2009: The Digital Chivvy

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Re: 2009: The Digital Chivvy

Postby ewaffle » Sat May 02, 2009 6:18 am

Brian wrote:
A thousand opera CDs? Now that's commitment! 8)


Amazing how quickly they add up when dealing with multiple performances of operas--34 "Fidelio" (plus 11 "Leonora") :shock: 17 "Lucia di Lammermoor" 12 "Don Carlos/Don Carlo", 10 or of each of Mozarts big hits "Don Giovanni", "Nozze di Figaro", "Cosi fan Tutti", "Magic Flute". Shelves full of Wagner, bunches of Rossini, a ton of "I Capuleti e i Montecchi" (Bellini)...etc. etc.

And of course there is always some thought to be lost tape of Furtwangler conducting "Gotterdamerung" in London in 1937, the "Eugene Onegin" from the Kirov right after the seige of Leningrad was lifted...

Plus the Lisbon "Traviata", the Chicago "Norma" the Milan "Sonnambula"...

Plus the--well, plus a lot more :oops:
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Re: 2009: The Digital Chivvy

Postby Brian Thibodeau » Sat May 02, 2009 8:49 pm

ewaffle wrote:Plus the--well, plus a lot more :oops:



For you it's opera; for me it's soundtracks. Orchestral scores, more specifically. I don't by as many as I used to (thankfully), in large part because too many movies today suffer from the Hans Zimmer assembly-line music system, where he or one of his proteges lazily pulls competent but generic compositions from a pre-existing library to suit whatever project they're hired for, and whatever mood a director may want for a specific scene. IRON MAN would be a perfect example of this. Great movie with a just-serviceable score that should have been much much stronger.

But I digress, as usual. At it's peak, my soundtrack collection, like Ed's opera collection, probably numbered in the 1000 range (slightly less, I'm guessing), counting LPs, cassettes and, mostly, CDs. As LP's became extinct, I transferred many of mine to cassette and sold them off. Made a decent buck on quite a few that weren't available on cassette or CD, the rest, well, not so much. But the listening enjoyment they gave me over the years paid back the money spent on them. Then, as cassettes became extinct, I copied a much smaller selection to CD-R and let most of them go for a modest return. I've still got a tiny tote of cassettes (maybe 70 or 80) that will eventually be sold off when and if I can upgrade to CD or, preferably, download them somewhere. Or they might just go anyways, because I don't really need them anymore, and rarely listen to them anyways.

At this point, I have about 250 CDs remaining--domestic and foreign, many quite rare and impossible to find even as downloads, legal or illegal. These I don't mind hanging on to a while longer, since they don't take up much room, but because they're all on my iPod now, I really don't need them other than to look at the pretty liner notes. I guess if anything unexpected happens to my iTunes library and thus my iPod contents, I at least have some form of real-world backup, but little else.
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Re: 2009: The Digital Chivvy

Postby Mike Thomason » Sun May 03, 2009 1:20 am

Mike--I can only assume that in addition to your primary residence you have a seperate house built of DVDs. Not only for your collection but constructed using the cases as building material--the mega-lists that you post regularly must take up a lot of cubic yards.

I do recall Mike once saying that most of the stuff that made it's way to his place ended up staying there, so I've also pictured a very large house on occasion Mind you, his lists look more impressive because he only posts one every month and builds it up in secret, the tidy bugger.


I like that first idea -- sure is a way to combat these tough economic times we live in :D

Here is the secret of "the collection": like the tidy posts, the library is nice and tidily tucked away at home. There is a study, with multiple sets of shelves, with the majority of the discs filed in them (usually two deep); there's only about two and half thousand discs all up -- so appearances are deceiving. Every time I double up on a title, the original disc invariably goes the way of the dodo -- now, as I don't have the time/patience/money to be spending my (family)time on the internerd trading/on-selling old discs, I either a) throw them out or b) pass them on to people who might like them (for free); I will be doing the same with all my old VHS tapes shortly...and the lion's share will be going in the bin because a) I've replaced a lot on DVD, b) they take up too much space, and c) who watches VHS in the age of DVD and Bluray?

But on the positive side: I've pretty much caught up with most titles I've wanted to see from the last decade or so, so from hereon in the lists are going to be a lot smaller/slow-growing... :P

PS: Now that I own a decent sized HDTV -- those Joy Sales Fortune Star (non-remastered) titles don't hold up too well, do they? At 106cm they look only a whisker above bad bootlegs... :(
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Re: 2009: The Digital Chivvy

Postby Brian Thibodeau » Sun May 03, 2009 3:39 am

Mike Thomason wrote:there's only about two and half thousand discs all up


Most impressive! 8) I have little doubt that I've bought that many DVDs or more since the format debuted (which of course means your true purchase numbers are probably even higher! :lol:), but there's no way I could ever keep that many on hand at my age. My permanent collection stands around 1200-ish now, not including a few hundred unwatched HK titles that may or may not be kept. My hat's off to you, though, even more so if you're able to revisit all of them before you shuffle off this mortal coil. Now that would eat up some time! :lol: :lol:

One funny thing about this collector mentality we all share is that there are people out there far worse than any of us here. Some home theatre forums have threads where people post pictures of their collections and I cringe to see entire living rooms or rec rooms (not tidy, semi-private dens, mind you, but actual family rooms where you might conceivably entertain guests) plastered with wall-to-wall DVDs and all the various toys and "premiums" and dorky little statues and action figures that come with them. And these are collections numbering anywhere from 3000 to 5000 or more. When a collection gets that big a person can't possibly have enough time to watch even half of them a second time through. Some folks say that they might pull down a particular disc only to watch a key scene that they love, and to that I say . . .search for it on YouTube, it's probably there. :lol:

As someone who sells off lesser discs and $3.00 blind buys on a regular basis, the internet is virtually the last place I go to do it. I say "virtually" only because if an OOP disc is guaranteed a hefty return, then I'll list it on eBay, which does indeed take a few minutes per listing or, better yet, Amazon Marketplace, which takes no time at all and is absolutely free (recent biggie; the original Image release of DUCK SOUP. Bought for $6.99; sold for $75.00). A trip to the post office is a mere blip out of an admittedly busy schedule.

So in fairness, it's not the internet per se, it's how efficiently one can make use of it. When I read about people selling off huge chunks of their collections one disc at a time and getting maybe a dollar or two plus shipping for each one (if that!), I have to wonder if it's really worth it. At returns like that, it seems more fiscally sensible just to unload 'em in bulk.

Better than the 'net, used book/CD/DVD stores here in town pay a fair price for a wide range of domestic and foreign DVDs. I won't get rich, but I won't have more movies sitting in my home than there are possibly hours left in my lifetime to revisit them all. Plus, visits to these stores are often done with my girlfriend (I can't say "family" 'cause technically she's not) during a day out. I stick maybe 15 or 20 discs in my backpack (which I always have with me anyways) and when we're in the neighbourhood of one of these places--presto!--a handful of cash and my movies pass on to someone else who will enjoy them. Multitasking, of a sort. :lol:

For you American folks, there's always places like DVD Planet's Quote Machine, Wherehouse.com, SecondSpin.com and New Town Video. Again, a few minutes on the internet, a few more to dump some old discs in a box, a few more at the post office, and there's credit or money in your account. Can't speak for other parts of the world, though. Maybe??

(As for trading, I don't know about others, but the only thing I trade is Hong Kong stuff, for more Hong Kong stuff, because I need to get ahold of more films. And I only do that with people here, and only in large batches (PM's welcome). As for everything else, Mike's right. Time is too precious.)



Mike Thomason wrote:and c) who watches VHS in the age of DVD and Bluray?


There's one final option that I can't recommend strongly enough, and I passionately wish more people would consider it (and I realize this might seem like it would take too long for someone in Mike's shoes, for example, but I have doubts because it's so easy to do). Most public libraries (here, at least) STILL sign out VHS tapes to users, alongside the expected DVDs. I've also seen VHS tapes in libraries in Michigan, so that's two countries, unofficially. I'll admit I'm presuming that libraries in a city as big as Perth might--might--do the same. It may or may not surprise, but many people still watch VHS from their local libraries, especially in bigger cities with newer populations of lower-income immigrants of overseas students, who don't care about or can't afford plasma screens and Blu-Ray players when an old tube TV and a cheap VCR will suffice.

I say this having just visited my local library branch today for some materials and noticed a substantial couple of aisles lined with an incredibly diverse selection of VHS tapes and, better still, people actually perusing them and signing them out. Knowing your tastes from your shopping lists here, Mike, I think I can safely assume that some pieces of your collection, not unlike my own and those of a few other users here, may not be considered "appropriate" for your local library :lol: , but surely there must be some titles that deserve a better home than the local garbage dump or recycling facility? The handful of times I've done it, both here in Toronto and in my old home town, dropping off a couple of boxes of tapes/discs has never taken much time out of my day, and knowing that parts of my collection are still making people happy, and at no cost to them, makes me happy too. I hope all of you might consider this if you've got stuff to unload. We can't assume no one uses an old format just because we don't; exactly the opposite is often true.


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PS: Now that I own a decent sized HDTV -- those Joy Sales Fortune Star (non-remastered) titles don't hold up too well, do they? At 106cm they look only a whisker above bad bootlegs... :(


I have to agree with you that those FS non-remastered titles don't look so hot on these flashy new screens (though I find them passable most of the time), but how old do you think we'll be before we see versions that look any better? :cry: When it comes to Hong Kong cinema, I'll compromise because I know we're never, ever going to see HD-quality re-releases of many of our favourite old Hong Kong movies, let alone properly remastered and anamorphic standard DVD versions, and some of the HK Blus I've seen so far (thankfully belonging to other people) are very hit and miss. It's a shame, really, but then again, if we waited for proper remasters (which too many of these films so deserve, dammit), or were forced to pay Blu-Ray prices were they to start appearing on that format, a lot of us wouldn't see very many Hong Kong movies at all. :(
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Re: 2009: The Digital Chivvy

Postby Mike Thomason » Sun May 03, 2009 8:32 am

[quote="Brian Thibodeau]I have to agree with you that those FS non-remastered titles don't look so hot on these flashy new screens (though I find them passable most of the time), but how old do you think we'll be before we see versions that look any better?[/quote]

Not to knock that this stuff is available, but until I upgraded to a vastly superior system than my previous middle-of-the-road set-up I was quite in the dark as to just how bad some of this stuff looked on a larger screen. No fine detail, poor colour/colour-bleed, masses of damage, dark scenes a mess etc etc -- it's no secret that the non-remastered Fortune Star titles are simply the old Star TV PAL cable masters bumped up to 16:9 and then converted to NTSC; yes, the same masters they used for cable, laserdisc, video and all prior DVD editions. There's never been any work done on any of the titles and quite frankly it shows with the diabolical amount of wear on display with the existent video masters they're using.

The Catch 22 is this: many of the titles only exist as the very same video masters, with the original negatives and materials having been junked decades ago -- so this is the best any of us are going to see some of these titles ever. I'm not suggesting anyone hold out for better versions that are never going to come -- I'm certainly not -- I'm just saying that, having taken the next step with my own home theatre system with a swanky 106cm HD Plasma TV, items like the Joy Sale Fortune Star back catalogue sure do look as ugly as all get out to watch! Watching some of my recent acquisitions therein of late brought back fond memories of hiring those bright orange nth generation boots of the latest films on VHS from my local Chinatown back in the day. That same sneaking sense of deja-vu... :|
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Re: 2009: The Digital Chivvy

Postby Brian Thibodeau » Sun May 03, 2009 9:04 am

When you think about it, it's been nothing but compromise from nearly the beginning! :lol: If nothing else, that's why I have no problem trying to encourage people toward Hong Kong cinema, BUT with the proviso that you pretty much have to take what you get (or can find) just like fans did 20 years ago. ;) The very unique charms of the films themselves will never dull, even if the treatment of them on home media has virtually never been better than average.

The viability of countless older and non-remastered HK films--beyond just the Fortune Star catalogue--in an increasingly (though far from totally, at this writing) HD world has been discussed at various times here. We'll probably never see the vast majority of HK movies in HD beyond new releases and (perhaps) certain well-known "classics" or stuff licenced and remastered by American distributors (those that survive the recession that is). And I can live with that: my Blu-Ray library of American films has so far been built with considerably more discretion and caution than my DVD collection, and with far more research and an eye toward favourite films that I know will be worthy of the upgrade and really impress on my system (thus a lean toward spectacle and action; no comedy and drama; and very few titles overall). Everything else--and that's probably around 90% of my non-Asian "library" will stay in standard-def (upconverted) DVD until I can download that quality direct to my television some day. That in mind, and as much as I love HK movies, I just don't even feel the need to see them in true HD, and since we can be fairly certain the companies won't provide them that way anyways, I don't think we'll miss something we were never going to get. :(
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Re: 2009: The Digital Chivvy

Postby cal42 » Sun May 03, 2009 10:31 am

Masterofoneinchpunch wrote:
Um May 30 is my birthday :D (not kidding on this). This was Mel Blanc's b-day too.


:o Coincidence! Even more of a coincidence as we were talking at work about me sharing the same birthday as Mel Blanc just this week :shock: .
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Re: 2009: The Digital Chivvy

Postby Mike Thomason » Sun May 03, 2009 1:25 pm

The Amityville Horror (1979) SE (US) (2-DVD)
Amityville II: The Possession (US) (DVD)
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls SE (US) (2-DVD)
The Brave One (US) (DVD)
Breakfast on Pluto (UK) (DVD)
Caligula: UK Imperial Edition (US) (4-DVD)
Creepshow SE (US) (2-DVD)
Crimes of Passion (US) (DVD)
Dawn of the Dead (original) (US) (DVD)
Day of the Dead SE (original) (US) (2-DVD)
Death Proof SE (US) (2-DVD)
Death Race (extended cut) (US/UK) (DVD)
The Deep (US) (DVD)
Le Divorce (US) (DVD)
Eden Lake (UK) (DVD)
Eight Below (US) (DVD)
The Evil Dead (US) (DVD)
The Exorcist: The Complete Anthology (US) (DVD)
- The Exorcist (original version)
- Exorcist II: The Heretic
- Exorcist III
- Exorcist: The Beginning
- Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist
The Fox and the Child (France) (DVD)
Halloween (US) (DVD)
Halloween II (US) (DVD)
Halloween (remake) SE (US) (2-DVD)
Hancock SE (US) (2-DVD)
Hellraiser 4 Disc Box Set (US) (DVD)
- Hellraiser
- Hellbound: Hellraiser II
- Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth
HP Lovecraft's Re-animator SE (US) (2-DVD)
Iron Man SE (US) (2-DVD)
Jackie Brown SE (US) (2-DVD)
Kill Bill: Volume 1 (US) (DVD)
Kill Bill: Volume 2 (US) (DVD)
Kokoda SE (Australia) (2-DVD)
Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Masscre III (US) (DVD)
A Lion called Christian (UK) (DVD)
Maniac (US) (DVD)
A Night at the Museum SE (US) (2-DVD)
A Nightmare on Elm Street SE (US) (2-DVD)
Piranha (US) (DVD)
Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom SE (Italy) (2-DVD)
Shaun of the Dead (UK) (DVD)
Taken (extended cut) (France) (DVD)
Ten Canoes SE (Australia) (2-DVD)
True Romance SE (US) (2-DVD)
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (US) (DVD)
U Turn (US) (DVD)
Wild at Heart (US) (DVD)
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Re: 2009: The Digital Chivvy

Postby Brian Thibodeau » Sun May 03, 2009 4:19 pm

More cheapies from the Buy-2-Get-1 used bin at Blockbuster, this time three horror movies I missed the first time around. Worked out to just under $5 each, which I suspect is about right:

THE HITCHER (remake)
THE RUINS (unrated)
TURISTAS (unrated)
(watched TURISTAS last night; OK movie with one effectively unpleasant "gore" scene, and a very well mounted underwater chase climax. The whole organ harvesting routine is stale and predictable (I didn't know it was the core of the film at all, but they telegraph it in the very first frames, which I think was a mistake), as is the ugly Americans vs. the ugly foreigners dynamic, but I guess anything can be repackaged every few years. Kudos to the female cast, though, for being so open to spending the majority of the film in such . . . small costumes!

And two $4 cheapies from a Wal-Mart rack

ALFIE (original, regular edition)
PAPARAZZI
(yes, the Mel Gibson produced revenge fantasy. I couldn't resist. This never would have played theatres without him behind it and his friends in cameos throughout it. Otherwise, this is direct-to-video fare that deserves all the critical scorn in received)

And finally, one not-so-cheapie, but a decent buy at $49 CDN (plus 'movie cash' for the Wolverine movie)
X-MEN TRILOGY (9-disc Blu-Ray Set)
I just wish this didn't have the ugly bilingual packaging we Canadians are routinely stuck with. Not cool
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Re: 2009: The Digital Chivvy

Postby Masterofoneinchpunch » Tue May 05, 2009 6:18 pm

Brian Thibodeau wrote: ...
Masterofoneinchpunch wrote:I average one HK film a week, but I really wish I had more time (I average 7-10 movies a week) since I have been going over so much.


Hell one a HK film a week is better than me these days! I might buy a zillion a week, but I watch none. But that is intentional. I suppose I'm punishing myself for all the cinematic tangents I've gone off on, which have led to accumulated piles of discs I feel I need to get out of the way before I can hunker down with my Hong Kong goodies. The Korean marathon of late is probably the most obvious example, and I'm currently clearing away a much smaller stack of Japanese movies. This isn't to say I won't still buy Korean and Japanese movies, because I will, but just not in the numbers that I once did.
...


Since I'm bored (actually waiting on some information). Let's see how many HK movies I've seen this year (ignore some of the marking like I'm just cutting and pasting from my master list):
Dragon Tiger Gate (2006) Hong Kong
Supercop (1992) Hong Kong
My Lucky Stars (1985) Hong Kong
Opium and the Kung Fu Master (1984) Hong Kong
Chungking Express (1994) Hong Kong Criterion 453
Life Gamble (1979) Hong Kong
Battle Wizard (1977) Hong Kong
The Killer (1989) Hong Kong Criterion 8
My Left Eye Sees Ghosts (2002) Hong Kong
Ashes of Time Redux (1994) Hong Kong
The Inspector Wears Skirts (1988) Hong Kong
Happy Together (1997) Hong Kong
Breaking News (2004) Hong Kong
Fallen Angels (1995) Hong Kong
From Beijing With Love (1994) Hong Kong
All About Ah Long (1989) Hong Kong
The Owl Vs. Bombo (1984) Hong Kong
Executioners (1993: Ching Siu-Tung, Johnnie To) Hong Kong
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Re: 2009: The Digital Chivvy

Postby dleedlee » Tue May 05, 2009 7:54 pm

re: what to do to with VHS tapes

Also consider donating them to your local senior center or hospital, rehab center, veterans group, etc.
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Re: 2009: The Digital Chivvy

Postby cal42 » Tue May 05, 2009 8:36 pm

Funny that the subject of VHS came up - I was going to mention it back when we were talking about our film collection toppling over and killing us. I've still got a huge amount of tapes. You see, there's stuff I still haven't watched and I may get around to one day (Forbidden Arsenal, I'm looking at you here). And I watched a lot of my Wong Kar-Wai films on VHS recently because there still wasn't a release I was happy with.

I've thrown a lot out. I figure I'm never going to need to see the American Ninja films again. I've donated some to the local charity shop, but thought it was inappropriate to give HK films to them as they just wouldn't sell. I really can't see a blue-rinsed old dear sitting down to watch my old tape of 36th Chamber of Shaolin somehow.

I've kept some for sentimental reasons. Back in the day, I used to trawl all the old video rental shops for Jackie Chan films and make them an offer to buy, and I really got excited when a shop had something I'd never heard of before. Some others, like Pedicab Driver, are still better than what we've got on DVD.

And Brian's right. While we are relatively technophiles when it comes to film media, a lot of people still can't see the fuss over these shiny discs. And while I was watching my WKW films, I had to admit that sometimes they didn't look that bad.
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Re: 2009: The Digital Chivvy

Postby Brian Thibodeau » Thu May 07, 2009 1:30 am

dleedlee wrote:re: what to do to with VHS tapes

Also consider donating them to your local senior center or hospital, rehab center, veterans group, etc.


Interesting timing in mentioning this. Re-reading my earlier (and typically run-on) post about selling and donating the day after I'd posted it, I flashed back to sitting in the lounge room of the hospital in my old home town watching TV with my dad on the weekends while he spent a couple of months there recovering from a stroke last fall and into the winter (scary days, I'll tell ya). I remembered skimming through a small selection of VHS tapes and DVDs they had on a little bookshelf in the room (nothing worth watching, sadly), and thinking that it was a nice gesture to make something like that available to patients and their families. These were obviously donated by someone, somewhere (patients? staff? visitors?) so I gave them a call this past Monday, purely out of curiosity (as I don't really have a big supply to donate at the moment), and lo and behold they said they'd gladly take whatever I wanted to give (within the boundaries of taste, of course :lol: ) as their "present collection" is a little the worse for wear and they've got multiple lounges with televisions throughout the hospital. I could just drop it off in a box at the front desk. How easy is that? Another call to the Toronto hospital up the street from me got the same response, basically: "bring it in, and we'll take what we can."

I've also got a couple of mint DVD players (one of my own and one from my parents that they didn't need when they sold off a spare-room television) and a VCR that I'm probably going to donate in similar fashion. Players are so cheap these days that there's really no money to be made Craigslisting them or whatever (and having to schedule time for people to come and see them), but certainly a retirement home or hospital won't mind taking them off my hands.

I'm hardly a philanthropist. I want cold, hard cash if I can get it, and that's why I hit the used DVD shops and bookstores and online buyers first, but if no one will take a particular title because the market's too saturated, or the best they can offer me is 50 cents or a dollar, then it comes back home to await a donation to the appropriate place once I've set aside enough such discs to justify the trip. These aren't crap titles, either; usually they're just titles that were too popular and everybody bought them, or mid-level films that never attracted large audiences. Regardless, selling and donating like this takes very little time to do; I usually slot it into a weekend bike ride or an afternoon out with my girlfriend, a visit home to my family, meeting a friend for coffee, and so on.




cal42 wrote:I've thrown a lot out. I figure I'm never going to need to see the American Ninja films again. I've donated some to the local charity shop, but thought it was inappropriate to give HK films to them as they just wouldn't sell. I really can't see a blue-rinsed old dear sitting down to watch my old tape of 36th Chamber of Shaolin somehow.


But what if that blue-rinsed old gal was Chinese, and actually spent a lot of time at the movies in her misguided youth? ;)

I know that's a long shot, but there's a kernel of truth in it depending on where you live. The massive Chinese population here has several senior citizens' homes around the city (including a couple partially funded by Jackie Chan) that cater almost exclusively to that community, Though people of all cultures are welcomed there, the emphasis is largely on Chinese seniors, with services in their native languages, special dietary needs, etc. Now surely they've also got television rooms where the old folks can watch some local Chinese-language TV or pull down an old Hong Kong DVD or VCD once in a while, so I'm thinking this, too, might be a good way to unload some of my "non-keepers" once I actually start plowing them in the near future. They'll be offered up in trade to folks here before I donate them, of course, but it's still nice to have a back-up plan.

On the subject of old VHS tapes, I visited the library in my hometown recently just to see if they still had all the materials I donated to them in the years before I moved away, mostly a mix of legitimate VHS tapes and Hong Kong VCDs and DVDs. And they did! :D The VHS collection there--to which I donated aproximatey 200+ tapes--is gigantic, probably numbering around 7000 or 8000 pieces by my very rough estimate, and well-used from the looks of the cases, and because the city's demographic skews towards retirees and senior citizens, plus some newer immigrants (finally!), there's an audience that clearly doesn't give a s**t whether they see a movie in all it's digital glory on a thousand-inch plasma screen. Granted, as the population ages and dies off, so too will this collection, and my tapes along with it, but it's good to know that my library was able to extend the shelf life of these items long into the digital age. 8) People do indeed still watch VHS, and will continue to do so for at least a few more years.

Incidentally, the stuff I donated to the library ran the gamut. Unlike senior homes and hospitals, I think libraries tend to be a little more liberal in what they're willing to sign out to users, and not bound by the perceived morals of the surrounding community. This library I'm talking about accepted a broad range of stuff from me, from mainstream blockbusters to some pretty dire sleaze. There was some stuff I didn't even bother giving them because even I thought it too extreme, but they never batted an eye at any of the rest of it, violence and nudity be damned. I didn't donate it, but this place has the unrated SHOWGIRLS on the shelves for the taking, and only a few yards from the kiddies' reading room! :lol: (though it's electronically tagged somehow so kiddies can't rent it out) They also have plenty of old Chinese martial arts films on VHS, so Cal I'm thinking your old 36th Chamber video might still find a better home than the trash if you were to inquire around your city.
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Re: 2009: The Digital Chivvy

Postby dleedlee » Thu May 07, 2009 6:37 pm

And don't forget, FFWD some n decades from now, it might be you (and your blue rinsed wife)! :wink:
???? Better to light a candle than curse the darkness; Measure twice, cut once.
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Re: 2009: The Digital Chivvy

Postby Brian Thibodeau » Mon May 25, 2009 2:48 am

More two-for one VCDs from the Wa Yi (many coated with a fine layer of dust; you can sure tell how long they've sat around; and how little the poor guy really cares anymore :( )

CAPER (1986; Leggendary Collection) *
PERFECT MATCH (1991; Legendary Collection)
TRUE LOVE (2000; Universe)
ENJOKOSAI ANGEL (2003; Kam & Ronson)
COMRADES ALMOST A LOVE STORY (1997; Mei Ah) already viewed, but needed to see again for a review
PR GIRLS (1998; Mei Ah)
FUNNY BUSINESS (2000; Mei Ah)
LET'S SING ALONG (2001; China Star)
*realized a little too late that I already have this one on DVD. Man . . .

Also

CASINO ROYALE 2-DISC CE - Blu-Ray (available cheap these days 8) )
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Re: 2009: The Digital Chivvy

Postby Brian Thibodeau » Thu May 28, 2009 5:05 pm

Yet another option for those (in North America, anyways) inclined to unloading portions of disc libraries that have simply become too large to revisit everything a second, third or fourth time in one lifetime. A mixed bag on payouts, but overall not too shabby. Plus they pay for shipping, which helps.

http://www.amazon.com/Movies-Tv-Trade-I ... =193640011:
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Re: 2009: The Digital Chivvy

Postby Masterofoneinchpunch » Fri May 29, 2009 11:59 pm

Latest pickups:

Needing You (HK)
Love on a Diet (HK)
Love For All Seasons (2003: HK)
Simon of the Desert
Brazil (Criterion reissue)
Major League 2
pope of greenwich village
Paris, Texas
3-Iron
Sword Masters: The Duel of the Century
Sophie's Choice
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
The Best Arbuckle/Keaton Collection
Nanook of the North (Criterion)
Shock Corridor (Criterion)
Street Angel/Twin Sister (China)
Yesterday Once More
Running on Karma
Ip Man
The Bride Wore Black
Intolerable Cruelty
Sparrow (2008)
The Last King of Scotland (2006)
Eros (2004)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
L'Avventura - Criterion Collection (1961)
JCVD (2008)
Throw Down (2004)
Ringu Anthology of Terror (Rasen/Ringu/Ringu 2/Ringu 0)

And for tomorrow Happy Birthday Cal!
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Re: 2009: The Digital Chivvy

Postby cal42 » Sat May 30, 2009 8:44 am

And Happy Birthday to you too, Shawn! Nice list - let me know what you think of 3 Iron!
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Re: 2009: The Digital Chivvy

Postby Masterofoneinchpunch » Sun May 31, 2009 2:41 am

cal42 wrote:And Happy Birthday to you too, Shawn! Nice list - let me know what you think of 3 Iron!


Just came in the mail today. Last night watch Exiled (I've seen five Johnnie To films this month).

Anyways May 30 birthday people rule (what is scary is I know several others on this date too :D).
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Re: 2009: The Digital Chivvy

Postby Terence Lee » Sat Jun 06, 2009 3:15 am

Bought Dragon Jester's Once Upon A Time In Triad Socety 1 & 2.
Also picked up 3 Hokers from Taiwan : The Reformed Gambler (Shih Szu, Ma Sha & Champ Wang) ; Make A Wise Decision (Ma Sha & Chen Hing Lieh) ; Impetuous Fire (Alan Tang & Candice Yu On-on).
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Re: 2009: The Digital Chivvy

Postby Mike Thomason » Mon Jun 08, 2009 11:14 am

June Purchases: DVD

3:10 to Yuma (remake) (US) (DVD)
Apocalypse Now: The Complete Dossier (US) (2-DVD)
Blade Runner: Ultimate Collector's Edition (US) (5-DVD)
The Blair Witch Project (US) (DVD)
Book of Shdows: Blair Witch 2 SE (US) (2-DVD)
Breakfast at Tiffany's: Anniversary edition (US) (DVD)
Carrie SE (US) (DVD)
The Chaser (South Korea) (2-DVD)
A Clockwork Orange SE (UK) (2-DVD)
Cruising (US) (DVD)
Deliverance SE (US) (DVD)
Die Hard 4.0 SE (unrated) (US) (2-DVD)
Donnie Darko SE (director's cut) (US) (2-DVD)
The Duchess (UK) (DVD)
Dying Breed (Australia) (DVD)
Fear City (US) (DVD)
Forever the Moment (South Korea) (2-DVD)
The Good, the Bad, the Weird (South Korea) (3-DVD)
The Incredible Hulk SE (US) (2-DVD)
Jurassic Park: The Ultimate Collection (US) (4-DVD)
- Jurassic Park
- The Lost World: Jurassic Park
- Jurassic Park III
King Arthur (Director's cut) (US/UK/Ireland) (DVD)
King Kong (2005) (extended edition) (US) (3-DVD)
Logan's Run SE (US) (DVD)
Magnolia (US) (2-DVD)
Midnight Express SE (US) (DVD)
Monty Python's Life of Brian: Immaculate Edition (UK) (2-DVD)
My Bloody Valentine (remake) (US) (3D-DVD)
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (US) (DVD)
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (US) (DVD)
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (US) (DVD)
A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (US) (DVD)
Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (US) (DVD)
Once Upon a Time in Corea (South Korea) (2-DVD)
Paradise Murdered (South Korea) (2-DVD)
The Prophecy Trilogy (US) (3-DVD)
- The Prophecy
- The Prophecy II
- The Prophecy 3: The Ascent
Radio Dayz (South Korea) (2-DVD)
Red Eye (US) (DVD)
Sex is Zero (South Korea) (2-DVD)
Taxi Driver SE (US) (2-DVD)
V for Vendetta SE (US) (2-DVD)
Vertical Limit (US) (DVD)
Westworld (US) (DVD)

June Purchases: Blu-ray*

30 Days of Night (US) (Blu-ray)
Bram Stoker's Dracula (US) (Blu-ray)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind: Ultimate Edition (2 disc) (US) (Blu-ray)
Ghost Rider (extended) (US) (Blu-ray)
Hellboy (Director's cut) (US) (Blu-ray)
Hellboy II: The Golden Army (US) (Blu-ray)
Hitman (unrated) (US) (Blu-ray)
Martyrs (France) (Blu-ray)
The Mummy (US) (Blu-ray)
Punisher: War Zone (US) (Blu-ray)
Resident Evil (US) (Blu-ray)
Resident Evil: Apocalypse (US) (Blu-ray)
Resident Evil: Extinction (US) (Blu-ray)
The Rock (US) (Blu-ray)
Saturday Night Fever (US) (Blu-ray)
Sin City (US) (Blu-ray)
Slumdog Millionaire (UK/India) (Blu-ray)
The Thing (US) (Blu-ray)*

* yes, I bought a Blu-ray player; now comes the time to update some of the library favourites to HD editions!
Last edited by Mike Thomason on Fri Jun 26, 2009 12:48 pm, edited 7 times in total.
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Re: 2009: The Digital Chivvy

Postby Brian Thibodeau » Mon Jun 15, 2009 9:03 pm

Some recent additions:

DVDs
A VERY SHORT LIFE (HK)
SNIPER (HK)
GIVE LOVE (HK)
FEARLESS DIRECTOR'S CUT (finally showing up in the $5 bargain shops downtown)
THE GOOD THE BAD THE WEIRD (3 disc; Korea)
FEBRUARY 29 (Korea) (Just one more to grab in the 4 Horror Tales series after this one)

Blu-Ray
STAR TREK MOTION PICTURE COLLECTION
DIRTY HARRY
T2 SKYNET EDITION




EDIT:


Since a digital chivvy can technically work both ways (buying and selling), I tallied the discs purchased in 2009 that I've since sold off or donated (all with ease, for those contemplating doing the same). Some are great movies (like A Man for All Seasons), some are s**t (Dark Forest, Paparazzi, The Hitcher), some fall in between. Glad I saw most of them, but always gladder to free up space! The first two Korean discs ended up donated to the Toronto library as there were no takers for cash, but everything else (including the remaining Korean titles) were accepted either at the local used book/CD shops or at DVD Planet, where I've not got a nice cache of credit for the next 20-25% off sale in July (and where my cart sits ready). Since I paid between $3 and $5 CDN for everything listed here except the Korean/Japanese discs, I broke even or nearly broke even on everything (average loss was around $1). Lost a bit more on the Korean discs, but as they were all HK versions, it wasn't too bad, in the $3-4 range.

BABY SALE (Korean)
DANCE DANCE (Korean)
AMERICAN POP (1981)
THE CRIMSON RIVERS 2 (2000)
GEORGY GIRL (1966)
RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE (1944)
REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1958)
RUNAWAY (1984)
CHAN IS MISSING (USA)
DARK FOREST (Korean)
ATTACK ON THE PIN-UP BOYS (Korean)
ANONYMOUS BLOOD (Korean)
SAY YES (Korean)
20th CENTURY BOYS (Japan)
ELVIRA'S MOVIE MACABRE: DOOMSDAY MACHINE / WEREWOLF OF WASHINGTON **
ELVIRA'S MOVIE MACABRE: GAMERA, SUPER MONSTER / THEY CAME FROM BEYOND SPACE **
ELVIRA'S MOVIE MACABRE: BLUE SUNSHINE / MONSTROID **
ELVIRA'S MOVIE MACABRE: MANEATER OF HYDRA / THE HOUSE THAT SCREAMED **
THE APE (DVD)
HORROR CLASSICS TRIPLE FEATURE (Bloody Pit of Horror / Horrors of Spider Island / Nightmare Castle) (Alpha Video)
DEMENTIA 13 (DVD) (Alpha Video)
WHITE ZOMBIE (DVD) (Alpha Video)
CARNIVAL OF SOULS (DVD) (Alpha Video; same print as Criterion though)
TEASERAMA
VARIETEASE
EATING RAOUL (1982)
PRINCE OF THE CITY (1981)
YEAR OF THE DRAGON (1985)
A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS (1966)
STAN LEE'S MUTANTS, MONSTERS & MARVELS (2002)
CATCH THE HEAT (1987; MGM)
DEAN MARTIN DOUBLE FEATURE (WHO WAS THAT LADY / HOW TO SAVE A MARRIAGE AND RUIN YOUR LIFE)
FAST FOOD NATION
NO EMERGENCY EXIT (1993; Korea)
FORBIDDEN FLOOR (2006; Korea)
THE HITCHER (USA; remake)
THE RUINS (USA; remake)
TURISTAS (USA; remake)
ALFIE (original, regular edition)
PAPARAZZI (USA)

** sold off the Elvira's, despite the good memories they brought back, because almost all of them are now available online, and legally, from Shout Factory at places like YouTube and Hulu. Sign of the times, I think . . .
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Re: 2009: The Digital Chivvy

Postby cal42 » Sat Jun 27, 2009 2:41 pm

Souvenirs from Canada (Asterisk denotes VCD):

City on Fire
Fulltime Killer
Naked Comes the Huntress
High Risk
Dragon Tiger Gate
Lady Whirlwind
The Himalayan
Twins Mission
The Bride With White Hair
River of Fury*
The Bastard*
The Lady Hermit*
The Enchantress*
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Re: 2009: The Digital Chivvy

Postby sharkeysbar » Sun Jun 28, 2009 9:38 am

I have bought a few films recently, after trying to "resist" making new purchases and instead attempting to get through some of my overly large backlog of unwatched movies. I did make a dent in the backlog but it is far from cleared.
Well these are my June buys;

Detective Bureau 2-3, Go to Hell Bastards (Japan, 1963)
Maiko Haaan! (Japan, 2007)
Tokyo Zombie (Japan, 2005)
Delinquent Girl Boss, Blossoming Night Dreams (Japan, 1970)
The Sword of Alexander (Japan, 2007)
Truck Turner, (USA, 1974)
The Imperial Cannon Team, (PR China, 1987)
Pine Ridge (PR China, 1965)

Being winter, July will be a big month for movies, hehehe.
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Re: 2009: The Digital Chivvy

Postby cal42 » Wed Jul 01, 2009 7:24 pm

Returned to work today to be told I've got to suck on a £1,300 pay cut. I guess people were taking a close interest in my frequent foreign jaunts after all :cry: . Oh well, I had a good run. Anyway, came home to discover delivery of:

The Good, The Bad, The Weird Blu-Ray

I do have a DVD of this, but the subs are not English as I know it :P . Got some high hopes for this, but whether I'll be able to watch it behind the tears is another matter :P .
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Re: 2009: The Digital Chivvy

Postby Brian Thibodeau » Thu Jul 02, 2009 9:06 pm

cal42 wrote:Returned to work today to be told I've got to suck on a £1,300 pay cut. I guess people were taking a close interest in my frequent foreign jaunts after all :cry: . Oh well, I had a good run.


What, they don't like their employees taking vacations? :| Fight the power, I say! (unless, of course, you were using the company credit card to finance your travel :lol: )



Anyway, came home to discover delivery of:

The Good, The Bad, The Weird Blu-Ray

I do have a DVD of this, but the subs are not English as I know it :P . Got some high hopes for this, but whether I'll be able to watch it behind the tears is another matter :P .


Bummer about the DVD version. I'd have thought the subs on those were fine. I wonder if that one you picked up here was the Singapore version, and thus similar to a DVD of Chocolate I ordered a while back. You'd think there'd be one nice, clean set of subs that could be utilized by all the companies releasing a set of titles, but no . . .

Incidentally, which Blu-Ray is your GBW? I ordered the 3-disc Korean DVD from the states a while back, but would consider this a Blu-upgrade-worthy film if a decent edition at a decent price was available someplace in the world.
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Re: 2009: The Digital Chivvy

Postby cal42 » Fri Jul 03, 2009 9:41 pm

I had a quick flick through the DVD when I got back home and none of it made any sense. You get what you pay for, I guess :lol: . Still, had I known that it was available on BD over here (clicky!) I would have waited anyway. Funnily enough, the image quality on the BD is absolutely superb - probably because so much is shot outdoors. Definitely worth looking into.
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Re: 2009: The Digital Chivvy

Postby Brian Thibodeau » Sat Jul 04, 2009 2:48 am

That's a very tempting price. What extra features are on the disc? I can't find any listings that specify. :(
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Re: 2009: The Digital Chivvy

Postby cal42 » Sat Jul 04, 2009 4:44 pm

Brian Thibodeau wrote:That's a very tempting price. What extra features are on the disc? I can't find any listings that specify. :(


Well, I haven't seen much of the extras yet, but the back of the box states:
Alternative (Korean) ending
Running Fast (making of)
The Good, the Bad, the Weird and the Vicious (interview with Director and the cast)
Analogue (Cinematography, Lighting, Action Sequences, Sound)
Space (Production design, Costumes, Set Decoration)
Deleted Scenes
Alternate Endings

Which doesn't sound like an awful lot, but I stuck "Running Fast" on and it is 90 minutes long :shock: . I'm getting fed up of these multiple docs using the same material though, so I'm always suspicious when you get these lists of "specialist" areas. I would imagine it's pretty much the same as what's in your 3-discer then.

TINY SPOILER FOR THE CHASER
Brian Thibodeau wrote:I just watched CHASER a few days ago. Fantastic movie UNTIL a scene preceding the climax that requires a bit player to do something so obviously contrived and downright stupid as to take me right out of the picture--at least for a while, because I couldn't believe any writer or director would think people behaved this way, or that an audience would think it was dramatically convincing. I recovered, and the movie does too, but that's a near-fatal flaw that should have been handled differently. It's a scene set in a little convenience store, for those curious.


I loved the film but wrote this: "One slight fly in the ointment is the (very brief) inclusion of probably the stupidest convenience store clerk in the history of the world. It’s a short scene, but one that sticks out in the mind for its ridiculousness and (presumably) unintentional comedy value. However, natural selection wins out and the cinematic Darwin Awards will have themselves a prime candidate."

I'd forgotten the specifics of what you said about this, but when I watched it I had a definite "WTF" moment :shock: .
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Re: 2009: The Digital Chivvy

Postby Harlock » Sat Jul 04, 2009 8:52 pm

not digital but :D

my last guitar ESP HORIZON FR-II with floydrose

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

i was tired of my 71' LES PAUL

Image

my marshall (behind is a steinway piano)

Image

:P
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