It's that time of year...

Cooler weather = filling the Netflix queue. Or, short of that, at least considering what's worth renting at the local DVD store.

Here are three of our favorite box sets to consider as you begin to consider shorter days and longer evenings.

"Bogie and Bacall: The Signature Collection"
The legendary chemistry between Bogart and Bacall showcased in four movies--"To Have and to Have Not," "Dark Passage," "Key Largo" and "The Big Sleep," the latter of which is one of the finest examples of the noir genre. Saturated with shadows, style and cigarette smoke, the movie follows Bogart's Philip Marlowe, a private dick trying to get to the bottom of a blackmail case involving socialite Carmen Sternwood (Martha Vickers). Since Carmen is a conniving kitten, all isn't what it seems with her. Neither is it with Carmen's equally mysterious sister, Vivian Rutledge (Bacall), a gorgeous femme fatale who deepens the dysfunction by adding her own bad habits to the mix, which Marlowe inevitably finds himself fixing. With the exception of the World War II drama “To Have and to Have Not,” the cheap sort of slum hustling that goes on in these movies either would bring down a red light district or brighten it, depending on how you view the world. Nobody talks as they do in noir, which is a great deal of the fun. And nobody--nobody--spoke it with such a heated undercurrent of lust as Bogart and Bacall in their prime. Grade: A

"Classic Musicals from the Dream Factory"
Five films, all digitally remastered, all marking their debut on DVD. Included in this boxed set from Warner are 1955's "It's Always Fair Weather" with Gene Kelly, Dan Dailey and Cyd Charisse proving the weather is anything but fair; 1946's "Till the Clouds Roll By," with Robert Walker selling it (not always successfully) as famed composer Jerome Kern; and 1950's "Three Little Words" with three big actors folded into the mix--Fred Astair, Red Skelton, Debbie Reynolds. Gene Kelly and Judy Garland appear in her last MGM musical, 1950's "Summer Stock," which would prove instrumental to her later concert career--it's the movie that put her in a fedora and black tights while she sang the iconic "Get Happy." Finally, there's the showstopping revue to end all revues, 1944's "Ziegfeld Follies," with director Vincente Minnelli whipping the proceedings into a Technicolor froth, Esther Williams swimming, Lena Horne, Judy Garland, Fanny Brice singing, and more than two dozen others nixing any trace of a plot just to put on a monstrous show--one determined to divert audiences from the war. The featurette "Ziegfeld Follies: An Embarrassment of Riches" is a highlight, as is a revealing outtake with Garland singing "D'Ya Love Me?" Judy, of course we did. Now if only you had believed it and loved yourself. Grade: A

“The Tennessee Williams Film Collection”
The boxed set to beat this year. Five films, some among our best, inspired by the great playwright, Tennessee Williams. Included are 1951’s “A Street Car Named Desire,” with Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh; 1958’s “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” with Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman and Burl Ives (“The mendacity!”); 1964’s “The Night of the Iguana” with Richard Burton, Ava Gardner and Deborah Kerr; Elia Kazan’s 1956 film, “Baby Doll,” with Karl Malden; 1961’s “The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone,” smoldering with Vivien Leigh and Warren Beatty; and 1962’s “Sweet Bird of Youth,” with Paul Newman, Geraldine Page and Rip Torn. Includes a bonus DVD, “Tennessee Williams South,” which cuts to the heart of the complicated, fascinating Williams. An excellent set. Grade: A