Less than two months after its U.S. theatrical release, three months after its Israeli release, Golda has been released on Blu-ray and standard DVD.

I wish I could say that this film about Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meier during 1973’s Yum Kippur War is something to shout about, but unfortunately it isn’t.

The film, which is presented in the style of a docudrama, is first and foremost a war movie, or more accurately, an anti-war movie. Golda was a politician, not a military leader. For most of the three-week war she relied on the war heroes of 1967’s six-day war who were then her cabinet ministers instead of following her own instincts. In the end, she took responsibility for the blunders they caused that resulted in a terrible loss of life for the Israeli military.

The film suffers from a weak screenplay by Nicolas Martin, whose last film was 2016’s Florence Foster Jenkins. It was directed by documentary filmmaker Guy Nattiv, a 2019 Oscar winner for the short Skin.

Most of what praise the film has received has been bestowed on Helen Mirren, or more accurately, Mirren’s makeup. Yes, she looks like Golda, and yes, the screenplay relays information about the then 75-year-old Israeli leader that was previously not well-known such as the fact that she was in and out of the hospital for cancer treatments during the war, but even in the worst of times, the public Golda showed great strength backed by strong personal charm and wit. You can see that in the final scene in which the real Golda is seen on TV as Mirren’s Golda lies dying.

The best film about the extraordinary life of Golda Meier, remains the 1982 miniseries, A Woman Called Golda, for which Ingrid Bergman received a much-deserved posthumous Emmy.

Mirren’s own wit and charm, which she was not able to display in Golda, is given full reign with her narration of Warner Bros.’ megahit, Barbie, newly released on 4k UHD Bu-ray and standard Blu-ray.

The blockbuster comedy written by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach and directed by Gerwig, is even funnier the second time around thanks to the sharp dialogue and performances of Margot Robbie as typical Barbie, Ryan Gosling as Ken and an all-star supporting cast that includes America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Emerald Fennell, Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adair, Michael Cera, Rhea Perlman, and Will Ferrell.

Thirty-three years after the back-to-back films first drew acclaim, Marcel Pagnol’s My Father’s Glory and My Mother’s Castle have been lovingly restored on their first U.S. release on Blu-ray.

Directed by Yves Robert (1920-2002), the films from Pagnol’s 1957-58 memoirs written in novel form explore the early childhood of the author (1895-1974) which formed the basis of his legendary novels and films from the Marseilles trilogy (Marius, Fanny, and Cesar), filmed between 1930 and 1936, through Jean de Florette and Manon of the Spring, filmed in 1986.

My Father’s Glory and My Mother’s Castle really seem like two parts of the same film that follow young Marcel from birth to early adolescence in Marseilles and the hills of Provence where he spent his summers. The film’s shocking series of sudden deaths at the end come in sharp contrast to the bucolic nature of the narrative that precedes them.

Extras include an interview with director Robert’s son and grandson.

Warner Bros.’ 50th anniversary edition of Sydney Pollack’s The Way We Were on 4K UHD Blu-ray is really stunning. The film had previously been available only in a limited edition from the defunct boutique label, Twilight Time. The classic tale of diametrically opposed lovers Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford is more politically relevant now than it was then.

Nominated for six Oscars including Best Actress and Cinematography, it won two for Best Score and Best Song, the title song, one of Streisand’s greatest hits, which she sings over the film’s title. This was Streisand’s second and last Oscar nod for acting, five years after she won for Funny Girl. She would receive three more nominations, one for Best Picture for 1991’s The Prince of Tides and two for Best Song, winning for “Evergreen” from the 1976 version of A Star Is Born.

Redford was an Oscar nominee that year as well. He was nominated as Best Actor for The Sting. He, too, has two Oscars, one for Best Director for 1980’s Ordinary People and one for career achievement at the 2001 awards.

Extras include the 1999 making of documentary, The Way We Were: Looking Back, with Streisand, Redford, Pollack, and screenwriter Arthur Laurents.

Arrow has released a limited-edition Blu-ray of William Wyler’s 1955 film, The Desperate Hours, starring Humphrey Bogart as an escaped convict and Fredric March as the man whose home he and two fellow escapees have invaded. Wyler’s stylish direction takes the film way above the level of most films of its ilk. The superb supporting cast includes Martha Scott, Richard Eyer, Arthur Kennedy, and Dewey Martin.

Extras include a brand-new audio interview with Wyler’s daughter.

Criterion has released Tod Browing’s Sideshow Shockers on Blu-ray, containing nicely restored editions of 1932’s Freaks, 1927’s The Unknown, and 1927’s The Mystic.

The controversial Freaks was marketed as a horror film, but it is really an unforgettable, sad, and sympathetic look at how the lives of those with physical abnormalities were treated at the time. Now considered one of the greatest films ever made, it lives up to its reputation.

The Unknown features Lon Chaney in one of his greatest performances as an armless circus performer. His leading lady is rising star Joan Crawford. The previously unreleased The Mystic is of historical value only.

Happy viewing.