tracking DVDs
I had an enjoyable, if not work-productive, weekend. I’m having major problems with my phone line at the moment. It’s difficult getting my email, don’t mind browsing the web…
I received the professional review of my story and it was extremely useful: full of specific issues to address with plenty of excellent advice. I’m looking forward to tackling the story again.
I squeezed in the time to tackle a job I’ve been planning to address for ages: cataloguing my DVD collection. This might appear as a work-avoidance task, but I was in the midst of a reorganisation of part of the house, and I got carried along by the momentum to input all my DVDs into a spreadsheet. Eventually I’ll export it to a database.
This will be particularly useful for my MA, since I can tell at a glance what movies I own. Compared to some people I doubt I have an extensive selection, but I have enough that sometimes I’m unsure if I own a particular film. I watch for DVD bargains all the time. They are so expensive in Ireland that I buy second-hand DVDs, or previously-viewed copies from video rental stores. I know the best places in Galway to scour for movies, and I compare prices between shops as much as possible.
It’s rare that I buy a new release any more–if you wait a couple of months the price is reduced substantially. Occasionally I am gripped by a “must have” urge, but even then I’ll do my best to get a good price for the movie–which usually means buying it from another country.
It was fascinating to review the list of movies I posses and note the directors that kept cropping up: David Lynch (of course, he is my favourite director), Stanley Kubrick, Hayao Miyazaki, John Carpenter, Terry Gilliam, Sergio Leone, Jean-Luc Godard, and Jean Pierre Juenet. Of course I have films by such notables as Francis Ford Coppola, Brian DePalma, Martin Scorsese, Jim Jarmusch, Sam Raimi, the Coen brothers, Orson Welles, Akira Kurosawa, and David Fincher. I think I have the genesis of a decent collection.
Looking over the list of what I own I think my favourites are:
- Creepiest Film: Lost Highway by David Lynch
- Best Western: Once Upon A Time in the West by Sergio Leone (I don’t own many westerns, however)
- Best Anime: Akira by Toshihara Mizutani
- Funniest Film: The Big Lebowski by the Coen Brothers, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (the Criterion edition) by Terry Gilliam,
- Most gorgeous foreign film: Le Mépris by Jean Luc Godard
- Best comedy TV series: Spaced by Edgar Wright, closely followed by Black Books by Nick Wood & Graham Linehan
- Best cheesy horror: the Evil Deads by Sam Raimi
- Best classic horror: The Devil Rides Out by Terence Fisher
- Best Action: Long Kiss Goodnight by Renny Harlin
- Best SF: Aliens by James Cameron
- Best Drama: Citizen Kane by Orson Welles (yes, it is still a classic)
There are many more films I would like to own, but I moderate my purchases. Food and the mortgage payment are more important (though books and music squeeze in there too).