Collection as Non-essential Uselessness June 27, 2007
Posted by clydefro in : General Film , trackbackSo why do DVD collectors repeatedly buy shiny discs when they already own hundreds of other shiny discs, many of which they still haven’t christened in their shiny disc player? This is the very question I’m trying to come to terms with, and one which I’ve noticed I’m not alone in being perplexed about. I frequent DVD forums and review sites and often I read about others who have a large number of “unwatched” discs. I tend to not participate in such discussions, partly for fear that these people are dealing with small potatoes in comparison to my own unruly pile of yet-to-be-spun discs.
Here’s some background: the geeky spreadsheet I maintain indicates I have 766 different films on DVD. Of those, I have never watched 308 in their digital format which I’ve paid good money to be able to say I own. Many of these I’ve already watched, via rentals, television showings or in the theater. Most, though (roughly 183), I’ve never seen at all. What is wrong with me, I scream! Well, firstly, I have trouble resisting a fantastic bargain. More problematic, I think, is that I love movies. I almost always find some reason to own, instead of merely rent, the DVDs I purchase. There’s a commentary or other special feature that can enlighten or add to my appreciation of the film, or so I tell myself.
Criterion Collection DVDs are the absolute bane of this addiction. I think I’m hovering around 2/3s of the entire collection at this point. Why, you might ask? Primarily because I see the Criterion DVDs as the pinnacle in what might come out for a particular film. For instance, if Criterion licenses and releases a film like Young Mr. Lincoln from Fox then you can be pretty sure that that release will be the absolute definitive edition in R1 DVD for years to come. Thus, I’m mostly confident that my Criterion purchases will securely prove to be the end all, be all release of any particular film. Additionally, Criterion DVDs have an optimum re-sale value should I ever need to sell them off. I ended up selling my original edition of The Third Man for more than I was able to pay for the new, superior version.
All right, so I can weakly justify my Criterion purchases, but what of the rest of my collection? I suppose my second favorite studio would be Warner Bros., who consistently release in-demand classic films in affordable, often extras-laden editions. Their box sets are like warehouse store economy size packages of junk food for the DVD enthusiast. How can you not resist getting one or possibly two films you’ve been dying to own in a set that also contains three or four more films you never possibly considered buying until now? It’s brilliant marketing. In the James Stewart Signature Collection released last August, I was eager to pick up The Naked Spur and The Spirit of St. Louis so why not just go all in for the box set? That’s exactly what I did and now The FBI Story sits on my shelf, yet to be watched.
Other studios have caught on, especially Universal who continue to put out sets of five or so films with a couple that I’d otherwise never imagine buying. If you want Design for Living then you’d better be willing to shell out for four more Gary Cooper movies, including the still-unwatched The General Died at Dawn. Preston Sturges fans who already own the terrific Criterion versions of The Lady Eve and Sullivan’s Travels will find themselves owning two of each if they purchase the Universal Sturges set (as well as The Great Moment). That brings up a troubling predicament - owning more than one DVD of the same movie.
I’ve tried to keep this ridiculous problem down to a minimum, but there are still a few culprits. Criterion’s recent release of Shohei Imamura’s Vengeance Is Mine lacks the Masters of Cinema’s commentary and copious booklet, but it has a brighter image and a brief interview with the director. Likewise, the upcoming Hiroshi Teshigahara box set from Criterion contains two films already released by the Eureka! Masters of Cinema label, both of which I own, but they’ve added Woman in the Dunes, which I’d held off buying the R2 BFI release in anticipation of the Criterion version, and an extra disc of Teshigahara’s short films. The result for obsessive collectors like myself: owning two versions of multiple films on DVD just to retain a few commentaries.
Of course, there are no real excuses for having so many unwatched or duplicated films on DVD. It’s a bug, a disease perpetuated by slick marketing and vulnerable film lovers. The really sick part of it is that I crave the newest releases, as if I didn’t already have hundreds of titles to choose from each night. The end of July can’t get here soon enough so I can partake in the newest WB Film Noir Collection, one of my absolute favorite releases these last four years. I’m even looking forward to unannounced, but percolating titles from my studios of choice for the remainder of this year and into the next. I have enough films on DVD to watch for two straight years without repeats, yet I hunger for more. I honestly don’t understand my own reasoning.
This is made all the more worse by adding the number of television shows I also have on DVD yet haven’t gotten around to watching just yet. Seriously, when did I ever imagine I’d have the time to get to the first three season of The Bob Newhart Show? “But it was a good deal,” I comfort myself by saying. Sure, it was a great deal to pay less than thirty dollars for three small boxes to take up space in my closet. Even if I watch these shows once, how is it advantageous to shell out the money to own them instead of just renting through Netflix or Blockbuster? I have no idea.
So, as much as I’d love to be able to get that unwatched “pile” down to single digits, I’m perpetually stuck around the 300 mark. I take comfort in knowing I’m not alone, as well as the idea that I’d be set should a DVD moratorium ravage the continent. You’d think that using a rental service would ease the compulsion a little, but not really in my case. I’ve subscribed to both Netflix and Blockbuster, the two leading rental channels, separately and at the same time even, but it’s only hindered my efforts to lessen the number of DVDs I’m still yet to watch. The good news is that everyone reaches a point where they no longer desire to own many more things on DVD, as good taste and common sense enter the picture. I think I’m approaching that exit myself since I barely took advantage of the recent 20% off sales at DeepDiscount and DVD Planet. I’m still buying the new Criterions as they’re released, but I’m actually watching them within a few weeks of purchase. All in all, it’s a promising start.
Comments»
“I almost always find some reason to own, instead of merely rent, the DVDs I purchase …”
Exactly. I always think: if I don’t like it, I’l sell it on, but usually I’ll find a reason to keep it. And even when I do sell it on (most recently ‘The Illusionist’) I decide want it back again. Currently sitting on a collection of 1,050 ish and maybe 250-300 of those are yet to be watched. If I don’t watch a DVD within a week or two of purchase, chances are it’ll sit there for months. Or longer.
I can empathise with you completely - though fortunately my collection hasn’t reached such epic proportions.
I have probably six films in my collection I have yet to watch (due to saying enough is enough, and stopping myself from buying more until I’ve watched these - wonder how long that will last)
Like you I have a great love for movies, and so when I see a movie on sale, and its something I’ve heard great things about or simply I’ve wanted to watch for a while, I’ll buy it. Even though there’s a chance I might hate it.
My movie collection must be at about 300 by now, but that’s not including my Tv box sets.
Being an avid geek collector, if I own one season of a show, more than likely I’m going to buy the others.
Not that that’s a problem if I like the show, but of late I’ve started to buy series when I haven’t seen the show (though usually I will ahve caught at least the pilot episode)
I recently purchased The Office (USA), Dead Like Me season 1, Supernatural and Boomtown even though I’d only seen 4 episodes of Supernatural, the pilot of DLM and only clps of the Office. I only bought Boomtown cos it looked quite good and was a bargain at £5 for the set
Alas though, I fear I may not be over the dvd buying compulsion yet. My shelves are doubled up with DVDs and I’m quickly running out of space
Thanks for the comments. Someone should cook up a 12-step program for this odd compulsion. I have that same (flawed) exit strategy jackal. I also hate it when I rent something that I end up liking enough to buy, usually making me want to own it even though I don’t want to watch it for a year or more at a minimum.
I’m in the same boat there too Pete. I love a good television release. Thankfully, I don’t have much attachment to most of the shows I purchase so they end up being sold after I watch. Logic somehow steps in that I will probably not re-watch the show anytime soon and it becomes expendable. My system gets screwed up when I don’t ever get around to watching the shows though.
The Boomtown pick should prove fine so you needn’t be concerned. It was one of the better shows on television in the last six or seven years I think, buried by the network in its second season. I still miss seeing it on the air and the few episodes from that final run will probably never get a DVD release (which means one less thing to buy I guess).
I have just checked my DVD Profiler and I clock in at 1483 (titles).
I have exactly the same condition as clydefro with regard to Criterion DVD sets and have often been berated for my weakness. I regard my Critter’s as the pinnacle of my collection and they sit in pride of place leering down at all the other titles huddled in awe beneath their shadow. A while ago I became obsessed with the idea of having every title AND every edition of each title. I have three Criterion versions of Playtime for goodness sake…..WHY!!
I am currently wrestling with the impulse of buying several MoC titles that have already been released on Criterion. I think need some help!
I, like you, cannot resist a bargain, and I think in general terms, that is where I come unstuck. ebay is partly to blame, or should I say my addiction to ebay is the cause. Cheap quality DVD = purchase in my brain.
I often sit in my viewing room, having once again moved the large cardboard box containg 99% of all Woody Allen’s films (it seemed like a good idea at the time - it was a blinding deal!) and wonder exactly how long it would take me to watch every film with every extra and commentary track.
The thing that really worries me is that somehow, and almost always within a very short space of time, I seem to be able to justify it.
Absolutely preposterous!!
There must be someone out there who can help us.
Thank Christ! I’m not the only one. I can sleep peacefully now (knowing that while I sleep, several more discs are on the way to my house from DVD Pacific and/or CD Wow).
You know it’s tempting to call you all sad losers who need to get a life… but the truth is you all very probably have much more fulfilling lives than I do…
I mean you need money to buy all these dvd’s!, so you must at least all have jobs… which is more than I can say.
But to dvd’s themselves… I consider myself to be as big a film-fan as all of you… and yet my collection, which I’m personally proud of, is a fraction of what’s considered the “norm” among collectors…
I currently own 120 discs which comprise of Movies, TV shows and some music and documentery’s, but mainly movies… and as I don’t buy that many it’s beyond me how anyone could have one dvd, let-alone “piles”, that they have yet to watch…
Maybe I’m just more selective, I have noticed with people who have large collections that there is a definite degree of just buying a title because it’s has “a good reputation” regardless wether they have seen the film, or if it’s a personal favourite or not…
I personally don’t think this is very good at all, i.e. the much vaunted “criterion collections” maybe it’s because i’m not american (no-offence of course
but I just don’t see what all the fuss is about… looking at it with an overview the range of titles they include, for a start, are not *that* great… the one’s I have watched, transfer-wise havn’t been as good as their purported to be… it seems that the fancy packaging is as big a factor as to why this collection get’s it’s cult status.
Well KW, I’d say maybe your tastes differ from mine. Part of my problem is I like lots of different types of films - silents and talkies, English language and non-English language, classic and contemporary. I’ve found that enjoying one film often leads to interest in a dozen or more, opening up new doors that in turn open up even more, on and on. I personally can’t imagine limiting my interests to 120 discs (though I’m definitely not faulting you). I’m sitting at 122 from the 1940s and 121 from the 50s.
As for the Criterion Collection discs, this is a fiercely contested debate seemingly spread out across every DVD website. I’m not going to write a love letter to the company (though I can’t promise I won’t at some point
), but I really can’t see an equal when it comes to putting out the types of films they do.
Just thought I’d let you know… I now own 125 discs… it will be 126 when the special edition of “From Beyond” arrives…
I’m gaining on ya clydefro! (well very slowly anyway…)
147 discs is now how the total stands… I have bought some multi-disc boxsets…
remember we’re talking number of dvd’s (or discs) here… not titles.
Tuh… I bet you don’t even look at this anymore…
I try to keep my head ever-buried in the sand because it just doesn’t get better. I watch, I buy, the dust settles. I’ll chalk it up to evolving taste because one film frequently leads me to take a chance on another, etc. I think my purchases have lessened, but my watching has too. I’m still stuck with a little over 300 unwatched films because I seem to add something new almost as often as I watch something I already had.