"Mouchette"
(Criterion)
If you want bleak, then director Robert Bresson has made the downer to end all downers: for 85 minutes, we follow a 14-year-old girl as she is trod on, both by others (at school, at home, in the neighborhood) and by life (her mother dies). The very end, when Mouchette makes her final, fateful decision, is overwhelmingly depressing, but Bresson–-as always–-shoots it with such spareness and directness that it's impossible not to be moved.

His last black and white film, 1967's "Mouchette" is Bresson at his spiritual best: he finds the glory of living in the most mundane of details, including the moment of death. Criterion's always superb extras include a half-hour documentary from German television showing Bresson on location, a segment from a French TV show on the film's making, and Jean-Luc Godard's characteristically unBressonian trailer for "Mouchette."

"Forbidden Planet"
(Warner Home Video)
Talk about one for the time capsule: this beloved 1956 sci-fi flick gets points for its indebtedness to Shakespeare's "The Tempest" (!!!), but its tinny effects (good for its time, but no longer), wooden acting and otherwise silly dramatics detract.

Still, it looks terrific for a 50-year-old film thanks to a new transfer. Warners lavished all-encompassing extras on the two-disc set, including a "Thin Man" TV series episode and a second feature-length film ("The Invisible Boy") featuring Robby the Robot, retrospective interviews, vintage newsreels and extra footage.

"Julius Caesar"
(Warner Home Video)
Part of the Marlon Brando Collection (which includes fascinating clunkers as "Mutiny on the Bounty" and "Reflections in a Golden Eye"), Joseph L. Mankiewicz's straightforward 1953 Shakespearean adaptation is dramatically powerful, with one of the best casts ever assembled for such an enterprise: alongside Brando's forceful Marc Antony are James Mason, John Gielgud and Deborah Kerr at their stentorian best, and Miklos Rozsa's classic musical score. The remastered print is a bonus; DVD extras include glimpses into Brando's craft and artistry, with comments by many Hollywood peers and admirers.

"The Devil's Rain"
(Dark Sky)
One of the corniest demon pictures in the wake of "The Exorcist," 1975's "The Devil's Rain" is nonetheless a schlocky keeper: where else can you see John Travolta and William Shatner actually melt and Ernest Borgnine sport horns and a demonic goatee? Risible in the extreme, yet it moves quickly before wearing out its welcome (it clocks in at a bare 85 minutes). An audio commentary by amused director Robert Fuest is the lone extra.

"The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Ultimate Edition"
(Dark Sky)
I've never been a big fan of this Tobe Hooper shocker from 1974, but there's an undeniably visceral thrill watching this ultra low-budget horror movie based on an actual incident. All the bells and whistles are included in this "ultimate" edition, with Hooper and his crew discussing the movie's making and impact, and no less than two feature-length documentaries–-each an hour long–-further explaining its legacy. "Texas Chainsaw" is nothing more than a frisson of fright, but its undeniable influence on the past three decades of horror moviemaking has been enormous.

"How the Grinch Stole Christmas: 50th Anniversary"
(WHV)
In 1956, Dr. Seuss wrote the book and, in 1966, the TV version made its debut. If there's a more beloved Christmas special, I've yet to see it ("A Charlie Brown Christmas" comes close), and this special edition pulls out all the stops, beginning with a new digital transfer that restores the bright colors of the original.

In addition to a 1994 TV special hosted by Phil Hartman, there's an interview with composer Albert Hague and lyricist Thurl Ravenscroft and an all-new "rapping and rhyming" feature on the book and the cartoon called "Dr. Seuss and the Grinch–from Whoville to Hollywood." If you don't have this yet, you're a Scrooge–or a Grinch.

"A Star Is Born"
(WHV)
This second remake of the classic rags to riches story from 1976 features Barbra Streisand in the role of an up-and-coming rock singer–and if that's hard to believe, how about Kris Kristofferson as the megastar in decline? This isn't supposed to be a comedy, but it's the funniest of Babs' movies by a long shot (although Streisand takes the project utterly seriously in her commentary); screenwriters John Gregory Dunne, Joan Didion and director Frank Pierson were obviously out of their element. N o matter: another great Warners release also includes a restored print, \n5.1 surround sound and deleted scenes.

"Holiday"
(Sony)
Generally thought one of the best Cary Grant/Katharine Hepburn pairings, 1938's "Holiday" is as flimsy as tracing paper, although it's still fun. Cary's engaged to Kate's sister, but we know all along who will be together at film's end. George Cukor directs zestfully, and the couple has that special magic, but it's nothing more than a smile-filled 90 minutes. I know–we often get a lot worse than that, so enjoy it. Extras on Grant's Columbia career and deleted scene stills are included.

"Bugsy"
(Sony)
A solid Hollywood biopic nearly as good as its pedigree suggests (although it got many 1991 Oscar nominations, it won only for sets and costumes), "Bugsy" is better known as the movie that knocked up Annette Bening and knocked Warren Beatty out of the running as Hollywood's most eligible bachelor. (Hearteningly, they're still together, with four kids.)

As usual with anniversary editions, there's an extended cut of the film–which clarifies the drama– deleted scenes, and interviews with Bening, Elliott Gould and other stars. The real bonus, however, on this two-disc set is the 90-minute roundtable discussion with Beatty, director Barry Levinson and screenwriter James Toback, chatty guys all.

"Reds"
(Paramount)
Warren Beatty's 1981 Oscar-winning epic about leftist journalist John Reed, who witnessed the Russian Revolution and chronicled it in his book, "Ten Days That Shook the World," remains the last true epic film in the David Lean style and is even more timely now than upon its release. With remarkable acting from Beatty, Diane Keaton (as Louise Bryant, Reed's lover and fellow revolutionary), Jack Nicholson (not really my idea of Eugene O'Neill, but compelling nonetheless), Maureen Stapleton (as Emma Goldman) and a cast of thousands; splendid, Vittorio Storaro's Oscar-winning photography; and those indelible faces of the "witnesses," real-life counterparts of Reed, Bryant, et al, who tell their versions of these events, "Reds" is an intelligent, engrossing and, ultimately, heartbreaking 3-1/2 hour history lesson. Plentiful extras include interviews with Beatty, Nicholson (who points out that the absent Keaton feels retrospectives are beneath her), Storaro and others.

"Stalker"
(Kino)
Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky's films were inaccessible, but even by his standards, 1979's "Stalker" is frightfully opaque. That will no doubt turn off many viewers, but for those who stay with it, this 2-3/4-hour sci-fi meditation will scar your psyche whether you want it to or not.

Shot in drained color and stark black and white, "Stalker" has all the characteristics of a fever dream, which means it's Tarkovsky at his psychologically probing best. Kino's two-disc set includes a new print of this visually dazzling film, interviews with Tarkovsky's composer, cinematographer and set decorator, and a short about Tarkovsky's home.

"Anna Karenina"
(Kino)
Aleksandr Zarkhi's luminous 1967 Cinemascope adaptation of Tolstoy's novel is one of the most sumptuous-looking Russian films ever, getting the physical "look" right, but the actors are more problematic. It's too bad that both Anna's husband and lover are mediocre actors and dull onscreen presences; at least Anna, the beautiful Tatanya Samojlova, is as attractive and troubled as she is in Tolstoy.

Kino secured a great-looking print, along with an English-dubbed track for those who'd rather not read subtitles. (No doubt those who won't open the book either.) Extras include actor, director and crew interviews, vintage newsreel footage of Tolstoy and a featurette about the author's life and work.

"Van Gogh"
(Sony)
Maurice Pialat's rigorous 1991 biography of the great painter focuses on his final days and, thanks to the impressive performance of Jacques Dutronc, becomes a quite absorbing study of how madness finally overtook this sublime artist.

There is none of the standard Hollywood bio-pic cliches of "Lust for Life," and Pialat triumphs over Robert Altman's similar use of the material in "Vincent and Theo." It's too bad that Sony isn't securing the rights to the extras on both the French and British DVDs, including an interview with Dutronc and deleted scenes introduced by Pialat's skillful editor Yann Dedet. But at least it's finally available.

"Rocky"
(MGM)
It's difficult to convey how innocently pleasing "Rocky" was in 1976, particularly since Sylvester Stallone has whored himself out for five sequels. But this two-disc set brings it all back: an unoriginal but exciting underdog story is done in gritty fashion by director John Avildsen and cinematographer Buster Crabbe, helped immeasurably by Stallone's rough-edged fairytale script and the acting of Sly, Talia Shire, Carl Weathers, Burgess Meredith and Burt Young. (Don't forget Bill Conti's shamelessly rousing music.)

As for the extras, there's a new Stallone commentary and one by boxing legends Lou Duva and Bert Sugar; carry-overs from the earlier edition include a cast and director commentary, making-of documentary and several featurettes on the film's legend.

"A Fish Called Wanda"
(MGM)
Such darkly-humored comedy is rarely made in Hollywood, so it's no surprise that Charles Crichton–who helmed several witty Ealing comedies from England in the 1950s–was the director. Add to that John Cleese's presence and bitingly funny script, and virtuoso comedic turns by Michael Palin, Jamie Lee Curtis and Oscar winner Kevin Kline, and you have a 1988 comedy classic worthy of a two-disc special edition. Extras include a Cleese commentary, 25 minutes of deleted scenes, several featurettes and a 30-minute retrospective including interviews.

"1900"
"The Conformist"
(Paramount)
The DVD release of these Bernardo Bertolucci pictures has been greeted with hosannas by happy cinephiles, but it must be said that these are fatally flawed if visually magnificent features.

1970's "The Conformist" (all style, no substance) substitutes ostentatious camerawork and lighting for any insight in its tale of 1930s fascism in Italy; 1976's "1900" (all style, even less substance) substitutes splashy locales and dreamy movie stars for insight in its five-plus hour exploration of friends through several decades.

Both films look miraculous in their new transfers, supervised by fabulous cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, so if you're looking for a mere visual feast, then these are the films to watch. Both discs also contain interesting featurettes about the background and making of the two films, including new interviews with Bertolucci and Storaro.