Physical & Digital EST: The Future of Home Video Discussion Thread

[cheez avenger]

GameFly just came through again. Snagged D&D 4K used for $8.99.

[crutzulee]

Originally Posted by NeonStreetMelt

10 feet seems too close to a 133" screen. I'm less than 6 from my 85" Sony, with limited space, I'd be a bit farther back if I could, and I'm generally focused center screen. My attention will be drawn to far sides in the case of specific action or far from center character. Sitting that close to a 133" screen seems like sitting in the first 5 rows of a theater which I'd never do.

I have absolutely no complaints...IT'S GLORIOUS!!!!

Everyone should be so happy with the way they watch their movies- be it as a communal experience at a theater or on old VHS tapes on a 13" TV.... and everything in between...

[EmberBlaine]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Best Buy
Bull Moose
DeepDiscount.com
DiabolikDVD – Demented Discs from the World Over
Discount Home Video (Twilight Time)
DVD Empire - Home
DVDPlanet.com: Your Source for Films, from Classics to Cult Favs
GRINDHOUSE VIDEO - HORROR/CULT/EXPLOITATION/AND MORE!
GRUV | DVD, Blu-ray & 4K Ultra HD | Movies & TV
HD MOVIE SOURCE HD MOVIE SOURCE
MVD – MVD Entertainment Group
Screen Archives Entertainment
Severin Films
Synapse Films
Target
The Criterion Collection
Vinegar Syndrome
Zavvi US

Most of those only sell their very specific niche titles.

[cheez avenger]

Amazon and Wal-Mart is pretty much all you need nowadays.

[crutzulee]

If you are lucky enough to live in a city with a locally owned retailer that supports physical media, you may want to support them.

Here in Toronto, we are lucky enough to have BAY STREET VIDEO... They sell and rent EVERYTHING that comes to market. I remember them supporting my LaserDisc habit long after DVD was a thing...

[Trekkie313]

Originally Posted by cheez avenger

Amazon and Wal-Mart is pretty much all you need nowadays.

Only money Wally World gets from me is movies and toys whenever they get clearanced. Amazon never gotten a dime from and I'm proud of it.

[Lee A Stewart]

Best Buy, the Chain That Helped Trigger the DVD Revolution, Is Ditching the Disc for Good

Best Buy, which in the late 1990s led the charge by big retailers to take over the DVD sellthrough business, is ditching the disc, beginning next year.

Studio sources say the consumer electronics chain, which currently has a 4% share of the disc market, behind Walmart (45%), Amazon (18%) and Target (6%), is phasing out DVDs, Blu-ray Discs and 4K Ultra HD Blu-rays — including the exclusive Steelbooks prized by collectors.

The exit, which could begin as early as the first quarter of 2024, includes not just Best Buy’s more than 1,000 physical stores throughout the United States and Canada, but also the company’s online business, which sources say is very labor-intensive.

https://www.mediaplaynews.com/best-b...disc-for-good/

[cheez avenger]

Originally Posted by Trekkie313

Only money Wally World gets from me is movies and toys whenever they get clearanced. Amazon never gotten a dime from and I'm proud of it.

That's your choice, but to say there are no options is a lie. There are several options.

[veritas]

Originally Posted by cheez avenger

That's your choice, but to say there are no options is a lie. There are several options.

It depends on what titles you want. discotek only does distribution to amazon and now I guess crunchyroll as righstuf is gone.
Aniplex and a fair number of gundam titles are only crunchyroll.
I remember the 3d version of guardians of the galaxy 2 was literally only a limited edition steel book from best buy.

Some stuff you really do have little to no options on.

[bhampton]

I’m glad to not be shopping at Best Buy.
I think they are badly managed.

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by bhampton

I can't recommend the piracy thing in any form.

Just seems people are getting in more legal trouble than they used to maybe it's just getting more coverage.

I also enjoy buying things I like to support them.

agree

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by t-mel

I don't get this notion of people being so rude in the cinema. I've been 15 times this year in 5 different cinemas and I haven't had any experience close to bad. It was at evenings and weekends. Am I that lucky? Perhaps because I don't tend to go to franchise (teen boy) films that much the audience is more respectful, but I did see Across the Spiderverse. It is just not a good explanation that people in London are nicer.

It has to be said that people skipping the cinema and watching everything on streaming is massively hurting the industry.

As for more convenience, it's not necessarily a good thing. When you go to the cinema, you are going by its schedule. You can't pause it or do anything else while watching it (if you aren't rude) so you focus on it. This gives what you are watching more importance. At home, plenty of people do "background" watching or simultaneously use their phones. Perhaps they stop watching it mid way through because they find it boring. Now, I'm not saying anyone here does that, but streaming enables that sort of behaviour because there is no societal pressure against it.

Another reason for me to go is the increasing number of films that aren't getting Blu Ray releases. This year films like How to Blow Up a Pipeline, Rye Lane, and Theatre Camp didn't get releases. Netflix has bought several festivals films and it's unlikely they will see the light of day on disc. Films like The Killer, Hit Man, May December. And one of the biggest films of the year, Killers of the Flower Moon, might be an AppleTV exclusive. No thanks.

I don't think it is a matter of other people being rude but me being picky.

Like you said later. For most people pausing a film, checking their phones, taking little brakes, talking with others.... is a normal part of TV watching. In my HT none of that is allowed, no phones in the HT, when the door is closed it does not open until the film ends.

And it is not just about the people, I make sure to buy the best copy of the film, I am sure my audio and TV are calibrated, something the theater themselves are not always up to par.

And in the end it is not that every experience is bad, but at home I can guarantee that every time the experience will be good.

I do go to theatres some times, but I apply the same rules as other peoples homes. It just does not count as having watched the film until I watch it in my home.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by bhampton

I’m glad to not be shopping at Best Buy.
I think they are badly managed.

Have bought a few pieces of electronics there.

People with more patience than myself apparently are OK with B&M shopping for media, I have always found it to be a PITA trying to find the title(s) that I want, do not have this problem at Amazon .

IMO, the folks at Walmart have been planing the future of disc sales for sometime. I thought it interesting when Walmart started installing much larger displays for their movie shelves a few years ago. The first one I saw was in the small mountain town of Waynesville NC about 5 years ago, see pic.

[Show spoiler]

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by NeonStreetMelt

10 feet seems too close to a 133" screen.

I don't agree with that.

I'm less than 6 from my 85" Sony, with limited space, I'd be a bit farther back if I could, and I'm generally focused center screen. My attention will be drawn to far sides in the case of specific action or far from center character.

yes, but exercising your eyeballs and neck to focus beyond the narrowest field of vision is normal and healthy. to me it is more like you are interested in the small screen experience instead of the big screen experience where you try to feel like the film is happening around you and you are in t the middle of the action .

Sitting that close to a 133" screen seems like sitting in the first 5 rows of a theater which I'd never do.

no. The issue with a real theatre is that in order to fit a lot of people the front rows are way too low compared to the action on the screen, which stresses the neck muscles looking up all the time. that is usually not an issue in HTs.

[Anthony P]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

People with more patience than myself apparently are OK with B&M shopping for media, I have always found it to be a PITA trying to find the title(s) that I want, do not have this problem at Amazon .

there was a time when I used to buy at B&M all the time and preferred it by far over on-line, you would go to the video store, they had a few of everything that was well kept and you looked around nd occasionally found that gem you did not know even existed. But then most of them closed down and the big box everything store that only has a bunch of copies of a few titles that are latest releases all jumbled up are definitely a PITA to shop at.

[MikeCL]

I used to work at Best Buy back in 2003.. anyways we used to have like 10-13 tall movie shelf's.. I walked into the store last week it's just a single maybe 50 ft long double sided shelf unit and that's it.. pretty sad.

[Steedeel]

I honestly think this is the most enjoyable year for collecting since DVD launched all those years ago.
Disc is alive and well in my home!

@Wendell, Planet Earth 3 starting earlier than expected (next week here), so you should be able to pick it up earlier now. Can’t wait to own the 4K, so I will avoid the broadcast.

[crutzulee]

My kids chose a double feature of SCREAM (1996) 4k UHD and DEADSTREAM (2022) on PRIME...We had an absolute blast! My son doesn't watch horror but he conceded for the season.

It occurred to me during the video store scene in SCREAM that, as much as I've described it, the depiction in the movie was both historically accurate to the experience, and wholly alien to my kids (21 and 18). In fact, the whole experience of people, congregating in a retail environment is largely a rarity to them.

I have no beef with BESTBUY and I live walking distance to 2 of Toronto's more popular malls. Perhaps it's a bit of a COVID thing, but I can't remember the last time I was in any of them. For better or worse, lazy or busy, we are definitely all in on AMAZON with multiple deliveries a day.

[PenguinInfinity]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

@Wendell, Planet Earth 3 starting earlier than expected (next week here), so you should be able to pick it up earlier now. Can’t wait to own the 4K, so I will avoid the broadcast.

If your avoiding the broadcast then you obviously can wait to own the 4k.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Best Buy is not alone in the hard times department of B&M sales, many chains have closed or will close a number of stores this year, see here. Last week went to where the Christmas Tree Shop was in Greenville SC and the space is now available for lease.

For the US folks need to keep in mind that Circuit City, Radio Shack, H.H. Gregg are pretty much history. Target Ticket and Best Buy CinemaNow is history, Walmart sold Vudu so EST is not exactly setting the world on fire. Considering there are many times over the number of devices that can stream compared to disc players EST sales are pretty pathetic compared to disc sales.