When I was a kid my grandpa would rent every movie from the video store and copy it to a blank tape, creating a massive VHS collection. He used the extended play (EP) setting, which typically allowed three films per tape. Each tape went into a numbered cased on the shelf, and each film was alphabetically catalogued in a spiralbound notebook. He was happy to lend them if people returned them. Unfortunately, at the time he had a lot of people that came and went from his house, and so tapes would go missing. I always felt bad when that happened because I knew the care he had put into curating his collection.
I was thinking about this as you discussed the space taken up by a DVD collection. I think about getting rid of mine, all the time. We never watch them. One of my projects over the last few years has been to rip every CD to our NAS, which we can play via SONOS. I organized all of the CDs in boxes that perfectly fit the jewel cases, and stuck them on shelves in the garage. At least now we can actually listen to them, and I love putting on an album from my youth without an algorithm controlling it. What I didn't love was having a shelf of CDs that we weren't touching. With a five-year-old, and far too many hobbies in the family, space comes at a premium.
My grandpa, who had very little education, was able to buy a nice house on his General Motors salary, with a den and a pool, and an unfinished basement that he turned into the best "man cave" I have ever seen: bar, pool table, large projection TV, and tons of sports memorabilia. That VHS collection took up an entire small bedroom in his house. That room was large enough that my mom and I stayed in it around the time I started kindergarten. I barely remember that time, but it had room enough for my pet mouse. It must have become the video library almost as soon as we moved out, and this is how I most remember it: lined with shelves holding plastic boxes with his three digit numbering system on the spine.
An entire room for his hobby, and probably the reason I'm a cinephile today, though he would never have used a word like that. Meanwhile, I can't help but think based on what you wrote that now might be a good time to sell my DVDs. After all, I really could use the space for my growing record collection.
Agree with most of this but I think the main reason for physical media coming back is that we pay for loads of streaming services and yet the films we want to watch disappear randomly. You can find something to watch, sure, but you can almost never find a specific film you want to watch.
Plus the quality of Netflix (even 4k) is atrocious. It is not comparable at all. Appreciate for most it doesn’t matter but for me it does.
* Video quality is better. If I am going to spend 2 hours if my life watching a "good" movie, I don't want to see a bunch of distracting streaming artifacts.
* Extra features, commentary by the director or a film historian
* The pile of unwatched discs acts as a physical "watch list"
There are a ton of films from the 1960s and before which are not found on streaming services. The streaming services are looking to make money, and they feature films which draw viewers. The movies are meant to be easily recognized and get people to join. There are many great films which are not well known.
Also, DVD collection is good because of Directors’ Commentaries, different versions of the same movie (e.g. Blade Runner), and uncommon/unusual films that one cannot easily access on streaming platforms(too many international and independent films to list).
Great essay! The Gollum comparison made me laugh out loud. :)
I understand your desire to collect physical media you love. I'm the same way with books. I take great pride in my home library. If I fall in love with a book, then I need to own it. I'll buy a copy even if I already read the book from the library.
I have a two-year-old son, and we're trying to teach him to value physical media in the same way. We bought a boxy old TV that plays VHS tapes, and now my son knows how to put them in and play them himself. Luckily, my parents kept many of my childhood favorites. There really is something different about watching a movie when you own a physical copy. I even sort of like when it gets all wavy and the sound gets glitchy.
This is a topic I spend a great deal of my life thinking, talking, and writing about, so perhaps I can cheer you up.
Yes, if you are trying to watch 100 popular films, streaming is the cheapest way to do so. However, if you want to watch less common films, often there is no streaming option.
No matter how common the film, if you care about the quality of the film (by which I mean the clarity of the picture and sound, or that it's an uncensored or unedited version) then streaming is never a viable option. Some may argue that as technology improves, streaming services will offer 4K UHD level streams, but I don't think they will. They'll always offer the worst possible service they can get away with, just as every business does, because most people don't care.
Another consideration are the extra features on the discs you buy. I enjoy the commentaries that can be heard with the film, alternate endings, outtakes, trailers, and other special features that are only available if you own the disc.
I own thousands of films on DVD and Blu-ray, and will often upgrade from a DVD to a Blu-ray, or even from a Blu-ray to a 4K UHD Blu-ray. I like the ease of pulling a film off the shelf and playing it vs. searching to see if anyone is currently streaming it, and if so, how much I'll need to pay to watch it, only to watch a low-grade copy of the film.
Depuis la France, je cherchais un site fiable pour jouer le week-end. Après quelques recherches, j’ai essayé https://spinmamas.fr/ par curiosité. Les débuts étaient hésitants, mais un bonus bien utilisé m’a permis de finir avec un joli profit. Aujourd’hui en France je continue à jouer ici car l’expérience est fluide et les récompenses sont vraiment motivantes.
My TV's wi-fi card stopped working, so I went to the Goodwill and got some of my favorite movies on DVD to watch with my kids. Also, a DVD makes a nice gift; my gf got me a copy of her favorite movie, Last Christmas, on DVD, last December. Third use case: we were shopping for vinyl at a mall storefront with both records and DVD/BR this past weekend and I found Two Weeks Notice in the bin; we watched it that night. Having an actual disc makes a movie something to look forward to.
This is a wonderful (and self-aware) commentary on the mania of collecting--physical media, in particular.
I've spent five figures on my own collection film collection. It is north of 1,500 titles, takes up space that's at a premium in our family's home, and my spouse is skeptical at best about it all. And, worst, I don't even watch them all. To my occasionally acute guilt and shame, most of my discs are still wrapped in their original plastic.
So why bother?
Well, for one thing, it's like having a library of 10,000 books that you cannot hope to ever read before death. You may still find immense pleasure from the *optionality* of owning them. You are assured to have a film that serves exactly the itch you (or others) have at any moment. Perusing them on a shelf is different and better. You can group them by theme. You can organize your own personal film festivals! Even unwatched, they stand as a testament to your tastes and interests. Even the unopened cases contain movies or shows that I have seen and loved or have every intention of savoring later. Even if I know, rationally, that I probably won't get to every last one.
Is that the best use of resources and space, even for one who loves film? Strictly speaking, maybe not! You shouldn't opt for this unless there another argument aside from cost-efficiency.
I dislike when enthusiasts make delusional arguments that collecting physical media is cheaper, actually. It's not. And, as you mention, you can stream many of your favorite movies somewhere... just maybe not at the moment you want. Is the quality lower? Yes, but not noticeably so for most casual viewers. Saving that, you can usually buy and download films on digital format for cheaper than a disc.
Actually, physical copies can be cheaper if you buy them at the thrift store. The DVDs at the one I go to are only $2 (the Blu-rays are a little more). As long as you check for scratches, they almost always play just fine.
When I was a kid my grandpa would rent every movie from the video store and copy it to a blank tape, creating a massive VHS collection. He used the extended play (EP) setting, which typically allowed three films per tape. Each tape went into a numbered cased on the shelf, and each film was alphabetically catalogued in a spiralbound notebook. He was happy to lend them if people returned them. Unfortunately, at the time he had a lot of people that came and went from his house, and so tapes would go missing. I always felt bad when that happened because I knew the care he had put into curating his collection.
I was thinking about this as you discussed the space taken up by a DVD collection. I think about getting rid of mine, all the time. We never watch them. One of my projects over the last few years has been to rip every CD to our NAS, which we can play via SONOS. I organized all of the CDs in boxes that perfectly fit the jewel cases, and stuck them on shelves in the garage. At least now we can actually listen to them, and I love putting on an album from my youth without an algorithm controlling it. What I didn't love was having a shelf of CDs that we weren't touching. With a five-year-old, and far too many hobbies in the family, space comes at a premium.
My grandpa, who had very little education, was able to buy a nice house on his General Motors salary, with a den and a pool, and an unfinished basement that he turned into the best "man cave" I have ever seen: bar, pool table, large projection TV, and tons of sports memorabilia. That VHS collection took up an entire small bedroom in his house. That room was large enough that my mom and I stayed in it around the time I started kindergarten. I barely remember that time, but it had room enough for my pet mouse. It must have become the video library almost as soon as we moved out, and this is how I most remember it: lined with shelves holding plastic boxes with his three digit numbering system on the spine.
An entire room for his hobby, and probably the reason I'm a cinephile today, though he would never have used a word like that. Meanwhile, I can't help but think based on what you wrote that now might be a good time to sell my DVDs. After all, I really could use the space for my growing record collection.
Agree with most of this but I think the main reason for physical media coming back is that we pay for loads of streaming services and yet the films we want to watch disappear randomly. You can find something to watch, sure, but you can almost never find a specific film you want to watch.
Plus the quality of Netflix (even 4k) is atrocious. It is not comparable at all. Appreciate for most it doesn’t matter but for me it does.
The reasons I buy physical:
* Video quality is better. If I am going to spend 2 hours if my life watching a "good" movie, I don't want to see a bunch of distracting streaming artifacts.
* Extra features, commentary by the director or a film historian
* The pile of unwatched discs acts as a physical "watch list"
There are a ton of films from the 1960s and before which are not found on streaming services. The streaming services are looking to make money, and they feature films which draw viewers. The movies are meant to be easily recognized and get people to join. There are many great films which are not well known.
You get me.❤️
Also, DVD collection is good because of Directors’ Commentaries, different versions of the same movie (e.g. Blade Runner), and uncommon/unusual films that one cannot easily access on streaming platforms(too many international and independent films to list).
Great essay! The Gollum comparison made me laugh out loud. :)
I understand your desire to collect physical media you love. I'm the same way with books. I take great pride in my home library. If I fall in love with a book, then I need to own it. I'll buy a copy even if I already read the book from the library.
I have a two-year-old son, and we're trying to teach him to value physical media in the same way. We bought a boxy old TV that plays VHS tapes, and now my son knows how to put them in and play them himself. Luckily, my parents kept many of my childhood favorites. There really is something different about watching a movie when you own a physical copy. I even sort of like when it gets all wavy and the sound gets glitchy.
This is a topic I spend a great deal of my life thinking, talking, and writing about, so perhaps I can cheer you up.
Yes, if you are trying to watch 100 popular films, streaming is the cheapest way to do so. However, if you want to watch less common films, often there is no streaming option.
No matter how common the film, if you care about the quality of the film (by which I mean the clarity of the picture and sound, or that it's an uncensored or unedited version) then streaming is never a viable option. Some may argue that as technology improves, streaming services will offer 4K UHD level streams, but I don't think they will. They'll always offer the worst possible service they can get away with, just as every business does, because most people don't care.
Another consideration are the extra features on the discs you buy. I enjoy the commentaries that can be heard with the film, alternate endings, outtakes, trailers, and other special features that are only available if you own the disc.
I own thousands of films on DVD and Blu-ray, and will often upgrade from a DVD to a Blu-ray, or even from a Blu-ray to a 4K UHD Blu-ray. I like the ease of pulling a film off the shelf and playing it vs. searching to see if anyone is currently streaming it, and if so, how much I'll need to pay to watch it, only to watch a low-grade copy of the film.
Depuis la France, je cherchais un site fiable pour jouer le week-end. Après quelques recherches, j’ai essayé https://spinmamas.fr/ par curiosité. Les débuts étaient hésitants, mais un bonus bien utilisé m’a permis de finir avec un joli profit. Aujourd’hui en France je continue à jouer ici car l’expérience est fluide et les récompenses sont vraiment motivantes.
YES to physical media! Blu-rays, CDs, physical books, magazines... yes.
My TV's wi-fi card stopped working, so I went to the Goodwill and got some of my favorite movies on DVD to watch with my kids. Also, a DVD makes a nice gift; my gf got me a copy of her favorite movie, Last Christmas, on DVD, last December. Third use case: we were shopping for vinyl at a mall storefront with both records and DVD/BR this past weekend and I found Two Weeks Notice in the bin; we watched it that night. Having an actual disc makes a movie something to look forward to.
This is a wonderful (and self-aware) commentary on the mania of collecting--physical media, in particular.
I've spent five figures on my own collection film collection. It is north of 1,500 titles, takes up space that's at a premium in our family's home, and my spouse is skeptical at best about it all. And, worst, I don't even watch them all. To my occasionally acute guilt and shame, most of my discs are still wrapped in their original plastic.
So why bother?
Well, for one thing, it's like having a library of 10,000 books that you cannot hope to ever read before death. You may still find immense pleasure from the *optionality* of owning them. You are assured to have a film that serves exactly the itch you (or others) have at any moment. Perusing them on a shelf is different and better. You can group them by theme. You can organize your own personal film festivals! Even unwatched, they stand as a testament to your tastes and interests. Even the unopened cases contain movies or shows that I have seen and loved or have every intention of savoring later. Even if I know, rationally, that I probably won't get to every last one.
Is that the best use of resources and space, even for one who loves film? Strictly speaking, maybe not! You shouldn't opt for this unless there another argument aside from cost-efficiency.
I dislike when enthusiasts make delusional arguments that collecting physical media is cheaper, actually. It's not. And, as you mention, you can stream many of your favorite movies somewhere... just maybe not at the moment you want. Is the quality lower? Yes, but not noticeably so for most casual viewers. Saving that, you can usually buy and download films on digital format for cheaper than a disc.
Actually, physical copies can be cheaper if you buy them at the thrift store. The DVDs at the one I go to are only $2 (the Blu-rays are a little more). As long as you check for scratches, they almost always play just fine.