All About Eve Is the Pick of the Week

What else can one say about Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s 1950 landmark backstage drama? It’s a film that remains arguably the most quotable film ever made, a film that contains Bette Davis’ greatest performance, and a film that set a record of nominations in Oscar history. It’s also a bitchfest of the highest order that many gay men, besides myself, always look to for inspiration and sharp wit quips. You obviously know the tale, dim protege Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter) works her way from naive, gullible waif to ambitious evil in the body of a woman, trying to steal the spotlight, among other things from the great stage legend Margo Channing (Davis). No matter how many times you’ve seen it, it’s always going to be quite the ride. “Fasten your seatbelts” indeed!

Although it doesn’t seem to have all the special features from previous Blu-ray and DVD editions, but if you don’t happen to own it already, then I’m sure the new Criterion release will definitely be a must have to your collection. Some of the supplements include two commentaries: one with co-star Celeste Holm, Ken Geist (Mankiewicz’s biographer), and Christopher Mankiewicz (son of Joseph), and the other with author Sam Staggs; a new interview with film costume collector Larry McQueen; All About Mankiewicz, an archival documentary with the legend himself discussing his career; a radio adaptation with Davis, Baxter, and Gary Merill in their original roles; and much more!

Other notable releases:

Now, Voyager (Criterion): Another Bette Davis classic, where she plays Charlotte Vale, a middle-aged spinster who suffers a nervous breakdown because of her tyrannical mother and is finally freed after a love affair.

Robocop: Arrow Video is releasing a massive limited edition of Paul Verhoeven’s 1987 classic violent satire about Alex Murphy (Peter Weller), a Detroit cop who is savagely murdered but resurrected as a crime-fighting cyborg.

Dracula (1979): The great Frank Langella dons the famous cape as the seductive Count Dracula, who is on the quest to create an immortal bride, but whose plans are beset every step of the way by Van Helsing.

Prophecy: A schlocky, but fun monster movie from 1979 about a doctor and his wife who travel to Maine to investigate a lumber mill’s effects on the environment. They also encounter bizarre wildlife mutations, and grisly human deaths caused by a very angry mutant bear.