Cinephile Gift Alert!

By Rob Christopher in Arts & Entertainment on Nov 22, 2008 7:15PM

This is the year to put your gift budget on a low-carb diet. And we're here to help. Shortly after Thanksgiving we'll have a whole gift guide for your perusal, but in the meanwhile we came across a sale that's too good not to share.

Criterion presents cream-of-the-crop movies in stunning DVD transfers, loaded with commentary tracks, extras and sometimes even accompanying books. And usually Criterion DVDs are hella pricey. But they're in the midst of moving their warehouse and are using it as an excuse to have a huge sale. Until Monday at midnight EST, every in-stock item on their site is 40% off. Every DVD, DVD boxed set, coffee mug, t-shirt and poster: 40% off. (Yo Santa, check out the ESSENTIAL ART HOUSE set, hint hint).

Alas the big sale doesn't apply to "Coming Soon" DVDs. But we'd be amiss if we didn't hip you to the fact that beloved cult fave Bottle Rocket is coming out in a Criterion edition on Tuesday, complete with cover art by Chicago illustrator/artist Ian Dingman. It's a bit of a departure for a Wes Anderson DVD since he usually uses his brother's artwork. Looks mighty cool! The new release includes the original thirteen-minute black-and-white short film from 1992 that Anderson used as the basis for the feature-length version.