The Spread Holiday Gift Guide 2024: Second Edition
Celebrate the cinephiles in your life this holiday season!
What ho, and all that sort of thing!
The Holidays Are Officially Upon Us, heralding the siren call to shop til’ you drop for your loved ones. And what better way to show them that you care than by sharing the Magic of Cinema? Yes, it’s the second edition of The Spread Holiday Gift Guide™️, and this year I’ve put together gifts directly inspired by our 2024 programming, all (more or less) reasonably priced under $200 (more or less). Film may not be the reason for the season, but it’s certainly why we’re all here!
(If it’s not immediately obvious, absolutely none of these are affiliate links and I’m receiving no financial compensation whatsoever in recommending them, much to my husband’s chagrin.)
Metropolis DIY Flipscope, MoMa Design Store, $33
It’s never too early to teach kids the magic of the moving image, and with this cute hand-cranked flip book, evocative of the Mutoscope, you can kill two birds with one stone: discover the pleasure of cranking out “movies” by hand, as they did in the penny-slots of the late 19th century—and the timeless allure of Fritz Lang’s 1927 silent masterpiece, one of the most influential science fiction films of all time.
Inspired by our Leftist Cinema Program.
Isabelle Huppert Tee, Girls on Tees, $37
Septuagenarian screen goddess Isabelle Huppert affirmed that cinema is not dead1 ahead of her stint as jury president at this year’s Venice Film Festival, reassuring those of us discouraged by the sorry state of mainstream moviemaking. Virtue signal your love of art, and our greatest living actor, with the simple, powerful statement of her name on a plain white tee. And if you simply can’t get enough of Mme. Huppert, you can always invest in this Arrow Video 4-film box set of French filmmaker Claude Chabrol ($70), which includes 2/7 of the films they made together: The Swindle (1997) — a crime comedy — and Merci Pour Le Chocolat (2000), a film John Waters once dubbed “Cinematic Perfection.”
Inspired by our Isabelle Huppert Program (coming in December!).
Dirty Dancing 2024 Calendar, Lionsgate Shop, $17
Because how can you claim to have the time of your life if you’re not keeping track of time?? Close the season out with the pachanga and commemorate one of the patron saint films of The Spread with this 12-month calendar.
Inspired by our Good Girls program.
Rhinestone Western Nutcracker, National Cowgirl Museum & Hall of Fame, $120
The National Cowgirl Museum & Hall of Fame out of Fort Worth is one of my personal favorite museums, commemorating the Women of the West (including cowgirls of color) who tend to be forgotten by a culture that fetishizes the wrangler lifestyle. The museum can always stand your support and patronage, and their gift shop is full of Western-themed wares that make great stocking stuffers for the cowgirl-inclined, like these adorable cowboy/cowgirl nutcrackers (who doesn’t love a tchotchke?).
Inspired by our Western Film primer.
Leslie Cheung pictorial magazine, Ebay, $60
Last year marked the 20th anniversary of the untimely death of one of the brightest lights of Chinese-language cinema—and Cantopop—Leslie Cheung, whose fans gathered en masse to memorialize the groundbreaking queer icon, still so vital after all these years away. Indulge your inner fangirl with this beautiful pictorial fan magazine; you may not be able to read any of it, but a picture’s worth a thousand words—especially when it’s a picture of Leslie—and this one has sooo many!
Inspired by our Leslie Cheung retrospective.
May Queen Tree Topper, A24 Shop, $48
Florence Pugh’s full-floral “May Queen” outfit at the end of Midsommar (2019) is such a personal favorite film costume, it inspired my own Halloween costume that year: I cut up dozens of plastic leis, sewing the array of fake flowers onto a white dress to try and ape the effect. Honor the look with far less work with this adorable May Queen Tree Topper, from the Professional Movie Merch outlet A24, which sometimes also distributes movies.
Inspired by the Final Girl Hall of Fame.
Podracer Jacket, Heroes & Villains, $128
Star Wars—and the Star Wars Holiday release—may be dead, killed by the vengeful hands of its own deranged fanbase, but that just means it’s the best possible time to show up to the function in this (strangely snazzy) Boonta Eve Circuit podracer jacket, sure to impress laymen and nerds alike. Dave Filoni? Smooth Luke? “Mary Sues?” What are you guys talking about? I’m just here to see if Ratts Tyerell or Ben Quadinaros can eke out a win over Sebulba in the dark, treacherous curves of Beggar's Canyon.
Inspired by The Carrie Fisher Cinematic Universe.
Praxinoscope Animation Spinner, Uncommon Goods, $100
Once your child has mastered the Mutoscope, you can introduce them to the “Praxinoscope,” a moving image device created by Emile Reynaud in 1877 to produce animated sequences. You might better recognize the device as the Zoetrope, patented by William F. Lincoln the same year after various versions of the same contraption were sold as toys and novelties for decades. Do you want your baby to be a sleeper agent for Cocomelon, or to learn the majesty of analog animated film?
Friday the 13th Carry-On Luggage, Box Lunch, $135
Imagine hopping off the plane at LAX with a dream and a cardigan…and a Friday the 13th roller bag! The greatest horror franchise of all time turns 45 next year, but the exploits of Jason Voorhees will always feel timeless, whether he’s chained to the bottom of a lake, headed to hell, or traversing the streets of Manhattan. Hit those same city streets in style and silently encourage others to get the hell out of your way!
Inspired by the Final Girl Hall of Fame.
De Palma Snapback, Patti Lapel, $30
As cinephiles tear themselves apart trying to litigate Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis (2024), stay above the fray and signal your love of New Hollywood cinema with this snapback honoring Brian De Palma, a man whose imminent alleged final film will certainly…probably…maybe…not let us all down. If the man’s name alone is too vague a show of loyalty, you can always honor one of his best works with this Blow Out-themed snapback from Director Fits ($40).
Inspired by our Hitchcock & Sons program.
The Bride of Frankenstein Action Figure, Academy Museum Store, $35
Take Scream Queen Elsa Lanchester from daytime (bandage) to night (blowout) with this adorable action figure with (three!) interchangeable head sculpts, including one with a painted on scream, from her memorable, monstrous appearance in James Whale’s superior sequel, Bride of Frankenstein (1935)—in which she serves double duty as author Mary Shelley.
Inspired by our Writer on Film program.
“You Don’t Face Your Fears, You Ride ‘Em” Shirt, Super Yaki, $40
Commemorate Glen Powell Summer with this nonsensical—but solid—credo, which can be applied to so many avenues of life beyond tornado wranglin’. Twisters (2024) may have come and gone, but if recent outcry over the rigged election and crooked results of People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive are any indication, Glen Powell is here to stay.
Inspired by “Who is Glen Powell?”
John Cassavetes Shirt, IFC Center, $35
When you’re only able to siphon out enough money for 12 movies as a director, it makes it easy to fit them all on one t-shirt! Honor one of the definitive filmmakers of American independent cinema with this John Cassavetes-themed shirt from Nathan Gelgud, sold through the IFC Center in New York. What’s my take on Cassavetes? I love this guys’s movies! You can further flex your cinephile credentials with this too-cool (and too-expensive) John Cassavetes Japanese Handbill poster ($75) from Posteritati.
Inspired by our Ben Gazzara retrospective.
100 Horror Movies Scratch-Off Chart, Pop Chart, $25
Our Horror master list, the first ever bit of programming generated for The Spread, has grown to include 500+ titles, but 100 is a much more manageable bucket list!
Inspired by our Spooky Season programming.
World Ballet Company Theatre Binoculars, Noble Objects, $40
The Holidays belong to Moonstruck (1987), so channel your inner Cher at Lincoln Center and indulge in these chic opera binoculars, guaranteed to help you better see the delights of live theater, which has fed cinema since its inception. What’s…are you guys seeing this…my God…renowned female composer Lydia Tarr is charging the podium!
Inspired by our Music Makes Me Lose Control program.
Film as a Subversive Art by Amos Vogel, Museum of the Moving Image, $44
Sure, you can borrow this book—one of thee most essential texts for any serious cinephile—from Internet Archive for free (and you should!), but it really does look great in physical form on any coffee table or bookshelf in any Serious Home—and if you buy it from the Museum of the Moving Image shop, you can support their terrific programming as well!
Tennis Club Sweater Dress, Alo Yoga, $148
I did not personally walk out of Challengers (2024) jonesing for the infamous “I Told Ya” shirt, designed by Loewe and available at the (honestly, quite shocking) price of $330.00 (!). (If you do need one, I highly recommend scooping a knock-off on Etsy, where they are readily available at Normal People Prices). I did, however, long for a Zendaya-esque tennis dress…not to wear to play tennis, of course, but just to feel cute and powerful (maybe while listening to Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ instant-classic soundtrack, now available on collectible vinyl for your holiday needs). This too-chic dress from Alo Yoga, sourced through the powerful minds at Go Fug Yourself, is a personal favorite. I need this in fat girl sizes!
Inspired by our Tennis on Film program.
Child’s Play Ceramic Soup Mug and Spoon, Target, $26
One of my favorite nights during my visit to Chicago this year was spent holed up in my skyscraper hotel during an angry thunder storm with a burrito and Child’s Play 2 (1990), a perfect film; months later, we saw Brad Dourif speak at a retrospective of his work at Anthology Film Archives and marveled anew at how such a nice, genteel man could produce such a super scary voice. Look at how stinkin’ cute Chucky the Doll looks on this cozy soup mug! I just love that little guy.
Inspired by our Spooky Season program.
Snowman Movie Maxi Dress, Fashion Brand Company, $118
Do you remember the plot and premise of Michael Keaton’s infamous Holiday Family Film Flop Jack Frost (1998)? Take a moment to Google it and try to tell me that you don’t want—no, need—a full Jack Frost screenprinted maxi dress for all your Holiday Season Soirées with your extended family and/or professional network. It’s seasonally appropriate!
Inspired by our Frosty program.
Godzilla: Tokyo Clash Strategy Game, Pearl River Market, $35
Dispel any family tensions at the Christmas dinner table with a suggestion to play this cute-looking Godzilla-themed strategy game instead. Who doesn’t love Godzilla? Through the majesty of imagination and a highly-structured strategy board game, throw a train (or a tank!) at your racist uncle as you battle for control of Tokyo as one of four Toho kaiju—Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah, or Megalon. You can call yourself King of the Monsters but I’m the Queen!
Inspired by our Spooky Season programming.
Liquid Sky Japanese Handbill Poster, Posteritati, $95
Posteritati (post-eh-ruh-tah-tee) has so many beautiful, incredibly well-sourced film posters, but you can really lose a pretty hefty chunk of change there—something I realized when I saw that the Phantom Menace poster I paid maybe $15 for back in the day and had on the walls of my room my entire childhood (you know the one) was going for $225. Avoid the seductive traps of nostalgia and go for something a little more chic—like this ultra-cool Japanese handbill for Liquid Sky (1982), the only cult-punk-bisexual-genderqueer-fashiony-LSD-alien-invasion classic that I personally know of.
Inspired by our Queer Cinema - Next Steps program.
And if you’re Looking to Splurge…
The Russ Meyer Super Bundle, Severin Films, $219
“I’m really into tits and I love tits,” Russ Meyer once said in an interview. “I’ve made my fortune with tits. I’ve got a tit for a brain, as my second-to-last wife would say.” This box set contains more Russ Meyer movies than you could possibly want, making it a perfect gift for at least one person in your life, probably. It comes courtesy of Severin Films, a boutique home video label with really terrific programming, including a lot of cult, queer, erotic, and hard-to-find independent cinema.
Inspired by our Breastivus program.
Pasolini 101 Box Set, The Criterion Collection, $200
Pier Paolo Pasolini really was the greatest filmmaker out of Italy—save Federico Fellini or Roberto Rossellini—which make this expensive-ass, beautiful-looking box set from Criterion so appealing. The set consists of nine (!) of the lauded director’s earliest films from the 1960s, and—as can be expected of the incendiary filmmaker, who’d go on to really push artistic boundaries in the following decade—these films are full of religion, smut, Marxist fury, literature, homoeroticism, and postwar Italian politics…all the makings for the best kinds of Cinema.
Inspired by our Queer Cinema - Essentials program.
The Killers Original Japanese Poster, Posteritati, $2,000
I cannot, in good conscience, advise you to spend $2,000 on a film poster. But if you are going to spend $2,000 on a film poster, let it be this absolutely jaw-dropping, (10x29) Japanese poster for film noir classic The Killers (1946), in which Burt Lancaster lets himself get in a bad situation for a girl too good to be true, Ava Gardner. Never Go Gardner, Burt! It always ends bad!
Inspired by our Noirvember programming.
Double-Breasted Car Coat in Citrin, Saks, $580
I spent a lot of time sourcing yellow coats for Halloween, when I flirted with going as Demi Moore in The Substance. Who runs around Los Angeles in a trench coat?? Only a very sick woman. It was 80 degrees and sunny on Halloween in New York, but I still would have looked fabulous, even with this merely slung over my arm. Pair it with Super Yaki’s Activator-branded water bottle ($40).
Inspired by “The Substance and the Age of Ozempic.”
That’s it for our 2024 Holiday Gift Guide! Look for December programming out next week (and until then, you can, of course, always give the gift of The Spread to your loved ones by subscribing below).
Cinema, WHICH DID NOT DIE!