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Red River, directed by Howard Hawks (not rated, 2 hours, 13 minutes)
Criterion Collection is releasing this much-loved, expertly photographed, gloriously complicated, exuberantly adventurous 1948 classic Western on Blu-ray and DVD.
One of director Howard Hawks’ many Westerns, it concerns the mind-boggling effort to drive 10,000 head of cattle 1,000 miles from Texas to market in Missouri, during which the tyrannical behavior of boss driver Thomas Dunson (John Wayne) causes a mutiny, led by his adopted son Matt Garth (Montgomery Clift). Family values are soon forgotten as an ugly situation heads toward a violent resolution. With Joanne Dru, Walter Brennan, Harry Carey, John Ireland.
Midnight Cowboy (R, 1 hour, 53 minutes) Another Criterion Collection, Midnight Cowboy, released in 1969, is the first X-rated movie to win Academy Awards — for best picture, best director in John Schlesinger, and best adapted script by Waldo Salt. Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman star. It’s a dark portrayal of the seedy aspects of New York’s Times Square and Hell’s Kitchen in the 1960s as experienced by Ratso (Dustin Hoffman, quite unlike the character he played in The Graduate), a scrabbly disabled petty thief, and handsome wannabe actor Joe (John Voight), a transplanted cowboy with a brazen and ultimately unsuccessful desire to become a highly paid escort for rich women in the city.
With Brenda Vaccaro, Ruth White, John McGiver. The song “Everybody’s Talkin’ ” by Harry Nilsson is prominently featured in the film.
Red Sparrow (R, 2 hours, 19 minutes) Despite a devastatingly promising cast, Red Sparrow’s clumsy script is loaded with stereotypes and can’t quite deliver in the action/adventure department. It looks good, though, as seductive Russian intelligence agent (and former ballerina) Dominika Egorova (Jennifer Lawrence) uses her wiles to learn the secrets of her targets. Then she encounters a CIA agent who just might be able to make an emotional connection with her — not a helpful career move. With Joel Edgerton, Matthias Schoenaerts, Charlotte Rampling, Jeremy Irons, Ciaran Hinds, Mary-Louise Parker; directed by Francis Lawrence.
Annihilation (R, 2 hours) Based on Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach Trilogy (a series of novels concerning a biosphere that is working to take control of the earth), this intensely visual, unpredictable, and largely ignored sci-fi adventure concerns four women who set out on an expedition to Area X; previous efforts have ended in disaster and death. With Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, Tuva Novotny, Oscar Isaac; written and directed by Alex Garland (Ex Machina).
The Blu-ray Combo Pack includes over an hour of bonus content, including a deeper look inside the film’s stunts, set design and visual effects with Natalie Portman, director Alex Garland and other cast and crew. There’s also a Dolby Atmos soundtrack remixed specifically for the home to place and move audio anywhere in the room, including overhead.