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The Return of the Revenge of the Curse of the Shadow of the Trail Of Moriarty’s DVD Shelf!
Allow me to explain why I constantly try to set goals for myself that we all know I will never be able to maintain.
It’s because I’m a fucking idiot.
Oh, I’m a bright guy in conversation, and I’m well-read, and I think I have a fair sense of sentence structure and rhythm and decent taste, but when it comes to things like “realistic workload” and “time management,” I find that I am frequently optimistic to a moronic degree.
If you’ve been reading me for the last nine years or so, you know that I am capable of missing deadlines in a way that redefines missing them. And they’re always self-imposed, which is what makes it ridiculous. I always worry that people are going to think it’s because I just don’t give a shit, or because I’m lazy, or because I lose interest in something, but that’s never the case. My problem is always that I try to take on too much to do well, and I desperately hate doing something poorly. I’d rather not finish something than half-ass the effort.
It’s a problem. I acknowledge that.
So I’m not going to tell you that I’m going to do better with the DVD blog in 2007. I’m certainly going to try, but there are professional artistic opportunities looming that may take my attention away again at some point this year, and if that happens, then all my promises and intentions here will be for naught.
That’d be a shame, too.
Even with two new formats battling it out in the marketplace right now, there’s plenty of life left in the DVD format, and plenty of releases worth watching and discussing every week.
Now, I’m not going to be doing a new release column this year. Harry says he’s got that covered with his monthly picks and previews piece.
Instead, I’m going to be focusing on my ongoing efforts to review every single title in my collection. Eventually, I want there to be an archive as deep as my shelf that you’ll be able to browse. I’ll be moving over the content from my DVD blog that ran elsewhere so they’ll be part of the AICN archives, and I’ll be publishing as much new content as I can. There are stacks of discs everywhere in my office right now that I’ve been watching, stuff I’m dying to write about. All part of the collection.
Crazy. The notion of my movies being a “collection.” When I was a kid, you didn’t own movies. It just wasn’t done. Movies were things that were randomly scheduled on TV. Or that you went to see in the theater. Maybe sometimes occasionally at a drive-in. But not in someone’s home. Not at someone’s whim. You didn’t just throw on your favorite film. Ever.
I dreamed of owning movies. Or maybe I dreamt of it. I always forget which I’m supposed to use. So, to be specific, I dreamted of owning STAR WARS.
I’m sure I wasn’t alone. That’s why you bought the STORY OF albums. It was the soundtrack plus dialogue plus sound effects. And you could look at the photos. It was almost like watching the movie. Sort of.
I remember the first time I saw a videotape in a home. It was my uncle’s house. He worked for RCA. And he was talking about how this thing was the future. He had a giant table-sized VCR that top-loaded. It sounded like an airplane taking off. And he had a few movies. There were so few to choose from. He picked JAILHOUSE ROCK for his first film.
I was so excited to be watching a movie. Any movie. It seemed like such a great idea. Videotape. And looking at one of those tapes, and the box it came in. It was huge. Gigantic. The size of a hardback book. All packaging.
He put the movie in. Started it up. That same grim parade of FBI Warnings went by. But it was new, so it was actually a little scary.
The movie starts. My uncle watches a moment. Gets up, fools with the TV. The credits end, the movie starts. He’s still messing with it. Adjusting it.
The picture’s getting weirder and fuzzier. It was fine. We tell him it was fine.
“Noooo... it’s not working. It’s not coming in color.”
My dad’s a fan of the film. Knows it well. Can’t resist. “Ummmm... Marshall, it’s a black and white film.”
“Yeah. But it’s a color TV.”
So you see. Home video had an uphill battle from the start. People have wanted the impossible from it all along. And they didn’t know what they really wanted.
You remember all the fuss about letterboxing? Remember how long people refused to watch something if it was letterboxed? I know it’s still a bit of an issue with “fullscreen” and “widescreen” releases, but it used to be nearly impossible to find a letterboxed version of anything.
The whole reason I was first drawn to laserdisc in the early days of the format was because of how many titles were announced letterboxed. Including STAR WARS.
Keep in mind, I hadn’t seen STAR WARS in the proper aspect ratio in about fifteen years at that point. They weren’t in constant theatrical re-release, and they weren’t available anywhere in the proper 2.35:1 image. In fact, I didn’t quite know what the proper image was. I didn’t understand aspect ratio until I really got into laserdisc, where I finally had a chance to see films archived in the right way. It blew me away, and I got addicted.
I got my job at Dave’s Video in large part so I could afford to feed my laserdisc buying habit. My employee discount just barely made it possible for me to accumulate a diverse selection of stuff. My roommates were both laserdisc collectors, too, so they bought stuff like mad, and we ended up with a pretty broad assortment of titles in the house for a while. And just so you don’t think I’m being obstinate about HD-DVD and Blu-Ray for the sake of being obstinate, I was the same way about DVD at first. I took my time before I got into the format. I thought it had crazy compression issues at first, and the whole DIVX debacle muddied the waters a bit.
But then one day I was browsing the DVD section just to see what was available, content that anything for sale was also for sale on laserdisc, when I happened across a copy of VIDEODROME.
I flipped it over to check the back. Sure enough. Letterboxed. Which it never had been on laserdisc. So before I left the store, I bought a player, and I bought that movie and a few others, movies I thought would really demo the picture quality. New releases at the time like FEAR & LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS and KUNDUN, and a letterboxed version of THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH.
And I never looked back. My DVD shelf is up to the mid-4000 title range, and it’s pretty varied. What impresses me is just how deep you can get into certain filmographies, and how consistent certain companies have been about putting out catalog titles. You can really sample film history in depth now. Of course, what’s been released so far is just a fraction of what’s possible, but at least you can make a legitimate start of things.
That’s what a library is for me. A way to keep film history on hand. A way to be able to pull everything I might reference, everything I think is worthwhile. Film is like any other language that we share as human beings... it grows from the use of it. The more filmmakers exchange ideas and try out different styles and experiment with the vocabulary of action or comedy or romance, the richer film language becomes.
This has been a long piece about why I think writing about what’s available on home video is worth a real focus this year. Prices are coming down in DVD now, so these titles are more available than ever. For a film freak, this is a good time. This is when you build your library, and this is when it’s worth discussing what’s worth adding to a potential library.
I’m going to be reviewing every title in my library with the intent of either keeping or purging it. There are going to be discs that get cut. But the goal is to hold onto everything that is worth holding onto. The main purpose of this DVD blog this year is going to be narrowing things down to what I really want to have in the house.
After all, these are the films that my son’s going to grow up with. I’m never going to push him to watch anything. But I like the idea of him growing up with a dense and varied film library in the house, so that he can follow his interests and discover things at his own speed. For his sake, I want to keep the good stuff in the house and get ride of the things not worth his time.
I’ve also started renting again for the first time in ten years, and I’m still not sure what I think. A few weeks ago, Blockbuster Online got in touch with me and asked me if I’d like to try out their service. Keep in mind, I don’t have Netflix. I know what it is. I have many, many friends who use it constantly. They talk about it sort of like I talk about my Tivo... with an almost unhealthy level of affection. It’s fairly obvious from Blockbuster’s ad campaign that they’re looking to push Netflix back out of the market lead, and that they’re taking their leads from the competition.
They’ve offered me a year free. I can use the service as much as I’d like for the full year. More importantly, my family can use it for that year, and I can see how they enjoy it overall. I get a lot of DVDs sent to the house already, but there are inevitable titles that I don’t get that my wife or my mother in law or my sister in law are interested in. There are also titles that I’m curious about, but that I don’t want to buy like THE COVENANT or the OMEN remake or SEE NO EVIL. I’m not sure how much I’ll use the service, but I’ve certainly loaded up my queue. I’ll be including my use of this as part of the blog. So far I’ve rented IDLEWILD (it started strong, but it loses its way and drowns in style by the end), STREET FIGHT (great documentary that made my runners-up list this year), ICE AGE: THE MELTDOWN (Toshi seemed indifferent to it, and he’s the only reason I rented it), CONVERSATIONS WITH OTHER WOMEN (clever and affecting in a low-key way, and the gimmick of telling the whole film in split screen isn’t nearly as annoying as I expected it to be), INSIDE HIS DARK MATERIALS (a vaguely shoddy documentary that I watched so I could see a Philip Pullman interview before my London trip to the GOLDEN COMPASS set), YOU ME & DUPREE (which I can’t review since my managers produced it), QUINCEANERA (my wife and my mother in law watched it without me) and, at the moment, BEERFEST and JOHN TUCKER MUST DIE. That’s since January 10th, so I’d say the accounts getting its fair share of activity.
I’ll be posting my reviews here, but you’ll be able to follow the progress of the blog in The Zone. It’s going to be a fairly interactive process between the message boards and the front page, moreso than anything I’ve done so far. We’ll see how it goes. Remember... I’m not promising daily content, but sometimes there will be more than one thing in a day. Sometimes there will be one thing in a week. We’ll try to keep it moving somewhere in-between. I’ll also have guest reviewers popping in to help me work through all the titles here in the house.
For now, though, the clock is ticking, and the DVD Blog is finally up and running for 2007.
Drew McWeeny, Los Angeles
Drew McWeeny, Los Angeles
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really slow news today
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I still have un-opened ones lol. With all these cheap TV show boxsets out for under $20 I'll be stuck with un-opened DVDs too!
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is in the 0-10 range. For some reason I feel burdened "owning" the movie. I would say I like to remember each movie the way I first saw it...but that reminds me of that "Lost Highway" quote, and that opens up another David Lynch TB. Well, it is a slow news day...
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puts me to shame and i got 300 + dvdsnot including about 30 or so tv shows like simpsons, fmaily guy lost etc.i just dont want to start another collection with HD dvd, fuck blu ray no way getting that shit.
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I'm fairly certain I didn't see it posted on the main page. Is it still coming, or have you abandoned it because of the work load?
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forward to it... It's always good to get some advice on what DVDs to buy... Don't over work yourself too much though... We all know you have a wife and kid to attend to :)
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Mori just called himself a "fucking idiot" :)
Mori that was a nice piece of writing actually. I told my teengage nephew a similar story about growing up in an age when you only saw your favourite film at the cinema and had to wait for years before it would show up on TV and you'd get a chance to see it again. My father took me to see Jaws in 76 and I fell in love with the film but didn't see it again until it was on british tv around 1981. It seems incredible that there was five years between viewings. And my nephew? he looked at me like I was from the stoneage. -
Starting in Dec. I've tried to keep my DVD purchases to a minimum (but I still spring for cool shit like The Protector) because my DVD library is slowly encompassing my room (I have 1100+, nowhere near Mor's but not bad after 8 years of having a player) and I need to start cherry picking DVD's to go into the for sale bin at either a yard sale, flea market or Game Stop buy back. Some movies I have to get rid of just because they suck (Lust for Frankenstein), and some are doubles I have to get ride of (I have like 5 different versions of The Wasp Woman thanks to my new obsession with Mill Creek Entertainment's 50 movie packs). So the movies that I plan on getting rid of (or will never watch again) I've been writing reviews for to hopefully someday (once I get my wedding straightened out) get a website going with the reviews. But that Moriarty beat me to it! To paraphrase Stallone, Damn you Moriarty!
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Sorry Moriarty, somebody had to it...
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collection' crazies. You. Don't. Have. To. Replace. Them. They'll play fine on the new format players. They'll look the same (or maybe even a little better if the player upscales). Jeez. You'd think people would actually understand backwards compatibility by now. Looking like shit in comparison to the High-def picture on the new formats (shouldn't be long until the "I can't see a difference" turkeys happen along) or a high-def telly revealing the limitations of the current format is something else entirely.
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Hey Mori, Why didn't you mention that you were part of the commentary for Kirby Dick's THIS FILM IS NOT YET RATED? It was a pleasant surprise when I popped it into the player last weekend.
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I guess a number of those are sent by the studios for review purposes.
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I only own 261 DVD's but I have actually watched each disc twice or more. With so many titles in such a massive collection, I find it hard to believe that you could watch each movie once, let alone twice.
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Also, I went to my girlfriend's brother's house the other day. He recently picked up a very nice 42" LCD HDTV with a great constrast ratio and such. Upon my request, he threw in the DVD of Star Wars from the trilogy box set released a few years ago, and it looked fantastic. The colours really popped out, I was noticing things I haven't seen since the theatrical re-release and I was pretty damn impressed overall. So yeah, after investing god knows how much money into DVDs, I'm glad they'll still look fine when I can finally upgrade my TV.
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Best movie about thirty-year-old teenagers since Tokyo Drift!
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(bang!)
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What's up with that???
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...That's why he didn't review "You, Me and Dupree" ;)
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Pay attention Dr. Jones, we're talking about compatibility with DVDs. I do feel sorry for you though sitting there trying to force that big tape into the little slot. Musta been embarrassing. Doofus.
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they are producers, cos Me, You and Dupree was one lazy-ass, phoned-in movie. I especially hate it for completely misusing the fantastic Coldplay track Fix You, which I have been wanting to put to much better use at the ending of a movie.
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Yeah Henry Jones Jr it's possible to watch 250 movies in a year if you average 5 a week. But that is a lot of film watching, I have very little responsibility in my life and a lot of free time and I barely average 4 a week for the whole year. Don't you go on vacation or anything? But the problem is this: You could watch your entire collection of 250, but that would mean never watching any new DVD's or anything in the theater for the entire year. Which would be stupid. 4000 Moriarty? That's just ridiculous. If you started watching them one a day right now, and never watched another new film, you still wouldn't be done by the time Toshiro was graduating High School.
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Here is my collection, getting close to 400: >> Check out the Wishlist too, there has to be about 1000 in there. There are 9 that I'm waiting on the postal service for in my On Order folder. Maybe 100 in the Must Have part of my Wish List. I could probably remove 100 subpars from my collection no sweat. I have a handful of DVDs I am embarassed to own. I'm starting to think that DVD is going to be my big massive dumping ground collection, and when I finally get around to jumping on the HD train I'll just buy about 200 of my all time favorite films and then continue to buy the best of the year as they come out. The habit is out of my control, I have to feed it with career ambition and whatnot. And I have been able to watch 250 movies a year during certain parts of high school or university where i was single and or jobless. I probably watch 100-150 a year these days.
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link is edited out of course. Add the world wide web before this: dvdaficionado dot com/dvds.html?cat=1&sub=ANF&id=jewbacca
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Harry mentioned it in his DVD picks for January...http://www.aintitcool.com/node/31188
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A great program ... that coming from a former Blockbuster employee. I couldn't find that documentary "The Bridge" online ... the one about the jumpers off of Golden Gate. Maybe that's changed.
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I am frequently moronically optimistic to the nth degree. (Heh)
-dreamed if you're being all grammatatically correct, dreamt if you're waxing all poetical-like; or, just getting waxed.
Also, don't forget to create an in-store rental account so's you can take your on-line disks into the store & exchange them for off-the-shelf titles. There's usually some delay between new-release Tuesday & on-line availability. In-store exchanges let's you/yer family snag those hot-offa-the-duplicator titles... -
Even though they think it's ridiculous. Jesus
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one9deuce touched on it pretty well, but with NETFLIX (BB is getting better but NF is still the king, baby), On Demand, Tivos that record in HD, Xbox360 with HD movies, etc., I'm never finding it hard to find stuff to watch. I will buy stuff occasionally though to show support for something I really like, like BSG box sets(i.e. something that is on the air but is constantly getting threatened with cancellation).
I will admit though that for someone like Mori who is a film writer, having a huge collection at hand is a definitely a good thing. -
...when you're Moriarty. Don't forget he watches movies like this: tinyurl.com/38uak9
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where are ya, man???
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Sing it again!Oh yeah! Whoooooooooooo!
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...you live by yourself. If you have a family like Henry Jones Jr. and I do, your HOUSEHOLD can go through that many films easily. My wife and I have very broad taste in movies, so we often don't agree on what we want to watch. So sometimes we'll compromise and have a double-feature night. And Half Vader is absolutely right about not having to update your DVD collection just because of HD-DVD or Blu-ray. I've been collection DVDs since late 1996 (Japan releases), but I've been buying Blu-ray movies whenever possible ever since I got a PS3 last November. Yet even though HD looks noticeably better, I still get a lot of enjoyment from my DVD collection. Even on an 80-inch HD front projection system, standard definition DVDs played back on my 4-year-old upscaling DVD player look great.
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I know it sounds like I'm ragging on you again so sorry Henry, but my God that's a big bit of supposition on your part. I decided to put my money where my mouth is and do work in the movie industry and I can tell you that after a 10-12 hour average working day, breakfast and dinner and sleep, there just aren't many hours left, and most of the folks I know would rather do something else with that small window than more movies. You're not doing that masters concurrently so there's only one reason you mentioned it (and you call Chumkid a wanker!), and you must be eating TV dinners and ignoring those kids (who're probably grown up if you're acually having sex). I've got three kids and even when I'm working from home we don't collapse on the lounge 'til 9 at night. Maybe I just envy you being so much 'cooler than thou'. BTW what is 'manitory'? ;)
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Ooh my face is red. Oh well, at least I wasn't lording it over everyone like the senile Indy Jones.
Ktak, I'm actually thinking about 'forward' compatibility. With the upcoming improvements like true 24fps and true blacks I'm not buying another telly for a couple of years (and I'm scared of the kids hurling a Wiimote into it 'cause if anyone will they will) and I was going to get a PS3 anyway (settle down Sonyhataz), so that way I'll have a relatively cheap high-def player, I can start buying new HD releases and even though I won't be playing them back at 1080p for now it still means they're just as good as my other DVDs. When I do go the whole hog with the telly, viola! They'll look even better. Even if BR goes down I was getting it anyway for the games, so it's a win either way. -
I know what you mean about waiting. My current set-up includes a 720p front projector which I got in 2003, so it's not ready for the scrap heap just yet. However, the new crop of 1080p LCD and LCOS projectors from Sony and JVC show a lot of promise, with 24fps support and much improved contrast and black levels. If you're interested in a flat-panel display, the Canon/Toshiba SED technology looks amazing. I saw it at the CEATEC show in Japan last summer and the blacks were CRT quality, I kid you not. Like you, I decided on the PS3 versus a standalone because of the lower price (I got mine for under $400 in Japan), multifunctionality and future-proofing via firmware upgrades. The PS3 currently doesn't do 1080p/24, but it's been widely rumored that this will be corrected in an upcoming firmware update. Having the HDMI 1.3 compatibility means it has the "potential" to display a wider color range than any HD player (HD-DVD or Blu-ray) currently on the market. Whether they'll take advantage of this remains to be seen.
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I try to write my posts so they are dipshit proof, yet you still managed to miss my point. I'm not disputing that 250 is doable, only that watching the same 250 from your collection in a year is asinine. Are you saying that you don't watch any new DVD's in a year? Obviously that isn't true, so what is the ratio? One new DVD for every one in your collection? It would take you two years to get through your entire collection even then. But I have a feeling it's more like 4 new films for every one in your collection, so at 250 a year you would get through your collection in 5 YEARS. Good investment. And here is some advice: Get out of the house and do something. Go throw the ball around with your kids instead of sitting on the goddamn couch watching a movie a day. Watching more movies than I do only makes you a bigger movie fan than me in the literal sense. You're a big fat fuck aren't you? You can admit it!
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Any reason for that besides having been bribed with a year free? Blockbuster sucks, I won't support them brick-and-mortar or online (it'd be like rooting for Chelski, the Yankees or Microsoft), and I'm disappointed to see you whoring yourself.
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...but the collector/librarian/geek in me winced when when you stated that you intended to get rid of the films which you didn't feel your son needed to grow up with. Many of the films which I love and cherish today were considered complete and utter shit when I first encountered them on VHS or late night TV decades ago. Many of them still don't have anything I could describe as objectively "good" qualities, but I adore them all the same. The thing is, I would never even have been exposed to them unless they were tossed in along with a a bunch of other films my dad may have borrowed from a friend back in the day. My own collection of DVDs is rapidly approaching the 2500 mark and I still have uncountable amounts of VHS tapes (not to mention books) containing things which in all liklihood will never see the official digital light of day. My collection runs the full gamut of sheer cinematic brilliance to the most atrocious shit ever committed to film/tape. Why do I mention this? Because I consider my collection only to be mine as long as I don't have any kids of my own. When that happens, it will suddenly become a collection that I'm sharing with them. I'm convinced that there might be films in my own hoard which I either hate or am indifferent to, but which will be loved by my kids in the future. I do feel an obligation to expose them to "good" cinema as they grow up, but I would never dream of getting rid of something for the fear of it being "bad" since I myself enjoy so many "bad" films. I understand that storage space can be an issue as I wrestle with it constantly, but when you're lying in your bed, many years from now (cue James Horner) would you rather have a couple of extra empty shelves or a few stacks too many of unshelvable films to leave for posterity? It's not that I don't exercise a form of method when I buy movies, but I'm also very much open to the impulse purchase when I see something which either looks promising or is ridiculously cheap. The only strict rule I have is: once in, never out. Anything that is purchased or in any other way obtained is part of The Collection and can never be "uncollected". Sure, it may seem compulsive and stupid, but it works for me. As for the other talkbackers ragging on people for having too many films to ever watch again, they're just being ridiculous. I'm fully aware that I've already amassed so many books and movies that even if I sat down today and started reading/watching everything from beginning to end, I'd be dead from old age long before completing the task. But if I were only interested in keeping what I could possibly watch before I die, then I'd have to get rid of twelve months' worth of footage or reading every year -- you know, just "in case" I had to sit down and watch and read everything before I die. The fact is, with a sizable collection one quickly learns how to use it as a reference library, picking bits and pieces here and there for whatever reasons one has, and still have plenty of time to watch or read the really worthwhile stuff.
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I've been saying especially since the 05 CES when everyone freaked out that I was waiting for SED, but considering all Toshiba's fucking up (I think I read they've sold their interest to Canon to avoid litigation over non-disclosure agreements), Pioneer totally trumped them with their 'plasma 2.0' this year, which is why I said true blacks in general. We'll see, as the CRT 2.0 idea of SED is a good one. I think in the next 2 years everything will settle down an awful lot and the market will be much more the way CRTs are now in that improvements will be more incremental. Until the next big thing!
I'm pretty sure every PS3 was 1080p compatible from the get-go, or all those spec sheets are wrong. The first wave of HD-DVD players and earlier X360s firmware was originally 1080i but then updated to 1080p - are you sure that's not what you meant?
Excellent post, DocPaz. It will be roundly ignored, of course. -
... ummm... I mentioned the name of the rental service because I intend to assess its merits. That includes writing about the negative experiences as well as the positive.
For example, I notice that Netflix carries THIS FILM IS NOT YET RATED, one of this week's major releases, while Blockbuster does not. At all. And I'm sure they never will, considering their stance on censorship. So that sort of thing is what we'll discuss.
It's hardly whoring myself. It's called having an informed opinion. It's easy to piss on Blockbuster because it's a big name, but it's used by a lot of people, and I thought this would be an opportunity to see just what service customers are being offered. Sorry if I offended your delicate anti-corporate sensibilities. -
Anyone else think it a little strange that many folks went from a CRT set to a HD set and now eagerly anticipate a HD set with CRT quality?!!! Trust me, I know the differences but it still sounds amusing. Personally, I own over 1300 titles and I can never find anything to watch or I suffer from an anxiety attack when I try to find something to watch. According to my Blockbuster accounts, I have rented/viewed nearly 2000 films in the last four years. At once point, I was choking down 10-15 titles a week. Know what I took away from it?? I honestly don’t know! Any suggestions?
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it's only able to output 1080p/60 out of the box. Since HD video on Blu-ray is stored as 1080p/24, this is the best frame rate for playback, especially since many of the new 1080p-capable displays support 24, 48 or 72Hz inputs (any multiple of 24 are ok).
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What drives me crazy is when you walk up to your collection and go blank, just like when you cross the threshhold of a music store and think, "Fuck! What bloody album was it I wanted?" or the Video store where you instantly forget what you wanted to rent. I actually have a sneaking suspicion in the stores it's caused by those electronic alarm things. As for home I have no idea.
Yeah anyway the other one is when you know you want to watch SOMETHING, but you scan all your stuff and you just don't feel like anything you see on your own shelf. Somehow I don't think Moriarty has that problem though.
Just got This Film is not yet... Saw it at San Diego with the cool panel last year and can't wait to watch it again. It'll really piss my wife off (in a good way)! -
and need to pay more attention as you missed my point too. One9 called you a big fat fuck, not me. I only said you must be eating TV dinners/eating dinner in front of the tv because it was one of the ways I could come up with that you'd watch that many movies. Why I was civil last time I have no idea. Maybe it's that I'm enjoying you making such a damn fool of yourself. Who knows?! Masters my arse.
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It was me that called you a fatty, but if you're not overweight then that's great. And pretty amazing for the amount of films you sit on the couch and watch. Anyway, your last post was just too darn civil, so I'll bid you adieu. DocPazuzu, your post is very well reasoned out, but I still don't understand the mindset. With Netflix you have a constant stream of nearly any DVD you would want to watch. Why purchase them unless you really love them? You have nearly 2500 DVD's, if they averageed $15 a piece that's almost 40 GRAND. You mention that you have an uncountable amount of VHS tapes, if the number is also around 2500 then even at a $10 average that is 25 GRAND down the toilet because you sure as heck aren't going to watch a VHS when you have DVD. Will you now do the same with HD discs? And again with what ever is next? I'm not saying that you don't have the right to spend your money however you please, but it just blows my mind, that's all.
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1) You're assuming I live in a country where I have access to Netflix or a similar service. 2) You're assuming the DVDs averaged at 15 bucks apiece. 3) You're assuming that all my VHS tapes are pre-recorded. 4) You're assuming that having spent that kind of money over a 25-year period has left me living in rags and eating mac 'n' cheese every day. 6) If anything, I've spent more money on books over the years (despite having access to public libraries) and yet you haven't mentioned that even though it would take even longer to re-read them. 5) If I had spent that kind of money on booze, cigarettes, hookers, expensive clothes or cars you may have had a point. However, you didn't, and therefore you don't.
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Do you, as you grow older, get rid of everything you no longer feel you can re-use under whatever natural lifespan you calculate you may have left?
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One must assume when the facts aren't available. But if you gave up the facts my assumptions would be close, I know it. And more importantly, you know it. You didn't refute any one of my assumptions, only implied that I COULD be wrong. I love this quote by the way: "If I had spent that kind of money on booze, cigarettes, hookers, expensive clothes or cars you may have had a point. However, you didn't, and therefore you don't." All those things would only apply to this debate if you bought cigarettes you didn't smoke, hired hookers you didn't have sex with, paid for expensive clothes you didn't wear, or purchased cars that you didn't drive. Then those things would be valid in this debate. Look, I'm sure people have paid for things even more ridiculous than boxes and boxes and boxes of worthless, unwatchable VHS tapes. Concerning the your last post: No, I don't really ever get rid of anything, so if I buy something I make sure it's something I really, really want.
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The reason I brought attention to your assumptions is that they're wrong on your part -- every single one of them. Since you apparently need everything spelled out for you, I do indeed refute EVERY one of your assumptions for the reasons I alluded to. Also, even if I had been living in the U.S., my collecting of discs from different regions from around the world would have made Netflix virtually useless to me. And you can NEVER claim with any authority that waiting a couple of days for a film you suddenly get an impulse to watch is as satisfactory as being able to pull it off one's shelf immediately. As for my comparison, it is indeed valid as my collection is very much an active one. Most of the videotapes, by the way, do have a value as they contain things which will in all liklihood never come out on DVD. I'm actually in the process of migrating the most valuable ones to digital format, and it's really only those tapes which have become "worthless". I notice, by the way, that you ignored the issue of books and the idea of a home library which one can't possibly ever read from start to finish again. As for you not ever getting rid of anything, I suggest you start since you're not getting any younger and with each year that passes your chances of being able to re-watch/re-read what you do possess are looking worse and worse.
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Because I'm glad there are people like you who compulsively collect things. It helped the DVD format take off, and for people who love cinema, DVD was a godsend. Keep buying!
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which has a history of predatory business practices as well as their editing-of-content history. As far as my sensibilities on the issue being "delicate," it only takes one instance of having a fifteen-year-old business go under because a corporate competitor opens across the street to prejudice a person. You have no problem being in their employ, which is fine for you. If your goal as a journalist, however, is to "assess the merits" of Blockbuster, perhaps an anonymous paid membership to both Blockbuster and Netflix would have been the way to go, so as to avoid any perception of a bias by one or the other being given because you are a major reviewer for a powerful website. You state in your post that you are giving them a try because of the free membership. If a restaurant reviewer gave ink to one or another establishment because of a discount given to encourage patronage, it would be suspect. Your admission of special treatment is laudable, I suppose, in the interest of full disclosure, but when you get free DVDs from studios you are reviewing them for the same content everyone else gets. When you are assessing the merits of an online service it seems to me you should be doing the same, and a free membership because you are you eliminates that possiblility. Sorry to have...ummm...offended an obviously tender spot in your professional self-esteem, Drew.
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