DVDs, tributes, books and outsiders

The New York Post shares its DVD holiday gift guide which - now aptly-timed - includes the Blu-ray edition of Jane Eyre 1944.

“Jane Eyre” (1944)
Boutique label Twilight Time, which specializes in limited editions of 3000, offers a sharp-looking Blu-ray upgrade for the late Joan Fontaine’s companion to “Rebecca,” which may actually be a better movie than the one she won the Best Picture actress one. Thank Orson Welles, a splendid Rochester in this rip-roaring Brontë adaptation, who is often credited with giving a directorial assist to the credited helmer Robert Stevenson (whose role in directing “Mary Poppins” goes sadly unmentioned in “Saving Mr. Banks”). Extraordinary child performances by Peggy Ann Garner, Margaret O’Brien and Elizabeth Taylor. (Twilight Time Blu-ray) (Lou Lumenick)

Coincidentally, The Plain Dealer reveals the Joan Fontaine tribute scheduled by TCM, which includes the film as well.

Fontaine's other memorable films include two with Orson Welles: a 1944 adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's "Jane Eyre" and a 1952 version of Shakespeare's "Othello." (Mark Dawidziak)

In Stylist, Lucy Mangan jokes about what's not such a joking matter for many a journalist:

Now all I have to do is be able to remember whether Jane Eyre wrote Charlotte Brontë or the other way round and I should be fit for presentation at any civilised gathering.

Publishers' Weekly has several 'Children's Publishers Choose Their 2013 Favorite'. One of which is the English translation of Jane, le renard et moi.

Erica Zappy Wainer, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
I rarely, and by rarely I mean almost never, buy a hardcover, full-price book strictly at the insistence of a bookseller, without even flipping it over and reading the back jacket or flap copy, but that’s what I did when I visited my former employer Terri Schmitz at the Children’s Book Shop in Brookline, Mass., over the summer. “What’s good?” I said. “You know me. What will make me cry?” Typically my crying comes from books about sad dogs and abandoned animals, but Terri pressed Jane, the Fox, and Me by Fanny Britt into my hands. What a special, marvelous book. The package is stunning, the illustrations wistful and moving; the gray palette speaks to the loneliness of the bullied Hélène, the main character, until a camping trip and a fateful encounter with a fox changes everything. This is not to mention the Jane Eyre thread woven throughout, as Hélène often loses herself in her favorite story, at times seeing a sympathetic equal in the oft-put upon young governess. This graphic novel is magical and unique, and certainly the most memorable book for children I read this year. I’m glad I took a chance on it!

The International Business Times offers a piece of advice to those who enjoy reading the Mills & Boon sort of books:

Still, I would suggest that if someone is enamored with romantic novels, one should perhaps eschew the contemporary books and read the beautiful, deep and moving works of 19th century women authors like Jane Austen and the Brontë sisters – they combined romanticism with cold hard reality and profound insights in humanity. (Palash Ghosh)

The Huffington Post lists some of films' great outsiders.

Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights (2011) Dir. Andrea Arnold
One of literature's most famous outcasts; brooding anti-hero Heathcliff, perfectly realised in Andrea Arnold’s understated adaptation (played by James Horson and Solomon Glave). A rugged, silent orphan child of indeterminate origin found wandering around the streets of Liverpool, he’s taken pity on by kind Mr Earnshaw, who returns with him to the wild Yorkshire moors. He is hated by his step-brother Hindley but shares a fierce and impossible love with his step-sister Cathy (played by Shannon Beer and Kaya Scodelario.) Earnshaw dies, Cathy denies her love and marries a sensible suitor, and Heathcliff becomes the product of his violent and neglectful upbringing; a bitter man filled with frustration and regret.

The Blytheville Courier News reviews Wuthering Heights.

Finally, an account of the Brontë Society's 120th anniversary can be read on the Brontë Parsonage website while pictures of the celebrations can be seen on the Facebook page.