The Criterion Collection

[theater dreamer]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

This is my idea of minimalism when it comes to movies:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_b0...ature=youtu.be

That’s wild, and so cool. I appreciate his thinking, and devotion to his collection.

I have a similar thinking, actually. There are movies in my collection I might not watch for years. It I know one day I will, and I don’t want to be beholden to some streaming service or local movie renter. When the time comes, I know where it is, and that the disc will be in pristine condition.

I also totally get keeping outdated releases for their visual appeal. I started out in graphic design, too. My first year of college, I was an advertising art major. There are movies I’ve replaced on blu-ray that I’ve kept the DVD because the packaging was so vastly superior.. The New Line Platinum Series releases for movies like Seven, Boogie Nights, Magnolia-they’re really well done, where the blu-Ray is just a cheap plastic case. And I’m a sucker for typography.

[theater dreamer]

I will say that the guy did sound preoccupied with size. That he needed to have the biggest collection was a bit odd. I know that some people will always have larger collections. Doesn’t bother me. I won’t buy crap just to make my collection bigger. The films I buy are all ones I want to own.

I’ll have some movies like The A Team or GI JOE-clearly not cinematic masterpieces. But sometimes I just want to see an action flick where a lot of shit gets blown up, and bad guys get their asses handed to them. And they’ll sit next to my Bergmans and Kurosawas just fine, thank you!

[AaronJ]

G.I. Joe also has a really fun cast.

[Dailyan]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

I’ll have some movies like The A Team or GI JOE-clearly not cinematic masterpieces. But sometimes I just want to see an action flick where a lot of shit gets blown up, and bad guys get their asses handed to them. And they’ll sit next to my Bergmans and Kurosawas just fine, thank you!

[Show spoiler]

https://youtube.com/watch?v=g9UJeeZJ7rg

[hariseldon]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

I will say that the guy did sound preoccupied with size. That he needed to have the biggest collection was a bit odd. I know that some people will always have larger collections. Doesn’t bother me. I won’t buy crap just to make my collection bigger. The films I buy are all ones I want to own.

Have you ever seen Theo's HT designs -- the entire conversation fits to a T what you'd expect from him. No such thing as over the top or excessive.

Also realize that interview was done in 2015 so he's got to be way over 20 or 25K by now

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by RCRochester

Why, for having shelves and shelves of DVDs and laserdiscs, and blu-rays like Drinking Buddies and Burlesque? There's a lot of stuff on those shelves, but I'm not all that impressed.

have you seen Drinking Buddies? I thought it was a good little film, actually. I don't remember much about it as it was a while ago, but it had a kind of rhythm to it - the characters and their motivations felt authentic.

not what one would expect from a movie called Drinking Buddies.

[regeyer]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

If you had to pare your collection down to 20 titles, which 20 would you pick?

Rule: you can only keep five box sets and none that contain more than five titles.

No Bergman set, no Zatoichi, no World Cinema Project.

...all the rest have to be individual titles.

I'm going to break the rules a bit, but here are mine, in no particular order.

1. Seven Samurai
2. Diabolique
3. The Red Shoes
4. Black Narcissus
5. Senso
6. People on Sunday
7. 12 Angry Men
8. Three Outlaw Samurai
9. Summer Interlude
10. Summer with Monika
11. The Gold Rush
12. Zatoichi (if I have to limit it to one then it is #17 - Challenged)
13. The Samurai Trilogy
14. Bitter Rice
15. In a Lonely Place
16. Ikuro
17. The Hidden Fortress
18. Woman of the Year
19. The Complete Lady Snowblood
20. Yojimbo

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

have you seen Drinking Buddies? I thought it was a good little film, actually. I don't remember much about it as it was a while ago, but it had a kind of rhythm to it - the characters and their motivations felt authentic.

not what one would expect from a movie called Drinking Buddies.

I really like Drinking Buddies. Then again, I've liked the few Swanberg films I've seen. And that cast ... love it. Olivia Wilde, Anna Kendrick, Jake Johnson, Ron Livingston. Great chemistry and I love these types of films.

[koberulz]

"I spend about $15-20,000 a year on movies."

"I'm just your typical nerdy collector."


...no.

And yeah, he says he owns over 15,000 films and has only watched a couple hundred. Like, seriously, what's the point?

[Dailyan]

Originally Posted by koberulz

Like, seriously, what's the point?

Bragging rights? That's the only thing I could think of.

[prkchopexpress]

Originally Posted by regeyer

I'm going to break the rules a bit, but here are mine, in no particular order.

12. Zatoichi (if I have to limit it to one then it is #17 - Challenged)

would stand by all the zatoichi movies... but I would say the best one for my money is #15 zatoichi's lightning sword.

although to be honest, of the 25 films in the box, I think there was only two I didn't absolutely love. and even those were still pretty solid.

[lemonski]

Originally Posted by koberulz

"I spend about $15-20,000 a year on movies."

Ehh...$15-20K a year on movies isn't much for a guy rolling in cash. If he runs a high end HT design business, that kind of money would be chicken feed (and probably tax deductible)

[koberulz]

It doesn't make him an "average nerdy collector".

[Arawn]

It's nice to see that in some cases I actually own one of the selections on someone's list. Sometimes even two!

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by koberulz

It doesn't make him an "average nerdy collector".

I used to know a woman who lived down the street who spent that much on shoes and handbags in an afternoon sometimes.

As lemonski says, it all depends on your economic situation. I mean, these Christian Louboutin sandals cost about $2,400 at Nordstrom.



For some people that's a completely impossible price, for others it's simply something they want, so they buy it.

If someone wants to spends thousands on something and can afford it, go for it. I do wish, however, that more people with means to do so focused some of their interest on serious charities. But many do.

[koberulz]

The people who have that much spare cash are not "average", is my point.

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by koberulz

The people who have that much spare cash are not "average", is my point.

I know what he was getting at, though.

But a lot of how one sees one's place in the world has to do with how one fits in with those around you. I mean, if you and your friends go and get season tickets every year to the local team, you probably see it is just normal. Obviously, it isn't. But to you, it is.

And to be honest, very few of us on this board are "average" in any way.

[hariseldon]

Originally Posted by koberulz

The people who have that much spare cash are not "average", is my point.

I think Average nerdy Collector probably meant in attitude.

Average nerdy Collector with a very large Petty Cash box -- I suspect if many of us here had a $1M income that's exactly like what our media closet would look like.

When he started pulling out those SE Laserdiscs I had a fit of jealousy until I realized I had almost every one of the items he showed including the Star Wars Def Collection Boxset, T2, and some Disney sets I could recognize on the shelf that he didn't show. Admittedly most of those I collected in the early- mid 2000's when people were selling them at 80-90% off Ken Cranes prices

[Kyle15]

Originally Posted by koberulz

"I spend about $15-20,000 a year on movies."

"I'm just your typical nerdy collector."


...no.

And yeah, he says he owns over 15,000 films and has only watched a couple hundred. Like, seriously, what's the point?

Because he wants to? Because he likes movies? I think he means he hasn't gotten around to watching them all yet. I myself have a chunk of my collection that I haven't gotten around to yet. It's all relative my man. Have a chill pill, lighten up. lmao

[SeanJoyce]

Originally Posted by Kyle15

Because he wants to? Because he likes movies? I think he means he hasn't gotten around to watching them all yet. I myself have a chunk of my collection that I haven't gotten around to yet. It's all relative my man. Have a chill pill, lighten up. lmao

There's a "chunk", and then there's not watching virtually your entire collection. You don't just "get around" to watching nearly 15,000 movies.