Last minute gift ideas for film snobs!

Ok Christmas is swiftly approaching, and I'm beting there are a lot of slackers like me who have yet to do their Christmas shopping yet. I am going to suggest a few gifts in different price ranges for different types of film nerds and enthusiasts. Remember while a cinemaphile always appreciates a new dvd to add to the collection, that is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to gifts.

The Cheap Stuff Gifts for about $10 and under

For a really cheap gift go around to local video rental stores, if possible hit the stores that aren't part of some big corporation. A lot of them give away movie posters or other promotional items (cut outs ect) for free. It may take some searching and haggling but sometimes you walk away with some really good stuff.

If you have a video camera make a video tribute to your friend and post it on youtube. It could be something silly like you dancing and singing to a favorite song of theirs. You could get friends and reenact a scene from one of their favorite movies. Or you could do something stupid involving fire or being hit in the nuts that will guarantee a viral video and dedicate it to them , just don't actually hurt yourself or do anything too stupid.

Here is an awesome example of a silly video some guy made for his girlfriend. It's very low production quality, very simple premise, and extremely silly. However there is no doubt in my mind that his girlfriend smiled when she got this. I would like to make this clear right now, I don't know who the heck this guy is. I found it because it's the top youtube search result for one of my favorite songs. He would probably be embarrassed to have this posted around by a complete stranger, but he allowed for embedding so I have to assume he is ok with it. But it gives you a good idea of what a gift video should look like.



Books are another good cheap way to go as far as gifts are concerned. If you go to your local bookstore you are bound to find a few books about film. There are reprinted scripts, books about production, books on theory, and my favorite books about directors. If you don't feel like browsing around then I recomend going with
"The Film Snobs Dictionary: An Essential Lexicon of Filmological Knowledge"
by David Kamp and Lawrence Leviretails $10 new

For the Budding Film Maker

As a film maker you can never have enough tape to work with. Sometimes a simple practical gift is the most appreciated. Get them some mini DV tapes you can get a pack of two for somewhere between $15-20 at most retailers. Something as simple as another tape will allow a director to take more shots and take more chances with their work.

Another great idea is getting a shirt (they make other items too) from http://www.filmmakergear.com/
They have some hilarious shirts all specific to the film making world. whats even cooler is that it's not just for directors they have shirts specific to DP's, sounds guys, and editors. Their shirts range from $13-$22

Build them a Steadycam for about $15
here is the site that tells you how to do it. http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~johnny/steadycam/

For the General Film Fan

A gift subscription to netflix is always a good choice. You can get someone a very cheap two month, one movie a month subscription for $10. Naturally you can keep building up from that point. As an added bonus if you order between now and the 29th netflix is donating %5 of the profits from each gift subscription to Feeding America.

You can also give gift certificates to Fandango, allowing your friend or loved one to get movie tickets to almost any movie theater they want. As an added bonus they can do this all through email, you never even have to leave the house and your gift will get to them on time.

For the Big Spender

For somewhere between $100 and well above you can get them a VHS to DVD burner, and let them transfer all their old tapes onto something a little more modern.

Final Cut Studio 2 offers the budding film maker just about everything they need for post editing. It is priced at $1,299 but it is the best software available to non professionals. Not to mention there are a lot of film makers using pirated software due to the prohibitively expensive cost of video editing software, can you really put a price on keeping a loved one out of jail?

Finally for the Star Wars fan an opportunity to kick George Lucas in the balls. Now I have no idea how much you would have to pay him in order for him to agree to this, but everyone has their price. Giving someone the opportunity to kick George Lucas in the balls, punch him in the face, or perhaps simply the opportunity to yell obscene things at Skywalker ranch for a bit is the type of thing that a Star Wars or Indiana Jones fan would treasure forever.

I hope this helps make gift giving a bit easier.

Happy Holidays or lack there of!

Christmas Movies that I don't hate

Most of the time I save my holiday specials till the day of the actual event, yet for Christmas I found I had to do something different. Right now it seems like a lot of places are playing an almost constant stream of Christmas movies, and that would be all well and good if they were bothering to play halfway decent movies, but they are not.

I thought it would be fun to sit all the way through one of these Lifetime, Hallmark, or ABC family specials just to write a scathing review, but I couldn't even sit though them. During this season it's ok for things to be a bit sappy, we all want to see the couple get together in the end or see a family come back together but bad Christmas movies take it to an extreme. At the same time I don't want to see familys that are suffering too much, I don't want to see depressing movies, and I don't want to see things that are too far fetched.

In a veritable sea of bad Christmas movies I felt it my duty to point out that there are some good Christmas movies. You can have a movie that is sentimental without being maudlin, you can have a movie be funny without it being stupid, and you can have something that is actually fun for the whole family to watch. The list I have provided you with should safely guide you through the holiday season, without having to watch something awful.

I present to you a list of my favorite Christmas movies.

First and foremost there are fantastic Christmas classics that never get old. I'm not even going to bother writing descriptions here, if you have never seen these you need to get out and do so immediately.

"White Christmas." skip this only if you can't stand musicals.
"Miracle on 34th Street" (1947)
"It's a Wonderful Life"
"A Christmas Story" ok so this ones more of a modern Christmas Classic, but I feel it's going to stand the test of time.

A Christmas movie for the Kids

"A Muppet Christmas Carol"
The title realy says it all. You have Charles Dickens classic story A Christmas Carol, interpreted with the humor of the muppets. I loved it when I was a kid and I still think it's funny.

Family Friendly Christmas Comedy

"Christmas Vacation"

It is the quintessential tale of what happens when everything that can possibly go wrong at Christmas goes wrong. There are crazy relatives, a father that is way too overzealous in his decorating plans, trouble with the boss from work, and a few issues with wild animals. It is hands down my favorite of the "Vacation" series with Chevy Chase. This is the movie to watch if you have to deal with a crazy family this season.

"Elf"

Ok, ok so most people have seen this one it came out fairly recently. But it doesn't mean that it's not a good movie. Will Farrell is adorable in this movie, as a man who grew up thinking he was an elf. Buddy goes off to the US in search of his true identity. It's a really sweet and enjoyable story, but it managed to keep from getting overly sentimental. It's kind of goofy but it will definitely make you feel the Christmas Spirit.

The Christmas Romantic Comedies

"All I Want for Christmas"

This is the story of two kids who wand to get their divorced parents back together for Christmas. I know I know it sounds like one of the sappy lifetime movies, but it's very well done. The kids cook up a crazy plot, hilarity ensues, and in the end everyone wins. It has a really great cast featuring a young Thora Birch, Ethan Embry (that kid from Dutch), Kevin Nealon as the unlikeable man the mother is currently engaged to, and the always fabulous Lauren Bacall.

"Love Actually"

A bunch of intertwining love stories set around Christmas time. It's a cute movie with a phenomenal cast. Most of you have heard of it or even seen it, but as far as romantic Christmas movies go this is as good as it gets.

Also keep an eye on Hugh Grants tie during a scene where he is dancing around, it's the same color but they purposely changed the pattern in each shot.

If you feel like laughing at a Christmas Movie not with it.

"Babes in Toyland" (1986 version)

Keanu Reeves and Drew Barrymore in a crappy made for tv Christmas movie, thats right it actually exists. A young Drew Barrymore gets into a car accident and is taken away to Toyland where she has to stop an arranged marriage between Mary Contrary and the evil Barnaby Barnacle. naturally Mary Contrary's true love is Jack Be Nimble played by Keanu. Oh did I forget to mention that they meet Santa, who is played by Pat Morita aka Mr Miyagi. There are some slightly catchy songs, but overall this is a pretty terrible movie. Oh did I fail to mention this was also a musical.

This movie has gone so far wrong that it is actually kind of enjoyable to watch. I put this here for people who like to make fun of bad movies, but still wanted to feel the Christmas Spirit. I recommend loading up on eggnog before attempting to watch Babes in Toyland.

Here is a Trailer to give you a better idea of what "Babes in Toyland" is about.