In addition to probably being the first out trans filmmakers anybody will learn about, the Wachowskis are now the first out trans filmmakers in the Criterion Collection. I can wish that they entered with a bells-and-whistles 4K of Speed Racer but a 4K of my second-favorite of their movies is the literal next best thing. Bound‘s ingenious screw-tightening sets it apart from the bigger, messier, sappier Wachowski sensibility that follows, but the expected mushiness is there, just running beneath the air-tight suspense plotting unbeknownst to the makers. The Matrix makes sense as a movie made by people who’ve not yet realized their transness, but it breaks my brain and my heart to think about this (beyond Matrix‘s allegory and into I Saw the TV Glow “this isn’t a metaphor anymore” territory, especially whenever Jennifer Tilly code-switches) being the same. Two women who desperately need to escape but can only be at the mercy of the evil men holding the pursestrings, who am I talking about here?

Bound is just one of a few big titles this week, the biggest being 4Ks of American Gigolo and Chinatown, the latter packaged with The Two Jakes‘s Blu-Ray debut. And to celebrate Jeff Nichols’ return to movie screens after eight years, there’s a Blu-Ray of his debut Shotgun Stories, which nicely sets up Nichols’ trademark rural storytelling, muted but impactful character drama, and Michael Shannon.

American Fiction (Warner)
American Gigolo 4K (Arrow)
Beverly Hills Ninja (Sony)
Bolero (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
Bound 4K (Criterion)
The Burglars (Sony)
Cat Ballou (Sony)
Chinatown 4K / The Two Jakes (Paramount)
Obsession (Indicator)
RoboCop 4K (the Joel Kinnaman one) (Shout Factory)
RoboCop 2 4K (Shout Factory)
Shotgun Stories (Sony)
Tomorrow We Live (Indicator)
Victims of Sin (Criterion)