Holiday Gift Guides

I think I see your problem. You have this list. It’s a list of people you need/want to buy a Christmas gift for. The trouble is that they’re into home theatre, and you don’t know Star Trek from Star Wars. You couldn’t tell a Wolf Man from a Wolverine. And you always thought that Paranormal Activity was something too kinky to talk about. Fortunately, Upcomingdiscs has come to the rescue every Christmas with our Gift Guide Spotlights. Keep checking back to see more recommendations for your holiday shopping. These gift guides ARE NOT paid advertisements. We take no money to publish them. How about a 4K restoration of the classic Howards End?

“Word of advice: don’t take up a sentimental attitude over the poor.”

I think I see your problem. You have this list. It’s a list of people you need/want to buy a Christmas gift for. The trouble is that they’re into home theatre, and you don’t know Star Trek from Star Wars. You couldn’t tell a Wolf Man from a Wolverine. And you always thought that Paranormal Activity was something too kinky to talk about. Fortunately, Upcomingdiscs has come to the rescue every Christmas with our Gift Guide Spotlights. Keep checking back to see more recommendations for your holiday shopping. These gift guides ARE NOT paid advertisements. We take no money to publish them. Fox has opened their vaults for the fans of classic movies. It's part of their Cinema Archives Collection on DVD, and we have five of them to recommend to you here:

Western Union (1941)

I think I see your problem. You have this list. It’s a list of people you need/want to buy a Christmas gift for. The trouble is that they’re into home theatre, and you don’t know Star Trek from Star Wars. You couldn’t tell a Wolf Man from a Wolverine. And you always thought that Paranormal Activity was something too kinky to talk about. Fortunately, Upcomingdiscs has come to the rescue every Christmas with our Gift Guide Spotlights. Keep checking back to see more recommendations for your holiday shopping. These gift guides ARE NOT paid advertisements. We take no money to publish them. Let's take a look at what Paramount has to offer in the television on Blu-ray department.

by Brent Lorentson

I think I see your problem. You have this list. It’s a list of people you need/want to buy a Christmas gift for. The trouble is that they’re into home theatre, and you don’t know Star Trek from Star Wars. You couldn’t tell a Wolf Man from a Wolverine. And you always thought that Paranormal Activity was something too kinky to talk about. Fortunately, Upcomingdiscs has come to the rescue every Christmas with our Gift Guide Spotlights. Keep checking back to see more recommendations for your holiday shopping. These gift guides ARE NOT paid advertisements. We take no money to publish them. You should not just be considering home video for that special person on your shopping list. This time of the year Jimmy Stewart often comes to mind. Of course, there's the annual classic showings of It's A Wonderful Life. But Jimmy Stewart was more than an Academy Award-winning actor. He was a bomber pilot during World War II. Stewart didn't like to talk about his service and so most of us know very little about those days.

Now Robert Matzen has written Mission: Jimmy Stewart And The Fight For Europe. It's a wonderful (pardon the pun) look at those days of heroic service. Matzen takes us inside of Stewart's own thoughts and feelings thanks to interviews with surviving brothers in arms. He's scoured Stewart's own words and the histories that exist out there. This is a Jimmy Stewart so much like the man we remember from the movies, yet so much more complicated and courageous. This is a fascinating read. I'm going to be talking with the author next week and I can't wait to share that chat with all of you here. In the meantime, you might want to check this book out to round out your Christmas shopping lists. I'm reading it now and it's been hard to put down. Now you know why I'm falling behind on my work here. I'm going to be telling you more soon.

I think I see your problem. You have this list. It’s a list of people you need/want to buy a Christmas gift for. The trouble is that they’re into home theatre, and you don’t know Star Trek from Star Wars. You couldn’t tell a Wolf Man from a Wolverine. And you always thought that Paranormal Activity was something too kinky to talk about. Fortunately, Upcomingdiscs has come to the rescue every Christmas with our Gift Guide Spotlights. Keep checking back to see more recommendations for your holiday shopping. These gift guides ARE NOT paid advertisements. We take no money to publish them.

Let's deal with that home video collector who is also into the toe-tappin' sound of classic Motown music.

I think I see your problem. You have this list. It’s a list of people you need/want to buy a Christmas gift for. The trouble is that they’re into home theatre, and you don’t know Star Trek from Star Wars. You couldn’t tell a Wolf Man from a Wolverine. And you always thought that Paranormal Activity was something too kinky to talk about. Fortunately, Upcomingdiscs has come to the rescue every Christmas with our Gift Guide Spotlights. Keep checking back to see more recommendations for your holiday shopping. These gift guides ARE NOT paid advertisements. We take no money to publish them. This Christmas season is the time to give the gift of 4K. Shout Factory has found the perfect movies to allow your special someone to see the true potential of 4K. Bringing IMAX films to the format is a stroke of genius. The short running times allow for very high bit-rates, and the IMAX source material provides for a higher resolution film source than standard 35mm. They also allow you to give 4K titles at a pretty low price. Combine all of these things and this one is a no-brainer for that home entertainment tech on your Christmas list.

The documentary was financed by Pacific Life. They’re a good choice, as they have incorporated the whales into their logo for years. It’s narrated by Ewan McGregor. The IMAX cameras take us on a journey to three important stops in the humpback’s 10,000-mile roundtrip migration across the planet. In Alaska the whales feed. In the more tropical waters they mate and eventually give birth, and the cameras are there. No footage has ever been taken of humpbacks actually mating, but we do get to see the courtship. We get to see a mother caring for her baby, which is already 14 feet long at birth. The film is loaded with field footage including their dramatic leaps into the air. And let’s not forget the songs. This film certainly didn’t forget anything.  Forty minutes of spectacular footage of humpback whales.

I think I see your problem. You have this list. It’s a list of people you need/want to buy a Christmas gift for. The trouble is that they’re into home theatre, and you don’t know Star Trek from Star Wars. You couldn’t tell a Wolf Man from a Wolverine. And you always thought that Paranormal Activity was something too kinky to talk about. Fortunately, Upcomingdiscs has come to the rescue every Christmas with our Gift Guide Spotlights. Keep checking back to see more recommendations for your holiday shopping. These gift guides ARE NOT paid advertisements. We take no money to publish them. We shine our first spotlight on two great gift ideas from Universal Studios.

Just in time for the holidays, Universal offers The Gregory Peck Centennial Collection on Blu-ray. It’s two of Peck’s most important films in restored high definition.  It’s all part of Universal’s celebration of 100 years since Peck’s birth. If you have a classic film fan on your shopping list, this is an easy choice indeed.

I think I see your problem. You have this list. It’s a list of people you need/want to buy a Christmas gift for. The trouble is that they’re into home theatre, and you don’t know Star Trek from Star Wars. You couldn’t tell a Wolf Man from a Wolverine. And you always thought that Paranormal Activity was something too kinky to talk about. Fortunately, Upcomingdiscs has come to the rescue every Christmas with our Gift Guide Spotlights. Keep checking back to see more recommendations for your holiday shopping. These gift guides ARE NOT paid advertisements. We take no money to publish them. A&E/History have sent some cool sets that we'll also be giving away during our 12 Days Of Christmas Giveaways.

Well...here it all is. Every episode of the first eight years including the Deck The Halls Christmas Special. You get 18 DVD's in all so this is a big present for the Duck Dynasty fan who wants to keep all of his ducks in a row. That means hours of Phil, Si, Willie and Jase. That also means hours of terrific guest stars and crazy antics. You can give someone the business...the family business... the Robertson family business, that is.

I think I see your problem. You have this list. It’s a list of people you need/want to buy a Christmas gift for. The trouble is that they’re into home theatre, and you don’t know Star Trek from Star Wars. You couldn’t tell a Wolf Man from a Wolverine. And you always thought that Paranormal Activity was something too kinky to talk about. Fortunately, Upcomingdiscs has come to the rescue every Christmas with our Gift Guide Spotlights. Keep checking back to see more recommendations for your holiday shopping. These gift guides ARE NOT paid advertisements. We take no money to publish them. Maybe someone on your shopping list loves movies and loves books. The best place I can offer you here is the folks at Barron's Educational. I've seen two books from them this shopping season that you really want to check out. The first we've already talked about. The second is for that Dr. Whovian on your Christmas list.

The first thing you need to know is that the book isn't laying the claim that these are the very best films ever made. It merely includes movies that for some reason or another demand to be experienced at least once in your life. Many are included because of the influence they have had on those that came after. And while these films might seem primitive by modern standards, we wouldn't have the modern standards without them. Others are included because of some groundbreaking milestone the film measures in the industry. Many are included because of how much they have invaded our pop culture. The movies span all genres, all nations, and all subjects. Each capsule gives us a short description of the film and a brief presentation of the reasons for its inclusion here. The capsules range from very short paragraphs to two-page spreads. There are 75 contributors, so the writing styles vary considerably. The book includes hundreds of wonderful stills from these films and is one of the more informative books I've encountered in the last decade.

I think I see your problem. You have this list. It’s a list of people you need/want to buy a Christmas gift for. The trouble is that they’re into home theatre, and you don’t know Star Trek from Star Wars. You couldn’t tell a Wolf Man from a Wolverine. And you always thought that Paranormal Activity was something too kinky to talk about. Fortunately, Upcomingdiscs has come to the rescue every Christmas with our Gift Guide Spotlights. Keep checking back to see more recommendations for your holiday shopping. These gift guides ARE NOT paid advertisements. We take no money to publish them. Now we turn our attention to the folks at The Film Detective. You won't need Columbo to work this one out.

"I will talk to you of Art, for there is nothing else to talk about, for there is nothing else... Life is an obscure hobo bumming a ride on the omnibus of Art. Burn gas, buggies, and whip your sour cream of circumstance and hope, and go ahead and sleep your bloody heads off. Creation is, all else is not."