Josh's Blind Buys: Watching The Unseen Collection (2 Viewers)

[Robert Crawford]

Josh,

I wasn't try to pressure you. I just wanted you to give this fine film a chance before dismissing it as some kind generic "war" film. It's always been your prerogative to watch whatever you desire. I have nothing else to say on this subject matter.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Understood and no hard feelings from my end; I always do appreciate your recommendations and the time you take in making them and I hope you'll continue to make recommendations. I'm not going to write the film off permanently, and perhaps I'll see a 70mm screening if the Museum of the Moving Image brings it back again this summer.

I honestly didn't realize how "boxed in" I was starting to feel by having so many extra titles in my collection until I got an early jump on spring cleaning.

 

[RMajidi]

I am genuinely sorry if you guys feel that I’m letting you down by not viewing it, as that was not my intention.

Letting us down?
Snozzwangers?
Vermicious Knids?
What kind of rubbish is that?

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Vermicious Knids?

You win the day for finding an excuse to use that!

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I've packaged up eight discs in the last 24 hours, and I feel so much lighter, it's ridiculous. I'm now tempted to keep going and eliminate more. I have a bunch of Warner titles I got for $5 when they were doing that "trade in the DVD version and get the BD" deal, and it seemed like a great deal at the time -- but ten years later, here we are, and most of them remain untouched.

I definitely fell into that trap in the past few years of holding on to everything I've seen, and I'm just starting to remember that just because I've seen a movie does not mean that I've made a lifetime commitment to it. Like, it's okay to get rid of movies I'll never watch again. How did I forget that?

 

[Robert Crawford]

My first viewing of "Zulu" was as a young boy in a movie theater during its theatrical run. The movie is 138 minutes long, but it kept young Crawdaddy captivated all the way through the entire movie. What's weird about that theater viewing is that I went to see that movie by myself at my local neighborhood movie theater that is no longer in existence. I remember that viewing vividly because it was my first time seeing a woman's breast so that type of experience tends to stay with you. The movie was great then and it still remains great to me now as I have two different Blu-ray releases of it and a HD digital stream on iTunes.

I think if Josh doesn't watch this film then it's a missed opportunity on his part.

Can any of you imagine an 8 year old boy going to a movie theater today alone and seeing such a movie without any parents around? Granted my house was less than a ten minute walk from the movie theater, but to go there on a summer day without any worries in the world and buy my ticket and concessions. Furthermore, it wasn't an abnormal thing for any kid in my neighborhood back during the 1960s. Times have changed as the world has become much more dangerous.

 

[Jeff Flugel]

To echo Robert, Josh, definitely not trying to guilt trip you into keeping a movie you don't want. I can understand the feelings of not wanting to let a fun hobby become a stressful, job-like scenario. I think those of us who spoke up just wanted to make sure you didn't regret selling a movie beloved by many that you have yet to see. Of course, if your gut feeling is that it's not to your usual taste, than it's probable that you might not enjoy it anyway, or perhaps would resent having to watch it out of a feeling of obligation which might color your enjoyment of it. We all know our tastes better than anyone else...and most of us are very familiar with the feeling of too much to watch and too little time.

At any rate, good to hear that selling these unwanted discs on has reduced some stress for you...happy to help contribute to winnowing the pile down!

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I rode my bike to the movies as a preteen, and I can’t imagine kids the same age doing that today, which is a shame. That felt like my first taste of real freedom - the ability to see the first showing of a new movie over summer vacation without having to wait for someone to take me. There was a pretty good pizza place next door too. Grabbed a slice before riding back home.

 

[Jeff Flugel]

I grew up in a rural area and the two local theaters were miles away. It wasn't until I got my driver's license at 16 that I was able to drive myself (and friends) to see a movie. That was indeed a very fine thing.

I do remember riding my bike hither and yon all the time growing up in the 70s, totally unsupervised for hours. Not as likely to happen today, for various reasons.

 

[Kyrsten Brad]

I've packaged up eight discs in the last 24 hours, and I feel so much lighter, it's ridiculous. I'm now tempted to keep going and eliminate more. I have a bunch of Warner titles I got for $5 when they were doing that "trade in the DVD version and get the BD" deal, and it seemed like a great deal at the time -- but ten years later, here we are, and most of them remain untouched.

I definitely fell into that trap in the past few years of holding on to everything I've seen, and I'm just starting to remember that just because I've seen a movie does not mean that I've made a lifetime commitment to it. Like, it's okay to get rid of movies I'll never watch again. How did I forget that?

After doing the upgrade-my-DVD-library-To-Blu-ray for awhile, I found myself with plenty of obsolete DVDs. So I ended up doing two things:

First selling my old DVDs to Screen Archives. A bit of a pain but I did get some money for them (dimes on the dollar). Did that twice but after the second shipment yielded only $25 (got $88 on the first shipment of 100+ DVDs) that was the end of that idea.

Second, and for only special to me titles, I’d buy the two (or three or whatever needed) Blu-ray cases and package the new Blu-ray and old DVD together. Great idea when the DVD has some special features that were not ported to the Blu.

Oh I did do the yard sale thing and it helped.

Still have about 50 or so DVDs that I just don’t feel like upgrading or DVD is the only release available.

 

[Edwin-S]

Zulu is a classic. A must watch. It isn't just a war movie.

Zulu Dawn is good too, but not to the level of Zulu.

 

[Worth]

Can any of you imagine an 8 year old boy going to a movie theater today alone and seeing such a movie without any parents around? Granted my house was less than a ten minute walk from the movie theater, but to go there on a summer day without any worries in the world and buy my ticket and concessions. Furthermore, it wasn't an abnormal thing for any kid in my neighborhood back during the 1960s. Times have changed as the world has become much more dangerous.

I took the subway downtown to see The Muppet Movie by myself when I was ten. Today, my parents would probably be arrested for allowing me to do that.

 

[BobO'Link]

Can any of you imagine an 8 year old boy going to a movie theater today alone and seeing such a movie without any parents around? Granted my house was less than a ten minute walk from the movie theater, but to go there on a summer day without any worries in the world and buy my ticket and concessions. Furthermore, it wasn't an abnormal thing for any kid in my neighborhood back during the 1960s. Times have changed as the world has become much more dangerous.

I rode my bike to the movies as a preteen, and I can’t imagine kids the same age doing that today, which is a shame. That felt like my first taste of real freedom - the ability to see the first showing of a new movie over summer vacation without having to wait for someone to take me. There was a pretty good pizza place next door too. Grabbed a slice before riding back home.

I grew up in a rural area and the two local theaters were miles away. It wasn't until I got my driver's license at 16 that I was able to drive myself (and friends) to see a movie. That was indeed a very fine thing.

I do remember riding my bike hither and yon all the time growing up in the 70s, totally unsupervised for hours. Not as likely to happen today, for various reasons.

I grew up in a small town, ~3200 population, and lived 4 blocks from the local movie theater. Once I was ~9 I was allowed to walk to the theater for Saturday matinees. Most of the night movies were "too adult" for me to be allowed to go.

To see One Million Years B.C., a movie I desperately wanted to see, we went to Memphis, my parents *dropped me off* at a theater in the downtown area that was showing the movie, and went across town to see another movie. I was 11 and got out a good half hour before they came back to pick me up. I stood outside looking at posters until they arrived. I'm not so sure it was a "good" part of town but mom had worked in Memphis for years, although a good 12 years before that event, and wasn't concerned. It looked somewhat "rough" to me but I also didn't go to "the city" by myself and had only my small town experiences from which to draw.

Mom would occasionally drive me to the next town over, ~15 miles, to see a movie in their theater that ours wasn't getting. She'd drop me off and come back later to pick me up.

I had a friend who lived 5 miles away in a small community (50 people). At least once a month I'd ride my bicycle to his house to visit for the day. Down the highway (it was a low traffic road - I'd see maybe a dozen cars each way). I started doing that when I was 10.

My kids (now 37 & 39 and parents) went to the theater by themselves starting when they were ~10. We'd take them, drop them off, and pick them up when the movie was over (the surrounding streets were fairly high traffic).

My oldest grandson was allowed to do that starting when he was ~13.

The theater here is now across the interstate and the few crossing areas are very high traffic. There's no way I'd let a kid walk or ride a bike through those areas. I wouldn't do it myself, even using access roads, as there are people here who try to run bikes off the road and/or throw stuff at them. We have *no* "bike lanes" and sidewalks are non-existent on those access roads.

I took the subway downtown to see The Muppet Movie by myself when I was ten. Today, my parents would probably be arrested for allowing me to do that.

Just a few years ago we had the police called in and a parent cited for negligence for having her child to *walk to school* because he'd been kicked off the bus. Granted, he did have to go through a few high traffic areas but it was mostly residential (a "concerned citizen" saw him cross the road - well before "rush hour" - and called the police). He was also a 6th grader (~12 years old) and should know how to do such things. At least we did when I was that age. It was a walk of ~3 miles. IMHO, absolute stupidity to get the police involved. I'd have made mine walk as part of the punishment had that happened to them.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I've added some new titles to my disc sale -- reminder that it's $12 for one disc, $20 for two discs, or $25 for three discs, and all prices include shipping - including some things I wrote about here. If you see it on the list, it's still available. And thanks to everyone who PM'd and picked something up, I feel much better knowing these are going to good homes:

https://www.hometheaterforum.com/co...rner-archive-olive-and-3d-bd-some-oop.361165/

 

[Marvin]

#161 - It Happened On 5th Avenue (1947)
Viewed on: December 22nd, 2017
Viewing Format: DVD (Warner)

From the same set as Holiday Affair, It Happened On 5th Avenue is another 1940s era black-and-white holiday classic. As directed by Roy Del Ruth, the film stars Victor Moore as a homeless man in New York City, who ever winter squats at the Fifth Avenue mansion owned by the wealthy Charles Ruggles. Upon meeting a homeless veteran (Don DeFore), Ruggles decides to bring him back to the mansion, and before long, DeFore's war buddies Alan Hale Jr and Edward Ryan join him at the house, which they initially believe to be owned by Moore. Also moving in is Gale Storm, who is actually the daughter of real owner Ruggles, but is pretending to be a runaway after a fight with her dad. When Storm falls in love with DeFore, she insists that her divorced parents (Ruggles and Ann Harding) come to the house to get to know DeFore, pretending to be homeless at Storm's request so as not to raise any flags. Storm is convinced that DeFore loves her for who she is, but Ruggles is convinced that he'd only care about her money if he knew how wealthy she really was.

What we have here is a sort of Capra-esque comedy of mistaken identity and manners that's entirely predictable but mostly charming. The cast is quite pleasant, and Moore in particular is a standout of human decency and kindness. But if the premise offers a lot of potential, I found the script (credited to five different writers) to be somewhat uneven, and the film overlong. This is a film that's crying out to be a 90-100 minute pleasant comedy, that stretches into the two hour territory and feels it. It's one thing to watch a 90 minute movie where you figure out everything that's going to happen in the first half hour, and only have an hour to go; it's another thing to figure all of that out and still find yourself with 90 minutes left. I like everything that's happening here, but it also feels like it takes a long time to make its point in each and every scene. A little bit of trimming would have gone a long way; it's never funny enough to work solely as comedy, but the drama is too predictable and far fetched to get emotionally involved in. I think it's good, but that its makers were perhaps trying too hard to turn what should have been a charming little picture into something more prestigious than necessary.

The transfer here is pretty good, especially for DVD. It occasionally shows some minor wear, but in general, the picture and audio is clean and clear. English subtitles are available. The disc does not contain any bonus features.

It Happened On 5th Avenue was an enjoyable film, though not as good as I had hoped based on its reputation. I'm glad to have seen it, but I don't think I'll be revisiting it as often as Holiday Affair.

I have the previous 4 movie set with 5th Avenue, which I usually watch this time of year. (It also has Christmas in Ct, Shop Around the Corner and the Owen Christmas Carol).

I tried watching it last nite and the movie stops playing about halfway through; I assume it's the old problem of DVD layers separating, or something. I may end up getting the set you mentioned (5th Ave is the only movie in common). Is there any advantage to buying the standalone disk for this movie instead?

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I have the previous 4 movie set with 5th Avenue, which I usually watch this time of year. (It also has Christmas in Ct, Shop Around the Corner and the Owen Christmas Carol).

I tried watching it last nite and the movie stops playing about halfway through; I assume it's the old problem of DVD layers separating, or something. I may end up getting the set you mentioned (5th Ave is the only movie in common). Is there any advantage to buying the standalone disk for this movie instead?

Nope, exact same discs!