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.

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2. The Goonies: 25th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition (November 2, 2010, $34.99 at Amazon)

A story by a pre-pretentious Steven Spielberg, a script by Chris Columbus, and a typically satisfying directing job by Richard Donner in between his work on classics like Superman (1978) and Lethal Weapon (1987). The Goonies is one of those movies that instantly time-warps guys and gals of my generation back to 1985. Nestled among other films like Back to the Future, Rambo: First Blood Part II, The Breakfast Club, Real Genius, Cocoon, Rocky 4, Pale Rider, and Witness, it helped make that summer magical.

I remember first catching it on a triple-bill with Gremlins and some now-forgotten horror movie. This is one of those movies that, in hindsight, is seen to have assembled a particularly deep cast. Young Sean Astin (later to play Samwise Gamgee in the Lord of the Rings films) Josh Brolin, Eighties staple Corey Feldman, Ke Huey Quan (whose performance had been the best thing in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom the year before) the always fun Joe Pantoliano, Eighties cuties Kerri Green and Martha Plimpton, and even one of Big Hollywood’s own, The Mighty Robert Davi! I’m not sure how they managed to fit so much awesome onto only fifty gigs of Blu-ray, but that’s technology for you.

Whereas so many special DVD sets have extras that don’t impress, I dig the inclusion of a new board game in this Goonies Ultimate Edition — given the treasure hunt motif, it’s something that your kids will likely have fun playing after experiencing the movie for the first time. There’s also the requisite documentary, outtakes, Cyndi Lauper video, souvenir booklets, and even a rare commentary track that manages to reassemble all seven main actors along with the director twenty-five years later.

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3. The Night of the Hunter (The Criterion Collection) (November 16, 2010, $36.49 at Amazon)

The great actor Charles Laughton is already being represented on Blu-ray this winter via 1935’s Mutiny on the Bounty, but you’ll also want to pick up this, his sole directorial effort. François Truffaut once wrote that Laughton’s strange film feels “like a horrifying news item retold by small children,” and noted that “it makes us fall in love again with an experimental cinema that truly experiments, and a cinema of discovery that, in fact, discovers.” What did he mean by that, you ask? Buy this new edition on Blu-ray and find out.

One of the things that attracted me to this new release is the massive 2.5 hours of outtakes included in this two-disc set. It’s a rarity to be privy to so much detritus where an old classic film is concerned, and I’m wondering what sort of illumination it will cast on Laughton’s directing methods.

Another boon is a video interview with actor Simon Callow, who in addition to being a fine thespian in his own right wrote a well-received biography of Laughton some years ago. Those of you who, like me, have been patiently waiting for Callow to finish the final tome in his magisterial three-volume biographical treatment of Orson Welles can content yourselves in the meantime with hunting down his Charles Laughton: A Difficult Actor (1988).

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4. The World at War (November 16, 2010, $112.49 at Amazon)

This ranks with Ken Burns’ The Civil War as one of the all-time great documentaries. Sprawling over nine discs and containing some thirty-five hours of material, it’s a must-see for all World War II buffs (and, in a better world, would be required viewing for schoolchildren). Narrated by the great Laurence Olivier and fully restored both visually (in 1080p HD) and aurally (in surround sound), each of the twenty-six episodes has never looked or sounded better — with one enormous caveat.

If you click over to this article on restoring the series for Blu-ray, you’ll note that the producers made the controversial decision to crop each disc’s image in order to make them fit comfortably onto the rectangular widescreen TVs which are commonplace in today’s living rooms. This has caused an uproar among cinema purists, who have damned the set with such ferocity that it now sports a paltry one-star ranking at Amazon despite its otherwise stellar production values.

Whether you mind losing 25% of the image in order to have it fit on your screen without black bars is an open question — I know plenty of people who hit the “zoom” button on their TVs as a matter of course, which effectively crops old movies the same way, so perhaps it’s not a big deal to many of you. But if it is, and you want the full image presented in the OAR (original aspect ratio), you’ll want to skip the Blu-ray entirely and buy the 30th anniversary DVD set released in 2009.

Either way, you’ll want to see this epic series if you haven’t yet been exposed to it.

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5. True Grit (December 11, 2010, $17.99 at Amazon)

As one commenter said on the Blu-ray.com forums when this title was announced, “Nothing makes a format viable like a large selection of John Wayne films.” Amen, brother.

This is, of course, a play at marketing synergy by Paramount, who is releasing John Wayne’s 1969 original on Blu-ray in order to coincide with the release this Christmas of the (admittedly promising) Coen Brothers remake starring Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, and The Goonies’ Josh Brolin. But who cares about the excuse? It’s enough that Wayne’s Oscar-winning performance will be shining on your TV screen in high-def, with Elmer Bernstein’s wonderful score thundering through your speakers.

Don’t make ol’ Rooster Cogburn tell you twice to “Fill yer hands!” with this one.

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Is there anything else coming out on Blu-ray this Christmas that you’re particularly excited about? If so, share it with us in the comments below.

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.

Unlike the early Potter films, which relied on Harry’s childlike awe and the uniqueness of the story to propel the films to as instantaneous popularity as the books, “The Lightning Thief” combines classic Greek stories and plenty of humor for the young and old to keep audiences laughing. I watched the film amidst a small press screening audience, since D.C.’s historic snowstorms kept most critics away, but despite the audience size, laughter echoed through the theater for most of the film. A few corny moments and acting slips by the young stars were bolstered by co-star titans like Pierce Brosnan, Bean and Thurman.

Director Chris Columbus, a writer-producer-director Renaissance man of film and the director of several Potter films, effectively translates his background working with children and a pseudo digital cast to this Greek adventure. He guides the young cast to generally strong performances, and lets the film show action rather than how many quick cuts can fit into each scene.

Rick Riordan, author of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, writes with a strong comic sense in a style that one of my former editors would have called “meat and potatoes” writing. Craig Titley’s story models this, as he removes needless dialog to focus on the story, generally using humor to advance character and plot, and not for humor’s sake.

Aside from the opening effect of a giant Poseidon rises from New York’s harbor, the filming and special effects were solid, something too often taken for granted today.

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?

CRAIG TITLEY: I think that may be reading a lot into it what isn’t there.  I certainly didn’t think that.   The line you are referring to — which was actually an ad-libbed line so I can’t tell you the intention behind it — is when Grover (Brandon Jackson) is explaining to Percy (Logan Lerman) that since the gods first appeared to man they have been having, um, close encounters of the sexual kind with mortals.  Their offspring are everywhere.  Could be people you pass on the streets.  Could be professional athletes, could be Craig Titley or John Nolte (the likelier case). Grover says something along the lines that you’d be surprised where they turn up, even the White House. Now to me that wasn’t a reference to Obama.  It just meant that demigods turn up in powerful places. It could be Obama. It could also be Reagan. Or Lincoln. Or JFK. Or Washington. Or Jimmy Carter…well, maybe not Carter. Is there a God of Ugly Sweaters?  

 BH: So as the sole screenwriter, you’re sitting in your first screening of the film and this line pops up that you didn’t write. What did you think?  

CT: I was thinking “that’s new.”  Nothing more.  Actually I don’t know for sure that it was ad-libbed. It could have been something written on set by Chris (Columbus, the director).  I wasn’t there that day.  But I know that Brandon is a very, very funny and spontaneous actor.  He reminds me of Eddie Murphy in his prime, so many of his lines were ad-libbed.  I don’t want to say which ones because they are pretty damn funny and I want people to think I wrote them all   

BH: Any idea what the actor was thinking?

CT: I have no idea.  But for me the point is: demigods are in places you might not expect to find them.  Even in the halls of power.  I think it’s an apolitical line that, like a inkblot test, you can bring whatever or whomever you want to it.  You want to think it’s a reference to Obama, fine.  You want to think it’s a reference to another president, fine.   That being said, let’s say for the sake of argument that it was intended as a reference to our current president.  That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a compliment or an endorsement. His “God” father could have been Narcissus!  Or Hermes the Trickster, the shape-shifting God of Lies!   See what I mean about it being an “inkblot” line? The line is all things for all people.   

 BH: When you heard it where did your mind go?

CT: Reagan, baby, Reagan!  No, seriously, it’s what I just mentioned.  It just meant to me that Grover was emphasizing that demi-Gods are and have always been, in everyday places and powerful places.  They are everywhere because the gods, going back to Homer and Hesiod have been sexually insatiable and they love their mortals. Literally. I didn’t think it played politically at all.

BH: Our readers worry because at first glance it sounds like another one of those moments that break the storytelling spell. Like that gratuitous shot at Bush in “The Blind Side.”  

CT: It’s definitely nothing like that at all.  It’s an innocuous line and only political if you want it to be (which is also well within everyone’s right of interpretation).  I’m not even sure why this is suddenly “controversial.” Must be either a slow news day or someone trying to stir up something out of nothing.  Nah, no one would do that, would they?

BH: Us? Stir up trouble? Please.

Thanks again for doing this on such short notice. And while you’re here,  take advantage. Why should the Big Hollywood community see “Percy Jackson” this weekend.  

CT: I’m going to tell you why as a fanboy and not as the writer.  First of all, having grown up on his Amblin films, I think this film fits rather nicely with Chris Columbus’ “Holy Triumvertae” of Amblin films – “Gremlins,” “Goonies,” and “Young Sherlock Holmes,” all of which he wrote.  For me, this is like his fourth Amblin film only this time he got to direct it (nerd note: he used the same DP who shot “Young Sherlock Holmes”).  It a fun, family-friendly adventure with great characters, a great sense of humor and some non-cynical wonder and magic.  

Secondly, what I personally tried to do when writing this was make a cool fun introduction to the Greek gods and monsters for a new generation so they would feel the way I felt after seeing Jason and the Argonauts and the Ray Harryhausen Greek god movies for the first time. After I saw those I wanted to know everything there was to know about the gods and mythology (still do which is why I’m currently getting my PhD in Mythological Studies).  If kids come out of the movie with that kind of enthusiasm to read and learn, I will think: mission accomplished.

BH: Well, good luck. I’ll be checking it out today or tomorrow. One last question. I was wondering if you’d read my script? 

Craig…? 

Hello?

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.”

Almost immediately, the story portends the hoary clichés to come when during The Speech of What Must Be Said Denis tells Rich to come to terms with the fact that he’s homosexual. Just like that – within minutes – a major subplot has lost any chance of surprise because anyone who’s watched what’s come out of Hollywood these last few years knows there’s absolutely no way Rich can’t be gay now. Political correctness demands this tired character arc end exactly one way … and that one way it does.

Another off-putting moment that sets this film’s surprisingly sordid tone — which will be heightened by a teenage threesome and Denis “coming of age” when he agrees to an orgy with Rich and the girls in the school shower — involves Denis’s dad, played by Alan Ruck (best known as Ferris Bueller’s best friend in that unforgettable John Hughes’ film). In his introductory scene, Mr. Cooverman let’s Denis have the house for a party, supplies the alcohol (to eighteen-year olds) and encourages his son to “come of age” with the finding of some loveless sex. “Sometimes, you just gotta say, ‘What the F,’” Dad explains, becoming Miles in “Risky Business” instead of a loving, responsible parent.

In the past, we’ve seen Movie Dads wink-wink/nudge-nudge teenage sex and drinking, usually in the hopes of keeping the lines of communication open and fatherly advice coming, but Mr. Cooverman sitting his innocent son down for a man-to-man about the pagan joys of losing his innocence (which includes sharing a condom stash), is just creepy. Tom Cruise’s parents in “Risky Business” might have been a little sterile and removed, but you never questioned the love they had for their son. Here I wasn’t so sure.

In-between tired gags, unfunny flashbacks, and an inordinate amount of driving, “I Love You, Beth Cooper” does show a flicker of promise when Beth displays a touching moment of self-awareness talking of a future which holds nothing for her beyond looking back at high school as the best days of her life. On the other hand, she also understands that while Denis may have been socially toxic in high school, he’s off to Stanford and a life that’s only now begun.

What a moving, bittersweet theme that would’ve been to explore here, but instead it’s presented as something of an afterthought that comes way too late to wash away the bad taste of what’s already transpired. 

When the end credits rolled, I was shocked to discover Chris Columbus was the director, the same Chris Columbus who helmed both “Home Alone’s” and “Only the Lonely” for none other than producer John Hughes. How do you work that closely with John Hughes and learn nothing about the heart, memorable characters and awkward longing necessary to make a timeless, iconic film about high school?