sold out stadium concert in his hometown of Medellín, Colombia, public pressure and political unrest grow around him forcing him to reflect on how he will use his voice. https://soundcloud.com/thedirectorscut/the-boy-from-medellin-with-matthew-heineman-and-ondi-timoner-ep-307

In the Heights with Jon M. Chu and Nisha Ganatra (Ep. 306) Director Jon M. Chu discusses his new film, In the Heights, with fellow director Nisha Ganatra in a spoiler-filled Q&A at the DGA theater in New York. The film tells the story of a likeable bodega owner named Usnavi in the tight-knit community of Washington Heights, NY, who saves every penny from his daily grind as he hopes for a better life. But when he inherits a fortune, Usnavi discovers he has mixed feelings about closing his store and retiring.

The Damned (1969) Directed by Luchino Visconti Country: Italy, West Germany Duration: 157 minutes Language: German, English Spine #1098 DVD BONUS FEATURES Alternate Italian-language soundtrack Interview from 1970 with director Luchino Visconti about the film Archival interviews with actors Helmut Berger, Ingrid Thulin, and Charlotte Rampling Visconti: Man of Two Worlds, a 1969 behind-the-scenes documentary New interview with scholar Stefano Albertini about the sexual politics of the film

Love & Basketball (2000) Directed by Gina Pryce-Bythewood Country: United States Duration: 125 minutes Language: English Spine #1097 DVD BONUS FEATURES Audio commentary from 2000 featuring Prince-Bythewood and actor Sanaa Lathan Playing for Your Heart, a new making-of documentary featuring Prince-Bythewood, Lathan, actors Omar Epps and Alfre Woodard, Reggie Rock Bythewood, and basketball adviser Colleen Matsuhara Editing “Love & Basketball,” a new program featuring Prince-Bythewood and editor Terilyn A. Shropshire New conversation on the film’s impact among Prince-Bythewood, WNBA legend and Hall of Famer Sheryl Swoopes, and writer-producer-actor Lena Waithe Audition tape excerpts and six deleted scenes Three short films by Prince-Bythewood: Stitches (1991), Progress (1997), and Bowl of Pork (1997), with a new introduction by Prince-Bythewood Trailer

Melvin Van Peebles: Four Films Films Included In This Set: The Story of a Three Day Pass (1967) Directed by Melvin Van Peebles Country: United States Duration: 86 minutes Language: English, French Spine #1093 Watermelon Man (1970) Directed by Melvin Van Peebles Country: United States Duration: 100 minutes Language: English Spine #1094 Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971) Directed by Melvin Van Peebles Country: United States Duration: 97 minutes Language: English Spine #1095 Don't Play Us Cheap (1972) Directed by Melvin Van Peebles Country: United States Duration: 102 minutes Language: English Spine #1096 DVD SET BONUS FEATURES Baadasssss!, a 2003 fictional feature film based on director Melvin Van Peebles’s diaries from the making of Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, directed by and starring his son Mario Van Peebles, with commentary by father and son New conversations between Mario Van Peebles and film critic Elvis Mitchell; producer Warrington Hudlin and critic and filmmaker Nelson George; and scholars Gerald R. Butters Jr., Novotny Lawrence, and Amy Abugo Ongiri Audio commentary by Melvin Van Peebles from 1997 on Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song Three early short films directed by Melvin Van Peebles How to Eat Your Watermelon in White Company (and Enjoy It), a 2005 documentary on Van Peebles’s life and career The Story Behind “Baadasssss!”: The Birth of Black Cinema, a 2004 featurette Melvin Van Peebles: The Real Deal, a 2002 interview with the director on the making of Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song Episodes of Black Journal from 1968, 1971, and 1972, on The Story of a Three Day Pass, Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, and Don’t Play Us Cheap Interview from 1971 with Van Peebles on Detroit Tubeworks French television interview from 1968 with Van Peebles and actors Harry Baird and Nicole Berger on the set of The Story of a Three Day Pass Excerpts from a 2004 interview with Van Peebles for the Directors Guild of America Visual History Program Introductions to all four films by Van Peebles Trailers New English subtitle translation for The Story of a Three Day Pass

Throw Down (2004) Directed by Johnnie To Country: Hong Kong Duration: 95 minutes Language: Cantonese Spine #1092 DVD SPECIAL FEATURES Interview from 2004 with director Johnnie To New interviews with coscreenwriter Yau Nai-hoi, composer Peter Kam, and film scholars David Bordwell and Caroline Guo Short making-of documentary from 2004 featuring To and actors Louis Koo, Aaron Kwok, Cherrie Ying, and Tony Leung Ka-fai Trailer

Golden Arm with Maureen Bharoocha and Lucia Aniello (Ep. 305) Director Maureen Bharoocha discusses her new film, Golden Arm, with fellow director Lucia Aniello in a spoiler-filled Q&A at the DGA theater. The film tells the story of Melanie, a nice girl baker who must trade whisks for barbells after her best friend Danny ropes her into taking her spot at the National Ladies Arm Wrestling Championship.

Guest Programmer: Andrew McCarthy Actor, writer and director Andrew McCarthy joins host Dave Karger for a special night as a guest programmer where McCarthy will discuss some of his favorite movies. Best known for the so-called Brat Pack movies of the 1980s, McCarthy has since forged a successful career behind the camera on such shows as Orange Is the New Black and as an award-winning travel writer while continuing to appear in film and television roles. The evening starts with the film Charles Chaplin called “the greatest movie ever made about America.” Based on Theodore Dreiser’s 1925 novel “An American Tragedy,” itself inspired by a notorious 1906 murder and trial, A Place in the Sun (1951) stars two of the period’s most glamorous and sought-after young stars. Montgomery Clift plays a poor young man desperate to move out of his humble beginnings and live a privileged high life. His determination is fueled by his mounting desire and love for a beautiful young debutante, played by Elizabeth Taylor (and in 1951, society women didn’t come much more beautiful and desirable). His climb up the corporate and social ladder, however, is complicated by his own moral confusion, not least over an affair with a dowdy factory worker (Shelley Winters, abandoning her early bombshell appeal to whine and snivel her way to her first Academy Award nomination). Troubled, wayward youth is also the focus of McCarthy’s second pick, East of Eden (1955), featuring a typically intense performance from James Dean, establishing himself quickly as a star and acting force in his first major feature. Money also plays a major role in this plot, as Dean seeks to win his stern father’s approval by capitalizing on the U.S. entry into World War I with a scheme to make a fortune growing beans on their failing farm. The story is based loosely on the fourth and final part of John Steinbeck’s sprawling 1952 best seller. Elia Kazan, fresh off his success with On the Waterfront (1954), directs a sterling cast that also includes Raymond Massey, Julie Harris, Richard Davalos and Jo Van Fleet, who won the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her role as Dean’s “scarlet woman” mother. Returning to high society glamour for the final screening of the night, McCarthy picks The Philadelphia Story (1940), George Cukor’s adaptation of Philip Barry’s long-running Broadway sensation. That was the play Katharine Hepburn went East to star in after she was declared “box office poison” and left her RKO contract. When MGM sought the screen rights, the studio found Hepburn owned them and, although reluctant to cast her, they couldn’t make it without her. To hedge their bets, they cast two of the biggest male stars of the time to support her: Cary Grant and James Stewart. Hepburn reportedly wanted Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy, who were otherwise committed. In any case, her co-stars were no slouches; Stewart won an Oscar for his performance. Her first teaming with Tracy would have to wait until her next picture, Woman of the Year (1942).

Rachel Kushner is the author of the novels The Mars Room, The Flamethrowers, and Telex from Cuba. Her new book, The Hard Crowd: Essays 2000–2020, was published by Scribner this spring. https://www.criterion.com/current/top-10-lists/385-rachel-kushner-s-top-10

Son of avant-garde filmmaker Ken Jacobs, Azazel Jacobs was raised in lower Manhattan surrounded by artists. He received his bachelor’s degree in film from SUNY Purchase and his master’s from the American Film Institute. His credits include The Good Times Kid (2005), Momma’s Man (2008), Terri (2011), The Lovers (2018), and French Exit (2020), along with both seasons of the television show Doll & Em (2014, 2015). https://www.criterion.com/current/top-10-lists/384-azazel-jacobs-s-top-10

Lili Horvát was born in 1982 and grew up in Budapest. She studied audiovisual arts at the Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris and film directing at the University of Theatre and Film in Budapest. The Wednesday Child, Lili’s first feature, won the East of the West competition at Karlovy Vary 2015 and received numerous awards worldwide. In 2016, Lili cofounded the production company Poste Restante, which produced her second feature, Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time. https://www.criterion.com/current/top-10-lists/382-lili-horv-t-s-top-10

Beasts of No Nation (2015) Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga Country: United States Duration: 136 minutes Language: English Spine #1091 DVD BONUS FEATURES New audio commentary featuring Fukunaga and first assistant director Jon Mallard Two new documentaries on the development and making of the film, featuring interviews with Fukunaga; author Uzodinma Iweala; actors Idris Elba and Abraham Attah; and producers Amy Kaufman, Daniela Taplin Lundberg, and Riva Marker New conversation between Fukunaga and producer and cultural commentator Franklin Leonard New interview with costume designer Jenny Eagan Trailer

Original Cast Album: "Company" (1970) Directed by D.A. Pennebaker Country: United States Duration: 53 minutes Language: English Spine #1090 DVD BONUS FEATURES New audio commentary by composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim Audio commentary from 2001 featuring director D. A. Pennebaker, actor Elaine Stritch, and Broadway producer Harold Prince New conversation among Sondheim, orchestrator Jonathan Tunick, and critic Frank Rich New interview with Tunick on the art of orchestrating, conducted by author Ted Chapin Never-before-heard audio excerpts from interviews with Stritch and Prince, conducted by D. A. Pennebaker and Hegedus in 2000 “Original Cast Album: ‘Co-Op,’” a 2019 episode of the TV series Documentary Now! that parodies the film Reunion of the cast and crew of “Original Cast Album: ‘Co-Op’” recorded in 2020, featuring director Alexander Buono; writer-actor John Mulaney; actors Rénee Elise Goldsberry, Richard Kind, Alex Brightman, and Paula Pell; and composer Eli Bolin

After Life (1998) Directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda Country: Japan Duration: 119 minutes Language: Japanese Spine #1089 DVD BONUS FEATURES Audio commentary featuring film scholar Linda Ehrlich New interviews with Kore-eda, stills photographer–cinematographer Masayoshi Sukita, and cinematographer Yutaka Yamazaki Deleted scenes Trailer