I just know many of you out there are scrambling to catch up on your holiday gift giving. This article's for you.
You'd think with all the talk of streaming that DVDs would be quickly going the way of the Edsel. But not so fast, my friends.
Speaking as someone who owns a sizable DVD library (I'm almost embarrassed to tell you how many titles), I still see significant value in these shiny little discs.
Beyond the practical issue that many movies are still not available to stream (or even if they are, they don't look as good and are prone to glitches), there is something to be said for owning the movies you really love.
Personally, I enjoy wandering over to the DVD shelves and just scanning my library... Sometimes I see something I totally forgot I had, and out it comes for a viewing,
You'll lend the special DVDs you own to your friends, and they'll love you for it. You'll find you resort to them when nothing else is on, and you don't feel like hassling with on-demand.
And of course, they're easy to store and relatively cheap to buy- these days, often less than the cost of a movie ticket.
The industry has made a business out of grouping films by star or genre, and what bugs me is that in too many cases, they'll throw in a dog with several other great titles. I don't buy these "sets" on principle, since I believe each movie in them should stand on its own.
Anyway, you don't need to go the prepackaged route. Using bestmoviesbyfarr.com, it's easy to put together customized sets of outstanding, evergreen DVDs based on the particular tastes of those on your shopping list.
In that spirit, I've put together just a few suggested combinations, spanning old and new releases, which I hope will inspire you as we close in on the holidays.
Happy shopping!
By Star and Director
Cary Grant Comedy- The Awful Truth, Bringing Up Baby, His Girl Friday
Killer Cagney: The Public Enemy, Yankee Doodle Dandy, White Heat
Bette's Best: The Little Foxes, Now, Voyager, All About Eve
Paul Newman: Hud, Cool Hand Luke, The Verdict
Early Hitchcock: The 39 Steps, The Lady Vanishes, Notorious
Hitch In Color: Rear Window, Vertigo, North By Northwest
John Ford: Stagecoach, The Grapes Of Wrath, My Darling Clementine
Peter Sellers: The Pink Panther, Dr. Strangelove, Being There
Jane Fonda: Klute, Julia, The China Syndrome
Robert De Niro: Taxi Driver, The Deer Hunter, Goodfellas
Al Pacino: The Godfather, Dog Day Afternoon, The Insider
Brad Pitt: Seven, Snatch, The Tree Of Life
George Clooney: Out Of Sight, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Michael Clayton
Meryl Streep: Kramer Versus Kramer, Sophie's Choice, The Hours
Kate Winslet: Sense and Sensibility, Finding Neverland, Little Children
Woody Allen: Love and Death, Manhattan, Hannah and Her Sisters
Francis Ford Coppola: The Conversation, Apocalypse Now Redux, Bram Stoker's Dracula
Clint Eastwood: Unforgiven, Mystic River, Letters From Iwo Jima
By Genre
Screwball Comedies: It Happened One Night, My Man Godfrey, Midnight
Period Drama: Gaslight, Howard's End, The King's Speech
Contemporary Drama: In The Bedroom, Doubt, Frozen River
Family Favorites: ET: The Extra-Terrestrial, The Little Vampire, Millions
Animated: Bambi, The Iron Giant, Ratatouille
Best Westerns: Shane, 3:10 To Yuma, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Classic War Pictures: The Guns Of Navarone, Where Eagles Dare, The Great Escape
Contemporary War Pictures: Platoon, The Thin Red Line, The Hurt Locker
Action Classics: Bullitt, Dirty Harry, The French Connection
Mystery/Suspense: Double Indemnity, Charade, All The President's Men
Documentaries: The Mystery of Picasso, Man On Wire, Inside Job
Classic Musicals: Top Hat, Singin' In The Rain, Oklahoma!
Concert Films: Gimme Shelter, The Last Waltz, Stop Making Sense.
By Country
Australia: Walkabout, Breaker Morant, Animal Kingdom
England/UK: The Red Shoes, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Another Year
Germany: Metropolis, Nowhere In Africa, Downfall
Italy: Rome Open City, Amarcord, Mid-August Lunch
Russia: Battleship Potemkin, Solaris, Taxi Blues
Japan: Seven Samurai, Tampopo, Still Walking
Looking for top movie recommendations? For over 2,300 of the best movies on DVD, visit www.bestmoviesbyfarr.com
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