French Dispatch of the Liberty (Criterion) 09/25 Blu-ray (Rental)

A salute to writers and expatriates, Wes Anderson’s tenth feature takes the form of the final edition of The French Dispatch, a weekly magazine chronicling life in the city of Ennui-sur-Blasé, France (for American readers). Made up of three featured stories—a profile of a tortured artist, a report on student revolutionaries, and a recounting of a tabloid kidnapping with a gourmet twist—plus an obituary and a travelogue, this dazzlingly constructed anthology mixes everything from theatrical interludes to tableaux vivants to comic-book animation. The superb ensemble cast includes Adrien Brody, Timothée Chalamet, Benicio del Toro, Frances McDormand, Léa Seydoux, Owen Wilson, and Jeffrey Wright. DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES New 4K digital master supervised and approved by director Wes Anderson, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack Audio commentary featuring Anderson and collaborators Roman Coppola and Jason Schwartzman Selected-scene storyboard animatic Behind the Scenes of “The French Dispatch” Visual essay featuring the writing of film scholar David Bordwell, read by Rupert Friend Episode of The New Yorker Radio Hour featuring Anderson, New Yorker editor David Remnick, and actor Jeffrey Wright Interview with artist Sandro Kopp, who created Moses Rosenthaler’s paintings in the film Music video for “Aline” by Jarvis Cocker, directed by Anderson and illustrated by Javi Aznarez “The French Dispatch” Reads the “New Yorker” (and Other Magazines), featuring Wright and actors Bill Murray, Stephen Park, Elisabeth Moss, Owen Wilson, Frances McDormand, and Tilda Swinton reading excerpts from classic magazine pieces “The French Dispatch”: Miniature Unit Berlin and Accidentally Angoulême, shorts about the making of the film Trailer English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing PLUS: An essay by critic Richard Brody; excerpts from the limited-edition magazine issue of The French Dispatch, published to promote the film, including historical and production dispatches by writer Alex Pasternack and further-reading recommendations from Anderson; and a poster by Aznarez featuring the French Dispatch magazine covers created for the film