Ho! Ho! Ho! Ya filthy animals!
The Holiday Season is one for families, fuck-offery and generous frivolity, and we here at BMD deemed it appropriate to share what we thought might be great gifts for the weirdo nerds in your life. Being the pop-soaking sponges we are, it was difficult not to dream up those presents we wish were wrapped up under our own trees and bushes, and then hurl them down your fireplace for good measure. Because you're alright, and we're alright, so let's have an alright Christmas together. Alright?
In considering your pocketbook, we made sure to try and keep these ten suggestions at a reasonable price point, because balling on a budget is what we're all about. We've also included links in the titles of all these potential presents, just in case you wanna make an impulse buy or three. But don't break the bank, you gift-giving mongrels...
*****
True Indie: Life and Death in Filmmaking (by: Don Coscarelli)
There are few genre pioneers whose films have remained as intensely personal and staunchly independent as Don Coscarelli's. Now, the Phantasm and Bubba Ho-Tep mastermind is bringing all his stories of grinding away in an industry that didn't necessarily want him to succeed home via one seriously fantastic memoir. In his writing, Don comes off like a warm, loving uncle as he spins cautionary tales of triumph and failure for you to laugh and marvel at, as well as learn from. An essential present for anyone you know who wants to make movie their own way.
Ingmar Bergman's Cinema (by: The Criterion Collection)
30 Discs. 39 Films. Spanning from 1946's Crisis to 1984's After the Rehearsal. If you have a die hard art house cinema fan in your close circle of friends and family, this seems like a stellar (albeit somewhat expensive*) gift for them. The Criterion Collection is dropping the most comprehensive home video set of the Swedish master's filmography (18 of which they haven't distributed until now). Sure, this is a serious "eat your vegtables" filmic present, but boy those vegetables have never looked or tasted this good.
*Though Amazon has it at 50% off the MSRP right now!
Fangoria Vol. 2 (by: Phil Nobile Jr., Meredith Borders & Various Great Writers/Editors at Cinestate)
Support the departed homies during the Holiday Season! If you already picked up Issue #1, then you know Phil and Meredith are doing great work reviving Fangoria, and rumor has it, their next installment is going to be even more eclectic and insightful. Plus, they've already gotten banned from one state's prison system. So, go ahead and get yourself or someone you love a subscription while the getting's still good. If enough folks sign up, maybe we can convince them to drop an issue more than four times a year.
Batman Returns Original Soundtrack (by: Mondo)
There may not be a Batdance on this motherfucker, but Batman Returns still contains some of Danny Elfman's very best work as a composer (slaving away for longtime collaborator Tim Burton). Plus, Returns is one of the phenomenal, oft-overlooked Christmas movies. So, technically speaking, you're buying a collection of holiday tunes when you pick up this 180 gram double-vinyl from the fine folks at Mondo (who have their very own gift guide for you to browse and select from).
Mandy Viewing Party Box (by: Legion M)
This is a cheap stocking stuffer you can give to the metal/horror head in your life (though, strangely enough, the "viewing party box" doesn't come with the actual movie, which you can nab on VOD here). A Cheddar Goblin beanie that you can wear while scarfing a box of the creature's mac and cheese, mini-posters, stills, and temp tattoos? Alright, so that last one is kinda corny, but the rest of this fan package is totally aces. Worth it for the hat alone!
Seduction: Sex, Lies, and Stardom in Howard Hughes's Hollywood (by: Karina Longworth)
Those who regularly listen to Karina Longworth's You Must Remember This podcast already know that she's one of the most essential modern film critics/historians, but her latest book on Howard Hughes' Hollywood is a fascinating dive into sex and scandal. From Moviemaker mag's rather glowing review:
"Seduction slow burns through the assembly, scandal-ridden boot up, white-hot peak functioning years, and dazzling crash landing of the Hollywood machine, and it thrills start to finish. Hughes certainly serves as our focal point, for he was a crucial hinge upon which the gates to the industry swung, but Longworth recedes him into the shadow. The women in his life, often reduced to footnotes in his story and the story of the system, take center stage. What’s rendered is a profile in negative—brought to clarity through an exhaustive piecing together of call logs, manuscripts both published and unpublished, legal depositions, tax filings, gossip column dispatches, correspondence, memoranda, and more."
I've already got a copy sitting on my coffee table. Maybe treat yourself to one while doing your Christmas shopping.
Friday the 13th Knit Sweater (by: Mondo)
If you're gonna commit murder, you might as well do so in comfort and style, so we suggest throwing on this knit sweater, featuring one of the great OG serial killers, Jason Voorhees. Sure, your grandparents may not totally get why you're unwrapping a piece of clothing covered in blood, knives, and chains, but you do. Make mama proud with this exclusive piece of Mondo gear.
De Niro & De Palma: The Early Films (by: Arrow Home Video)
Before he was making steamy, bloody erotic thrillers, Brian De Palma crafted a collection of Godardian protest comedies, which saw the budding auteur raging against a system sending his peers to Vietnam. The Wedding Party, Greetings, and Hi, Mom! are essential entries into one of America's greatest director's body of work, and saw him teaming with a skinny, pre-Travis Bickle Robert De Niro while bringing these chaotic visions to life. Arrow continues to do Criterion-level work, and this is one of the best sets they've ever released.
Ad Nauseam: Newspaper Nightmares From the 1980s (by: Michael Gingold)
In case you missed Andrew's review of Michael Gingold's collection of genre-related newspaper clippings, here's a brief rundown:
"We’re inundated with film art nowadays. Whether it’s concept art collections, large-format compilations of posters, or beautifully-printed custom art, film nerds’ shelves are festooned with books of gorgeous art to be appropriately ogled and celebrated.
Ad Nauseam: Newsprint Nightmares From The 1980s is not one of these books. Former Fangoria editor Michael Gingold's latest instead looks at the other end of the movie-poster spectrum: the black-and-white ads that would fill the entertainment pages of newspapers (back when newspapers were as ubiquitous as iPhones are today). Collected from New York papers of varying reputations over the course of the Reagan era and beyond, they represent a pretty comprehensive cross-section of the horror films released that decade."
This is the perfect bathroom book. I say this from experience, as I've perused it near cover-to-cover while taking many poops at James Shapiro's place.
Birth.Movies.Death. Disney Live-Action Commemorative Issue (by: Birth.Movies.Death.)
Shameless plug time! (You didn't think you'd get away that easy, did you?) What better reading could you ask for during the Holiday Season? Scott on Mondo's Disney prints. Emily on Maleficent. Andrew on the Mouse House's cute animal action (such as Homeward Bound). And so much more! Everyone loves Disney, and you obviously read BMD. So, why not grab you and all your pals an issue right now?
For further shopping delights, make sure to check out the Drafthouse's expansive guide, which includes screenings, gift cards, additional Mondo goodness, and much, much more, right here.