How good are your blindbuying skills?

[Q?]

I think I'm fairly good at it, I try to read about a movie before I buy it, like checking imdb or right here on blu-ray.com, but balancing carefully to not spoil too much. Check out what the director has made before, try to find out what the budget of the movie was and stuff like that.
But lately I've made some stinkers, like Outlander, I read a lot about it on slashfilm and was expecting a whole lot, my fault I guess. But can you blame me for being excited about vikings & aliens?
Also not really a blind buy, The Hills Have Eyes, I saw it in the theater once it was released and remembered I had a good time with it and not much else, so it kinda qualifies as a blindbuy. Saw it on blu-ray last week & realised how much it sucked.

My best blind buy is probably Star Trek (but let's not turn this into another discussion about that movie shall we?).
Also read a lot of good things about Moon by Duncan Jones, just blindordered it.
What about you?

[Musashi]

Mine have always done me well. Part of it is that I try to appreciate something about most every movie I see. So while some of the movies I blind buy (or that I get after seeing elsewhere for that matter) may not be "good" per se; I find the majority of them are fun or have a purpose in my collection.

[P@t_Mtl]

I have no such skills, I do not blind buy at all, never have and never will.

[Mike53421]

Zodiac and Up. Two for two as far as I'm concerned.

[master_8ball]

My blind buys for the most part have been excellent. There are only 2 movies that I regretted getting after a blind buy.

Baraka- I know it looks nice, but I just can't see myself watching it again. I bought it for all the praise it received as an excellent 70mm transfer. I knew there was no dialog, and was alright with that but for whatever reason the film did nothing for me.

Night of the Creeps- Blind bought as I love campy 80's cheesy horror but didnt care much for it at all.

[Q?]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

I have no such skills, I do not blind buy at all, never have and never will.

You should try it sometime
It's exilerating to hit the nail, especially if it's on blu-ray.

[Riff Magnum]

I have to have very strong recommendations from people on this site whose opinions i trust and tastes i share, or from several of my good friends who know my proclivities. I don't do it very often though.

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by Q!

You should try it sometime
It's exilerating to hit the nail, especially if it's on blu-ray.

Nah! I like to be sure I buy stuff I know I will watch again. Sure I could trade or sell again but why take the chance

[Travis]

I've stopped blind buying,.... so much. Wasn't great at it. Got a lot of not great DVDs that way, some were Walmart middle aisle bin dwellers, others more expensive.

The only BDs I have that I bought blind are Baraka, Fearless and Wolverine. They are all winners in my book. Baraka will only be once every few years though, kinda artsy. Already seen Wolverine 3 or 4 times. Love X-Men and Wolverine comics.

And all my Blu concerts are blind buys of course, but I'm familiar with the music so safe bets.

I've rented a lot more recently that I was sure I was going to buy and be happy with. Glad I rented them instead of buying them blind. 2009 has stunk so far for new movies.

[DetroitSportsFan]

I'm good at blind buying. Rarely do I buy a movie that I don't end up liking.

And that includes blind buying movie theater tickets too.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by Q!

You should try it sometime
It's exilerating to hit the nail, especially if it's on blu-ray.

I don't do it at all. In fact, I rent titles I haven't seen. I've done that for some ten-odd years now, because I CAN.

(No, wait, come to think, I DID blind buy one time:
I hadn't seen the rest of Watchmen in a theater, but I liked the first half, so I went and bought the Director's Cut. I hated it.
I should've rented the disk first, like normal people who don't live in 1997.)

[Riff Magnum]

Originally Posted by DetroitSportsFan

I'm good at blind buying. Rarely do I buy a movie that I don't end up liking.

And that includes blind buying movie theater tickets too.

Yeah, it's weird that we see movies blind in the theaters and don't think twice about it, but we have strict codes when it comes to blind buying a movie for home viewing, even if the price is similar and it's come highly recommended.

[Sixx]

I blinded Traitor....pretty good flick!

[thePhoenix]

My best blind buys were The Thing and Unforgiven. I'd heard only good things from everyone I'd talked to who'd seen them. I wasn't dissapointed!

[KubrickFan]

About half of my Blu-ray collection is a blind buy, and I liked everyone of them. Some were absolutely amazing, like The 400 Blows and Blade Runner for example. I need time to rewatch those some time.
I don't like the idea of having seen everything you buy. There's almost no fun in that.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by Riff Magnum

Yeah, it's weird that we see movies blind in the theaters and don't think twice about it, but we have strict codes when it comes to blind buying a movie for home viewing, even if the price is similar and it's come highly recommended.

That's because we don't keep a heavy film can of movie prints in our basement--
Back before (you were born?) in the 80's, before home theater existed, you went out of the house and downtown to Main Street to see a movie the way you went to see a stage play: Other people told you a story, and you went home happy.

When movies became something you could put on the shelf like books, they took on the priorities of a book you bought, sold, or just waited to check out of the library instead, depending on how many times you were likely to re-read them now and again.
And me, I was a library checker-outer, m'self, who didn't buy every single danged book he was curious about.

[Q?]

Originally Posted by EricJ

I don't do it at all. In fact, I rent titles I haven't seen. I've done that for some ten-odd years now, because I CAN.

(No, wait, come to think, I DID blind buy one time:
I hadn't seen the rest of Watchmen in a theater, but I liked the first half, so I went and bought the Director's Cut. I hated it.
I should've rented the disk first, like normal people who don't live in 1997.)

Back in the days when I didn't have internet, I used to blind right and left with dvd's.
I got good at it, it's almost a ritual for me now. I enjoy looking them up, adjust my expectations accordingly and such.
I can't rent blu-rays here in Greenland, which is fine for me, as I'm accustomed to blind buy a movie if I'm interested.

Blindbuying can be a wonderful treasure hunt sometimes, like when I bought Donnie Darko on dvd... wow.

[KingBing]

I have only made one bad blind buy and that was Hancock!!

[Blu-ray Fanatic]

My worst blind buy was Assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford. Terrible movie and boring.

Last night I blind bought Star Trek (the new one). I'm assuming this will be my best one. Next month I'm planning on blind buying Inglorious Bastards. This will probably be a good one too.

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by EricJ

That's because we don't keep a heavy film can of movie prints in our basement--
Back before (you were born?) in the 80's, before home theater existed, you went out of the house and downtown to Main Street to see a movie the way you went to see a stage play: Other people told you a story, and you went home happy.

When movies became something you could put on the shelf like books, they took on the priorities of a book you bought, sold, or just waited to check out of the library instead, depending on how many times you were likely to re-read them now and again.
And me, I was a library checker-outer, m'self, who didn't buy every single danged book he was curious about.

Could not say it better.