The Criterion Collection: April 2022 4K & Blu-ray Releases

The Criterion Collection has announced the six movies that will be joining its list in April of 2022, including the Blu-ray upgrade of Alex Cox’s 1987 biographical drama Walker, starring Ed Harris, a 4K UHD release of Al Reinert’s For All Mankind, and more.

British director Alex Cox’s Walker will release on April 12 on Blu-ray. The movie “tells the story of nineteenth-century American adventurer William Walker (Ed Harris), who abandoned a series of careers in law, politics, journalism, and medicine to become a soldier of fortune and, for many months, the dictator of Nicaragua. Made with mad abandon and political acuity—and the support of the Sandinista army and government during the contra war—the film uses this true tale as a satirical attack on American ultrapatriotism and a freewheeling condemnation of ‘manifest destiny.'”

The special features include:

Restored high-definition digital transfer, approved by director Alex Cox, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
Audio commentary by Cox and screenwriter Rudy Wurlitzer
Dispatches from Nicaragua, a documentary about the filming of Walker
On Moviemaking and the Revolution, reminiscences about the production twenty years later from an extra on the film
Walker 2008 and On the Origins of “Walker” (2016), two short films by Cox (Blu-ray only)
Behind-the-scenes photos
Trailer (Blu-ray only)
English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
PLUS: Essays by film critic Graham Fuller, Wurlitzer, and Linda Sandoval

On April 19, 2022, Frank Tashlin’s 1956 comedy musical The Girl Can’t Help It along with 1951’s comedy fantasy drama Miracle in Milan from director Vittorio De Sica will be released on Blu-ray.

The Girl Can’t Help It “tells the story of a mobster’s bombshell girlfriend—the one and only Jayne Mansfield, in a showstopping first major film role—and the washed-up talent agent (Tom Ewell) who seeks to revive his career by turning her into a musical sensation. The only question is: Can she actually sing?”

Special features include:

New high-definition digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
Audio commentary featuring film scholar Toby Miller
New interview with Eve Golden, biographer of actor Jayne Mansfield
New video essay by film critic David Cairns
Interview with filmmaker John Waters
New conversation between WFMU DJs Dave “the Spazz” Abramson and Gaylord Fields about the music in the film
On-set footage
Interviews with Mansfield (1957) and musician Little Richard (1984)
Episode of Karina Longworth’s podcast You Must Remember This about Mansfield
Trailer
English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
PLUS: An essay by critic Rachel Syme and, for the Blu-ray, excerpts from director Frank Tashlin’s 1952 book How to Create Cartoons with a new introduction by Ethan de Seife, author of Tashlinesque: The Hollywood Comedies of Frank Tashlin

Miracle in Milan takes place on the outskirts of Milan, where a “band of vagabonds work together to form a shantytown. When it is discovered that the land they occupy contains oil, however, it’s up to the cherubic orphan Totò (Francesco Golisano)—with some divine help—to save their community from greedy developers.”

Special features include:

New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
New interview with neorealism expert and film scholar David Forgacs
Audio interview from the late 1960s in which director Vittorio De Sica looks back on his career, conducted by film critic Gideon Bachmann
Interviews with actor Brunella Bovo and Manuel De Sica, the director’s son
Feature-length documentary from 2019 on screenwriter Cesare Zavattini
Trailers
New English subtitle translation
PLUS: An essay by film critic Christina Newland and, on the Blu-ray, “Totò il buono,” a 1940 short story by Zavattini and stage actor Totò that is the earliest version of the narrative on which Miracle in Milan is based

Plus: a 4K UHD release of the best moon movie ever made and a Blu-ray upgrade of Alex Cox’s daring, subversive, unforgettable biopic. pic.twitter.com/PFbYJ1vRJQ

— Criterion Collection (@Criterion) January 18, 2022

On April 26, Al Reinert’s 1989 documentary For All Mankind will be available on 4K UHD + Blu-ray Combo, along with Bertrand Tavernier’s 1986 musical drama ‘Round Midnight on Blu-ray and Arie Esiri and Chuko Esiri’s 2020 drama Eyimofe (This Is My Desire) on Blu-ray.

For All Mankind was constructed by Reinert as “a documentary that imparts the unforgettable story of the twenty-four astronauts who participated in the Apollo mission to land on the moon—told in their words and in their voices, using the images they captured.”

Special features include:

In the 4K UHD edition: New 4K digital restorations of the original 1.33:1 framing and the alternate 1.85:1 theatrical presentation, with 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
In the 4K UHD edition: One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
In the Blu-ray and DVD editions: High-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by producer-director Al Reinert, with DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack on the Blu-ray
Audio commentary featuring director Al Reinert and Apollo 17 commander Eugene A. Cernan, the last person to set foot on the moon
An Accidental Gift: The Making of “For All Mankind,” a documentary featuring interviews with Reinert, Apollo 12 and Skylab astronaut Alan Bean, and NASA archive specialists
Selection of excerpted interviews with fifteen of the Apollo astronauts
Program about Bean’s artwork, accompanied by a gallery of his paintings
NASA audio highlights and liftoff footage
Optional on-screen identification of astronauts and mission-control specialists
PLUS: Essays by film critic Terrence Rafferty and Reinert

‘Round Midnight follows legendary saxophonist Dale Turner, played by Dexter Gordon, “a brilliant New York jazz veteran whose music aches with beauty but whose personal life is ravaged by addiction. Searching for a fresh start in Paris, Turner strikes up an unlikely friendship with a struggling single father and ardent jazz fan (François Cluzet) who finds his life transformed as he attempts to help the self-destructive musician.”

Special features include:

New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed stereo soundtrack on the Blu-ray
Alternate 5.1 surround soundtrack, supervised by composer Herbie Hancock and presented in DTS-HD Master Audio
New interview with jazz and cultural critic Gary Giddins
New conversation with music producer Michael Cuscuna and author Maxine Gordon, widow of musician Dexter Gordon
Before Midnight, a 1986 behind-the-scenes documentary
Panel discussion from 2014 featuring director Bertrand Tavernier, Cuscuna, Maxine Gordon, and jazz scholar John Szwed, moderated by jazz critic and broadcaster Mark Ruffin
Performance from 1969 of “Fried Bananas” by Dexter Gordon, directed by Teit Jørgensen
New English subtitle translation and English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
PLUS: An essay by scholar Mark Anthony Neal

Eyimofe (This Is My Desire) “traces the journeys of two distantly connected strangers—Mofe (Jude Akuwudike), an electrician dealing with the fallout of a family tragedy, and Rosa (Temi Ami-Williams), a hairdresser supporting her pregnant teenage sister—as they each pursue their dream of starting a new life in Europe while bumping up against the harsh economic realities of a world in which every interaction is a transaction. From these intimate stories emerges a vivid snapshot of life in contemporary Lagos, whose social fabric is captured in all its vibrancy and complexity.”

Special features include:

New 2K digital transfer, approved by directors Arie and Chuko Esiri, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
New conversation between the directors, moderated by filmmaker Bette Gordon
Interview with producer Melissa O. Adeyemo
Deleted scenes featuring audio commentary by the directors
Three short films: Goose (2017), directed by Arie and Chuko Esiri; Besida (2018), directed by Chuko Esiri; and Because Men in Silk Shirts on Lagos Nights (2018), directed by Arie Esiri
Trailer
PLUS: An essay by writer and filmmaker Maryam Kazeem