Great Gifts for Movie Buffs

February 26, 2013

Everybody has a friend who absolutely adores movies. You know how he or she is (I'll call this friend a he for convenience's sake): he knows all the directors of every movie of the last decades, he knows every movie a certain actor has worked in, he shows up at every movie premiere, anxious to see if the reviews did it justice and he pretty much kicks everybody's behind at Mime when the topic of films shows up. Bless their little hearts.

So if you have such a loved one and you want to get him a present he's sure to love, well, you'll find it's not quite a piece of cake because to get something good, you need to know specific interests, specific movies he loves. Well, we searched the web high and wide for something more applicable to most movie buffs, we scratched our heads and scrambled our brains and came up with this list of gifts that we hope will inspire you into getting something awesome for your beloved.

Films from the early days of the cinema

A Trip to the Moon - 1902

Most movie buffs are either already interested in the history of cinema or would love to get into it as beginnings are always fascinating, especially when keeping an eye on the technological process and the artistic feel of those first films. There are plenty of compilations of old films, but here's two we found that seemed the most interesting:

Landmarks of Early Film from Egami is a 2-hour collection of more than 40 movies from the birth of film in 1877 to 1912, and it includes gems like the Edison kinetoscope films from 1894 to 1896, some of the first short films available to the public, and A Trip to the Moon (or Le Voyage dans la Lune) - a 14-minutes French black-and-white silent science fiction film from 1902, loosely based on Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon and H. G. Wells' The First Men in the Moon. This film uses impressive special effects for a silent movie of its time and is considered one of the greatest films of cinema history.

This fantastic peek in the past is a must have and it's available on DVD or online on Amazon Instant Video.

Another fantastic old film is The Jazz Singer from 1927 - the first film with synchronized sound that marked the decline of the silent film and completely mesmerized the audience: Applause followed each of his songs. Excitement built, and when Jolson and Eugenie Besserer began their dialogue scene, "the audience became hysterical." For what kind of movie would an audience react like that nowadays? It's also available in Blu-ray. 

Vintage movie-related decorations

Director's Film Slateboard Clapper

If your friend is an aspiring filmmaker, why not aid him in his work and get him a movie slateboard clapper? Write him heartfelt wishes to encourage him, like "I hope it flunks" or "I don't know who will watch this",  "Director: Tom McFlunkerbert". 

The Sterling Olivier Camera

Decorations with cinematic motifs are eye catching, great conversation pieces to have in the living room - the  vintage camera above with an antique finish and metallic accents is simply striking and it'll make your friend feel fancy and refined. Just add a suit and voila! A perfect '40s cameraman. They were sophisticated back then.

James Wong Howe, a Chinese American cinematographer famous in the 1930-1940s, nominated for 10 Academy Awards for cinematography, winning twice. Source

Some other vintage cameras can be found here and here.

Projectors for movie nights

Source

If you want to really surprise and delight your friend and your wallet is screaming to be relieved of its burden, a projector is that great thing that every movie buff who doesn't have one would surely love to own. And why wouldn't one want to create his own little movie theatre in the comfort of his home?

Projectors are just fantastic for movie nights with friends and family, all gathered on and in front of the sofa with huge bowls of snacks, enjoying a good movie on a big screen.

The web is up to its eyes in projectors of all types and prices, but we did a thorough search for some that are affordable enough to be bought as gifts, but that also offer a high quality image to satisfy your HD-hungry movie lover of a friend.

So we found the Optoma Multimedia Projector on Amazon.

Don't be fooled by its '90s appearance, it's a very capable projector that doesn't need complete darkness to display a clear image, it has a HDMI connection, great contrast, awesome reviews. Really good projectors are over 1000$, but this one does the job well and it's a quality product for a good price.

We even found a projector for 24.998$ with a fantastic discount of 1.99$!  

High quality framed prints/paintings

Our very own Dr. Who in the style of Van Gogh 

To make it special, just go all out - find out exactly what his favourite film is or his favourite movie poster and get the largest quality poster you can find (that fits in your friend's living room, that is), all nicely framed and ready to be hanged.

Commissioning a painting from a local artist or a DeviantArt artist that you fancy would be lovely too, as it's more personal and it encourages artists to continue to mesmerize us with their works.

The Harry Potter trio - "You'll never be alone"

Honorable mentions:

Vintage photo cameras

The Diana F+ Vintage Camera

While old movie cameras are hard to come by and insanely expensive when you do run into one, vintage photo cameras are still a thing, especially with hipsters, let's admit it, and some movie buffs that are interested in cinematography might enjoy playing with a rugged camera and actually taking physical photographs.

Film isn't dead yet, you know. And its end isn't near, as its high quality end result is more than worth preserving. The DIANA F+ camera is a cult legend, a camera that perfectly captures the vintage feel of times long gone on stunning photographs that only film can offer - like the images below.

 Its charm is in the little faults that give the pictures a dreamlike appearance and some unpredictable effects.

There's also a slightly cheaper similar camera, the Holga camera, that doesn't look quite as strikingly vintage, but it has less faults that result in more regular photographs, without the unique little quirks that Diana offers, but it's a matter of taste and both cameras are absolutely fantastic in their own way.

Whenever you're looking for inspiration, you should know you can always check out our Movies & TV Shows Gifts where you'll find gifts for plenty of interests, ranging from Batman or Game of Thrones to Star Wars and Anchorman.

Yours behind the camera,

Corina