Around the holidays, there is a definite divide between the categories of stocking stuffers and full-blown bodacious gifts. For example, a day-by-day calendar of inspirational thoughts is a stocking stuffer. A Lexus with a red ribbon on top is a gasp-inducing gesture of love, appreciation and reckless spending.
Once again, there are minor, afterthought gifts. Then there are lavish, eye-popping presents. And never the twain shall meet.
Oh really?
In the domain of DVDs, these categories are intact, but the separation is more vague. A gift-giver can buy one movie for a friend as a small token of affection. Or that same bestower can dig into his or her pocket a little deeper and spring for the “special edition,” or the “director’s cut” or even the “two-disk collector’s edition.”
Then it gets interesting as you climb the product ladder. There are boxed sets, super-duper special editions, repackaged films with souvenir booklets and other variations designed to entice the buyer into shelling out enough to stray beyond the cheapo world of the stocking-stuffers and into the realm of big-fat-kiss-on-the-lips gratitude.
New releases for acquaintances, box sets for loved ones
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with stocking-stuffers, especially for you office types forced into participating in a holiday grab bag. The ideal gift for someone you don’t really care about is a recently released DVD that audiences far and wide care about, such as “Mission: Impossible III,” “The Da Vinci Code,” “Nacho Libre,” “Cars,” “Miami Vice” (the Michael Mann film, not the pastel-obsessed series from the ‘80s, although that’s available, too), “World Trade Center,” “The Devil Wears Prada,” “All The King’s Men,” “Little Miss Sunshine,” “You, Me and Dupree” or “Saw 2,” the last being especially apropos for holiday get-togethers in which co-workers watch while imagining what they’d like to give their bosses.
Be careful about anything marked “special edition” or any variation, because usually it means another reconstituted version with never-before-seen extras is being slapped together at this very moment for future distribution. But among the more impressive releases around this holiday season include the “deluxe extended edition” of Peter Jackson’s “King Kong,” with over six hours of new special features (told ya); “Scarface” platinum edition, with enough Tony Montana goodies to delight any loved one’s inner drug kingpin; and the 15th anniversary edition of Quentin Tarantino’s “Reservoir Dogs.”
Specialty boxed sets are available that cover a wide variety of favorites. Some of the more notable ones to recently hit shelves include “The Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton Film Collection,” including a two-disk special edition of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”; “The Paul Newman Collection,” with seven pictures including “Harper” and “The Young Philadelphians”; “Preston Sturges: The Filmmaker Collection,” which includes his two masterpieces, “Sullivan’s Travels” and “The Lady Eve”; “Superman Ultimate Collector’s Edition,” a back-breaking 14-disk set that includes Richard Donner’s long-awaited cut of “Superman II”; and “Forbidden Hollywood,” a collection of pre-Code films (prior to 1934) in all their naughty magnificence.
TV shows more popular than ever
This year, perhaps more than ever, television shows on DVD are capturing the fancy of home entertainment enthusiasts, probably because just about every movie you can think of has been out already in some form or another.
Among the stars in this particular category around the holidays surely will be “Saturday Night Live: The Complete First Season,” with the original cast of the once-legendary but now anemic late-night comedy series that included Chevy Chase, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Garrett Morris, Laraine Newman, Gilda Radner and Jane Curtin. That set includes the original screen tests for the show, which are funny in their own right.
Just about every TV show you can think of is now available on DVD, including many in the “CSI” series; “Beavis and Butthead: The Mike Judge Collection”; “The OC”; “Seinfeld: Season 7” (Michael Richards in better days); plus many, many golden oldies, including “Hogan’s Heroes,” “Gomer Pyle,” “The Andy Griffith Show” and the first season of the original “Mission: Impossible.”
There’s an old saying in the industry: It’s not TV, it’s HBO. And indeed, that cable channel has produced a special brand of television series that brings a particular sparkle to the eye of boob-tube junkies. In particular, the holidays bring new sets that include “Big Love: The Complete First Season,” “The Sopranos: Season Six, Part 1” and “Entourage: The Complete Second Season.” Also, just in time to capitalize on the Sacha Baron Cohen “Borat” frenzy is the complete series collection of “Da Ali G Show.”
And for that special someone consumed with one-hour dramas that revolve around life in a funeral home, HBO has put out the complete works of “Six Feet Under,” a hefty cube of conflict encompassing the series’ entire run complete with a little tuft of fake grass on top to approximate a cemetery plot.
Of course, the granddaddy of boxed sets for television this season has to be “Homicide: Life On The Street: Complete Series Megaset,” a preposterously large package shaped like a file cabinet drawer that contains 122 episodes on 35 disks. It also has loads of extras, including three “Law and Order” crossover episodes and lots of commentary and interviews. It qualifies as a stocking stuffer only if we’re talking about Paul Bunyan’s stocking.
Gifts for snobs, WWII buffs and kidsIf you know someone who wears a beret, corrects your grammar and refuses to drink wine that comes in a box, you know a bona fide snob. But usually such a person has highbrow taste in movies, or at least fakes it.
When buying for such an individual, or just for folks who enjoy classic films, the Criterion Collection is a wise area in which to begin. This holiday season some of its highlights include “Pandora’s Box,” a superb German film from the silent era directed by G.W. Pabst and starring Louise Brooks; Krzysztof Kieslowski’s “The Double Life Of Veronique”; Carol Reed’s “The Fallen Idol,” a collaboration with novelist Graham Greene; and a new packaging of the acclaimed 1976 Maysles Brothers documentary, “Grey Gardens,” complete with a new “sequel” put together partly with lost footage, “The Beales of Grey Gardens.”
But while Criterion Collection is the leader in its field, it doesn’t have a monopoly on snooty fare. Two other excellent releases are a deluxe collector’s edition of Federico Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita,” put out by Koch Lorber, a sizeable three-disk set with tons of extra features and some collectibles; “Swept Away,” also by KL (the brilliant Lina Wertmuller original, not the putrid Madonna remake); and “Pride and Prejudice,” the 10th anniversary limited edition collector’s set of the BBC miniseries from the Jane Austen novel (whew!) starring Colin Firth, courtesy of A&E Home Video.
For the World War II buff in your midst, there are hours of educational enjoyment packed into “The History Channel Ultimate Collections: World War II,” a fat boxed set containing a total of 892 minutes of footage from 30 different documentaries.
If there’s a kid or two you want to keep quiet, er, keep entertained, then consider some of the many DVDs geared for that small-fry clientele. Some of the better titles include Disney releases like “Robin Hood: Most Wanted Edition,” “The Little Mermaid: Two-Disk Special Edition” and “Walt Disney Legacy Collection: True Life Adventures” as well as the non-Disney “Ice Age: The Meltdown.” For the tiny tykes, there’s “Meet Blue’s Baby Brother” and “Sesame Street: The Best of Elmo.” Another good choice is “Cars,” assuming the youngsters can rip it away from their parents.
Last but not least comes “It’s A Wonderful Life: 60th Anniversary Edition.” Hey, it’s the holidays. You’ve probably been celebrating with George Bailey just about every year. It’s time you had a pristine new version and some featurettes to go with it.