This channel covers the collecting of all things media. Films (4K, Blu-ray, DVD), CDs, LP's, and Books are what is talked about most but all media is in play: magazines, sports and other cards, video games and anything else that comes into our possession. It should be lots of fun.
I've done that too but i wouldn't use stickers cause it won't last very long and the cases will most likely fall to the floor in a few weeks or something. I bought empty CD cases, and drilled a hole in the middle of the back plastic, mounted the cases with short flat screws on the side of the shelf, then put the CD and cover inside them, a few well chosen albums that i wanted to display (not so much about space saving really though). I got many solutions cause i got CD's and DVD's all over the place. One solution that i built is a 6ft tall replica of the empire state building filled with DVD's, not sure how many but maybe around 200. Another solution is a big drawer (for clothes probably, that i found) with 6 big drawers and all of them are filled with CD's and DVD's. It's like a hidden shelf but instead of stacking them on a traditional shelf in vertical position they are horizontally stacked in the drawers, one row of CD's and another row of DVD's in every drawer and they fit 100% perfectly in there both widthwise and heightwise (i got lucky), so a few hundred more of both formats in there, so i don't have to look at them all the time cause i collect lots of things that takes shelf space, like boomboxes and hot wheels and movie stuff and vintage items, that's nicer to look at. I build odd outside the box solutions for most items that i collect because i want to be able to display them (literally everywhere). I once even modified a door into a shelf for hot wheels but i don't use it anymore. Some parts of my apartment are elevated like 1,5ft up (custom built by me of course) so i got storage under the elevated sections too, lol. I could go on forever about all the solutions but it's too much to write and i can't post images in a youtube comment so you have to use your imagination, lol
Here is my little essay. I think that we share similar concerns regarding the ongoing availability of and accessibility to the richness of film heritage that has been accumulating over the past century. It does currently seem to be something that is threatened. Unfortunately, as long as streaming services and media companies are the main agencies that make films available to us, we will continually struggle with an inability to essentially watch what we want, when we want. Even with libraries or other agencies that don’t have a profit motive, easy access to films or other media for folks like us is far from a reality. With libraries, funding and mandates can change and with archives, they only have the mandate to conserve and preserve but not necessarily to make their holdings widely or easily accessible. While some archives have digitization projects, it is a slow and costly process and likely to never entirely encompass their entire collections. You have alluded to this in your mention of the Gutenberg project. Let me share my own experience to illustrate the issues. Back in 1984, I got a dream job working as a student in a media library. I stayed there until I graduated in 1990, holding onto the job through high school and university. At the time this library had a massive collection of vinyl records and 16mm films. By the 1990s, that library largely sold off its vinyl collection because of a board decision that vinyl was a defunct technology and that the space and staff assigned to maintaining that collection could no longer be justified. This was an absolutely incredible, carefully curated collection of literally tens of thousands of records of both music and spoken word from all genres and from countries across the globe. Yes, much of the collection went to archives and other libraries but most of them were sold off for less than a dollar a piece in a garage sale fashion. I still find records from that collection in second-hand stores and flea markets. Not very much of what that collection contained ever found its way onto CDs or digital formats. As for the 16mm films, my job was to inspect, clean and repair them. I later went on the get my projectionist license and made a little extra money showing the films in public and private venues. It was through my projectionist work that I came to appreciate the rich body of work that film encompasses. While many of the films were of a trade or instructional nature, there were many fine short films and what we would call today indie features. A large proportion of our collection was NFB films but we had other types of films too. I doubt that most of those films were ever transferred to any other media because they likely weren’t considered commercially valuable enough to do so. Many are likely in the Library and Archives Canada collection today but as everyday citizens, we have no easy access to them. So, in the late 80’s when the decision was made to decommission that collection, I was given a ballpoint pen and a pile of boxes. I inserted the pen into the centre of each reel and unwound the film into a box which, when full, I taped up and threw into a large disposal bin behind the library. At the same time, I began to handle the new VHS tapes the library was getting. I was disgusted by the poor quality of the cartridges. While I could splice broken film and repair ripped sprockets on the old 16mm films, a broken VHS tape was often unrepairable. I could splice the tape if it were broken but those repairs seldom lasted. The equipment we had in the office emitted magnetic fields and sometimes erased the tapes. Even as a young person, I was very unimpressed by the new technology and longed to stay with the old. Also, I could immediately see that the VHS tapes were almost exclusively commercial and a lot of the artistic richness found in the old 16mm collection was completely absent. While they don’t last forever and can be damaged, vinyl records and 16mm films were quite durable and the technology used to play or project them was quite simple. Even if the projectors or players weren’t mass-produced anymore, they were simple enough for specialty manufacturers to make them if and when they might be needed. An organization that had the mandate to make films and records available to the public could have continued to do so if there was the will for it. Also, like your collection of disks, you are the one in control of what you add to the collection and take away from it. With Netflix, we never know what will happen in the long run. And, each year we lose more of the 100+ years of film heritage.
It is true that it is hard to get many movies in Canada at a reasonable price. This video has some helpful hints and insights on how to research the best price. Regarding Exotica, it is a movie that is well worth watching. Now that it is having its 30th anniversary, it is available on RU-vid. Of course, many people who watch it will go on to want to buy it because they will want to watch it repeatedly. Also, the extra features are no doubt of great interest. I agree with the concern about it being hard to buy physical media and the expense and limitations of streaming services. There are so many excellent movies that are not all that commercially big that could be lost.
When I heard that the individual studios were entering the streaming market I was quite excited. This is because I thought they would begin the work to put everything they had over their history onto the streaming service. An archive of all their films in one place for the subscriber to watch. Disappointingly they have not done that at all. They have limited their catalogue to very few films. And it doesn't seem like they are even interested in doing it. I had such a smile on my face for streaming after Netflix came into the market. I thought all the different media companies would create spaces online where you could eventually access everything ever made. Your friend mentions a film that you haven't seen, you go home and find it easily and watch it. You go on major league baseball's website and have access to every televised game going back into the 50s or before. Wanna watch the Big Red Machine, then you can get all the regular season and post season games at your fingertips. Wanna see all the games the Yankees played while DiMaggio was on his streak, its there. And so on and so forth. But its not that way, its not a library of everything online like say the Gutenberg project slowly adding every public domain book online. But if it could be that way, it would be awesome. Until then, I have my own library with the amount of space I have so I can watch what I want when I want.
I'm a big fan of the 1001 movies book. It's such a great resource and encouragement into more cinema. There's been so many times when I've watched a film from it, and then dived into that directors work, which then leads to a exploring a particular genre or other similar directors I would never have found, if that first film hadn't been in the book. Also, it's great to see Exotica get it's own Criterion release. I made my way through the studio canal boxset of Atom Egoyan films last year, and it was an incredible journey. Such a brilliant director, that deserves wider recognition.
You have touched on a great point and I think most cinephiles reach the same conclusion as they become more knowledgeable on film, and that is, if you watch a film you should note the director of that film. Because if you enjoyed it, you will probably enjoy other films by him or her. In fact, when exploring film, you should do so in this manner. That is, if you find a film you like, watch more films by that director. The only other way to systematically watch film would be historically or chronologically going through genres as they come into existence.
I was watching your most recent haul, but came back to this one when you said you had bought the Switch. (Great choice!) I know it's been a few weeks now, but I just wanted to mention in case you hadn't discovered yet, that you can pay for nintendo online, ( you can do a month at a time to see if you like it), and that gives you access to lots of the classic old titles from the original consoles, like the first mario games and street fighter for example. It can be a great way to introduce kids to the 'retro' titles and see what games used to be like. Also I just wanted to reccommend 'Untitled Goose Game', which you and your son might enjoy playing together. It's hilarious and great for a family.
My pleasure. If it does look like something you and your son might enjoy, then luckily it's on the cheaper side too. Not sure what it would be for you, but here in the UK it's under £20. Also, loved to see another Masters of Cinema get some spotlight!
@Warren I am doing a series of episodes on My Film Library. Presently, I'm in the middle of the S's in the first section of the collection where I put them in alphabetical order by title. Once I finish that section, I'm going to do the Movies by Director section, and then lastly I'm going through the Movies by Number section, which is all the Criterions, Indicators and Eureka Masters of Cinema. It's coming, but it might be a little while from now.
man, and I thought my old collection was big - i got up to about 450 if i remember right, donated them all to charity shops when i moved to uni. it was probably a great couple of weeks of shopping for any other film fans in my local area
I purchased from Criterion for this release, first time using their main site. Was too excited when I caught the announcement. After US to CAD, taxes and duties I spent 100 dollars to get it shipped to Toronto.
The main problem with movie collecting as an investment is that a lot of the more rare titles tend to end up getting re-releases sometimes with very little notice.
Yes it's one of the main differences from something like sports cards, or first edition books and such. The film is only going to be temporarily expensive. A new release of it will kill the price, an upgrade from its previous incarnation will do the same. The format it's in can no longer be played because that media is no longer supported. Etc etc.
Hi, we saw your video, liked it, subscribed and rang bell. We are also fascinated by Movies. We unpack Blu-ray Movies and read the old View-Master Booklets on our Channel to the 3D reels, do you remember it... come and see us, Susi und John :-)
