DVD's? I Don't Rent. I Own. -- NY Times article (1 Viewer)

Ah, yes -- another look in the mirror. The story contains the usual spate of factual errors, but it does have a rather useful list of DVD cataloging software for a mainstream thing. And of course some of us will recognize ourselves...

Click here for the Times article.

Ted
DVD snob since December 1998

Could you paste the article for those of us who aren't subscribers?

(Admin note - the rest of the article snipped, please use link provided 7 posts below.)

Registration is free but it would be a good idea if posters could ID links to sites/articles that require registration.

Well, my wife and her sister went to see The Passion of the Christ yesterday and it cost $12.50 just to get in the door for a matinee, so that is one reason why she doesn't complain too much about my DVD buying habit. I can pick up a decent older movie for around $7.99 these days, and when I upgrade my HT I always stick in those movies to check it out, so the replay factor is high with me. Just installed a set of new surrounds and JAWS sounded completely different.

The person who was interviewed is a regular over at the DVD Talk boards. He is discussing it there.

Uhm... why is the article copied verbatim? It's a violation of their copyright. It's also against the spirit of HTF rules (no discussion of copying copyrighted materials).

An interesting article. I own about 40 DVDs -- obviously I'm not a collector. I still cringe a bit when I realize I've got about $800 in movies! I find it challenging to find time to watch the few movies I own; I'm amazed people with hundreds or thousands of movies can actually watch any significant portion of them. I am also amazed at the idea of spending thousands -- or tens of thousands -- of dollars on DVDs.

But we've all got our luxuries. I bought my expensive Honda Accord and pay for broadband internet.

I'm curious what people with large collections do with them? Do you watch movies frequently? Do you re-watch movies often? Do you lend beloved movies with friends, or have people over often to watch with you? Do you feel the need to have exhaustive collections, even if you don't like movies you're buying?

Just curious.

In West Los Angeles, matinee and student prices are $7.50. So in order to take my girlfriend to a movie with me, I'm already out $15--which is usually what Best Buy sells the movie for on release week. And the $15 isn't including the "going out to dinner" that usually comes before going to the movies, or the $4 soda or $3 candy that we might buy.

If it's an "event movie" or a great movie, I'll see it on the bigscreen. But if it's something like a lighthearted romantic comedy, often we wait until the DVD comes.

Wow, someone got hired by a really rich guy to do his DVD shopping for him? Can I get that job? "Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to buy the entire Criterion Collection, and every movie that ever won an Oscar." Gee, boss, I don't know, it's gonna be hard for me to get motivated.

As I've said before some people have way too much time and money on their hands



As for posting articles like this if you want to post a story from a register only site please look it up in Google first and paste the google link. It allows you to go straight to the article & is better than pasting the entire thing.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/26/te...partner=GOOGLE

Yes, yes, yes, yes and absolutely not.

I wish I had a much smaller collection in terms of space used, if not for any other reason -- but they are all films I got because I love, or badly want to see. Unlike some of the above posters, I go to the cinema a lot, especially to the six or seven film festivals that I regularly go to in NYC every year.

Having a nice DVD collection is great in many ways -- from having a film for every mood and occasion always on my fingertips, to sharing with my friends, to seeing films I would have missed otherwise, to being able to listen to director's commentaries for films I love and being able to see them again and again.

Ted

Interesting that I just tried to pull up my Guzzlefish collection and it wouldn't connect. Heres the message.

Warning: Too many connections in /var/www/sites/guzzlefish.com/connect.php on line 6
Error: Cannot connect to the database.

Maybe the article has prompted a flood of people to the already overloaded website.

I have what I would term a fairly small collection by "collector's terms": about 200 movies between dvd and laserdisc (probably 90% dvd). Even though this collection is a factor of ten less than some discussed in the article, it's probably huge by many standards.

I buy many of my discs instead of going to movies (cheaper that way in NYC), but a number I buy simply to have. I may watch these many times (Office Space or Amelie for instance), or I may want them because I have next to no chance of renting them (a significant portion of my foreign collection is Hong Kong movies that will never make their way into blockbuster, or even a specialty store because they are non-region 1).

I have a friend with a collection of over 8000 laserdiscs and 2000 dvds. Will he watch all his films again? I would say no, unless he quit his job and started watching 3 or 4 a day! But it's a great resource for him. He loves to have people over to watch movies, he loves to watch his favorite clips. It's really fun to go over to his place and just browse the collection. It's like visiting a very special library.

Renting never worked well for me. I joined Netflix in their first year and kept the same four movies for that entire year. I hate knowing there is a time restraint in my movie watching. There are so many times where my wife is not up to watching a movie, or friends cancel on our plans at the last minute, or I am just not in the mood to watch a drama (or whatever was rented) that particular night. Sure, I could accrue penalty fees and it still would be cheaper than purchasing outright. But I like the idea of watching whatever I own, whenever I want. It is always at my fingertips.

I am a DVD collector. Before that, I was an LD collector...and prior to that, it was CDs, videogames, books, comic books, baseball cards, etc. The list is endless-It is a part of who I am. I watch a good amount of my library numerous times...and conversely, there are movies that only get one viewing. There are certainly movies that are unopened also, but that is a temporary condition(I hope).

I had a very good friend, who was a frequent poster here back in the 90's. He was a true enthusiast. He had thousands of LDs and thousands of DVDs. As Max wrote above, I loved to go to his place and peruse his library. He knew so much about every movie he owned...it really was an education for me every time I visited. He is no longer with us, but his legacy remains in his library and his website where he reviewed some of them.

Count me as one who has never rented a movie in any format. I have owned Beta, VHS VCR's, LaserDisc players and DVD players and I only buy movies. I will don't like the idea of going and renting a movie then a couple of days later going and returning it. I also would not like to pay late fees or possibly buying a movie because I "wrecked" it. I also would not like to take a chance of having a tape possibly ruining my machine.

I am definitely a renter because I find so many movies typical and OK at best. My purchases are only movies I really really love and anime (unrentable). I've got about 60 movie DVDs and about 90 anime DVDs.

I rent anime, documentaries, indies, and classic films I've never seen because I'm younger from greencine. (I've got the Seven Samurai Criterion on rent from greencine right now). I don't like having to watch rapidly either, but I have greencine not for volume, but for niche. If I want a typical movie I'll go down to Hollywood. And if I really don't have time, I *ahem* *cough* timeshift DVDs via PC for later watching, and send them back. If it turns out to be something I want, I will buy it.



Now my fiancee....she uses 2/3 of the movie rack (admittedly hers, video store rack). She's got a couple hundred movie DVDs, but now that she started watching anime that is quickly becoming the majority...


But I do have the attitude with older releases, why spend $3 for a rental when you can buy it for $10?

It's hard to say exactly what it is about DVDs that does IT for me, but over 2000 titles later I just cannot stop. I'm a very poor college kid with what my friends call a nasty addiction. My credit card may be maxed out (it's not all that high a number anyway), but what college kid's isn't & at least I have something to show for it. But I don't just buy EVERYTHING out there each week. However, I must say I have double and triple dipped more times than I care to share. Most of the time it doesn't bother me, but everyone once and awhile the old ULTIMATE American Pie DVD Number 12 rubs me the wrong way & I won't buy it. For the blind buys, I hit enough sites where I get the general feel for a director or film w/out getting screwed by spoilers. Over the course of 5 years I have probably made 5 purchases I was less than satisfied with and they simply went up on eBay the next day.

The sad part is in knowing that even if I watched 4 or 5 films, TV shows, wrestling PPVs, music concerts, etc. each day I could not watch it all in one year. However, on any given day, who knows what I might feel like watching. It's nice to just have the disc right there no matter what it is. (I think my wish list of already released titles is in the single digits)

My reaction to the article is hooray for all us movie fans out there who helped create this amazing market & shame on that one rich snob for hiring out 'the help'. 90% of the fun is going out and making that purchase and knowing exactly what it is you want. That idiot probably has absolutely no clue whatsoever who Kurosawa is or why his films are so brilliant. He will probably watch a Godard film and stop it 20 minutes in because he's bored. His goal is to make people drool over the 'quality' and 'quantity' of his collection, but he probably doesn't know exactly what it is he has. My goal to have an immense collection may be the same, but it certainly isn't for others to ooh and aah over ... I made each of those purchases personally (aside from the X-Mas presents) & I could honestly rave for at least an hour about every single one of those titles (aside from maybe the Best Buy Demo Disc #3).

I personally don't really understand the rent vs. buy, like they're mutually exclusive.

I certainly do both. If I haven't seen a film before I'm going to rent it (or catch it on TCM) before deciding to buy it. And then if I want to see it ever again, I buy it (if it's available).

If I just bought them instead of renting them, my God, instead of 925 dvds in my collection that I can watch over and over, I'd have 4000, with 3/4ths being films I never wanted to see again. :frowning:

Shudder. Just the thought of someone raving about American Pie for an hour scares the hell out of me.

someone please explain to me why late fees is a reason to buy dvd's.

they are not inevitable, i never have a late fee.

if you cant return it on time why rent at all. thats just dumb.