I distinctly remember the first time I really sat down with the work of legendary experimental filmmaker Stan Brakhage. It was 2003, the year he died, and also the year Criterion first put out a compilation of his on DVD. As I sat in front of the TV in my small apartment, I noticed how my cat seemed even more drawn into the films than I was; she was hypnotized. So was I, in a way, but something struck me about how the elemental, animal attraction of his images seemed to transcend even his species.

This week, Criterion’s putting out both volumes of its Brakhage collections on Blu-Ray, in a three-disc set called by Brakhage: An Anthology. It’s a gorgeous, gorgeous set. Volume One contains most of the “hits:” the acclaimed Dog Star Man series, the live birth film Window Water Baby Moving, disturbing autopsy piece The Act of Seeing With One’s Own Eyes. The two-disc Volume Two contains films like The Wonder Ring, commissioned by Joseph Cornell, the Paris-set The Dead and many more. The set also comes with a nice thick booklet featuring essays by his widow Marilyn Brakhage, an extensive guide to the films in the set, and an article about the preservation of his work.

Fish Tank came and went here without much hullabaloo, and it deserves a look now that it’s out on DVD. In Andrea Arnold’s feature, first-timer Katie Jarvis plays Mia, a disaffected young girl living in a U.K. housing project. When her young mom brings home a handsome, friendly new boyfriend (Michael Fassbender of Inglourious Basterds), the two strike up a close friendship, though things take an unexpected turn. Despite some clichéd symbolism (like the horse Jarvis keeps trying to free), and an ending that seems a little too neat, the film’s well-drawn setting and fierce performances give it a real life. It’s worth seeing just for Jarvis’s explosive energy alone.