Wings (dir. William A. Wellman, 1927 USA)
Released on Dual-Format Blu-ray/DVD 27 January 2014
The first film to be named Best Picture by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Wellman’s war-time masterpiece is not only a marvel of technical filmmaking, but also a roller coaster blockbuster that has dictated Hollywood tentpole filmmaking ever since.
I wrote about this release in more detail here
Faust: A German Folk Legend (dir. F.W. Murnau, 1926 Germany)
Released on Dual-Format Blu-ray/DVD 18 August 2014
While Wellman was making Wings over in Hollywood, Murnau was making his own grand strides in special effects filmmaking across the pond in Germany. Faust is a horror film, fantasy adventure and cautionary tale told on the grandest possible scale.
I wrote about this release in more detail here
Serpico (dir. Sidney Lumet, 1973 USA)
Released on Blu-ray 24 February 2014
After his breakthrough in The Godfather, Al Pacino landed his first lead in a studio production in Sidney Lumet’s mold-breaking cop thriller. Adapted from Peter Maas’ novel and based on a real events, Serpico is the true story of one rookie cop’s efforts to stay clean and honest, despite an entire crooked police force strong-arming him into taking a cut and keeping his mouth shut. Filmed on location in New York City, in reverse chronology to allow for Pacino’s unruly mane, Serpico remains one of the great Hollywood cop films and a tour de force performance that cemented Pacino’s position as one of the most exciting and versatile actors of his generation. MoC’s release showcases a beautifully grainy transfer of the film and a host of extras including an excellent essay by Karina Longworth.
If.... (dir. Lindsay Anderson, 1968 UK)
Released on Blu-ray 9 June 2014
Anderson launched the career of Malcolm McDowell and captured the imagination of a generation primed for rebellion in his anarchic tale of schoolboy revolution that stands as perhaps the greatest British film ever made (at least in my humble opinion).
I wrote about this release in more detail here
Wake In Fright (dir. Ted Kotcheff, 1971 Australia)
Released on Dual-Format Blu-ray/DVD 31 March 2014
Canadian director Ted Kotcheff travelled to the Australian Outback and created one of the most terrifying fish-out-of-water survival thrillers ever made. Gary Bond plays the wayward school teacher whose gambling addiction gets the better of him in a small backwater town and sets him on a nightmarish journey of beer, kangaroo hunting, beer, Donald Pleasence and more beer. Long-forgotten and now beautifully resurrected for a new generation, Wake In Fright is sure one of the greatest works of Australian Cinema, and is every bit as powerful and effective as it was more than 40 years ago. MoC’s release boasts not only some of the year’s very best artwork, but a deluge of supplemental material including a newly recorded audio commentary from Kotcheff and editor Anthony Buckley.
Frau Im Mond (dir. Fritz Lang, 1929 Germany)
Released on Dual-Format Blu-ray/DVD 25 August 2014
After directing perhaps the greatest science fiction film of all-time in Metropolis, how could Fritz Lang possibly surpass himself? Well, after directing the rip-roaring thriller Spione (also released this year by Masters of Cinema in an excellent edition), he ventured into outer space, by putting a woman on the moon. What the resulting adventure lacks in scientific accuracy it makes up for in ambition and sense of wonder.
I wrote about this release in more detail here
The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari (dir. Robert Wiene, 1920 Germany)
Released on Dual-Format Blu-ray/DVD 29 September 2014
Eureka Entertainment brought Wiene’s silent surrealist masterpiece back to the big screen for a limited theatrical run in the UK before releasing this fantastic film as part of the Masters of Cinema series. A horror classic brimming with visual invention, the story of the eponymous hypnotist and his somnambulist minion Cesare remains as powerful today as it did nearly a century ago, while its book-end reveal has been ripped off countless times since.This new release features a host of extras including an audio commentary from the always-excellent David Kalat, new documentaries and a booklet that includes Variety’s original review of the film. To top off one of the year’s very best releases, it also features my favourite artwork of any release in 2014.
Youth Of The Beast (dir. Suzuki Seijun, 1963 Japan)
Released on Dual-Format Blu-ray/DVD 27 October 2014
The silicon-cheeked Shishido Jo stars as the ex-cop infiltrating a yakuza gang to avenge his partner’s death in this visually explosive crime thriller from maverick director Suzuki Seijun. Perhaps the first time Suzuki was really let off the leash to showcase his unique inventiveness, Youth of the Beast is a brilliantly gateway into the work of one of 60s’ Japan’s most exciting filmmakers, who would gain fame and notoriety for films like Tokyo Drifter and Branded To Kill. It is also a flamboyant, breakneck gang flick in its own right, and MoC’s release brings the film vividly to life and features a superb video from Tony Rayns about the director’s turbulent career.
Thief Of Bagdad (dir. Raoul Walsh, 1924 USA)
Released on Dual-Format Blu-ray/DVD 24 November 2014
Perhaps my favourite release of the year if pushed, Douglas Fairbanks’ timeless masterpiece is given a glorious treatment here. A magical, wonderous tale of mysticism and adventure, Fairbanks is in his physical prime and at the peak of his ambition and success in this dizzying display of invention and creativity that knows no bounds.
I wrote about this release in more detail here
Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout The Ages (dir. D.W. Griffith, 1916 USA)
Released on 2-Disc Blu-ray 8 December 2014
In the wake of his controversial Civil War epic The Birth of the Nation, D.W. Griffith responded with the arguably even more ambitious Intolerance, a 3-hour exploration of mankind’s inability to live in peaceful harmony. Spanning two-and-a-half millennia of human existence, from the fall of Babylon to the Crucifixion of Christ, right up to “present day” America, Intolerance was the most expensive film of all-time on its release. MoC follows up their gorgeous release of Birth last year with an incredible double Blu-ray edition, featuring not only Intolerance but also The Fall of Babylon and The Mother and the Law, Griffith’s two subsequent features, which expanded different segments from his original, unwieldy masterpiece.
