Criterion Collected

In the third installment of our ongoing series on the films and career of Yasujiro Ozu, we find a filmmaker in transition, with Ozu finding elements of his voice and themes that will persist over the following three decades.

Part 3 in Ozu Seasons, an ongoing series

• screenwriter

• actor, prominent in the silent period

• actress who graduates from bit mom/maid parts to break-your-heart leads

• actor, goes on to play "Ozu's tramp" Kihachi

• Ozu's trademark actor collaborator

• begins as an ingénue actress, becomes an important part of Japanese cinema history

A look across the career of one of Ozu's most frequent collaborators during this period, actor Tatsuo Saito.

Some extras and bonus material in tribute to Janus Films co-founder William Becker. His is a name that any Criterion fan should know from the credits of every supplement and collectible booklet in the Collection.

Self-described "Cheknov and Shakespeare fan" Oscar Isaac on the distinctly different personalities of the directors he's worked with, mostly focusing on his work with the Coen Brothers for new-to-the-Collection Inside Llewyn Davis.

This Is Spinal Tap is probably the most-selected OOP title on filmmakers' Criterion Top Ten lists. The 1994 Laserdisc (1998 DVD) features the only out-of-character commentary track ever recorded by the headline trio. Featured here: excerpts from that track, as well as a mournful recounting of the now-fifteen-years-out-of-print features that really "lick [the] love pump" for fans.

In the second installment of our ongoing series on the films and career of Yasujiro Ozu, we blaze through his first eight films (seven of which are competely lost) as we watch a Japanese slacker who loves American movies find his voice.

Part 2 in Ozu Seasons, an ongoing series

• screenwriter

• actor, prominent in the silent period

• actress who graduates from bit mom/maid parts to break-your-heart leads

• actor, goes on to play "Ozu's tramp" Kihachi

• actor, Ozu's trademark actor, over even Setsuko Hara

We enter one of the most diverse phases of Ozu's early filmography, covering college comedies (and dramedies), crime films, and melodramas, along with yet more Ozu films that have been completely lost.

Roger Ebert's voice introduces us to a new, "seasonal" (in more than one sense) series focusing on Yasujiro Ozu.

Part 1 in Ozu Seasons, an ongoing series

When you ask someone the name their favorite Charles Chaplin film, I've found that it generally is not The Great Dictator (1940). Popularity be damned, it may be his most culturally significant and important. This is a taste of why, especially in the WikiLeaks Era of the Information Age, I think you should make time for it.

We look at the "Banned Bond" commentaries from the Laserdisc Era of Criterion, using clips from the Dr. No track as context for why they're important and unique. Listen to them on their own or synced up with the movies.

The long-out-of-print and never-to-be-reissued commentaries for Dr. No, From Russia With Love, and Goldfinger were posted on 21 December 2014 alongside this blog post.

The commentary track on Criterion's 1991 laserdisc for Goldfinger so angered producer Albert Broccoli that he had it recalled from sale and reissued, without the offending track. The same went for the commentaries on Dr. No and From Russia With Love that were released both a few months before Goldfinger.

• Editor Peter Hunt makes mention near the end what Sean Connery can walk into "virtually any room" and do to "anybody". Guess. Just guess.

• This commentary also features a lesbian slur.

• The 007 Dossier first liberated these tracks from out-of-print obscurity back in 2011.

• The HMSS Weblog goes into great detail and context, though it spoils some of the best bits in all three tracks, like the word that is broadly considered a slur director Guy Hamilton used to describe Pussy Galore.

The commentary track on Criterion's 1991 laserdisc for From Russia With Love so angered producer Albert Broccoli that he had it recalled from sale and reissued, without the offending track. The same went for the commentaries on Dr. No and Goldfinger that were released both a few months before and a few months after From Russia With Love, respectively.

• This one was notably hosted by "Steve Rubin", or Steven Jay Rubin, the author of 1981's unapproved-by-Eon book The James Bond Films. He does not appear in the supplements of future Eon-approved DVDs and Blu-rays.

• Director Terence Young makes particularly pointed reference to how the success of Dr. No led the production to spend money like it was going out of style.

• The 007 Dossier first liberated these tracks from out-of-print obscurity back in 2011.

• The HMSS Weblog goes into great detail and context, though it spoils some of the best bits in all three tracks, like the word that is broadly considered a slur director Guy Hamilton used to describe Pussy Galore.