Writer-director Jeff Nichols’ third film, Mud is his best film to date and the best new film I’ve seen so far this year.

A coming-of-age story in the tradition of Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the film’s main characters are two fourteen year-old Arkansas boys who live along the banks of the Mississippi River and encounter a fugitive living on a deserted island who they help. Tye Sheridan, the middle boy in last year’s The Tree of Life and local find Jacob Lofland play the boys, Ellis and Neckbone, and Matthew McConaughey in another strong performance, plays the fugitive known only as Mud. There are fine supporting performances from Ray McKinnon and Sarah Paulson as Ellis’ parents; Nichols’ Take Shelter star Michael Shannon as Neckbone’s uncle and Sam Shepard as Mud’s adoptive father. Reese Witherspoon is Juniper, Mud’s childhood sweetheart who may or may not be playing him. Joe Don Baker leads the group of scary villains out to get Mud.

It’s a simple, yet eloquent film. Mark Twain would be proud.

Mud is available on both Blu-ray and standard DVD.

Derek Cianfrance’s The Place Beyond the Pines is his first film since Blue Valentine which starred Ryan Gosling opposite Michelle Williams in what was arguably the actor’s best role to date. Gosling gets top billing in this film, the title of which is the English translation of Schenectady, the New York town where the film takes place.

Gosling is a motorcycle stunt rider who turns to robbing banks to provide for his illegitimate son in the first third of the film. Bradley Cooper, in what is easily his best performance to date, carries the middle part as an honest cop surrounded by corruption. Up and coming talents Dane DeHaan and Emory Cohen as Gosling and Cooper’s troubled teenage sons carry the film’s third act. There’s also a strong supporting performance from Ben Mendelsohn as Gosling’s partner in crime. On the downside, Eva Mendez and Rose Byrne as Gosling and Cooper’s wives have underwritten roles and Ray Liotta has played a menacing cop too many times to provide anything new here.

The film, which had a delayed release this year after its showing at the Toronto Film Festival last year, is well worth your time even if it isn’t nearly as good as Mud.

The Place Beyond the Pines is available on both Blu-ray and standard DVD.

The last Oscar winning Best Picture to be given a regular DVD release, 1933’s Cavalcade was previously released by Fox as part of a prohibitively priced collection, but the Blu-ray upgrade which also contains the DVD as an extra, is new.

The film, which also won Oscars for Direction (Frank Lloyd) and Art Direction, as well as a nomination for Best Actress (Diana Wynyard), is an adaptation of Noel Coward’s London stage success that was so extravagant it was never mounted for Broadway. It has prestige written all over it, and is fascinating to watch but never really engaging. Wynyard and Clive Brook overdo the stiff upper lip while the down-to-earth Una O’Connor and Herbert Mundin as their one-time servants have all the fun. The film’s narrative runs from the Boer War to the eve of the New Year with hope for a future the film’s protagonists will likely never see. It’s a curiosity that nevertheless spawned a bevy of upstairs-downstairs imitations, most of which have improved on the concept, Downton Abbey being the latest example.

Olive Films continues to release films that were either never on DVD or released in such poor quality versions that upgrades have long been needed. Examples of the latter include Angel and the Badman; The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell and That Touch of Mink, all of which are available in newly released Blu-rays and standard DVDs.

1947’s Angel and the Badman was the first film John Wayne produced. The year before the popular star’s career hit the stratosphere with Red River and Fort Apache, he was already had enough clout to get this unusual film made.

Because the copyright on the film lapsed, it fell into public domain hell which promoted numerous inferior DVD releases of the film. The Olive release reverts to the original source material and provides a stunning looking transfer.

While the film’s action sequences rely on a bit too much slapstick to be wholly engaging, the film’ central story of gunman Wayne redeemed by his interactions with a Quaker family provide a great deal of charm. Gail Russell, in what was perhaps her best role, is sweet and endearing as the Quaker girl who wins his heart and former silent screen star Irene Rich is also quite wonderful as her mother. It’s not a great film, but a good one worth seeing at least once.

Otto Preminger’s 1955 film, The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell, is a bit dry and matter-of-fact but still packs a punch detailing one of the great miscarriages of justice in American history.

Gary Cooper stars as the World War I hero, a Brigadier General who warns of the dangers of not replacing the country’s dilapidated fleet of planes left over from the war. Predicting that the next war will be fought in the sky and warning of an inevitable attack on Pearl Harbor, no one in the military hierarchy will listen. He is, in fact, demoted to a Colonel for insubordination and reassigned to non-air duty.

In 1925, after two major disasters involving these old planes, he holds a press conference that awakens the public but threatens the hierarchy and forces a court-martial in which he is found guilty of breaching the code of military conduct. Ralph Bellamy, Charles Bickford, Rod Steiger and Elizabeth Montgomery co-star.

The 1962 comedy That Touch of Mink was a big hit and was nominated for three Oscars. There were those who loved it then and there are those who love it now. Then there are those who, like me, didn’t like it then and don’t think time has been kind to it at all.

It was directed by Oscar winner Delbert Mann (Marty), but could have been directed by anyone. It’s the stars that count. Doris Day, then queen of the box-office, and Cary Grant are the stars. She was 38 at the time, he was 58. She plays a naïve virgin, he plays a horny executive. Neither are convincing without a great deal of suspension of disbelief.

The film does have some funny moments in an automat, but most of the situations as well as the comedy were old hat in the 1930s.

Warner Bros. has released a new Charlie Chan Collection consisting of Sidney Toler’s last film in the series and three of the six films made by his successor, Roland Winters. None of the films are very good and should not serve as anyone’s introduction to this wonderful character. For those already familiar with Chan, however, they are invaluable.

This week’s new releases include The Company You Keep and Blu-ray upgrades of Seconds and Shane.