Thoughts: Criterion's March 2011 Titles

Unlike my February thoughts, I think I'm pretty solid in my picks for their March titles although I'm bound to change my mind at any point, which were announced this afternoon. They announced three new titles this afternoon and two reissues for Blu-Ray. Let's start off with what I won't be buying for reasons ranging from "it doesn't sound interesting" - which is silly given its the freaking Criterion Collection. Everything about it shouldn't be meh or blah. I've changed the format of how I'm going to post these from now on and may go back and forth. It ultimately depends on which is easier for me.

First up The Times of Harvey Milk (Epstein, 1984), which is a documentary about Harvey Milk and later inspired Gus Van Zant's Milk a few years ago. Much like Van Zant's Milk, I'm not interested in this film either. Documentaries rarely do much for me in this regard. Second in the "I'm not going to touch it" category, The Mikado (Schertzinger, 1939). I've never even heard of this and the premise seems slightly uninteresting. I'll likely wait on reviews, but it has a long way to go to get my interest. That does it for titles I'll be passing on, now to more moderate good-bad and good news. The Times of Harvey Milk is out March 22nd and The Mikado is out March 29th on DVD and Blu-ray.

There is only one title in the maybe pile, that is Topsy-Turvy (Leigh, 1999), it looks and sounds interesting and has good ratings on Rotten Tomatos and IMDB. Although I like to try to limit myself to two Criterion releases a month and that quota has been filled by the remaining two titles from Criterion's releases. It's worth noting that Topsy-Turvy's Criterion cover is awesome. Which leads me to this interesting fact: out of the three new titles, only one is a maybe and two are definitive no. A pretty weak month in terms of new stuff. Topsy-Turvy is out on March 29th on DVD and Blu-ray.

The first of two titles I'll be picking from Criterion's March slate is Yi Yi (Yang, 2000). I love coming-of-age tales and Yi Yi looks to be really good in that respect. Having seen the trailers, read reviews and done my homework on the film, it will be a superb addition to my thriving Criterion library. The second title is Au Revoir Les Enfants (Malle, 1987), another coming-of-age tale and judging from reviews, trailers and homework on the film, it looks like yet another amazing piece of cinema. Both are getting released on Blu-ray on March 15th. DVD releases for each already exist and remain in print.

That's all for now.

EDIT: Upon further investigating and study, the only March title from Criterion I will be purchasing is Au Revoir Les Enfants. Thanks.