Once upon a time, going to the movies was a special occasion, and you had no control over what was playing at your neighborhood cinema. But today films are like fashion, furniture, and food: you can choose what to enjoy. Movies finally fit into our schedules. So here is the first movie guide tailored to the way we actually watch movies. Whether it’s Halloween, the brink of baseball’s Opening Day, or a Saturday evening with no babysitter; whether you’re bracing for a business trip, feeling nostalgic for the 1960s, or simply in need of a dose of optimism (or apocalypse), Flickipedia will steer you to over 1,300 films that will fit your movie-viewing appetite perfectly. Entertaining as well as informative, Flickipedia recommends many movies that you may not be familiar with, while acknowledging the tried-and-true standbys and popular classics. Every step in life provokes different emotions, and Flickipedia is here with suggestions to cover the waterfront. "Great fun for any movie lover. I'm proud to add this entertaining read to my personal reference shelf."  —Richard Roeper, cohost, Ebert & Roeper "Easily the most useful movies-to-rent guide I've ever come across."  —Luc Sante, author,  Evidence , The Factory of Facts , and Low Life "Easily organized and briskly written. One for any indecisive cineaste's bookshelf."  — Oklahoma Gazette "An addictive, perceptive DVD guide."  — Play "Entertaining and unique."  — Bozeman Daily Chronicle Michael Atkinson is the author of Blue Velvet , a study of the David Lynch film, and Ghosts in the Machine: The Dark Heart of Pop Cinema . He has written on film for Detour , Film Comment , Gear , The Guardian , Interview , Movieline , Sight & Sound , Spin , Swing , The Village Voice, and many other publications. His first volume of poetry, One Hundred Children Waiting for a Train , won the 2001 Washington Prize. His wife, Laurel Shifrin , is an opinionated movie fan, database manager, and mother. Flickipedia Perfect Films for Every Occasion, Holiday, Mood, Ordeal, and Whim By Michael Atkinson, Laurel Shifrin Chicago Review Press Incorporated Copyright © 2008 Michael Atkinson and Laurel Shifrin All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-55652-714-2 Contents ACKNOWLEDGMENTS, INTRODUCTION, I HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS, Christmas, Thanksgiving Day, Chanukah, New Year's, Halloween, Independence Day, Valentine's Day, Saint Patrick's Day, Easter, Passover, Mother's Day, Father's Day, National Grandparents Day, Presidents' Day, Veterans Day, Memorial Day, 9/11, Labor Day, Groundhog Day, Earth Day, Martin Luther King Day, Election Day, International Women's Day, Columbus Day, Chinese New Year, The Great American Smokeout, II MY FAVORITE SEASON, Summer, Winter, Autumn, Spring, Rained In, Snow Days, Opening Day, Kickoff, Basketball Season, Hockey Season, Hitting the Links, The Triple Crown, Grand Prix/Le Mans/Indy 500, Olympiad, Championship Boxing, The Oscars, III THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES, Birthday, High School Graduation, College Graduation, Dating, Engagement, Bachelor Party, Newlyweds, Pregnancy, Childbirth, New Parenthood, Parenting Tweens and Teens, Anniversary, Family Reunion, New House, Saturday Evening with No Babysitter, Getting a Pet, New Job, Jury Duty, Divorce, Coming Out, Grieving, Retirement, IV ALTERED STATES, Sick Day, Insomnia, Post-Op Recovery, Heartbreak, Ms. Lonelyhearts, Mr. Lonelyhearts, Midlife Crisis, Paranoia, Spiritual/Philosophical Crisis, Descending into a Good Funk, Bad Day at Work, Catharsis, Optimism, Apocalyptic Dread, Like a Big Cuppa Black Coffee, Tippling, Etc., Girls' Night Out, Boys' Night Out, Party Software, V WORLD TRAVELER, Family Trip, Exotic Travel, Doing Europe, Snowy Vacations, Road Trip, On a Cruise, Camping and Hiking, Urban U.S. of A, Business Trip, Spring Break, VI FLASHBACK, Returning to the Nineteenth Century and the Fin de Siècle, Living the High Life of the Roaring Twenties, Evoking the 1930s, Reliving the 1940s, Loving the 1950s, Being in the 1960s, Lost in the 1970s, Grade School Nostalgia, Remembering High School, College Days, First Love, RESOURCES, INDEX OF FILM TITLES, INDEX OF NAMES, CHAPTER 1 CHRISTMAS "... isn't just a day; it's a frame of mind." — Edmund Gwenn, Miracle on 34th Street "The mother of all holidays" is how Jean Shepherd put it in his narration of A Christmas Story, and it's true enough-but Christmas is also the year's most demanding day (or fortnight, really) in terms of atmosphere, emotional temperature, and point of view. We don't feel a need to get all colonial or even terribly grateful on Thanksgiving; nobody talks about "getting into the spirit" of Mother's Day, Veterans Day, or even Independence Day. But for Christmas, there is a pervasive compulsion to summon reserves of tolerance, generosity, congeniality, and childlike optimism, an