Stuff’s Festive Gift Guide: For your monumentally movie-focused mates
Duncan Pike
There was only about 7% of 2023 left the last time we checked. That might not be enough time to finally start those New Year’s resolutions you’re still going to get around to, but it does mean you have time left to find gifts for your friends, family, and close associates. If you, or any of the people on your gift list, are the type that enjoys a trip to the cinema or can’t help but point out that Viggo Mortensen broke two of his toes in that one scene in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, here are some gift ideas to bestow upon them (or yourself, if you’d prefer).
We’ve limited ourselves to only eight items here but if you need more gift guidance for your fervid film fundi friends stop by wherever you get magazines and pick up the new issue of Stuff, (or you could click –>here<– and grab a digital version, saving trees in the process.) It contains an expanded gift guide for this as well as the other categories we’re covering this year. That’s more than double the options for potential gifts so people will finally stop remembering you for that other reason.
2023 Gift Guide – Film Edition
Film lessons from Martin Scorsese
Anyone who considers themselves a movie buff will have seen at least one of Martin Scorsese’s films. They likely possess one or all of them in some format already. They almost certainly don’t own a book containing detailed notes and annotations from the legendary director’s lessons on the art of film. You could change that by gifting them a year’s access to Masterclass. That includes a 4.5-hour course of 30 video lessons by Scorsese himself. When they’re done with that there are several other courses from prominent industry figures like Aaron Sorkin, Hans Zimmer, and James Cameron to dive into. Throw in a few A4 exercise books and they should be set for the year.
Oftentimes, there’s an objectively correct way to do things — where you can look at a thing and say ‘This ain’t it’. That’s the first thing the film fanatics reading this thought when they saw this projector. We hate to burst your bubble, film fanatics, but enjoyment will always be subjective, and watching movies belongs in that camp. Sure, the 320 x 240 resolution isn’t how Chris Nolan intended Oppenheimer to be seen, but we’re almost sure he’d rather you watch it on this than not watch it at all. And watch it on this you can whether that be via the HDMI port or from the totally legal copy on your friend’s USB drive.
The consensus among gift-giving folks usually goes ‘It’s the thought that counts’ or something to that effect. That’s generally understood to mean you don’t have to get an expensive gift for it to mean a lot. But who are we kidding? If we received this Sonos soundbar for Christmas – or any time, really – we won’t be thinking about ‘the thought’. We’ll immediately start to wonder what our favourite movies would sound like coming from this Dolby Atmos-enabled soundbar and its eleven internal drivers. They’re angled so they don’t all blast sound at your face but rather bounce it around the room so it envelops you like a cinematic sonic hug scored by Hans Zimmer.
Do we even need to justify this? Nothing complements sitting down to the latest A24 film in the comfort of your own home than popcorn. Microwave popcorn is certainly easier but there’s something about popcorn at the cinema that hits different. Whether that’s from the relief of finally reaching the front of the queue or the mix of flavours from the popcorn pot that has probably never been washed, we couldn’t say for sure. This is the closest you can get to that at home and just like at the cinema, cleaning it is optional.
It’s great knowing someone with a sweet home cinema setup, especially if they happen to live with you, but constantly nagging them to ‘keep it down’ can get tiring and won’t gain you any favours. What they need is a sweet sound system that blasts audio directly into their ears and their ears only – kinda exactly like this wireless headset from Sennheiser. It’s designed specifically for watching movies at home and hooks up to TVs or A/V receivers via Toslink, RCA, or a 3.5mm connection. Their bass-heavy tuning means your movie-mad mate will still feel every explosion without giving you PTSD from the wars you’ve only experienced through walls.
Stanley Kubrick is widely regarded as one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. We would’ve highlighted his Masterclass in the beginning if he’d lived long enough to record one. Sadly, he did not, so fans who want to know more about the man behind iconic films like The Shining or 2001: A Space Odyssey will have to settle for an old-fashioned book. This one calls itself “the first book to explore Stanley Kubrick’s archives and the most comprehensive study of the filmmaker to date” which should have any Kubrick fan frothing at the mouth.
There must be a word for the feeling you get when you sit down to watch all six remastered extended editions of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies. We’re not sure what it is but we certainly know the word for when you finally stand up some 21 hours later – not that we can repeat it here. If you know someone who does this regularly, there are only two things that can improve the experience for them; a running commentary from Peter Jackson, his production team, and the cast, and making them get up every hour or so to change discs. There’s a total of 30 Blu-ray discs in this boxset so those are going to be some of the best-looking and sounding 21 hours they’ve ever spent in Middle Earth.
What do you get the film fanatic who already has all the film books, a great home cinema, their own authentic cinema popcorn maker, and is personal friends with Martin? Our first thought was their very own Hollywood blockbuster, where they get to yell ‘cut’ and ‘action’ at the top of their voice. Unfortunately, those cost around $65 million to make. This director’s chair can simulate that experience and only costs 0.005% of that. We’d recommend getting earplugs for everyone else.
