AK 100

As promised, Criterion will be releasing a box-set to coincide close with what would have been Akira Kurosawa's 100th birthday (which happens to be on the same day as my 26th anniversaire). The set, which retails for about $400, contains 25 films, some of which will be making their R1 DVD premiere, and does not include Ran, as Eric pointed out to me. The included titles are listed below (bold for DVD premiere):

- Sanshiro Sugata (1943)
- Sanshiro Sugata 2 (1945)
- Most Beautiful, The (1944)
- The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail (1945)
- No Regrets for Our Youth (1946)
- One Wonderful Sunday (1947)
- Drunken Angel (1948)
- Stray Dog (1949)
- Scandal (1950)
- Rashômon (1950)
- Idiot, The (1951)
- Ikiru (1952)
- Seven Samurai (1954)
- I Live in Fear (1955)
- Throne of Blood (1957)
- Lower Depths, The (1957)
- Hidden Fortress, The (1958)
- Bad Sleep Well, The (1960)
- Yojimbo (1961)
- Sanjuro (1962)
- High and Low (1963)
- Red Beard (1965)
- Dodes'ka-den (1970)
- Kagemusha (1980)
- Madadayo (1993)

Madadayo was previously released by Fox Lorber/Wellspring whose library was (supposedly) owned by The Weinstein Company. I have no idea what that means in terms of other Fox Lorber/Wellspring titles. AK 100 will be available on 8 December.

In other DVD news, Kino has announced Loren Cass for 24 November. Lionsgate will be releasing a number of Blu-rays on the same date: Air America, Angel Heart, Frailty, The Monster Squad and New Police Story, as well as Cujo, My Bloody Valentine and The Way of the Gun which I already mentioned.