Yesterday I walked into my local supermarket to find they already had a massive Christmas tree up ornamented with gift cards. Yes, it’s quickly approaching “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” and that means gifts to buy, preferably before you find yourself scrambling from store to store in a panic on Christmas Eve.

With that in mind, here are five drool-worthy stocking stuffers for the cinemaphiles in your family, all of them due to be released in the next few weeks.

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1. Frank Sinatra: Concert Collection (November 2, 2010, $54.99 at Amazon)

Get hep to this, man: seven discs containing fourteen hours of TV specials and filmed concerts, with Ol’ Blue Eyes joined by Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Gene Kelly, Antonio Carlos Jobim, John Denver, Bing Crosby, and of course Dino. Four of the specials have never been released, and a host of isolated TV clips are thrown in for good measure. Top it all off with a 44-page booklet chock full of rare photos and scholarly commentary, and the Chairman of the Board is truly back in all his scotch-soaked glory.

The seventh “Bonus Disc” sounds like the perfect thing to have playing in the background while you are decorating your tree: a “Happy Holidays with Bing and Frank” color TV special. (more…)

Opening in conjunction with the Winter Olympics opening ceremonies in Vancouver, “Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief,” brings classical Greece to modern times in a very different way from the Games. It earned a number two U.S. opening spot last weekend, bringing in $31.1 million. 

Much like the Harry Potter series, “The Lightning Thief” thrusts its hero into the midst of a magical world within our own, with mortals coexisting unknowingly with strange beasts. It’s like “Men in Black” with B.C. aliens. Into the delicate balance between the top three gods, Zeus (Sean Bean), Poseidon (Kevin McKidd) and Hades (Steve Coogan), comes a “lightning thief” who steals Zeus’ lightning bolt, the most powerful weapon in the universe. When Zeus pegs Poseidon’s unsuspecting—and innocent—half human/half god son as the culprit, the count-down begins for Poseidon’s son Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman) to find the lightning bolt or allow a war that would destroy the world.

The film focuses around the most epic road trip of all time, starting in New York City and moving to a Spartan wilderness camp where young demi-gods play full-contact capture the flag, complete with swords and any special powers inherited from Dad or Mom. From there, Percy, his satyr protector Grover (Brandon Jackson) and Athena’s daughter Annabeth (Alexandra Daddario) embark on a journey to rescue Percy’s mother (Catherine Keener) from Hades, who is holding her as a bargaining chip to get the lighting bolt. Along the way they face some of the baddest creatures that the Greek bards conjured, including a hydra and Medusa (Uma Thurman). They make it to the Underworld a little wiser—only to receive a shock about who really is the lightning thief. (more…)

Over the course of the last few days emails have been coming my way about the new Chris Columbus film “Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief.” Something about a reference to President Obama being a demigod. When our colleagues over at NewsBusters picked up the story this morning, I emailed the film’s screenwriter Craig Titley, one of the most amiable guys you’ll ever meet, and asked him about it. He immediately agreed to do an interview on the matter and so here it is:  

BIG HOLLYWOOD: First off, thanks for agreeing to do this. And many congratulations as the screenwriter of “Percy Jackson” – a big studio movie that opened on thousands of screens across the country today.  

You and I have known each other a long time and I couldn’t be happier for you or … more surprised. When it comes to movies you are the most agnostic, apolitical guy I know. I haven’t seen the film yet, but are the reports true? Does one of the characters compare President Obama to a demigod? (more…)

Whenever one of these teen comedies pop up, it’s always with an open and eager mind I go in search of a gem — something sexy, smart, bawdy, romantic, longing — something that rises above the expected to strike a deeper emotional chord.  Because we all went through the phase, the idea of coming of age is a universal one, making some of the genre’s post-John Hughes winners, “Dazed and Confused,” “American Pie,” “The Girl Next Door,” and to some extent, “17 Again,” as enjoyable for those of us looking wistfully back at high school as for those who still attend. Obviously there’s a lot of manure to sift through in search of this particular pony, and “I Love You, Beth Cooper” happens to be one of the manurey-est.

Charmless and seedy only begin to describe the flat, meandering story of Stanford-bound Denis Cooverman (Paul Rust), the nerdy high school valedictorian who uses the opportunity of his graduation speech to say out loud what is best left unspoken, including the film’s title. What comes next is the expected “wild night” where repressed Denis — and his mouthy best friend Rich (Jack T. Carpenter) — head off on a graduation-night romp with the aforementioned Beth Cooper (Hayden Pantierre) and her two cheerleader friends (Lauren Storm as a slutty dim-bulb and Lauren London as someone who registers no personality whatsoever). Chasing them is Beth’s psychotic, coked up Army boyfriend and his psychotic, coked up Army friends. They should’ve been called, “Convenient Plot-Movers I, II, and III.” (more…)