Here it is! If you’re new to Movie Gifts, there’s explanations below the list for what to do next. Please got to the comments and give your gift promptly (sign up for a free account if necessary – you can keep your username, etc). Check back to see if you’ve been given your gift. Reply to your gifter to confirm the gift or let them know if a Return is necessary, make sure this is noted promptly in a reply so you can get a new title (I recommend making sure the box is checked at the bottom of your comment box so you get an email notification when somebody replies to you).
Nobody has to spend money. If you have a preference for particular streaming services, please communicate this to your gifter.
If you would like reminders/updates by email, just hit me up at ploughmanplods [at] gmail.
As we move to our new digs, I’ve done my best to make the names not confusing (e.g. including previous screen names in places). If you’d like to be referred to in a different way than what I have, let me know in the comments.
Please post your gift and confirm or return the gift given to you promptly, so there’s plenty of time for changes/watching.
Gift someone your first moment – which moment is up to you. Was Cinderella your first movie? Was Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia the first time you realized you were into movies, like really into movies? Did you take a first date to Exit Through the Gift Shop?
As always, the theme is optional so use it as far as it helps you come up with a title, or ignore it entirely. I can say that literally pretty much every type of film has been recommended for Movie Gifts.
Remember: give to the person below you. Please return promptly if necessary, confirm in a reply if the title will work.
Happy Gifting!
This Friday, December 13 – All gifts finalized
Friday, January 10 – Unwrapping Day
Cliffy73 (The Sicilian Clan)
Jim on the Move [Accidental Star Trek Cosplay] (The Black Stallion)
Vaudeville (The Postman Always Rings Twice [1946)
Guillermo Jiménez (Duel)
The Narrator (The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada)
Captain Nath [Ruck]
Gillian (The Favourite)
Cornelius Thoroughgoode (The Black Stallion)
Chris [The Ploughman] (Black Orpheus)
Dave S. [Miller] (The Novice)
Lauren [ZoeZ] (A Boy and His Dog)
Tristan [Drunk Napoleon] (Eyes Without a Face)
Son of Griff (Van Diemen’s Land)
JustJeremyNow [Johnny Smith] (The Prowler)
John Bruni (Wrong [2012])
Jetpack Giraffe (Faces)
Conor Crockford (Certified Copy)
silverwheel (Sweeney Todd [1982])
Bridgett (Persia) (For All Mankind)
vomas (Dreams [1990])
Cori (Le Harve)
nikmarov (Whisper of the Heart)
Simon DelMonte (Hester Street)
Carl Something (California Suite)
You will give a movie recommendation to the person below you on the list. You will receive a movie recommendation from the person above you on the list.
Returns: You may “return” your gift if you’ve already seen it or have a visceral content concern around watching it. You do not have to give a reason for the return but please do not return just because you don’t think you’ll like it – this can be an opportunity to explore new horizons or laugh about the salt-filled cake somebody dumped in your lap. If your gift is returned please make a new recommendation in a timely manner so it can be confirmed or returned. Any other details can be worked out between you and your gifter/ee.
Make a recommendation in the comments here for the person below you on the list. Please do it now, while you’re here and thinking about it because your person may need another choice of title if they need to return it.
Accept or Return the gift given to you. Keep an eye out for your rec and promptly return it so you can get a new title or state that you accept it.
The goal is to have the gifts finalized by THIS FRIDAY (December 13) so everyone will have plenty of time to watch their recommendation.
Then commit to watching the movie rec given to you. Don’t post your thoughts about it until “Unwrapping Day” on the morning of Friday, January 10 (tip: if you watch early, jot down your thoughts or type up your response ahead of time and copy/paste that morning). Please take the time to watch the movie and mark the Unwrapping Day on your calendar – half the fun is knowing somebody enjoyed/was subjected to your gift. If you can’t be around for the Unwrapping Day itself, feel free to have somebody put up your post on your behalf (I’m happy to do it, see my email above).
This is a good resource for seeing what titles are available on the different services and it can be set for any country as needed.
Happy Gifting!
About the writer
C. D. Ploughman
The weary Ploughman is a writer and filmmaker, focusing these days on documentary and educational projects. He obsesses over movies with his very patient wife and children.
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Department of
Conversation
Tristan–for a pick actually hewing somewhat close to the theme, have you ever seen Eyes Without a Face? That’s the first movie that made me aware of the Criterion Collection, so I kind of count it as a mini-milestone for my paying more attention to film in general.
As a backup–I’m guessing you probably have seen Double Indemnity, but if you either haven’t or are in the mood for a rewatch, that was my first film noir, and I’d love to hear your thoughts on it.
First Noir is a fun idea. I think mine was Detour which is a pretty wild choice in retrospect!
That’s like your first-ever drink be a straight shot of whiskey!
Mine was probably The Big Sleep, which is more like a gin fizz.
Ok Lauren, some possibilities:
A Boy And His Dog – first (or close to it) VHS rental in college. New horizons of talking dogs and extremely problematic plots!
Never Too Young To Die – first purposefully bought bad movie. Teen gymnast John Stamos vs. intersex supervillain Gene Simmons!
Un Flic – first Melville. Whips Le Samourai’s ass!
Holiday – first Hepburn. Whips Bringing Up Baby’s ass!
I’ve always meant to see A Boy and His Dog, so I’ll take that as my number one spot! I may also pick up some of the others as bonus viewing.
I have not seen it! Onto the list it goes.
(And I have seen Double Indemnity)
Robot Arm, the first movie for “adults” I ever saw was California Suite. I haven’t seen it since I was a kid, but it was the movie that my mom told a friend’s grandmother “they can see it, all the adult stuff will go over their heads.” It’s on Tubi.
Oh, this looks good. I never knew this existed. What a cast. Thanks!
Simon! Sorry to take so long. I’d like to give you Hester Street, my first (and so far only) Joan Micklin Silver film which I just saw a couple months ago and was very taken with. If that doesn’t work, no worries, I can come up with plenty of other options.
Been meaning to watch this for ages!
I have only one JMS film that I’ve seen, but it’s great. Get thee to Between the Lines!
Cori – the first (ha) thing that came to mind for the theme was to pick a “first movie I saw that introduced me to a new favourite director” – are either Le Havre (Aki Kaurismaki) or One Sings, The Other Doesn’t (Agnès Varda) accessible and acceptable to you? No problems if not, I’ll keep thinking!
I can take Le Havre
Excellent! Hope you enjoy. And this is a good excuse for me to revisit it too!
Great Choice. I programmed it for my film club and we all loved it
Haha, dang, finding something on theme will be tough because I’m pretty sure I’ve talked with Gillian specifically about some of my true “firsts”, so I know she’s seen them. But I will think of something good (or, alternately, something truly terrible, like The Room). I will try to avoid stuff like “first time I was disappointed with a movie” or what have you.
I can get access to almost anything and am one of the least cinephilic people on this site, so thesplitsaber should have a relatively easy time picking something.
Yeah, that’ll happen.
Vomas – I’m thinking of my first Japanese-language movie, which was also my first Kurosawa: Dreams (1990). But you may have seen it (or there may be other issues, ofc). Let me know!
I have not seen that one! I think Ran is the only colour-era Kurosawa I’ve seen so this is a great pick, enthusiastically accepted!
Huzzah! I can’t wait to see what you think of it!
Cornelius Thoroughgoode, I don’t know if it’s accessible for you or something you’ve seen, but the first movie I ever saw on home video was The Black Stallion.
Yep! I should be able to get that!
Cliffy – These were the best movies (new to me) I watched this year. Have you seen:
The Sicilian Clan (I watched this on a .ru site)
Any Number Can Win (Criterion)
Odd Man Out (available everywhere)
Your pick.
Looks like I was able to find The Sicilian Clan, so there we go!
Awesome!
Dave/Miller: I’m fairly sure you’ve seen The Conversation, but if somehow you haven’t, that would be my first choice. (My First film that I sought at the direction of my first movie mentor.)
If you have, I’ll recommend The Novice (2021), as My First Spirit Award vote recipient (and a movie I’ve been flogging to whoever will listen/can be forced to watch it).
Hey, Chris/Plough. Can you change Johnny Smith to JustJeremyNow? I think it would make it easier.
Got it, put the reference to your former moniker in brackets in case it informs Son of Griff’s recommendation (unless you’d prefer I didn’t).
No that’s fine. It might take a while before I’m known as JustJeremyNow, kind of like how it took a while before people stopped calling Dwayne Johnson The Rock.
This is exactly like that.
Just Jeremy Now: Caught your request while scrolling and decided to post my gift here. I think that I am going to recommend my first Hitchcock film for you, Strangers on a Train. If you haven’t seen it, let me know
Hi Griff, I have seen Strangers on a Train. What else you got?
How about 1951’s The Prowler, with Van Heflin and Evelyn Keyes. It’s the first film I saw at the Billy Wilder theater at UCLA, and has a memorable James Ellroy story to boot.
No I haven’t seen that. It looks good! Thanks!
I have indeed seen The Conversation! But I have not seen The Novice, which I assume is some kind of Conclave prequel. And it is at the library, let’s do it!
Yes, go in with that assumption. Last I knew it was on Netflix as well if you have access to that.
Hello, Chris! Take your pick (let me know if you don’t have access to these or if you’ve seen all of them):
-First Movie My Mom Forbid Me To Watch: The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
-First Movie I Watched Because It Was in the Criterion Collection: Through a Glass Darkly (1961)
-First Movie I Saw This Year: Black Orpheus (1959)
-First Masaaki Yuasa Film I Saw Mind Game (2004)
-First Movie I Think Truly Captures the Late 2000s Retrospectively: Rap World (2024)
I have seen the first two, although it’s been a long time in both cases, but I will take Black Orpheus because it’s one I should have gotten to by now and have not. Accepted, thank you!
Although now that I’ve made my pick, I kind of want to hear the story behind Hunchback being forbidden.
John Bruni: I’m going to recommend the movie Wrong (2012) by Quentin Dupieux. It’s actually available for free on YouTube.
Looks wild — look forward to watching it!
Jetpack Giraffe: how about either the 1st John Cassavetes film I ever saw, Faces, or the 1st Mike Leigh film I ever saw, Abigail’s Party?
I’ll watch Faces, as it will also be the first Cassavetes film I will see! Thanks!
@ Guillermo Jiménez: I live in Gothenburg, where there is a film festival every year at the end of January. One of my earliest memories from attending is watching Federico Fellini’s “Ginger And Fred” at a late night show together with my girlfriend. The movie ended at around 1 am. It was dark and had started to snow and we had to walk home. We still are married after all these years. I hope “Ginger And Fred” works for you!
Man, that is a great story! Happy for you both.
It’s been a decade since I last saw a Fellini for the first time and this sounds like a great one. Unfortunately, it’s not streaming here and DVD copies for this one are quite expensive if I can get them; plus my laptop is down for repairs and I don’t have a DVD/Blu-ray player currently.
Could you please recommend me something else? I’ll definitely have ‘Ginger and Fred’ on my watchlist for the future though!
No worries!
“Invasion Of The Body Snatchers” (1956) isn’t the first movie I saw on TV when I was a kid, obviously, but it is one of my earliest memories as it scared the shit out of me and my brother. Should this not work for you, other early standout movie memories on TV are: Aguirre (1972), Duel (1971) and The Swimmer (1968). Feel free to pick either of these or pick ’em all if you want to!
Thank you! I found Body Snatcher on YouTube in what appears to be a colorized version. I really want to see it in black and white, so I’ll put it on the backburner and rent Duel instead, which is one of a handful of early Spielberg movies I haven’t seen. Looking forward to it.
Also, I have already seen (and own a copy of) Aguirre, fantastic movie.
Sweet! This may make rewatch the movie soon too!
I’m not a huge Fellini fan but I kind of enjoy the way that the passage of time adds some bittersweet nostalgia in that one. I may be briefly in Gothenberg later this year.
John! This is hard for me to pick. Can you get access to Van Diemen’s Land? It’s the first movie I saw where I met the director before seeing the film itself. If not, Sin City, the first movie I bought on Blu-Ray, and something that would be interesting considering your taste for noir.
I’ll scrounge around Utube and see if I can find VDL. I’ve seen Sin City. I’ll keep you posted.
Be sure to get in touch if you visit here!
Persia – I’m gonna throw out some firsts here and you can latch onto whichever. And if you need more options I’ll throw out some more.
First DVD’s (celebrate the new format!)
2001
The Last Emperor
Yi Yi
First R-rated movie in a theater:
12 Monkeys
First Criterion:
For All Mankind
I’ve seen 2001, The Last Emperor and 12 Monkeys (all of which I like). Yi Yi costs money to rent so For All Mankind it is! Thank you!
@Nikmarov I think of the first time someone introduced me to anime as fine art. Would you be able to watch Whisper of the Heart?
I would. Accepted!
For The Narrator:
I feel compelled to recommend a Mexican movie so I’m tempted to go with Buñuel’s Los Olvidados, my first auteur Mexican movie. (Buñuel wasn’t strictly Mexican, but the movie very much is).
I feel there’s a strong chance you’ve already seen it so, as a backup, I’m also recommending my first, uh, Tommy Lee Jones-directed movie, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada.
Los Olvidados is so damn good.
Two excellent picks, and a good way to cross off a movie I’ve come close to watching on a few occasions. Three Burials it is!
I don’t think you will be disappointed. For my money it’s the best contemporary Western of the 21st Century.
The following is just a test to see if my attempt to italicize these three words worked: Afghanistan banana stand.
It worked! If you want to italicize a title, place it between em tags.
Vaudeville –
Here are a bunch of my first somethings.
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home was the first movie I bought in VHS form.
The Untouchables was the first movie with an Ennio Morricone score I saw. Morricone is my favorite film composer.
Jungle Fever was the first Spike Lee Joint I saw. Lee is one of my favorite directors.
Yojimbo was the first Kurosawa movie I saw.
Chan Is Missing was the first Asian American indie movie I liked and the first movie that made me interested in doing something for Filipino American representation.
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) probably wasn’t the first movie I saw on TCM, but it’s the earliest one I can remember watching on that channel.
Breaking News was the first Johnnie To movie I saw. To is one of my favorite directors, even though I’ve seen only about 20% of his filmography.
The President’s Last Bang was the first movie I saw in a theater outside my home state of California.
Which of these movies have you not seen yet?
That’s a buffet of movies! I have only watched “The Untouchables” and “Chan Is Missing” of these, so I think I will settle for “The Postman” as starters.
Stealing the suggestion of Breaking News for a future Movie Gifts, god damn is that movie great.
Your gift has been given downthread! Do you accept?
Chris, not sure if you followed on the Discord, but it looks like we’ve agreed on The Favourite for Gillian’s gift.
Hi Conor Crockford! I have a few suggestions. How about Personal Shopper? Or Certified Copy? Or Reichardt’s Night Moves? All of these are the first movies I saw by their directors. Seen them or not interested? I can suggest others!
Certified Copy yes!!!
Is thesplitsaber alive? I know he’s been pretty infrequent commenting in recent months.
I guess you could condense the list, but Greta was my last gift-giver (and Guillermo was the one before that), so I dunno.
Silverwheel, have you seen my first favorite musical, the 1982 Sweeney Todd?
I have not! I will consult with the Prophets that control the wormhole and see if that’s available.
Library’s got it, we’re good to go!
Thesplitsaber, my first choice of gift comes from very recent events, my first movie date with who has become my girlfriend: The Brothers Solomon. When you watch it (or if you’ve already watched it), you will know that it would’ve been a potential disaster with any other girl.
Well, splitsaber dropped out, and I have seen The Brothers Solomon.
As Nath says, you’ll be gifting to him instead of thesplitsaber (wouldn’t you know it falls to maybe the one other person who has seen The Brothers Solomon). (Also that is grade-A sink-or-swim first date material, kudos.)
Do you have another gift? Are you still participating in this website?
Sorry this is so late! I missed it in the transition
Jim on the Move, your movie is Saturday Night Fever for reasons I will explain on unwrapping day.
I saw Saturday Night Fever on TCM a long time ago. In fact, on my old blog, I posted a long, long list of movies I watched for the first time on TCM (https://afistfulofsoundtracks.blogspot.com/2014/04/tcm-celebrates-20-years-of-being-more.html ). I did the list so that I don’t forget all the things I watched on TCM.
Well, then have you seen The Black Stallion? And if not that, how about the 1990 thriller Pacific Heights?
I’ve never seen The Black Stallion before! I just found the movie on Tubi, and thanks to my ad blocker, I don’t have to put up with Tubi’s ads. Thanks, Cliffy. I’m looking forward to The Black Stallion because I love Caleb Deschanel’s cinematography in both The Right Stuff and National Treasure.
Great!
Hooray! Now please scroll up and confirm a title from Carl Something!