*OnVideo’s week begins with “New Release” Tuesdays

This Week’s Highlight:

The release of François Truffaut’s “The 400 Blows” in 1959 shook world cinema to its foundations. The now-classic portrait of troubled adolescence introduced a major new director in the cinematic landscape and was an inaugural gesture of the revolutionary French New Wave. But “The 400 Blows” not only introduced the world to Truffaut — it also unveiled his most indelible creation, Antoine Doinel. Initially patterned closely after Truffaut himself, the Doinel character (played by the irrepressible and iconic Jean-Pierre Léaud) reappeared in four subsequent films that knowingly portrayed his myriad frustrations and romantic entanglements, from his stormy teens through marriage, children, divorce, and adulthood. The “The Adventures of Antoine Doinel” box set presents Truffaut’s celebrated saga in its entirety: the feature films “The 400 Blows,” “Stolen Kisses,” “Bed and Board,” and “Love on the Run,” and the short subject “Antoine and Colette.” On 4K UHD + Blu-ray, Blu-ray, with 4K digital restorations of all five films, with uncompressed monaural soundtracks. In the 4K UHD edition: Four 4K UHD discs of the films presented in Dolby Vision HDR and four Blu-rays with the films and special features. Read more here. From The Criterion Collection.

Buzzin’ the B’s:

Two married couples collide in Chris Skotchdopole’s beautifully shot and wonderfully wild “Crumb Catcher” (2023), a truly unique and darkly funny home invasion thriller from the stable of Larry Fessenden’s Glass Eye Pix. After blacking out during his wedding night, Shane (Rigo Garay) and his new wife, Leah (Ella Rae Peck), head to a remote house for their honeymoon. Their plans to find wedded bliss are hampered when there is a knock at their door. It’s the waiter, John (John Speredakos), and the bartender, Rose (Lorraine Farris), from the reception blackmailing Shane for something he can’t remember doing. As tensions escalate, it soon emerges that the blackmailers don’t just want money. They’re after business partners for their invention, a revolutionary device called … The Crumb Catcher. With terrific performances by the entire ensemble cast, this absurdist and satirical peek under the tablecloth is a chilling, yet hilarious, ode to the failure of the American Dream and an insanely impressive directorial debut from writer-director Skotchdopole, highlighted as one of the Best Horror Films of 2024 by The Hollywood Reporter. On Blu-rayfrom Arrow Video/MVD Entertainment. Read more here.

Foreign Films:

From Abderrahmane Sissako, the brilliant director of “Timbuktu” (2014), comes “Black Tea” (2024 — France/Luxembourg/Taiwan/Mauritania), a gorgeous globe-hopping romance. After saying no on her wedding day, Aya (Nina Melo) runs away from the Ivory Coast for a new life in the buzzing “Chocolate City” of Guangzhou, China. In this district where the African diaspora meets Chinese culture, she gets hired in a tea boutique owned by Cai (Han Chang), a Chinese man. In the secrecy of the back shop, Cai decides to initiate Aya into the secrets of the tea ceremony. Through the teaching of this ancient and intimate art, they slowly fall in love. On DVD, Blu-ray from Cohen Media Group.

From the Big Screen:

The Surfer High Tide Limited Edition 4K UHD

(2025) When a man returns to his beachside hometown in Australia, many years since building a life for himself in the U.S., he is humiliated in front of his teenage son by a local gang of surfers who claim strict ownership over the secluded beach. Wounded, he decides to remain at the beach, declaring war against those in control of the bay. But as the conflict escalates, the stakes spin wildly out of control, taking him to the edge of his sanity. Vitals: Director: Lorcan Finnega. Stars: Nicolas Cage, Julian McMahon, Finn Little, Nic Cassim, Alexander Bertrand, Rahel Romahn, Miranda Tapsell, Justin Rosniak, Charlotte Maggi. CC, MPAA rating: R, 100 min., Thriller, Theatrical release date: May 2, 2025, North American box office gross: $1,3 million, worldwide $2.1 million, Streaming date: June 6, Roadside Attractions/Lionsgate. Formats: 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo + Digital Code, VOD, Digital. “The Surfer High Tide 4K UHD” is available from Lionsgate Limited. Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Code due September 9. Extras: Audio commentary with director Lorcan Finnegan; “Through a Wave Darkly: Making The Surfer”; theatrical trailer. Read more here.

All DVDs and Blu-rays are screened on a reference system consisting of an Oppo BDP-83 Blu-ray Disc Player w/SACD & DVD-Audio, a Rotel RSX-972 Surround Sound Receiver, and Phase Technology 1.1 (front), 33.1 (center), and 50 (rear) speakers, and Power 10 subwoofer.