The 'Let Go' List... Say 'Bye Bye' to a BD here (1 Viewer)

[Hollywoodaholic]

The first blu-ray I retired was Avatar (a free offer with my Panasonic). It also took a lot of money but again, although a well made film, I found it dull.I see a pattern here.

I think Avatar and comic book hero movies like Captain America and Thor (and Skyfall etc.) will help keep theaters alive because they are fine to see once in a big theater with a crowd... but let's face it, these movies do not have a lot of replay value because there is no suspense (comic book heroes never die... for real), and there is no enduring human condition content.

I have several comic book BDs on the shelf (usually bought for my son) and have never watched any of them more than once. Let's face it, once you've seen one over-CGI-ed finale of the indestructible hero and the almost indestructible villain punching it out for a half hour (or in the case of Man of Steel, for about a full hour) knowing the outcome every step of the way (and never mind the collateral damage which can only be described as destruction porn)... we'll you've seen them all. Formula formula formula. They're like CBS procedurals.And this from a guy who collected the entire catalog of Silver age Marvel Comics and dreamed of one day writing for them (or writing movies from them). They're fun to see with fans in a theater, but they bore me to restless legs the second time around.

 

[Mark Booth]

I can't even get through Quantum of Solace to make it to Skyfall. Ugh.

Skyfall is miles ahed of Quantum of Solace in the entertainment department! In fact, Skyfall is my favorite Bond of all time!

I know, sacrilege for anyone that thinks Connery is the one true and only Bond!

Mark

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

As a Connery Bond fan, I am on board with Craig and those are the only BDs I own besides the Connery ones. Bond films have re-watchability because they are ... plausibly grounded in reality and the stunts and car chases are usually real. The best scene of the new Captain America for me was the car chase through D.C. because, although heavily edited, it featured real stunts.

 

[John Maher_289910]

I can't think of a single film that I own that I wouldn't watch again. I do have duplicates (many) between DVD and Blu-ray, although I swore I wasn't going to do that. However, I have even more duplicates between laserdisc and Blu-ray. I skipped quite a few DVDs that I had on laser, simply because they were either incomplete when compared to the laser, or the sound was not as good, or the picture upgrade just didn't matter, because I hadn't gone to an HD television, yet. What I have recently done, is take most of my duplicate DVDs to 2nd & Charles, which is a store that trades books, movies, CDs, games, etc., for either cash or store credit. You get a higher store credit. I currently have a store credit of $235.00 remaining. I've gotten several Blu-rays, including 3D, on my store credit, from them. I just haven't spent enough time looking at everything. I still have all my Christmas duplicates, as they only take those around Thanksgiving time.

 

[Keith Cobby]

I no longer own any films I wouldn't watch again!

 

[Robin9]

Except that Skyfall made over a billion dollars worldwide, the highest grossing Bond entry of them all. So, in terms of business, I suspect the powers that be think they're making all the right decisions. The public by and large seems to agree if the film's success is any indication. Skyfall was also the first Bond film of recent memory that made any dent in the awards circuit.

I must admit I can't argue with that. I also admit I don't know why the latest Bond films do so well.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I must admit I can't argue with that. I also admit I don't know why the latest Bond films do so well.

I am the farthest thing from a Bond expert or mega-fan...but I would suspect the answer to that is that "Bond" is a known brand in a sea of crap, generic action/spy films that have become a dime-a-dozen at the theaters.

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

"Blazing Saddles"Mel Brooks claims in a new extra on the 40th anniversary edition that just came out that this is the "funniest movie ever made."
Well, sure, if you were a stoned college kid in the 70's (ahem) or maybe in slow learner in middle school today. Otherwise... meh. The bean scene made my 17 year-old chuckle, but he couldn't handle any more of the movie soon after that. Slow. Silly. Not clever by a yard. It's definitely a 'you had to be there' movie best suited for watching inebriated or otherwise mentally compromised, and in a large, forgiving audience. It was hysterical.

Still, it's a hell of a lot better than 8 Million Ways to Die in the West. Seth McFarlane's film basically BEGINS with the fart joke that topped Mel Brooks' film, and goes quickly downhill from there. It's an R-rated film, but there is no nudity and little graphic violence, so it's just entirely the "F" word, dick and vagina jokes. That's it. There's barely a story to hang it all on (like Neil Patrick Harris' top hat on the cover of Rolling Stone). Seth loses his girl and tries to get her back. That's about it. He speaks like he walked right off the street today, and there isn't one actually cleverly-constructed joke in the entire film (except the one about the sheep that wandered into a whorehouse... and made $20. But I heard that one by Rodney Dangerfield 40 years ago). Harris gets a scene where he has diarrhea in his hat for about four straight minutes with accompanying sound effects. They even show it. Does McFarlance not even GET where to stop to make something funnier? Not a clue. Then I'm thinking, well at least it has Monument Valley scenery. Fake. It was shot in New Mexico and the scenery was CGI-ed in. You can't trust anything these days.

This is what comedy has come to? Sigh. I'll take Blazing Saddles over this one any day, but I doubt I'll ever watch Blazing Saddles again either.

Bye Bye.

I guess besides ranting about 8 Million Ways..., my point is that comedy films don't hold up to repeat viewings, especially when compared against the experience of first watching them in a theater with a crowd of people.

Oh, and what IS the funniest film of all time?

For me, it's another stoner from the 70's, but it still holds up pretty well today. I'd have to go with Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Comedy for people who may have read or learned something once in their lives, but also like just plain silly.

 

[Thomas T]

I have the following films in my "trade in" bag:

Adventures Of Priscilla Queen Of The Desert (upgraded to blu from non anamorphic DVD)
Conan The Destroyer (upgraded to blu from non anamorphic DVD)
Evita (upgraded to blu from non anamorphic DVD)
High Plains Drifter (upgraded to blu from non anamorphic DVD)
Hurt Locker (R2 blu gift from a friend in Italy, happy with the standard DVD)
Last Emperor (still sealed R2 blu, a gift from a friend in Italy, I'm fine with the Criterion DVD)
Lion Of The Desert (upgraded from non anamorphic DVD to anamorphic DVD)
Lolita (upgraded to blu from non anamorphic DVD)
Marvin's Room (upgrade to blu fron non anamorphic DVD)
Pelican Brief (found a blu for less than $5 so I upgraded)
The Misfits (upgraded to blu from non anamorphic DVD)
Natural Born Killers (upgraded to blu fron non anamorphic DVD)
North Avenue Irregulars (upgrade to anamorphic DVD from non anamorphic DVD)
Raising Arizona (upgraded to blu from non anamorphic DVD)
Ray Bradbury Theater (once is enough)
The Siege (upgraded to blu from non anamorphic DVD)
Snatch (a film I've never seen and don't want to see, an R2 blu from a friend in Italy)
Tale Of The Mummy (upgrade to blu from non anamorphic DVD)
Tie That Binds (upgraded to blu from non anamorphic DVD)
Tremors (upgraded to blu from non anamorphic DVD)
Wanted Dead Or Alive Season One Volume One (Steve McQueen TV series, I realized I wasn't interested)
War At Home (upgrade to blu from non anamorphic DVD)
War Games (upgraded to blu from non anamorphic DVD)
Woman In Black (a blind buy, terrible movie)

 

[verneaux]

I don't keep the dvd once I upgrade to Blu unless there is a feature that was not ported. My friends and family get the old dvd's at xmas as extra gifts.

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

I have the following films in my "trade in" bag:

Ray Bradbury Theater (once is enough)

I can't honestly believe Bradbury had anything to do with that series. And the PQ on the DVD is horrible. I couldn't get through it and traded it back.

 

[Thomas T]

I don't keep the dvd once I upgrade to Blu unless there is a feature that was not ported. .

Same here on any upgrade whether blu or standard DVD. I've kept the first DVD release of Casino Royale (the 1967 version) because the subsequent second DVD release and the blu don't have the 1954 TV version of Casino Royale which is a must have for every James Bond fanatic.