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
Bogart: The Maltese Falcon, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The African Queen
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
Contemporary Comedies: Sideways, Juno, Superbad
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
Sci-Fi: 2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, Aliens
Horror: The Bride of Frankenstein, The Exorcist, 28 Days Later
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
France: The Rules of The Game, Small Change, A Christmas Tale
Germany: Metropolis, Nowhere In Africa, Downfall
Italy: Rome Open City, Amarcord, Mid-August Lunch
Russia: Battleship Potemkin, Solaris, Taxi Blues
India: The Music Room, Shakespeare Wallah, Monsoon Wedding
Japan: Seven Samurai, Tampopo, Still Walking
Korea: Why Has Bodhi- Dharma Left...?, A Tale Of Two Sisters, Secret Sunshine
China: Raise The Red Lantern, Farewell My Concubine, Last Train Home
Looking for top movie recommendations? For over 2,300 of the best movies on DVD, visit www.bestmoviesbyfarr.com
To see John's videos for WNET/Channel 13, go to www.reel13.org
Follow John on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/BMBFarr
Follow John Farr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/BMBFarr
no Casablanca?
no West Side Story?
no The Grapes of Wrath?
no Lawrence of Arabia, or Dr. Zhivago?
no Ordinary People, or Jeremiah Johnson?
should have inncluded some david lean- you're right!
also love "ordinary"- think "jeremiah" is solid but not absolutely the greatest as westerns go.
I realize 'Jeremiah' isn't the penultimate western, but it's very different and not as cliche.
'Red River' or 'Stagecoach' could also be considered - as could 'Blazing Saddles'
'Young Frankenstein'???
Strikes me that 'Gone With the Wind' is also missing - although I've never really liked the movie - too melodramatic acting for my taste.
'Red Badge of Courage' and 'All Silent on the Western Front' are two good anti-war war movies as well - perhaps better books.
A few compulsively watchable movies I'd add:
A Hard Day's Night
The Shop Around the Corner
The Shawshank Redemption
Seven Days in May
Godfather II
The Best Years of Our Lives
The Sting
The Lion in Winter
And, if Santa's reading, I'd like a copy of Brannagh's Henry V -- I just love watching good actors acting good, and this movie has one of the very best casts ever assembled. Toss in Pacino's Looking for Richard, and you've got a very accessible Shakespeare double feature for that lazy day after Christmas.
To John and all the regulars who comment on his page through the year: A Cinerama Christmas and a technicolor New Year!
China: Raise the Red Lantern..even decades later still sticks with me..so sad and disturbing.
For Italy, I'd have to go way back to Visconti(?)..and that generation of Bicycle Thief and Shoeshine..but must check out those names you've listed.
One final question..Did you mean "Alien" or Aliens (the sequel). I think the original was singular...oh heck..what do I know.
Be well.
And I would have added a silent section with a Keaton, a Gish and a Fairbanks film.
those are the movies truly worth owning!