If you’re looking to stuff the stocking of a film-loving buddy this season or maybe just looking to add a few things to your list, you’re in luck. We’ve put together a gift guide just for movie lovers, film buffs, and people who still rue the day MoviePass went kaput.
We’ve also got other gift guides coming later this week for TV fans, music nerds, gamers, bookworms, and cool kids. So stay tuned, and start shopping.
For Promotional Use Only: A Catalog Of Hollywood Movie Swag And Promo Merch 1975-2005, $52
A24 recently struck digital gold with “One Man’s Trash,” an auction of promotional items that included such oddities as a Twister tie and a Reservoir Dogs-branded plastic ear. That auction has since closed, but if you were outbid on the Parent Trap fanny pack of your dreams, there is a consolation prize: For Promotional Use Only: A Catalog Of Hollywood Movie Swag And Promo Merch 1975-2005. With a foreword by Roger Corman and swag scholarship from Lindsay Zoladz and Caroline Golum, it’s a deadpan monument to the most disposable elements of film culture, collecting all the items from the auction into a sumptuously photographed coffee-table book so you can really appreciate all the detail on that Fatal Attraction paperclip holder. [Katie Rife]
Warped & Faded: Weird Wednesday And The Birth Of The American Genre Film Archive, $35
If you’ve reached the age where you go on rants about how back in your day, when you wanted to watch an obscure movie you had to mail a money order to some shady PO Box to maybe get a package of bootleg DVD-Rs six to eight weeks later, the new book Warped & Faded: Weird Wednesday And The Birth Of The American Genre Film Archive will be a potent nostalgia trip. Featuring a six-part oral history of the Alamo Drafthouse’s Weird Wednesday series—ground zero for deep-cut genre cinema in the 2000s—as well as essays on Weird Wednesday mainstays by those who were there, the book serves equally well as a primer on exploitation culture for young cinephiles who don’t know how easy they have it. [Katie Rife]
Ghostbusters Plasma Series Spengler’s Proton Pack, $399.99
A shining example of replica work, Hasbro Pulse’s new Plasma Series Ghostbusters Proton Pack is absolutely awe-inducing for anyone who’s spent almost 40 years dreaming of becoming Egon Spengler. This full-scale replica was made from 3-D scans of the packs in the original movies, scanned straight from the props at Sony. It’s got lights, sounds, and a motor, so it seems like it actually works, and can be used in two modes: 1984 Ghostbusters mode or 2021 Ghostbusters: Afterlife mode. Interested parties can open the cyclotron and poke around, and can also pop for a collectible, attachable neutrona wand because, c’mon, you’ve got to have that. Act quickly, though! These are only available through December 12. [Marah Eakin]
At The Movies tee, $35
Let’s say there’s someone in your life with whom you have a friendly, but antagonistic relationship. Sometimes, you’re in complete agreement, shouting over the din of a crowded bar about how you’re the only two people with any taste in this godforsaken world. Other times, your debates can get ... a little lively. Still, you respect them, even when they’re wrong. Say all that without saying a word by giving this person a T-shirt commemorating the long-running movie review show Siskel & Ebert At The Movies, featuring the famous frenemies posing as awkwardly as only film critics can. [Katie Rife]
Godzilla Signature Coffee three pack, $50
Mornings got you feeling like an enormous kaiju hellbent on destroying Tokyo? Godzilla Signature Coffee is here to help. The coffee is available in three blends—King Ghidorah’s medium roast Planet X Blend, Rodan’s light roast Mount Aso Blend, and Godzilla’s dark roast Odo Island Blend. They’re available individually, because everyone’s got their favorite kaiju, or as a triple threat trio. After all, nothing soothes the savage beast like a good cup of joe. [Marah Eakin]
Paul Thomas Anderson: Masterworks, $40
Every new Paul Thomas Anderson film is an event, and with Licorice Pizza scheduled to open wide on Christmas Day, there’s a good chance that the cinephile in your life has PTA on the brain. Since 2018, former A.V. Club contributor Adam Nayman has been releasing a series of illustrated monographs on popular American film directors. And although Paul Thomas Anderson: Masterworks isn’t his latest book—that would be David Fincher: Mind Games, out this week—it is probably the best bet in terms of what the Film Twitter denizen on your list is into right now. [Katie Rife]
Licorice Pizza original motion picture soundtrack red LP, $38.98
Looking for a companion gift to go along with the PTA book? Consider Republic Records’ limited edition pressing of the Licorice Pizza soundtrack. Though the movie won’t be available nationwide until Christmas Day, a special red pressing of the LP hits shelves on December 10. You can pre-order it now from the store near you—or any indie that ships—and psych yourself up for the movie by grooving to the sweet sounds of Nina Simone, Paul McCartney and Wings, and Bing Crosby. Maybe consider picking up the latest Haim record too, while you’re at it. [Marah Eakin]
A LEGO Home Alone play set, $249.99
Merry Christmas, you filthy animals. Celebrate the face-smashing glory of Home Alone this season with this almost 4,000 piece LEGO set that lets you build Kevin McAllister’s home/fortress. Complete with Minifigures of Kevin and the Wet Bandits, this set is filled with tiny references to the movie, from Kevin’s bottle of shocking aftershave to Harry and Marv’s Oh-Kay plumbing van. Zipline over to Kevin’s treehouse! Watch Harry take an iron to the face! Watch as faux-Michael Jordan takes a spin atop Kevin’s toy train. It’s all there, and it’s glorious. [Marah Eakin]
Columbia’s Boba Fett hoodie, $120
A fleece hoodie that was just launched as part of Columbia’s new Star Wars-inspired line of products, this Boba Fett hoodie is a stylish wink at the galaxy’s most famous bounty hunter. With an adjustable hood and Fett-inspired details, it’ll leave you warm and cozy, even for those nights you’re trapped in the cargo hold. If you’re looking for even more Fett-wear, Columbia also just released a Star Wars-inspired tee, hat, and an incredible outdoor jacket that’s just packed with dorky details. [Marah Eakin]