Physical Media... like tears in rain?

Philly_Q · October 2023

darthed1981 said:

Thanks All,

Mrs Ed just surprised me with a copy of Sir Pat Stew's new biography - so really the least I can do is clear out the movies I'll never watch again!

All the Star Trek movies then?

darthed1981 · October 2023

Philly_Q said:

darthed1981 said:

Thanks All,

Mrs Ed just surprised me with a copy of Sir Pat Stew's new biography - so really the least I can do is clear out the movies I'll never watch again!

All the Star Trek movies then?

Crikey, they would be the last media I ever let go!!

Grunfeld · October 2023

darthed1981 said:

Anyone else reached crisis point... physical media, guitars and regular sized 3-bed semi I've no intention of leaving full of kids and a Dog - something has got to give!

Crisis point indeed. The big decision was to start. And now: all my books are on Kindle. All my music is on Spotify. All my DVDs are sold and I've not bothered with any replacement cos I don't watch films/TV and I have no idea why I'd bought them in the first place. The physical stuff that used to fill three rooms to the point where where you couldn't walk properly in them is now just one Kindle, one iPad, and two laptops.

It looks minimalist but I'm not. It's more like just the essentials and piles of physical media are not essential to me.

The point about the streaming companies can change their mind about what they offer is a good one. For my own copies that's what external drives are for and that's why the next task is to strip the DRM from the books.

CavemanGrogg · October 2023

darthed1981 said:

Anyone else reached crisis point... physical media, guitars and regular sized 3-bed semi I've no intention of leaving full of kids and a Dog - something has got to give!

Guitars, I passed crisis point years ago, and it will probably take me another good few years to get the number of them under control.

Dogs, currently at crisis point, we have 3, and one of them is a proper bastard.

Books is the one I managed to get under control, got rid of all but a few, and replaced the ones I got rid of with digital versions - thank fuck for 1TB Micro SD cards.

Sassafras · October 2023

Philly_Q said:

LionAquaLooper said:

Keep the ones you can't find for free on streaming services. That's what I did.

They may not always be there on the streaming services, though. They have a habit of "disappearing" things without warning. Like South American police death squads.

But can you get that one on Bluray?

Philly_Q · October 2023

Sassafras said:

Philly_Q said:

LionAquaLooper said:

Keep the ones you can't find for free on streaming services. That's what I did.

They may not always be there on the streaming services, though. They have a habit of "disappearing" things without warning. Like South American police death squads.

But can you get that one on Bluray?

No, it made the jump straight from DVD to 4K, oddly enough. Like George Romero's Martin.

beed84 · October 2023

Philly_Q said:

beed84 said:

Seneca said, "how superfluous a man’s possessions are when he would be a picture of misery if you forced him to start counting up single-handed how much he possessed". My advice would be to aim for a modest collection: keep your absolute favourites and discard the rest. Like @theatreanchor said, it's being selective in what you own.

What did he know though, eh? They hadn't even invented VHS or Betamax in his day.

Haha fair point. I wonder if he'd have been tempted by the Roman Games boxsets if they had ...

CavemanGrogg · October 2023

beed84 said:

Philly_Q said:

beed84 said:

Seneca said, "how superfluous a man’s possessions are when he would be a picture of misery if you forced him to start counting up single-handed how much he possessed". My advice would be to aim for a modest collection: keep your absolute favourites and discard the rest. Like @theatreanchor said, it's being selective in what you own.

What did he know though, eh? They hadn't even invented VHS or Betamax in his day.

Haha fair point. I wonder if he'd have been tempted by the Roman Games boxsets if they had ...

Rome Total War, and Total War Rome 2 where addictive and brilliant games.

Cranky · October 2023

I have a couple too many guitars and books but otherwise the missus is the collector in my household. Nobody is really caring either way, we all have our own space.

Personally I don’t understand why people buy/collect movies. I’ve never bought a Blu-ray. Just have the same old $20 dvd players for like 10 years and we hardly use the things.

ICBM · October 2023

Cranky said:

Personally I don’t understand why people buy/collect movies.

Because it’s important to have a physical copy of great films so you can always watch them when you want to.

Which you never do, except when they’re on TV late at night and you’ve already missed the first 20 minutes, so you can annoy your partner by insisting on staying up to see the rest.

I really should clear out mine. It’s hard to part with things like Blade Runner or Apocalypse Now though, even if they are just at crappy DVD quality. (How the world changes… I did at least get rid of all my VHS.)

digitalscream · October 2023

Cranky said:

Personally I don’t understand why people buy/collect movies. I’ve never bought a Blu-ray. Just have the same old $20 dvd players for like 10 years and we hardly use the things.

Bit more important now that streaming services are actively editing bits out of old films so they're more politically-correct these days.

guitartango · October 2023

I have Roger Waters in the Flesh DVD, should I burn it on the pile as well ?

Philly_Q · October 2023

digitalscream said:

Cranky said:

Personally I don’t understand why people buy/collect movies. I’ve never bought a Blu-ray. Just have the same old $20 dvd players for like 10 years and we hardly use the things.

Bit more important now that streaming services are actively editing bits out of old films so they're more politically-correct these days.

True. And it's not well publicised either. Apparently even Film 4 and the BFI sometimes show cut versions of films - not cut by them, but at the source they've obtained the film from.

darthed1981 · October 2023

Philly_Q said:

digitalscream said:

Cranky said:

Personally I don’t understand why people buy/collect movies. I’ve never bought a Blu-ray. Just have the same old $20 dvd players for like 10 years and we hardly use the things.

Bit more important now that streaming services are actively editing bits out of old films so they're more politically-correct these days.

True. And it's not well publicised either. Apparently even Film 4 and the BFI sometimes show cut versions of films - not cut by them, but at the source they've obtained the film from.

Film4 I believe as they get what they sent.

The BFI though? What films have they censored? Normally their attitude to preserving film is top drawer.

I was watching a 4K version of The Dambusters I bought off Amazon Prime Video the other night, and at the beginning it said "this is an old movie, the Dog was actually called that, don't get offended" in not so many words.

Don't get me wrong, it was racist at the time, it's racist now. It reflects what was considered OK in Britain in the 1940s and showing the film now, with a sensible educational disclaimer, does not for me endorse the use of the word in a modern context.

It's no loss to lose Little Britain, but it's a shame if genuinely good things are getting edited in a major way. Admittedly as a largely historically accurate film I guess The Dambusters is an extreme case, the Dog was really called that, his death is a part of the story, so I guess in some other contexts editing isn't as bad.

The famous scene of the Major in Fawlty Towers ("I took her to see India... at the oval...") is one of the finest satires of casual British racism (the Major correcting someone to a different racial slur, not for being racist) ever put on screen, editing it out tears the heart out of the episode, but I'd also have to concede, you could never film it today!

TheBigDipper · October 2023

I buy downloads, CDs and DVDs (no 4K TV for me, yet...). If I buy a download from Bandcamp, I'll burn a CD. I copy the music to a server. I rehouse my CDs in thin clear wallets that take up 10-20% of the space a jewel case takes and dump most of the sleeve art. DVDs go into binders without their boxes, and they don't get copied to a server.

My main system is still playing CDs and isn't capable of streaming from the server.

I'm another person in the camp that believes I should be able to play the UK version with all the swearwords if I want and not be forced to listen to a sanitised version that wasn't what the artist made or wanted. If it hasn't been dropped already.

theatreanchor · October 2023

darthed1981 said:

Philly_Q said:

digitalscream said:

Cranky said:

Personally I don’t understand why people buy/collect movies. I’ve never bought a Blu-ray. Just have the same old $20 dvd players for like 10 years and we hardly use the things.

Bit more important now that streaming services are actively editing bits out of old films so they're more politically-correct these days.

True. And it's not well publicised either. Apparently even Film 4 and the BFI sometimes show cut versions of films - not cut by them, but at the source they've obtained the film from.

Film4 I believe as they get what they sent.

The BFI though? What films have they censored? Normally their attitude to preserving film is top drawer.

I was watching a 4K version of The Dambusters I bought off Amazon Prime Video the other night, and at the beginning it said "this is an old movie, the Dog was actually called that, don't get offended" in not so many words.

Don't get me wrong, it was racist at the time, it's racist now. It reflects what was considered OK in Britain in the 1940s and showing the film now, with a sensible educational disclaimer, does not for me endorse the use of the word in a modern context.

It's no loss to lose Little Britain, but it's a shame if genuinely good things are getting edited in a major way. Admittedly as a largely historically accurate film I guess The Dambusters is an extreme case, the Dog was really called that, his death is a part of the story, so I guess in some other contexts editing isn't as bad.

The famous scene of the Major in Fawlty Towers ("I took her to see India... at the oval...") is one of the finest satires of casual British racism (the Major correcting someone to a different racial slur, not for being racist) ever put on screen, editing it out tears the heart out of the episode, but I'd also have to concede, you could never film it today!

Actually watched that episode on DVD with my daughter yesterday, who instantly turned and asked, 'CAN YOU SAY THAT?' So then that took a quick explanation. Quite shocking to hear it now.

Philly_Q · October 2023

darthed1981 said:
Film4 I believe as they get what they sent.

The BFI though? What films have they censored? Normally their attitude to preserving film is top drawer.

I can't remember the specific example, I think my brother told me about it... you're right, they are of course very keen on film conservation and wouldn't intentionally show something cut or censored.

But I think it was something they had to get from, say, Paramount, Warners or Disney, and it had been "tailored to modern sensibilities" in some way and that wasn't pointed out to anyone.

theatreanchor · October 2023

Remember when you could still buy the original edits of Star Wars before Lucas lost his damn mind?

Philly_Q · October 2023

theatreanchor said:

Remember when you could still buy the original edits of Star Wars before Lucas lost his damn mind?

Was that the laserdiscs?

darthed1981 · October 2023

Philly_Q said:

theatreanchor said:

Remember when you could still buy the original edits of Star Wars before Lucas lost his damn mind?

Was that the laserdiscs?

That's the highest res version that existed - for most of us they topped out as VHS.

Ironically, Disney probably would release a properly branched version of totally original, original with tarted up VFX, and special editions if physical media still sold well - it doesn't, so at best they would do it for D+

Philly_Q · October 2023

darthed1981 said:

Philly_Q said:

theatreanchor said:

Remember when you could still buy the original edits of Star Wars before Lucas lost his damn mind?

Was that the laserdiscs?

That's the highest res version that existed - for most of us they topped out as VHS.

Ironically, Disney probably would release a properly branched version of totally original, original with tarted up VFX, and special editions if physical media still sold well - it doesn't, so at best they would do it for D+

If they let Arrow or one of the other niche/cult independent distributors licence the content, they'd produce some fantastic special editions, which would sell well to those who care.

(I wish Peter Jackson would let Arrow remaster and release his first few films, but he never will.)

theatreanchor · October 2023

Philly_Q said:

theatreanchor said:

Remember when you could still buy the original edits of Star Wars before Lucas lost his damn mind?

Was that the laserdiscs?

Laserdiscs were not within my purchasing power then. Just had the VHS.

BluesLover · October 2023

I wouldn't get rid of anything. You can't trust the streaming services. Amazon prime is going to charge extra if you want to watch ad-free. FFS.

theatreanchor · October 2023

BluesLover said:

I wouldn't get rid of anything. You can't trust the streaming services. Amazon prime is going to charge extra if you want to watch ad-free. FFS.

This.

And they will keep pushing prices up. £1 here. £1 there. Year on year.

UnclePsychosis · October 2023

theatreanchor said:

Remember when you could still buy the original edits of Star Wars before Lucas lost his damn mind?

I've got those on DVD somewhere, they were bonus content on one of the various releases.

Personally I've kept all my DVD and bluray discs but binned the boxes. A few cd wallets easily keeps them safe and easy to access.

I would do the same with cds, except I don't want to because I like music more than I like films.

What I don't want to do is lumber my kids with the hassle of dealing with all my music when I'm dead and gone, but I haven't quite worked out how to do that yet. I inherited thousands of LPs and 7"s and dealing with them is a phenomenal PITA.

Philly_Q · October 2023

UnclePsychosis said:
I would do the same with cds, except I don't want to because I like music more than I like films.

Thought-provoking comment. I don't think I'd want to choose between the two.

ICBM · October 2023

UnclePsychosis said:

theatreanchor said:

Remember when you could still buy the original edits of Star Wars before Lucas lost his damn mind?

I've got those on DVD somewhere, they were bonus content on one of the various releases.

Yes, I’ve got those too.

UnclePsychosis said:

Personally I've kept all my DVD and bluray discs but binned the boxes. A few cd wallets easily keeps them safe and easy to access.

I should probably do this. DVD boxes are even more of a colossal pointless waste of space than CD jewel cases.

stickyfiddle · October 2023

I have 2 crates of CDs that I haven't played in 10+ years but those albums meant something to me when I was younger. I'm not sure if they still do, but I have space, so I'm keeping them for now.

DVDs and Blurays I have very few of these days.

I do share the concerns about digital media disappearing - with online stores getting shutdown and streaming providers making decisions seemingly at random it's going to become a bigger problem as time goes on. It's a bigger thing in gaming - there's plenty of dross that I don't care about, but the issue is even worse due to proprietary formats. Even something as beloved, mainstream and relatively-recently as Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii, 2010) is going to become difficult to play as it's never had a release. I'd love to see an HD/60FPS version but Nintendo can't be arsed, and most of us don't keep a stock of old consoles around that need extra cables and adapters to even plug in to a modern TV

darthed1981 · October 2023

One thing I did realise many years ago, after a genuine attempt to do so led to me owning about 2000 CDs, is that you simply can't "own" all the music you like, it's simply impossible.

There are genres I dip into listening to that would never justify a vinyl purchase. CDs are kind of like a red herring currently, you get them for about £2 online... but then... they just sit there.

I abandoned CD altogether and the desire to "own" some music dragged me back in to collect vinyl for the first time (I've always sort of loved the format) but going and buying piles of second hand CDs? Too far!!

With films, they can pry my copies of my favourites (Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, V for Vendetta, Christopher Nolan films) out of my dead hands... but do I need Blu Rays of the Charlie's Angels movies...?

guitartango · October 2023

darthed1981 said:

One thing I did realise many years ago, after a genuine attempt to do so led to me owning about 2000 CDs, is that you simply can't "own" all the music you like, it's simply impossible.

There are genres I dip into listening to that would never justify a vinyl purchase. CDs are kind of like a red herring currently, you get them for about £2 online... but then... they just sit there.

I abandoned CD altogether and the desire to "own" some music dragged me back in to collect vinyl for the first time (I've always sort of loved the format) but going and buying piles of second hand CDs? Too far!!

With films, they can pry my copies of my favourites (Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, V for Vendetta, Christopher Nolan films) out of my dead hands... but do I need Blu Rays of the Charlie's Angels movies...?

Would you say you are a hoarder ? Guitars, DVD's , Mags under the bed !. Maybe you should look at the ratings of each film , Bladerunner and Jaws 8/10 Keep , Debbie Does Dallas (Special 4k extra 40 minutes Edition) 6/10 rip and sell

(:

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Physical Media... like tears in rain?

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