‘95 Gift Guide Video: Cue It For Christmas
When it comes to Christmas, my idea of a decent gift combines quality with frugality - and, of course, has something to do with movies.
For example, classic movies never go out of style. There are movies that I can’t see enough. “Shane,” for example, or “The Magnificent Seven.” “Casablanca” or “The Maltese Falcon.” “Doctor Zhivago” or “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
Almost any of these films can be found locally, with a wide range in price. One of the first great ensemble action films, “The Great Escape” (1963, MGM/UA, 173 minutes) is the based-in-fact story of a group of Allied soldiers breaking out of a German prisoner-of-war camp. It features early performances by Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson, James Coburn and others.
“Hoop Dreams” (1994, New Line, 176 minutes) is a riveting documentary about the contrasting experiences of two Chicago prep basketball players. Director Steve James takes us into the worlds of William Gates and Arthur Agee and brilliantly explores the struggles that face those whose ZIP codes reflect an inner-city address.
If you’re confused by the vast array of video offerings on the shelves of your neighborhood store, you might need help. There are a number of video-related books available for cutrate prices.
One of my favorites is “The Entertainment Weekly Guide to the Greatest Movies Ever Made” (Time Warner, 341 pages, $13.99 paperback). This book tries to provide answers to the two questions most commonly asked of critics: “What’s your favorite movie?” and “What do you think I should rent this weekend?”
Taken from the pages of Entertainment Weekly magazine, it offers well-written, thoughtful capsule reviews of more than 1,000 different movies in nine different categories (and a 10th listing of laserdisc favorites). It also includes various movie miscellany (“Wacky Packages,” for example, includes “The Victor Frankenstein Homage Body-Parts Box” (“The Hand,” “Claire’s Knee,” “Cold Feet,” “The Belly of an Architect”).
While almost any movie fan can, and probably will, debate the films not included (No “The Great Escape”? Nothing by David Lean?), this book truly lives up to its promise of being a book that “could actually be taken to the video store.”
Two final bits of advice when going video shopping:
1. Be careful of package editions that aren’t big-studio imprints (Columbia TriStar, Fox, Warner’s, Paramount, etc.). They often boast shoddy reproduction values.
2. Bargains can be found at virtually any store. The key is to shop around.
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