At a loss for a suitable gift for that odd nephew and his equally quirky mom? Or maybe you're in need of an ideal stocking-stuffer for someone a bit ... closer to home? Here are some choice tips on current video releases and niche items that may bring smiles to the right recipients. All quoted costs are full retail prices, so -- dare I use the S-word? -- shop around.

For moms & daughters

*"Julie & Julia" (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, rated PG-13, DVD $28.96; Blu-ray Disc $39.95). My wife had her best movie outing all year at this culinary comedy starring Meryl Streep as the only woman whose kitchen is enshrined in the Smithsonian. Playing TV chef and authoress Julia Child, Streep gives us another seamless screen character -- and a guiding beam of inspiration for a fledgling New York writer named Julie Powell, played by adorable Amy Adams. Nora Ephron's two-layered tale of their separate pursuits of perfection is as delectable as a creme brulee. Bonus extras on the discs include a commentary and visits with the stars. The sparkling Blu-ray even has a tour of Julia's kitchen, remembrances by friends, and five segments of cooking lessons from Child's TV shows.

*"500 Days of Summer" (20th Century-Fox Home Entertainment, rated PG-13; arrives Dec. 22 on DVD, $29.95, and Blu-ray Disc, $39.95). If broken hearts were jet fuel we could all afford to fly around in private planes like Nancy Pelosi. So give the young cast and crew here credit for turning a subject as common as dirt into something fresh, funny and thoroughly worth investing in. Amiable Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Tom, the would-be architect who constructs a sand castle in the sky for free-spirited Zooey Deschanel, then must convince her to inhabit it with him. Director Marc Webb won oodles of awards at regional film festivals for his creativity, but -- big surprise! -- it's still an audience-pleaser.

For good boys & girls

*"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" (Warner Home Video, rated PG, DVD $28.98; double-disc special edition $34.99; and Blu-ray Combo Pack $35.99). There's a new Lego version of Harry Potter's world on the market now, plus a second interactive DVD game for "up to" four players to test their Potter-y IQ ("Harry Potter: Wizarding World," $24.98), a theme park attraction at Universal Orlando -- and even an iPhone app. But lovers of the J.K. Rowling books have found the series of films they inspired to be a satisfying way of spreading the magic at home. This sixth installment on DVD is another showcase of spells and mystery as the ever-maturing boy wizard struggles with the force of teenage hormones while trying to save the Hogwarts institution from evil sorcery. Look for numerous bonus features on the two higher-end editions. Warner is also going back and re-releasing the earlier films in giant, four-disc "Ultimate Editions" with both theatrical and extended cuts, color books, photos, rare screen tests and hours of other extras ($39.92 on DVD, $49.99 on Blu-ray). "Sorcerer's Stone" and "Chamber of Secrets" are both available now for holiday giving.

*"Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie" (Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, rated TV-G, DVD $29.98). This direct-to-DVD feature based on the popular Disney cable series should please its youthful followers. While on vacation, apprentice wizard Selena Gomez accidentally casts a transforming spell on her family that can only be undone with the aid of a long-lost "Stone of Dreams." Bonus extras go behind the scenes with the cast and, for a limited time, a color-shifting "wishing stone" clip.

*"G-Force" (Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, rated PG, DVD $29.99; two-disc DVD $39.99; and Blu-ray Combo Pack $44.99). Young viewers who are old enough to get the comical allusions to "Mission: Impossible"-style spy capers will find frequent chuckles in this typical Disney mix of live-action and talking CGI hamsters. A secretive government program to turn rodents and insects into intelligence operatives sets out to prove its worth. Aided by a real-life "mole," a platoon of cockroaches and a squadron of surveillance flies, it hopes to infiltrate a nefarious corporation bent on world domination. As usual, the extras here -- like a hamster "boot camp," music videos and backstage visits -- will keep young fans busy for hours.

Just for Dad

*"The Hangover" (Warner Home Video, unrated and rated R versions, DVD $28.98; extended two-DVD edition $34.99; and Blu-ray Disc $35.99). This is a comedy best enjoyed in a group -- of old college buddies, preferably. It may be even funnier if you never went to college, though, because there are no subtextual nuances here; nothing to deconstruct or analyze. It's as front-loaded as a Hooters waitress. Four Pasadena pals wake up after a last-gasp bachelor outing in Las Vegas and try to make sense of the awful gap in their collective memory that might account for at least one missing tooth, one uninvited tiger, an unaccompanied baby, a fresh wedding certificate and other "surprises." Director Todd Phillips manages to steer clear of the meanness and misanthropy that infects other anarchic drug comedies -- though some sensitive fathers may flinch at the breaches of political correctness. The DVD has a map retracing the foursome's ill-fated evening and a gag reel, while the expanded editions have more fun extras, like additional photos from that missing camera and a picture-in-picture commentary.

*"It's Garry Shandling's Show" The Complete Series (Shout! Factory, $159.99). If your dad loves the squinty-eyed, self-effacing comedy of Garry Shandling and you have some big bucks to invest in his gift, he could end up the East Coast's foremost authority on Shandling's first cable series. This exhaustive, 16-DVD box collection contains all 72 episodes from the 1986-89 Showtime series, the first "post-modern" sitcom in its tearing down of the fictional wall between actor and audience. Guest stars include Daddy favorites like Gilda Radner, Carl Reiner, Chevy Chase and the Turtles. There are literally days of bonus extras as well, ranging from outtakes, bloopers and rehearsal footage to on-set banter, music videos, and long looks at the show's creation and retrospectives with the cast and writers.

Fit for family viewing

*"A Charlie Brown Christmas" (Warner Home Video, rated G, Blu-ray Disc Combo Pack $29.99). Warner is upgrading its Charlie Brown TV specials for fans of Blu-ray. High-definition doesn't prove much of an advantage here, though colors are fuller and lines are sharper. The 1965 award-winner takes on the commercialization of the Peanuts gang's favorite holiday. A "making of" special and another Snoopy Christmas adventure are included on the disc. Fans should also look for a separate DVD of "I Want a Dog For Christmas, Charlie Brown" (not rated, $19.98), which contains the DVD debut of the 1986 TV special, "Happy New Year, Charlie Brown." And don't forget both "The Peanuts 1960s Collection" and the new "The Peanuts 1970s Collection" in remastered standard definition, containing all the best specials of the series' heyday and other extras, retailing at $29.98 each.

*"Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and "Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who" (Warner Home Video) are also ready for their close-ups as Blu-ray Combo Packs for $29.99 each. Besides the high-def upgrades, the sets come with standard-def versions and digital copies of the two TV classics, plus extensive background material on Dr. Seuss and others who have contributed so much to our holiday entertainment.

*"Miracle on 34th Street" (20th Century-Fox Home Entertainment, Blu-ray Disc $34.95). This is the first Christmas where you can give both the 1947 original movie classic and its PG-rated 1994 remake in high-definition. My family has made a tradition of the former, which soars on believable performances by Edmund Gwynn as the undercover Santa Claus and Maureen O'Hara and young Natalie Wood as his two chief skeptics. While the disc also offers a colorized version that isn't half bad, the true color advantages go to the John Hughes remake. It also boasts a fine performance by Richard Attenborough as Kris Kringle. Both films are also available on standard DVD for $14.95 each.

For those who think young

*"A Muppets Letter to Santa" (Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, rated TV-G, $19.99). This made-for-TV holiday special is nothing extraordinary, but it certainly looks better on DVD and includes extra footage, deleted scenes and a video of the whole lovable Muppet gang dancing to Dave Clark Five's "Glad All Over" -- one of my all-time favorite Christmas songs.

*"Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed In at the House of Mouse" (Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, not rated, $26.99). All the Disney princes, princesses and other animated menagerie are here as Mickey and the gang try to raise the spirits of glum Donald Duck with a mix of old and new cartoon shorts. It could be the ideal gift to baby-sitters everywhere. Mer-rr-rr-ry Christmas!

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