How do you explain your love of physical media in an era of streaming? (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

I seem to have a lot of discs (CD, DVD, Blu-ray), but my buying has really slowed down. I don't mind taking a chance on a new film, as a Blu-ray is about the same cost of going to a cinema, which I've largely stopped doing now. It's easy cutting down on catalogue releases, as there's not a lot released that I'm interested in, & I've joined the enemy & signed up with Netflix, & that's opened up a whole new viewing world. There's still a ton of films that I'd like to own on Blu-ray (viewing a good Blu-ray on a decent monitor or projected is about as good as it gets for a movie lover), but I'm done with just buying a film for the sake of it.

I am not sure if I even replied to this thread previously. I saw your reply, Billy, and I wanted to chime in.

I have pretty much stopped buying discs. I am lucky if I buy 12 titles a year (where I used to buy at least that many in 3 months). I only buy Blockbuster releases that I want the best presentation for, and occasionally a favorite catalog title is released to 4k for the first time.

Besides that, I watch mostly Netflix, Hulu, and Apple TV+.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

I seem to have a lot of discs (CD, DVD, Blu-ray), but my buying has really slowed down. I don't mind taking a chance on a new film, as a Blu-ray is about the same cost of going to a cinema, which I've largely stopped doing now. It's easy cutting down on catalogue releases, as there's not a lot released that I'm interested in, & I've joined the enemy & signed up with Netflix, & that's opened up a whole new viewing world. There's still a ton of films that I'd like to own on Blu-ray (viewing a good Blu-ray on a decent monitor or projected is about as good as it gets for a movie lover), but I'm done with just buying a film for the sake of it.

I am not sure if I even replied to this thread previously. I saw your reply, Billy, and I wanted to chime in.

I have pretty much stopped buying discs. I am lucky if I buy 12 titles a year (where I used to buy at least that many in 3 months). I only buy Blockbuster releases that I want the best presentation for, and occasionally a favorite catalog title is released to 4k for the first time.

Besides that, I watch mostly Netflix, Hulu, and Apple TV+.

I thought that would be me too after spending a couple years diving into streaming, but the occasional big disc sales, particularly for titles not nearly as well represented in sales on iTunes or the various subscription streaming services, except Criterion Channel, which doesn't keep them available for long unless they also have the disc release rights, (on top of BF week/month and some key releases) keep reeling me back in, LOL. I just received my huge order of imports from the Powerhouse/Indicator sale for instance and still debating on another from that Kino sale.

_Man_

 

[Desslar]

There's still a ton of films that I'd like to own on Blu-ray (viewing a good Blu-ray on a decent monitor or projected is about as good as it gets for a movie lover), but I'm done with just buying a film for the sake of it.

Are there people who buy discs "just for the sake of it"? Granted, I have a lot of discs I have never watched, but I certainly intend to do so as time becomes available.

I am often perplexed by the posts in the dvdcollection Reddit. People are constantly proudly posting huge stacks of dozens of DVDs they bought for a couple bucks at Goodwill or some place like that, but to my eye the titles are at least 80% bargain bin junk. Makes me wonder if people really buy this stuff to watch or just to fill shelves.

 

[jcroy]

Are there people who buy discs "just for the sake of it"? Granted, I have a lot of discs I have never watched, but I certainly intend to do so as time becomes available.

I am often perplexed by the posts in the dvdcollection Reddit. People are constantly proudly posting huge stacks of dozens of DVDs they bought for a couple bucks at Goodwill or some place like that, but to my eye the titles are at least 80% bargain bin junk. Makes me wonder if people really buy this stuff to watch or just to fill shelves.

This may sound completely out of left field, and kinda sordid.

For many years, I was scavenging through $2 dump bins and buying dvd (and some bluray) titles which are known for having tons of "extra basketcase drm" which tripped up and/or outright crashed then-current ripping programs. (Ripping programs that copied movies from disc to the computer's hard drive).

My intention was to read and decipher the *.ifo files (dvd) to figure out how extactly the extra basketcase drm functioned, and how to circumvent it by hand. The actual movie/tv content on these dvd/bluray discs, was completely irrelevant. (Though some movies turned out to be a decent watch by coincidence).

 

[Alan Tully]

Are there people who buy discs "just for the sake of it"? Granted, I have a lot of discs I have never watched, but I certainly intend to do so as time becomes available.

Ha, I did buy a lot of DVDs like that. Being a life-long film lover, I'd buy a film that I thought I should own, & of course I never watched, & I said I wouldn't do that with Blu-ray, but these titles that any self-respecting film fan really should own started to creep into my collection (unwatched), & I've put the kybosh on that. I do have an embarrassingly large pile of unwatched discs (the majority being TV box sets). If there's a book that you think you really must read, & it's been on your shelf for over five years, well the news is; it will probably stay unread, & I'm thinking that it's the same with Blu-rays.

 

[BobO'Link]

I, too, have purchased far too many of those "titles any self-respecting film fan really should own" and, when finally watching them, discovered just *why* I'd not seen them before. Most I just didn't like and, honestly, when I read the descriptions at purchase time I didn't think I'd like them but purchased them anyway. I've stopped doing that and now mostly purchase to my likes, though a few of those "others" still manage to creep in at times...

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Aaaah... so THAT's really why disc sales have slumped over the last decade and the market kept shrinking... Y'all are not pulling your weight anymore here!

Can't say I blame yah (at all!)... as I've kinda been looking to do likewise for quite some time myself, but I just keep getting reeled back in (as I mentioned above)...

I would say though I rarely ever (blind)buy titles that I don't (believe I'd) end up at least appreciating, if not always liking a lot, though... that is, if I do get around to watching them -- yeah, like many here, I have an embarrassingly large backlog as well...

_Man_

 

[Sega]

I have all kinds of. DVDs. 4K DVDs. Laser-Disc & VHS Tapes. And everything is all hooked up to a 55" 4K TV.
Two Laserdisc players. Two 4K DVD players. One Hi-Fi
VHS player. NetFlix. Hulu. CBS All Access. She said. You overdid it! I say. I'm having fun.
It's PopCorn & movie night tonight.
Now, what's tonight's PopCorn Movie?

 

[Desslar]

I, too, have purchased far too many of those "titles any self-respecting film fan really should own" and, when finally watching them, discovered just *why* I'd not seen them before. Most I just didn't like and, honestly, when I read the descriptions at purchase time I didn't think I'd like them but purchased them anyway. I've stopped doing that and now mostly purchase to my likes, though a few of those "others" still manage to creep in at times...

I see. I almost never buy titles that I have never seen.

I don't buy many movies in general, except for some very top favorites with high re-watchability, usually comedy and adventure types.

With TV collections on the other hand, I'll buy just about anything that I associate with the slightest twinge of nostalgia. That's where I have a backlog of discs I need to get around to watching.

 

[TravisR]

It seems like I'm always constantly nearing the end of my backlog but when I'm almost through the pile, I end up buying a TV series set or a holiday or birthday comes and I get a bunch of titles I missed through the year and then I'm buried again and the backlog never ends . Currently, The Andy Griffith Show and The Shield are waiting in the wings and between other discs and life, it will likely take me through at least the summer to watch those two sets.

 

[Alan Tully]

And it's starting again with 4K! Not so long ago I realized that I now had a 4k TV & player, not that I've looked at any 4k discs yet. I did buy the two Burton Batman films in 4K when they were reduced, just to get the punchy remastered Blu-rays, & I recently bought the 4K, Spartacus, The Shining & Die Hard, in a three titles for £20 offer (just too good to miss), & almost bought the complete 4K Game Of Thrones set when it was a really great price (but it sold out while I was thinking about it). Tonight I did buy Game Of Thrones season one 4K, on offer for only £6 (only a tiny bit more that two Saturday newspapers) I'll give it a try. I hope this isn't the thin end of the wedge

I'd have no trouble at all in paying full price on release day for a 4K Ben-Hur (or The Wild Bunch).

 

[jcroy]

If there's a book that you think you really must read, & it's been on your shelf for over five years, well the news is; it will probably stay unread, & I'm thinking that it's the same with Blu-rays.

(On a further tangent).

In this analogy, it is very title/genre specific for me when it comes to reading material.

In practice, the types of books like this which will likely remain unread for me, are the generic science fiction novels which were "impulse buys" for me back in the day. Quite a few were never read, and have been collecting dust on my bookshelves for several decades.

On the other hand, some non-fiction books can remain unread and/or never opened for decades for me. Then one day out of the blue, I end up reading through some of these old books to check something. Some highly technical books exhibit this type of pattern for me. As a recent example, I was looking through an old advanced algebra textbook to refresh my memory about some math stuff related to encryption algorithms. (Back in the day, I only ever opened this advanced algebra textbook a few times when I was taking the class in university).

 

[Josh Dial]

I still buy basically every new "major" release (including catalogue titles). For some movies I buy multiple copies to get different editions and cover art.

I also buy a fair number of "niche" releases from Kino, Severin, A24, Second Sight, Vinegar Syndrome, and Arrow.

In my entire life I have "purchased" exactly zero digital movies, and rented exactly one ("Drive My Car" because I wanted to watch it before the Oscars and it wasn't shown in Calgary).

 

[Desslar]

I still buy basically every new "major" release (including catalogue titles). For some movies I buy multiple copies to get different editions and cover art.

I also buy a fair number of "niche" releases from Kino, Severin, A24, Second Sight, Vinegar Syndrome, and Arrow.

In my entire life I have "purchased" exactly zero digital movies, and rented exactly one ("Drive My Car" because I wanted to watch it before the Oscars and it wasn't shown in Calgary).

Every new major release? ? I'm not sure what constitutes "major", but it sounds like you must have easily blown past 10,000 titles by now.

 

[Josh Dial]

Every new major release? ? I'm not sure what constitutes "major", but it sounds like you must have easily blown past 10,000 titles by now.

Basically, if it was shown in theatres, semi-popular, and isn't completely out of my or my spouse's interest areas, we get it. I'd say the two genres (loosely defined as they are these days) that tend to have the fewest purchases are comedies and so-called "torture porn" horror/action (e.g. the Saw and Purge movies).

We also try to avoid releases with famously bad transfers or other production issues. I rely on reviewers here (especially Robert Harris, of course) for this.

The biggest issue I have is finding everything in Canada. Lionsgate and some A24 films are released through related entities and affiliates, but usually with worse packaging/cover art (and sometimes not at all!). Even Criterion has issues (Uncut Gems was initially not released here, so I had to import it to get it on street date). Only one brick and mortar chain retailer gets Kino, Severin, etc. (Amazon gets many but not all their releases). We only get about half the limited edition steelbooks available in the US (I had to import American Psycho and Punisher). No Target means no Target-exclusive cover art.

That said, availability has noticeably improved over the last few years (oddly the pandemic seems to have made it better!).

 

[Desslar]

Basically, if it was shown in theatres, semi-popular, and isn't completely out of my or my spouse's interest areas, we get it. I'd say the two genres (loosely defined as they are these days) that tend to have the fewest purchases are comedies and so-called "torture porn" horror/action (e.g. the Saw and Purge movies).

We also try to avoid releases with famously bad transfers or other production issues. I rely on reviewers here (especially Robert Harris, of course) for this.

The biggest issue I have is finding everything in Canada. Lionsgate and some A24 films are released through related entities and affiliates, but usually with worse packaging/cover art (and sometimes not at all!). Even Criterion has issues (Uncut Gems was initially not released here, so I had to import it to get it on street date). Only one brick and mortar chain retailer gets Kino, Severin, etc. (Amazon gets many but not all their releases). We only get about half the limited edition steelbooks available in the US (I had to import American Psycho and Punisher). No Target means no Target-exclusive cover art.

That said, availability has noticeably improved over the last few years (oddly the pandemic seems to have made it better!).

Wow, the mind boggles at what the annual bill for all of that must be. Thanks for singlehandedly keeping physical media alive!

Surprising to hear that availability is an issue in Canada. I would have thought you could get anything available in the U.S., plus maybe better access to UK and French releases.

 

[jcroy]

Every new major release? ? I'm not sure what constitutes "major", but it sounds like you must have easily blown past 10,000 titles by now.

For over the past five years or so, I'll just wait a year or two until such "major releases" end up on a basic cable channel or even on generic network tv during afternoons or saturday evenings. For example, stuff like superhero movies, lousy action movies, dumb romcoms, etc ...

This is when I realized so much recent/current stuff has almost no rewatch value for me.

 

[Desslar]

For over the past five years or so, I'll just wait a year or two until such "major releases" end up on a basic cable channel or even on generic network tv during afternoons or saturday evenings. For example, stuff like superhero movies, lousy action movies, dumb romcoms, etc ...

This is when I realized so much recent/current stuff has almost no rewatch value for me.

I didn't realize network TV still did movie premieres. That takes me back.

 

[Josh Dial]

Wow, the mind boggles at what the annual bill for all of that must be. Thanks for singlehandedly keeping physical media alive!

Surprising to hear that availability is an issue in Canada. I would have thought you could get anything available in the U.S., plus maybe better access to UK and French releases.

It's mostly the retailer-exclusive releases like Target's alternate slipcovers (e.g. the recent Spider-Man No Way Home), Best Buy's steelcases (e.g. Ran, Punisher, American Psycho--I had to import them all), and Lionsgate/A24.

Boutique labels have a pretty decent availability, but it seems like every month there is one movie that has a rights snarl up here and can't be released so I have to import it.

Also, our Best Buy totally sucks. Not only have they eliminated physical media sales in store (which I understand is happening in the US), they often release pre-orders online at idiotic times and in shockingly low quantities. For example, they released the Turning Red 4k Steelbook at about 3:00 am, and only had about 160 units for sale for the entire country (!), with no household limits. They were all snatched up by scalpers and bots within minutes. The same thing happened with the Nightmare Alley 4k steelbook (though I managed to snag one of the eight--yes, eight!--units they graciously restocked a few weeks later).

 

[jayembee]

I'd say the two genres (loosely defined as they are these days) that tend to have the fewest purchases are comedies and so-called "torture porn" horror/action (e.g. the Saw and Purge movies).

I'm with you on both of those.