Gary Cooper

CHICAGO – By today’s standards, “Wings” would be more expensive than any movie ever made. That’s what an undertaking this legendary film was for Paramount in the ’20s. The biggest studio in the world set out to make the biggest film in history, presenting viewers with things they had never seen before and pushing the boundaries of what was capable on celluloid. Sadly, “Wings” has somewhat become an answer to a trivia question and the remarkable quality of the film itself has been underappreciated by time. This glorious Blu-ray restoration should help fix that oversight.

CHICAGO – From the very first scene, a first-silent exchange in which a beautiful woman enters a train car to see two handsome men sleeping across from her and chooses to draw them on her sketch pad before falling asleep and waking up to flirt with both of them outright, “Design For Living” is a romantic comedy masterpiece. I’m stunned to admit that I had never seen the Ernst Lubitsch risque joy but now I consider it one of my favorite Criterion editions. The movie is laugh-out-loud funny with three stars at the peak of their skills — charming, engaging, enjoyable. I’ve been doing this long enough that it’s increasingly rare to see a classic film for the first time that floors me like “Design For Living.” It’s stellar.