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The holidays are upon us, so whether you’re looking for film-related gifts or simply want to get for yourself some of the finest this year had to offer, we have a gift guide for you. Including must-have books on filmmaking, the best from the Criterion Collection and other home-video lines, subscriptions, magazines, music, and more, dive in below.

4K & Blu-ray Box Sets

There’s no better gift than an epic film collection, and 2024 was an embarrassment of riches thanks to a number of box sets. The king of them all, especially if you’re looking for a gift for a burgeoning cinephile, is Criterion’s massive CC40, collecting 40 landmark films form their 40-year history. It’s not the only stellar set from the company, of course, as I adored the essential Chantal Akerman Masterpieces, 1968–1978, Éric Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons, Gregg Araki’s Teen Apocalypse Trilogy, Three Revolutionary Films by Ousmane Sembène,...

The Criterion Collection follows an auteur-based diet of cinema, offering a wondrous variety of films from all over the world to sate your appetite. Case in point, consider what May 2024 will bring from the home video label. (All verbiage courtesy of Criterion.) "Three Revolutionary Films by Ousmane Sembène, three powerful 1970s works by the trailblazing Senegalese auteur; Anatomy of a Fall, Justine Triet's masterful examination of the line between truth and fiction; and Girlfight, Karyn Kusama's singular tale of a young woman's path to self-realization. "Plus: a Blu-ray upgrade of A Story of Floating Weeds / Floating Weeds: Two Films by Yasujiro Ozu, a silent classic from one of cinema's greatest directors alongside his color remake, and Peeping Tom, Michael Powell's still-shocking masterpiece of...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Is there a better work at the intersection of filmmaking, cinephilia, and their attendant madnesses? However evident its genius, Peeping Tom has awaited a proper upgrade––its Criterion is long out-of-print, Blu-rays are region-locked for the U.S., and whatever copy’s streaming is a bit of an eyesore. But 63 years after effectively killing Michael Powell’s career it’s just debuted a 4K restoration at the London Film Festival, will start playing U.K. theaters on October 27, and get a Uhd release on January 29––one hopes with equal treatment stateside.

There’s now a trailer that’s impressive in clarity if not, perhaps, a bit concerning for its jaundice––an all-too-common issue in modern restorations. The legitimacy of concerns notwithstanding, it’s also quite possible this has a bit more fidelity to the original image on a big screen, uncompressed.

Find the trailer below:

An influential cinematic masterpiece written...