DVD Library

[essrog]

Are there any parents on the forum who can suggest a good way to store DVDs? We're expecting our first child in August, and in addition to worrying about just keeping him/her alive, I'm wondering what's to become of our (well, mostly my) DVD collection. We live in a smallish Cape Cod, and plan on using the family room in the finished basement as a play area. Unfortunately, that's also the room that houses the DVD collection (and is really the only room in the house that can fulfill that purpose). Does anyone use locked cabinets so they can keep their DVDs from being flung around by an infant or toddler? (Though truth be told, if Junior started using Mommy's Sex and the City DVDs as frisbees, I'd be one proud papa.)

[Perkins Cobb]

In terms of deciding what to watch, I rarely watch anything (except for TV episodes or theatrical screenings) on weeknights; movies on DVD generally get crammed together during weekends. I'll usually "program" a weekend with movies that have something in common, whether it's the director, decade, country, genre, etc., or some combination of all four, just as long as they're not too similar (i.e., a whole lot of Bergman all at once turned out to be a bad idea). The key to not getting burned out is variety, so I might watch '50s musicals this weekend, recent releases next weekend, then '30s miscellany, then '80s Godard, then some giallos & spaghetti westerns, etc. Almost all of these are coming via Netflix, supplemented by the occasional import kevyip, now that my local rental stores (save one) have bought the farm.

This system works for me because of something I started when I got my first DVD player back in 1999: a spreadsheet of every movie I haven't seen, and might conceivably want to see, that's available on DVD. Now I update it with the new releases each week, and it stays steady at about 2,000 titles to pick from -- sort of a Netflix queue before there was a Netflix. It was basically an accident (it started as a survey to make sure there were enough movies out on DVD to justify the expense of that first player, in case, y'know, this newfangled format didn't catch on) but turned out to be one of the smartest things I ever did. I'd be totally lost without it.

[Murdoch]

I order mine autobiographically, if I want to find 2046 I have to remember that in November 2007 I bought it for someone, but then didn't give it to them for personal reasons.

[carax09]

Isn't one of the prompts to what we watch this forum?

After some discussion about Powell and Technicolor last week I got out and rewatched (right through) Red Shoes and Blimp, and after Kerpanning Yokihi on the weekend I watched it again last night.

Ha!

Alright I'm (painfully) aware of what "Kevyip" is, and I have a vague understanding of the "Kinsayder Quotient", but you're going to have to explain "Kerpanning". Is it a thoughtful dismissal?

**edit**After checking the MOC Mizo thread, I see that both you and Michael have high praise for Yokihi, so "Kerpanning" must be something else.

[CSM126]

I find it so strange that people feel the need for a system to tell them what to watch. You couldn't just, oh I dunno, watch whatever you're in the mood for at the moment? If you were home on a Saturday with nothing to do and you thought "Hey, I'd like to watch Short Cuts!" would you stop yourself and ask "But does that fit in with the model I devised in my excel spreadsheet?"?

Just watch it for Chrissakes. I hate to pop the bubble but just because you have an unwatched DVD on your shelf doesn't mean you're obligated to watch it before any others you've seen before. If I did that I'd never rewatch any of my other DVDs because some discs will sit around unwatched for months in my house. Shit, I bought Written on the Wind and didn't watch it until a year later almost! It wasn't like I was about to go that along abstaining from movies altogether because, "dammit, I OWE it to Sirk to make that the only movie I watch until that disc is broken in!". No. I saw it on sale, I bought it before the price went back up and said "I've been meaning to see this anyway, but I'm not in the mood for Fifties soap today. Some other time, then."

You can do that. Really. Besides, if you have a stack of unwatched DVDs, isn't that just another dilemma onto itself? You want to watch the unwatched discs before rewatching your others, but which unwatched disc do you break in first? Will it shatter my intricate cataloging system if I see Ugetsu before Seventh Seal? Should I pop my Fellini cherry with Amarcord now, or should I deepen my Kurosawa love by watching Kagemusha first? AHHHHHHHHH!"

They're just plastic discs. Jesus.

[domino harvey]

Why are you so angry about the viewing habits of others when they don't effect you in the slightest?

[CSM126]

I'm not angry, I'm just utterly befuddled. To me, rigidly defining the order you watch movies in and the times you watch them and forcing yourself to forsake re-viewing old favorites in favor of waiting to see something you've never seen before and may not even wind up liking takes all the fun out of the movies by transforming them from a form of entertainment to an academic exercise.

It's like making a spreadsheet to tell you when you're allowed to get some random ass and when you have to just sit at home and fondle yourself. Just do whatever sounds good at the moment, dude.

[Subbuteo]

I've a system not that dissimilar to David's - dropping plastic cases for plastic sleeves (each able to hold two discs) but retain those with covers/packaging of beauty... these are displayed seperately.
The sleeves are hidden away in a apothecary cabinet (lovely bit of furniture) each drawer catalogued by country and broken down into director/year.

I have a large collection but it is largely hidden from view...I would hate my living space resembling a blockbuster store

David I'm intrigued what are the coloured boxes you use with director names written on the spine?

[Kinsayder]

My concern about plastic sleeves is that they might adhere to the disc surface over time. This happened with some CDs I had stored that way -- but it was a very cheap and poorly made disc wallet. Even with the paper sleeves I use, I always keep the playing surface away from the plastic window.

[Michael Kerpan]

Ohmygawd, I've been verbed!

;~} (or should it be ;~{ )

[Subbuteo]

My concern about plastic sleeves is that they might adhere to the disc surface over time. This happened with some CDs I had stored that way -- but it was a very cheap and poorly made disc wallet. Even with the paper sleeves I use, I always keep the playing surface away from the plastic window.

Mine are quality ones with a stitched in lint, no concerns here, excellent storage product.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

They include between 10-15 discs each and they came from el super cheapo DVDr packs which I used to rip stuff from. THey are incredibly useful and I wish I had more -- need em now for: Melville, Ozu, Mizo, Fleishcer, Truffaut, Resnais, Ozu, Demy and several other people.

David, you can get similar multi-disc packaging at PCX in North Ryde. I use the 14 disc CD case at the bottom of this page for filing CD-Rs. The case is only 1 inch wide, so it saves a hell of a lot of room. The two disc sleeves available separately are plastic but have a woven centre divider. Haven't yet had any problems with the plastic side sticking to the discs.

The case has a plastic sleeve like a DVD case so you can put labels under that, although they have a tendency to fall out. Sticky labels work a treat.

[Subbuteo]

David
I get mine from SVP UK
here

Navigate to disk storage...sleeves/pockets and you will find the cloth lined PVC sleeves (for 2 discs) at £1.29 per 100, also recommended are the cardboard protective sleeves on the same page.

[Scharphedin2]

David Bowie once talked of his library saying he had read one third of the books, would read another third some day, and would probably never get round to the final third, and that they would be recycled and replaced. He could not understand people who had read all their books, where was the spirit of enquiry in such people? He would be taken by an interest and explore it in detail but would inevitably move on, only to return to the same thing again some day, when the books would be waiting for him.

I was reminded of another comment on personal libraries, as I was pre-viewing some of the films in my latest kevyip pile last night.

Umberto Eco in one of his books talks about his library (of books), which, at the time of writing the piece in question, was in the neighborhood of 40,000 volumes (if memory serves me right), spread across several estates.

He wrote that naturally he had not read all of his books, and did not expect to ever manage to do so. However, as he was shuffling and moving the books around over the years, glancing at the spines, as he would pass the shelves, lifting down a given volume from a shelf to peruse a few pages, and so on, somehow he would absorb their meaning. So, sometimes, when actually finally reading a book that had been in his possession for many years, he would find that he already "knew" it by this process of "osmosis."

Last night, amongst several scores of other films, I viewed a few moments of Akira Kurosawa's One Wonderful Sunday; just a brief snippet of a scene, beginning with the young couple discussing how they would afford a household together, and then another brief segment that had them dashing through the streets of a city, with the rain coming down in droves (quite a lovely sequence, in fact), and them eventually arriving at some kind of official building, commenting that they made it ahead of a lot of people, who are seen likewise crowding to this building. The moment I viewed ended with a shot of their feet in their wet and downtrodden shoes, scaling the steps of the building amongst the equally shabby feet of the crowd.

Amongst the first film books I acquired back in the late '80s/early '90s were Kurosawa's autobiography, as well as Donald Richie's huge film by film study of his work. I remember vaguely the stills from One Wonderful Sunday out of the Richie book, more really than what he had to say about the films. Then, in the early days of the DVD medium, I picked up a number of Kurosawa films from Mei Ah; extremely low budget affairs, a good third of them would not play at all, amongst them One Wonderful Sunday. The disc has been sitting on my shelf ever since, and I have looked at the cover image of the young couple dozens of times. Then, when the Eclipse Kurosawa set came out, I naturally ordered it, and followed the discussion here in the forum cursorily.

In other words, as I sat down to view this brief segment of the film yesterday, I immediately recognised the protagonists, and their situation of post-war poverty, and I noticed the unusual levity in this film, etc. With the film now in my library, I will often see the spine of it, and I will occasionally come into contact with the film, as I move DVDs around on my shelves. I may even read the back of the case again down the road, and/or view a brief clip in one context or another. When, some day, I have the chance to view the whole film, I will have forgotten the details of the segment described above, but I imagine that my experience will be somewhat like Eco's with his unread books, of stepping into a film that I have not seen, but somehow -- through these various "contacts" with the film over the years -- feel that I have "seen."

[Awesome Welles]

Great post Scharphe, I have thought this over the years whilst looking at those older members of my kevyip pile that are somehow constantly overlooked, some times I feel like I don't need to see it, having read the back, seen stills, interviews about the film, watched a scene, seen extracts somewhere or other. When I finally come around to watch the film in full it'll be a great experience because all this build up and investment will come to fruition in the 'event'. For this reason I think it is actually quite healthy to have a broad kevyip pile, something that can age and mature, giving the owner of great pleasure as they peruse their cellar, I mean shelf, not only choice but something of a history too.

[fdm]

I have about 50 films or so sitting out in vague to-watch piles. New pickups are often most enticing and frequently go on quickly. Since I mostly watch films late at night, if I'm tired (or suffering from allergies), I usually go for a short film, or an English language -- non-subtitled, non-silent -- film.

Last year, I had a default option in place. If I couldn't decide what to watch, I would go with a Hitchcock film. Finished off all my Hitch kevyip that way. Then I did the same with my Japanese kevyip, although I didn't finish off the pile. I was thinking of digging out my many unwatched Bergman's and using that as the next default option. Though I've recently bought a lot of early Hitchcock courtesy of Studio Canal, so that's again an option, with the late night benefit of being short English language films.

So to-watch pile, new pickups and a default option when I can't decide. I do think it's important to be in the proper, receptive mood for a given film.

I'm kinda like this, but I tend to have a few box sets in play (e.g., now I'm going though the James Bond and Chantal Akerman ones, just finished the Alain Delon set, did some Hitchcock and Capra a while ago, those Dirty Harry blu-rays are likely to enter this mix soon), try to watch a Criterion title or two a week, tend to watch the more intriguing newish films and then whatever else may be appealing to me. Throw on the next Zatoichi title every so often. The wife seems to have lost interest in watching much of what I watch -- she's somewhat busy trying to get elected -- but will usually watch a sci-fi title or something recent (she's reached some kind of threshold regarding violence in films, so those are usually out for her any more -- doesn't stop me from watching them though).

Most of these are weekend endeavors, as during the week I'm pretty tired (9hrs of work and 2hrs of driving with not enough sleep each day take their toll), and will go for the straightforward English language title likely as not if I do any viewing at all during the week (probably some film noir or the like).

Can't say I'm close to finishing off much of anything, but have viewed about half the "Collection". The rest nowhere near that.

[fiddlesticks]

The wife seems to have lost interest in watching much of what I watch -- she's somewhat busy trying to get elected --

If she doesn't get the VP nomination, she might have more time available. You could start with Primary Colors.

[oldsheperd]

Before I sold most of my collection off to you knuckleheads a couple of years ago I had all my Criterions in numbered ordered and bascially everything grouped in by genre. Now that I'm rebuilding I've got dvds piled all over my room since I don't give a shit and I'm moving soon. I always liked when I had a huge dvd library, I'd be looking through my dvds and find a dvd that I completely forgot I ever owned. Anyone ever experience this?

[Kinsayder]

I always liked when I had a huge dvd library, I'd be looking through my dvds and find a dvd that I completely forgot I ever owned. Anyone ever experience this?

Yes, usually after I've just bought a duplicate.

[Murdoch]

Right now I have two different DVD collections: the collection of DVDs I bought when I first started buying them, and then the collection of movies I actually watch. I have the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy but can tell you I have never cracked open the cases to watch the films, same thing goes with quite a few of the DVDs I own, and I've started to purge my collection of these. I have this carry case I now use for keeping track of the DVDs I actually care about - works great for when I go back to college - and it used to be full, but since I've weeded out the ones I don't watch it's only about half-full. I mean, it's weird to look at the DVDs I bought and think, "wow, I wasted I don't know how much on movies I'll never watch." Did anybody else feel this kick when you first started buying DVDs where you just kinda bought whatever to build up your collection?

[domino harvey]

Did anybody else feel this kick when you first started buying DVDs where you just kinda bought whatever to build up your collection?

I'm pretty sure this was my justification in buying Evolution when it came out. Does anyone else have a "Shame Pile" of DVDs that aren't worth enough to sell but you don't want them sitting on the shelf with the rest of your DVDs?

[oldsheperd]

I have a "shame pile" I keep them on the high part of my shelf. I typically use them when I get a dvd that has a broken case. I just swap it out.

[zombeaner]

I'm closing in on 2000 dvds. Single titles are mostly just alphabetical. Box sets and TV shows go any place I can find room, in fact, I need to buy something to house these. The only single titles that get special treatment are Criterions (by spine number), Masters of Cinema (spine), limited editions (those that are just too big to fit my selves), and Russ Meyer films (for easy access). I've considered separating my Dragon Dynasty and Tartan because the spines all match so neatly, but so far no dice. There is no tidy way for my to store all of my stuff that I approve of, however, my wife just insisted that I move them all into my office, so at least the madness is contained.

[CSM126]

Does anyone else have a "Shame Pile" of DVDs that aren't worth enough to sell but you don't want them sitting on the shelf with the rest of your DVDs?

Well, it's not a pile at a whopping one, but for the life of me I can't get rid of fucking Schindler's List.

[Mr Sausage]

Did anybody else feel this kick when you first started buying DVDs where you just kinda bought whatever to build up your collection?

I'm pretty sure this was my justification in buying Evolution when it came out. Does anyone else have a "Shame Pile" of DVDs that aren't worth enough to sell but you don't want them sitting on the shelf with the rest of your DVDs?

Oh yes. I have a pile of Artisans and Merchant Ivorys sent as screeners that I keep in a grocery bag in my crawlspace. There is also a copy of Wrong Turn tucked between my computer desk and the wall.