If you’ve been waffling about upgrading your home entertainment system to take advantage of the dazzling picture quality and crisp, lossless sound that the Blu-Ray format affords, a certain new release is about to make the decision to go hi-def a lot easier. I’m not talking about the lavish box sets of the first two Harry Potter movies, with their three-disc spreads and included hardcover book, or the ultra-slick Star Trek remasters, or Disney’s sparkling new Snow White.

No, this year’s “system seller” has to be Holiday Fireplace in HD, a gorgeous reboot which truly brings the fireplace video genre into the new millennium. HDTV’s widescreen aspect ratio allows you to see more of the arched brick fireplace than ever before, though you also have the option of seeing the fire burning in (a somewhat hellish-looking) close-up. Surround sound? You betcha, though listening to the embers pop and crackle all around you sort of gives you the feeling that your house is on fire. If you’re looking to truly immerse yourself in holiday HD, Holiday Fireplace is a can’t-miss.

And if you’re looking for a very different holiday experience, Arnaud Desplechin’s Un conte de Noël, released here last year, is out on DVD now (though sadly the beautiful-looking Criterion version isn’t available here). An epic family saga with fantastic turns by Catherine Deneuve and Mathieu Amalric and full of unexpected stylistic flourishes (backstory presented as a puppet show, characters talking directly to the camera), it’s a movie of deep dysfunction and tortured family history.

Desplechin never makes it easy—he shows you a lot, but also leaves out huge, intentional gaps in the tale that somehow make it more effective. I can really say I’ve never seen another movie quite like it. I feel like I’ll want to return to it, to spend more time marinating in the atmosphere and the characters of this intricate and weirdly funny drama.