MGM/Fox's Paul Newman Tribute Collection box set (released back on 9.22) is destined for a lot of father-son or son-father gift-giving occasions. The passing of Newman was yet another "we've lost one of the last real men" event. The packaging and included book are slim and sleek, and they are aimed at exploring both "Paul Newman, Actor" and "Paul Newman".

I'm running a series of pieces on this set and in appreciation of Newman the artist over the next few weeks. As much as one can be affected by someone they've never met who they admire, Newman is up there for me in the same pantheon as Jack Lemmon, Steve McQueen, and a few others.

Many cinephiles will likely avoid this box set because it's all DVDs instead of Blu-ray (the horror!), but it's actually not a bad deal if you're looking at just the discs. If you split the $63 price on Amazon among the 13 titles included, they come out to less than $5 apiece.

I already had Butch Cassidy and Towering Inferno (on Blu), but not the other 10. The 4 collector's edition titles all cost over $12 at the least, and Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man and Quintet are only available in Hemingway and Altman box sets otherwise. I'll get more into individual films in the set in subsequent installments, but for now I leave you with these shots of the 8"x11" softcover book in the box.`