(Bob Rafelson, US 1981, 123 min.)

A drifter (Jack Nicholson) takes a job at a remote roadside diner and is soon entangled in a passionate affair with the owner’s wife (Jessica Lange, in her first meaty dramatic film role). The second American film version of James M. Cain’s steamy and sordid novel is much more faithful to the original text than the 1946 predecessor, thanks to a screenplay by David Mamet. This Postman marked the third collaboration between Nicholson and director Rafelson (Five Easy Pieces, The King of Marvin Gardens).

(Matt Tyrnauer, US 2009, 96 min. English/Italian/French/subtitles)

Longtime Vanity Fair editor-writer Matt Tyrnauer takes on haute couture icon Valentino, a man whose fabulous gowns have graced the bodies of the world’s most glamorous women for nearly five decades. The film was shot over two years—in Paris, Rome, London, NYC, Gstaad, and aboard Valentino’s yacht—during a period when retirement rumors were swirling about the designer and his business/life partner, Giancarlo Giammetti. The filmmaker had extraordinary access to both men, whose arguments over the need for more ruffles or the appropriateness of sand dunes for a runway show are inevitably reduced to the intimacy and warmth that are the bedrock of their relationship.

(Matt Tyrnauer, US 2009, 96 min. English/Italian/French/subtitles)

Longtime Vanity Fair editor-writer Matt Tyrnauer takes on haute couture icon Valentino, a man whose fabulous gowns have graced the bodies of the world’s most glamorous women for nearly five decades. The film was shot over two years—in Paris, Rome, London, NYC, Gstaad, and aboard Valentino’s yacht—during a period when retirement rumors were swirling about the designer and his business/life partner, Giancarlo Giammetti. The filmmaker had extraordinary access to both men, whose arguments over the need for more ruffles or the appropriateness of sand dunes for a runway show are inevitably reduced to the intimacy and warmth that are the bedrock of their relationship.

(Dennis Hopper, US 1969, 94 min.)

Spend July 4th weekend with Billy and Captain America. After they close a big drug deal (with Phil Spector!), hippie bikers Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper travel from somewhere out west to New Orleans, the promised land of the Mardi Gras. Their trek across a divided ’60s America brings them in touch with a panoply of characters, including Jack Nicholson as a drunken lawyer, the role that made him a superstar. The first significant all-rock score in film history includes sensational tracks by Steppenwolf, The Byrds, The Band, and Jimi Hendrix. This new restoration from Sony Pictures began with a 4K scan of the best surviving 35mm film elements. Following an extensive digital restoration, with the repair of all torn frames and scratches and the removal of all dirt from the image, a brand new 35mm negative was created, from which new 35mm prints have been struck.

(Matt Tyrnauer, US 2009, 96 min. English/Italian/French/subtitles)

Longtime Vanity Fair editor-writer Matt Tyrnauer takes on haute couture icon Valentino, a man whose fabulous gowns have graced the bodies of the world’s most glamorous women for nearly five decades. The film was shot over two years—in Paris, Rome, London, NYC, Gstaad, and aboard Valentino’s yacht—during a period when retirement rumors were swirling about the designer and his business/life partner, Giancarlo Giammetti. The filmmaker had extraordinary access to both men, whose arguments over the need for more ruffles or the appropriateness of sand dunes for a runway show are inevitably reduced to the intimacy and warmth that are the bedrock of their relationship.

(Dennis Hopper, US 1969, 94 min.)

Spend July 4th weekend with Billy and Captain America. After they close a big drug deal (with Phil Spector!), hippie bikers Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper travel from somewhere out west to New Orleans, the promised land of the Mardi Gras. Their trek across a divided ’60s America brings them in touch with a panoply of characters, including Jack Nicholson as a drunken lawyer, the role that made him a superstar. The first significant all-rock score in film history includes sensational tracks by Steppenwolf, The Byrds, The Band, and Jimi Hendrix. This new restoration from Sony Pictures began with a 4K scan of the best surviving 35mm film elements. Following an extensive digital restoration, with the repair of all torn frames and scratches and the removal of all dirt from the image, a brand new 35mm negative was created, from which new 35mm prints have been struck.