Ok - I had a really hard time shopping for my brother this year. I stressed and stressed over it. My parents literally bought him everything on his list (yes - my mother still asks for Christmas lists), and their budget is larger than mine.
After stressing over what to buy a 21-year-old boy who likes nothing more than a cold beer, it dawned on me - the perfect cop-out gift! No, not a gift certificate to the liquor store - though I did seriously consider it (and am kind of regretting not grabbing one as a stocking stuffer).
Who does not appreciate having their movie collection improved?
And I have great taste in movies.
A couple of DVDs can cost you just over 20$, as much as a nice bottle of wine, but with much more longevity. I personally pride myself on my movie collection, so I appreciate almost all additions to my movie collection.
Almost all. Here are my guidelines for buying movies as gifts:
Unless the gift receiver has indicated a deep personal love of such movies, avoid cartoons and claymation. These movies usually reflect a childhood memory which the person whom you're giving the movie to may not share. Don't give someone Bambi if you don't know if a) they've seen it and b) loved it enough to watch again. And let's be real, Bambi isn't one of those movies.
The AFI Top 100 and Oscar Aware Nominees are safe bets. Not everyone shares the Academy's taste, certainly, but they are "important" movies, so no one will really begrudge owning Taxi or Schindler's List. What kind of person is going to say "oh...award winning films aren't really my thing..."? They may think it - but they wont say it.
Avoid recent releases unless you're quite sure it is something the gift recipient will appreciate. This is all about judgement; for instance, while I loved The Kids are Alright, I opted not to get it for my younger brother.
Don't give movies you haven't seen. The nice thing about receiving a movie as a gift is that you can assume the giver thought about you and your tastes and carefully chose a film they thought or knew you would enjoy. So if you give someone a movie you've never seen, it kind of indicates that you don't give a shit.
I do not give chick flicks. This is just a personal thing. I like to give movies that I think are enduring, and chick flicks just really are not. Classics may be the exception - Pretty Woman and Ghost, for instance (both of which happen to be Oscar nominated, with Whoopi winning Best Supporting Actress!).
I will grant that there are people who don't love movies. My parents, for instance. I gave my dad 12 Angry Men last Christmas, had to bully he and my mum into watching it, and found it had been put in my room for me to take back to school with me afterwards. This is why my dad will be receiving a bottle of wine.
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