rexinnih

Only 17. But I have been selling a lot of discs off lately for (hopefully) HD upgrades.

ivelostr2

I have 42 of them...

...off topic...

I really don't get the authentic comment, why a collection has to define your tastes to be authentic, or why people care about being authentic in the first place is beyond me. Maybe someones authenticity is their willingness to try something they have never seen. I have many movies in my collection that I bought as blind buys and didn't like, but how did i know unless i tried them. Often i lend them to friends and occasionally they like them, then we have a conversation about it.
It annoys the shit out of me when people bitch about criterion collectors. The company keeps films that may be overlooked or forgotten about by a generation in the public eye. I think picking up a Criterion as a blind buy is like a someone recommending a movie to you. Maybe you like it, maybe you don't, but atleast you can have a conversation about the film after you have watched it, instead of a conversation about whether or not a collection is authentic.
I don't buy every Criterion I can afford anymore (i really used to), but i do take issue with people who put down the method i came in contact with Kurosawa, Bergman, Cronenberg, Dreyer, Fellini, Ichikawa, Ozu, and Renior. My parents are not film people, and never, I guess you could say, cultured me, but i took a film class which made me aware of Tati, and through him i became aware of Criterion, which opened my eyes to many of these directors. I will always encourage someone to try a criterion, if they are looking for a recommendation. I think the same could be said for the best picture winners or nominees. Some of them, IMHO, are real stinkers, but even those are worth watching to again, have a conversation about. I think part of the enjoyment of anymovie is being able to talk about it afterward.

I'm not looking to be defined my dvd collection, as long as i'm enjoying the process of buying/watching/sharing the films...



...back on topic...

like when you order a prostitute in vegas only to find out it isn't a woman like the guy in the phone said it woud be...i regret...uh...i mean i would regret that if it ever happened

xflexxy

There's a lot I would love to own, and even more that I haven't seen.
I own 13:

It Happened One Night
Casablanca
An American in Paris
Marty
The Sound of Music
The Godfather
The Godfather pt 2
Titanic
American Beauty
Chicago
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
The Departed
No Country for Old Men

Sondheim

I quite like "Cavalcade" and I very nearly love (shudder) "Out of Africa".

I do consider "Cimarron" to be the worst Best Picture winner, tied only with "The Greatest Show on Earth". But I don't consider either to be bad films - just mediocre. Would I watch them again? Probably not... But I still own them, not because I want to "look cool" or "show them off" - though the coolness factor of owning every Best Picture winner is somewhat questionable - rather I collect things simply because I'm a collector and I enjoy collecting things.

...Though I still don't feel compelled to own every Criterion DVD.

Trevor

Can I put that quote in my sig?

I completely agree that buying something to impress others is inauthentic, and would never do that. (except that one time when I was wooing that girl that loved Jerry Lewis movies..... j/k)

You're limiting taste to the aesthetic enjoyment of the film. I think they are more reasons for enjoying something than just that. The whole collecting thing is a big part of it (for me), but there are other reasons, such as increasing my knowledge base, having a range of films available for friends, family, and future personal sensibilities, etc.

Not really relevant perhaps, but I enjoy all genres, at least at times. I love buying films about subject matter that I have absolutely no interest in. I find I learn more from those films than films about favorite subject matters.

That's the rub, largely. Non-collectors will never understand collectors.

By the way, I hope you don't think I'm trying to pick a fight or just argue for argument's sake Yakuza. I love reading your posts on the forum and agree with you much of the time. Part of my persistence here is my belief that collector's reasons for owning something should be just as valid as a "pure fan" of whatever object is being discussed. And also that the reasons for owning or appreciating anything go far beyond simply aesthetic taste.

I am not coming anywhere close to expressing my thoughts as well as I think I can, I'm nowhere near the wordsmith as you.

I understand your points and agree with many of them. But I just know that my personal collection is as authentic as anyone's.

Yakuza Bengoshi

Actually what I was proposing was the other way around. Your collection is authentic if it is defined by your tastes. It is inauthentic if it is defined by other people's tastes.

It's fine, I think, that you don't understand why anyone would care. I don't understand a lot of other people's behavior, and I'm okay with that. I try not to buy things merely to put on an inauthentic pose, but that's me. I respect everybody's right to make their own consumer choices. I hope you can tolerate my apparently ill-considered expression of good-natured bemusement at behavior that I don't understand.

I could accept this notion of authenticy too. If one is buying DVDs because it fits with some desire for internal development, then that would be consistent with what I had in mind. What I really meant to single out by my original comment is somebody that buys a movie they know they dislike because it's got a particular label or seal of approval. That's their business and more power to 'em if that makes them happy, but it's inauthentic as I define the term for me.

To answer your question, you could rent them instead, or sell them or give them away after you've seen them if you don't like them, but this is really getting off the original track. Again, I don't think this has much to do with my original comment, so I'll leave it with saying more power to you if that's what works for you.

I can appreciate that you have a fierce brand loyalty for Criterion Collection, and that you get upset if people make statements that you perceive as impinging the value of the brand. More power to you. Again, I'm not trying to tell anybody how they should live their lives.

Yakuza Bengoshi

Trevor, I think we've cleared up any misunderstandings. I think I know where you're coming from, and you know where I'm coming from. Cool.

Oh, and thanks for the kind words.

Sex Fiend

So the girl you were wooing was French, I gather?

Trevor is correct. There are lots of other reasons to collect certain films beyond the basic "I like that movie" rationale. I particularly find it personally rewarding to collect films that were considered significant in various eras, decades, and/or years (ie - using the Oscar BP nominee criteria, among others) not necessarily because I am guaranteed to "enjoy" those films (although that can often end up being the case), but because on some level those films often define the cultural and/or intellectual mood or feel of the time and/or place from which they came.

On that level, these films become an interesting window for me into the cultural circumstances that made them popularly or critically successful at the time they were produced/released. For most of these films, that would be during a time I wasn't alive and couldn't have firsthand experience of the zeitgeist, and for the others, it allows me a nostalgic re-experience of the time and feeling I personally had when the particular film was current.

I certainly don't see anything "inauthentic" about collecting on that basis, even if I can't say with 100% honesty that I "love" every film that I've collected. I can faithfully assert that I don't collect anything with the intent of impressing anyone but myself for my ability to achieve a desired goal.

PopcornTreeCt

I've seeked out many Best Picture winners, AFI top 100 candidates, and Criterions. I use the word "seek" rather "collect" because I grew up on summer blockbusters. Before DVD came around the oldest movie I had seen was Star Wars and never saw a foreign film before. Basically, I had/have a lot of catching up to do. I also seek out Eureka's Masters of Cinema releases, Artificial Eye's non-R1 releases and everything I can get my hands on where critics/internet peeps have defined the work as "good".

PatrickMcCart

There's no reason to own "everything" on a list, especially awards.

Owning 29 films, there's 3 I regret buying. Of the rest of the films I don't have, there's three I'm waiting on for better editions (An American in Paris, Tom Jones, Annie Hall), two I'm waiting for availability, period (Wings and Rebecca). 15 others I've seen, but don't really care enough to buy the DVDs. Then I'm waiting until BluRay for four films (No Country For Old Men, Chicago, The English Patient, and Braveheart). The rest I've not seen or not interested in.

The AFI 100 list(s) are a lot better, but for every 80-100 films on these lists, there's 200 that aren't listed and are just as much worth it.

Come on, Kubrick's only Oscar win was for the effects on 2001.

darkhawk

I have all but Wings and Cavalcade

ivelostr2

Sorry this is off topic, but the thread theme is not betrayed...


I understand what you are saying, but i guess where my thinking differs is that i think other people's tastes, be it ebert and roeper, a teacher, a friend, a family member, or someone that posts on this site, will always be inseparable from our collections. I frequently blind buy things I read articles or books about.

Actually i think where we are apart on our discussion is that I rarely rent because I like to be able to lend movies to friends because i know many of my friends would never buy alot of what i watch. So even in that way, my collection is very influenced by others.


Do you have any idea how many times i just read your last sentence to understand it. lol
I understand what you are saying, and i think i misunderstood you original point. I think you are referancing people who collect (criterions, fox film-noir) for the sake of collecting spine #s on a shelf for people to look at, and have little no plans to ever watch them all. I understand this compulsion, but i think even those who seem to do that here, are watching the movies and enjoying them. I don't think using that brand to narrow the field is is any different than using the AFI top 100 or the 5 star system, or you local rental stores' employee's pick of the week.
So again I think we are not disagreeing, but talking different ways about the same subject.


I am playing devils advocate here...
I think, using your definition, theoreticaly, someone could buy a movie they dislike, and still have their collection be authentic, if it goes into the catagory of "movies that I did not enjoy."
That said i have never purchased a movie i didn't like, i own a few that i ended up not liking, but i have never actually bought a movie with the knowledge that i already didn't like it.


Like I said earlier, this is where our major division is, I rarely rent, because even if i don't like a movie in its whole, I sometimes like to reference a portion of a film for myself or my wife to see. Example, I bought and watched Closer, I really didn't care for it a great deal, but the scene where I can watch over and over, and on occasion, I might talk to a friend or guest about how great that scene is. i think that being able to reference that scene at will, is worth owning the DVD. (one reason why even though i hate the idea with every fiber of my being, an eventual digital data-bank in place of my dvd-player is attractive. but this is a discussion for another thread...)
I know own vs rent is PURELY a difference of opinion, but I think this difference goes a long way in explaining our differences in understanding how each or us sees and applies the term authenticity...


As i said above, I think I applied you comments to a population that you never intended them to refence, and my reaction was to more than just your comments (even though I only quoted you). I do not deny that I do have a brand loyalty toward Criterion, as I have rarely been let down by them ,and when I am, I still feel i have learned something from it.

Yakuza Bengoshi

ivelostr2, I think we mostly understand one another, and we can each respect the other's opinions, so I'll limit this response to just the one point where I think we still may have a misunderstanding.

I'm not sure I follow what you're saying here, so I'll step back and restate my position to clear up any confusion I'm causing.

Whether a collection is authentic as I'm using the word turns on whether it conforms with the aesthetic tastes of the collection's owner. I'm not opposed to expanding that notion of aesthetic appreciation to take into account aspirational tastes too, as you previously suggested, though I didn't have it in mind when I made the first off-hand comment. Accordingly, one may buy The Passion of Joan of Arc because one wants to see what all the fuss is about and still be acting in an authentic manner. I'm less troubled by that than by buying a film like Armageddon simply because it's a Criterion Collection film even after seeing it, and disliking it previously. That would be inauthentic as I'm using the term. But in the end, it's all just my opinion and it really only applies to how I conduct myself. I'm not trying to impose my prejudices on anybody else.

You may have already understood that point, for what it's worth, but I thought I'd reiterate it just in case.

shyguy1083

why not watch them BACKWARDS? that way, you might make it to the beginning by the time you get Wings?

Trevor

Good idea, but I was sort of looking forward to seeing progression in the normal chronological order. I realize that many of the films are period pieces and time will flow all over the place no matter which order I watch them in, but I'm more interested in seeing how the film industry has changed over the years, and the academy's tastes.

Now I'm trying to find a NTSC version of Cavalcade on ebay or elsewhere soon.

DeanoBKN

I own 15...didn't think I owned that many actually.

The Sting
A Beautiful Mind
Forrest Gump
Rocky
Godfather I
Godfather II
The Departed
No Country For Old Men
Ben-Hur
Titanic
Unforgiven
Gladiator
LOTR: Return Of The King
Schlinder's List
Silence Of The Lambs

mr. b_dvd

I just looked at the list of winners, and I have a total of 20 right now. There are several I've been meaning to buy, and seeing the list of winners makes me want to get them and a few more I've forgotten about. I doubt if I'll get 'em all though.

Here's my stash of winners:
2006 The Departed
2005 Crash
2004 Million Dollar Baby
2003 Lord of the Rings-ROTK
2001 A Beautiful Mind
2000 Gladiator
1999 American Beauty
1998 Shakespeare in Love
1997 Titanic
1995 Braveheart
1994 Forrest Gump
1993 Schindler's List
1992 Unforgiven
1990 Dances with Wolves
1986 Platoon
1975 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
1974 The Godfather Part II
1972 The Godfather
1969 Midnight Cowboy
1965 The Sound of Music


I won't even comment on the other discussion of authenticity. Seems like such a silly argument to me.

And I remember watching the 78th Oscars (2005), and I was hoping Crash would win. It seemed like the underdog compared to the other films, and I thought it was a very good film, even if it may have seemed a bit unrealistic to some. I actually thought it was a very realistic film, and showed society the way many people don't want to believe exists. I guess I was one of the few that was glad when they won Best Picture.

domino harvey

If you think Crash is representative of society, I'd like to set you up on a date with Reality

darkhawk

If you count the Golden Globes' winners, then I have all but 6. From 1943 - 1950 & 1953, there was only one best picture category. From 1955 & 1958 - 1962 there were three best picture winners (comedies and musicals were two diferent catagories). 1951, '52, '54, '56, '57, 1963 - 2007, there were two best picture categories. With 2006 & 2007 adding best animated film. The only 6 I'm missing are:

1983 Comedy or Musical Yentle
1969 Drama Anne of a Thousand Days
1969 Comedy or Musical The Secret of Santa Vittoria
1961 Comedy A Majority of One
1952 Comedy or Musical With a Song in My Heart
1948 Johnny Belinda

I like collecting and watching Oscars and Golden Globes Winners and Nominees and comparing them. On excel, I have every movie that was nominated year by year. If they're available on dvd, I change the lettering color to pink. When I buy it, I change the lettering to red.

1994 Oscars was a tough year. Four Wedding and a Funeral and Quiz Show were good, but not winners to me. Pulp Fiction was great, but still fell short. The last 2 were excellent, but I liked The Shawshank Redemption better than Forrest Gump.

Pizza

Authentic in what way? No matter the reason: every DVD collection is for collecting sake. Whether you're gathering up the movies you think are worthy to keep and/or to watch again; to complete an entire set/release; to have a list of films that will impress other movie fans; it is all for collecting sake. There are plenty of people out there that would tell us we're all nuts just for buying DVDs. I have many different reasons for what I buy and I make no excuses to anyone for it.
And, no, I don't have every Oscar Best Picture winner. It would make for a pretty impressive box set if the various studios could work it out.

Snowmaker

That's how I feel about this year's winner.

I have:


The Godfather
The Godfather Part II
Schindler's List
Forrest Gump
Braveheart
Titanic
American Beauty
Gladiator
Chicago
The Lord of The Rings: The Return of The King
Crash
The Departed

Yakuza Bengoshi

Asked, and answered.

Owning a DVD that you enjoy and intend to watch again is "collecting for collecting sake" in the same way that owning a pair of shoes that you like and intend to continue wearing is, i.e., not in any meaningful way. Collecting (i.e., buying and retaining) DVDs that you don't enjoy watching because the whole (the DVD collection with those DVDs in it) is somehow greater than the sum of the parts (the DVDs individually) is "collecting for collecting sake" in the same way that buying any other bunch of trinkets without utility to the hoarder is, i.e., very much so.

Frenzal Rhomb

I have

Sunrise
All Quiet on the Western Front
How Green Was My Valley
Casablanca
The Lost Weekend
Gentleman's Agreement
All About Eve
From Here to Eternity
On the Waterfront
The Bridge on the River Kwai
West Side Story
Lawrence of Arabia
In the Heat of the Night
Patton
The French Connection
The Godfather
The Sting
The Godfather part 2
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Rocky
The Deer Hunter
Ordinary People (yet to watch though) --* Raging Bull should have won that year.
Amadeus
Platoon
Rain Man
Dances with Wolves
Silence of the Lambs
Unforgiven
Forrest Gump
Braveheart
American Beauty
Gladiator
Lord of the Rings : ROTK
Million Dollar Baby

that makes 34. A couple out of that list will never take a spot in my collection though!

Cimarron
All the King's Men
The Greatest Show on Earth
Around the World in 80 Days
Gigi
Tom Jones
Terms of Endearment
Driving Miss Daisy
The English Patient
Titanic
Shakespeare in Love
A Beautiful Mind
Chicago
Crash

come to mind..

Gamelore

Not a fan of the Academy Awards. They've made some really poor judgements in recent years.

I'd rather have a collection consisting of movies *I* found to be among the best! The last thing I need is shelf-space dedicated to some group of hippies, trying to make social statements or "heal the wounds" of America in the context of award-giving.

darkside

I have many of them, but would never own them all since I dislike so many recent winners including No Country for Old Men.