DVDs

Haha. Excellent question.

Jus the other day I was thinking of hooking up my DVD player again because there are some movies I want to watch that I can’t find on any of the streaming services to which I subscribe. But I own them on DVD. So, yes, I suppose I still use DVDs.

i use dvds to watch movies and so on and use my dvd/vcr recorder to transfer videotapes to blank dvds...

and i'm still going to buy a blue ray dvd player very soon....

do not and will never want to watch anything on a computer screen or the whole hooking up my laptop to my tv to watch anything either....

and like books, i like actual dvd cases and bookcases to display my stuff...

What about Blurays? I still buy the occasional Bluray from time to time of good action flicks or "event" movies. I have an awesome sound system and enjoy blowing out the walls. All my DVDs are boxed up in storage somewhere.

[quote]whole hooking up my laptop to my tv to watch anything either....

Why not? It takes two seconds and the picture and audio are just as good as anything else.

DLers are so weird with their quirks.

I do. I'm the type of person who watches the same movies over and over again - and those few beloved classics I want to OWN; I want to know they're MINE forever. From some streaming service or cloud or whatever, they could disappear at any moment, or you could be unable to access them due to internet problems .....

Or do Netflix et al. offer a download option? I've never even tried one of those services tbh. If you can download stuff, I might give it a try ... one day.

I purchase movies from time to time on Amazon and watch them through my Apple TV. Super easy and no need to hook my computer up to anything, I don’t think I’ve watched a movie on or with a computer since 2003.

I use my DVD maybe once a week. DVD players are inexpensive. There's a New York Public Library four blocks from me and they have a terrific DVD collection, including many LGBTQ and foreign language films. Not everything can be found on a streaming service.

I still use them because I borrow movies from the library that Netflix and Amazon don’t have unless you purchase them.

Sometimes I do just to see what it was like living as my ancestors did. Kinda like using a butter churner or a typewriter.

I had hundreds. I threw away all of them. I never watched them anymore and they took up too much space. They also collected dust. Don't regret my decision.

I have many foreign films on DVD. Most of these films are not streamable. Most of the DVDs are now out of print so they are considered to be "rare". Netflix streaming, for example, is rather awful in that it doesn't offer very many "classic" American films or GOOD foreign films.

R7, try the Hoopla and Kanopy apps. They're through your local library and offer a great selection of gay and foreign language films. You can check out about ten titles a month, and stream them through apps on the Fire Stick (probably Roku and smart TVs, too). I use both to find a lot of hard to find titles that will never be available on Netflix or Prime.

Even with so many streaming options, I still not only watch DVDs, I still subscribe to Netflix. Not the streaming service people know it as now, the original service where you get DVDs in the mail.

you never know what the streaming services will offer in the future... the profit appears to be producing and promoting their own content

all the marginal / niche titles from the studio's golden era seem more and more elusive. can't I keep my copy of The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend (1949) just one more year?

I have been buying more and more blurays and DVD s over the past couple of years. I want to own a movie to watch when I want to, and not be subject to the whims of studios, who might decide one day just to make something unavailable, like Disney with their "Vault" bullshit. With Disney buying every studio up who knows what might just disappear all of a sudden. But I'm a movie obsessive, I guess if you are only a casual movie-watcher it doesn't matter.

I can’t stream TCM or Criterion here in Australia and there are scores of movies that I have that aren’t available streaming, or get yanked off.

No Criterion in Australia? WTF?

So many movies aren't streaming anywhere, so I protect them at all costs. I do think that, one day, physical media will come back in a big way once people realize how many films have been lost to streaming. I also hate how a streaming site might take off a film with little to no notice whatsoever. There have been many things I've added to my watch list and come back to a few months later and they're gone.

[quote] physical media will come back in a big way once people realize how many films have been lost to streaming

Huh?

Also, it's rare to find director/actor commentary when you stream. I like all the extras you get with a bluray.

I still watch and collect them. I'm glad to have actual copies instead of having to pay repeatedly to stream the movies I love.

I have DVDs of Mildred Pierce and The Harvey Girls and I watch them all the time!

Hubby is a techy so we haven't used DVDs in years. We shifted to BluRay early, and now we mainly do streaming.

We still have a ton of DVDs and BluRays which my hubby refuses to get rid of

We have a free national TV channel called 'Talking Pictures' in the UK that remasters and broadcasts Movies and TV shows that are impossible to find on Streaming or DVD. There is a joke that it is run by a Father & Daughter from a garden shed, it's actually quite near to the truth.

[quote]Not everything can be found on a streaming service.

You can find anything on streaming services. You just have to go to the "off-brand" ones, if you know what I mean.

I still buy blu-rays (and CDs and vinyl records). Came in handy over Halloween when I wanted to watch The Orphanage and couldn't find it streaming nor available for purchase (except in SD, as-if) anywhere.

DVDs are almost unwatchable these days because on huge modern TV screens the picture quality is awful.

If you torrent or use the bootleg streaming sites you can watch anything you want.

R27 talk to us eldergays more about this Torrent and bootleg streaming sites.

We usually don’t watch DVDs but a couple of weeks ago a storm caused our Internet to go out for three days so we couldn’t stream anything. I got the DVD player out of the closet and hooked it up and we watched a few Redbox movies.

Gross, why would you touch DVDs in the age of COVID?

R30 = Nervous Nellie

R30 = Nervous Nellie

Plenty of things were released on DVD, that you can't find anywhere online. I like to watch ballet, and I have all the DVDs.

I have 10-15 DVDs and a few Blu-rays. These are some of my favorite movies. Physical media still provides better quality than streaming, no lag, no buffering, and none of the synchronization problems I have with Amazon Prime. I enjoy the extras that come with disks, interviews and commentary.

I do occasionally. Whenever I buy a streaming movie I’m afraid it will be removed.

R35, so when buying a streaming movie, you don't own that movie forever? Then why buy it?

R15 SBS have some classics to stream - and they are free.

Also Stan has a small collection of older and foreign films. I believe they are planning to boost their library numbers up considerably over the coming months.

MUBI also has some old stuff.

Certainly nothing like the US has though.

I love my fitness video DVDs

I'm old school like that

R38 still watches Sweatin' to the Oldies!

What was the bigger disaster for gay men: Richard Simmons or AIDS?

The Barnes and Noble Criterion sale has been going on right now. I bought the Essential Fellini boxed set (which comes out next week, with 11 of his major films in the set) for half price--a $250 set I bought for $125.

I still have many DVDs which I collected back in the '00s but I much prefer Blu-rays.

The difference in quality between DVDs and Blu-Rays is huge. Like r26 the quality is not very good when you play them on HD TVs. Maybe the upscaling DVD players make them look better but I would rather put in a Blu-ray.

Some films, though, have never been released on Blu-Ray or streaming. I watched The Big Easy a few months ago on my projector and the disc looked poor but I got used to the picture eventually.

I didn't even know DVDs were still around.

I have hundreds of movies on disc and will continue to buy them when a movie comes around that looks interesting or has received a lot of positive press. I buy Blu-ray discs and not DVD's, and much prefer a movie on Blu-ray 4K. You need a 4K player and TV for the upgraded discs, so I understand if you can't or won't invest in the technology.

I like the freedom to watch a movie, or part of one, without having to worry about a streaming service dropping something I want to watch. And then there's Criterion. Their discs are expensive, unless you take advantage of the twice-yearly sales at Barnes & Noble, or occasional 50% off sales at the Criterion websites. But there are so many extras offered on Criterion's Blu-rays that you can spend an entire afternoon just binging on the interviews and associated documentaries.

Having movies on disc is my one vice, so I don't make apologies. And now that theaters are mostly closed due to the pandemic, I find I can still easily get my movie fix.

R2, if you have a smart TV, it probably has apps for Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, Youtube, and a bunch of other streaming sites already installed. You just log in directly on your TV. You don’t have to hook up your computer unless you’re watching on a site that isn’t installed on your TV. (And cleverer people than I probably know how to install new sites as well.)

R11, Amazon has a much better collection of old, foreign and obscure movies than Netflix. You do often have to pay for them, but especially the old American movies are often free with Prime. (So … not really free, I guess, but then neither are DVDs.)

R36, if you buy a streaming movie on Amazon, it should theoretically be yours forever. I have bought movies and could still watch them even when they were no longer available for new viewers. That said, it’s still being held by Amazon, not by you, so who knows what the future might bring. Also, some Amazon Prime movies are simply not available for purchase. You watch them free until Amazon stops offering them.

Despite all that, I still watch DVDs or Blu-Rays (if the latter is available – it is much better quality). Even today, Amazon carries some old films and TV shows in DVD/Blu-Ray only, and others simply aren't available. I also like horror movies, some of which are not available streaming, or they disappear from streaming after a year or so.

I watch streaming preferentially, if it’s available, but I’m not giving up my hundreds of DVDs and BluRays just yet. Maybe never.

I still use my DVD player (never bought Blu-ray) and am still buying new DVDs. I can now buy entire series of shows like The Rockford Files for $20. I don't think the '70s stuff would look much better on Blu-ray than it does on DVD, and while I don't exclusively watch older stuff, even newer stuff looks fine to me on DVD. I'm not into effects-heavy movies like superhero franchises, etc, so DVD works just fine for me.

What's an Eames film OP?

DVDs don't need to take up a lot of space. I throw away the jewel case and put the disc into a plastic sleeve.

[quote] And cleverer people than I

Oh, DEAR x2!

[quote] I had hundreds. I threw away all of them.

Why the fuck wouldn’t you donate them?

Someone less fortunate than you may have enjoyed them instead of them sitting in a landfill.

I hate physical media because it takes space in my house.

I stream. Mostly renting, but I've bought in the past.

I'm not afraid the copy I've bought will disappear from the cloud. I buy from Amazon Prime or Google Play. For the copy to disappear, it would take Amazon or Google to disappear. The risk is pretty much zero. And if they were going to disappear, they're offer the option to permanently download that copy. So not afraid.

R48 I do the same. I had a shelf full of DVD's in no order and by buying blank albums with DVD/CD sleeves, I was able to save more room so guess what....I could buy MORE DVD's. I now have about 20 of those cases separated into categories/favorite actors. I even took my Golden Girls, Designing Women & Nanny collections and put them into one album. (I know...."Mary!")

I've even been copying things off of YouTube and other free sites because these sites may not last forever, but as long as I have a working DVD player and electricity, I am able to watch them when I want to. I even disconnected my TV antenna because I'm sick of broadcast television. Sometimes I have nightmares though that I'm busy copying movies from VHS to DVD that I used to tape off of "the late show" or 80's and 90's cable TV and tossing the videos away. I'm not at the mercy of broadcasters or streaming services, and I am never short of things to watch.

Amazon/etc can easily remove content you've purchased before. Just because they're not doing it doesn't mean they won't. They're already sowing the seeds.

I prefer dvd. I like to watch lying on the couch. I don't like straming, I prefer physical media. Regarding the image quality, I am not demanding, even if the DVD is not in HD as long as it is not horrible.

Dear DVDaholics,

A friend tells me another friend wanted to send him a DVD of the 2020 Netflix version of The Boys in the Band, but it does not seem to exist. I find this BluRay copy on eBay, but no DVD (my friend doesn't want to buy a BluRay player.

Does anyone know if a DVD version is about to be offered?

Why don't you bitches torrent or do the 'off-market' streaming sites?

I keep DVD in plastic boxes. I keep everything, comics, CDs good to organize and move another house does not waste time on shelves.

Torrent is illegal, r56, isn't it? Or at least an open invitation to all manner of virii?

I started buying some of those plastic storage boxes from Staples, r57, but they smell when you open them, so I stopped. Even years later, they emit a stink when opened. I wonder if it's possible to buy stackable plastic boxes for my CD collection (500-600 discs) that don't have an odor. They're currently in cardboard boxes that are heavy and clumsy and which I fear would break if I were ever to move them, so plastic boxes with lids that lock would be nice.

Why are there so many packrat hoarders on DL?

Read the thread.

Rat pack did you say?

R61, thanks for checking in and letting us know you’ve read it, but you won’t get extra credit for it.

I've been burned by changes in technology too many times in the past to keep spending money on physical media. It might be difficult to find a dvd player in ten years. You never know. I am not saying don't buy them but I wouldn't go crazy "collecting" them.

Just like vinyl, DVDs and CDs are going to make a comeback in a few years for all the reasons stated by DVD lovers above. Also, there could be some sort of streaming catastrophe that will render the Netflix, Amazon etc lovers movieless and helpless.

I'm over 50 and I'm entitled to hang on to my DVDs, CDs and even old records. I have a few VHS tapes left too. I even have tons of books, you know the kind made with paper. They're biographies, photography and political books, most of which are out of print.

R59, get binders for DVDs/CDs like these. Real space saver. Now all you have to do is get bookshelves.

It's the same with CDs. Sometimes shit disappears from Spotify but my trusty old iTunes library still has all my ripped CDs.

Eames Films are films made by Charles Eames, and his wife, Ray Eames. They’re about a variety of subjects, mostly to educate, or show off their collection of items from around the world. Google it.

Like their chairs?

Saving dvds and physical things is a way of saving history, how many newspapers, magazines help to record history, sometimes I worry about leaving everything digital, on the internet.

For those of you concerned that DVD/CD players are going to disappear, get a few cheap ones that can connect to HDMI from Target. They last a long time. The final ones manufactured when the format dies completely are usually vastly inferior, so the time to buy is now.

Something I learned in college at a temp job, working the front desk at a CD duplication company...CDs and DVDs last 30 years. I’m sure some still work after 30, but that’s what you should allow.

It is amazing how some DVD's go out of print very quickly and become very expensive. I wanted to get the two Glenn Close "Dalmations" and found that they were well over $50 each. Disney of course puts things out of print. The clamshell VHS tapes of certain titles are now considered collector's items, especially if they have the original shrink rap.

I've gone from Beta to VHS to DVD over the past 35 years, and my collection regardless of what format is valuable to me, especially during the Covid crisis. If we're forced to shut down society in NYC once again, I'm prepared, like a squirrel collecting nuts for the winter. In fact, now that we've got digital TV as opposed to analog, I find I'm watching more movies over and over because of how good they look.

Seattle Public Library has a good inventory of DVDs which I can borrow for free. Through them I also stream Hoopla which features primarily British movies and TV shows. Due to Covid, I'm finally willing to pay for streaming services through Britbox. Also looking at MHZ for other foreign mystery shows.

Getting CDs from the library is the most depressing thing I can think of. I worked at a movie studio where they had a huge library that anyone could borrow from, that was cool. They ended up donating it all to a school somewhere, because the movies were taking up too much space, and people could access them in other places.

And I meant DVDs^....still working on my coffee

[quote] Saving dvds and physical things is a way of saving history, how many newspapers, magazines help to record history, sometimes I worry about leaving everything digital, on the internet.

Oh fucking dear!

Actually it was fun going to the library for DVDs and books. It was a nice walk through Seattle's neighborhoods of Capitol Hill, Belltown and downtown, pre covid. I would cut through the parks which are now places where the homeless have set up tents, but that's another story.

^9 out of 10 cats agree! The 10th cat is dead in the utility room so...

I bought a Panasonic DVD Recorder many years ago, and most of the DVDs I've made of HD movies off TCM are better picture quality than the DVDs put out commercially. That's non-Blueray.

I used to take advantage of dvds at the Philly public library for years but at the same time I questioned why funds were spent on buying dvds.

I try to be cautious about what I save. I try to be realistic about what I am actually going to ever consume again, whether it's a book or movie , etc. It's all going to be left for someone else to deal with when I'm gone.

Recording movies from TCM...yikes. People think that will only hurt rich executives, but employees on the bottom of the hierarchy are the ones that don’t get raises, or lose their jobs.

[quote]Getting CDs from the library is the most depressing thing I can think of.

If the CD stores hadn't nearly completely shut down, I would never have had to take CDs out of the library. The condition most of them are in, it [italic]is[/italic] depressing.

I have a great DVD collection. I get Netflix, Prime & HBO. Sometimes I'm in the mood for something and I can't find it anywhere.

R83, it has nothing to do with "hurting" anyone, it has to do with being able to save a better quality product that's paid for - TCM + video recorder. I also record shows off PBS and other channels. The reason DVDs are on the outs has nothing to do with people who record off TV. If it were, the VCR would have put the whole thing out of business 30+ years ago.

I work in the industry, and yes, you’re hurting people by stealing. You’re selfish and cheap.

i bought a used copy of 2006 Ballet Russes documentary on DVD / i'll watch it again and send off to my sister since I doubt she's seen it. The whole notion of gifting music/ movies because you want to share a title you enjoy.........i miss that.

YOu can order a lot od DVDs at Best Buy including some that even Amazon no longer carries. It's frustrating to subscribe to all these streaming services and you still can't find anything to watch. So my DVDs are always there for me. Plus, if there's a movie I know I love, and will want to watch it repeatedly, it makes no sense to rent it. I'd rather own it. Gotsford Park comes to mind. I can watch that two or three times a year. Love it.

[quote] You can find anything on streaming services

No you can’t and furthermore, contracts expire and films and television shows aren’t offered forever, not to mention what happens when your internet service fucks up.

You never actually "own" the movie, even if you buy the DVD. You are only just licensing it from whoever is the copyright owner. There are restrictions on what you can do. You can't make more copies and sell them; you can't play it and charge admission to watch, for 2 examples.

[quote] Recording movies from TCM...yikes. People think that will only hurt rich executives, but employees on the bottom of the hierarchy are the ones that don’t get raises, or lose their jobs.

Under the law, it’s actually legal to record from television as long as it’s for private use. The Supreme Court ruled on this. It’s called time shifting.

I don't trust streaming services to always have full seasons of shows I want to see, so that is why I still buy DVDs and boxsets. I also use handbrake to rip the DVDs to digital, so I can have a digital library.

Just because it’s legal, doesn’t mean you should do it.

[quote]Also, there could be some sort of streaming catastrophe that will render the Netflix, Amazon etc lovers movieless and helpless.

You ancient old motherfuckers know that you can download all of your streamed shit to a hard drive, right?

r90 you can find anything on the streaming services that are "off the books" so to speak. Everybody my age knows how to do this.

My problem with DVD is that it's not HD, and Blu-Ray has always struck me as a clunky format. DVD was designed for a standard def world, and they were a huge upgrade. But in a 1080p world, not to mention 4K and above, DVDs just don't cut it, even upscaled.

R38 Not Richard Simmons tho I do give him credit for helping the fraus.

Gilad "Bodies in motion" Janklowicz is my MAN!

[quote] Just because it’s legal, doesn’t mean you should do it.

Oh, fuck off, you moron.

^ sounds like someone is having some internal conflict.

R66, but then you lose the box cover, which I often need to ID the film I’m looking for. I’m terrible at remembering names of movies.

[quote]I don't trust streaming services to always have full seasons of shows I want to see

R93, true. Perry Mason is a good example. Amazon has only the first 5 seasons, and even those are increasingly incomplete as the seasons progress. Amazon’s Season 1 is complete, but Season 5 is missing 13 (!) episodes. I remember when I realized that those episodes were on the DVDs of S5 that I’d bought but had never watched because I started watching on Amazon. It was like finding a whole new season of new-to-me episodes. I was thrilled! (Yes, I lead a terribly exciting life. Why do you ask?)

R95, so how do you download a movie from Amazon Prime or Netflix?

If everything you want is available on streaming services, good for you.

i know i've tried to record netflix and youtube off my tv onto a blank dvd with my dvd recorder and it DOES not work.. not sure why since i would think netflix is basically like having a different kind of "cable"?... don't know, maybe it's the way my dvd recorder is hooked up?

In rural areas, internet service is poor & streaming is unreliable, if not impossible, at times. For people who can't afford cable or streaming services, DVDs are still a reliable form of entertainment.

I burn youtube videos onto my laptop and use an external burner. Works just fine although some synchronization is off. There are other sites as well but I'm not going to jinx losing them by mentioning them here.

I also check out a lot of the new releases and other movies from the library, and if there is a movie I know I will watch multiple times, I prefer DVD. I still find DVDs easier to navigate when fast-forwarding or rewinding of getting to a specific place.

I will NEVER stop buying DVDs. The extras alone are justification enough. Exhibit A: the new Friday the 13th boxset from Scream Factory. And as others have stated, wanting to watch what I want, when I want and not suffer the disappointment that a streaming service has removed movies without notification.

I’m with you, r109.

In fact, I just bought another one this morning just to spite OP.

I own a couple hundred DVDs. Movies and shows I really enjoy and want to own. I also own books and hold onto to those I enjoy. Having the physical copy means I can turn to them when I'm mood to watch it again (or re-read in the case of books). If movies are just something to watch to pass the time and escape pressures of life, but it's something to forget afterwards, then by all means, no need to own. I do stream and watch TCM as well. And if I come across something I really enjoy and value in those viewings, I will then go ahead a purchase a physical copy.

Another reason why I buy DVDs is for fear that streaming services, as we get more politically sensitive, will just stop airing certain old shows and movies all together. Let us not forget that they removed a couple of episodes from 30 Rock on streaming services because they thought the episodes were insensitive. And Gone With The Wind was paused until a disclaimer could be added to it.

I love the old Charlie Chan movies, not politically correct in the least, but they are fun and you never see them on TCM or any other places now. I fear that things like the old Norman Lear shows or anything produced in a certain time period may get sanitized at some point.

I have all the Looney Tunes and Tex Avery cartoons (like Droopy and Tom & Jerry) on DVD, talk about politically incorrect. On the cartoons, Whoopi provides a disclaimer, but the shorts are shown warts and all.

And I have most of the Crawford movies on DVD and every Sunday morning, I spend it in bed with Joan.

Just just can't get that kind of flexibility with streaming services.

Excellent points, r112.

I've never been a movie collector—I have DVDs of [italic]An Unmarried Woman[/italic], [italic]Call Me by Your Name[/italic], and some English movie that was a gift from a "film buff" friend—but I do still buy CDs when I can. I don't play them anymore. I rip them to iTunes and listen to them via computer, to which I have attached nice speakers.

I have an old integrated amp and SACD/CD player, for which I'm thinking of buying new speakers, so I can have something besides the radio in my bedroom. What I'd really like is to get a new amp and speakers that would allow me to listen to the music on my hard drive in my BR instead of using a CD player.

I just checked my spreadsheet - I have 1244 movies on DVD or blu-ray, and that doesn't count the dozen binders of discs I once burned off of Netflix. I probably have a problem but I don't care, I will be prepared for the streaming-apocalypse! Someone will also one day find me dead buried underneath a pile of discs, for sure.

I can only imagine what your houses/apartments look like. Cluttered, hoarded messes with antiques and masses of pop culture junk from decades of OCD 'collecting.'

R115, beware of the "your hurting the workers" by stealing movies troll!

I’ve changed my mind about how your activities are hurting workers. Looking at the replies, no one makes any money off of what you’re watching, like Perry Mason. Probably has minimal impact.

There’s nothing tackier than walking into someone’s house and seeing shelves of DVDs. Hoping you people put them in a cabinet or closet somewhere.

"Everything" is not available to stream, certainly not safely (malware and virus free).

R116, why would you think because people own DVDs their houses are a mess? Do you not think those DVDs could be organized and stored somewhere?

I’m assuming you’re a younger person. Was your parents house a cluttered and hoarded mess since streaming wasn’t available then? After all, their only choice was physical media. Did they not have records?

I’ve seen how people display DVDs, R116 has a valid point. People who collect and archive rarely keep things neat and clean. For them, it’s about the comfort of objects, so aesthetics are thrown out the window. Or, maybe clutter is an aesthetic to them?

Growing up, the only thing on bookshelves were books, kept in our family room/library, mostly. VHS tapes and CDs were kept in cabinets. Everything was very modern and minimal. The only thing my parents displayed was art (paintings and a few objects.) I don’t understand people who find meaningless things at Ross, or wherever they buy that crap, and hang it on a wall.

Exactly R112. I want to be able to watch Joey in blackface on Gimme A Break! and Gil Kesler on The Golden Girls whenever I damn please.

R121, you say he has a valid point but then go on to relate your own experiences wherein your parents’ house was neat and tidy, in spite of having VHS tapes, thereby nullifying his assumption that if one has DVDs they must have a messy house or be hoarders.

Ever noticed how LPs were more easy to store than CDs and DVDs? Of course, this question does not apply to the snotty youngsters here.

Boss phonograph, man.

Torrenting in itself isn't illegal (or unsafe, don't download RAR files) there are plenty of legal sites for Public Domain Movies. If Charlie Chaplin is your thing you'll have a great time

[quote]There’s nothing tackier than walking into someone’s house and seeing shelves of DVDs.

I'm old enough to remember when people used to do this. I always thought it was very tacky.

[quote]"Everything" is not available to stream, certainly not safely (malware and virus free).

How is life in 2005?

There are free sites to stream anything which includes pay cable, Netflix and Hulu content.

No Log VPN + Good Ad Blocker + don't click on weird stuff and you're ready to go, it's absolutely not that complicated at all. No one in my age group would even be confused by any of that.

[quote] There’s nothing tackier than walking into someone’s house and seeing shelves of DVDs.

But glass menageries are fine? What a ridiculous statement. If anything, it's a conversation starter. I'm always curious about other people's music and movie collections.

I love people who think whatever they don’t do in their house is “tacky.”

The shut-in hoarders are NOT happy right now!

You keep all your DVDs (those of you who still have DVDs) in a cabinet or drawer or something where they're not on public display.

Who the fuck died and made you Nate Berkus.

R76 referring to "working on my coffee" is the most depressing thing I can think of

I'll stick with my physical media, thanks

R87 anyone who says they "work in the industry" deserves to be hurt

R128 No one in your age group matters

R116 luckily for all of us, you will never be invited over

r136 exemplifies the weird disconnect with the modern world that a number of DLers have. It's like the world stopped turning circa 1990.

r137 I would probably need a hazmat suit, so no thanks anyway.

R139 you would need to not be an insufferable bottom, so you're welcome

[quote] anyone who says they "work in the industry" deserves to be hurt

It beats the hell out of

“I’m in the biz, Chicky Baby.”

I started a similar thread about personal photos and how you all store them, back them up, etc. Tell us!

R141 does it?

Touché, r143.

I would never cast an actor with a bookshelf full of DVDs on display in their personal abode. Even if that DVD collection includes all of my shitty movies.

[quote] There are free sites to stream anything which includes pay cable, Netflix and Hulu content.

If you're interested in watching all the recent popular TV series its fine, but the films are all mainstream Blockbuster-type crap, kids stuff and movies specifically made for Hulu, etc. Between Netflix and Hulu I probably found about 5 movies worth watching that I hadn't already seen and that was it.

r146 you can also find anything else you're looking for.

Streaming services have to regularly renew their rights to stream based on views, so obviously anything which isn't well-known or popular is not going to be renewed or available at all.

r148 we're talking about the "unofficial" streaming sites, such as this one...

Talking to DLers about tech is like talking to all of my uncles.

Hey! I can set the clock on my VCR!

R150 and they probably want nothing to do with you either

2020 has proven that it's unfortunate to have been born after 1990

"There’s nothing tackier than walking into someone’s house and seeing shelves of DVDs."

It depends how they're arranged. I keep titles like Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Verdict, The Misfits, Jackie Brown, Pulp Fiction, Moonlighting, Ric Burns documentary New York, All About Eve, Goodfellas, As Good as it Gets, The Shining - in FRONT. I keep The Golden Girls and stuff like that in the BACK.

R149 Still, I don't see anything there but current TV series. Please show me a streaming service that shows early John Waters movies and obscure films from the 60s and maybe I'll reconsider.

[quote] There’s nothing tackier than walking into someone’s house and seeing shelves of DVDs.

and there's nothing more boring than a home with no books, DVDs or music.

r155 there's a search bar at the top. And categories on the left hand side. JFC.

[quote]and there's nothing more boring than a home with no books, DVDs or music.

Nobody said that.

R157 Yeah, a search bar that just took me to an untrusted page full of malware. No thanks.

Fucking hell you need a good adblocker like UBlock Origin.

Who the fuck uses a PC without something like that these days?

Nano is another good one.

I give up, you ancient old fucks are hopeless.

R160 I do. That's how I got a warning, dipshit.

r163 your software is outdated. Switch to Ublock with a Nano backup.

Maybe those that like to display their tacky DVD collection can just have their 50 cats sit in front of it. That would look much better.

Not sure why you guys are so worried about what people think about your prominently displayed DVDs, it’s not like people are visiting you.

I bet rescue-chick has a huge DVD collection, displayed on open shelving.

This is a strange to me. DL has some strange obsessions, but how and where someone stores their media is a new one. It's like being upset at how old ladies display their china in those China Cabinet things.

R167 It amazes me that so many of them sound like the nagging wife all bitter over their husband's baseball card collection.

Most of your DVD's will join all those AOL discs that are NOT deteriorating in landfills.

Or end up as a drag queen’s found objects dress.

Or earrings.

I find that the A/V quality on blu-ray and 4K surpasses anything I watch on streaming. I just ordered the newly-remastered Fellini box set from Criterion.

Hell, I still have my Atari 2600 and about 50 game cartridges!

[quote] Most of your DVD's will join all those AOL discs that are NOT deteriorating in landfills.

Don't forget the ET Atari cartridges in a New Mexico field.

Criterion Collection DVDs are 50% off at BarnesandNoble.com. I just bought some of my foreign film faves!

I mean I own that Criterion of Come and See too but that's a weird choice to single out when talking re-watchability r175 - I watched it once and am not sure I could ever watch it again, it's so fucking disturbing

R175 Amazon has them 50% off as well. Just got Moonstruck and Ghost Dog this week.

R177, compare the two sites. Amazon matches some of B&N's prices for Criterion films, but I found a few DVDs on B&N for half price but NOT on Amazon.

Nothing like a thread about someone else's habits to bring out the weirdos

I will never get rid of my DVDs because I prefer to watch the uncensored originals, e.g. of Fawlty Towers. And the Simpsons boxes are pieces of art.

OP, the answer to your question is: old people. But not all of us. I have siblings like this, but I made it to the 21st century and I know how to stream to my TV. After years of CD and DVD clutter in my youth, I'm grateful for the new technology.

[quote]Getting CDs from the library is the most depressing thing I can think of. I worked at a movie studio where they had a huge library that anyone could borrow from, that was cool. They ended up donating it all to a school somewhere, because the movies were taking up too much space, and people could access them in other places. And I meant DVDs^....still working on my coffee.

Why is it the most depressing thing you can think of? Are you a mental case?

I work in a library. Even in lockdown we're doing substantial curbside pickup. People still get DVDs and CDs. If they're depressed by it, they didn't tell me. They also get books. Those don't seem to make anyone suicidal either. I just ordered several TV series on DVD and they went our as soon as they were put into our system.

*went out (on loan)

[quote]Getting CDs from the library is the most depressing thing I can think of.

[quote]Why is it the most depressing thing you can think of?

I'm not the person you're questioning, and pre-pandemic, I did take CDs out of the library, but I do find the condition the CDs are in to be, well, depressing. Not, in my case, the most depressing thing I can think of, but sad, nonetheless.

[quote]Getting CDs from the library is the most depressing thing I can think of.

[quote]Why is it the most depressing thing you can think of?

I'm not the person you're questioning, and pre-pandemic, I did take CDs out of the library, but I do find the condition the CDs are in to be, well, depressing. Not, in my case, the most depressing thing I can think of, but sad, nonetheless.

We used to subscribe to both Netflix streaming and the Blu-ray by mail to get the latest movies. We finally just canceled the mail part because mostly everything shows up on Netflix or other such services within months of release nowadays

[quote]I'm not the person you're questioning, and pre-pandemic, I did take CDs out of the library, but I do find the condition the CDs are in to be, well, depressing. Not, in my case, the most depressing thing I can think of, but sad, nonetheless.

Then your library sucks. We discard or replace CDs and DVDs all the time. If your library is lending CDs that aren't playable they don't do their jobs.

I report as many of the ones that no longer play every chance I get, r187. I don't really know if the library pays attention.

R188 They suck, seriously.

I still work full time so maybe things will change if/when I retire, but I simply don't have time to rewatch movies. I am still trying to catch up on all the terrific series that are on streaming services and cable. Right now watching The Crown, Queen's Gambit, and the latest season of Fargo.

The trick is to watch them at work

For those of you who work at libraries, do you use donated DVDs/CDs? Or do you need to order for your library through some official means?

I have a lot of DVDs I'd like to donate somewhere.

I continue to be amazed at how out of touch with the times so many DLers are. My parents, aunts and uncles are all the same age as DL elders and they're all doing streaming, they all have Smartphones, they don't sit around watching marathons of tv shows from 40 years ago, and on and on. It's odd because I would think gay men would be up with the times and current culture and NOT stuck in a time warp, but I guess not. I'm curious as to why.

This has nothing to do with age.

DVDs and DVD Boxsets of TV Shows can come with the following:

1) In most cases full, uncut seasons (there are exceptions)

2) Extras like cut scenes, blooper reels, commentary, cast interviews, writer and director interviews

3) The flexibility of watching the movies/shows you want without being constrained to licensing agreements

4) There are some older/obscure shows and movies that just aren't worth it for streaming services.

I'm late 40s, so I guess I'm old by the standards of this thread and I have Netflix, Hula, Prime, HBO Max and CBS All Access and I still get the DVDS and TV show boxsets because it makes sense to me. I can watch Madmen on Amazon Prime, but Amazon Prime isn't going to have all the extras that the DVDs have. I also like to watch things commercial free. So I have to commercial frees versions of Hulu and CBS All Access.

And sometimes watching an old TV show or an old movie is like listening to an old song.

I'm not sure what's so hard to grasp about that and why you're saying this is age thing. Aren't you all the fools that have gone back to vinyl music? Stop being silly and fuck you and your parents and aunts and uncles.

DVDs are obsolete tech. r194 it is odd how so many posters here are stuck in the past. The obsession with old tv shows from decades ago, the odd disconnect that society hasn't changed much in decades ("I know all about this city because I was there 35 years ago.") it's like time stopped. I was merely commenting that my straight, fairly conservative, senior citizen relatives are more tech savvy and in tune with the times than a lot of gay men on here. It's kind of shocking, gay men are supposedly at the forefront of things like this.

BTW you can find all the extras on torrents or whatever if you want to.

Who isn't tech savvy? I've forgotten more about tech than you will ever know R195. And you torrent what you want, and don't worry about what I'm doing over here.

[quote]DVDs are obsolete tech.

And? Who gives a fuck? Maybe some people who have a library full of DVD's think there's no point in ditching them to spending more money on streaming services that they don't want or need? To access the same shit they already paid for.

Technology is constantly changing. So what you're bragging about now in five years down the road will be obsolete as well. But you do you and keep chasing all the trends you want. Some of us got off that merry go around years back and see it for the sham it is. You don't need to constantly update the same shit you bought twenty years ago because you want to be viewed as being cool.

After twenty years, the shit you bought would not really play anymore anyway.

I think the thing here is that many older DLers are virtual shut-ins who have just given up on life.

And there are those who desperately have to be validated as being "Cool" by the same "virtual shut-ins".

Get a blog on how you're on the cutting edge of technology.

It's about people shutting themselves off, r199. It's very sad.

Addressing why I find checking DVDs out from the library depressing. I really should start a new thread about this subject. Sadly, many libraries have become community centers for weirdos. Many people are there to use the computers, print something, or use the restrooms. Few people go to check out books. As a result, libraries have become a sad shared basement den, rather than a place to learn.

[quote] DVDs are obsolete tech.

Talk about being not being in tune.

IMO most of the new movies suck, I'm not going to pay for a service that delivers 95% trash by streaming.

"I have a lot of DVDs I'd like to donate somewhere"

Last year I de-cluttered by donating several boxes of DVDs, CDs and books to Big Brothers Big Sisters. They picked it up. They've suspended pick-up service this years because of Covid, but it will come back in 2021 at some time. Tax deductible, and I've saved my favorites.

[quote] BTW you can find all the extras on torrents or whatever if you want to.

I've used torrents for years but have never come across this. could you be so kind as to steer me in the right direction?

This thread is full of millennials without expendable income who are mooching Netflix with their parents' credentials. Some of us even work in tech and knew how to download from usenet before you were even out of diapers, and we still prefer physical media.

My sister, who's a real film and geek, told me that specialty media companies (Criterion, Rhino, Kino) are thriving because the only people who buy physical media, are, well, the nerds like her.

Time is putting out amazing DVD retrospectives on Cher and Dolly Parton that you can definitely not find on streaming services.

Why do so many millennials care if someone collects physical media or listen to music and watch films from before their time? Half of you crybabies don't even know how to drive a car or properly address an envelope yet you stick your noses up at the interests of anyone older than you. Seriously, fuck off.

Be careful, R208, millennials are very defensive and get hurt over comments like yours!

R209 I know. One of them went apeshit over someone with an outdated ad blocker (see above).

[quote]This thread is full of millennials without expendable income who are mooching Netflix with their parents' credentials. Some of us even work in tech and knew how to download from usenet before you were even out of diapers, and we still prefer physical media.

I'm Gen X and I'm quite well-off.

Honestly, I don't know anyone who still has shelves and shelves of DVDs anymore. DL is often a weird time warp

Youtube also has a lot of the DVD extras.

Millennials are about to hit middle age, but on DL they're college student-age.

Perceptions like this exist on DL, because, like a scratched up DVD from the public library, their lives are stuck on the main menu, and hasn’t played in years.

I have a large collection of DVDs and blu-rays I watch quite often, but I have them stored away in boxes. I do agree that a shelf full of DVDs (as well as CDs) looks tacky. I just keep my books and vinyl on the shelves. There's just something pleasing and unexplainable about having the physical media in my hand and being able to enjoy the artwork, booklet etc. I feel the same way about books. Much rather have an actual book in my hands than read off a Kindle.

Some of you guys/gals have DVDs you want to donate? Well, donate 'em to me! Tell me what foreign films you have. Cinema Paradiso? Mediterraneo? The Sea Inside? Babette's Feast? Seven Beauties? The Tin Drum? Truffaut? Fellini? Kurosawa?

R215... hear hear!....i will ALWAYS prefer a book in my hands and a book in a bookcase than a kindle....

PERHAPS off topic, but how does everyone feel about framed movie posters on their walls?

i have a number in my "entertainment room"..

[quote] how does everyone feel about framed movie posters on their walls?

I used to hang movie posters on my wall, but now it has gotten very trendy. Seems like every other gay guy (with similar interests) has a "Carrie" one-sheet hanging on their wall.

If my DVDs were stored away in boxes, I'd forget I have them. Confucius said something like - if I can't see the damned thing, it doesn't exist.

R219 I've got them all catalogued on bluray.com so I'm good.

I am loving this thread.

Yes, I have DVDs. A lot of them. On a nice bookcase in my living room. Along with lots of books. Real books. With paper pages.

And yes, I sometimes get DVDs out of the library. My library is part of a large system and most of the time, I can find old less well known DVDs through the system. Lots of the movie threads on DL have led me to check out a movie from the library.

You guys crack me up.

Carry on.

I guess if you have a media room having DVDs out in the open isn't too bad but in your main living room? Tacky tacky.

I have several streaming services, but for the stuff I love/good deals, physical all the way. The PQ/AV is better, no buffering, no worrying about a license going out.

I hate the idea that someone can cut me off content I paid for with the flip of a switch. The ultimate censorship.

That's not what censorship means

Of course I still watch DVDs!

Many, many years ago, a nice young man in an electronics repair shop transferred my well-used Jazzercise video tapes to DVD. I could not be happy without them.

In 50 year every media content will be digital and all financial transactions too. There will be no printed books and money. Whoever is in power will be able to continuously survey and totally control you.

R227, Barron Trump will be POTUS in 2070.

[quote]And? Who gives a fuck?

Switch to decaf, hon. You're all worked up over nothing.

R215 My sister displays her Criterions in her living room in a small bookcase with a poster for The Umbrellas of Cherbourg above it. It looks great. I have no idea where she keeps the rest.

R227

The idea of displaying one’s “Criterions” has so many layers of tackiness, it’s unbelievable. Sounds like something from apartment therapy, ew.

[quote]Addressing why I find checking DVDs out from the library depressing. I really should start a new thread about this subject. Sadly, many libraries have become community centers for weirdos. Many people are there to use the computers, print something, or use the restrooms. Few people go to check out books. As a result, libraries have become a sad shared basement den, rather than a place to learn.

R201 "Many libraries" - how many do you actually go to? I'm guessing one, in your shithole of a community. Almost all the people who come to the library where I work come to check out books. Right now we are closed to the public and doing curbside pickup 9 to 5 every day. Books, magazines, CDs, DVDs. Many people also go to the library (in normal times) for ESL classes, reference assistance, town/city records, microfilm/microfiche of old newspapers. We have Ancestry.com for free, you can access it from home. Several streaming services, e-books. Two book clubs that meet weekly, visiting lecturers including many famous authors, and yeah, people who make Xeroxes and use the computers. This is a suburban library. We have a large interlibrary loan system and a larger inter-consortium system. We send out and unload about 7 or 8 bins of materials a day.

I'd love to watch an episode of Homes of the Digital Disc Free. Their places must be palaces.

PS we're on all social media, we're on Twitch, we have online readings, yoga classes, video games online 3 nights a week. I could probably think of more.

Right before the pandemic, I visited libraries in West Hollywood (home), Huntington Beach, San Juan Capistrano, CA and Boulder, CO. None of these are “shithole communities”, and are quite wealthy. I find it hard to believe that most people come to your library to check out books. Maybe you should try taking a walk around your library and see what’s really going on. Or, maybe you’re idealizing things to cope with the pandemic. As an Architect, I’m skilled at observing behavior and the use of buildings, so you should take my word for it.

Seriously r232.

"Oh they're Criterion DVDs! Well that's CLASSY, then!"

DLers keep their DVDs on shelves next to their "Gene" dolls, which are in glass cases. Backlit, of course.

[quote]I'd love to watch an episode of Homes of the Digital Disc Free. Their places must be palaces.

No, their homes look like most 21st century homes.

[quote]No, their homes look like most 21st century homes.

And you being proud of that is the icing on the cake. Did Chippy and Joanna influence the design as well?

So cutting edge.

[quote]I'd love to watch an episode of Homes of the Digital Disc Free. Their places must be palaces.

Open concept mingled with HGTV influenced designs.

Poor dears are just running in the lockstep with the middle class fraus.

Humor them.

[quote] The idea of displaying one’s “Criterions” has so many layers of tackiness, i

So I’m guessing displaying my caftans is out of the question?

To be fair, I only display the clean ones.

I love how r240 andr241 immediately jump to those tacky design shows that they think is what the houses of people who don't display DVDs out in the open look like.

[quote]I'd love to watch an episode of Homes of the Digital Disc Free. Their places must be palaces.

They're neat and organized. Nice furniture, none of those tacky shelving units/racks with DVDs or (god forbid) CDs hoarded all over the place, out in the open.

Pardon me, but your Criterions are showing!

I still have all my music CDs from the 90s and early 2000s.

Thousands of them. I can’t let them go.

Do you keep them in those folder things r246?

I still have my cassettes from the '80s...including Milli Vanilli.

2030: youngsters are paying now $35 a pop for DVD movies! Seems they are tired of paying over and over for the same titles, and disappointed when Netflix-Amazon doesn't have what they want.

Booyah!

R249 That's about how much they're spending now on new vinyl. Remember when that went away?

R247, I moved over a year ago and most are still in boxes, but I confess to missing seeing them on shelves.

I also still have thousands of vinyl LPs. Those are unpacked.

Still, I stream almost everything.

I guess the collector in me can’t let go.

off topic perhaps, but i have a dvd recorder/vcr player and i bet i could make a good side gig advertising to people who have videotapes and them paying me to transfer them onto dvds?...

i mean most everyone over the age of what 30 have videotapes of family events, weddings, parties, birthdays, whatever they want to keep and know their videotapes are getting old! ... charge them 20 bucks for each transfer?...

all cash under the table profit..otherwise you would have to take your videotapes to a actual store/business and they would charge a small fortune to do this, so either go that route or buy yourself a dvd recorder player/vcr player..

I don't miss physical media like DVDs and CDs. No matter how well you take care of them they sometimes get scratched and then become unplayable.

You can't be a movie-lover, not a real movie-lover, and rely on just streaming. The quality of streaming is shite, the selection on streaming is shite, the reliability of streaming is shite. Go on and on all you want about it only being out-of-touch people who own DVDs and blu-rays but all that does is make you seem like an u-nserious and thoughtless person who doesn't actually have a horse int his race because you clearly don't actually love the movies.

True r53. Remember how fast CDs used to get scratched and skip when you played them? Pieces of shit, they were. I love digital.

r254 you can get pretty much anything on streaming. And a 1080p HDTV has flawless video quality.

[quote]Remember how fast CDs used to get scratched and skip when you played them? Pieces of shit, they were. I love digital.

Mine are all in great shape. Not hard to do if you're careful. I remember when CDs were "digital."

My advice to anyone who has physical media (DVD, Bluray, CD, Cassette) would be to spend some time teaching yourself how to back them up onto a good hard drive or cloud service, just in case.

If you have a fairly decent computer it doesn't take long and HEVC/x265 produces a smallish file with at least Bluray resolution, FLAC/ALAC produce perfect audio.

Wow. Thanks for that advice, r258!

Seriously.

When going to a new man's house, looking through his CD/DVD racks was one of the best indicators of whether things had a chance of working out beyond a hookup. "Ooh he even has the Jap. version of 'Double Eclipse' with the bonus track!"

R255, I have LPs that are over 50 years old, CDs that are over 30 and DVDs over 20. NONE of them skip or don't work, that's because they are taken care of. You can play them a million times. If you are one who is compelled to step on them, eat meals on them and toss them across the room, physical media is not for you.

What about those big laser discs with movies on them? Have any of those? In college I had to watch a movie on one of those, and had to watch it at the library because I didn’t have a player for those.

Laser discs peaked in the early 1990s. Now there are many for sale on ebay. I wonder who would buy them now.

Everyone on Datalounge would buy them, if this thread is any indication. They would also prominently display them in their living room.

[quote] What about those big laser discs with movies on them? Have any of those? In college I had to watch a movie on one of those, and had to watch it at the library because I didn’t have a player for those.

Is "those" the word of the day?

Laser Discs never really caught on.

r261 I used to keep CDs in good condition and they would still skip. Not that I've had CDs since 2000ish when digital came in, maybe they improved after that.

Yes, “those” is the word of the day because I don’t know what to call those weird things.

They're called simply "laser discs." Not "those big laser discs with movies on them."

r269 laser discs were thirty or more years ago, and they never caught on. Who gives a fuck what they were really called.

A lot of you dusty ole queens love to tell people what to display in their own houses. If you want that kind of control, then fork over some cash for the mortgage.

Can’t, r271. The rent on the trailer is due. And I love my mobile made from Pabst Blue Ribbon cans.

It's not old queens talking about tacky DVD displays.

I went to B&N today because I saw that the Essential Fellini blu-ray box set was shown as "in stock" in their store. When I went there the cunt working there said the release day is tomorrow and refused to sell me one.

But how are you going to display it R274?

She’s not being a cunt. In high school, I worked at a B. Dalton, owned by B & N, and there were strict rules about this. I remember not being able to not open this box of Anne Rice books until the date specified on the outside of the box. Opening them sooner would mean BIG trouble.

"A lot of you dusty ole queens love to tell people what to display in their own houses."

No, darling, we are merely describing our houses. It the youngsters here who are judgmental, sweetheart.

r277 - spending the night dusting his Madame Alexander dolls, which belonged to Mother.

[quote]For those of you concerned that DVD/CD players are going to disappear, get a few cheap ones that can connect to HDMI from Target. They last a long time. The final ones manufactured when the format dies completely are usually vastly inferior, so the time to buy is now.

Just FYI for shoe who are unaware, Blu-Ray players also play DVDs AND CDs. But I suppose some people skipped Blu-Ray entirely and went right to streaming or whatever.

[quote]Getting CDs from the library is the most depressing thing I can think of.

Umm...why, exactly?

[quote]You never actually "own" the movie, even if you buy the DVD. You are only just licensing it from whoever is the copyright owner. There are restrictions on what you can do. You can't make more copies and sell them; you can't play it and charge admission to watch, for 2 examples.

Everyone knows that, and that's not what anyone mean by "own." What a useless post.

[quote]I will NEVER stop buying DVDs. The extras alone are justification enough. Exhibit A: the new Friday the 13th boxset from Scream Factory. And as others have stated, wanting to watch what I want, when I want and not suffer the disappointment that a streaming service has removed movies without notification.

But, assuming you have an HD TV, I would advise you to get a Blu-Ray player, which also plays DVDs and CDs. Then you can get anything new you buy in HD, but your large collection of DVDs will still play and will look as as good or better than ever.

[quote]I’ve seen how people display DVDs, [R116] has a valid point. People who collect and archive rarely keep things neat and clean.

Why do you speak with such authority on this? I have had exactly the opposite experience. All of the people I know who collect and archive want to be able to find specific items immediately, so they organize their collections very well.

[quote]Ever noticed how LPs were more easy to store than CDs and DVDs?

They're not "more easy to store." I have all three, and all are easy to store if you have the right type of shelving or other storage device. Who are you people with all these weird comments and misinformation?

[quote]I do agree that a shelf full of DVDs (as well as CDs) looks tacky. I just keep my books and vinyl on the shelves.

I don't suppose you would want to try to explain the difference, would you? you Why shelves of books and vinyl look good but shelves of DVDS and/or CDs are tacky? Wouldn't it partly depend on the content? Wouldn't you agree that a shelf full of romance novels and Michael Jackson LPs would look tackier than a shelf full of classic films on DVD? Maybe not, I don't know your taste....

[quote] Just FYI for shoe who are unaware

For who?

As an Architect, I think some of these people are missing the point in how displaying DVDs could be tacky. It doesn’t matter what they are, the gesture of a discordant rainbow of boxes creates a hideous effect. My guess is that displaying hundreds of DVDs is appealing to people who grew up poor, because it’s like going to a shop where everything is free.

Is it worth concerting to 4K?

DVDs are a pain if your player is glitchy or the discs are a bit scratched...

...but honestly, I don't want to pay for streaming services. How annoying. I have a wide range of interests - am I seriously going to pay 10$ X four or five streaming services just in case I want to watch something?

I'd rather OWN the movies I know I'll happily rewatch than pay to maaaaaybe watch them.

[quote] Is it worth concerting to 4K?

It depends on what band is playing at the concert.

What are you people doing to your DVD where they glitchy and scratched?

The worse is when you don't open and try to play a dvd until it's way past the return date and it's defective.

An article about disc rot....

[quote] I don't suppose you would want to try to explain the difference, would you? you Why shelves of books and vinyl look good but shelves of DVDS and/or CDs are tacky?

Aesthetics. Both the DVDs and CDs have reflective casing which will make any room look chaotic if there is an entire collection of them displayed on the wall. Books and records give the room a more refined look. R281 gets it.

OP ain't bullshittin'. DVDs are almost as lame as buying an audio cassette from the 1980s. Although for quite awhile they have sold DVDs along with the Blu Ray so then people stuck watching only DVDs are stuck with a worthless Blu Ray copy. My sister still has a ridiculous DVD player from 20 years ago and her TV about the same. I have bought about 7 Blu Ray players in the past 10 or so years.

There's a site called Bluray.com and they were discussing about how Lionsgate's Blu Ray version of Basic Instinct no longer plays. Not because of disc rot but because they have made them unusable on purpose. I tried my old Lionsgate copy recently and sure enough it won't go beyond the menu. All Lionsgate movies might be like this.

[quote] My sister still has a ridiculous DVD player from 20 years ago and her TV about the same. I have bought about 7 Blu Ray players in the past 10 or so years.

So your sister's DVD player from 20 years ago outlasted your several blu-ray players?

R258 has the best article.

R291 No. I gave a few of them away. Every year or two they (used to) come out with new models and new features. I still have three I use, I switch them every few months so they all wear out about the same. I don't plan on converting to 4k UHD. It's a gimmick and only about 5% of the pop. has bought into it.

R291 I bought a VHS player in 1989 that broke down finally about 5 years ago. Made of metal.

[quote] Both the DVDs and CDs have reflective casing which will make any room look chaotic

The NYSE trading floor is chaotic. A bunch of DVD or CDs on a shelf?! You gotta be fucking KIDDING me!!!

Okay, it had never occurred to me that casings were so unpleasant for some people to see. My main concern has been being able to find the specific item quickly without creating an untidy display.

Back when armoires were first being adapted for media cabinets, I saw set-ups that housed the media as well as the equipment. I was interested because it hid all the cords, but I suppose that was a good set-up for people who just can't bear the sight of disc casings.

I agree that displaying CD cases or DVD/Blu Ray cases is tacky and déclassé. Years ago I bought about ten of those CD/DVD case books that hold about 200 discs. Compare those tiny books to having to store 200 jewel or DVD/Blu Ray cases. In my case multiply that by 10. Jesus. Stop the Insanity!

I have my DVDs stored in the TV room in the console that sits underneath the TV. They are tastefully put away and in order by TV show and then movie, alphabetically. I get nothing but complements on my home, so fuck y'all.

[quote] Although for quite awhile they have sold DVDs along with the Blu Ray so then people stuck watching only DVDs are stuck with a worthless Blu Ray copy.

DVDs NEVER came with BluRays unless you bought the BluRay. You have it reversed: if you buy the BluRay (more money) it usually comes with a DVD; if you buy the DVD (less money) a BluRay never came with it.

[quote] I don't plan on converting to 4k UHD. It's a gimmick and only about 5% of the pop. has bought into it.

You really have no idea what you’re missing. The difference between 4k and HD is as big of a visual difference as standard to HD was. It’s absolutely stunning.

I thought I read an article that said that the normal human eye can't distinguish between 1080 p and 4k or maybe it was anything above 4K. I can't remember.

R299 No one's saying that every DVD in history comes with a Blu Ray attached, moron. For the last 10 years or so, movie studios stopped selling DVDs and Blu Rays separately. So, they bundle them together. Then people who only want the DVD are stuck with a worthless Blu Ray, moron.

Why are people so angry in this thread? Jesus Christ, some of you are really nasty for no reason.

Totally, completely, patently false, r302.

You can still buy the DVD or the BluRay (and not all of those come with DVDs).

I’m shocked that this thread is still going. I didn’t realize that there were so many DVD related issues. Or did I?

R304 Wrong. Wrong Wrong. Now, fuck off.

r304 is completely right. You can still buy a new movie on DVD by itself or Blu Ray (sometimes with a DVD, but BR/4k/digital are starting to be more popular)

I think we should have a thread merge, this and the thread on New York retail cash transactions. Do You Buy DVDs with Cash in New York?

This man has the biggest collection in the world.

"My sister still has a ridiculous DVD player from 20 years ago"

I am currently using my 20+ years old bulking DVD player as a CD player because the old carousel CD player stopped working. The old DVD player still works wonderfully for both CDs and DVDS. It even plays DVRs, even though the instructions say it couldn't

R285, see R261.

BTW, I just looked at the date of two CDs I played recently:

Stan Getz - Serenity. Date of CD,1991

The Challengers - Surfbeat. Date of CD, 1994

I've had these since they came out. One is from a major label, one is not. Both over 25 years old, both play great.

"disc rot" is real, but happens very, very rarely unless you don't take care of your stuff.

I think some of these people have “disc rot”, in their heads!

R208 so random and so true about the envelope addressing. A couple of envelopes I saw recently had the name of recipient in the middle as it should have been, but the address was written low and flush right on the bottom of the envelope. Like why?

Anyhow, on topic I have every streamer, the sticks Roku and Fire, Hoopla and smart tvs plus the Blu Ray part of Netflix's service and I still love physical media. It's definitely nice to have as back-up, and is true on demand.

Although, I haven't bought a DVD/Blu Ray in awhile I do have 300 or so and at the rate of causing certain posters distress some are displayed in the open, spine out. The rest are in a tasteful mid century cabinet, of course. I also have some in cloud storage.

And to help with the head explosions, I also still have a terrestrial antenna hooked up to my tvs which came in handy when my internet service went out while I was watching something in real time on PBS, and I was able to switch to continue watching on regular tv. Why rely on one type of entertainment delivery when we don't control any of it.

R36 Not necessarily. I know a woman who bought a bunch of streaming/digital media on Amazon while she lived in America but when she moved out of the country none of it worked in the country she moved to. She was pissed. Has she had physical media, she wouldn’t have had that problem as long as she has a region-free Blu-ray player (and most of the ones today are region free).

It's amusing to me that threads take off into the stratosphere and which ones dont.

I was thinking the same thing R316. Maybe this one is so passionate because so many of us have been spending more time at home this year. I also missed this thread on the first go round.

[quote]I had hundreds. I threw away all of them. I never watched them anymore and they took up too much space. They also collected dust. Don't regret my decision.

That was just plain stupid. You could have thrown out the cases and just keep the discs and put up to 400 of them into a small DVD binder like this.

I forgot that one DVD that I still have is my Showgirls DVD. It seems very appropriate to watch it on a DVD, and I get excited when the menu pops up.

[quote] and I get excited when the menu pops up.

Is that what you kids are calling it nowadays?

We used to just call it a boner.

Drunk^

I bought my first Blu player in 2011. Replaced it last Christmas with a region free so I can import (I love Arrow and Second Sight). It still worked fine, might try and sell it.

Bump guys

A lot of movies (ESPECIALLY porn) are available only on DVD, so yes it is necessary to hang on to them.

However, blu ray is the way to go. Yes, it is better than streaming. No, you will not always be able to watch your favorite films as streams. No, your download of a movie doesn’t look as good as a blu ray, let alone a UHD (4K) BD.

Generally speaking, DVDs are a semi-obsolete format. They’ve been around since like 1999, back when TVs had 4:3 screens and were in “standard” definition. Relying on DVDs in an age where it is actually now standard for a television to be ULTRA high-def and for most streaming video content to at least be 1080p, is pretty backward and pathetic. It’s the home A/V equivalent of still using a flip phone.

[quote] What about Blurays? I still buy the occasional Bluray from time to time of good action flicks or "event" movies. I have an awesome sound system and enjoy blowing out the walls.

Blu ray and UHD blu ray are the best formats, regardless of genre. I hate most action and ‘event’ movies so I don’t own more than a couple of them (the ones I have, I have them because Burt Lancaster is in them). Every movie I buy is a blu ray. There is no reason to settle for less than 1080p for *any* movie.

[quote] I don't think the '70s stuff would look much better on Blu-ray than it does on DVD,

Nonsense.

I still have a few. They are mostly Xmas presents from friends donkey years ago like the Seinfeld series etc. I want to donate them but my partner wants to hang on to them

[quote] We used to subscribe to both Netflix streaming and the Blu-ray by mail to get the latest movies. We finally just canceled the mail part because mostly everything shows up on Netflix or other such services within months of release nowadays

Do you only watch newfangled crap movies or something?

[quote] I'm not sure what's so hard to grasp about that and why you're saying this is age thing. Aren't you all the fools that have gone back to vinyl music? Stop being silly and fuck you and your parents and aunts and uncles.

Hear, hear. Though I have a feeling the twat youngster who was all like “Just torrent everything lol” doesn’t care about vinyl either. I can guarantee that anyone who thinks everything that’s worthwhile can be found on the streaming services or torrent sites, has shit taste in film, TV, and music. I’ve used everything—from Beta/VHS to LD to DVD, BD, tube sites, torrent sites, paid streaming services, audio cassette, vinyl, CD, MP3, WAV, everything, and it is a fact that you can’t get everything just by streaming or downloading.

Young people — why do they exist? Seriously, I don’t know why their parents (Gen-X, whom I otherwise love, and as whom I identify) even bothered conceiving them and not aborting them.

DVDs are for olds. Can you still buy them in stores?

[quote] I can guarantee that anyone who thinks everything that’s worthwhile can be found on the streaming services or torrent sites, has shit taste in film, TV, and music.

You can literally find anything. God, I don't know what time warp some of you people are living in. This tech has been around for quite a few years now.

Gramps r329 physical media is going extinct, just like print media. It is what it is. You have to move with the times.

You're right, R332. I just read yesterday everyone at Shout Factory, Criterion and Anchor Bay are being let go.

r333 aren't you precious.

Why wouldn't I use DVDs? The only DVD player I've bought is over 20 years old and still works. And no, everything isn't available for streaming, especially if you live outside the US. Even if I could stream something from Amazon, I'd rather buy a DVD on eBay for the same price and not contribute to Bezos' riches.

I am always amazed at the time warp DL elders live in. My parents, aunts and uncles who are all in their 70s are more in tune with the modern world. It's odd because you'd think gay men would be more savvy and keep up with things. DVDs, cursive handwriting, paying in cash, watching and re-watching crappy old tv shows from 40 years ago. The amount of disconnect that is constantly on display here is truly something.

I have a great collection of film noir and foreign films on DVD and I am not tossing them into the trash. Like with many of the books that I own and love, certain DVDs are in the same category. If I love them then they are staying in the family.

R332, please tell me where Just One Of The Guys and Like Father Like Son are currently streaming? Nowhere? Thought so. That's why physical media isn't going anywhere. There are plenty of movies and shows that aren't streaming.

[quote]I am always amazed at the time warp DL elders live in

Oh, sweet summer child. You know us elders grew up torrenting and downloading shit off of usenet and Napster, etc, right? We know how to find stuff, we just don't care to anymore. Some of us prefer physical media. And you know what? It doesn't affect you one bit. Why are you wasting your beautiful mind on this? I hear your mom calling you upstairs.

"...please tell me where Just One Of The Guys and Like Father Like Son are currently streaming? Nowhere?"

And we're just fine with that.

Just One Of the Guys

Once again, it amazes me how much someone's desire to collect something can be so trying to an entire generation.

[quote] keep up with things.

Like what? Watching a Hillbilly Elegy on my iPhone while sitting in the back seat of an Uber?

Yes, R340. They don’t care. We know. Which is why physical media is important to people who love movies.

R333 where did you read that??

R335, you need to upgrade to blu ray.

R332, you’re fucking clueless. No wonder I already had you blocked. Trotting out the ‘gramps’ insult is a dead giveaway that your opinions aren’t worth shit. I’m 41, but I would rather be 81 than be your clueless, tasteless ass.

[quote] Young people — why do they exist?

tight holes?

Hit a nerve, r345? Do you still read newspapers and magazines?

Young people have very short attention spans and don't know how to just sit back and enjoy anything. It's exasperating.

Young people? People in their forties aren't even doing DVDs anymore.

A guy I know who's in his early fifties still orders porn on DVD. 🙄

I literally threw away hundreds of dvds last summer. I don't even have a dvd player anymore.

I don't even know where you would find a DVD player anymore. Are they still sold at places like Target?

R344, that was a sarcastic reply to the dimwitted R332.

Cool, R351. Do you just not like movies anymore or did you upgrade to blu ray or do you not have time to watch your favorite movies anymore?

Ah. I thought it might have been, R353. Apologies for the friendly fire.

[quote]A guy I know who's in his early fifties still orders porn on DVD.

Smart now that the pron sites are getting scrubbed.

Not all porn sites are being scrubbed.

[quote] Young people? People in their forties aren't even doing DVDs anymore.

DL is where people in their forties insist they look twenty years younger than they are but they act as bitter as if they were thirty years older.

No, r358. I guess you're a shut-in who doesn't know too many people. Hell, even my older relatives don't do DVDs anymore.

42 here and just got the Friday the 13th box set from Scream Factory. Enlighten me R359, where else can I see the hours of supplemental material on this box set? Go ahead, I'll wait.

I think there are two issues being conflated. One is physical media itself, the other is DVD specifically. DVD is an outdated technology and in a world of HD should rightly be obsolete. You can get an upscaling player but it's never going to look as good as actual HD content, so there's no legitimate reason to continue releasing material on it. But I'll also concede that Blu-Ray is a clunky format and special features don't necessarily need the fidelity of the film itself, so I can understand why they're still around.

The generation that has grown up without physical media is not going to suddenly want it, so DVD will die out with the generation that still uses it. Everything will have been digitized in some way, so everything will be available in some form or other. If it's on DVD, it exists as a digital file somewhere. And there's so much new content that fewer and fewer people will have any use for middling crap from half a century ago so it will fall into the realm of collectors and archivists anyway. People who are really interested will always be able to find the content they want.

There's also the weird paradox that lost media is often way more interesting and intriguing than what you can get at a touch of a button. In some ways instant access to everything has cheapened it, and it's sometimes more rewarding to have to hunt for something. There are hundreds of series I could have watched during quarantine, but I still ordered a set of bootleg DVDs of off-the-air recordings of a series that only aired once in 1990 and is interesting to me specifically because you can't get it anywhere else. It's no better or worse than anything I can instantly stream from the same era, but the fact that I had to take extraordinary measures to see it makes it way more appealing to me. If it were on Hulu I probably wouldn't care.

Do you have your entire TED Talk available to read?

Good post r361. Maybe it can educate the olds.

That's just embarrassing, R350. Early 50s is not that old, he was in his twenties when the internet went big.

How could anyone under 70 still be buying porn on DVD? I get wanting to pay for it vs. torrents and free sites, but DVDs?? Plenty of pay-per-view and purchased downloads porn online.