NEW RELEASES - May 2 HIGHLIGHTS

The Family Stone (2005).

The attraction here is the cast: Diane Keaton, Sarah Jessica Parker, Luke Wilson, Claire Danes, for starters.

Keaton completists - count us in - take note: This week also sees the release of Plan B.

Delicatessen (1991).

"Set in some sort of post-apocalyptic Parisian deli o' the damned, this lunatic's take on the future of man is so delightfully warped that it's impossible to shake it out of your head and go get a decent night's sleep," wrote Marc Savlov in the Austin Chronicle of Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet's cult classic when it hit these shores in 1992. "It's not a very pretty picture of the future, but God, what fun it is."

Summer Night (1986).

May begins quite nicely with Summer Night, the first of three Lina Wertmüller films to be released this week, this one featuring Mariangela Melato and Michele Placido.

The Nymph (1996).

"We're in Wertmüller's world again, where even an innocent girl (Lucia Cara) talks frankly about sex with pretty much everybody, giggling all the way. She is polymorphous perversity personified, like a fantasy girl in an Italian Eden," announces DVD Verdict. "A natural and heartfelt performance by Lucia Cara, all doe eyes and lithe smile, holds The Nymph together."

Ferdinando and Carolina (1999).

"Though it has an ending which doesn't live up to the rest of the movie's many joys, Ferdinando and Carolina is a wonderful, wicked comedy, a late in life gem for the 73 year old Wertmüller," writes Bill Gibron at DVD Talk.

The Warrior (2001).

Appropriately enough, we suppose, this DVD release was announced, then delayed (the Weinsteins snapped up the rights years ago, but the film only saw a limited release in theaters last summer). But finally, we can see it, "a minimalist but strikingly beautiful tale of renounced violence told with uncommon precision and depth," as Laura Kern wrote in the New York Times.

Modern Romance (1981).

"Not [Albert] Brooks's best film, but one of his funniest," writes DVD Verdict. "Those who have ever weathered the world of relationships will immediately relate to Robert's struggles with finding, keeping, and then losing the woman of his dreams."

The Tennessee Williams Film Collection (1951 - 1964).

And what a collection it is: Take a look at the entries for the individual films below; or just go ahead and click the button to buy the whole thing right off.

A Streetcar Named Desire Special Edition (1951).

"Stella! Hey, Stella!"

Or: "Ah've always depended on the kahndness of strangers."

You know this one (and if you don't, it's high time you caught up). Now Elia Kazan's classic adaptation of Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire, with Marlon Brando, Vivien Leigh and Kim Hunter is re-released in a Special Edition that features commentary by Karl Malden and Film Historians Rudy Behlmer and Jeff Young, five docs, a featurette, Brando's screen test for Rebel Without a Cause (it would eventually become a very different movie) and Richard Schickel's feature-length profile of Kazan.

Baby Doll (1956).

"Written by Tennessee Williams and directed by Elia Kazan, it's a darkly witty portrait of passion in a small, sun-baked town full of repressed sexuality and titillating nightwear," writes the UK's Channel 4.

With Karl Malden.

First time on DVD, and there's a new featurette: Baby Doll: See No Evil.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Deluxe Edition (1958).

"What is the victory of a cat on a hot tin roof?" asks Brick (Paul Newman). "Just staying on it I guess, long as she can," replies Maggie (Elizabeth Taylor).

This new Deluxe Edition features commentary by Donald Spoto, author of The Kindness of Strangers: The Life of Tennessee Williams, and a new featurette, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof: Playing Cat and Mouse.

The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961).

With Vivien Leigh and a young Warren Beatty as an Italian gigolo.

First time on DVD, and a new featurette: Mrs. Stone: Looking for Love in All the Dark Corners.

Sweet Bird of Youth (1962).

With Paul Newman - another gigolo! - and Geraldine Page as an aging actress.

First time on DVD, and a new featurette: Sweet Bird of Youth: Chasing Time.

Night of the Iguana (1964).

"Night of the Iguana was a prestige project," notes TCM, "based on a play by a respected writer[Tennessee Williams], with a famous director [John Huston] and an all-star cast: Richard Burton as the fallen clergyman; Ava Gardner as a bawdy innkeeper; Deborah Kerr as a gentle artist; and Sue Lyon, fresh from playing Lolita (1962), as a seductive teenager. But even before it went before the cameras, the film was the object of media frenzy, due to the romantic entanglements among the stars who gathered in the then-remote fishing village of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico."

Nominated for four Oscars, it appears now on DVD for the first time.

Kokkuri (1997).

"A strikingly filmed example of new-generation Japanese cinema" - Variety.

From Takahisa Zeze.

Hoodwinked (2005).

"Little Red Riding Hood" like you've never seen the tale told before. Featuring a slew of one-of-a-kind voices, from Glenn Close to David Ogden Stiers to Chazz Palminteri and on and on.

Fullmetal Alchemist Volume 9: Pain and Lust (2006).

"Burgeoning love - the more I see of Fullmetal the more enamored I am," writes Ursus. "The quality intrinsic in this series' execution is undeniable, growing more and more as time passes. Well written, and executed; not diminishing or retiring but increasing in brilliance with each episode. Most Satisfactory!"

Browse the New Releases Archive for more recent arrivals.