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'Tis the season to get away from your family, bundle up with a gallon of moonshine (preferably one with "XXX" written on the label), and watch endless hours of movies! What follows is not a comprehensive or "Best Of" list. These are simply seven DVD box sets that any film buff would be thrilled to find in his or her stocking this Christmas. Most of them were released in the past few months, and a couple have been out a while but just got amazingly cheap. Have a few gifts left to buy? Consider picking one of these up. You don't even have to get off your fat ass, if you click on the titles you'll be taken to the links on Amazon. I've included items to suit every budget, and they've been arranged in order of price. Naturally, the more expensive the set you purchase, the more you love the person you're buying it for. That's just the way it works.

The Alien Quadrilogy ($33.99)

Pretty much the gold standard for DVD box sets. This collection's price recently took an incredible drop. It was worth every penny of the $80 bucks I paid for mine years ago, so you can better believe it's worth $34. The set gives you several versions of each film in the beloved Alien series -- Alien (one of the best suspense movies ever made), Aliens (one of the best action movies ever made), Alien 3 (David Fincher's misunderstood take is a stronger movie with each viewing), and Alien: Resurrection (Nobody's perfect). An unprecedented amount of extra goodies that includes the amazing Director's Cut of Aliens, extremely cool fold-out packaging, and the absence of Alien Vs. Predator make this set a must-own. I've owned it for four years, and still haven't seen everything in there. Plus, don't you just love the word "Quadrilogy?"

So I'm watching that South Park episode the other day where the boys go to war with Steven Spielberg and George Lucas over their plans to take the original Indiana Jones, add a bunch of CGI nonsense and re-release it. Of course, they were poking fun at Lucas' decision to redo Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, and how most fans weren't exactly thrilled with the results.

Well, I then came across this post at FilmRot that talks about the upcoming DVD release of those same Star Wars films, minus the latest Lucas tinkering. Sure, they won't be remastered, but the fans are finally getting what they've wanted for such a long time: Star Wars, as it originally appeared in the theater. Fabulous! However, seeing as 2007 marks the 30th anniversary of Star Wars: Episode IV on the big screen, we're now hearing more about plans for an additional DVD set to arrive in stores at some point next year. Yes, more Star Wars!

According to FilmRot via DigitalBits, " Well, we've confirmed it: There IS a big, ultimate, 6-film Star Wars anniversary DVD box set planned for 2007. There will be more changes to the films, and there will be LOTS of new, never-before-seen special features -- all the good stuff that was held back by Lucasfilm from the original Trilogy DVD release a few years ago. Think deleted scenes and more." Sounds super, but seeing as this the ULTIMATE boxset, does that mean those original Star Wars versions will be included too? If so, why should we shell out our hard-earned cash next month, when they will appear in a glorious boxset later on in 2007? What will you do?

Despite the often inflated sticker prices, I'm a huge fan of the "DVD box set." My very special "no touching" DVD shelf contains the Alien Quadrilogy, the Star Wars Trilogy, the Godfather Trilogy, Indiana Jones, Matrix, etc., etc. There's just something about getting the whole darn series in one slick box that makes for a happy movie geek. And with November's mega-cool Superman set on the horizon, it looks like a may need to invest in a new shelf.

But here comes word on an upcoming box set that, frankly, I can live without. Streeting October 10th is WB's Exorcist Movie Collection, and here's what's included:

• The original cut of William Friedkin's The Exorcist, a true classic in every sense of the word
• The extended "Version You've Never Seen" (which is a lie because I have seen it)
• John Boorman's frankly horrible Exorcist 2: The Heretic
• William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist 3, which has its fair share of supporters (one of whom is not me)
• Renny Harlin's Exorcist: The Beginning, which kinda stinks
• Paul Schrader's Dominion: A Prequel to the Exorcist, which (no kidding) might be the worst movie title I've ever seen

DavisDVD informs us of the impending release, but there's very little info on the actual platters -- most likely because this is not a newly-produced box set, but instead a slipcase filled with the exact same product you'll find at your local DVD shoppe. But hey, it looks like this set will cost only about 30-some bucks, so if you've got a taste for the Satanic sequels, I suppose it's a pretty good deal.