In the 1960s-70s-and-80s French films really mattered. Their popularity was reflected in global stars (directors like Francois Truffaut, Claude Chabrol, Jean-Pierre Melville, Agnes Varda, actors Alain Delon, Catherine Deneuve, Brigitte Bardot, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Gerard Depardieu, Jeanne Moreau, Isabelle Adjani, Isabelle Huppert) and often Oscar-nominated critical acclaim. But Truffaut, an influential ‘50s film critic turned screenwriter-producer-director and occasional actor (‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’), loomed largest. With his hit autobiographical 1959 debut about an angry young boy ‘The 400 Blows,’ Truffaut’s film career virtually defined the ‘New Wave,’ a ‘modern’ style of filmmaking that had worldwide repercussions.
Born in 1932 Truffaut never knew who his biological father was growing up. His life on film continued — he made 4 sequels to ‘400 Blows” as the boy, Antoine Daniel (always played by Jean-Pierre Leaud) grew up. Like Steven Spielberg, Truffaut had continued popular and critical success. His hit list is topped by ‘Jules and Jim,’ ‘Day for Night,’ ‘The Wild Child,’ ‘The Last Metro.’ His final film ‘Confidentially Yours’ starred his lover Fanny Ardant. Truffaut died of a brain tumor at 52 in 1984.
Now, 7 of his films have been issued in Blu-ray DVDs. Three qualify as classic Truffaut essentials as they revolve around love & marriage: There’s his 1968 Hitchcock homage ‘The Bride Wore Black’ (Blu-ray, KL Studio Classics, Not Rated), the dark Cornell Woolrich (writing as William Irish) adaptation from ’69 ‘Mississippi Mermaid’ (Blu-ray, KL Studio Classics, R) with Belmondo & Deneuve, and the Best Actress Oscar nominated life-is-stranger-than-fiction story of obsession ‘The Story of Adele H’ (Blu-ray, KL Studio Classics, PG) in 1975. Moreau is magnetic as a revenge-seeking bride whose just-married husband is murdered on the church steps. Naturally, Truffaut hired Hitchcock’s definitive mood setting composer Bernard Herrmann for the score. ‘Mermaid,’ also from a Woolrich story, has Truffaut as writer & director for a noir-ish look at a mail order bride who isn’t what she seems. ‘Adele H’ presents the deranged daughter of the famous 19th century French novelist Victor Hugo (‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’). Played by Adjani in a star-making turn, ‘Adele H’ is a study of obsession as this woman stalks a handsome soldier in 1863, a man who repeatedly makes it clear he wants absolutely nothing to do with her. Yes, Truffaut had a ‘thing’ for obsessed women – see Moreau, Adjani and Deneuve. All 3 films feature fascinating commentaries. 
A bonus: The ‘Francois Truffaut Collection’ (Blu-ray, 2 discs, KL Studio Classics, Not Rated) – 4 of his ‘70s films in upgrades. There’s the true story of ‘The Wild Child’ (’70), a boy captured in the woods who lived like an animal. Truffaut plays the mentor determined to transform him into a civilized youth. ‘Small Change’ (’76) is a charming portrait of childhood while ‘The Man Who Loved Women’ (’77) chronicles a compulsive satyr and his many conquests. ‘The Green Room’ (’78) is an austere adaptation of a Henry James short story about a man, played by Truffaut in his 3rd and final performance in one of his own films, who becomes obsessed with the dead and builds a memorial to them.
NEW DVDs:
TIMELESS CLASSIC The film version of Broadway’s still-running, record-breaking hit revival of the Kander & Ebb musical ‘Chicago’ (Blu-ray + Digital Code, Paramount, PG-13, in a limited edition 20th anniversary Steelbook) triumphed as Oscar’s Best Picture with delectable, if offbeat casting, its superlative score and Rob Marshall’s propulsive direction. Renee Zellweger had never done a musical, much less danced professionally, and she is astoundingly right in every way as murderous Roxie Hart, on trial for her life for murdering her lover (cue the refrain: ‘He Had It Coming’). A musical theater veteran, Catherine Zeta-Jones won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar as Roxie’s headline-grabbing criminal killer pal Velma. Other Oscars went to the costumes, art and set direction, editing and sound. Special Features: A retrospective with cast & crew, extended musical performances, audio commentary by Marshall and screenwriter Bill Condon.
SANTA SLAYS Very much in the ‘Bad Santa’ groove, ‘Violent Night’ (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Code, Universal, R) has a real, if downbeat, hard-drinking Santa Claus (David Harbour, the ‘Stranger Things’ cop) whose reindeer might poop on the roof if stuck there too long. Santa has loads of trouble with gift delivery to a remote mansion whose wealthy if dysfunctional family is under attack from a terrorist team intent on stealing millions from their basement vault. Santa’s troubled trying to cheer up the spunky little girl he’s meant to deliver Christmas cheer (and presents!) to. The title does not lie: This is a viciously physical, murderous siege and Santa keeps getting a beating (but keeps on fighting). Bonus: Deleted/extended scenes, a profile on why Harbour works so well as a brawler, a look at those brawling villains, commentary by the director, 2 writers and producer.
PANTHER ROARS AGAIN ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray+ Digital Code, Marvel, PG-13), now in a Steelcase Cinematic Universe limited edition, avoids the usual perils of a sequel and won fans with its dignified farewell to the late Chadwick Boseman’s fallen King T’Challa. The standout in this large cast? Angela Bassett’s fierce, Oscar-nominated portrait of the grieving Queen Ramonda. A milestone here: Bassett’s is the first acting Oscar nomination for any Marvel movie. Bonus: Featurettes on creating the underwater world, a study in passing the mantle, deleted scenes, gag reel and an audio commentary by director and co-writer Ryan Coogler along with his co-writer and the cinematographer.
CLASSY DISNEY CLASSIC From the Disney Animation Studios (not Pixar!) comes the beguiling, original ‘Strange World’ (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray+ Digital Code, Disney, PG). A fantasy adventure that revolves around 3 generations of fathers and sons, ‘Strange World’ is pointedly an environmental warning. In the limited edition collectible Steelbook, ‘Strange’ is spectacular in its ingenious visuals and crowned with a near-perfect voice cast led by Jake Gyllenhaal, Dennis Quaid, Jaboukie Young-White, Gabrielle Union and Lucy Liu. The film also scores with Disney’s first openly LGBTQ character. Bonus: Hidden Secrets, Anatomy of a Scene, Creature Feature, outtakes & deleted scenes.
GOLDEN ERA ICONS Talk about titanic screen legends!! With his stout build and hangdog features England’s Charles Laughton was the rare character actor who became an Oscar-winning star from the early ’30s right up until his 1962 death. Winning the Best Actor Oscar as Henry VIII in 1933, Laughton was again Oscar nominated for 2 of his most definitive roles: cruel Captain Bligh in the ’35 ‘Mutiny on the Bounty’ and canny defense barrister in 1957’s Agatha Christie hit, ‘Witness for the Prosecution.’ Carole Lombard remains revered not only for the sleekly comical heroines she created in screwball comedies like ‘To Be or Not To Be,’ ‘My Man Godfrey’ and ‘Twentieth Century’ but because her early 1942 death at 33, in a plane crash while raising money for War Bonds, cut tragically short a brilliant career. She is recognized as America’s first civilian casualty in WWII. Laughton and Lombard teamed for ‘White Woman’ (Blu-ray, KL Studio Classics, Not Rated), a pre-Code Southeast Asian melodrama released in 1933 (the year Laughton won his Oscar as England’s much married King). In this brand new 2K Master, they are a very unhappily married couple. Fearful and tired of his cruelty Lombard’s nightclub performer might hope to find comfort in the arms of another (handsome Kent Taylor!) but dare she provoke her perhaps crazy husband? Bonus: Audio commentary by filmmaker Allan Arkush & film historian Daniel Kremer.
HIT ‘EM FRED In Hollywood’s brief Blaxploitation ‘70s era, muscular, macho Fred Williamson was a standout with hits like ‘Black Caesar,’ ‘Hammer.’ ‘That Man Bolt’ (Blu-ray, KL Studio Classics, R) in 1973, now in a new 2K Master, presents Bolt as ‘the highest flying, toughest talking, hardest hitting dude the world has ever faced.’ Hired as a ‘real’ man of steel, Jefferson Bolt’s a martial arts expert who discovers he’s meant to be a sap, taken down to be the stooge. Laugh now. The crime syndicate messed with the wrong guy and from Vegas to LA, Bolt shows them how stupid they be. Bonus: A Fred Williamson interview.
TROUBLE IN THE SOUTH SEAS The South Korean sci-fi thriller ‘Project Wolf Hunting’ (Blu-ray, Well Go USA, Not Rated) posits that on the high seas, just as ‘Alien’ found in outer space, no one can hear you scream. A cargo ship is transporting dangerous criminals from Manila in the Philippines to South Korea. When the miscreants decide to unite and revolt as one, there’s a big bloody riot and true slaughterhouse terror. But then, who might have guessed? Who could have suspected, much less known that something worse is down in the hull. Something not-human and not a known carnivorous animal. Writer-director Hongsun Kim was singled out for honors at last October’s Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival. BONUS: Behind the Scenes, Making of, plus a new English dub as an alternative to Korean with optional English subtitles.
SOUTH SEAS NOIR Esther Williams will forever reign as a film icon for her elaborate escapist aqua-centric musicals. She was and remains Hollywood’s only water-soaked bathing beauty star. Seven decades later, her films remain popular. But back in 1958, the studio system was on its last legs and Williams’ era as a shimmering swimmer were history. ‘Raw Wind in Eden’ (Blu-ray, KL Studio Classics, Not Rated), teaming her with earthy, silver-haired Jeff Chandler (‘Female on the Beach’), was to let the ‘Million Dollar Mermaid’ shine out of the water. This ‘Eden’ certainly shines in a brand new 2K master that beautifully restores its Eastman Color. Also, an audio commentary by film historians David Del Valle and Daniel Kremer.
DISNEY 100 CELEBRANTS Walt Disney’s most personally beloved cartoon characters are now packaged in a Blu-ray and new DVD as ‘Mickey & Minnie: Volume 1, 10 Classic Shorts’ (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Code, Disney 100, Not Rated). Included is the iconic ‘Steamboat Willie’ where Mickey made his debut, ‘Mr. Mouse Takes a Trip,’ ‘Hawaiian Holiday’ and ‘Brave Little Tailor.’ With new introductions by — who else! — Mickey and Minnie.
BARBARA HERSHEY’S TRIUMPH A true story of anti-apartheid activists in 1963 South Africa, ‘A World Apart’ (Blu-ray, KL Studio Classics, PG) has a BAFTA-winning script by Shawn Slovo, who based it on his parents’ lives. When Joe Solvo – called Gus Roth in the film – is forced to flee the country, his wife Ruth First — called Diana Roth (Barbara Hershey) — stays to continue the fight. This 1988 drama was a personal triumph for Hershey who won Cannes’ Best Actress honors. She would later be an Oscar nominee for ‘Portrait of a Lady.’ Shawn Slovo does the audio commentary and there is an interview with Dutch actor Jeroen Krabbé who plays Gus Roth.