Are Movie/TV Collections a Thing of the Past?

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Between my TiVos, several streaming services and the multitude of BD ISOs on my servers I can always find something to watch. It doesn't take long to find the content if it's aggregated well. That is why I like the Boxee Box interface. I can quickly go through my BD isos

 

Hang in there... there's always hope.

A few days ago my (15 yo) daughter told me how "awesome" Breakfast at Tiffany's was. She had just finished watching it off our server and was all choked up at the final scene. She actually said 'why don't they make movies like that anymore?'..

 

I'm rather the opposite. I have to be fairly bored before I care to risk wasting my time on something I will ultimately regret watching when I have a ton of items I know for a fact are really great sitting there waiting for me.

Of course, I am not so adverse to risk a few minutes just to dip my toe in the water, as it were, so fairly frequently I will watch a few minutes of an unknown recorded piece and then chunk it.

By comparison, I have only walked out of a film in a commercial theater three times in my life, that I recall.

 

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Really? A 15 year old? That is amazing. I was shocked the other evening when my best friend brought his wife and 20 year old daughter over for movie night, and she was the one who actully chose How to Steal a Million to watch and loved it.

OTOH, maybe there is just something about Audrey Hepburn.

I take that back. There is no "maybe" about it.

 

I also stopped archiving, except of coarse my favorites. Companies that stream media have made it pointless for me to hoard tons of stuff and buying drive after drive for storage.

 

AT least 75% of what I watch are shows I haven't seen before.

Oh and great old shows that I have seen aren't necessarily homeruns for me the 2nd or 3rd or 4th time around.

STars WArs I have seen many times. Love it of course. But sometimes when I rewatch it or start to rewatch it I find myself bored. And then don't get through it.

And then sometimes nostalgia makes you think an old favorite movie was much better than it actually was. Some of them don't hold up as much as others in other words.

I find there is a lot of great content that I haven't seen. The problem is finding it. There are lots of great foreign flicks. And great lesser known movies. And then on top of it you have the history of American cinema. Plus good tv series as well.

 

Interesting view. I myself accept a cliffhanger ending that was produced because they didn't know if the show would be renewed. I just accept it as I do the suspension of disbelief required for all video entertainment.

However, there are a lot of folks like you. Google the UK show Psychoville and read about the absolute vitriol otherwise supportive fans had to say about the Series 1 ending (somewhat of a cliff hanger). I just accepted the producers were giving themselves some place to go IF they got to make a Series 2, but a lot were furious and there is even a mention of a "pathetic ending" in the first episode of Series 2 that was a reference to the backlash from fans about the final episode of Series 1.

 

Your post apparently struck a cord on this forum! I know exactly what you mean, I have over 800 movies archived and only save the ones I like enough for repeated viewings. I have a system for re-watching movies: I wait a minimum of 6 months before re-watching something once and at least two years before re-watching it twice. This way they remain somewhat fresh as far as the details of the story, even if I do know how it all turns out. I have a great program on my computer called Movie Collector, which has all the usual movie data, of course, but also allows me to save and sort by the viewed date and number of viewings. So I just sort on that criteria and thus always have a list of great movies from which to choose.

The problem with this system is just what you point out - Do I want to re-watch something I know I'll enjoy or take a risk and watch something new, which may or may not be a waste of my precious time? Again, I have a system: I watch at least 3 new movies a week, which leaves time for another 3 or so from my archive. I try to give a new movie a chance, at least 30 minutes, before I give up on it. Of course some are so bad you can just dispose of them after a few minutes, but with others you're curious where they are going and want to see how they turn out, so you just have to stick it out to the end. And some movies I think are good for one viewing but have no desire to re-watch.

 

I am pretty much in the same boat. I have a Netflix account for online streaming and Blockbuster Express (1 DVD) account for the DVD AND game feature (for our Wii). When I rent DVDs, they tend to sit longer than needed as well. Therefore, I usually just rent games from them instead.

Redbox is another good option. Just rent it when you decide you'll watch something and its only $1-2 per rental, per night. No fuss, no mess.

As mentioned, Netflix (& Redbox for that matter) both have to wait for a good month for new DVD releases compared to Blockbuster, but that isn't really either of their faults. Rather, it is because Blockbuster was getting KILLED by these two in the market. They were then able to make exclusive deals with most of the movie distributors that allowed them to release titles first and exclusively and for about 30 days before others got it. This was aimed more toward their brick and mortor stores and trying to save them.

However, I think its too later for them though & they are more or less at the end of their existence. Hollywood Video has gone out of business and its probably just a matter of time before Blockbuster follows. People were just tired of paying $6-7 to rent a movie from Blockbuster for a week when all they wanted was one night and could easily get it from Redbox for $1. Easy pickup and easy return at various locations (gas stations, drug stores, grocery, etc.)

Yea, DISH network bought Blockbuster and is trying to save them, but not sure they will ever get back to the popularity they had in the 90s. I think its more or less become an outlet to try and sell more DISH Network subscriptions at this point. I used to have several Blockbuster stores within 5-10 miles of my home. Now the closest one is about 45mins away.

Blockbuster is now trying to get into the online streaming game & they have a service, bit for now its limited to DISH subscribers only so not sure how it will do in the long run. Not sure if they will ever open it up to everyone either. Only will time will tell on all of this.

 

Now, Blockbuster has to buy many of the titles locally to be able to get them to rent for same day release. Since some of teh studios won't sell them the titles until 4 or 8 weeks after release day.

 

It's not about hoarding it's about having a wide range of content available so you are more likely to find something you want to watch for the mood you are in at the moment. I could feel like watching a certain movie at one point in the day, and a few hours later I have no desire to watch it, but want to watch a different kind of movie. By having a wide range of content available from either my Servers or recorded on my TiVos. And then add the streaming services into that mix. I can most likely find something I want to watch for almost any mood I'm in any time of the day. I prefer not to settle for watch something, but to watch what I want when the mood strikes me.

I typically watch content daily from my TiVos, and my servers. As well as Netflix, Amazon, and Xbox Live. LAst night I watched a TV show that had been recorded on a TiVo. I watched a movie disc rental from Blockbuster. I watched a show from amazon streaming. And I also watched another show from Netflix streaming. And yet another TV show from a server. I never know what I will be in the mood to watch.

 

I have 150+ DVDs, and like 200+ more movies on my NAS. Like aaronwt said, you never know what you are in the mood for, and sometimes I will watch a movie I haven't seen in 10 years.

I'm less so on TV Shows, usually just save comedies as I really have never re-watched a drama (short of The Wire).

 

A big part of the reason I maintain a large file server filled with both current and older content to view is that I have never been happy with the streaming model. I can count on the fingers of ONE hand the number of full length tv shows or movies I have ever seen streamed to any screen I have watched without a single glitch, rebuffer, hickup or other problem. I do not want to deal with network diffeculties or put up with network issues when watching a show. If its stored locally it works. Many shows I only store long enough to watch once and then delete. I will admit to a bit of the 'hoarding' mentality but like others here, never know what I will want to watch. Its nice having choices and for me, pure streaming just does not cut it. I have used Amazon unbox from time to time and been happy with the rentals. But that is a download, play, delete model, not pure streaming.

Before you reply with comments about my network not being up to snuff, let me mention that I feel the same way about sat radio service. I HATE glitches in the program stream. Any service that cannot play through while I go under an overpass or down a tree lined street, does not belong in my car.

 

What gives? That is a verbatim quote of trip1ex' post from a few days ago:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=9053493#post9053493

 

Nice catch. I've seen some similar responses of unattributed quotes from low-count posters and assume it is the product of a bot, but for the life of me, I can't figure out the angle of why.

 

This.

Last night we watched an episode of Castle from last Halloween, an episode of Young Justice with my son from last Saturday and an episode of Top Shot from two months ago. When I went to the gym, my wife watched an episode of IT Crowd from 2007.

It isn't a race to consume content...it's a desire to have content available when you want it, not when someone wants to present it TO you. My Netflix queue is for when I want to watch something, whether it's an episode of Lillyhammer or 'My Man Godfrey'.