Brian T

Interesting stats, though not surprising to these eyes. Certainly worth noting by anyone who proclaims 4K as some kind of saviour for home theater and physical media. Apparently not. But at least it's an option for those who can justify the often ridiculous expense. I'm curious what title(s) might account for that spike in the November 5 chart.

I'm not sure where you live, but if it's anywhere within about an hour's drive of a border crossing, and you're a serious consumer of physical media who would buy more if you could, it makes a lot of sense to sign up for free at a US parcel delivery outlet (or a USPS outlet). American border cities are full of them, so it's just a matter of seeing whose fees are the best (most charge about US $3 - $5 to hold a parcel for a month, then again for each month you don't pick up). Then, depending on your distance, all you need to do is try to time the placing of your orders so most of them will be there by a date that you plan to cross over. Also helps to discard the boxes, and maybe even the plastic wrappers before heading back (wink-wink). If you prefer to order single movies at a time, then the savings may not be so steep thanks to shipping, but as you point out, it's often still a better deal to order from the states into Canada, than it is to buy in Canada. Which is nuts.

I know I've probably recommended the 'parcel pickup' option on these forums before, maybe even to you, but based on our often grossly-inflated prices and limited retailer options up here (especially with Unobstructed View having a lock on a lot of the US boutique labels), going the US route is a very appealing option. I fully understand that some folks can't justify the trip due to other commitments, or just don't want to visit the US these days because the end times are nigh, or whatever, but I can say from experience that it's at least worth doing the math.

Adam Tyner

Top Gun: Maverick. (source!) On the UHD side of things, the Top Gun two-movie collection and two catalog titles -- The Running Man and Starship Troopers -- follow after that, so chances are it's really just Top Gun.

I wouldn't make that argument, but I do think it's a boon for boutique labels, which are underrepresented (and in some cases not represented at all) in reports like these. I'm not suggesting that the UHD numbers would be massively higher if they were counting direct sales from Vinegar Syndrome or Severin or whatever, but at the end of the day, they're more focused on "can we sell 5,000 of these?" rather than total market share. And in that sense, sure, UHD has been a success.

ViewAskewbian

Oh, our closet border crossing is about an hour or so away. I'd totally visit the US if I drove.

TheBang

I looked at the sales data in 2016, just before the launch of UHD, and Blu-ray had about a 37% marketshare. It looks like today, UHD + Blu-ray has about a 43% share. So, it looks like UHD has not grown the market much, relative to DVD. According to those Videoscan numbers, it looks like most of UHD's growth has come at the expense of Blu-ray. Maybe a third of Blu-ray buyers have upgraded to UHD buying?

morriscroy

(This may sound very weird).

I've been using "excuses" like this ^ largely as a "jedi mindfuck" to trick myself into NOT jumping onto the 4Kbluray bandwagon.

Simultaneously, also using a jedi mindfuck of "no 4Kbluray = no sale" for movies and "no bluray = no sale" for tv show season sets, however contradictory it may sound with the above ^ first mindfuck. The former to trick myself into NOT buying the bluray version of a current/recent movie, while the latter to trick myself into NOT buying the dvd version of a current/recent tv show season set.



All this to severely limit any extreme ocd compulsive collecting and impulse buying of blurays and dvds.

ViewAskewbian

Ha! I've had similar tricks over the years which has had me going overboard like I did when DVD first came out. But I've recently got back into purchasing more for one reason mentioned here (worry that streaming sites like Disney+ will no longer put out copies thus making films I've been sitting on buying more pricey) and, another:

-during the pandemic, when things were under lockdown, closed and I had more indoor time on my hands, I started "film fests" where I'd watch a certain director or genre for a week or so. Passed the time but also introduced me to some films by directors I'd not seen (ie: Path of Glory by Kubrick). I used that as a reason to upgrade older DVDs to blurays and, in some instances where the bluray came with the 4k, I went 4k but only after reading reviews on transfers and, MORE SO, when said transfers were ported over to the blu as well (2001, comes to mind as an example, but recently, say, A Christmas Story).

So, my mindtrick was "only if the transfer warranted" but then that became "and/or if there were really good new extras"

Brian T

Ahh, that does change things. Also explains why using an RV to escape your neighbours and their witchy cult would not have been an option. The screenplay will require some doctoring now. A bicycle chase, perhaps . . .

Sounds like the mind tricks can have their weak spots!

To be fair, I could probably use some mind tricks, but there isn't much available when you're perfectly happy with Blu-ray (and, for lesser titles, DVD), and the overall selection plus US (sale) prices make my dollars go a lot further. Living so close to the 'land of plenty' has admittedly always made it too easy to go overboard at the US sales, especially when I lived in the border city I grew up in about three hours west of Toronto. It was still too easy even after I moved to Toronto in 2006 because of bi-weekly trips back home as my parents aged and their health declined (only child syndrome). "Why not pop over the border while I'm here?!" Even now that I'm settled back in Toronto after having spent a couple of years there (working remotely) tending to one final round of parent care, it's still a hard habit to break. One recent 'parcel pick-up' run to Michigan was for 54 Blu-rays and (gasp!) DVDs from recent sales at Ronin, Criterion, and Shout. The previous trip crossing had about 48 discs combined from Kino and Severin. None were as cheap in Canada. Some aren't even sold in Canada! And even if I'd fully declared them ( >avoids eye contact, grins coquettishly< ) they still would've been cheaper than purchasing within Canada. Mind you, now that I don't need to visit my home town as often, I tend to just 'clean up' at the various boutique sales, rather than placing smaller orders as I did in the past. I kinda just want to be done with it, have everything here, at my fingertips, and that's where 4K holds less appeal as the US vs Canada cost is often in the same ballpark after exchange, taxes, etc., and the selection is still comparatively small if you're not into new releases.

Alan Smithee

Wish enough of these nuts could get together and start a store, I'd help them out.

Coral

What I find annoying is that with physical media sales plummeting, I'm still seeing BD and UHD-BD prices are comically high in Canada... even for titles that have been out for a long time.
The laws of supply and demand doesn't seem to take effect.

morriscroy

When I first starting buying blurays in 2011-12, I was thinking these same two thing things. (Prior to 2011, I had very little to no interest in dvd/bluray).

What made the transfer argument completely superfluous and irrelevant for me, was when I came to the realization that most movies I only ever watched once or twice. Easier to just watch crappy/mediocre movies on basic cable channels or even network tv.

When it came to new extras type stuff, I realized I rarely ever watched the extras more than a once or twice.

Brian T

I find the local library is a good way to catch up on a lot of this lesser kind of stuff, as well as virtually all the new releases, especially if like me you don't have cable/satellite or streaming because you already have too many discs to watch! Helps streamline the 'collecting' process as well.

I likewise watch most supplements just once, but if a title is staying in my 'permanent collection', I do prefer it to be as loaded as possible, . Even if I never watch the bonus material again. It's nice to have it there just in case.

ViewAskewbian

I'm the opposite. I LOVE special features and the hows and whys movies are made. It's what brought me into so rabidly collecting DVDs back in late 1999. Where it really clicked was one set in particular...I was just finishing up film school and had just heard one of my teachers talk about The Godfather. I was in an HMV and saw the first Godfather DVD release where Copolla did commentary on all three films and I thought, gee, wouldn't it be better to hear from the Director himself? In most cases, this has usually been yes as I learned so much more about filmmaking from features then I did in film school (seriously, one "computer" course had us making VHS covers ).

When the Lord of the Rings set the standard for special features (one I still think has never been surpassed), I was working in a video store...you know, where all film school grads go before never making it to the big time

I watch the Rings features (yup, all of them, and the Hobbit too) nearly every time I watch the films.

I'm currently revisiting Kubrick films and last night spent three hours with the extras on 2001 which I didn't much remember from my first viewing back in the DVD days. Fascinating stuff.

I also really enjoy those old WARNER discs that include the radio program version of movies or The Wizard of Oz set that included the original batch of silent movies.

DVD was a wonderful film school. Bluray, I know, hasn't really gone all out for special features like DVD did (generally porting over the DVD stuff) but now, as I revisit films in Bluray and (one day soon probably 4k) with often mind-blowing transfers and sound (2001 I'm looking at you), I love giving the extras a spin.

Hell, some extras I've watched equally to (or in one instance) more than the film. Citizen Kane's Ebert commentary is one of them.

Brian T

Sometimes I feel these kinds of guys – and there's quite a few of them on YouTube but I generally find it hard to finish their videos, including this one – are as much in love with (and nostalgic for) the act of physically visiting a Big Box store and flipping through its selection of mostly mainstream releases, as they are with the actual act of watching movies, possibly even more so. But really, was the "experience" of loitering in some Big Box store for an hour or so really that formative or special? A lot of these guys seem like they probably worked in places like that, too, or in video stores where they could anoint themselves cinema gatekeepers for all the rabble that walked through the door, something that's evidently missing from their lives in this era where everybody and their grandmother can share their 'expertise' on cinema with a tap on a screen. And then there's the new-release "accumulators" on YouTube, who seem to just buy tons of everything just to show off the packaging, but that's a whole other thread, really.

Admittedly, I used to enjoy popping into Best Buy for a quick browse -- especially in the US -- and would usually pick up an item or three. But more often I'd peruse the shelves, then go home and buy stuff on Amazon. Even when places like Best Buy were at their peak for media sales, the selection in any store still paled in comparison to what was online, not only via their own website but also on Amazon, Deep Discount, and other online media retailers. Despite aisles of discs, the stores generally just scratched the surface of what was truly available. Once movie buffs became accustomed to online shopping, most stores felt like beginners' buffets, and they became increasingly mainstream and studio-bound as their physical media sections dwindled. Now there are more boutique labels than ever before, hawking their wares online only, and with reasonable success. Had they existed 15-20 years ago, I doubt Best Buy (or Walmart or many other chain department stores) would even have stocked much more than a smattering of their products, if any, largely due to spacing considerations. The online business model for this stuff just makes more economic and logistical sense, and it only denies certain people an 'experience' that wasn't/isn't all that memorable to begin with.

orangerunner

I recently discovered the Vancouver Public Library had a treasure trove of Criterion DVDs and not just Fellini, Bergman and Kurosawa. They had titles such as Videodrome, The Brood, Blow Out, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, Dressed to Kill, Something Wild, Rumble Fish etc.

morriscroy

The "special features" stuff which might have interested me, were far and few in between. Back in the day, I was more interested in reading about such content. In those days, it rarely ever showed up on vhs. One of the few exceptions, was the Criterion laserdisc version of Blade Runner which had some original artwork stills in the special features section of the laserdisc.

Back in the day, I did pick up some books on then-current movies like Terminator 2 which was sort of a "behind the scenes" story about how the film was made. Also various books about Star Trek, and science fiction movies/shows in general.


By the time dvd came around, I found special features didn't "scratch the same itch" anymore for me.

Gizmo

Enjoy a few months of business, I guess. Might as well make a store that sells fidget spinners and POGS

Brian T

I'd imagine Vancouver's library system must be nearly as well stocked as Toronto's, just due to the size of the city. The Toronto system has virtually the entire Criterion collection as well, which has enabled me to limit my collecting of that label to just the titles I truly want rather than having to buy them just to test them out (as I would occasionally do in the past, often to my disappointment – always great movies, but not always stuff I want to own). I've also noticed that they'd added some newer Criterion Blu-rays for titles only being produced in that format, so that's a good sign, but I don't think they're doing that for most other labels. DVD is the priority, which makes sense considering the treatment these discs often go through. They also order in a lot of stuff from many of the indie and boutique labels as well. Obviously, since they're spending taxpayer money, they primarily stock DVDs, with only a small percentage of Blu-rays, so they're not going to be getting in titles from, say, Vinegar Syndrome, Severin, Arrow and other boutiques that are largely Blu-ray + 4K only now. But there are still a LOT of other companies still releasing titles on DVD, and as I've mentioned before I want to watch movies now, not hold out to view everything in the absolute highest-definition possible. A lot of the stuff I get from the library isn't stuff I'd want to own anyway, so DVD fits the bill just fine, which in turn helps me shape my personal collection more efficiently. I was surprised a while back to discover that they stock most of the 'Shudder Exclusive' discs, some of which are only released on DVD (aside from streaming of course). Started watching newer one this morning called MOLOCH -- not bad so far.

Every couple of months on the Toronto Library website, I search the movies by new release and just start adding things to my queue. The wait lists are sometimes insanely long -- proving that a lot of people are likewise still ok watching DVDs -- but I'm in no rush. Their 'new releases' include older discs that have been newly added to their collections, which is helpful.

ViewAskewbian

Does Vancouver and Toronto treat their discs better? I don't think there's been a single film I have taken out of our library that didn't glitch up at some point due to scratches from previous borrowers.

orangerunner

Considering they are frequently rented they are actually not in too bad of shape ... of course one careless borrower can spell the end of that title.

Most of the Criterions I borrowed were released before 2016 although I'm not sure how long the particular discs were in circulation. Most of them still had their original insert booklets so I think most people who borrow them respect them enough to not be too rough with them.

They had a few oddball titles I wasn't expecting like Caligula (3-disc Imperial Edition), Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer, A Boy and His Dog, Grand Theft Auto, Eat My Dust, Dead & Buried etc.

Brian T

They get pretty well worn here, as one might expect. Pretty rare to receive a pristine one unless you reserve a new release so early that you get one fresh out of the wrap. Otherwise they arrive well-used. That said, in 16 years of signing out discs – anywhere from five to 20 a week depending on when they become available – I've returned maybe three that were so damaged they froze or wouldn't play, and the librarians just added a different copy to my queue. Sometimes I just use an eyeglass cleaning cloth on them and fire them up again. Frankly I've gotten accustomed to many rough-looking discs playing fine all the way through. Still boggles the mind that they could end up like that, but it goes to show that the format is probably still ideal for the vast majority of people since they're not about 'collecting' so much as just watching, and disc etiquette just isn't a thing.

No Caligula here, but some of those others are on the shelves, or have been. I'm grateful that the library doesn't take some b.s. moral high ground with stuff like that, other than little ratings tags on the cases. They've got some pretty gruesome horror movies in the racks, as well as many titles with strong sexual content. Same with books, of course. Which is all as it should be. The Toronto system is also rich with foreign films on disc, sometimes North American editions but more often discs from those countries, mostly with English subs if they can get them. For a Hong Kong cinema nut like me, it's handy to be able to sign those out before deciding whether to import the HK editions. The selection of Indian and Filipino titles at some branches is off the charts. Both have pretty massive populations here.

Alan Smithee

Seems like that’s what Best Buy is selling now!

morriscroy

At some of the nearby BestBuys, the former cd/dvd/bluray floor spaces are now filled with cell phones.

orangerunner

This seems to be the current trend at Best Buy to sub-lease their floor space to the various cell phone companies much like the major department stores renting their floor space to the cosmetic companies.

Inhumans99

I think Brian kind-of hit the nail on the head, but I admit to occasionally missing the act of flipping through tons of dvd/cd/blu ray racks/shelves. The thing is, stores do not survive on the emotional high someone like Alan would get going through hundreds of discs looking for something to buy.

Unless customers consistently walked out with tons of purchases at near MSRP, places like Best Buy make a ton more money leasing floor space to the cell phone providers and folks like Apple or Microsoft. Honestly, it is more amazing that they did not completely get rid of physical media many years back. I really am surprised that BB did note fully cede physical media to the major online retailers like Amazon, or boutiques like VS and Shout 5-10 years back.

Spending 30-60 minutes or more looking through BB’s selection of physical media and walking out with one title that was on sale made you, and oftentimes myself, a “devil” customer whether I realized it or not, and that is without me abusing the price match policy of stores like BB.

Again, I fondly remember some of the Saturday afternoons I spent by myself or with my brother checking out the shelves at Best Buy, but I totally understand why BB does not see themselves returning to what some of us on this site would consider the golden days of collecting when places like Fry’s and Best Buy were destination stores you were excited to hit up to peruse the shelves.

Josh-da-man

At some point during the pandemic, my regular Best Buy moved their movies to a smaller, single shelf section (about five feet high, fifteen feet wide) near the center of the store with a "New Releases" banner. The larger area in the back of the store is now home to a bunch of toys like Barbie Dolls.

There's also a small display near the entrance of the store that has new releases and steelbooks.

The Black Friday shippers were near the New Releases at the center of the store.

There were quite a few bare shelves and walls at the store, and it sorted of reminded me of those moribund Fry's stores.

Barnes & Noble also massively shrank their media section. It's now a much smaller area of the store with one wall of DVD/blu-ray/UHD and a smaller selection of LPs in cardboard boxes in the middle. It does look like they're carrying more books than they did pre-pandemic, having filled the big empty center of the store where they were promoting Nooks with actual books. Also looks like they shrank the number of toys and merch they carry; still have a lot Harry Potter wands and other merch, but no more (or greatly reduced) anime/manga stuff, Star Wars and Marvel toys.