Blu-ray Release: Crimes and Misdemeanors

Blu-ray Release Date: Feb. 11, 2014
Price: Blu-ray $29.95
Studio: Twilight Time


Crimes and Misdemeanors movie scene

Woody Allen and Martin Landau star in Allen's Crimes and Misdemeanors.

Woody Allen’s (Blue Jasmine) masterful 1989 film Crimes and Misdemeanors makes its Blu-ray debut courtesy of Twilight Time.

A rare combination of character study, film noir and black comedy, the film is about an esteemed New York ophthalmologist (Martin Landau, Cleopatra) whose affair with a flight attendant (Anjelica Huston, The Grifters) puts the careful construct of his life in jeopardy.

As he contemplates a permanent solution to his problems, another story is weaved into the narrative, this one about another kind of moral crisis: a struggling documentary filmmaker (Allen) considers selling out by making a doc about a Hollywood jackass (Alan Alda, Tower Heist), with the situation further complicated by the appearance of an entrancing TV producer (Mia Farrow, Rosemary’s Baby).

Highlighted by cinematography from the incomparable Sven Nykvist (Fanny and Alexander) and a slew of outstanding performances (Jerry Orbach is remarkable in a small role as Landau’s shady brother), Crimes and Misdemeanors is sure to shine on Blu-ray.

As supplier Twilight Time prints up only 3,000 copies of each title, be prepared to pre-order this one directly from distributor Screen Archives.

About Laurence

Founder and editor Laurence Lerman saw Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest when he was 13 years old and that’s all it took. He has been writing about film and video for more than a quarter of a century for magazines, anthologies, websites and most recently, Video Business magazine, where he served as the Reviews Editor for 15 years.