Great Present Ideas For The Man In Your Life

A few years ago, I gave my husband a present for Christmas that really hit all the right notes. Given that he's been enjoying it ever since, I thought it might be a useful idea for other folks out there, too.

So I'm sharing that idea today in the hopes that it helps out someone this holiday season.

We've reached that stage in our lives where we don't really need anything, and it truly is all about figuring out something we want or can enjoy.  In this case, it is an idea I've used more than once, both times to really good reception for both Christmas and a birthday present.

Take a big box or basket.  Fill it with some packages of microwave popcorn and some of his favorite movie candy snacks -- in our case, that means a box of whoppers and a box of junior mints, and a package of twizzlers, but YMMV depending on the faves at your house.

Next, add in some great movies that are themed as a group.  This is where things get really fun.

One year, I did a sports theme.  My husband is a big baseball and golf fan, and so I got him a mix of movies about both:

-- Tin Cup
-- Legend of Bagger Vance
-- Pride of the Yankees
-- Bull Durham
-- The Natural
-- The Rookie
-- Eight Men Out
-- Field of Dreams

You could easily do this with football: We Are Marshall, The Blind Side, The Longest Yard (the original, natch), Rudy, Jerry McGuire, and The Replacements, to name just a few possibilities.

Pretty much every sport has a movie out there somewhere, even wrestling (Vision Quest, anyone?). And if my husband is any indication, men love to watch them.

I did the same thing a few years later, but with comedy movies that were old faves that he hadn't seen in ages.  It was especially good because he got the gift for his birthday at a time when work was especially stressful, and the laughs were truly the gift that kept on giving.  Here's what movies I got him:

-- Stripes
-- Groundhog Day
-- Monty Python's Holy Grail
-- Grosse Point Blank and High Fidelity
-- Space Balls
-- Young Frankenstein
-- Office Space
-- Trading Places

We still watch these all the time, laughing all the way.

So whatever your fella's interests might be, there has to be something out there on film that would work well as a gifting idea along these lines.  


(YouTube is Gary Cooper in Pride of the Yankees.  Gets me every time.)