Ready, set, ‘Blow’

The Criterion Collection certainly has an eye for hidden gem indies and films lost on the memories of the masses that are, if not classics, at least creative or daring enough to warrant a second run. Brian de Palma’s 1981 Hitchcockian thriller Blow Out gets the Criterion treatment this week with a deluxe Blu-ray release. John Travolta stars as a sound effects artist who witnesses what appears to be a car accident kill a promising presidential candidate. After rescuing the party girl in the politician’s car, Travolta listens back to the field recordings he was making on the scene, and believes he hears evidence of a conspiracy to murder the politician. John Lithgow shows up as a right wing nut bent on his own brand of politican revolution as Travolta gets to the bottom of this murder mystery. Nancy Allen and Dennis Franz co-star. Rated R.