Given we spend half our lives buried in DVD boxes, it surprises none of our relatives when our Christmas present to them turns out to be a movie.
Unfortunately, we've already bought our mums Mamma Mia for their birthdays - and we don't see enough of Great Uncle Jebediah to know if he managed to catch Happy-Go-Lucky.
But now there's an alternative to joylessly trawling the Amazon recommended lists...
This year Warner Brothers have launched a web service - iWant - that can recommend a movie for anyone, based on relationship, age, personality and ideal genre.
We tried it out with five movie characters...
1. What to get for… Alex Forrest (Fatal Attraction, 1987)
Alex is a thirtysomething woman fretting about her biological clock, craving romantic attention and consumed with neurosis. So what should one-night stand Dan Gallagher buy her for Christmas?
IWant recommends:
2. What to get for… Daniel Plainview (There Will Be Blood, 2008)
IWant recommends:
A ‘kids’ animated cartoon isn’t the obvious choice, but look deeper and it somehow makes sense. The gruff, gritty depictions of rabbit life would appeal to Plainview far more than a Disneyesque take on the tale, and we can see a few similarities between the oil tycoon and villain General Woundwort.[page-break]
3. What to get for… Floyd (True Romance, 1993)
Dick Ritchie would look no further than the detergent aisle of Sainsbury’s for stoner room mate Floyd. But then everyone is going to be buying him ironic cleaning products. What would be a bit different?
IWant recommends:
Hmm. Floyd would no doubt prefer Family Guy or a boxed set of Beavis & Butthead, but a sitcom boxed set isn’t a bad choice. Unless you look beyond the character and consider that Brad Pitt isn’t exactly going to be tuning into re-runs of his ex anytime soon.
4. What to get for… King Louis XIV (Man In The Iron Mask, 1998)
Sure, King Louis XIV might have kept his brother under lock and key in a dungeon for the better part of two decades, while he lived a life of decadence. But he’s still Philippe’s brother, and besides, it is Christmas. So what to get him?
IWant recommends:
Okay, so King Louis might find the story of lost treasure moderately appealing, but we’re struggling to see the character connection. Unless of course, he sees the amusing similarities between the predicaments of Philippe and Goonie Sloth.[page-break]
5. What to get for… Vincent Hanna (Heat, 1995)
Work-obsessed, action-oriented cop Hanna is a man who’s been through two marriages before hitting the rocks with current missus Justine. Is there a present that will keep her husband by her side?
IWant recommends:
Ha. At least it proves the website works.
To pick out your Christmas DVDs, check out the Warner Bros IWant site .
King Louis XIV
