originally published at NPR.org

When it comes to holiday gift giving, I’m a traditionalist. I like to think carefully of each person on my list, consider their dispositions and passions, then give them a ginormous DVD box set that will keep them on the couch for the next several months.

This is just good policy with my family and circle of friends. The longer I can keep them off the streets and out of trouble, the happier we all are.

Perhaps you’d like to do the same — and there’s still time if you get your ordering and shopping underway. Here’s a list of some of the best DVD/Blu-ray titles and box sets making the rounds this holiday season, with suggestions on matching each with that certain someone on your list. The prices listed are approximate retail prices, but you can usually find them cheaper with a little online shopping.

For Your Insufferable Uncle, The Rabid Yankees Fan

A&E Networks Home Entertainment

Generally speaking, hardcore Yankees fans are a troublesome lot, given to statistical pronouncements and sepia-toned monologues. Still, we must respect their passion, and Yankeeography: Pinstripe Legends (DVD/$100) is a good way to keep them quiet this off-season. The 16 discs compile 37 episodes from the YES Network TV series, each devoted to a revered Yankee. You’ve got your Gehrigs, your Berras, your Stengels, your DiMaggios. Plus eight additional documentaries on various aspects of the team’s history, and a 32-page collector’s booklet.

For Your Curiously Intense Cousin, The Film Nerd

Alfred Hitchcock: The Essentials Collection (DVD/$40) is an “Essentials” collection that can truly be said to live up to the name. The five films collected here – Rear Window, The Birds, Psycho, Vertigo and North by Northwest – are indubitably among Hitchcock’s finest. Each film comes with its own generous suite of extras, including various production notes, newsreels, mini-documentaries, storyboards, interviews, alternate endings and commentary tracks. (Bob Mondello also recommends this collection.)

For Your Other Curiously Intense Cousin, The Comedy Nerd

RHI Entertainment

Laurel & Hardy: The Essential Collection (DVD/$70) collects more than 50 L&H shorts and feature films over 10 discs, including classics like Way Out West and the Oscar-winning The Music Box, which features the boys’ immortal and Sisyphean attempt to move a piano up a flight of stairs. The DVDs have been remastered from surviving 35mm prints, with loads of bonus materials and new interviews with comedy scholars like Tim Conway and Dick Van Dyke.

For Your Precocious Preschooler Niece With The Alarmingly Sophisticated Vocabulary

LeapFrog: Phonics Farm (DVD/$15) is currently in heavy rotation with the three-year-old in my life, and is a good example of the consistently excellent educational titles put out by the LeapFrog people. Phonics Farm stars Scout the Puppy – the Justin Bieber of the three-year-old crowd – but you can consider this a recommendation for the LeapFrog line of kids’ DVDs as a whole. It’s really pretty amazing how these programs can keep the attention of preschoolers and teach them at the same time. I wish they’d make something for Yankees fans.

For Mom, Who Wonders Aloud Why They Don’t Make TV Shows Like They Used To

As it happens, my mom was a devoted Barney Miller fan in the 1970s and 1980s, which pretty much made me a devoted Barney Miller fan growing up. The classic workplace sitcom is finally getting the box-set treatment this year with Barney Miller: The Complete Series, (DVD/$80) which assembles all 168 episodes onto 25 discs of glorious nostalgia. The cops of New York’s 12^th Precinct pioneered a style of character-driven sitcom that still holds up, thanks to terrific comic performances from old pros like Abe Vigoda, Ron Glass and Steve Landesberg. Extras include new interviews with the actors and producers, and reveal that the show was often a frantic, on-the-fly collaboration that barely made it to the screen.

For Grandpa, Who Watches The History Channel More Or Less Exclusively And Is None Too Happy About Paying For All That Other Stuff

For history, WWII or even film buffs, the History Channel’s WWII in HD: Collector’s Edition (Blu-ray/$35) is a real treasure trove. The series represents a years-long project to find, preserve, restore and convert to high-def more than 3000 hours of color footage from the war. The box set also includes two specials – The Battle for Iwo Jima and The Air War – plus some fascinating behind-the-scenes material on finding the footage.

For Yourself, Because You Deserve It, You!

Warner Home Video

The inevitable follow-up to the popular “Golden Collection” DVD series, the Blu-ray Looney Tunes Platinum Collection Volume 1 (Blu-ray/$50) gathers 50 cartoons in total, with a third disc dedicated to bonus feature for the hardcore Looney Tunes fan – including three (!) full-length documentaries on resident animations genius Chuck Jones. As a veteran Looney Tunes aficionado, I can testify that the selection of shorts is comprehensive and covers most of the agreed-upon classics. This is the gift I’m giving myself this year, and I can dutifully report that I’m simply thrilled. Really. I just love it. Thank you, me! It’s perfect!

originally published in the Raleigh News & Observer

It’s no secret that the newspaper business is in trouble. Dozens of papers across the U.S. have folded in the face of rising distribution costs, declining ad revenue and competition from digital sources.

“Page One: Inside the New York Times” is a fascinating documentary that roots into the challenges the industry faces, by focusing on America’s flagship newspaper, The New York Times.

You don’t have to be a policy wonk or media nerd to enjoy “Page One” – but it helps. From the first frame, director Andrew Rossi dives into the deep end of the pool, trusting that his audience is sophisticated enough to keep up.

Rossi eschews voiceover, and we’re often dropped into the middle of newsroom meetings where journalists are debating – passionately and sometimes profanely – some fine point of public policy or journalistic ethics.

It’s quite thrilling, if you’re at all into this kind of thing. And it’s always nice when a film assumes its viewers are just as smart as its subjects.

Documentary filmmakers are always looking for a central character who can anchor a film, and “Page One” finds its charismatic lead in media columnist David Carr. Irascible and funny, with a raspy voice and buzzard-like posture, Carr steals every scene he’s in. Clearly a born wordsmith, he seems to speak in fully formed paragraphs, with language that’s impossibly precise and sometimes even poetic.

Heaven help you if you get on his bad side, or dare to criticize his newspaper. The film’s funniest scenes are those in which Carr issues verbal smackdowns to critics, competitors and anyone else in range. In one terrific sequence, Carr interrupts the editor of Vice magazine, who questions the Times’ reporting in Africa.

“Just because you put on a (expletive) safari hat and went in there for three weeks doesn’t give you the right to insult what we do,” Carr scolds. The Vice editor, duly terrified, starts backpedaling instantly. It’s fun to watch.

“Page One” covers a lot of territory. Director Rossi and his team filmed for a full year inside the paper’s New York offices, from 2009 through 2010. During that period, the Times laid off more than 100 of its newsroom staff, weathered criticism over its partnership with Wikileaks and moved its website to a paid subscription model.

The film regularly pauses to look back, as well. Archival film reels from the 1950s are fun to watch, as hardboiled reporters chain-smoke and argue over giant conference tables. Interviews with old-school guys like Gay Talese and Carl Bernstein are reminders of the paper’s rich heritage.

Probably the film’s most disturbing passages are those in which the paper’s writers and editors speculate on the uncertain future of print journalism. In one scene, reporters are shown covering the release of Apple’s iPad and later reading their stories displayed on the device.

Rossi inserts a clip of Rupert Murdoch heralding the iPad as the savior of the newspaper business. Carr and his boss, media editor Bruce Headlam, are much more skeptical and very hesitant indeed about relying on another company for their distribution.

As a documentary film, however, “Page One” ultimately lacks focus. With its attention split among various storylines, the movie feels scattered. It’s a little stuffy, too. If it weren’t for Carr’s surly jokes, the film would have no laughs at all.

Well, it’s official. Ed Helms is a movie star. And he can thank his director for that.

The former “Daily Show” correspondent and veteran ensemble player (“The Hangover,” “The Office”) headlines “Cedar Rapids,” the year’s first genuine sleeper comedy hit. As it turns out, “Cedar Rapids” was directed by Miguel Arteta, author of last year’s sleeper comedy hit, the Michael Cera freakout “Youth in Revolt.”

This is particularly relevant, because the success of “Cedar Rapids” comes as much from Arteta’s sure-handed direction as it does with Helms’ leading performance.

It goes like this: Small town insurance agent Tim Lippe (Helms) is recruited to attend the industry’s regional conference in the (relatively) big city of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Tim, who has never left his hometown and is dating his grade school teacher (Sigourney Weaver), is overjoyed but ill-prepared. If naivete were potato chips, Tim would be Frito-Lay.

A gentle and earnest soul, Tim sincerely believes insurance agents are put on the planet to help people. But in the harsh metropolis of Cedar Rapids, he discovers another side of the business: a cruel and shallow money trench, as Hunter Thompson might describe it, where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs.

A less interesting comedy would start coasting at this point, making fun of the local rubes and riding the basic premise of little-fish-in-a-slightly-bigger-pond. But “Cedar Rapids” has more interesting plans for its characters and scenarios.

Tim eventually makes some pals at the convention – John C. Reilly as an obnoxious salesman Dean Ziegler; Isiah Whitlock Jr. as straight arrow Ronald Wilkes; and a terrific Anne Heche as party girl Joan Fox.

In the manner of professional conference attendees since the dawn of time, the four bond over shop talk and drink overpriced cocktails in the hotel bar. Then the interesting things start to happen, and much of the joy of the movie is watching the script and the actors peel off in unexpected directions.

I don’t want to spoil anything, but it won’t hurt to list some of the elements these intrepid insurance agents encounter in the moral cesspool of Cedar Rapids, Iowa: Bribery. Corruption. Adultery. Drunken skinny-dipping. Hookers. Methamphetamines. Hookers on methamphetamines. Rob Corddry with a neck tattoo. Things of this nature.

Low-key humor

“Cedar Rapids” provides a lot of good laughs along the way – the sort of laughs that grow organically from the characters and situations. Reilly steals every scene he’s in with eye-poppingly profane anecdotes, and Whitlock has one scene in particular that might be the funniest of the whole film. And it’s great to see the talented comedienne Heche back in action, too.

Meanwhile, Helms does the smart thing and simply reacts to the slow-motion train wreck his weekend has become. By underplaying the farcical elements, he gets more and better laughs.

Director Arteta and the ensemble recognize that Helms’ humor is understated, and build the film around him accordingly. It’s a skillful approach, and it works wonders. Put a more rambunctious comic in the middle of this movie – Will Ferrell, say – and the delicate tone would be ruined.

A very pleasant surprise indeed, “Cedar Rapids” is a funny script well-executed by a great cast. If the universe were at all just, or even moderately discerning, it would be ruling the box office this spring.

Pick of the Week

Inside Job

Documentary; rated PG-13 for some drug and sex-related material; also available on Blu-ray

The Gist: A brilliantly assembled, high-energy crash course in the causes and effects of the recent global financial crisis.

The Lowdown: Enraging and fascinating, “Inside Job” won the 2011 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and is the latest in an unprecedented string of must-see docs over the last couple of years.

Directed by renaissance man Charles Ferguson – author, scholar, tech mogul and filmmaker – “Inside Job” is a smartly executed frontal assault on an insanely complex topic. Deploying all the tricks of the documentary film trade, Ferguson drills into the root causes of the Great Recession with admirable clarity.

His conclusion? The global financial crisis is a direct result of 30 years of gradual deregulation of the financial services industry, which spawned aggressive corruption on Wall Street and pretty much every other adjacent institution. Simply put, the crisis was precipitated by institutional and individual acts of criminal fraud. It was entirely avoidable, too, the film insists. Unfortunately, our government watchdogs were at best negligent, and at worst complicit.

Interviews with dozens of industry insiders and public officials are interspersed with textual and graphical elements that effectively parse all the complex jargon. Narrator Matt Damon keeps it all flowing, and reportedly was actively involved in shaping the film’s narrative structure.

Like all docs, of course, “Inside Job” has a deliberate point of view and a definite agenda. The film regularly indulges in righteous indignation, but that’s an indulgence we’re all entitled to, I think. As Ferguson pointed out in his Oscars acceptance speech, “Three years after our horrific financial crisis caused by financial fraud, not a single financial executive has gone to jail. And that’s wrong,”

The Extras: Commentary track by Ferguson and producer Audrey Marrs; a short making-of doc; some deleted scenes – Blu-ray adds another hour of outtakes

The Bottom Line: “Inside Job” won the documentary Oscar for a reason – this wasn’t the most artful doc of the year, but it was surely the most important.

Double Secret Bonus Tip: Get ready for more great docs – Durham’s Full Frame documentary film festival is coming up April 14-17. Scheduling will be announced next week – check fullframefest.org for details.

The Fighter

Drama; Rated R for language throughout, drug content, some violence and sexuality; also available on Blu-ray

The Gist: Based on the true story, hard luck boxer “Irish” Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg) and his crack-addicted brother-trainer Dicky (Christian Bale) overcome some seriously long odds en route to pro boxing glory.

The Lowdown: ‘Tis the season for Oscar-nominated films to cycle to DVD, and “The Fighter” is a solid underdog story amped up by memorable characters and a ferocious performance by the talented Mr. Bale.

Wahlberg famously trained as a boxer for four straight years while the script languished in development limbo, and he is convincing indeed in the brutal fight scenes. But the real fun is found in Micky’s family drama. Melissa Leo won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her portrayal of the Ward clan’s crazy matriarch, who manages the brothers and the bizarro Greek chorus of their seven crazy sisters.

Director David O. Russell (“Three Kings”) gets maximum mileage out of the script’s inherent weirdness and drama, but the-kid’s-got-heart-athlete story is so worn down by now it’s tough to wring any newness out of it.

The Extras: Director’s commentary track; a 30-minute behind-the-scenes doc that is more comprehensive and interesting than most featurettes of this sort; a short doc featuring the real Micky, Dicky and other characters; a few deleted scenes with Bale

The Bottom Line: “The Fighter” easily goes into the pantheon of good boxing movies, and the DVD extras add some real home video value

Double Secret Bonus Tip: The Oscars keep piling up: Bale won Best Supporting Actor, and the film was nominated for Best Picture, Director, Screenplay and  Editing, with a bonus nom for Amy Adams as Micky’s girlfriend.

Quick Picks: The Syfy Channel has developed a little pocket industry of late with their in-house lineup of B-movie creature features and disaster films. I’m a sucker for these, and the new “Sharktopus” is a superior specimen. As you may have guessed, it involves a shark, an octopus, and genetic engineering. And Eric Roberts.

Also New This Week: Director Clint Eastwood’s metaphysical drama “Hereafter,” starring Matt Damon and Bryce Dallas Howard; “The Switch,” with Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman; the Brazilian documentary “Waste Land,” concerning the world’s largest garbage dump; and the Criterion Collection’s Blu-ray reissue of “Au Revoir Les Enfants.”

127 Hours

Thriller-drama; rated R for language and some disturbing violent content/bloody images; also available on Blu-ray

The Gist: Trapped by a falling boulder, rock climber Aron Ralston (James Franco) survives for five days – recording his ordeal on a handheld camera and eventually using a dull knife to amputate his own arm.

The Lowdown: The film for which the term “harrowing” was apparently invented, “127 Hours” is hard on the stomach, for obvious reasons. But director Danny Boyle (“Slumdog Millionaire”) works some weird miracles here in terms of filmmaking creativity.

As Aron’s mental and physical condition deteriorates, Boyle departs from the straight narrative with sequences of Aron’s hallucinations and dreams of family and friends. The movie then enters a kind of timeless space, and Franco delivers a performance that seems to tap into some universal life force. “There is no force more powerful than the will to live,” the film’s tagline informs us. Franco – robbed of the Best Actor Oscar last week, IMHO – will make you believe.

The Extras: A must-listen commentary track with director Boyle; deleted scenes; Blu-ray adds two mini-docs on Franco and Boyle’s collaboration and the real-life details of Ralston’s ordeal

The Bottom Line: Most assuredly one of last year’s best films, “127 Hours” is a marvel of storytelling verve.

Double Secret Bonus Tip: Careful with that amputation scene – several audience members feinted straight away during the film’s theatrical release.

Love and Other Drugs

Comedy-drama; strong sexual content, nudity, pervasive language, and some drug material; also available on Blu-ray

The Gist: Pharmaceutical sales rep Jamie Randall (Jake Gyllenhaal) falls for terminally ill hipster babe Maggie Murdock (Anne Hathaway) during Big Pharma’s go-go 1990s heyday.

The Lowdown: Director Edward Zwick (“Glory”) seems to have two movies on his hands with this uneven comedy-drama, based on a nonfiction book about a freewheeling pharmaceutical rep. The funniest and most interesting material concerns drug companies and their 1990s hard sell of miracle pills like Zolofit and Viagra.

The movie’s other movie, as it were, is the love story between Jamie and Maggie. The film’s infamous sex scenes between Hathaway and Gyllenhaal don’t disappoint, but all the naked fun is rather brutally undercut by the half-baked dying-girl melodrama.

The Extras: Extended and deleted scenes; four mini-docs on the characters and production details

The Bottom Line: You’ll come for the sex scenes, but you’ll stay for the later sex scenes!

Double Secret Bonus Tip: “Love” makes the case that, between them, Hathaway and Gyllenhaal may have the dreamiest four eyes in show business.

Bambi: Diamond Edition

Classic animation; rated G; also available on Blu-ray

The Gist: Forest fawn Bambi joins with pals Thumper and Flower to learn about loyalty, love and the circle of life.

The Lowdown: The latest in Disney’s “Diamond Edition” series of DVD/Blu-ray re-issues, “Bambi” remains one of the crowning achievements of classic animation. Watching it again for the first time since I was in grade school – this time with my own kids in attendance – I was astounded at how beautifully it’s all put together.

The music and sound elements in particular struck me this go-around. The film earned three Academy Award nominations in 1942: Best Sound, Best Song (for “Love Is a Song”) and Original Music Score. Head’s up, though – the famous sequence concerning the death of Bambi’s mom is as heavy as it ever was. Tears were shed, and it wasn’t the kids crying, either.

The Extras: Deleted scenes and songs; several interactive features for both kids (forest facts) and grown-ups (making-of docs); the 1937 Disney short “The Old Mill.”

The Bottom Line: Another generous Disney reissue package from the vaults.

Double Secret Bonus Tip: The single-disc DVD edition comes out April 19.

Quick Picks: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson headlines the derivative action thriller “Faster,” an OK rental pick for fans of the man, the genre, or muscle cars.

Also New This Week: The musical “Burlesque” with Christina Aguilera and Cher; the faith-based surfer doc “Walking on Water” and TV-on-DVD season collections from “Leave it to Beaver,” “The Beverly Hillbillies” and UK procedural drama “Murder Investigation Team.”