This video is a bit different than the usual but I'm very excited for 2021 and this new approach to collecting. Thanks as always for all of the support and for subscribing to my RUclips channel, it really does mean the world to me. Let me know if this video and my ideas resonate with you at all in the comments below. Cheers!
I strive towards a minimalist-esk life, at least in terms of physical items. I find my approach on physical goods to be a very effective and helpful. It all depends on what you truly love and want to display. Games, I only do digital now (past 7 years and on) and even then I rarely buy any. Movies, music, and books, digital only and rent before buying. If I deeply love it, I -might- buy the best physical version of that thing, but in most cases it usually has to be solid and touches me in some deep way. If a better version comes out, I'll will sell the old one and replace it. Doing it this way drastically keeps my room simple, nice, spacious, and personally shows what truly matters to me and shows what really interests me.
Also I should add, there are exceptions to those rules, like some of the hard to find special editions I might keep even if there are better versions of said thing, but that is very much a case-by-case basis. Most of what I buy is the best digital version, only the deep loves or ones I just really enjoy are then maybe switched to the best physical version.
Us thrifters ...or a lot of us anyway...have a rule...If I bring something new IN, something old has to go OUT...AND Know exactly what you are going to do with something before you buy it! Good luck!
A year or so ago I slimmed down my movie collection to movies I knew I would probably watch again but after watching your video I think I may have been too generous. I still have too many movies that I consistently pass over, they feel more like obligations than something I want to watch. I'm going to take another pass, there's many movies I can get digitally or stream so a physical copy should be one that I really cherish.
it's all wrong thinking - instead of purging the collection you should be thinking of buying a bigger house so it looks like the collection is smaller....
Christ I still have my video collection of thousands. Including hundred if tapes of films I taped during what used to be a filmic glut at Christmas. That's where I see many a different story and learnt a lot. Silent films, black n white, foreign. How I miss those days. You're making too much of it all. I really don't 'get" the concept of buying the same film on the same format. If I had gotten rid of my videos and dvds I would have gotten rid of some rarities which aren't available anymore or versions of films which don't exist anymore.
I am a minimalist and collect blu rays. I only buy movies I personally love or know will love. My collection is small but very purposeful. It's nice seeing more people implementing that strategy instead of collecting for the sake of collecting. Good luck on your journey!
I dig what you’re doing here, Elliot. In my high school and college years, I collected CDs. Sometimes I’d come home with 20 or more stacked, and maybe listen to one or two tracks from each but never really ‘absorb’ it. Finally I realized I would likely die before hearing it all so I just went ahead and sold 90% of it. I’d ask “if I didn’t already own this, would I buy it again??” If the answer was ‘no,’ it went to eBay and discogs. My life is a lot less cluttered and since buying movies, I’ve noticed a tendency to watch and rewatch my favorites and absorb the special features. If I’m not obsessed with it, it’s gone. 😁 Good luck with your experiment !
I just collect what i like, not what others like.The best thing about collecting for me is its all about choice.Just like music,its all about choice.Freedom of choice is the best thing in life.✌
Bang on ,DO it how YOU want, there's no law saying u must own a collector's set of 2001 and citizen Kane lol 🤔🤗. Half the time I think wow so it's in a clear box what's so special , especially " Arrow ' all though occasionally they do a good film with book. But so do the main stream. Funniest video I've seen on collecting is that " sarcastic criterion one ". Collect how you want, Don't let people tell you because it's in a " Blue case" it's crap 🤔🤪. There are no rules , Generally I buy films that I will watch multiple times, Don't have an addiction to spine numbers just well made films with good characters and narrative and good cinematography. Well IMHO 🤗🤗 Just remember to keep up with some, 🤔 Byambasuren Davaa, Jigjidsüren Gombojav , Agust Guomundssom and Melina León, after all WTF would we be without a little ( Mongolian, Icelandic & Peruvian Film ), Now that was SARCASM 🤗 BTW watched Babel and a studiocanal version of ' The conversation" came in a slip cover with a booklet, both amazing intelligent films BUT alas came in BLUE cases But IMHO Every bit as " boutique" as badly made straight to video horror that ends up in a clear case ARROW release. Babel like 21 grams is a work of art ❗
True. I own only a few movies of the IMDb Top 250. If other people think a movie is a must-watch and a must-own, doesn't mean I've got the same opinion. There are so many movies that are loved by many, while I think they're boring or just completely ridiculous. On the other hand, there are movies that I own and absolutely love, while others don't understand why I even own "this trash". All people have their own opinion and taste. So, indeed, collect what you like, not what others like.
Honestly, 2020 is where my movie collection really took off. After I was laid off from my engineering job, I had a good chunk of extra cash sitting around and had moved home while I searched for a new one. I already "collected" blu rays before, but that was just big name titles and nothing really special. Once I had a lot of free time, no school or work, I dived into researching movies and found Criterion, Scream Factory and Arrow. Thats when I decided to really get into collecting, and man have I spent some money haha I don't regret anything, but with getting my job back 3 months later, I only ramped up my spending on movies. I currently now have 150ish releases from Criterion, Arrow and Scream Factory combined. At the end of 2020, I did a rough calc of how much I spent, and it really put it into perspective. My New Years resolution for 2021 is to not buy more than 10 releases TOTAL. This is really going to force me to thinking if I really need this, or wait and see what else may come out. I love collecting movies as its become a passion. My "speciality" is Japanese Cinema personally as I have a lot of connection with Japan in my life and have come to love their cinema history! In my collection I would guess that atleast 30% is Japanese. Hope you are doing well in the New Year and I look forward to the videos when you really have to make some tough choices between titles. Lets be real though, the first release added back in your collection is 100% Barry Lyndon (which I picked up because of you and LOVED IT!). Cheers from BC, Canada.
@@provablegrub4581 Well for starters my favourite Japanese director is easily Kurosawa, but everyone suggests Seven Samuari (it is absolutely amazing!), but I never tell people to start there. I usually suggest High and Low since it's Hitchcock style of suspense, but better and is my favourite! When people ask for suggestions on Japanese Cinema, I always respond with, why? Not many people realize how deep Japanese cinema is with some of the best directors of all time! So needless to say, there is a wide range to choose from so help me narrow it down haha
@@provablegrub4581 Okay, well first my top 5 Japanese directors with my 2 of my favourites from each of them in order: Akira Kurosawa (High and Low & Yojimbo), Takashi Miike (Graveyards of honor & Audition), Kinji Fukasaku (Battle Royale & Street Mobster), Yasujiro Ozu (Good Morning & Tokyo Story), and Masaki Kobayashi (Harakiri & Kwaidan) Well my personal favorite genre, in general, has been horror/thriller since I was a little kid, so that's where my journey started. These 10 movies should give you a good starting point for research, but I highly encourage you to do so. These are a wide range that Japan has to offer, but there are plenty I did not mention that you can find through your adventure into Japanese Cinema.
I totally understand your situation my friend , I’ve been collecting films since the Laserdisc days , into DVD 📀, now Blu ray ( not really into 4K because the Jump isn’t substantial enough in my opinion. I have only about 385 dvd/ Blu rays to date which I think is a solid collection/ I’ll probably never stop collecting BUT I’m definitely cutting back just because I’ve changed as a person / becoming more minimalist etc 👍🏼
This is a bad idea, I did this once and I ended up regretting it a few years later. It just made me miserable and I lost a lot of money along the way. I began rebuying a lot of the titles I got rid off. Never again 🤦🏿♂️
You lost money because you bought them back. Or more so when you bought them in the first place as 99% of physical movies are worthless the moment u open them.
Yup, I heavily slowed down on blind-buying films on Blu-Ray and have started to curating my physical collection to reflect the films that are to my taste, a few years ago. Been a lot cheaper finding films on digital platforms then purchasing the Blu-Rays of the ones that I actually really want in my collection.
Love the videos but this is honestly probably one of my least favourite aspects of Elliot's videos. The clarity is great but the bass is always boosted so high compared to literally every other video of this kind that I watch on RUclips that it just starts to give me a headache after a while.
@@benpauley8167 Hi Ben. I don't do anything to boost the low end of my audio, perhaps it's just my low vocal tone or my microphone. I'll try to work on it but I don't hear that issue through my speakers when editing. Now I'm questioning my hearing 😂
@@ElliotCoen I just assumed it must have been edited. I didn’t find it was an issue in any of your older videos so maybe it is just me. Yours is the only channel where I really notice it thought. Still absolutely love your content. Especially when you cover new releases. I find it hard to keep up nowadays and you consolidate and present information extremely well.
Easiest thing for me is to ask "Am I ever going to watch this movie again?" If yes, it's a keeper. I try to limit my blind buys but if I know it's something I'm almost certainly going to enjoy, I'll try it. If I don't like it, I sell it. Sometimes it's a hard decision to make when it's a Criterion that doesn't quite click with you but honestly, if it's just going to sit on a shelf taking space and never going to be watched again, it probably needs to go.
Problem is ... something you may think you’d watch again today - after a few years you may not as your collection has grown that much that that said film and others would likely be pushed to the bottom Of a rewatch list
Hi Elliot. Totally respect your reasons behind this. You should do what feels right mate. I only have a small collection (I can only work part time due to poor health) so I tend to keep pretty much everything I buy, but I can understand folks wanting to trim their collections. Keep up the great work!
Super proud of you Elliot, I've started doing the same thing a month or so ago. Besides the Jodorowsky boxset I've decided that I basically have everything I really need. I can't keep up with every OOP title or getting stuff just BECAUSE... like you said, when you change the perspective, its easy for a collection to become an obsession. And I refuse to let something I enjoy become an obsession unless it helps my trajectory path of progression. Keep it up my friend, I always enjoy your insight and recommendations. Exciting to know that for the most part going forward, your collection will truly reflect YOU as a person and not just another RUclips Collectionist.
This is a good approach, I see it of big RUclipsrs in the blu ray/film community who have random filler like the Smurfs on 4k next to some classic and it really makes me think where they draw the line. Very few months I like to comb over my collection, want to keep it curated
I vibe with all of your points you made in this video heavily. I’ve been debating my own collecting habits this past year and need some sort of focused resolve. This was very helpful.
I admire you. I've been a movie lover and collecting DVDs since I was 10 (BDs since I was 20), and now work in Hollywood. Each film I own, even ones I am hate and will likely never see again, carry memories for me. The place where I bought it. Or the people I watched it with. Or watching it in a theater for the first time. Seeing them on a shelf triggers nostalgia for me beyond the movie itself. Getting rid of even some of the worst movies I own is, at this point, unthinkable for me. But maybe one day I'll be able to!
I’m glad you’re taking a chance on this new collecting method. In my opinion, it’s honestly the ONLY way to collect. It’s what makes YOUR collection different from everyone else’s. I never expected to see Barry Lyndon and Poetic Justice to be discussed within just minutes of each other 😂. We already know all of the “classics” and all of the films we’re told to enjoy otherwise there’s something wrong with us. You do you!
I think it's amazing that you're trying to rethink your collecting strategy. I stopped collecting for a while. I now watch films, but only collect films that I watch and over and over again. They have to be films that I also learn from. I've cut back to around 20. I will restock, but with that more rigorous criteria. At the moment they are Kubrick, Hitchcock, Lean, Powell & Pressburger films. I have a short list to add from Eisenstein and Kurosawa. I wish your endeavour goes well. x
I like what you're doing. I feel like we are on the exact same wavelength. Over the past 3 years I have been attempting to embrace a more minimalist lifestyle and after just having recently moved, I've decided to downsize my film collection. I presently have a stack of movies I own and haven't seen, and once I finish them I can begin curating my personal collection solely to films that truly speak to me.
love this thinking, collecting can get so out of control. I'm keeping my collection in control by purchasing only my favourite directors and keeping the excess in storage till I'm ready to put them on the shelves and watch them, until then I don't purchase any more of that director or begin watching them. Now my shelves have my Kubrick and Kurosawa collection which I love, meanwhile my few Hitchcock and Fincher films are in storage till I'm ready to watch them and collect them. Hope you return soon!
I love this way of thinking. I’ve been slimming my collection down for around 5 years now. Films should be your life and something you want to revisit, time and time again. Not a pretty picture of collection labels for the sake of it.
I think you're over thinking it all man. Just collect movies and enjoy them. Also don't set out to become a master of only the movies you love. You should consume all cinema good or bad, and just make sure you go back and rewatch the great ones down the line.
"You should consume all cinema good or bad" nah this is a bad way of thinking, nobody's got time to waste on that much stuff that doesn't appeal to them, lol. Like he said this also diminishes the amount of time you get to spend gaining a deeper understanding of the movies you love or going down the specific genre/director rabbit holes that appeal to you, meaning you just got a moderate amount of understanding of a lot of different movies instead an intimate understanding of the stuff that you have a more specific interest in. Also the movies you personally love can potentially run the gamut of "good" or "bad" anyways, your personal taste aren't always going to align with critical consensus.
The desire to “truly understand” each movie in a rigorously curated collection will probably also become a source of stress that robs many of the movies of their pleasure.
Hi Elliot! I understand your predicament. As a long-time collector I have built large collections of both film and music. I have frequently done purges to reduce the volume, and I generally do this by selling on Ebay to maximize the return on my original investment since Ebay reaches a large potential buyer base. As for collecting habits, I know what it's like, and understand your impulse to whittle the collection down to much loved movies. But then the question becomes 'how do I discover new films?' Obviously seeing them on streaming or at the theater is one way, but when you think about some boutique labels, like Criterion or Indicator or Arrow, they are bringing out films that are not often found on streaming channels or television (btw, I strongly recommend a subscription to Criterion's own streaming service if you don't already have it). My approach is two-fold. First to watch the release lists of these companies and invest when something catches your interest - find a way to watch it first if possible, or do a blind-buy if it appeals to you and you can't stream it anywhere. In addition I keep a plastic bin by my computer for things that I pull from the collection that I just don't think I will ever revisit. List them on Ebay every so often when I have a moment. If you do a quick scout at their availability and selling prices, you can usually decide on a price that will generate a sale without too much wait time. And if things sit in the bin for a while it also gives you time to reconsider or go ahead and sell. Thus you can trim the collection on a regular basis. I definitely shy away from a big cull all at one time - for me at least that's too drastic and results in getting rid of things you may later regret. There are always going to be movies that fall into a grey area.. movies that you would like to have available to watch, that you would only go to on occasion. In many cases they are still worth having. So my basic suggestion/approach is instead of deciding 3 at a time what can go in your 'new' collection, think of 3 at a time that can come out of the old collection. This way you will actually be reducing the physical media that you have as you go. Good luck! Whichever method you choose I hope you make the right choice for you.
Very interesting. It will be interesting to share in this journey as you go through your weekly 3 with why you chose them. I'm just begun my collecting journey and I'm starting out focusing on the films I know I love. Many of these I haven't seen in many year and at the time, it was probably on VHS on a 4:3 tv. It has been amazing to now experience these movies in 4K and on a proper home theater. I'm presently eagerly awaiting the arrival of my 4K version of Jaws which I have not seem probably since my VHS/4:3 days. I'm sure it will be a heck of an experience watching it now. Of course there are a lot of movies I have not seen that are critically acclaimed and it is hard to resist the temptation to buy them and experience them as they should, which I am now able to. A lot of these movies I purposely have not seen because I missed them in the theater and wanted to experience them as the director intended. So, in essence I guess I'm also in 'discovery mode' as you were when you 1st started. Will I be able to keep control or am I destined to end up where you are and have to do a similar exercise? Only time will tell, I guess.
I'm excited to follow along with you! This is a cool idea. A sign of maturing is focusing more on fewer things that you really like vs trying all kinds of things as you grow up.
My thought process 4 years ago as a person who was returning to collecting physical media was to only purchase the films that I had extreme nostalgia for or outright loved. The goal was to be able to grab any film and have it be a watchable favorite as well as to have what is effectively a live tableau of expression. Now of course over time things happen and I've used this very technique to solve it. I regularly will take big chunks of films that are meh in my mind at that moment out to create space for new ones and over time you filter through the removed ones and return only the cream. I really hate the idea of buying a movie because you feel like it's "important" and suddenly you are broke and there's no room in your space.
Good for you being able to recalculate your perspective towards something that you love. It's a big move and important one as well mentally. I haven't gotten to that point yet myself but I have tried to limit my movie pickups as of late and running out of space is a factor. Just like you I forget a lot about movies I watch since I'm constantly watching one and moving on to another. The one good thing for me about that is it keeps movies I've already seen a bit more fresh. Take care.
I used to buy DVDs in a bulk, I went online and I looked what is in good price and get a lot. Movies I knew, Movies I've heard about or movies I've never heard about. Then I basically sold everything once I moved and for a long time when I went into collecting Blu-Rays I got myself one rule - I only collect movies I'd love to rewatch on fairly regular basis. So my collection is mostly Marvel movies, some SF, Star Wars, Star Trek, all the entertainment stuff that makes me feel good. Buuuuuut then I've discovered that Criterion Collection is available in UK and at that time Zoom was having occasional Weekend Deals where they had two CC movies on pretty great discount so I used to blind buy one of them. And the collection grew a bit. Right now I still mostly buy movies I know I will be back to at some point. But I do tend to buy occasional Criterion fully blind.
Having gotten rid of my entire collection about 5 years ago as I went digital, this seemed like a cautionary tale to begin with. It very soon became apparent that you are indeed whittling down your collection🤯. Earlier in the year, about March time I started collecting again and rapidly spent a lot of money and time building a collection, finding like minded you tubers like yourself, and loving the hobbie again. But again like yourself I find myself at a point where its too much. And I should do what you are experimenting with and whittle it down to just the films I love, but as I've only re-built this collection in the last year I'm finding it hard to let it go again. Great video all the same, look forward to seeing how this experiment works for you. 😊👍
I really like this idea. Been thinking about stripping down my own collection to build a more personal one. Been collecting various boutique labels over the course of the last 10 years or so and the fact is that a lot of them i will probably never see again. So the ultimate goal is to have a collection where every movie i own i can put into my player and watch at any given time.
Good plan! A couple of years ago, I noticed that my DVD/Blu-ray collection was simply getting too big. I sat down over the course of a few days and took an honest look at my shelves and every movie on them and asked myself if I truly wanted to keep them and if I was actually ever going to watch them again. If the answer was no, they got purged from my collection. Also, some of my movies were moved into CD/DVD wallets (I kept the slip covers as well but got rid of the cases). Now I have things down to a more reasonable size, although I still think there is some room for improvement. Even so, I feel a lot better about things and can look at my shelves and be happy with what I have.
How fun. I started collecting VHS, then laserdiscs, skipped DVD but am now buying Blu-ray’s/4K. My ‘strategy’ is two fold. Films I love and want to see repeatedly is one part. Films that are fun and under $10 is the second. I’m buying 2-3 films per week. Wall-E in 4K is my love for this week. I Robot and Her are my fun cheapies. Psyched to see your collection reincarnate.
Smart move. I purged movies regularly while building my collection and now it is airtight. My 300+ movies are all my favorites and purposefully kept. A strong collection of 500 is so much more impressive than a stringy and stretched out collection of 1500. Good on you.
I totally agree with your comments.I did the same.I had over 3,000 DVD's at one point & my partner said this.How many films do you watch a week,how old are you?.Do the maths you will be brown bread before you see half of them if you actually started watching them from today.I now own just over 70 blurays.I donated and sold the Dvds.Every collector will hit this wall.I feel so much better for down sizing it.
Great idea! I’ve been doing something similar with my Blu-ray collection. Just collecting what I really enjoy and see myself enjoying w my family and also w friends. Every now and the I’ll stop by my collection and sell some off or give away to make room for something I really want. I have a limited space so that helps me as well.
You ever see the family guy episode where lois becomes a minimalist, starts to shed off unwanted stuff. Gets rid of everything including her family in the search for happiness that never came?
Interesting video, Elliot! I actually sold about 100 titles from my collection recently. Most of them were random movies that I know I’ll never watch again. Felt great. Your last video definitely inspired me to do so. I have been thinking a lot about my collection habits since then. Buying just for the sake of buying makes no sense which is why I try to slow down a little bit and focus more on quality rather than quantity.
Your overthinking it pal. Just watch your stuff and collect them. The world is full of clutter. The Less is more brigade will drive anyone mad. Barry Lydon is a kubrick master piece. Watch his life documentry and see how kubrick kept and archived everything in the doc boxes. And that gives an example where more was actually not enough. Great video.
I recently did something similar with my book collection. I took a hard look at every one I owned, asked myself whether I really loved it, would read it again or if it held special meaning to be. I was brutal and donated quite a few books to the GoodWill. It felt good. Now, if I blind buy a book from a used shop and don't like it, it gets put in a bag and off it goes. I've also donated dvds I know I will never watch again. At the same time, I've purchased a ton of blu rays this past year.....but films and shows that I treasure. Now I want to organize them. So many ways to do that.
I totally understand where you are coming from, and I couldn't agree more. It definitely effects one's mental health looking at all the movies, especially if one is a minimalist. I love collecting and watching movies, but it as just became too much for me to cope with. I wouldn't get rid of your collection I would think more on how to store them. I had a collection like yours and now mine are in large cd cases/binders. I have trashed all my covers and blu-ray cases. Remembering that is just the way companies get you to buy them just like any other product. Now I spend less time looking at all the covers and thinking about what to watch. I feel much better and like a weight as been lifted off my shoulders. All these "limited edition" hard box/booklets and postcards are becoming ridiculous, and I'm fed up with these companies taking advantage of us collectors. The disc is enough for me now. I'm done with the mind control. Thanks for the video. I hope you manage to see what is happening here and think about your mental health before anything. take care bud.
Thats exactly how i collect. I mostly buy movies which i already know and which i love and want to see multiple times. Sometimes there is a blind buy but thats the exception. I got 140 titles including some box sets. I sold all my DVDs to get them on UHD or Blu-ray at least because of my new UHD TV.
I love listening to you talk about movies - I’ll be interested to see which ones you pick for your “new collection” I get a lot of ideas from your videos and have broadened my collection. Especially with criterion movies.
A very sensible and commendable decision. I have been selling large parts of my movie but also board game collections. It feels very liberating. You'll be left with a smaller but infinitely superior collection, one you'll enjoy more.
As an avid movie collector for over 20 years I totally support you're move to declutter a bit. I went from shelves of VHS, to Shelves of DVD to Shelves of Bluray. I decluttered through each iteration and I think it's important to just keep the movies that are your favorite that really reflect your love of film. In the 90's when DVD started out there was a craze to buy content. I had so many movies that I didn't love but just wanted to have in a new format. cutting out the clutter and donating films or selling them gave other people a chance to enjoy them and allowed me to make space for something new or reposition my films in a way that made them easier to pickup and rewatch. Go for it! I think you might be happier. Also do you have a HTPC? A HTPC has been really helpful for me in watching region coded films and being able to slowly digitize my films as a back up to my disks. Cheers!!
I am a massive physical media collector. I previously owned a video shop and probably have 30,000 to 40,000 DVDs and blurays. I now manage a cinema but still buy physical media. I live in New Zealand and the range is very small here so I import them from Australia. We don't have any of those boutique labels that you mention in your videos but I own most of them on labels that are available over here which are mostly distributed by Madman and Umbrella.
The movie studios and disc format industry needs to work together to bring out a new psychical format where 4K Blu-Rays are succeeded with a card constraining the movie that looks similar to a SD Card. Not only does it keep psychical media around, but it would give studios more storage to work with that also has a longer life span if stored correctly. While for the boxes they could be redesigned to store the card in a box that is air tight. Now how can this benefit the studios long term budgets. They can still charge more kind of like UHD Blu-Ray’s, which in turn gives them a way to make money back on their investment. Lastly how can they do a movie collection. For me the movie collections would use the biggest memory cards compared to the standalone releases, that use the smallest cards chosen by the studios for 4K and above.
I taught myself to keep the movies I love and will watch again. I never got caught up in buying movies that other people considered great or essential. I buy the movies for my collection that I consider essential.
As someone who started a collection when I was in 10th grade (like 8 years ago) I've bought a lot of films that I don't like because I thought I was just building a collection. So during my recent move I just gave away some of my movies to my friends and decided that I'm really only going to buy movies I love and want to keep. I did buy a few blind during the Criterion Sale, but I'm not just gonna buy randomly anymore.
I totally get this! I’ve often told people I will probably sell a lot, if not my entire collection someday and they always seem confused at the concept. I think I’m still enjoying exploring too much to give up. I have been making myself watch all the films I haven’t seen yet recently and I’ve been enjoying that. Getting though big box sets like Godzilla, Zatoichi, and Bergman. It’s a shame because there’s just not enough time to revisit all these films. I do enjoy most of them enough to want to do so but when I have so many I haven’t seen it makes it more difficult to make that choice so I’m trying to actually assess what is worthy of keeping and exploring further and what I don’t connect with as much.
Hope you don't end up regretting the cull Elliot. I have done so before and regretted it. I once sold (in my late teens) all my original Choose Your Own Adventure books in essentially mint condition (had about the first 50 or so of them) for around 20-30 AUD at a garage sale. Later in life I got the nostalgic bug for my youth and spent a small fortune re-acquiring all those CYOA books I had parted with years earlier...and I struggled to find them in the same near mint condition mine were in. So if you go slowly and keep it around for a bit I think that is definitely a good approach! But yes I get space issues and the burden of thinking you need to collect everything or you'll miss out. I certainly suffer from that issue and my "library/office" is very cluttered and annoying/unworkable at the moment. I have a goal to pull everything out this year, and put the shelving you use in there and some floor to ceiling bookshelves for my books ... And a new computer desk....smaller one... And make the room useable again. I suppose when doing that I'll be looking to also cull some stuff but l will be very very careful and selective on how I will go about that process! So just to clarify then... Any NEW purchase you get will ONLY be a movie you already know/love? What about your penchant for loving a blind buy and discovering gems you never knew about and never would without the blind buy?
This is a fascinating idea, Elliot! I love that you've inspired some others to try the same, as well. I'm not there yet - in fact, I just went to add Poetic Justice to my Amazon cart, hahaha! - but I cannot wait to see your progress. And, because I am a nerd, I have some questions about the details. What do you do for home media releases in 2021? Are you free to add three movies from outside of your collection rather than ones you already own? Or are you handling 2021 releases separately (like not allowing yourself to purchase any, for example)? Love this idea, and cannot wait to hear more! Thanks for sharing your journey with us.
I really like what you’re doing here and the format of three movies a week. As an avid collector always looking for ways to effectively slim my collection down to the true essentials as years pass and remove the films I don’t have as much a connection to anymore, this is a great idea. I’d enjoy seeing how this goes for you if you do some update videos in the future.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts about collecting movies. I've had a similar experience with collecting video games (especially retro games). My conclusion was nearly the same that you had: I got rid of buying games "people think I need to have" e. g. just for having a complete collection. Now I am at this point that I just want to collect games (same goes with movies, music ect). I like, I feel related with (childhood memories). It feels now like a burden I got rid of. As I said before, thank you for sharing your steps going through your thoughts, this might be helpful for other people who don't know where the road goes when it comes to collecting stuff in general.
Certainly something to thing about with my own collection - there are some BluRays on the lower shelves that I feel are clogging up precious shelf space and would benefit from a bit of a purge to keep things I REALLY want to watch again. Great video and very helpful!
Well done. It's great to experience lots of works of art, but some times the value of it is the experience. You don't need every painting hanging on your wall.
I currently ONLY purchase movies I have never seen and it MUST be out of print! This is my approach! My wife and I have seen great movies we have never even heard of!
I totally agree with you Elliot! It’s not about the quantity it’s all about the QUALITY! I only buy films which I have really really enjoyed and that’s why I have around 90 films on blu ray. I have only seen around 550 films. Even though I enjoyed every film I saw those 90 films I absolutely adore. I have watched all of them more then 3 times and so they are very personal to me. Again I have to agree with you Elliot! Trust me at the end of this you will appreciate the films which you decided to keep! Btw a suggestion: posting every week on Instagram a picture of your weekly picks.
I'm just starting to rekindle my interest in physical media. I realised I just wasn't enjoying music and video the way I used to so I'm getting back into vinyl and video on disc. I'm setting myself the restriction of only keeping movies and music that I truly love, hopefully to avoid ending up with a house full of the things.
This is actually a great content idea. Now all week I'm gonna be thinking, "Damn I wonder what 3 films Eliott is rescuing from the Collect-tanic this week"
No not necessarily. As Elliot said many of the pieces in his collection hes only seen once, and it may have been out of obligation. The 8020 rule applies and hell probably readjust his strategy after he chooses his absolute favourite 300 films.
Admittedly the idea of you getting rid of your entire collection was genuinely scary for me - only because this is obviously what you are passionate about and love, so to get rid of everything seems like a step in the wrong direction. On the otherhand I think there is nothing wrong with reaping through your collection and get rid of films you will never watch again or don't like. I expect I will do that myself in the near future once my collection gets close to filling my shelf. In saying all this, I really loved hearing your brief thoughts on the 3 films you've chosen to keep. I would LOVE to see what films you choose each week, and what they mean to you. This is something unique to you that I'm not going to see in anyone else's movie/bluray review videos. Even just as a short bookend on the end of one of your videos each week would be awesome! I know I have a lot on my shelf that really means something to me so it's really nice to hear yours.
Hi! I’m new to your channel and I also collect movies in bluray, mainly anime. I’ve always thought of physical media as important especially for me since I’m the international audience for this medium. That also seems to be proving true because some of the shows I’m collecting you can’t find on streaming anymore because of licensing. But I only collect shows that I’ve rewatched over and over throughout the years because then I know it’s worth me owning it. I’ve never thought it necessary to own any of the “necessary” or “classic” materials in any form of entertainment since your collection is about you!! I hope your new collecting prompt helps you out in how you look at collecting in the future ☺️ I enjoy your videos! Your voice is soothing
I own about 1500 BDs and 1200 DVDs and since i will be moving to Italy I must imperative down-size my collection...It pains me, but watching your video has inspired me.
A really cool premise and idea that was pretty cathartic to watch. Couldn’t do it myself of course (!) but it’s something that as a film fan, I can totally get behind. My (much less extreme) version is to try and try and pick a film from my collection and rewatch it and include all the features / booklet etc and dig into the art and craft of the film making. It means I’ll only get rewatching 52 movies a year but it’s a start! My only question is about how you’ll do film discovery from now on? Is blind buying heavily reduced? I smell a follow up video 👍
I started buying everything that was a special edition, etc. But now I'm realizing I would rather spend more money on a oop special edition of one I know I like rather than blind buying anything that looks interesting.
Hi Nigel, I know exactly what you mean. I have many special editions on the shelf that have been gathering dust for a while. I'd much rather turn those into the movies that I know I love already. Thanks for watching!
@@ElliotCoen I've gotten really into giallo to the point where I'm selling some of my collection so I can buy the oop Arrow special editions. They have a lot more meaning on the shelf than pacific rim for example which I bought on 4k when I was just getting into it as a reference disc. Now I'm getting rid of all the 4k stuff I bought just for the picture quality.
I only blind buy If the Blu-ray is less than $10. It's a real bummer to spend $25 on a movie you've never seen and end up not liking it Just wasted $25.
I was 35 when the matrix came out and I thought I had seen a thing or two, but when Trinity ran up the wall in that opening scene...well we for sure hadn't seen that before.
As always LOVE is the answer. If I don't have a strong affinity for a movie I don't buy it. If I don't have an even stronger feeling it doesn't get upgraded. There are exceptions (of course ) for movies I have never seen but curious about and it's under $5. If collecting all the Criterion tiles is your passion that's fine. I have quite a few of their titles myself but there are titles in their collection that just don't sing to me and I know I will never purchase. That being said I may have a collection (BD 4K 3D DVD) that is almost as large as yours Elliot. I like this idea of restarting the blu ray collection. I have a fairly large studio apartment but it's beginning to feel a bit cramped. Too much stuff. This may be just what I need.
This while make for quite a different channel but I understand and support your decision. The way I think about is this: collect what you love, not what you think you “should” collect.
I have over 300 blu ray movies i plan to go past 1000 by the end of this year the diffrence is i throw the plastic covers away and store them in a 1000 disc storage case
You definitely have one of the most impressive collections I’ve ever seen! I am very interested to see where this goes. I too have found that I’d just buy films without thinking about whether I really NEED them. Since subbing to The Criterion Channel, that has been a great way for me to discover films without feeling like I’m missing out by not buying the physical copies. Arrow Video I know also have their own streaming service. Looking forward to what the future brings!
This gave me a bit to think about honestly. I'm at about 800 blu-rays, so roughly half of your collection and I'm now wondering if I need to sit down and look at each one and decide if its worth selling off a bit of it to focus more on films I love rather than, as you stated "should I have this."
My modest collection is due a Spring clean. I'm gonna follow the 'spark joy' method. As much to my chagrin, it worked very well when I was whittling down my blu rays before I moved into my place.
I think there are a lot of people doing this now-- I caught the movie-collecting bug during the DVD days and then practically replaced everything I bought with Blu-Ray versions. By the time UHD hit, I realized that my collection had gotten out of control, I had a lot of movies I didn't care about after a viewing or two, and as you get older it really sinks in that you don't have all eternity to horde and rewatch hundreds or even thousands of movies/shows in your collection and it just feels burdensome.
Good approach. Separating love of movies from consumerism is important. Old habits die hard, so I would anticipate slipping up occasionally - at least that’s been my experience.
I just watched The Minimalists: Less Is Now on Netflix last week and I found myself wanting to simplify my home. I donated about 10% of my book collection, but now I'm looking at the empty shelves and thinking, "I could add more blu-rays." Maybe I'm not cut out to be a minimalist. Good luck!
I'm 53 and had 2 strokes and couldn't take care of my home. So I moved and space was at a premium. So I had to get rid of my old tech that was becoming obsolete. So I Kept on the movies that I will watch over and over. Not the one hit wonder.So I have a smaller collection to manage. Streaming has helped with certain movies I physically do not need to buy.Mine is an extreme example. Keep your collection for now. Find the top 100 films you watch again and again. I got the Criterion of Night of the living dead. When videos were first being sold in the 1980s Night of the living dead was first $10 video tape and to date I've seen it in ever physical incarnation to Bluray. I know that I have watched it 100s of times by now. And still doing so. Find your forever collection and enjoy 🙂
Also I became home theater minimalist about 6 years ago also , I’ve had 6 different 5.1 home theatre systems since 1994 , from low end to hi end ..... fast forward to 2017 and I’ve downgraded to a 2.1 channel Bose system and I couldn’t be happier to be honest. I’m a proud minimalist now ( All Around)
Could you talk about the bfi, i feel like they are crimminally underappreciated and underacknowledged, they are my favourite film preservation/restoration charity. I love their Kurosawa and Napoleon blu rays.
They do some good releases and around a tenner , bought " Gaslight " interesting 50 plus page booklet, although IMHO and it IS personal I DON'T see why with bfi and Eureka MoC WHY I need a DVD in 2021 ?!?!?!
@@rikaardyyz3039 people still buy blu rays, because they are are much more consistent and reliable than streaming. And also, it's where they make a majority of their profits from.
@@icravedeath.1200 yeah I'm into physical media and I'm a sucker for good presentation, haven't got a massive collection 540 ISH blu rays 40 UHD , only DVDs I own are 24 box sets and Band of Brothers. Personally and collecting is , I just don't need the DVDs that u get with Eureka and Bfi. When I got my new TV and 4K player u know the thing I'm probably most impressed with is how great my blu rays look. Because I'm not about to upgrade my collection. Like I said it's personal and I probably only have 50 " what folks call boutique films" lol because they come in as clear box. Oh yeah actually didn't realise that DVD still out sells blu ray and 4k in 2021 & while my player makes blu ray look A LOT better , DVD look horrible think it exaggerates the low resolution oh maybe it's me 👍
I have been thinking in the same direction, but not get rid of the whole collection more like thinning the heard, I have so much stuff I haven't watched that I may never get too,like movies bought at the dollar store, and only keep the movies as you said that I connected with and that can be re watched over and over. The trigger was that my third shelf also ended up full and there was no more space, I started thinking about buying a fourth shelf but realized its unhealthy hoarding behavior.
I’ve a relatively small collection, quality over quantity, although I am currently on a binge of buying Italian movies of the 50s, 60’s and 70’s. I love overlooked movies so I really enjoy when you talk about movies like Poetic Justice.
Hey Elliot! HNY to you! Loving your new approach which is a sensible and logical compromise to both having a knee jerk cull AND not collecting (hoarding?😂)for the sake of it.... keep the films we love close to our hearts and sing their praises.... dead simple 😍 I do have a confession.... I’ve NEVER seen Barry Lyndon.....😱😱😱😱
Hi Elliot. This is a great approach to reevaluating your collection. Are you watching each film again as you add to your new collection? Hope all is well.
Certainly a really interesting idea. I've heard it said before about the 'groove' of collecting that we can get into, where we buy things to add because they will in some way add to the collection, rather then for, perhaps, better reasons like our love of the movie. Also a great way to appreciate what you own already, rather then the easy mindset of, new is always better. Something I'm working on myself. After recently watching Barry Lyndon for the first time, personally I was fairly disappointed as I usually love Kubrick movies, but it just didn't click with me for some reason. I'd love to see a more in depth discussion by you where you delve into what you love about it and what makes it your favourite. It's definitely one that I intend to re-visit.
Such a good idea. I got into Criterion this year and discovered many new ones by buying them... but when I look at my collection, I rarely get the urge to watch any of them. Most aren’t “fun” 😂 So very cool you’re doing this. Will look forward to your weekly 3.
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
This video is a bit different than the usual but I'm very excited for 2021 and this new approach to collecting. Thanks as always for all of the support and for subscribing to my RUclips channel, it really does mean the world to me. Let me know if this video and my ideas resonate with you at all in the comments below. Cheers!
I strive towards a minimalist-esk life, at least in terms of physical items. I find my approach on physical goods to be a very effective and helpful. It all depends on what you truly love and want to display. Games, I only do digital now (past 7 years and on) and even then I rarely buy any. Movies, music, and books, digital only and rent before buying. If I deeply love it, I -might- buy the best physical version of that thing, but in most cases it usually has to be solid and touches me in some deep way. If a better version comes out, I'll will sell the old one and replace it. Doing it this way drastically keeps my room simple, nice, spacious, and personally shows what truly matters to me and shows what really interests me.
Also I should add, there are exceptions to those rules, like some of the hard to find special editions I might keep even if there are better versions of said thing, but that is very much a case-by-case basis. Most of what I buy is the best digital version, only the deep loves or ones I just really enjoy are then maybe switched to the best physical version.
Us thrifters ...or a lot of us anyway...have a rule...If I bring something new IN, something old has to go OUT...AND Know exactly what you are going to do with something before you buy it!
Good luck!
I think I like your new approach to cinema appreciation/collecting! Kudos! I'm now following you on letterboxd.
A year or so ago I slimmed down my movie collection to movies I knew I would probably watch again but after watching your video I think I may have been too generous. I still have too many movies that I consistently pass over, they feel more like obligations than something I want to watch.
I'm going to take another pass, there's many movies I can get digitally or stream so a physical copy should be one that I really cherish.
it's all wrong thinking - instead of purging the collection you should be thinking of buying a bigger house so it looks like the collection is smaller....
Haha why didn't I think of that!?
@@ElliotCoen That was the first thing _I_ thought of. Only makes sense after all.
That's what I did 😀
Christ I still have my video collection of thousands. Including hundred if tapes of films I taped during what used to be a filmic glut at Christmas. That's where I see many a different story and learnt a lot. Silent films, black n white, foreign. How I miss those days.
You're making too much of it all. I really don't 'get" the concept of buying the same film on the same format.
If I had gotten rid of my videos and dvds I would have gotten rid of some rarities which aren't available anymore or versions of films which don't exist anymore.
Or copy them to Nas without compression. or insert the discs in Such a case that resembles a photo album
I am a minimalist and collect blu rays. I only buy movies I personally love or know will love. My collection is small but very purposeful. It's nice seeing more people implementing that strategy instead of collecting for the sake of collecting. Good luck on your journey!
I would love to hear an update on this project!
Would love to see your home cinema setup!!
I dig what you’re doing here, Elliot. In my high school and college years, I collected CDs. Sometimes I’d come home with 20 or more stacked, and maybe listen to one or two tracks from each but never really ‘absorb’ it. Finally I realized I would likely die before hearing it all so I just went ahead and sold 90% of it. I’d ask “if I didn’t already own this, would I buy it again??” If the answer was ‘no,’ it went to eBay and discogs. My life is a lot less cluttered and since buying movies, I’ve noticed a tendency to watch and rewatch my favorites and absorb the special features. If I’m not obsessed with it, it’s gone. 😁 Good luck with your experiment !
Hey Elliot, your new way is the best way of collecting physical media and it’s the way that I have been collecting for many years. Great video!
Thanks so much, Duane :)
I just collect what i like, not what others like.The best thing about collecting for me is its all about choice.Just like music,its all about choice.Freedom of choice is the best thing in life.✌
Bang on ,DO it how YOU want, there's no law saying u must own a collector's set of 2001 and citizen Kane lol 🤔🤗.
Half the time I think wow so it's in a clear box what's so special , especially " Arrow ' all though occasionally they do a good film with book.
But so do the main stream.
Funniest video I've seen on collecting is that " sarcastic criterion one ".
Collect how you want, Don't let people tell you because it's in a " Blue case" it's crap 🤔🤪.
There are no rules , Generally I buy films that I will watch multiple times, Don't have an addiction to spine numbers just well made films with good characters and narrative and good cinematography.
Well IMHO 🤗🤗
Just remember to keep up with some, 🤔
Byambasuren Davaa,
Jigjidsüren Gombojav ,
Agust Guomundssom and
Melina León, after all WTF would we be without a little ( Mongolian, Icelandic & Peruvian Film ), Now that was SARCASM 🤗
BTW watched Babel and a studiocanal version of ' The conversation" came in a slip cover with a booklet, both amazing intelligent films BUT alas came in BLUE cases But IMHO
Every bit as " boutique" as badly made straight to video horror that ends up in a clear case ARROW release. Babel like 21 grams is a work of art ❗
True. I own only a few movies of the IMDb Top 250. If other people think a movie is a must-watch and a must-own, doesn't mean I've got the same opinion. There are so many movies that are loved by many, while I think they're boring or just completely ridiculous. On the other hand, there are movies that I own and absolutely love, while others don't understand why I even own "this trash". All people have their own opinion and taste. So, indeed, collect what you like, not what others like.
@@ijslandernl I agree with you 100%👍✌❤😀
Honestly, 2020 is where my movie collection really took off. After I was laid off from my engineering job, I had a good chunk of extra cash sitting around and had moved home while I searched for a new one. I already "collected" blu rays before, but that was just big name titles and nothing really special. Once I had a lot of free time, no school or work, I dived into researching movies and found Criterion, Scream Factory and Arrow. Thats when I decided to really get into collecting, and man have I spent some money haha I don't regret anything, but with getting my job back 3 months later, I only ramped up my spending on movies. I currently now have 150ish releases from Criterion, Arrow and Scream Factory combined. At the end of 2020, I did a rough calc of how much I spent, and it really put it into perspective. My New Years resolution for 2021 is to not buy more than 10 releases TOTAL. This is really going to force me to thinking if I really need this, or wait and see what else may come out. I love collecting movies as its become a passion. My "speciality" is Japanese Cinema personally as I have a lot of connection with Japan in my life and have come to love their cinema history! In my collection I would guess that atleast 30% is Japanese. Hope you are doing well in the New Year and I look forward to the videos when you really have to make some tough choices between titles. Lets be real though, the first release added back in your collection is 100% Barry Lyndon (which I picked up because of you and LOVED IT!). Cheers from BC, Canada.
Have any Japanese film recommendations? I’ve been interested in getting into that cinema scene for a while now.
@@provablegrub4581 Well for starters my favourite Japanese director is easily Kurosawa, but everyone suggests Seven Samuari (it is absolutely amazing!), but I never tell people to start there. I usually suggest High and Low since it's Hitchcock style of suspense, but better and is my favourite! When people ask for suggestions on Japanese Cinema, I always respond with, why? Not many people realize how deep Japanese cinema is with some of the best directors of all time! So needless to say, there is a wide range to choose from so help me narrow it down haha
@@xXChronoTriggerXx13 I suppose I’d start by asking what your personal favourite Japanese films are?
@@provablegrub4581 Okay, well first my top 5 Japanese directors with my 2 of my favourites from each of them in order: Akira Kurosawa (High and Low & Yojimbo), Takashi Miike (Graveyards of honor & Audition), Kinji Fukasaku (Battle Royale & Street Mobster), Yasujiro Ozu (Good Morning & Tokyo Story), and Masaki Kobayashi (Harakiri & Kwaidan) Well my personal favorite genre, in general, has been horror/thriller since I was a little kid, so that's where my journey started. These 10 movies should give you a good starting point for research, but I highly encourage you to do so. These are a wide range that Japan has to offer, but there are plenty I did not mention that you can find through your adventure into Japanese Cinema.
Same with me - bought more movies in 2020 than any other year of my life.
I totally understand your situation my friend , I’ve been collecting films since the Laserdisc days , into DVD 📀, now Blu ray ( not really into 4K because the Jump isn’t substantial enough in my opinion.
I have only about 385 dvd/ Blu rays to date which I think is a solid collection/ I’ll probably never stop collecting BUT I’m definitely cutting back just because I’ve changed as a person / becoming more minimalist etc 👍🏼
This is a bad idea, I did this once and I ended up regretting it a few years later. It just made me miserable and I lost a lot of money along the way. I began rebuying a lot of the titles I got rid off. Never again 🤦🏿♂️
Why did you regret it? (In what way were you miserable, I mean?)
😶
You lost money because you bought them back. Or more so when you bought them in the first place as 99% of physical movies are worthless the moment u open them.
Yup, I heavily slowed down on blind-buying films on Blu-Ray and have started to curating my physical collection to reflect the films that are to my taste, a few years ago.
Been a lot cheaper finding films on digital platforms then purchasing the Blu-Rays of the ones that I actually really want in my collection.
I love your English, it’s clear and consistent. Thank you for your constant feed!!! 🙏🇨🇱
As always the audio sounds superb, whatever you're doing you're doing it right.
Thanks so much, Thomas! I've been trying to improve my audio a lot over time so thanks for noticing.
Love the videos but this is honestly probably one of my least favourite aspects of Elliot's videos. The clarity is great but the bass is always boosted so high compared to literally every other video of this kind that I watch on RUclips that it just starts to give me a headache after a while.
@@benpauley8167 Hi Ben. I don't do anything to boost the low end of my audio, perhaps it's just my low vocal tone or my microphone. I'll try to work on it but I don't hear that issue through my speakers when editing. Now I'm questioning my hearing 😂
@@ElliotCoen I just assumed it must have been edited. I didn’t find it was an issue in any of your older videos so maybe it is just me. Yours is the only channel where I really notice it thought. Still absolutely love your content. Especially when you cover new releases. I find it hard to keep up nowadays and you consolidate and present information extremely well.
@@ElliotCoen it worked! We hear every single inflexions
Easiest thing for me is to ask "Am I ever going to watch this movie again?" If yes, it's a keeper. I try to limit my blind buys but if I know it's something I'm almost certainly going to enjoy, I'll try it. If I don't like it, I sell it. Sometimes it's a hard decision to make when it's a Criterion that doesn't quite click with you but honestly, if it's just going to sit on a shelf taking space and never going to be watched again, it probably needs to go.
YES, thats exactly how I think too.
Problem is ... something you may think you’d watch again today - after a few years you may not as your collection has grown that much that that said film and others would likely be pushed to the bottom
Of a rewatch list
I only buy movies i know I'm gonna re-watch
@@mrflipperinvader7922 - did you totally miss my point !?
Hi Elliot. Totally respect your reasons behind this. You should do what feels right mate. I only have a small collection (I can only work part time due to poor health) so I tend to keep pretty much everything I buy, but I can understand folks wanting to trim their collections. Keep up the great work!
Super proud of you Elliot, I've started doing the same thing a month or so ago. Besides the Jodorowsky boxset I've decided that I basically have everything I really need. I can't keep up with every OOP title or getting stuff just BECAUSE... like you said, when you change the perspective, its easy for a collection to become an obsession. And I refuse to let something I enjoy become an obsession unless it helps my trajectory path of progression.
Keep it up my friend, I always enjoy your insight and recommendations. Exciting to know that for the most part going forward, your collection will truly reflect YOU as a person and not just another RUclips Collectionist.
This is a good approach, I see it of big RUclipsrs in the blu ray/film community who have random filler like the Smurfs on 4k next to some classic and it really makes me think where they draw the line. Very few months I like to comb over my collection, want to keep it curated
I vibe with all of your points you made in this video heavily. I’ve been debating my own collecting habits this past year and need some sort of focused resolve. This was very helpful.
I admire you. I've been a movie lover and collecting DVDs since I was 10 (BDs since I was 20), and now work in Hollywood. Each film I own, even ones I am hate and will likely never see again, carry memories for me. The place where I bought it. Or the people I watched it with. Or watching it in a theater for the first time. Seeing them on a shelf triggers nostalgia for me beyond the movie itself.
Getting rid of even some of the worst movies I own is, at this point, unthinkable for me.
But maybe one day I'll be able to!
I’m glad you’re taking a chance on this new collecting method. In my opinion, it’s honestly the ONLY way to collect. It’s what makes YOUR collection different from everyone else’s. I never expected to see Barry Lyndon and Poetic Justice to be discussed within just minutes of each other 😂. We already know all of the “classics” and all of the films we’re told to enjoy otherwise there’s something wrong with us. You do you!
I think it's amazing that you're trying to rethink your collecting strategy. I stopped collecting for a while. I now watch films, but only collect films that I watch and over and over again. They have to be films that I also learn from. I've cut back to around 20. I will restock, but with that more rigorous criteria. At the moment they are Kubrick, Hitchcock, Lean, Powell & Pressburger films. I have a short list to add from Eisenstein and Kurosawa. I wish your endeavour goes well. x
I like what you're doing. I feel like we are on the exact same wavelength. Over the past 3 years I have been attempting to embrace a more minimalist lifestyle and after just having recently moved, I've decided to downsize my film collection. I presently have a stack of movies I own and haven't seen, and once I finish them I can begin curating my personal collection solely to films that truly speak to me.
love this thinking, collecting can get so out of control. I'm keeping my collection in control by purchasing only my favourite directors and keeping the excess in storage till I'm ready to put them on the shelves and watch them, until then I don't purchase any more of that director or begin watching them. Now my shelves have my Kubrick and Kurosawa collection which I love, meanwhile my few Hitchcock and Fincher films are in storage till I'm ready to watch them and collect them. Hope you return soon!
I love this way of thinking. I’ve been slimming my collection down for around 5 years now. Films should be your life and something you want to revisit, time and time again. Not a pretty picture of collection labels for the sake of it.
I think you're over thinking it all man. Just collect movies and enjoy them. Also don't set out to become a master of only the movies you love. You should consume all cinema good or bad, and just make sure you go back and rewatch the great ones down the line.
"You should consume all cinema good or bad" nah this is a bad way of thinking, nobody's got time to waste on that much stuff that doesn't appeal to them, lol. Like he said this also diminishes the amount of time you get to spend gaining a deeper understanding of the movies you love or going down the specific genre/director rabbit holes that appeal to you, meaning you just got a moderate amount of understanding of a lot of different movies instead an intimate understanding of the stuff that you have a more specific interest in. Also the movies you personally love can potentially run the gamut of "good" or "bad" anyways, your personal taste aren't always going to align with critical consensus.
The desire to “truly understand” each movie in a rigorously curated collection will probably also become a source of stress that robs many of the movies of their pleasure.
Hi Elliot! I understand your predicament. As a long-time collector I have built large collections of both film and music. I have frequently done purges to reduce the volume, and I generally do this by selling on Ebay to maximize the return on my original investment since Ebay reaches a large potential buyer base. As for collecting habits, I know what it's like, and understand your impulse to whittle the collection down to much loved movies. But then the question becomes 'how do I discover new films?' Obviously seeing them on streaming or at the theater is one way, but when you think about some boutique labels, like Criterion or Indicator or Arrow, they are bringing out films that are not often found on streaming channels or television (btw, I strongly recommend a subscription to Criterion's own streaming service if you don't already have it). My approach is two-fold. First to watch the release lists of these companies and invest when something catches your interest - find a way to watch it first if possible, or do a blind-buy if it appeals to you and you can't stream it anywhere. In addition I keep a plastic bin by my computer for things that I pull from the collection that I just don't think I will ever revisit. List them on Ebay every so often when I have a moment. If you do a quick scout at their availability and selling prices, you can usually decide on a price that will generate a sale without too much wait time. And if things sit in the bin for a while it also gives you time to reconsider or go ahead and sell. Thus you can trim the collection on a regular basis. I definitely shy away from a big cull all at one time - for me at least that's too drastic and results in getting rid of things you may later regret. There are always going to be movies that fall into a grey area.. movies that you would like to have available to watch, that you would only go to on occasion. In many cases they are still worth having. So my basic suggestion/approach is instead of deciding 3 at a time what can go in your 'new' collection, think of 3 at a time that can come out of the old collection. This way you will actually be reducing the physical media that you have as you go. Good luck! Whichever method you choose I hope you make the right choice for you.
Very interesting. It will be interesting to share in this journey as you go through your weekly 3 with why you chose them.
I'm just begun my collecting journey and I'm starting out focusing on the films I know I love. Many of these I haven't seen in many year and at the time, it was probably on VHS on a 4:3 tv. It has been amazing to now experience these movies in 4K and on a proper home theater. I'm presently eagerly awaiting the arrival of my 4K version of Jaws which I have not seem probably since my VHS/4:3 days. I'm sure it will be a heck of an experience watching it now.
Of course there are a lot of movies I have not seen that are critically acclaimed and it is hard to resist the temptation to buy them and experience them as they should, which I am now able to. A lot of these movies I purposely have not seen because I missed them in the theater and wanted to experience them as the director intended. So, in essence I guess I'm also in 'discovery mode' as you were when you 1st started.
Will I be able to keep control or am I destined to end up where you are and have to do a similar exercise? Only time will tell, I guess.
Do what feels right and most comfortable. I'm glad you have a fresh outlook on film!
i wish you luck in the new organization, the way my collection is is simple, i buy movies i know ill rewatch and enjoy again
Excellent thoughts. I also get a lot of mental fatigue from clutter and collecting that gets out of hand, so I appreciated this a lot.
I'm excited to follow along with you! This is a cool idea. A sign of maturing is focusing more on fewer things that you really like vs trying all kinds of things as you grow up.
My thought process 4 years ago as a person who was returning to collecting physical media was to only purchase the films that I had extreme nostalgia for or outright loved. The goal was to be able to grab any film and have it be a watchable favorite as well as to have what is effectively a live tableau of expression.
Now of course over time things happen and I've used this very technique to solve it. I regularly will take big chunks of films that are meh in my mind at that moment out to create space for new ones and over time you filter through the removed ones and return only the cream.
I really hate the idea of buying a movie because you feel like it's "important" and suddenly you are broke and there's no room in your space.
The Matrix is the first DVD I ever bought almost 20 years ago and the first Blu Ray I ever bought over quarantine.
Oh that's awesome, John! I'm glad to know you're a fellow fan of The Matrix
The Matrix was the last VHS I ever bought and the 1st DVD I ever bought.
I'm in the same camp as well. Back in 1999, The Matrix was my first singles DVD. There was really no other movie like it at the time.👍
@@ForEternia Funny thing was it took people a couple of weeks to realize what was in theaters and they were missing out on, despite the commercials.
Mine was Cliffhanger.
Good for you being able to recalculate your perspective towards something that you love. It's a big move and important one as well mentally. I haven't gotten to that point yet myself but I have tried to limit my movie pickups as of late and running out of space is a factor. Just like you I forget a lot about movies I watch since I'm constantly watching one and moving on to another. The one good thing for me about that is it keeps movies I've already seen a bit more fresh. Take care.
I used to buy DVDs in a bulk, I went online and I looked what is in good price and get a lot. Movies I knew, Movies I've heard about or movies I've never heard about. Then I basically sold everything once I moved and for a long time when I went into collecting Blu-Rays I got myself one rule - I only collect movies I'd love to rewatch on fairly regular basis. So my collection is mostly Marvel movies, some SF, Star Wars, Star Trek, all the entertainment stuff that makes me feel good. Buuuuuut then I've discovered that Criterion Collection is available in UK and at that time Zoom was having occasional Weekend Deals where they had two CC movies on pretty great discount so I used to blind buy one of them. And the collection grew a bit.
Right now I still mostly buy movies I know I will be back to at some point. But I do tend to buy occasional Criterion fully blind.
Having gotten rid of my entire collection about 5 years ago as I went digital, this seemed like a cautionary tale to begin with. It very soon became apparent that you are indeed whittling down your collection🤯. Earlier in the year, about March time I started collecting again and rapidly spent a lot of money and time building a collection, finding like minded you tubers like yourself, and loving the hobbie again. But again like yourself I find myself at a point where its too much. And I should do what you are experimenting with and whittle it down to just the films I love, but as I've only re-built this collection in the last year I'm finding it hard to let it go again. Great video all the same, look forward to seeing how this experiment works for you. 😊👍
It's a wonderful passion and a curse.
Hard to let them go,hard to keep them all.
What to do. 😐
I really like this idea. Been thinking about stripping down my own collection to build a more personal one. Been collecting various boutique labels over the course of the last 10 years or so and the fact is that a lot of them i will probably never see again. So the ultimate goal is to have a collection where every movie i own i can put into my player and watch at any given time.
Good plan! A couple of years ago, I noticed that my DVD/Blu-ray collection was simply getting too big. I sat down over the course of a few days and took an honest look at my shelves and every movie on them and asked myself if I truly wanted to keep them and if I was actually ever going to watch them again. If the answer was no, they got purged from my collection. Also, some of my movies were moved into CD/DVD wallets (I kept the slip covers as well but got rid of the cases). Now I have things down to a more reasonable size, although I still think there is some room for improvement. Even so, I feel a lot better about things and can look at my shelves and be happy with what I have.
How fun. I started collecting VHS, then laserdiscs, skipped DVD but am now buying Blu-ray’s/4K. My ‘strategy’ is two fold. Films I love and want to see repeatedly is one part. Films that are fun and under $10 is the second. I’m buying 2-3 films per week. Wall-E in 4K is my love for this week. I Robot and Her are my fun cheapies. Psyched to see your collection reincarnate.
Smart move. I purged movies regularly while building my collection and now it is airtight. My 300+ movies are all my favorites and purposefully kept. A strong collection of 500 is so much more impressive than a stringy and stretched out collection of 1500. Good on you.
A personal collection where every movie is meaningful to you will give you the most joy. I look forward to seeing what you will include. :-)
I totally agree with your comments.I did the same.I had over 3,000 DVD's at one point & my partner said this.How many films do you watch a week,how old are you?.Do the maths you will be brown bread before you see half of them if you actually started watching them from today.I now own just over 70 blurays.I donated and sold the Dvds.Every collector will hit this wall.I feel so much better for down sizing it.
Starting from scratch is a great feeling. I did it a few years ago; sold the lot. Never felt the need to re-buy. Streaming suits me fine.
Only problem with that, is some movies just ain’t on any streaming sites. That’s why it’s great to still keep a good solid collection.
Great idea! I’ve been doing something similar with my Blu-ray collection. Just collecting what I really enjoy and see myself enjoying w my family and also w friends. Every now and the I’ll stop by my collection and sell some off or give away to make room for something I really want. I have a limited space so that helps me as well.
Big leap! Loving it! Favorite video of yours. I wish I was strong enough to do this.
You ever see the family guy episode where lois becomes a minimalist, starts to shed off unwanted stuff. Gets rid of everything including her family in the search for happiness that never came?
You cant even compare the two
Interesting video, Elliot! I actually sold about 100 titles from my collection recently. Most of them were random movies that I know I’ll never watch again. Felt great. Your last video definitely inspired me to do so. I have been thinking a lot about my collection habits since then. Buying just for the sake of buying makes no sense which is why I try to slow down a little bit and focus more on quality rather than quantity.
An excellent experiment and idea for 2021, I love it Elliot! Best of luck with your new venture and great choices with your first 3 films. Cheers!
Your overthinking it pal. Just watch your stuff and collect them.
The world is full of clutter.
The Less is more brigade will drive anyone mad.
Barry Lydon is a kubrick master piece.
Watch his life documentry and see how kubrick kept and archived everything in the doc boxes.
And that gives an example where more was actually not enough.
Great video.
I recently did something similar with my book collection. I took a hard look at every one I owned, asked myself whether I really loved it, would read it again or if it held special meaning to be. I was brutal and donated quite a few books to the GoodWill. It felt good.
Now, if I blind buy a book from a used shop and don't like it, it gets put in a bag and off it goes.
I've also donated dvds I know I will never watch again. At the same time, I've purchased a ton of blu rays this past year.....but films and shows that I treasure. Now I want to organize them. So many ways to do that.
I totally understand where you are coming from, and I couldn't agree more. It definitely effects one's mental health looking at all the movies, especially if one is a minimalist. I love collecting and watching movies, but it as just became too much for me to cope with. I wouldn't get rid of your collection I would think more on how to store them. I had a collection like yours and now mine are in large cd cases/binders. I have trashed all my covers and blu-ray cases. Remembering that is just the way companies get you to buy them just like any other product. Now I spend less time looking at all the covers and thinking about what to watch. I feel much better and like a weight as been lifted off my shoulders. All these "limited edition" hard box/booklets and postcards are becoming ridiculous, and I'm fed up with these companies taking advantage of us collectors. The disc is enough for me now. I'm done with the mind control. Thanks for the video. I hope you manage to see what is happening here and think about your mental health before anything. take care bud.
Great idea, Elliot. Interested in seeing how this plays out for you. Will be watching.....
Thats exactly how i collect. I mostly buy movies which i already know and which i love and want to see multiple times.
Sometimes there is a blind buy but thats the exception. I got 140 titles including some box sets. I sold all my DVDs to get them on UHD or Blu-ray at least because of my new UHD TV.
I love listening to you talk about movies - I’ll be interested to see which ones you pick for your “new collection” I get a lot of ideas from your videos and have broadened my collection. Especially with criterion movies.
A very sensible and commendable decision. I have been selling large parts of my movie but also board game collections. It feels very liberating. You'll be left with a smaller but infinitely superior collection, one you'll enjoy more.
As an avid movie collector for over 20 years I totally support you're move to declutter a bit. I went from shelves of VHS, to Shelves of DVD to Shelves of Bluray. I decluttered through each iteration and I think it's important to just keep the movies that are your favorite that really reflect your love of film. In the 90's when DVD started out there was a craze to buy content. I had so many movies that I didn't love but just wanted to have in a new format. cutting out the clutter and donating films or selling them gave other people a chance to enjoy them and allowed me to make space for something new or reposition my films in a way that made them easier to pickup and rewatch. Go for it! I think you might be happier. Also do you have a HTPC? A HTPC has been really helpful for me in watching region coded films and being able to slowly digitize my films as a back up to my disks. Cheers!!
I am a massive physical media collector. I previously owned a video shop and probably have 30,000 to 40,000 DVDs and blurays. I now manage a cinema but still buy physical media. I live in New Zealand and the range is very small here so I import them from Australia. We don't have any of those boutique labels that you mention in your videos but I own most of them on labels that are available over here which are mostly distributed by Madman and Umbrella.
The movie studios and disc format industry needs to work together to bring out a new psychical format where 4K Blu-Rays are succeeded with a card constraining the movie that looks similar to a SD Card. Not only does it keep psychical media around, but it would give studios more storage to work with that also has a longer life span if stored correctly.
While for the boxes they could be redesigned to store the card in a box that is air tight. Now how can this benefit the studios long term budgets. They can still charge more kind of like UHD Blu-Ray’s, which in turn gives them a way to make money back on their investment. Lastly how can they do a movie collection.
For me the movie collections would use the biggest memory cards compared to the standalone releases, that use the smallest cards chosen by the studios for 4K and above.
I taught myself to keep the movies I love and will watch again. I never got caught up in buying movies that other people considered great or essential. I buy the movies for my collection that I consider essential.
As someone who started a collection when I was in 10th grade (like 8 years ago) I've bought a lot of films that I don't like because I thought I was just building a collection.
So during my recent move I just gave away some of my movies to my friends and decided that I'm really only going to buy movies I love and want to keep.
I did buy a few blind during the Criterion Sale, but I'm not just gonna buy randomly anymore.
I totally get this! I’ve often told people I will probably sell a lot, if not my entire collection someday and they always seem confused at the concept. I think I’m still enjoying exploring too much to give up. I have been making myself watch all the films I haven’t seen yet recently and I’ve been enjoying that. Getting though big box sets like Godzilla, Zatoichi, and Bergman. It’s a shame because there’s just not enough time to revisit all these films. I do enjoy most of them enough to want to do so but when I have so many I haven’t seen it makes it more difficult to make that choice so I’m trying to actually assess what is worthy of keeping and exploring further and what I don’t connect with as much.
Awesome initiative and new project. Definitely trying to be mindful of the physical movies/media I bring into my life
Hope you don't end up regretting the cull Elliot. I have done so before and regretted it. I once sold (in my late teens) all my original Choose Your Own Adventure books in essentially mint condition (had about the first 50 or so of them) for around 20-30 AUD at a garage sale. Later in life I got the nostalgic bug for my youth and spent a small fortune re-acquiring all those CYOA books I had parted with years earlier...and I struggled to find them in the same near mint condition mine were in. So if you go slowly and keep it around for a bit I think that is definitely a good approach! But yes I get space issues and the burden of thinking you need to collect everything or you'll miss out. I certainly suffer from that issue and my "library/office" is very cluttered and annoying/unworkable at the moment. I have a goal to pull everything out this year, and put the shelving you use in there and some floor to ceiling bookshelves for my books ... And a new computer desk....smaller one... And make the room useable again. I suppose when doing that I'll be looking to also cull some stuff but l will be very very careful and selective on how I will go about that process! So just to clarify then... Any NEW purchase you get will ONLY be a movie you already know/love? What about your penchant for loving a blind buy and discovering gems you never knew about and never would without the blind buy?
This is a fascinating idea, Elliot! I love that you've inspired some others to try the same, as well. I'm not there yet - in fact, I just went to add Poetic Justice to my Amazon cart, hahaha! - but I cannot wait to see your progress. And, because I am a nerd, I have some questions about the details. What do you do for home media releases in 2021? Are you free to add three movies from outside of your collection rather than ones you already own? Or are you handling 2021 releases separately (like not allowing yourself to purchase any, for example)? Love this idea, and cannot wait to hear more! Thanks for sharing your journey with us.
I really like what you’re doing here and the format of three movies a week. As an avid collector always looking for ways to effectively slim my collection down to the true essentials as years pass and remove the films I don’t have as much a connection to anymore, this is a great idea. I’d enjoy seeing how this goes for you if you do some update videos in the future.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts about collecting movies.
I've had a similar experience with collecting video games (especially retro games). My conclusion was nearly the same that you had:
I got rid of buying games "people think I need to have" e. g. just for having a complete collection. Now I am at this point that I just want to collect games (same goes with movies, music ect). I like, I feel related with (childhood memories). It feels now like a burden I got rid of.
As I said before, thank you for sharing your steps going through your thoughts, this might be helpful for other people who don't know where the road goes when it comes to collecting stuff in general.
Certainly something to thing about with my own collection - there are some BluRays on the lower shelves that I feel are clogging up precious shelf space and would benefit from a bit of a purge to keep things I REALLY want to watch again. Great video and very helpful!
Well done. It's great to experience lots of works of art, but some times the value of it is the experience. You don't need every painting hanging on your wall.
I currently ONLY purchase movies I have never seen and it MUST be out of print! This is my approach! My wife and I have seen great movies we have never even heard of!
I totally agree with you Elliot! It’s not about the quantity it’s all about the QUALITY!
I only buy films which I have really really enjoyed and that’s why I have around 90 films on blu ray. I have only seen around 550 films. Even though I enjoyed every film I saw those 90 films I absolutely adore. I have watched all of them more then 3 times and so they are very personal to me. Again I have to agree with you Elliot! Trust me at the end of this you will appreciate the films which you decided to keep!
Btw a suggestion: posting every week on Instagram a picture of your weekly picks.
I'm just starting to rekindle my interest in physical media. I realised I just wasn't enjoying music and video the way I used to so I'm getting back into vinyl and video on disc. I'm setting myself the restriction of only keeping movies and music that I truly love, hopefully to avoid ending up with a house full of the things.
This is actually a great content idea. Now all week I'm gonna be thinking, "Damn I wonder what 3 films Eliott is rescuing from the Collect-tanic this week"
For the next 14 years!
No not necessarily. As Elliot said many of the pieces in his collection hes only seen once, and it may have been out of obligation. The 8020 rule applies and hell probably readjust his strategy after he chooses his absolute favourite 300 films.
Admittedly the idea of you getting rid of your entire collection was genuinely scary for me - only because this is obviously what you are passionate about and love, so to get rid of everything seems like a step in the wrong direction. On the otherhand I think there is nothing wrong with reaping through your collection and get rid of films you will never watch again or don't like. I expect I will do that myself in the near future once my collection gets close to filling my shelf.
In saying all this, I really loved hearing your brief thoughts on the 3 films you've chosen to keep. I would LOVE to see what films you choose each week, and what they mean to you. This is something unique to you that I'm not going to see in anyone else's movie/bluray review videos. Even just as a short bookend on the end of one of your videos each week would be awesome! I know I have a lot on my shelf that really means something to me so it's really nice to hear yours.
Hi! I’m new to your channel and I also collect movies in bluray, mainly anime. I’ve always thought of physical media as important especially for me since I’m the international audience for this medium. That also seems to be proving true because some of the shows I’m collecting you can’t find on streaming anymore because of licensing. But I only collect shows that I’ve rewatched over and over throughout the years because then I know it’s worth me owning it. I’ve never thought it necessary to own any of the “necessary” or “classic” materials in any form of entertainment since your collection is about you!! I hope your new collecting prompt helps you out in how you look at collecting in the future ☺️ I enjoy your videos! Your voice is soothing
I own about 1500 BDs and 1200 DVDs and since i will be moving to Italy I must imperative down-size my collection...It pains me, but watching your video has inspired me.
A really cool premise and idea that was pretty cathartic to watch. Couldn’t do it myself of course (!) but it’s something that as a film fan, I can totally get behind. My (much less extreme) version is to try and try and pick a film from my collection and rewatch it and include all the features / booklet etc and dig into the art and craft of the film making. It means I’ll only get rewatching 52 movies a year but it’s a start! My only question is about how you’ll do film discovery from now on? Is blind buying heavily reduced? I smell a follow up video 👍
I started buying everything that was a special edition, etc. But now I'm realizing I would rather spend more money on a oop special edition of one I know I like rather than blind buying anything that looks interesting.
Hi Nigel, I know exactly what you mean. I have many special editions on the shelf that have been gathering dust for a while. I'd much rather turn those into the movies that I know I love already. Thanks for watching!
@@ElliotCoen I've gotten really into giallo to the point where I'm selling some of my collection so I can buy the oop Arrow special editions. They have a lot more meaning on the shelf than pacific rim for example which I bought on 4k when I was just getting into it as a reference disc. Now I'm getting rid of all the 4k stuff I bought just for the picture quality.
I only blind buy If the Blu-ray is less than $10. It's a real bummer to spend $25 on a movie you've never seen and end up not liking it Just wasted $25.
I was 35 when the matrix came out and I thought I had seen a thing or two, but when Trinity ran up the wall in that opening scene...well we for sure hadn't seen that before.
As always LOVE is the answer. If I don't have a strong affinity for a movie I don't buy it. If I don't have an even stronger feeling it doesn't get upgraded. There are exceptions (of course ) for movies I have never seen but curious about and it's under $5. If collecting all the Criterion tiles is your passion that's fine. I have quite a few of their titles myself but there are titles in their collection that just don't sing to me and I know I will never purchase. That being said I may have a collection (BD 4K 3D DVD) that is almost as large as yours Elliot. I like this idea of restarting the blu ray collection. I have a fairly large studio apartment but it's beginning to feel a bit cramped. Too much stuff. This may be just what I need.
Interesting collecting direction to go in mate, hope it goes well for you! Looking forward to future videos covering it too
This while make for quite a different channel but I understand and support your decision. The way I think about is this: collect what you love, not what you think you “should” collect.
I have over 300 blu ray movies i plan to go past 1000 by the end of this year the diffrence is i throw the plastic covers away and store them in a 1000 disc storage case
You definitely have one of the most impressive collections I’ve ever seen! I am very interested to see where this goes. I too have found that I’d just buy films without thinking about whether I really NEED them. Since subbing to The Criterion Channel, that has been a great way for me to discover films without feeling like I’m missing out by not buying the physical copies. Arrow Video I know also have their own streaming service. Looking forward to what the future brings!
This gave me a bit to think about honestly. I'm at about 800 blu-rays, so roughly half of your collection and I'm now wondering if I need to sit down and look at each one and decide if its worth selling off a bit of it to focus more on films I love rather than, as you stated "should I have this."
My modest collection is due a Spring clean. I'm gonna follow the 'spark joy' method. As much to my chagrin, it worked very well when I was whittling down my blu rays before I moved into my place.
I think there are a lot of people doing this now-- I caught the movie-collecting bug during the DVD days and then practically replaced everything I bought with Blu-Ray versions. By the time UHD hit, I realized that my collection had gotten out of control, I had a lot of movies I didn't care about after a viewing or two, and as you get older it really sinks in that you don't have all eternity to horde and rewatch hundreds or even thousands of movies/shows in your collection and it just feels burdensome.
Good approach. Separating love of movies from consumerism is important. Old habits die hard, so I would anticipate slipping up occasionally - at least that’s been my experience.
I just watched The Minimalists: Less Is Now on Netflix last week and I found myself wanting to simplify my home. I donated about 10% of my book collection, but now I'm looking at the empty shelves and thinking, "I could add more blu-rays." Maybe I'm not cut out to be a minimalist. Good luck!
I'm 53 and had 2 strokes and couldn't take care of my home.
So I moved and space was at a premium. So I had to get rid of my old tech that was becoming obsolete. So I Kept on the movies that I will watch over and over. Not the one hit wonder.So I have a smaller collection to manage. Streaming has helped with certain movies I physically do not need to buy.Mine is an extreme example. Keep your collection for now. Find the top 100 films you watch again and again. I got the Criterion of Night of the living dead. When videos were first being sold in the 1980s Night of the living dead was first $10 video tape and to date I've seen it in ever physical incarnation to Bluray. I know that I have watched it 100s of times by now. And still doing so. Find your forever collection and enjoy 🙂
Good luck with the experiment Elliot.
Also I became home theater minimalist about 6 years ago also , I’ve had 6 different 5.1 home theatre systems since 1994 , from low end to hi end ..... fast forward to 2017 and I’ve downgraded to a 2.1 channel Bose system and I couldn’t be happier to be honest.
I’m a proud minimalist now ( All Around)
Could you talk about the bfi, i feel like they are crimminally underappreciated and underacknowledged, they are my favourite film preservation/restoration charity. I love their Kurosawa and Napoleon blu rays.
They do some good releases and around a tenner , bought " Gaslight " interesting 50 plus page booklet, although IMHO and it IS personal I DON'T see why with bfi and Eureka MoC WHY I need a DVD in 2021 ?!?!?!
@@rikaardyyz3039 people still buy blu rays, because they are are much more consistent and reliable than streaming. And also, it's where they make a majority of their profits from.
@@icravedeath.1200 yeah I'm into physical media and I'm a sucker for good presentation, haven't got a massive collection 540 ISH blu rays 40 UHD , only DVDs I own are 24 box sets and Band of Brothers. Personally and collecting is , I just don't need the DVDs that u get with Eureka and Bfi.
When I got my new TV and 4K player u know the thing I'm probably most impressed with is how great my blu rays look.
Because I'm not about to upgrade my collection.
Like I said it's personal and I probably only have 50 " what folks call boutique films" lol because they come in as clear box.
Oh yeah actually didn't realise that DVD still out sells blu ray and 4k in 2021 & while my player makes blu ray look A LOT better , DVD look horrible think it exaggerates the low resolution oh maybe it's me 👍
I have been thinking in the same direction, but not get rid of the whole collection more like thinning the heard, I have so much stuff I haven't watched that I may never get too,like movies bought at the dollar store, and only keep the movies as you said that I connected with and that can be re watched over and over. The trigger was that my third shelf also ended up full and there was no more space, I started thinking about buying a fourth shelf but realized its unhealthy hoarding behavior.
I’ve a relatively small collection, quality over quantity, although I am currently on a binge of buying Italian movies of the 50s, 60’s and 70’s. I love overlooked movies so I really enjoy when you talk about movies like Poetic Justice.
Hey Elliot! HNY to you! Loving your new approach which is a sensible and logical compromise to both having a knee jerk cull AND not collecting (hoarding?😂)for the sake of it.... keep the films we love close to our hearts and sing their praises.... dead simple 😍 I do have a confession.... I’ve NEVER seen Barry Lyndon.....😱😱😱😱
Hi Elliot. This is a great approach to reevaluating your collection. Are you watching each film again as you add to your new collection? Hope all is well.
Certainly a really interesting idea. I've heard it said before about the 'groove' of collecting that we can get into, where we buy things to add because they will in some way add to the collection, rather then for, perhaps, better reasons like our love of the movie. Also a great way to appreciate what you own already, rather then the easy mindset of, new is always better. Something I'm working on myself.
After recently watching Barry Lyndon for the first time, personally I was fairly disappointed as I usually love Kubrick movies, but it just didn't click with me for some reason. I'd love to see a more in depth discussion by you where you delve into what you love about it and what makes it your favourite. It's definitely one that I intend to re-visit.
I see this quite a bit in the blu-ray collectors circle where someone goes all in and then eventually turns around and sells them all.
Such a good idea. I got into Criterion this year and discovered many new ones by buying them... but when I look at my collection, I rarely get the urge to watch any of them. Most aren’t “fun” 😂 So very cool you’re doing this. Will look forward to your weekly 3.