December physical media gift guide: Blu-ray, vinyl, art books and more

In a world of viral sensations and disposable culture, our team picks the physical media objects that deserve to find a permanent place in your home. This month, you might even consider buying these as a gift for someone special in your life.

Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure (Criterion Collection)

Some childhood films stay frozen in nostalgia, but Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure never felt like that. Despite springing from a children’s TV character, Tim Burton’s debut always played out like a strangely grown-up experience. Returning to it now, you feel its evolution – the way it grows with you, revealing new layers each time. It’s funny, thrilling, occasionally frightening and unexpectedly beautiful.

Criterion’s new 4K Blu-ray captures that spirit perfectly, arriving in packaging as considered as the film itself.

Faisal Al Zaabi, gaming journalist

Wish You Were Here 50th-anniversary reissue by Pink Floyd (Sony Records)

The deluxe re-release spans box set, CD, digital formats and vinyl. Photo: Sony Music

Go ahead and buy that record player you’ve been eyeing for years – you now have the perfect excuse. On December 12, Pink Floyd and Sony Records will mark the 50th anniversary of Wish You Were Here with a deluxe re-release spanning box set, CD, digital formats and vinyl, complete with previously unreleased alternates and demos. At a lean 44 minutes, the album still punches well above its weight, capturing the melancholy and disillusion of the modern world, the ache of loss and all the truisms that haven’t softened since 1975. The 13-minute opener, Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Pts. 1-5), begins with a drone that nods to Eastern traditions, while pushing firmly into the future with synths and heavy-reverb guitar. And the title track – the album’s most famous – still takes you back to a simpler time, letting nostalgia steer: “We’re jus