Gift Ideas 101
Monday, November 3rd, 2008My sister and I are separated by 10 years, gender, and at the moment some sixteeen thousand kilometres. She’s just turned 17 and I’m bearing down on 27, as I was going through University, she was going through Primary, she entered her teens and I got married, minor generational difference to say the least. And so, as a result, I always felt a bit out of it when it came to gift ideas for her - how to bridge the generational and gender gap with a common interest that I can actually relate to?
Well, I finally hit the nail on the head (or think I have) and have come up with the gift idea that will never get old because the format never changes, only the date does!
I’m a bit of a cinephile (no, really?) and Siobhan is a bit of a fledgling movie buff also, so I thought given that she’s struggling to keep abreast of the best movies currently out and about in the last few years, why don’t I give her the benefit of my hindsight and hit her up with my best picks from the generational gap (ie. for 2008, my favourite movies of 1998 that she might not have seen).
Given that I know she’s a fan of The Big Lebowski that takes my favourite movie of that particular year off the list and I don’t think she’s terribly fond of war flicks, so there goes Saving Private Ryan, I made the following choices with only one glaring ommission:
Gattaca - thoughtful sci-fi that opens up the genetics debate
L.A. Confidential - brilliant noir thriller that launched two great Aussie actors
Dark City - they ripped off the Matrix… oh wait, a year BEFORE it….
Rushmore - if you aren’t laughing after the first sequence, you’re dead inside
A Simple Plan - a nice little thriller showing greed spiraling out of control (nice parody)
Now, I think that’s a pretty damned good selection right there (allowing for the absence of the Coen’s masterpiece) but what I missed, one of my favourite and utterly warped and depraved movies that should’ve expanded my sister’s cinematic consciousness, was Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Thankfully I realised she’s shares enough of my DNA to have checked that out for herself… and she had. Got the book too! 
Anyone else got different favourite picks for ‘98?
