Impulse buying

[jess1581]

Originally Posted by jarrod_inf

This is how I operate. I also quit dip, smoking, and energy drinks so I do have some spending money to play with.

Exactly. There are worse things to be addicted to such as nicotine... Movies aren't bad for your health.

[knight17]

Originally Posted by jess1581

Exactly. There are worse things to be addicted to such as nicotine... Movies aren't bad for your health.

I operate with a similar mentality. I was a lot late to the blu ray party, so I am still purchasing stuff I have watched before or loved to see but wasn't able to. I am one to never buy anything straight out of the gate (aka newly released) and do the same with phones, laptops etc,to ensure that I don't spend too much (unless it's heavily discounted or cheaper on the long run). Originally it started that way since I didn't have much to begin with but even though I am now better off financially, I still stick to it.

With that being said, what is the point of hoarding all that money if there is nothing for it to be spent on (on a controlled basis, of course). I have always loved movies and watching them on blu ray has brought a great deal of joy in my life.

It's like a time travelling thing as well. I remember wearing out my Jungle Book VHS copy, watching it repeatedly when I was around 8 or 9 and watching it now on blu enables me to revisit my childhood. Aren't those memories worth it.

[tangledupinblu]

I like the Smurfs movies, of course animated is probably my most populated genre. I own Bambi, and haven't watched it since I bought it, but I love Disney and I will put it on eventually. Dumbo is a better example, I have not purchased that one because I know for sure I would never watch it.

I just bought Pixels because it was cheap enough (sub $5) I can use it to get my free Sony movie, and still sell the digital code on here. I had serious reservations about parts of that movie, but there were parts I enjoyed as well. very rarely will I blind buy, and only for the cheapness level where I know if I dislike I can recoup most or all or even make a profit.

I don't have a number limit, but I can't purchase anything at the moment, gota set aside every dollar for Christmas presents

holy crap did someone say they haven't seen Goonies, put that shit in right now! top 10 fave o mine

[Thomas Irwin]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

One of my co-workers at my old job looked exactly like Pape Smurf. No lie. I mean, he wasn't blue, of course, but he looked exactly like Papa Smurf in every other way.

I had a teacher in grade school that looked sort of like Elmer Fudd - he even had some stuffed Looney Tunes characters in the rear window of his truck. One day I had gotten a week's worth of detention - for what, I don't remember. But after busting out my best impressions - "Aww shucks, let's go shoot some scwewy wabbits.", etc. - I think I had managed to work my way up to three or four. He was a bit sensitive about it.

[silentbob]

My impulse buying comes in waves, but not nearly as bad as my dvd days. Back then i also had Blockbuster video stores all around doing a used movie sale every now and then. "Hey a $5 movie. Well cheaper than renting it." With them now gone i have a much smaller used window in the area to feed my habit. Although when i got my 2nd projector (about 2 years ago now) and could enjoy 3D film on a projector screen. Let's just say it kind of kicked me back into my old ways. If i say a 3D film for cheap and knew nothing about. Hey i'll give it shot and see what its like on the screen. I think in the past 2 years i have bought close to 50-60 3D films alone. At one point i was over 1300 dvd and since i started collected Blu-rays in 2007(?) I'm getting close to the 700 mark. I've come to folds and have started streaming some movies but it feels like cheating to my old ways. Plus i want a lossless track and full 1080p glory with no buffering/glitch moments.

[Thomas Irwin]

Originally Posted by koover

It's one thing to say you might not like a bunch of movies someone owns, but to use a comparison of what goes into a hot dog is just......well.....uncivilized.

To be fair, both film and hot dogs do contain a significant amount of nitrate.

[moreotter]

I'm in the exact same boat. I got into DVDs in high school during the early 2000s boom, and man... I went crazy. What I have listed is a sliver compared to what used to be there. I'm new to Blu-ray and I really am trying to avoid that, but I have upgraded a few things that didn't really need it and I found myself getting Warcraft (which I don't play or know anything about) because it was cheap. I need to be a lot stricter with myself!

[blurayfriend]

I would like to have only the movies I truly love and have a small collection I could carry around, but the problem is there's something to like about any movie if you look for it. I broke through 600 recently, for me I feel like the upper limit would have to be 730 (365 x2, two for each day of the year) but we'll see.

[headphones]

Originally Posted by koover

I never have nor ever will understand the term "filler movies"
What exactly does that mean?

Filler means it serves no purpose, other than to fill otherwise empty space. Like in a movie, a filler character (or extra) is just a character in the shot that has no real purpose, other than just being there.

In this case, a filler movie would be a movie that just fills up a shelf, never viewed. Never touched. Basically serves no other purpose than to fill up the shelf, and just be a part of your massive collection.

[tangledupinblu]

Originally Posted by blurayfriend

the problem is there's something to like about any movie if you look for it.

if nothing else, they provide episodes of MST3K

[HiDef Jeff]

I'm guilty of impulse buying.

I've been thinking a lot about my blu-ray collection lately. I was trying to convince myself that I should start either limiting my blu-ray spending to just my favorite movies and/or selling the movies that I just don't want to watch anymore.

Then Black Friday/Cyber Monday happened and I added another 10 movies/TV shows to the collection.

[tenia]

I used to buy a lot of mediocre recent movies that I would end up watching only once and not really liking them (the kind of movies one would rate around 5-6 out of 10). This is really what I started to stop buying (especially when they’re not on sale) because it turned out to be silly altogether : I almost always don’t like them but used to keep thinking “you never know”. Well, actually, I did : when I bought The Bourne Legacy and its 2h15, I thought “2h15 ? Can’t be good”. And of course it wasn’t.
The same goes for most Marvel Movies : I don’t like most of them, why did I keep buying them ? I thus skipped Civil War.
I’m still buying some of them. I bought Warcraft, Money Monster, Final Fantasy Kingslaive, X-Men Apocalypse, Goosebumps, or stuff like that. They’re not that bad, but couldn’t have I just waited to get them ?

Regarding upgrades, I’m lucky enough not to have bought many classics on DVD or avoided buying first releases which were technically disappointing (My Fair Lady, Spartacus, ...). I always thought that I would either not upgrade anything or upgrade everything I could, but I’m happy to see that only 10-15% of my BD collections are upgrades (either from DVD or BD-double dips).

Finally, I don’t use sales or multi-buys anymore to get mediocre stuff that might be worth a shot at 5€. They’re not, they’re just wasting shelf space and clogging my collection. I’m actually planning to get rid of all these somehow, I’m quite sure I can give away / sell / get rid about 10% of my collection (that’d be roughly 200 movies). Now, I’m using these sales to get better prices on stuff I actually want to get but just haven’t prioritised. For instance, I used the Twilight Time SAE sale not to get stuff for my curiosity, but titles I was interested in for a long time but just didn’t want to pay that price (especially since I’m in France). I could have gotten some £4.99 titles from Arrow, but do I really want Frivolous Lola ? I don’t.
In the end, that’s where my most numerous impulse buying goes to “Oooh, this set I was looking for for a year now is 50% off ! Best time to buy it”. For instance, it’s waiting a bit to buy the May and June Criterion releases to get them through the summer sale at B&N, that kind of stuff.
But when unexpected sales hit, oh man, my wallet takes such a hit...

[Rottweiler30]

Some people seem to be thinking that's it's frowned upon because of money etc. That's not where I;m coming from (not that I'm loaded), for me it's more about trying to have a collection of films I love and just ending up with a collection of films.

I have The Red Shoes in my collection after reading about how people like Scorsese love it and how it's important etc. And after watching it I did really enjoy it. I found it visually stunning and had a great ending. However if I don't enjoy it as much as I do Point Break (for example) am I a fraud? Am I trying to be taken seriously as a film fan? Can a 37 year old male genuinely enjoy a film about ballet or is he being pretentious?

I really wanted to see The Red Shoes in my collection and now it's there, is it only there because I subconsciously MADE myself like it? Same with All about Eve, Citizen Kane and more. I do really like those movies but there's something about putting on an older movie that I find a depressing experience, atmosphere wise, so why do I own them? To look good? I might as well just buy the AFI top 100 and not care if I actually watch them that often.

[tenia]

It's your collection after all.

I think people would be more perplexed by one keeping a classic he doesn't like ("why do you keep it then ?") than by making some space for stuff (even dubious) one is prone to rewatch multiple time.

This being written, I'm never going to restrain myself to either a list of deeply rooted classics and stuff I'll be rewatching 100 times. I can't restrain my curiosity enough for this.

Originally Posted by Rottweiler30

Can a 37 year old male genuinely enjoy a film about ballet or is he being pretentious?

Yes he can.
I'm a 29 yo guy myself, and I like a lot The Red Shoes. It's a very powerful post-war movie. I don't recall who said this, but I found it very close to what I felt : "For some years, we were told we had to give our life to our country. Now, this movie tells us we can also give it to our art."

[Arch Stanton]

Originally Posted by Rottweiler30

I do really like those movies but there's something about putting on an older movie that I find a depressing experience, atmosphere wise, so why do I own them? To look good? I might as well just buy the AFI top 100 and not care if I actually watch them that often.

Man, I'm gonna be honest here and say that you probably are just pretending to like them if that's your gut feeling.

[Keymaster]

Originally Posted by tangledupinblu

I just bought Pixels because it was cheap enough (sub $5) I can use it to get my free Sony movie, and still sell the digital code on here. I had serious reservations about parts of that movie, but there were parts I enjoyed as well. very rarely will I blind buy, and only for the cheapness level where I know if I dislike I can recoup most or all or even make a profit.

After a really pleasing theatrical viewing of Arrival recently, I watched Pixels, The 5th Wave and Independence Day: Resurgence consecutively to catch up on the latest invasion flicks.

I enjoyed Pixels the most of the three. I was entertained by it. It's dumb fun because it knows exactly what it is - a spoof, made with a plenty of love for video games. I didn't mind the fact that it had a disposable plot, and it helps that I caught the tail end of the arcade era growing up.

The 5th Wave was hampered by its attempts to appeal to fans of the teen disaster craze. However, I think its low budget may have actually helped it avoid what I consider to be one of the typical pratfalls of alien invasion genre, the over application of computer effects.

When I see lazy, chaotic visual compositions created entirely on a computer, it takes me right out of a movie. I'd rather a filmmaker be forced to use creativity to account for a lower or mid-tier budget, like Arrival did through the use of its simple yet complex dramatic narrative, or other films do a variety of ways. For example, the mist in The Mist or any number of films that disguise aliens by having them use humans as parasitic hosts.

Plus, animatronics always trump a green screen. Give me Ridley Scott's original aliens, clawing their way out of the darkness, acid dripping from their maws. With all due respect to E.T., Starman, Mars Attacks! and Paul - lighter choices I love - I generally like my extraterrestrial lifeforms dark and menacing.

Which segues perfectly to my thoughts regarding Independence Day: Resurgence. I don't know where to begin. I just don't. As evidenced by my in no way sarcastic review in the Independence Day threads I loathed it for variety of reasons.

[Keymaster]

Originally Posted by moreotter

I'm in the exact same boat. I got into DVDs in high school during the early 2000s boom, and man... I went crazy. What I have listed is a sliver compared to what used to be there. I'm new to Blu-ray and I really am trying to avoid that, but I have upgraded a few things that didn't really need it and I found myself getting Warcraft (which I don't play or know anything about) because it was cheap. I need to be a lot stricter with myself!

Don't worry moreotter, just a glance at your collection tells me you you have plenty of restraint. Take a look at mine and you'll see I have about as much restraint as Jim Carrey did in the Mask.

[Keymaster]

Originally Posted by Rottweiler30

Some people seem to be thinking that's it's frowned upon because of money etc. That's not where I;m coming from (not that I'm loaded), for me it's more about trying to have a collection of films I love and just ending up with a collection of films.

I have The Red Shoes in my collection after reading about how people like Scorsese love it and how it's important etc. And after watching it I did really enjoy it. I found it visually stunning and had a great ending. However if I don't enjoy it as much as I do Point Break (for example) am I a fraud? Am I trying to be taken seriously as a film fan? Can a 37 year old male genuinely enjoy a film about ballet or is he being pretentious?

I really wanted to see The Red Shoes in my collection and now it's there, is it only there because I subconsciously MADE myself like it? Same with All about Eve, Citizen Kane and more. I do really like those movies but there's something about putting on an older movie that I find a depressing experience, atmosphere wise, so why do I own them? To look good? I might as well just buy the AFI top 100 and not care if I actually watch them that often.

Great post. I've gone through the same thought process with plenty of "established" classics. Please don't break out the tar and feathers, but I'm a fan of Bogie and I had trouble finishing Casablanca.

Sometimes the opposite is true. Why do I always find myself re-watching movies like Tommy Boy, Armageddon and The Night of the Creeps? Because I have fun watching them. There are plenty of films that appeal to me in one way or another that weren't thought of highly at the time of their releases by critics and/or fans.

When it comes to movies, I say embrace what you enjoy, admit what you don't, and be unapologetic about it. Life's too short.

[thrillmygorilla]

I've been going through my collection and purging my impulse buys to make room for stuff I really want. So far I've decided on getting rid of these:

Kick-Ass
Carrie (2013)
The Perks of Being A Wallflower
The Bling Ring

and these items


If anyone is interested in any of these please PM me.

[tenia]

Originally Posted by Keymaster

Why do I always find myself re-watching movies like Tommy Boy, Armageddon and The Night of the Creeps? Because I have fun watching them.

I also have fun watching House of the Dead and Bad Boys II, but these are not very good movies. On the other end, I watched fewer times Seven Samurai and Citizen Kane.