You’ll need to rush out and get this title before it’s gone with the wind.
Yes, “Gone with the Wind” (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment) is now available on Blu-ray Disc as a 75th anniversary ultimate collector’s edition. The best-selling domestic movie in cinema history (domestic gross, adjusted for inflation) from 1939 still dazzles to this day. And it’s never been better on home TVs, as Warner’s Blu-ray sparkles with life.
The limited edition includes a replica of Rhett Butler’s handkerchief, a music box paperweight playing Tara’s theme and a 36-page booklet that focuses on fashion. Even the bonus features include new material, including stars Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh attending the original movie premiere in Atlanta, and a featurette about how the Old South still holds a presence in the New South’s modern world.
Frankly, this is one boxed set that is worth every penny.
Other top titles
Warner Bros. also has rolled out a delightful first-ever Blu-ray boxed set of Audrey Hepburn movies. “The Audrey Hepburn Blu-ray Collection” packages together the charming “Sabrina” from 1954, “Funny Face” from 1957 and the stylish “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” from 1961. Acting, dancing and singing; yes, Audrey can do it all.
Remember the early 1980s and the advent of the music video? “Money for Nothing: A History of the Music Video” (Virgil Films) covers that era, but also digs back into the art form from prior years, including “event” pieces created by the Beatles and music shorts displayed between features in movie theaters. The DVD documentary shows a post-1980s music-and-film marriage that invented a unique art/advertising hybrid.
“The Female Gaze” (Film Movement) is a rewarding, contemplative DVD boxed set that contains seven films that showcase a female perspective on contemporary society. The eclectic set of movies from 2001 to 2012 were made by filmmakers from the United States (“Arcadia,” “Foreign Letters”), France (“The Queen of Hearts,” “Inch’Alla Dimanche”), Peru (“Madeinusa”), Turkey (“Watchtower”) and Germany (“The Forest for the Trees”). The latter won the special jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival.
What a sweet way to kick the bucket: via hot chocolate and dangerous sedatives. “Nightcap” (Cohen Media Group) follows the head of a Swiss chocolate company who has, er, chocolate “meltdowns” when double-crossed. This 2000 French movie, originally titled “Merci Pour le Chocolat,” features a perfect blend of comic undertones about the fine art of killing. The dark, dry, psychological thriller receives top treatment via a deluxe Blu-ray edition from the company that preserves cinema landmarks, including those by D.W. Griffith, Buster Keaton and Douglas Fairbanks.
“The Mentalist: The Complete Sixth Season” (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment) captures every episode of the season that Patrick Jane closes in on elusive serial killer Red John. The 22 one-hour episodes are accentuated by bonus features that include a featurette in which creator Bruno Heller reveals the mythology of Red John.
September leftovers
It’s not too late to grab these titles, which were released last month:
“From Dusk Till Dawn: Season One” (Entertainment One) packages all first-season episodes of the supernatural series together. Robert Rodriguez, who serves as executive producer, directs one of the episodes and supplies audio commentary as a bonus feature. Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino created the 1996 cult classic film of the same name, and the TV series doesn’t disappoint. Two behind-the-scenes featurettes highlights a dozen bonus features.
“Willow Creek” (Dark Sky Films) proves riveting as two campers try to prove that Bigfoot exists by trying to find the same spot where it was last spotted. But, upon getting lost, they find that something is stalking them. This film gives new life to the found-footage genre.
Philip Seymour Hoffman appears in one of his final films in “God’s Pocket” (IFC Entertainment), a Sundance Grand Jury Prize nominee. The dark comedy features Hoffman as a man whose trouble-making stepson is killed in what is billed as a construction accident. As Hoffman’s character tries to protect those responsible, a nosy newspaper columnist starts asking questions. This gritty movie also features pitch-perfect acting by John Turturro and Richard Jenkins.