by John Devera

Created on: November 15, 2008   Last Updated: April 02, 2012

Movie lovers are a special breed who would rather spend their time watching a musical than a football game, and laugh at jokes about how bad an actor Keannu Reaves is. If you are not a movie buff, then you just don't get it. But that's okay, because it's more of a curse than a blessing. There ARE really much better things to do in the dark than watch a movie, but you won't easily convince a movie buff. The best part of knowing a movie buff is knowing exactly what to get that person. Shopping for a movie buff is a delight.

1. Buy the person the very best DVD/video player you can afford. Quality counts here. If the person is a real cinemaphile he will be able to tell the difference between a good set up and a poor one. I would stay away from the laserdisc and blueray varieties, mostly because the expense of the individual discs and their ease of collecting is not worth the commensurate upgrade in viewing quality. On the other hand, your player is only as good as your television. Technically, tapes are better than DVDs and hold more visual information. On the other hand, DVDs are tons more convenient.

2. On the cheap, buy your film fan a quality disc cleaning and polishing set, and a DVD machine cleaning set. This is something almost everyone seems to neglect, and it doesn't make sense. For the slight cost of a little maintenance, one can keep those tapes or DVDs operating at their original quality for a very long time.

3. If you've got cash burning a hole in your pocket, I would recommend installing a surround sound system. This is not for the faint of heart, and certainly not appropriate as a casual gift. But a kick-ass sound system can transfer a living room into a movie theater better than even the piped in scent of stale buttered popcorn.

4. The perfect gift for a movie buff is a subscription to NETFLIX. Now, I don't want to seem like a total corporate shill or one of those guys who walks around wearing a sandwich sign, but I must was rhapsodic. Netflix allows you to choose a number of DVDs on their website. They will send you the discs. You watch the film and then send them back in handy pre-paid envelopes. You don't even have to lick the envelopes. It is so incredibly convenient that I can't imagine how video rental stores keep in business. If you have to have an immediate fix, you can even watch your films immediately on your computer. When you return the videos they send you the next films on your list. The turn around time is minimal, depending on your

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>