Ah, the wonderful time of the month where Daisuke unveils to me another month of Criterion.

I hope that the absolutely gorgeous soundtrack for _The_ _Last_ _Emperor_ comes through better in the 4k version. Ryuichi Sakamoto (who also plays the villain and who died last year) shared the 1988 Oscar for Original Score for this film. I wish he had been well enough to help oversee any restoration work on the audio.

Daisuke - Some things to note about the new 4K of Last Emperor, as it is not the same as the old Blu-ray. 1. 4K aspect ratio is now 2.35:1 compared to the old Blu’s 2.00:1 2. 4K now includes the 218-minute television version 3. 4K now includes footage taken by Bertolucci when in pre-production in China 4. 4K booklet now includes additional interviews with cast and crew 5. 4K booklet now includes additional essay by Fabien S. Gerard 6. 4K edition Includes an entirely new Blu-ray disc which I assume will hold the television version.

I'm looking forward to the Albert Brooks films - you can't go wrong with his comedies. There's nowhere to go but up with Criterion's 4K re-release of THE LAST EMPEROR, since their initial blu-ray release was pretty bad, particularly with the lack of stereo audio until the last quarter of the picture and Storaro's infamous choice to present it in a 2 to 1 ratio instead of it's theatrical presentation of 2:35 to 1. I don't know if Criterion ever fixed the audio issue. I have the new Arrow 4K limited-edition release, so I doubt that I'll be exploring the new Criterion release. I also have the UK Studio Canal blu-ray releases of the Muratova films released last fall.

Daisuke! Thank you as always for sharing your thoughts on the new Criterion release announcements! The two releases that most interest me right now are *Not a Pretty Picture* and *The Last Emperor* . It is so crazy that last week I purchased the Arrow 4K of *The Last Emperor* because I plan to upgrade to a 4K setup at the end of the year. Now Criterion decides to re-release this film! I had just purchased the Criterion blu-ray of this film not long ago because my Criterion DVD of the film is one of my most prized possessions. Others have mentioned some problems about the "correct" aspect ratio and the lack of the "television version" that has so many extra scenes in the Criterion blu-ray release and so now I will have my work cut out for me to try and watch all the releases and formulate an opinion on this issue as well as others! It is okay because I am a mega fan of this film. Here's to hoping the television version of that film is somehow upscaled to a noticeable degree from my DVD version! I'm just glad it will be included in this re-release because it is lacking from my Arrow 4K disc. Will it be presented in the most eye-pleasing aspect:ratio??? We shall SEE! As for the other films, they look very great like all Criterion announcements but I mostly just want to re-watch the film *Drive* now that I see Albert Brooks here. So much more to talk about but I can't wait to hear more of your thoughts on *The Last Emperor* around August this year! A film I will soon own 4+ copies of! Wow.. Have a great weekend as of the time of this comment!!!! Cheers!

Hello! I was curious if you are planning on doing a room tour video ?

Murotova, really exiting regarding that! 😎🎈

I cannot wait to upgrade my DVD of the last Emperor. Sadly the Criterion Blu Ray package was lacking. Poor aspect ratio and no miniseries version.

It’s cool that The Last Emperor will be on 4K. The Albert Brooks films look to be quite interesting. Thank you for going over the August releases, I hope you’re doing well. Have a great rest of your day and a great rest of your week Daisuke, please take care!

Love the films of Albert Brooks.

no offense to albert brooks but when i heard "Mother was coming to the criterion collection", i thought we would be getting more Bong Joon-Ho and was disappointed to learn i was wrong lol. we couldn't have too many of his films in the collection imo

After such an epic Criterion July announcement, I’m afraid to say that the August releases feel quite mediocre in comparison.