Here are October's Criterion releases, one per week I might add. Modify your household budget accordingly.

2 October 2012
#147
In the Mood for Love (dir. Wong Kar-wai, 2000)
Blu-ray Upgrade

The theatrical poster for this Wong Kar-wai film hangs in my office. It has been one of my most-desired HD upgrades since Criterion started releasing Blu-rays, with the initial run including his Chungking Express. A sumptuous romantic film, the artistry of the images onscreen match the fire of the emotions at play.

The Blu-ray adds some features (Two new interviews with critic Tony Rayns, one about the film and the other about the soundtrack) and deletes some (The music of In the Mood for Love, presented in an interactive essay//Essay by film scholar Gina Marchetti illuminating the film’s unique setting//Photo gallery//Biographies of key cast and crew). The booklet has changed too. All variances are in bold below.

Supplemental features (note the change in booklet contents for the Blu):

High-definition digital restoration, approved by cinematographer Mark Lee Ping-bin, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
@ “In the Mood for Love,” director Wong Kar-wai’s documentary on the making of the film
Deleted scenes with director’s commentary
Hua yang de nian hua (2000), a short film by Wong
Archival interview with Wong and a “cinema lesson” given by the director at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival
Toronto International Film Festival press conference from 2000, with stars Maggie Cheung Man-yuk and Tony Leung Chiu-wai
Trailers and TV spots
The music of In the Mood for Love, presented in an interactive essay, on the DVD edition
Essay by film scholar Gina Marchetti illuminating the film’s unique setting on the DVD edition
Photo gallery on the DVD edition
Biographies of key cast and crew on the DVD edition
Two new interviews with critic Tony Rayns, one about the film and the other about the soundtrack, on the Blu-ray edition
Plus: A booklet featuring the Liu Yi-chang story that provided thematic inspiration for the film, an essay by film critic Li Cheuk-to, and a director’s statement (DVD edition); a booklet featuring an essay by novelist and film critic Steve Erickson and the Liu Yi-chang story that provided thematic inspiration for the film (Blu-ray edition)

9 October 2012
Eclipse Series 36
Three Wicked Melodramas from Gainsborough Pictures
The Man in Grey (dir. Leslie Arliss, 1943)
Madonna of the Seven Moons (dir. Arthur Crabtree, 1945)
The Wicked Lady (dir. Leslie Arliss, 1943)

Mainstream British cinema of the 1940's moved away from melodrama with the exception of one studio who let their camp flag fly. Criterion has chosen three of their best-known films, all of which were quite successful. This came despite the trend toward realism in films like those found in the recent David Lean Directs Noël Coward boxed set.

Included here are James Mason's breakthrough performance (Man in Grey), one of the most over-the-top films of the era (Madonna, a personal favorite melodrama), and Margaret Lockwood as a loose woman archetype who steals her BFF's man (Wicked Lady). Oh no they didn't? Oh yes they did. I can't wait.

16 October 2012
#628
The Foregiveness of Blood (dir. Joshua Marston, 2011)

An Albanian family is torn apart by a blood feud, a tradition that allows a family to avenge the killing of a relative by killing one of the murderer's relatives. The story is told about not the violent act that ignites the events of the story, but the repercussions and aftermath.

Director Marston (a talented American indie guy) shot on location in Albania, had the full endorsement of the Albanian government, and shot the whole thing in Albanian. Marston previously directed Maria Full of Grace. With Foregiveness, he recently lost a battle to get it considered (let alone nominated) by the Academy for Best Foreign Language Film, a story recounted on a recent episode of KCRW's The Business.

The extras would appear to flesh out what interests me most: the real-life events and culture that the narrative is taken from. Whether you enjoy the movie or not, the process behind an ambitious, ballsy production approach like this is fascinating.

Supplemental features:

New high-definition digital transfer, approved by producer Paul Mezey, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
Audio commentary featuring director and cowriter Joshua Marston
Two new video programs: Acting Close to Home, a discussion between Marston and actors Refet Abazi, Tristan Halilaj, and Sindi Laçej, and Truth on the Ground, featuring new and on-set interviews with Mezey, Abazi, Halilaj, and Laçej
Audition and rehearsal footage
Trailer
PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film writer Oscar Moralde

23 October 2012
#629
Sunday Bloody Sunday (dir. John Schlesinger, 1971)

First reported by my pal Ryan at CriterionCast months and months and months ago, this title is finally here. I can imagine it took some time for them to nail down the five new interviews on the disc. I prefer an abundance of Criterion's interviews to a commentary track any day of the week.

Supplemental features:

New high-definition digital restoration, supervised by director of photography Billy Williams, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
New video interviews with actor Murray Head, Williams, and production designer Luciana Arrighi
Illustrated 1975 audio interview with director John Schlesinger
New interview with writer William J. Mann (Edge of Midnight: The Life of John Schlesinger) about the making of Sunday Bloody Sunday
New interview with photographer Michael Childers, Schlesinger’s longtime partner
Trailer
PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay and screenwriter Penelope Gilliatt’s 1971 introduction to the film’s screenplay

October 30th 2012
#634
Rosemary's Baby (dir. Roman Polanski, 1968)
*Release of the Month*

Polanski's wildly successful Hollywood debut finally gets the HD treatment that collectors have wanted for some time.

If there is a single better Blu-ray extra this year than a "new interview with producer Robert Evans", I'll eat my hat. That it's alongside new interviews with Polanski and Mia Farrow is a coup. This disc looks like it could be one of the best of 2012, pound for pound.

Supplemental features:

New high-definition digital restoration, approved by director Roman Polanski, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
New interviews with Polanski, actor Mia Farrow, and producer Robert Evans
Komeda, Komeda, a feature-length documentary on the life and work of jazz musician and composer Krzysztof Komeda, who wrote the score for Rosemary’s Baby
1997 radio interview with author Ira Levin from Leonard Lopate’s WNYC program New York and Company on the 1967 novel, the sequel, and the film
PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Ed Park and Levin’s afterword for the 2003 New American Library edition of his novel, in which he discusses its and the film’s origins

Odd is the jump from #629 to #634. Where are #630, #631, #632, and #633? This isn't some sort of scandal or anything, and I doubt we'll ever know what the deal is, but it's fun to speculate for oneself. (UPDATE 6pm:Ryan at CriterionCast has one bit of speculation that's floating around...Pasolini's Trilogy of Life)