The average cinephile has serious opinions about the movies they love. They picked hard-and-fast allegiances during the great Barbenheimer war of 2023. They scrutinize their friends' DVD collections or evangelize about the benefits of physical media if those friends no longer own discs. They regularly share their Criterion Channel login so you can check out this 10-hour black-and-white Japanese war epic that will change your life.
So it might seem like a high-pressure assignment to find the perfect gift for a movie buff, but give them something that's film-centric and gives them a sense of personal curation, and they'll swoon.
OPPOSABLE THUMBS
Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert spent years bickering about movies on the small screen, and their thumbs up/thumbs down rating system made them cultural icons. Matt Singer's new book Opposable Thumbs: How Siskel & Ebert Changed Movies Forever is not only a dual biography of the critics, it's a history of their scrappy show, a portrait of a rivalry that developed into a prickly friendship, and a look at the ways in which they used their platform to bring mainstream attention to the art of film criticism. The movie lover on your list is sure to give it two thumbs up. $29 • Available at Auntie's Bookstore, Wishing Tree Books, The Well Read Moose
SPOKANE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL PASS
The lineup for 2024's Spokane International Film Festival hasn't been announced yet, but that's actually going to be a selling point for a lot of film fans. Adventurous moviegoers get a kick out of walking into a theater totally cold, and giving them a full festival pass is almost like presenting them with a fun challenge: See as many movies as you possibly can. SpIFF 2024 runs Feb. 9-16 and will offer both in-person and virtual screenings. If past events are an indicator, it will include screenings on local screens like the Magic Lantern and Bing Crosby theaters. $75-$125 • spokanefilmfestival.org/festival/tickets
GARLAND THEATER ANNUAL PASS
Movie geeks tend to be for the theatrical experience, especially the experience of visiting a grand old movie palace. Built in 1945, the Garland Theater is a jewel of the cinematic past, the sort of one-screen, art-deco movie house that's an endangered species these days. Buying an annual Garland pass upfront means you don't need to pay admission for regular screenings of new movies, family-friendly classics and cult favorites. Plus, the adjoining Bon Bon bar is the ideal place for a spirited after-movie discussion. $75 • Garland Theater • 924 W. Garland Ave., Spokane
VINYL MOVIE SOUNDTRACKS
Any discerning cinephile will tell you that the art of the soundtrack has been something of a lost one — at least, until recently. The soundtrack to the year's biggest hit, Barbie, not only features new songs by pop superstars Dua Lipa, Charli XCX and Billie Eilish, it's also got the Ryan Gosling-sung rager "I'm Just Ken." And the pièce de résistance? It's all pressed on pink wax, of course. Daniel Pemberton's score for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is as jazzy and genre-defying as its accompanying visuals, and it's now available on orange- and purple-marbled vinyl. Alexander Payne's The Holdovers is set in vinyl's original heyday, and its recent soundtrack release includes early '70s classics and vintage Christmas favorites. And Dreamin' Wild, one of the most high-profile Spokane-shot films of recent years, has also got a groove-worthy soundtrack, which boasts new and old recordings from Donnie, Joe and Nancy Emerson. If your local record store of choice doesn't have these in stock, they can most definitely order a copy for you — consider 4,000 Holes, Bigfoot Records, Resurrection Records, or the Long Ear in Coeur d'Alene. Prices vary
HORROR MOVIE SURVIVAL BOARD GAMES
Is your resident film fan also a horror fan? Then no doubt they've spent time devising hypothetical exercises about how well they'd fare in the environments of their favorite terror flicks. It makes sense, then, that the board game market has glommed onto the horror movie genre like a facehugger. The Alien board game lets you pretend you're on the crew of the doomed ship Nostromo. The game inspired by 1974's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre has players work together so they don't end up on Leatherface's dinner table. John Carpenter's 1982 classic The Thing has a hefty board counterpart that allows for up to eight players, with one of them secretly taking on the role as a shapeshifting creature. It inspires the same question the film did — how well do you truly know your friends? $40-$75 • Uncle's Games • 404 W. Main Ave., Spokane• 14700 E. Indiana Ave., Spokane Valley
MIYAZAKI MEMORABILIA
Sure, Disney has made its share of beloved animated treasures, but even they don't have the pristine track record of Japan's Studio Ghibli and its grandmaster, Hayao Miyazaki. Boo Radley's has a range of products perfect for any Ghibli fan, including a porcelain tea cup covered in characters from 2002's Oscar-winning Spirited Away and wooden chopsticks featuring everything from Totoro to Calcifer from Howl's Moving Castle. And there's also a collection of beautiful plush cover notebooks emblazoned with Ghibli characters, including the cantankerous cat Jiji from Kiki's Delivery Service. $11.95-$32.95 • Boo Radley's • 232 N. Howard St., Spokane ♦
