Intermission: Pick just the right gift for movie lovers you know

In the gray area of movie releases, that time between the first onslaught of holiday fare that hits on Thanksgiving weekend, and the second or third weekend in December, pickings can be pretty slim for those wanting a fresh film.

That's why around this time of year, columns and TV shows dealing with movies usually turn to one of two traditional formulas.

The first approach is to show short previews of the Christmas releases at hand. The second, and the one this column has always favored, looks at what might make the movie lover in your life happy when it comes time to open the presents.

Some of the best gifts for the cinema junkie in your life are books, and every year there are more and more available. A few favorites are listed below.

"Video Movie Guide 2001" by Mick Martin and Marsha Porter. Published yearly by Ballatine Books, this is an indispensable tome to have at hand for even the casual movie fan. Cross-indexed by director and star, with entries approaching the 20,000 mark, the concise reviews here and basic facts are fun and useful.

"I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie" by Roger Ebert. As you might guess by the title, this is a collection of essays concerning some of the critic's least favorite films. It's fun reading if you're a fan of Ebert and it might give you some insight into why critics rip apart a movie that's on your personal list of favorites.

For the more serious fan, there are a couple of interesting books about the art of cinematography and the technique of direction.

"Cinematography: Screencraft" by Peter Ettedgui delves into the styles and aesthetics of getting an image on film. It's got a lot of great photos and will be a welcome addition to any film library.

The hottest news for the past year has been the rapid ascension of the DVD player. Considering it took the now-ubiquitous compact disc several years to make inroads on the vinyl LP, cassette and the home computer market, manufacturers of DVD equipment have got to be happy with how fast this format has caught on.

The picture quality, special effects (freeze-frame, fast and slow motion) and audio of the DVD are impeccable and the "random access" nature of the format means no more shuttling tape back and forth to find your favorite scenes. And there's no need to rewind!

For lovers of independent, foreign film or documentaries, the best place I found in Springfield (to purchase) was Barnes and Noble. They have the restored "Nights of Cabiria," and several other hard to find, somewhat esoteric titles.

While most discs will have added footage, audio commentary from the director, writer and stars and theatrical trailers, some bigger names like "Men in Black," "Terminator 2" and "The Matrix" go all out. "MIB" has, among loads of other features, an interactive editing workshop where the viewer can cut scenes of the film together in various and sundry ways. "The Matrix" lets you, with one click, go from scenes in the film to a "how'd they do that?" segment explaining the techniques used for the special effects.

A phenomenon called "Easter eggs" seems to be popping up more and more as well. These are undocumented features that the viewer just stumbles across by an accidental click here or there.

The Web site www.dvdreview.com has a constantly updated list of Easter eggs and how to access each one.

Speaking of the Internet, many home computers now have DVD drives built in. When watching a movie on your computer, a lot of top titles have options allowing you to visit Web sites connected with the film.

(Jim Wunderle works at Associated Video Producers and is a Springfield free-lance writer and musician.)