Ryan McNeil
Alright gang, time to weigh in…
I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that many of the people who read this site buy dvd’s and/or blu-ray’s. You may not buy them in copious amounts for one reason or another, but I’d wager you have at least a dozen or two if you don’t have a few hundred. They might be on the shelf in alphabetical order, chronological order, no order whatsoever…but I’m betting they’re there.
Here’s my question to you: How many movies do you own that you’ve never watched? Further, do you own movies you’ve never even seen once?
I don’t ask this to mock, or to throw any sort of stone, I ask because I’m genuinely curious to people’s varying habits.
For me, no movie goes unwatched. Part of it boils down to my OCD tendencies (I’ve never been tested). I figure there’s always the possibility that I bought a defective copy, and if I don’t watch the disc at least once I’ll never know…and never be able to exchange it if that’s the fact. It <i>has</i> happened believe it or not…it doesn’t happen often, but a few titles have gone back. If you want, you can call that little twitch me being a cinematic hypochondriac.
The other reason I watch ’em all, is that it keeps my money where my mouth is. When one can pick up dvd’s at bargain basement prices, one has to ask one’s self “Do I need this?”. I have to ask myself not only whether the movie in hand is one I want to watch – but one I want to watch multiple times. If I don’t, why own it?
What’s more, once a year or so I take a long hard look at the shelves and ask myself “Do I really need to own ______?” It comes with changing tastes. 25-year-old me thought he needed a copy of the remake of THE ITALIAN JOB; 33-year-old me disagrees. Culling the collection helps keeping it from needing a storage locker all its own.
Of course, I understand that not everybody thinks this way. I understand that some people see a set of four discs in a box, and know that the price tag is worth it for the two of them they love alone. There’s also the theory that if a movie costs five dollars to buy, that’s cheaper than the price of a ticket to see it in a theatre, or the cost of renting it.
I understand this, but the thing I don’t understand is that if a person hasn’t seen it, then they don’t know if they like it…or like it enough to keep…to collect dust on their shelf.
The cool thing is, that sometimes these films bought sight-unseen will provide the unsuspecting owner with immense joy. For instance, I know a dear friend who has a copy of DIE HARD she’s never unwrapped. I myself was drawn in by STALAG 17, which was the ugly cousin in a Billy Wilder box set I was given. On the other hand, you might get eventually go through those unwatched dvd’s, queue up that copy of CORKY ROMANO you thought was a good idea…and say to yourself “I’ve made a huge mistake”.
So what say you dear reader? Do you have some sort of mental criteria in place to help you decide what you’ll buy? Do you live dangerously and buy titles sight-unseen?
I am shocked you didn’t throw an insult at my somewhere in this post.
80+ own and never watched the movie altogether. 10+ own and never opened DVD.
I wouldn’t insult you – my compulsion to watch each and every one is equally insultable, but where would that lead us.
Of the ones you showed me that hadn’t been watched, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS is the one I love most – like all-time top twenty love most. That said, I fear you might not like it when you give it a look.
I’m with you on this issue, Ryan. It bugs me to buy DVDs and Blu-rays and not have watched them yet. I’ll admit there are some movies that I’ve received as gifts that I haven’t checked out, but those are ones that I already saw in the theater. That also kind of bothers me, though.
I’ve been really trying to pare down my DVDs over the past year. It’s so easy now to get access to movies that I don’t really need to own a copy of a film like Glory. I like that movie, but I don’t plan on watching it again anytime soon.
I usually buy movies that I’ve already seen and would like to watch again (or check out interesting extra features). There are rare cases where I’d buy something that I haven’t watched, but that’s not very common.
Your line of thinking on GLORY is what I’m talking about. Sure I loved RACHEL GETTING MARRIED, and might want to revisit it someday for a post or a podcast, but I don’t need to have it there at the ready for just such an emergency.
Good luck with the paring down!
I have the same tendencies you do, it seems. If I buy it, I make a point of watching it. Otherwise it’s just a random piece of detritus I didn’t need to spend my hard earned money on. There are very rare cases in which I’ll buy a movie without having seen it, and those cases can usually be summed up as: it was cheap and hard to find a rental version of. Otherwise, my collection is made up of movies I really loved either as a piece of art or because it had a high re-watchability factor. There are a couple I’ve purchased over the last couple months during Criterion sales, etc that I haven’t watched my own copy of, but I can at least say I’ve seen it before. And yeah, I do have a hidden collection in the basement of all the things I thought I had to have when I was 19 (Swordfish? Really?).
Now ask how I buy books. Because seriously, you’d think I was hoarding every important moment in literature or something…
Hey Wilde – Long time!
Months ago, I actually did a similar post about the ones we buy because we think we should. I’m thinking for instance of that copy of THE PIANIST you can see in the photo above. I’ve owned it for nine years now; in that time it’s been watched precisely twice. As much as I love it and believe it to be brilliant, if you put a gun to my head and said “You’re only keeping one quarter of your collection Ryan”, THE PIANIST is going.
Books for me is a whole other animal. If I don’t think I’ll re-read it, I pass them on without hesitation – even if I enjoyed it.
I can’t tell you how many dvds/Blu-Rays I own that I’ve never spun, but I *think* there are only three movies on the shelf I’ve NEVER seen.
I’m much better about watching a dvd if I physically walk into a store and buy it or if it was a gift (from a person I know “in real life”). I try to sit down to those within a week or two of getting them. However, if I ordered a film online, then it comes in the mail and goes on the shelf for who knows how long befoe being watched.
However, there are a lot of movies that I’ve received via blogger contests/games, or a simple dvd exchange, that I get (in the mail) that haven’t been watched. And digital copies sometimes ruin watching the actual physical copy, like if I’m working on the computer in the office I can watch the digital copy while I work, then I don’t feel the need to watch the movie in the dvd player any time soon.
Of course, there are also a plethora of kids’ movies we started buying years ago, even before we had Mia, that haven’t been touched yet, but I don’t really count those since they’re for her, much like you probably don’t include the Shelf of Doom.
Your homework for the next RI (the one after Harrelson) is to watch the three movies you’ve never seen.
The ones you acquire through dvd exchanges and the like need to be looked at too – otherwise, why’d you keep ’em? Sure, you aren’t out of pocket, but thay’re still taking up space. As for digital copies, I didn’t think about that, but if you’ve bought a movie and fired up the digital copy I’d count that as a watch.
As for kidd-o’s shelf, I fear the atrocities that populate it…
I’m not so sure. I have no reservations watching Sex, Lies and Videotape (a prize, among others, won for placing second in Kai’s first Tournament of Champs), I just haven’t gotten around to it yet. However, the other two are the second Matrix movie (received as a “free gift” when I ordered something else online) and The Transporter 2, which I got on the cheap as a stocking stuffer for the hubs a few years back. I’m not sure a feeling of completion is worth sitting through those two.
As for Mia’s shelf, fear not. Loads of classic Disney and Pixar. The only real atrocity is the loathesome 1985 eye-and-ear-sore Sesame Street: Follow That Bird, a plague brought on our house by her father. I’ll take both Princess Diary movies, also on her shelf, over the steaming pile any day.
I have a strange soft spot for FOLLOW THAT BIRD, since it was one of the earliest movies my dad took me too. I also get a laugh when I hear that title since my schoolmates always made fun of me for my parents renting it for my 8th b-day party (even though I didn’t care).
Good to know Mia’s being brought up on a “classic”
I haven’t seen TRANSPORTER 2, but I vote you give the other two a look.
I suffer from a similar addiction. there are a couple of films that I’ve bought blind that I’ve yet to watch (la confidential and volver on DVDs over never actually put into my player), but those are rare to be honest. I guess I could buy less because I can’t remember the last rime I popped in my copy of there will be blood.
what I’ve recently considered cutting out though are buying the ultra special editions. how many times have you pit in disc 2/3 to rewatch the making of?
on a side note, just pre ordered battle royale blue ray complete edition ..
Ah yes, the ultimate editions…
I remember the days when I’d look at a bare bones DVD release and think to myself “There’s a better version coming – I’ll wait”. Nine years and no one-box-KILL-BILL later…
As for your unwatched titles, do yourself a favour and put on L.A. CONFIDENTIAL the next chance you get. You can consider it karmic reciprocity for all the tech support.
I buy very few movies, if any. I guess I’ve learned my lesson from the world of books, where I won’t stand a chance to ever read all books I have. But again: it isn’t really the point is it? There is a value in having them available. And as the year pass they eventually turn into old friends, keeping their set spots in the shelf.
Also: if you live in a family like I do, you tend to have a common store of films. Other family memebers have recorded movies that have played on TV, movies I’m not that much inclined to see anytime soon. This means that the assortment of movies that we have together is larger than it would have been if I’d been on my own.
I should have started the whole article with the stipulation that movies that get added to communal shelves that you didn’t buy or receive as a gift are immune from this discussion.
It’s funny you mention books, because there are several on my shelf right now that I’ve likely outgrown…but I wouldn’t dare get rid of them.
(Sidenote: I have to smile that after your podcast appearance, I can hear your voice in my head when reading your comments now)
You don’t want to know. But I’ll tell you anyway… I’ve got several Blu-rays still in their shrink wrap. Part of this was from the Warner Bros. DVD to Blu swap deal they had. I swapped out about 20 movies but didn’t need to try all of them out (I’m sure they work… hopefully). In fact, almost all of the Blus I have are just upgrades from the DVD so I never felt the need to watch them right away – I just got them because they were cheap or whatever.
I also own one or two Blus I never actually seen ever. And the stack of DVDs I own I never seen is many many. Partly that’s because I used to work in a DVD store and used to get 10-15 free DVDs per week sometimes. So I’d just grab stuff that looked interesting or I’d heard good things about. But never got around to watching them.
Actually I do want to know! When you’re done playing Harry Caul tally ’em up.
I guess I am very conservative when it comes to buying DVD’s or even books. As far as I can remember, I haven’t bought a DVD of a movie I haven’t seen before or I know it is an amazing movie I am sure I will like e.g. I got LOTR extended edition before I knew a word of it but my whole class was going mad about it or Song of Fire and Ice books. Well, off course I have few of those boxes you mentioned and I might not have seen some of those but I think I have very few of them. But then again you can say that even this is a kind of OCD that I have to be sure that my money is worth it.
There’s been once or twice where I’ve bought a movie without watching it first – BROKEN EMBRACES comes to mind – but even word of mouth can be deceitful.
As you mention the money element, I have to smile at the fact that sometimes that works against us. We hold it in the shop and say to ourselves “It’s only five bucks – what a bargain!” and get seduced by a low sticker price. Meanwhile, for all we watch it, we would have been better off buying a sandwich with that $5.
I have a few movies I haven’t watched since I bought them and that’s mostly because I like to wait to watch them until – yes, I’m really going to write this – “the spirit moves me.”
It takes a big man to admit that.
You’ll receive no taunting from me.
I’m somewhat happy to say that out of my 300+ film collection, only about 6 films are currently still shrink-wrapped. I usually watch films either the day of buying them (or soon after). A backlog only generates for me if I get a large number of discs at once (i.e. Christmas and my birthday). That said, there are many discs in my collection that I’ve only watched once or twice since buying.
I also rarely ever buy films without seeing it first. I’ve made a few exceptions over the years, but for the most part I want to know if I actually like the film before I waste shelf-space with it.
Alright, so I have to ask – which six?
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 1, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2, Grindhouse, Captain America, Cowboys and Aliens, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Start around suppertime one night and watch both Harry Potters together. I’m of the unpopular opinion that they don’t work as well separately.
GRINDHOUSE on the other hand can totally be split up – but they’re more fun to watch together.
I’m a movie hoarder. Literally, when I went to Melbourne, I went over with the intention of buying nice clothes and souvenirs…what I came back with were nine DVDs which I didn’t think twice about buying. I just like buying movies, especially working in a DVD shop when I get them for a lot cheaper. Usually, I have to buy them because the store doesn’t have them, or I got them off Fatso and wanted to give them another watch. Plus, my friends always come around and take my DVDs…it is more for their benefit than mine.
So far I have over 200 films. There are probably five that I’ve never seen: La Dolce Vita (which I bought one and a half years ago but I can never find the 3 hours to watch it in), a few films I got in a Paul Newman boxset back in 2009, and some Cary Grant movie that came with a boxset that had movies I actually want to see in it, but I have no intention of seeing that one.
Still, there are quite a few that I haven’t watched since I bought them. I do aim to rectify that, but there are some (take for example Mean Girls, any of my Christopher Nolan films…) that get a lot of love from my DVD player. I just watch what I want to watch, and it is handy having such a big library right at my fingertips when I’m at my Mum’s house.
I can totally relate to the phenomenon of watching a dvd once and then leaving it on the shelf – oddly that comes up a lot with my newer ones.
You know that habit, when you get new music that you play it over and over again? That doesn’t hold true for new movies. I’ve had BLACK SWAN close to a year and watched it only once.
Very interesting question and I know I have way too many DVDs sitting around for years I still have not watched. I am still planning to watch them, but just haven’t come around to doing so. Wouldn’t be able to give you an exact figure. Yet I still buy DVDs, although lately I keep thinking that I should first finish watching what I already have. Still I occasionally buy something which I will watch first…
I actually keep all of my unwatched ones in one spot – and the stack gets a little out-of-control at Christmastime. The upside is, that when I see the tally is getting a little high, I go into moratorium until it gets down to a more reasonable level.
Currently the stack is three movies high – plus a loaner.
That said, there’s no pecking order to the queue. The oldest one could sit there for months before I’m good and ready to fire it up.
Ahh, love this post! Good topic, Ryan.
My movies are sitting in alphabetical order on several shelves, and then slightly overflowing. It’s a wonder because there are several great movies that I love that I DON’T own.
At the private college I attended, we weren’t allowed to watch movies. Yes, you just read that correctly. So a couple friends and I would each bring about 15-20 DVDs in a bag, hide them in our dorms, and then pull them out and watch with headphones on our laptops. It’s really what started getting me into buying films.
I’ve always been a big customer at Blockbuster, sometimes buying more films from there than renting because they had great deals like “Four movies for $20.” So there was the occasion when I would buy two films I loved, one I liked, and another I hadn’t seen but had heard relatively good things about.
There are definitely some films on my shelves I look at and think, why the heck do I own that? At some point I may sit down and reconsider what I own and sell or giveaway some. I mean, I own the entire Smallville collection on DVD except the last season (don’t judge me, haha).
Oh, and I own a remake of the Italian Job on DVD. No big deal. I still have a few years before my thirty-something self might reconsider it 🙂
Wow – there are just so many questions I have about a college that doesn’t allow movie-watching. Your stories of contraband intrigue me, but for now I’ll just welcome you back to the side of enlightenment.
I got suckered on more than one occasion to picking up something I wasn’t as fussed about because Blockbuster (or a similar establishment) had on 2/$40 or 3/$30. So I’d be all “Hey cool – SIDEWAYS is on for cheap! I guess I could buy ALFIE too and get them both for even less. *sigh*”
And don’t go dissing Smallville
I own about 60 films I haven’t seen, but I’d say about 40 of those are Hitchcock films I was planning to watch for a marathon I still haven’t quite built up steam for. Another 10 are a number of indie films I haven’t gotten to yet. The remainder are films that are part of boxsets I got more for the other films or the random title I got on the cheap and just haven’t watched yet. Honestly, I don’t imagine I will get to them all, but I do plan on digging into those Hitchcock films.
I vote you post a list and get people to vote on which ones you should bump up the queue.