Joey’s Home Movies For the Week of May 5th – ‘In the Heat of the Night’ and ‘The Umbrellas of Cherbourg’ Come to Criterion

Welcome back to my Home Movies! Today, we have a pair of Criterion Collection releases of note, with both In the Heat of the Night and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg getting the treatment. In terms of new releases, the main one this week is The Seed of the Sacred Fig, alongside some 4K re-releases. Read on for more.

Joey’s Top Pick

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Criterion)

From The Criterion Collection: “The angelically beautiful Catherine Deneuve was launched to stardom by this dazzling musical heart-tugger from Jacques Demy. She plays an umbrella-shop owner’s delicate daughter, glowing with first love for a handsome garage mechanic, played by Nino Castelnuovo. When the boy is shipped off to fight in Algeria, the two lovers must grow up quickly. Exquisitely designed in a kaleidoscope of colors, and told entirely through lilting songs by the great composer Michel Legrand, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is one of the most revered and unorthodox movie musicals of all time.”

Also Available This Week

Gladiator + Gladiator II (4K SteelBook)

Lilo & Stitch (4K)

The Seed of the Sacred Fig

Star Trek 10-Movie Collection

What Lies Beneath (4K)

Criterion Corner

In the Heat of the Night

From The Criterion Collection: “Passing through the backwoods town of Sparta, Mississippi, Philadelphia detective Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier) becomes embroiled in a murder case. He forms an uneasy alliance with the bigoted police chief (Rod Steiger), who faces mounting pressure from Sparta’s hostile citizens to catch the killer and run the African American interloper out of town. Director Norman Jewison splices incisive social commentary into this thrilling police procedural with the help of Haskell Wexler’s vivid cinematography, Quincy Jones’s eclectic score, and two indelible lead performances—a career-defining display of seething indignation and moral authority from Poitier and an Oscar-winning masterclass in Method acting from Steiger. Winner of five Academy Awards, including for Best Picture, In the Heat of the Night is one of the most enduring Hollywood films of the civil rights era.”

*As a reminder, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is also coming to Criterion and is today’s Top Pick*

Stay tuned for more next week…