The 400 Blows, Francois Truffaut’s debut film, is often cited as one of the greatest movies ever made. It is a defining film of the French New Wave. It is a semi-autobiographical tale of a young adolescent who is constantly in trouble at school and with his parents as he comes of age. That makes it sound a little stuffy, but the film is an absolute delight. Every time I watch it, I’m surprised at how funny it is. Truffaut went on to make four more films with the same character (and the same actor, Jean-Pierre Léaud, portraying him) over the next two decades. None of them reach the heights of The 400 Blows, but they are all quite good, and it is fascinating to see the character (and the actor and the director) grow and mature through the years.
Buy The Adventures of Antoine Doinel (The Criterion Collection)The Criterion Collection released a collection of all five films many years ago on DVD. I own it and proudly display it on my shelves. I’m usually a little cagey about upgrading sets I already own, but I figure the jump from standard DVD to 4K from Criterion will make it worth it.
Also out this week that looks interesting:
Wallace & Gromit: The Complete Cracking Collection 4K UHD: Wallace & Gromit are a national treasure. Not my nation, you understand, as they were made in the UK, but I’d welcome them to become U.S. citizens anytime they’d like. The claymation series from Nick Park follows the adventures of the good-natured, cheese-loving inventor Wallace and his highly intelligent dog Gromit. I love everything about them. The title of this collection isn’t entirely true, as it isn’t the complete collection (missing is the 2024 film Vengeance Most Fowl), and the other feature-length film, Curse of the Were-Rabbit, isn’t in 4K. What is in UHD are the original short films (A Grand Day Out, The Wrong Trousers, A Close Shave, and A Matter of Loaf and Death). It still looks like a grand collection, inside a fun-looking little box.
RoboCop 2 4K UHD: Shout Factory is releasing this ridiculous sequel to one of the great sci-fi/action films of the 1980s. I honestly don’t remember much about the film, as I haven’t seen it since I was a teenager, but I recently rewatched the original and quite loved it, so this seems like a perfect opportunity to catch up with the sequel. Especially now that I realize it was written by Frank Miller and directed by Irvin Kershner. It comes in a steel bookcase and loads of extras.
Shane 4K UHD: This movie, starring Alan Ladd as a mysterious drifter who agrees to help some farmers fight off a vicious gunman, is often cited as one of the greatest westerns ever made. I remember loving it as a kid, and it is high time I revisited it. Kino Lorber has the release.
Frailty 4K UHD: Bill Paxton directs this horror/thriller about a mysterious man who arrives at an FBI office and describes how he knows the identity of a serial killer who thinks he’s hunting demons.
