Hiroshi Teshigaha entered Japanese film as a documentarian in the early 1950s, directed his first feature film in 1962, and became the first director of a Japanese film to receive an Oscar nomination for his direction of 1964’s Woman in the Dunes. This was quite astonishing considering that Japanese masters such as Akira Kurosawa (Rashomon), Kenji Mizoguchi (The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum) and Yasujiro Ozu (Tokyo Story) had never been so honored. In fact, neither The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum nor any of Ozo’s great works including Tokyo Story would see U.S. distribution until the 1970s.

What was it that made Woman of the Dunes such a force to be reckoned with on the art-house circuit of the mid-1960s? Was it its steamy trailer, its stark setting, or the enigmatic puzzle at the heart of it? Perhaps it was all three.

Eiji Okada, already well known in the U.S. for Hiroshima Mon Amour and The Ugly American, would play his most famous role as the schoolteacher and entomologist who, having missed his bus back to civilization, is coaxed into spending the night in a hut in the middle of Japan’s coastal sand dunes. There he is welcomed by a young widow (Kyoko Kishida) who feeds him, makes up a bed for him, and then spends the night collecting sand in buckets that are then hoisted up to the surface where the sand is then illegally sold to building contractors in order to make her living.

When he awakens, Okada finds the ladder he climbed down to get to the hut has been removed and the men who brought him there have gone. What happens to him and the woman has been the subject of intense scrutiny ever since.

The Criterion Collection’s new high definition Blu-ray imports all the scholarly extras from the 2007 standard DVD.

Criterion has also released a highly anticipated 4K restoration Blu-ray of A Taste of Honey, also available on standard DVD, the first time the 1961 British classic has been available in either format in the U.S.

Tony Richardson’s film of Shelagh Delaney’s groundbreaking 1957 London play proved even more groundbreaking on screen. Rita Tushingham, in her first film, was a phenomenon as the plain girl who becomes impregnated by a black sailor (Paul Danquah) and is cared for by a young gay man (Murray Melvin) in the absence of her feckless mother. Veteran actress Dora Bryan had the role of her career as Tushingham’s domineering, alcoholic mother and Robert Stephens had one of his earliest successes as Bryan’s new husband even if they are overshadowed by Tushingham, Melvin, and Danquah. The scenes between Tushingham and Melvin are especially moving.

Released in the U.K. in September 1961 and the U.S. in April 1962, the film won BAFTA awards for Dora Bryan as Best British Actress and Rita Tushingham as Most Promising Newcomer. It then won Cannes Film Festival awards for both Melvin and Tushingham as Best Actor and Actress, followed by a Golden Globe for Tushingham as Most Promising Newcomer – Female.

Extras include new on-screen interviews with Tushingham and Melvin.

Shout Select has released Martin Brest’s 1988 hit Midnight Run on Blu-ray.

Robert De Niro’s first out-and-out comedy, co-starring Charles Grodin, was both a box office and critical hit, finding the until-then-intense De Niro playing it fast and loose as a bail bondsman whose sensitive quarry, Grodin, proves more than his match. Yaphet Kotto, John Ashton, Joe Pantoliano, and Dennis Farina have major supporting roles. All of them, except for the late Farina, contribute on-screen interviews in the extras.

Ron Howard’s 1984 film Splash, which was Tom Hanks’ first theatrical film as well as his first hit, has also been given a Blu-ray upgrade. Daryl Hannah co-stars as the mermaid who comes into his life. A remake is in development in which Channing Tatum is said to be the front-runner for the part of the mermaid, or rather the merman.

Last year’s Tab Hunter Confidential is the latest celebrity documentary to make it to Blu-ray and standard DVD. Inspired by the actor’s 2005 autobiography, the now 85-year-old Hunter is as quick-witted and self-deprecating as ever, if no more revelatory about his life than he ever was, nor should be. His life these days revolves around his horses and his partner of over thirty years, producer Allan Glaser.

Commenting on Hunter’s career are such long-time friends as Robert Wagner and Debbie Reynolds. Hunter does open up about his long ago relationship with Anthony Perkins, which ended soon after he confided to Perkins that he had asked Warner Bros. to purchase the film rights to Fear Strikes Out, which he had performed as a TV play, only to have Perkins have Paramount buy it for himself instead.

The 1987 British TV series Inspector Morse about murders in and around Oxford, came to an end in 2000 with the death of its title character and the impending death of its star, John Thaw. TV reruns and DVD releases kept the series alive and in 2006, a new British series, Inspector Lewis (or just plain Lewis in the U.K.) was launched with Morse’s sidekick played by Kevin Whatley now in command, with Laurence Fox as Lewis’ sidekick. That also very excellent series concluded its run in 2015. Its final series, Inspector Lewis – Series 8, which was Series 9 in the U.K. because the 2006 pilot was counted separately, has now been released in the U.S. on both Blu-ray and standard DVD.

The end of Inspector Lewis, however, does not mean the end of the Morse saga. That’s because in 2012, a new British series, Endeavour, about Morse’s early days, began its run. Endeavour – Series 3 is also newly released in the U.S. on both Blu-ray and standard DVD.

Shaun Evans and Roger Allam star in the acclaimed series which will begin airing new episodes in 2017.

This week’s new releases include The Jungle Book and Me Before You.