Special edition anniversary collections and gift sets from Mel Brooks to Kurosawa

Mario & Vidis: An album makes you rethink what you’ve been doing

In 2007 Marijus Adomaitis teamed up with Vidmantas Cepkauskas to form Mario & Vidis – Lithuania...

Beth Jeans Houghton interview: “I hate London”

Falling from the limelight is often damaging to any artist and devastating at the start of a career....

Turbo Records going into overdrive for 2012

Last year I interviewed Tiga, owner of Canadian label Turbo Records, about his ZZT project - which h...

Released in time for the holiday season, a selection of movie gift sets includes 70th anniversary editions of the
Wizard of Oz and
Gone with the Wind and some classics that are on DVD for the first time in the North American market.

The Wizard of Oz - 70th Anniversary Collector's Edition
The MGM classic musical fantasy movie, recently restored and on tour in cinemas this past summer, is now available as a state-of-the-art CD in various versions, from a gift-box reissue with supplementary material. (From Warner Home Video, in a variety of versions and prices from $22 to $65. Digital downloads also available.) http://thewizardofoz.warnerbros.com/

Gone With the Wind - 70th Anniversary Collector's Edition
In a velvet keepsake box, a book about the film's production, 10 prints of set designs, Max Steiner's score, and a reproduction of the original program, turn this 6-CD package of GWTW into a gift for its 70th birthday. (Warner Home Video, from an ultra-deluxe box set to a standard version. Price ranges $70-85 or $46-52 with a discount. Digital downloads from iTunes or Amazon.com also available.) www.warnervideo.com/gonewiththewind/

James Bond 10-Pack

Blu-ray Bond featuring 10 movies depicting 007 as Sean Connery in Dr. No, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, and Roger Moore as 007 in Live and Let Die, and Daniel Craig in Quantum of Solace. It's missing another dozen films but it's a start. (Released through MGM archives, available on amazon.com
DVD $159.99 and Blu-ray $199.98)

AK 100: 25 Films by Akira Kurosawa
Twenty-five masterpieces by Japan influential filmmaker, ranging from 1943 to 1993, including classics Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Yojimbo and titles appearing for the first time on DVD in the US, such as 1944's The Most Beautiful. Available December 8 with an illustrated book. ($399 or pre-order through Criterion Collection for $319) www.criterion.com/boxsets/678

A Mel Brooks Collection
Contains his classic comedies: High Anxiety, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, History of the World, Part I, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, and more. (From 20th Century Fox in 8- and 9-disc packages and Blu-ray. Prices range from $45 to140.)