Amazing Website That Lets You Know When Films/TV Shows Hit NetFlix Streaming

[u2roolz]

B & N Link

 

Well, I went to Barnes & Noble for the first time in 2 months. I was surprised and wished that I had more money on me when I read about their Criterion Collection 50% sale.

Any film lover knows how expensive this series has been since they've been in circulation.

 

Since most of these go for $39.99 at Barnes & Noble, the sale price on one of these is $19.99.

 

I'm pretty sure that it runs through Saturday the 20th and is available online as well.

 

It's funny that I bashed them for having the most expensive prices for DVDs and CDs just a year ago.

[bigshoulders]

B & N Link

 

Well, I went to Barnes & Noble for the first time in 2 months. I was surprised and wished that I had more money on me when I read about their Criterion Collection 50% sale.

Any film lover knows how expensive this series has been since they've been in circulation.

 

Since most of these go for $39.99 at Barnes & Noble, the sale price on one of these is $19.99.

 

I'm pretty sure that it runs through Saturday the 20th and is available online as well.

 

It's funny that I bashed them for having the most expensive prices for DVDs and CDs just a year ago.

They do these sales about twice a year now. I splurged last year, but will exercise restraint and pick up just a few that I really really want this time around.

[bleedorange]

They always have this sale right before the Christmas buying season starts. I wish I had a little extra money to full take advantage of it.

[Beltmann]

It's a great deal for great movies, but still too much for me--after all, it's still $20 for one film. As many of you probably imagine, I buy a lot of the DVDs and must ask my wallet for forgiveness. I always abide by two rules: 1. Only buy used. 2. Only buy for $8 or less. With patience and diligence, I can pretty much find everything under those conditions, even Criterions.

[GtrPlyr]

I love me some Criterions, been collecting them for years. I've tried to buy as many as I can, but there's just too many so I've filled the gaps getting them from the Library and downloading (I think I'm only missing 4 or 5.)

[bigshoulders]

I love me some Criterions, been collecting them for years. I've tried to buy as many as I can, but there's just too many so I've filled the gaps getting them from the Library and downloading (I think I'm only missing 4 or 5.)

Even Salò?

 

I couldn't bear even owning such a film, let alone watching it. I can't understand the merit of such a motion picture, and why Criterion would waste resources (painstaking film restoration, etc.) in preserving it. Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer my banquets to be shit-free.

 

There are huge gaps in what I have, and that's certainly one of them. The thought of trying to own a complete set of Criterion is daunting to say the least.

[Beltmann]

I own a copy of SALO, even though I think it's crap. Like I said, you can find anything at the right price eventually!

[RainDogToo]

Just picked up "Night of The Hunter" and "Modern Times!"

[sureshot]

I already splurged during their summer sale, but I will still probably pick a couple up this time around. Criterions are the only DVDs I can still justify purchasing, although it seems like they're starting to get overboard with what they put out. It used to be Criterion was a stamp of approval, a film you needed to see before you die, or something that was at least widely neglected and had never gotten proper exposure. Thats no longer really the case, as they're putting out just about anything they can get their hands on. But I still appreciate what they do.

[sureshot]

I own a copy of SALO, even though I think it's crap. Like I said, you can find anything at the right price eventually!

 

I havent seen Salo, but I do own Man Bites Dog, which I only viewed once...

[RainDogToo]

 

[Guest Hollinger.]

Salo is not at all as shocking as many think it might be. It's more just incredibly boring.

 

And I really need to start abiding by Beltmann's rules.

 

[Winston Legthigh]

 

I spy with my little eye a MPFC boxset.

 

I'd like to get the Criterion blurays of 400 Blows and Breathless. I wish they'd do a treatment of Umbrellas of Cherbourg.

[Synthesizer Patel]

I havent seen Salo, but I do own Man Bites Dog, which I only viewed once...

 

Why did you only watch it once, I think it's a great film - very funny. Salo is definately a one-watch deal, though.

[bigshoulders]

Has anyone seen the Lars von Trier film: "Antichrist"? The trailer on Criterion's website has me intrigued, but it would be a blind buy for me. Might take a 19.99 gamble on the blu-ray anyway, but was curious if anyone has seen it.

[Winston Legthigh]

Has anyone seen the Lars von Trier film: "Antichrist"? The trailer on Criterion's website has me intrigued, but it would be a blind buy for me. Might take a 19.99 gamble on the blu-ray anyway, but was curious if anyone has seen it.

Why would you buy a movie you've never seen?

[GtrPlyr]

Why would you buy a movie you've never seen?

 

Isn't that pretty much the same thing people going to the cinema do?

 

2 tickets for the movies is generally more than a new DVD.

 

I've bought quite a few DVDs of films I've never seen before. Usually they're films that can't be found at rental stores that I've wanted to see. Often they're from directors I have had good experiences with in the past. And if that DVD happens to be issued by someone like Criterion it's a win-win.

[Guest Hollinger.]

I buy all kinds of stuff blind. If its bad, I'll put it on swaptree. Antichrist is on Watch Instantly if you're a Netflix subscriber.

[u2roolz]

A friend of mine severely hated Antichrist with a passion. So much so that he wrote a review on it on his website. I'll probably see this film on my own when I forget about reading his review. He hasn't steered me away from seeing it altogether.

 

*1/2

There was a moment about halfway through the screening of Lars Von Trier's Antichrist where the projector abruptly stopped. Some sort of projection booth problem. Rather than being livid, my heart lept with joy. I had wild aspirations that somehow the film became mangled beyond repair and under no circumstances could it continue. My joyous heart sank like a dispensed kidney stone the minute the lights wend down and the film continued.

 

That's how awful this film is.

 

This is a film that has become notorious as of late for its graphic depictions of sex and violence, in particular genital mutilation. (A nice film for the whole family to enjoy!) Without going into too much detail, I will say that all the stories you have heard are true. What's amazing about the film though is how bland the film manages to be despite such racing content.

 

I'm talking boring here, people!

 

B-O-R-I-N-G.

 

BORING!!!

 

The movie opens with a married couple (Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg) making love in their bedroom. In the other room, their child climbs out of his crib, climbs up onto the window sill, and falls to his death while his parents are in the throes of their passion.

 

The mother is devastated, as you could expect. Her husband, a psychiatrist, decides that in order to move past this horrible stage of grief she must conquer her biggest fear. The fear in question is a log cabin out in the woods named Eden. She had spent the previous summer at the cabin, resulting in an experience that has terrorized her in a way she cannot even grasp. The husband decides that the only way for his wife to conquer the fear is to take her up to this cabin and work through her torment.

 

Big mistake.

 

Needless to say, when they get to the cabin (at about the fucking halfway point of the fucking movie), she goes insane where she commits the previously-stated genital mutilations.

 

Okay, here's the deal. I will certainly give the actors credit for bravely putting themselves through the rigors of Von Trier's tasks. I'll also give Von Trier credit for trying to go in a different direction, making a somewhat artful version of a torture porn movie. But, at the end of the day, all there is to show for it is just that: another torture porn movie. And a cold and distancing one at that.

 

In the final analysis, Antichrist is a mess. A mess that only a truly gifted filmmaker could make, but a mess nonetheless.

[Beltmann]

And I really need to start abiding by Beltmann's rules.

My rules prevent me from spending a lot per movie, but do not prevent me from buying a lot of movies: Even after weeding out 18 months ago, there are still nearly 3,000 movies on the shelves (more if you include ones transferred from VHS or TV, and short films). I am thoroughly embarrassed by this and store them in the basement where no one has to look at them. But they are there, perfectly housed, perfectly alphabetized. And it is invaluable. I constantly pull things from it, for my own use or to lend or to show my kids or to use clips in class (I teach). It brings me great joy and convenience.

 

I'm hoping, though, that online streaming or storing will someday make the shelves obsolete. Eventually the day will come when owning a piece of plastic and putting it on my shelf will seem silly.

 

Oh, and this: I found Antichrist mesmerizing, but equal parts brilliant and disastrous. Definitely worth seeing, though, if only to enjoy talking about it.

[u2roolz]

I have a giant turntable thingy for my DVDs and I even have a stack of DVDs on top of that.

I also converted an old book case for my S-Z DVDs that also includes all of my tv shows and some of my music DVDs.

 

Then I have my black standup holders for specific directors.

Does anyone else do it by director?

I find that this is so much more easier looking for a film.

 

There's still a lot of work to be done though. I haven't alphabetized my collection in almost 4 years and there's some directors who I need to pull out and put elsewhere.

 

Edit: In total a rough estimation of almost 600 DVDs in 9 holders/turntables etc...

[bleedorange]

I started weeding out from my collection a while ago. And I've definitely stopped buying so many movies.

 

I decided to only buy special blu-rays of movies I know I'll watch multiple times. Otherwise, I can just rely on netflix.

[Beltmann]

I started weeding out from my collection a while ago. And I've definitely stopped buying so many movies.

 

I decided to only buy special blu-rays of movies I know I'll watch multiple times. Otherwise, I can just rely on netflix.

Over the last year or so, I have also cut back considerably. Netflix really changed the game. I joined Netflix in 2000, and ironically, that access to so many otherwise obscure titles only increased my desire to collect more movies, by inspiring an even greater passion (obsession?) than before. But now Netflix streaming points towards the future, doesn't it?

[u2roolz]

I agree on wanting to cut back and I foresee myself doing that a lot when I rejoin Netflix next week.

That being said, I truly feel that we are all collectors of films and like to have a physical object to show for it.

Book lovers probably like to own books too and show them off. I don't think every time they want to pull out (insert title here) they have to go to the library to rent it.

Now a blind book read/purchase is a lot easier to pull off than a blind film watch/purchase at a library.

[sureshot]

Why did you only watch it once, I think it's a great film - very funny.

 

Disembowelment gang-bang rape and child murder is kind of a buzzkill.