Sleeping and dreaming

Titular slumbering Princess Aurora (voiced by Mary Costa) may not look a year over 16, but Walt Disney's animated classic Sleeping Beauty (Disney), now available in a Diamond Edition Blu-ray+DVD+Digital HD version, turned 55 this year. Of course, this occurred in the same year that the unfortunate live-action Maleficent malignancy was released. Fear not, Sleeping Beauty remains untainted.

The newfangled digital tech makes Sleeping Beauty look as good as new. The tale, "as old as time," about a shunned fairy (the aforementioned Maleficent, voiced by Eleanor Audley) who places a curse on a baby princess and the efforts to prevent the curse from occurring have serious and comic effect. Princess Aurora, raised in secrecy in a cottage in the wood by three good fairies (our favorite kind!) – Flora (voiceover queen Verna Felton), Fauna (voiced by Barbara Jo Allen) and Merryweather (voiced by Barbara Luddy) – accidentally meets the man of her dreams, dreamy Prince Phillip (voiced by Bill Shirley), but doesn't realize he's her betrothed until it's too late.

To be honest, Sleeping Beauty has enough scary moments to spook an adult, let alone children. Maleficent's malevolence knows no bounds, as she makes reference to hell (!), turns into a dragon, keeps Prince Phillip in bondage (!) and generally wreaks thorny and stormy havoc on the kingdom. In the pre-PC era in which this 'toon was made, intoxication and incapacitation are sources of silliness, but there's a reason this Disney classic has endured and this Diamond Edition is as good a reason as any to experience it again (and again). "Beauty-ful" bonus material includes deleted scenes, karaoke and several featurettes.

A kooky French nocturnal emission, You and the Night (Strand), Yann Gonzalez's feature-length directorial debut is an orgy of sound (Gonzalez's brother's band M83 provided the score), sights (dream and flashback sequences, a large uncut penis) and, well, sex. Pretentious as all get out, and not the least bit self-conscious, this Rocky Whore-er Picture Show is fun and funny.

The campy cast of characters is led by cross-dressing maid Udo (Nicholas Maury of Let My People Go fame) and lovers -- the insatiable Ali (Kate Moran) and the tragic Matthias (Niels Schneider who has appeared in some of gay filmmaker Xavier Dolan's films) -- and also includes The Slut (Julie Bremond), The Stud (footballer turned actor Eric Cantona), The Teen (Alain-Fabien Delon), The Star (Fabienne Babe), all with an array of chemical and natural stimulants at their disposal. Side stories introduce us to a creepy dom in Russian garb (Beatrice Dalle), pervy policemen, the undead, screaming demons and sundry others. Even with all of these elements, You and the Night is shockingly un-erotic. Thankfully the presence of the inimitable Maury serves to illuminate the action. DVD bonus features include Gonzalez's short film We Will Never Be Alone Again and a gallery of alternate artwork.