Kagemusha (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

Manufacturer: Criterion Collection Brand: Image Entertainment Model: 25524833

Poetic realism reached sublime heights with Children of Paradise (Les enfants du paradis), widely considered one of the greatest French films of all time. This nimble depiction of nineteenth-century Paris’s theatrical demimonde, filmed during World War II, follows a mysterious woman (The Pearls of the Crown’s Arletty) loved by four different men (all based on historical figures): an actor, a criminal, a count, and, most poignantly, a street mime (La ronde’s Jean-Louis Barrault, in a longing-suffused performance for the ages). With sensitivity and dramatic élan, director Marcel Carné (Port of Shadows) and screenwriter Jacques Prévert (Le jour se lève) resurrect a world teeming with hucksters and aristocrats, thieves and courtesans, pimps and seers. Thanks to a major new restoration, this iconic classic looks and sounds richer and more detailed than ever.

Manufacturer: MHz Networks Brand: MHZ NETWORKS Model: 33943789

IN DANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES Cited by Stephen King as his favorite television series of the year, Denmark s blockbuster political drama, Borgen ( The Castle ) explores the insular world of high-stakes Danish politics and the press corps that covers it in instantaneous, relentless news cycles. Birgitte Nyborg becomes Prime Minister of Denmark through a political fluke and has to learn the ways of power, quickly. She s an altruistic public servant in an old boys club and must master the art of the deal overnight, manage her image and understand that she has advisors but no real friends. She also must perform the impossible juggling act of maintaining a family life while serving as Denmark s first female Prime Minister. The rigors of public life and the press may attract some of Denmark s finest, but it also exacts a high price from them all for participating in an open democracy.

Manufacturer: Wolfe Video

In this beautiful and uplifting gay romance, two teen track stars discover first love as they train for the biggest relay race of their young lives. Dutch phenom Gijs Blom stars as Sieger, a thoughtful 15-year-old who grapples mightily with his emerging gayness. Ko Zandvliet co-stars as his love interest, the spirited and outgoing Marc. In their boyish summer courtship the two of them swim, bike, run and share ice creams and kisses as they gradually find the courage to be vulnerable with one another. With its authentic and perfectly poignant tone Mischa Kamp s Boys ranks as one of the most wholesomely romantic gay teen films ever and features an irresistible pop soundtrack. Dutch with English subtitles

Manufacturer: Section23 Films

When she hears a strange song from a crystal radio, Asuna tunes into more than just a magical stream of music. Soon, she is transported to a mysterious world where mythical beasts roam and brave warriors fight for their lives. Agartha is a land of breathtaking beauty and unimaginable danger-a place where, it is believed, even the dead can be brought back to life. But at what cost? Children Who Chase Lost Voices is a spellbinding new work from Japanese visionary Makoto Shinkai, who amazed audiences the world over with Voices of A Distant Star and 5 Centimeters per Second. Now, with Children, Shinkai affirms his place as one of animation's most original voices. Writer-director Makoto Shinkai's handsome adventure-fantasy Children Who Chase Lost Voices (2011) has won several awards on the international festival circuit. Asuna is a model middle school girl: she's not only the top student in her class, she cheerfully does all of the household chores while her widowed mother is at work. She deals with her loneliness by experimenting with a crystal radio set she's stashed in a nearby mountain hideaway. After she hears a mysterious song, Asuna is thrust into a supernatural adventure that involves weird, hybrid monsters; the dashing, heroic Shun; her substitute teacher Mr. Morisaki; and the legendary underground realm of Agartha. Devastated by his wife's death 10 years earlier, Morisaki is on a quest to restore her to life using the powers of Agartha. Children Who Chase Lost Voices boa...

Manufacturer: Criterion Collection Model: 28445242

Two women trade masks and roles as nurse and mute-actress patient. Directed by Ingmar Bergman.

Manufacturer: Criterion Collection (Direct) Brand: CRITERION COLLECTIONS

Tatsuya Nakadai (Harakiri) and Toshiro Mifune (Yojimbo) star in the story of a wandering samurai who exists in a maelstrom of violence. A gifted swordsman plying his craft during the turbulent final days of shogunate rule in Japan, Ryunosuke (Nakadai) kills without remorse or mercy. It is a way of life that ultimately leads to madness. Kihachi Okamoto’s swordplay classic is the thrilling tale of a man who chooses to devote his life to evil.

Manufacturer: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Brand: Sony

In modern-day Tokyo, three homeless people's lives are changed forever when they discover a baby girl at a garbage dump on Christmas Eve. As the New Year fast approaches, these three forgotten members of society band together to solve the mystery of the abandoned child and the fate of her parents. Along the way, encounters with seemingly unrelated events and people force them to confront their own haunted pasts, as they learn to face their future, together. Satoshi Kon's third feature (following Perfect Blue and Millennium Actress) confirms his status as one of the most interesting directors working in anime. Tokyo Godfathers centers on three homeless people: Hana, a flamboyant ex-drag entertainer; Gin, an alcoholic former bicycle racer; and Miyuki, a sullen teenage runaway. Their tenuous existence becomes more chaotic when they set out to find the parents of an abandoned baby on Christmas Eve. They scream insults as they confront the lies they've told each other--and themselves--about the past. Yet they remain curiously endearing and even noble. All three care passionately about the abandoned infant, and they love each other, although they're loath to admit it. Kon skillfully uses color to suggest the bitter winter cold and the characters' alienation. Tokyo Godfathers shows that battling the inner demons that led these three characters to skid row can be a more daunting challenge than fighting aliens and cyborgs. (Rated PG-13: profanity, violence, tobacco and al...

Manufacturer: Koch Lorber Films Brand: Polish DVDs

Academy Award Nominee for Best Foreign Language Film Winner of the European Film Awards Prix d’Excellence The critically-acclaimed film from Poland’s greatest living director, Andrzej Wajda 1940. After Germany’s invasion of Poland, Joseph Stalin ordered the liquidation of the Polish officer corps, slaughtering nearly 22,000 men in Katyn Forest. Based on this horrific, historical event, Katyn tells the affecting story of four fictional officers and their families as they struggle to uncover the truth. Based on the novel “Post Mortem” by Andrzej Mularczyk. OVER 80 MINUTES OF BONUS FEATURES: Interview with Andrzej Wajda ”Katyn: 60 Days on the Set” making-of featurette

Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD) Brand: DEPARDIEU,GERARD

One of France's literary treasures commands the screen with this "exceptionally graceful adaptation" (Los Angeles Times) that received a Best Foreign Film Golden GlobeÂ(r) and five OscarÂ(r) nominations*, including Best Actor for Gerard Depardieu! Cyrano (Depardieu), a master swordsman and poet, feels he cannot woo his beloved Roxane (Anne Brochet) due to an unfortunate physical flaw: his grotesquely large nose. Resigning himself to helping another suitor, the dashing yet tongue-tied Christian (Vincent Perez), Cyrano uses his mastery of words to win Roxane forhim. But when Roxane finds that she has fallen for Christian's mindand not for his beautywhich of her two suitors will finally possess her heart? *1990: Foreign Language Film, Art Direction-Set Decoration, Costume Design (won), Makeup