Here’s the thing about movie geeks: we are hard to shop for. We’re hoarders by nature, opinionated as hell, and our tastes can be wildly unpredictable – you never know what prestige we’ve deemed trash, and what trash we’ve deemed essential. And that was before lockdown; we’ve spent the last nine months trapped inside, staring at our screens even more than we normally would.
But if you’re shopping for a film freak – or if you’re one yourself, looking to blow some cash on Black Friday (no judgments here) – the good news is there are plenty of holiday gift options, with distributors cranking out box sets and restorations galore, plus plenty of new books, games, and other treats to fill gift bags and stockings. Here are a few of our highest recommendations.
BOX SETS:
Unsurprisingly, the safest gift-giving bet for a film fan is, well, films – and hey, the more the better. The Criterion Collection remains the gold standard for Blu-ray boxes, and they’ve had one hell of a year; the essential buy here is “The Complete Films of Agnès Varda,” the beautifully assembled 15-disc set featuring all 39 of her films and copious other goodies, and a 200-page booklet of photos and essays that’s a great film book on its own. If Varda’s bit too high-falutin’ for ya, there’s “Bruce Lee: His Greatest Hits,” which assembles the gone-too-soon martial arts master’s four exhilarating feature films (plus, ya know, “Game of Death”) and a host of A+ supplements. There’s also the third and latest installment of “Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project,” featuring vibrant works from Cuba, Indonesia, Brazil, Mexico, Mauritania, and Iran. And, hot off the presses, Criterion’s new “Essential Fellini” set collects such swirling whirligig classics as “8 ½,” “La Strada,” and “Amarcord” – but also quieter early works like “I Vitelloni” and “Il Bidone,” showcasing the filmmaker’s evolution and versatility.
Speaking of versatility, Mill Creek’s new, 20-title “Hammer Films: The Ultimate Collection” Blu-ray set is a real eye-opener. Sure, it features plenty of the Gothic horror the casual viewer readily associates with the British studio (and yes, classic monsters like Frankenstein, the Mummy, and Dr. Jekyll are present) – but also spotlights such lesser-known titles as the teddy boy-infused sci-fi freak show “These Are the Damned” and the razor-sharp, tense-as-hell bank heist thriller “Cash on Demand.” Genre fans – particularly those with an interest in regional horror – will also want to pick up Arrow’s just-released “He Came from the Swamp: The William Grefé Collection,” assembling seven features by “Wild Bill” Grefé, a nutso oeuvre of sex- and blood-infused madness, straight out of the Florida everglades.
Looking for classier fare? Kino-Lorber is giving another push to their “Sophia Loren: Award Collection” set – thanks to Ms. Loren’s acclaimed performance in the new Netflix film “The Life Ahead” – and it’s a must-have for fans of not just the star, but of her frequent director Vittorio De Sica. It collects four of their collaborations: “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow,” “Marriage Italian Style,” “Sunflower,” and “Boccaccio ‘70” (plus the documentary “Vittorio D”), in gorgeous HD transfers. And Film Movement Classics’ “The Ealing Studios Comedy Collection” collects four fab films from the standout studio of the Golden Age of British Comedy, with Charles Crichton’s “The Titfield Thunderbolt,” Henry Cornelius’ “Passport to Pimlico,” and Alexander MacKendrick’s “Whisky Galore!” and “Maggie” getting the crisp, HD treatment and tons of extras. And if you’ve got a classic comedy lover on your list, they might’ve missed last summer’s “Laurel & Hardy: The Definitive Restorations” Blu-ray set, featuring two of their best features (“Way Out West” and “Sons of the Desert”) and 17 shorts, plus tons of goodies.
Fans of the cinema of the 1980s have plenty of options available this season, chief among them the new “Back to the Future: The Ultimate Trilogy,” featuring knockout new transfers, on 4K and Blu-ray discs, of Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale’s blockbuster sci-fi comedies; seriously, these look better than they ever have. Slasher junkies have been jonesing for weeks for Scream Factory’s exhaustive “Friday the 13th Collection,” tracking our old pal Jason through his many iterations (In 3D! To Manhattan! To Space! Vs. Freddy!) across, appropriately enough, 13 Blu-rays. And if you really want to watch a character’s ideological and political journey, well, enjoy the Best Buy exclusive “Rambo: The Complete Collection,” featuring all five of Stallone’s blow-shit-up extravaganzas in glorious 4K, in (appropriately enough) indestructible steelbooks.
And finally, though it’s technically television and not movies, everybody loves “Schitt’s Creek” – which feels like one of the genuine sensations of quarantine, a charming (and evolving!) easy-to-consume character-driven comedy and a bit of much-needed comfort food. Lionsgate’s recently-released “Schitt’s Creek: The Complete Collection” gives you all six seasons and plenty of extras across 15 discs, at a pretty unbeatable price.
4K DISCS:
We’re early enough in the life of 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray discs that the bulk of the catalog releases are fairly predictable fare – the kind of show-off go-to studio blockbusters that are typically first on the shelves, to show off what a new home theater technology is capable of. So hats off to the fine folks at Blue Underground, who are out there doin’ the most to make early 4K weird. They’ve cranked out a number of noteworthy titles in recent months – including founder William Lustig’s sui generis “Maniac” and such Lucio Fulci faves as “Zombie,” “The House By the Cemetery,” and “The New York Ripper” – but their magnum opus is last month’s release of “Daughters of Darkness” which gives you not only fully loaded 4K and Blu-ray discs of their knockout transfer of Harry Kümel’s 1970 slice of vampire erotica, but a stand-alone CD of François de Roubaix’s jaw-dropping score.
Fans of wilder 4K fare will also want to brave the digital wilds of Vinegar Syndrome’s notorious Black Friday sale for their UHD release of the early-HBO mainstay “The Beastmaster,” which includes not only a new restoration, but a feature-length making-of documentary, booklet, and ornate case. And it may have turned into a studio franchise, but George Miller’s original “Mad Max” was a pretty disreputable piece of low-budget Oz-ploitation, so kudos to KL Studio Classics for giving that one the 4K upgrade; it looks both glorious and gnarly, if you know what I mean.
Now, on the more conventional, showcase-your-4K-set-up front, Paramount is flooding the zone for the holidays with big releases from Tom Cruise and Eddie Murphy. “Top Gun” is a genuinely terrible work of narrative cinema and a pretty insidious piece of military agitprop, but anyone who’s buying it on 4K already knows that; they’re there to see how the dogfight sequences look and sound, and friends, it pains me to admit it, but they look and sound incredible. No such hemming/hawing is necessary for their 4K release of Michael Mann’s “Collateral,” which nicely captures the digital sheen of Mann’s nighttime-in-L.A. photography and remains an electrifying mash-up of suspense thriller and character study.
Murphy’s long-awaited sequel to “Coming to America” is, uh, coming to Amazon in the spring, which is as good an excuse as any to revisit that 1988 comedy classic on 4K – a great romantic comedy, a great New York movie, and a thrilling testament to the multi-character gifts of Murphy and his pal Arsenio Hall. (SEXUAL CHOCOLATE!) And they’ve put out a crisp new 4K disc of “Beverly Hills Cop” as well, which serves as a welcome reminder of exactly how electrifying early Eddie could be.
BOOKS:
Adam Nayman’s 2018 volume “This Book Really Ties the Films Together” was the definitive study of the Coen Brothers’ filmography, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that his new “Paul Thomas Anderson: Masterworks” does the same for PTA. As before, it’s both a dense film text and a handsome coffee table book, combining Nayman’s thoughtful analysis of every Anderson picture to date with immaculately curated images, art, footnotes, and sidebars. Ian Nathan takes a similar approach in his “Wes Anderson: The Iconic Filmmaker and His Work,” which digs into all of the other Anderson’s films through the forthcoming “The French Dispatch”; Matt Zoller Seitz’s ongoing series of Wes Anderson books remain the definitive resource (the filmmaker’s involvement, absent here, certainly helps), but Anderson’s fans certainly won’t mind having more of a good thing.
Few recent film books are as smart and enjoyable as Glenn Kenny’s deeply researched and breezily written “Made Men: The Story of ‘Goodfellas’,” which is both a blow-by-blow of the Scorsese classic’s making and legacy, and a beat-by-beat work of close-reading criticism for the film itself. Most film texts struggle to do either of those feats well; that Kenny does both, often simultaneously, is downright thrilling.
SWAG & MISC.:
The Cinephile card game was last season’s must-have for film buffs, a clever twist on the old “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” game that challenges movie nerds to use the IMDb of their noggin to connect actors, films, and collaborations. This year, they have two fun add-ons: the “L.A. Stories Expansion Pack,” featuring films specifically set in the City of Angels, and “A is for Auteur,” a kid-friendly alphabet book spotlighting great directors from cinema history, in the game’s distinctive graphic style.
Everybody loves “You Must Remember This,” Karina Longworth’s essential film history podcast, and she wisely launched a merch line just in time for the holidays. (Essential items include a snazzy coloring book companion to the show’s “Dead Blondes” miniseries.) And, as per usual, classic movie fans can find plenty of good stuff via Turner Classic Movies, including merch, books, booze, and, well, more booze. (It’s gonna be a long winter.)
And last but least, the Danish doll designers Lucie Kaas have introduced cool new Kokeshi Dolls inspired by the films of Quentin Tarantino – Japanese-style wooden dolls with the distinctive visages of The Bride, Vincent Vega, Jules Winnfield, Jackie Brown, and many more. They retail for $50 each, but look at this way: they’re a hell of a lot cooler (and rarer) than a Funko Pop.
SUBSCRIPTIONS:
By this point in lockdown, most of us have already joined all the subscription streamers we can afford. So that makes subscribing to the more specialized services a true gift that keeps on giving; after all, how many times can you watch “Emily in Paris”? (Never mind, I don’t want to know.) The best of the bunch, undefeated, is still The Criterion Channel, the best collection of classics, world cinema, indie film, and the disc label’s best titles (and supplements).
But don’t sleep on MUBI, the nicely curated one-new-film-per-day service that intermingles esoteric fare with crowd pleasers and genre faves. Horror fans swear by Shudder, Blaxploitation lovers live by Brown Sugar, and indie aficionados adore Sundance Now. And Disney isn’t the only studio-centered streamer; those whose tastes veer further afield may enjoy Kino Now, Magnolia Selects, Film Movement+, and IFC Films Unlimited, among many, many others.
However, your correspondent’s favorite off-the-radar service is Plex, which not only offers a robust selection of free films and TV shows, but allows users to stream to any device from their home servers, and share their libraries with friends, via their “Plex Pass.” If you’ve got a good Plex library, it’s a great gift. And finally, it’s worth mentioning that HBO Max offers, with the exception of Criterion, the best film library of any of the streamers, stacked with classics, recent favorites, and originals – but it’s a tough one to recommend, since they somehow still haven’t closed a carrier deal with Roku. Perhaps that looming “Wonder Woman 1984” premiere date will finally get the job done.
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL THEATER:
At the risk of closing on a down note, we should keep in mind that we’re a minimum of months away from safe movie-going again, and if we’re not careful and supportive, there won’t be movie theaters to go back to. So perhaps the best gift you can give to a film lover is one that also supports the indie theater in their city, in the form of gift cards, memberships, or even merchandise.
Here in NYC, for example, Film at Lincoln Center offers a variety of membership options, and the perks include rentals for Virtual Cinema screenings and tickets for in-person events when they’re safe again. Film Forum offers gift certificates, gift memberships, and merchandise in their online store. And patrons missing Metrograph can buy an annual digital membership, which includes access to live screenings for free and a discount to ticketed virtual screenings.
In Chicago, management of the Music Box Theater recommends any or all of the above, with gift cards, membership, and merchandise available online. Facets has membership options as well a very clever holiday gift possibility: custom marquee messages. And in Los Angeles, the American Cinematheque has both membership options and custom apparel, while the supporters of the Lumiere Cinema can buy memberships or gift cards on their site.
These are just a few suggestions from the big three markets, of course; theaters all over the country can use the help. If we can make it through this holiday, and then this winter, and then that last stretch, maybe we’ll be able to enjoy those gift cards sooner rather than later.