Christmas Gift Guide

The year has flown by and Christmas is almost upon us.

If you are still not sure what to get for that special someone, then here are a few suggestions.

I have included affiliate links to Amazon (check out all the DVD and Blu-rays here) and TeePublic and, for full transparency, if you click through and buy via those links then Live for Films gets a few pence commission for each sale. All other links are just added to make it easier for you to find the things mentioned.

Cableguys Marvel Iron Man

For film and gaming fanatics meet the marvellous Iron Man, for those who want to keep everyone safe. At last Iron Man can look pristine in your own home, or around your desk. It holds most gadgets, such as mobile phones and gaming controllers, whilst also powering them up. It’s ideal for those who don’t want to join secret boybands, or believe that following isn’t really their style. Set the trend and lead the way with Tony Stark’s favourite invention.

The Avengers: Endgame Iron Man Cable Guy Controller Holder stands at a mighty 8-inches tall with a 6-foot long USB C charging cable for your devices.

Silly and a little bit pointless, but I have actually found it really useful to keep things in order.

You can also get them other Marvel, Star Wars and Disney characters.

The Art of Frozen II

Through never-before-seen development art, character sketches, storyboards, and color scripts, The Art of Frozen 2 gives fans a front-row view of the vast creative effort behind the epic sequel to Frozen. Filled with gorgeous four-color images and fascinating facts and details from the production team, it’s the ultimate insider’s look.

Most of the Disney movies release an art book like this and they are always full of beautiful art and some fascinating insights into the whole design process.

Dungeons & Dragons Essentials Kit – Dungeons And Dragons Vs Rick and Morty Game

The D&D group I DM for has been going for three years now. It is truly brilliant and a great time with good friends.
If you want to have a crack at the game then this new Essentials Kit is worth checking out. Just don’t blame me if you start buying numerous sets of dice, miniatures, dice trays and more.

• EVERYTHING YOU NEED: Includes an introductory rulebook, an adventure book, 6 blank character sheets, a dungeon master screen, 11 dice, a double sided map, and 81 cards for the magic items and sidekicks featured in this adventure.
• DESIGNED FOR 2 – 6 PLAYERS: The first official D&D 5th edition product designed to support play with 1 Dungeon Master and 1 player thanks to the introduction of sidekicks. The perfect way to discover D&D with a friend, your partner or your child!
• START YOUR ADVENTURE: Ideal entry point into D&D, or a great stepping stone between the D&D Starter Set and the Player’s Handbook. Create your first characters with an easy step-by-step guide.
• CONTINUE THE ADVENTURES WITH DIGITAL TOOLS: Includes a 50% discount for the digital version of the Player’s Handbook on the D&D Beyond platform, plus full access to the digital version of the “Dragon of Icespire Peak” adventure book and supplementary online content on D&D Beyond.
• UNLEASH YOUR IMAGINATION: Dungeons & Dragons is a cooperative storytelling game that harnesses your imagination and invites you to explore a fantastic world of adventure, where heroes battle monsters, find treasures, and overcome quests.

Then there is the Dungeons & Dragons vs Rick and Morty box set!

The world’s greatest roleplaying game meets television’s most dysfunctional family! What could possibly go wrong? Coming this fall, D&D has partnered with Adult Swim to bring this boxed set blending the world of Dungeons & Dragons with the mad narcissistic genius of Rick Sanchez’s power-gaming sensibilities, and it includes everything a Dungeon Master needs to channel their inner mad scientist and run a rickrolling adventure for up to 5 players, levels 1 to 3.

T-Shirts and more

Head on over to the Live for Films store for many cool designs. You can get them on T-Shirts, mugs, phone cases, hoodies, stickers and more. There is also the official Live for Films T-Shirt.

Critical Role goodies

I’m a huge D&D fan and I love Critical Role. It is a great laugh full of action, adventure and superb characters. Always helps lift me if I am feeling a bit down.

You can get lots of Critical Role merchandise over at their store.

They’re not a sponsor, I just love what they do and wanted to share.

Check out all the stuff here.

The Self Preservation Society: 50 Years of The Italian Job

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the British cult classic movie The Italian Job. This landmark anniversary presents a unique opportunity to celebrate the film with a coffee table book packed full of images, insights and revelations. Loaded with Sixties swagger, and famed for its endlessly quotable dialogue and one of the most impressive car chases in movie history, The Italian Job is the ultimate celebration of ‘cool Britannia’.

From the opening sequence of Rossano Brazzi gliding through the Alps in an orange Lamborghini Miura, to the high-speed getaway across the city of Turin in three Mini Coopers, The Italian Job is a petrolhead’s dream. The Self Preservation Society will detail how all these cars, including the Aston Martin DB4 and E-Type Jaguars were found and ultimately where they are today.

Over the last 20 years, author Matthew Field he has interviewed all the key people involved in the 1969 production. Through him, their stories are revealed, often for the first time. Based on more than 50 in-depth interviews with the cast and crew, and lavishly illustrated with hundreds of never-before-seen photographs and production documents, this definitive book will explode some myths, include a few revelations and tell the fascinating full story of this perennially popular movie.

The Last Wish: Witcher 1: Introducing the Witcher

The Witcher is hitting Netflix later this month (check out the trailer). Henry Cavill is playing Geralt. If you want to find out more, then check out the book by Andrzej Sapkowski that started it all.

Geralt is a witcher, a man whose magic powers, enhanced by long training and a mysterious elixir, have made him a brilliant fighter and a merciless assassin. Yet he is no ordinary murderer: his targets are the multifarious monsters and vile fiends that ravage the land and attack the innocent.

He roams the country seeking assignments, but gradually comes to realise that while some of his quarry are unremittingly vile, vicious grotesques, others are the victims of sin, evil or simple naivety.

The Last Wish is the first (in its fictional chronology; published second in original Polish) of the two collections of short stories (the other being Sword of Destiny) preceding the main Witcher Saga, written by Polish fantasy writer Andrzej Sapkowski. The first Polish edition was published in 1993[1] and the first English edition was first published in 2007.[2] The book has also been translated into several other languages.

The collection contains six short stories interspersed with a continuing frame story: Geralt of Rivia, after having been injured in battle, rests in a temple. During that time he has flashbacks to recent events in his life, with each flashback forming a short.

Watchmen

The new Watchmen HBO series has actually been very good. I did have reservations about it as I love the original graphic novel, but the new show builds on that and has plenty of references to the giant squid monster and more.

If you are a fan of the show and want to see where it all began then get this graphic novel. It is absolutely brilliant.

• In an alternate world where the mere presence of American superheroes changed history, the US won the Vietnam War, Nixon is still president, and the cold war is in full effect. Watchmen begins as a murder-mystery, but soon unfolds into a planet-altering conspiracy. As the resolution comes to a head, the unlikely group of reunited heroes–Rorschach, Nite Owl, Silk Spectre, Dr. Manhattan and Ozymandias have to test the limits of their convictions and ask themselves where the true line is between good and evil.
• In the mid-eighties, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons created Watchmen, changing the course of comics’ history and essentially remaking how popular culture perceived the genre. Popularly cited as the point where comics came of age, Watchmen‘s sophisticated take on superheroes has been universally acclaimed for its psychological depth and realism.
• Watchmen is collected here with a new cover, sketches, extra bonus material, and a new introduction by series artist Dave Gibbons.