It hasn’t been officially declared, but this has to be the year of Alfred Hitchcock. Opening this month is the new film Hitchcock with Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren as the director and his writer/collaborator wife Alma Reville during the making of 1960’s Psycho. Previously released this year have been Blu-ray upgrades of The 39 Steps; Rebecca; Spellbound; Notorious; Strangers on a Train; Dial M for Murder and more. Now comes Universal’s massive Blu-ray upgrade of their 2000 DVD collection, Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection.

Featuring fifteen of the master’s best known films, thirteen of which are making their Blu-ray debuts, it is along with Universal’s Classic Monsters and Fox’s Bond 50: The Complete 22 Film Collection, one of the year’s three outstanding collectibles.

Most of the extras in this collection are imported from the original DVD releases of the films, but even they have been upgraded for Blu-ray.

The earliest film in the collection is 1942’s Saboteur with Robert Cummings as the wrongly accused man out to prove his innocence. The film’s most famous set piece is the fight to the death atop the Statue of Liberty. Priscilla Lane and Otto Kruger co-star.

Hitchcock’s own favorite, 1943’s Shadow of a Doubt is an ode to small town Americana with a lovely Teresa Wright as the young girl slowly coming to realize that her beloved uncle, Joseph Cotten, is the notorious Merry Widow killer. Patricia Collinge, Henry Travers and Hume Cronyn co-star.

Filmed in continuous ten minute takes, 1948’s Rope is an experimental film that failed to please either critics or audiences of the day, but has developed something of a cult following in the years since. James Stewart stars as a detective with John Dall and Farley Granger as characters patterned after Leopold and Loeb. Sir Cedric Hardwicke and Constance Collier co-star.

One of the most successful films of Hitchcock’s career, 1954’s Rear Window earned the director the fourth of his five Oscar nominations but was strangely left off the year’s Best Picture list. James Stewart had one of his best roles as a convalescing photographer/voyeur who sees what may have been a murder across the courtyard. Grace Kelly at her most ravishing and Thelma Ritter at her wittiest add to the enjoyment.

An odd little movie, 1955’s The Trouble With Harry provides good roles for character players Edmund Gwenn, Mildred Natwick and Mildred Dunnock as they continuously move a dead body. Shirley MacLaine makes her screen debut in a major supporting role.

Hitchcock’s 1956 remake of his 1934 film, The Man Who Knew Too Much has split critics in the year since as to which film is the better. I personally prefer the remake with James Stewart, Doris Day and the Oscar winning song, “Que Sera Sera (Whatever Will be Will Be)”.

Named the best film of all time by critics around the world for the 2012 Sight and Sound poll, incredible as it may seem, 1958’s Vertigo was not as universally loved when first released. Most critics didn’t understand it and audiences stayed away. James Stewart, Km Novak and those glorious San Francisco locations captivate now more than ever.

1959’s North by Northwest and 1960’s Psycho are the two films in the collection that had previous Blu-ray releases.

A box office hit, if not a critical one, 1963’s The Birds gave us Tippi Hedren, Rod Taylor, Suzanne Pleshette, Jessica Tandy and those pesky winged creatures.

Hitchcock’s next three films, 1964’s Marnie; 1966’s Torn Curtian and 1969’s Topaz were critical bombs, with only Torn Curtain scoring with the public.

Marnie had a confusing story, an unlikeable protagonist and a less than impressive actress (Tippi Hedren) going against it. Topaz was a snooze worthy version of a popular novel with a no-name cast. The problem with Torn Curtain was its screenplay, providing stars Paul Newman and Julie Andrews with atrocious dialogue. The film also suffered from audiences’ expectations that Andrews would burst out singing at some point. She never does.

Hitchcock returned to critical and commercial glory with 1972’s Frenzy, a-tongue-in-cheek thriller about a series of gory murders. No stars in this one, but some very good actors including Jon Finch, Barry Foster, Alec McGowen, Vivien Merchant and Anna Massey make it a total delight..

Hitchcock’s last film, 1976’s Family Plot is a disappointing one about a medium and a missing heir with Barbara Harris, Bruce Dern, William Devane and Karen Black.

One of the seminal films of the 1960s, Roman Polanski’s 1968 film of Ira Levin’s Rosemary’s Baby has also been given a Blu-ray upgrade. The classic psychological horror film starring Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Oscar winner Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer and Ralph Bellamy, still thrills in the same places. A newly filmed 47 minute documentary featuring interviews with Farrow, Polanski and then Paramount executive Robert Evans fascinates as well.

Yet another Blu-grade upgrade is one accorded Sidney Lumet’s 1962 production of Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night. Katharine Hepburn, Ralph Richardson, Jason Robards and Dean Stockwell all provide memorable performances in this thinly disguised examination of the real life O’Neill family.

A contemporary film worth your time, Ruby Sparks is the first film from directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris since 2006’s sleeper hit, Little Miss Sunshine.

The film is the brainchild of first time screenwriter Zoe Kazan, the actress grand-daughter of legendary director Elia Kazan. Her real-life boyfriend Paul Dano stars as a writer who invents a woman (Kazan) who comes to life. The quirky film takes a while to get doing, but once it does it wins you over thanks to the strong performances of Dano, Kazan and Chris Messina as Dano’s brother. Annette Being, Antonio Banderas and Elliott Gould co-star.

New releases this week include The Amazing Spider-Man and the Blu-ray upgrade of Sunset Boulevard.