The Lure of the Cheap DVD Rack
Filed under: Fandom, Home Entertainment
Consider this post your confessional as well as my own. You see, I can't resist a cheap DVD. Even if the film isn't something I'd even put on a top 10 or 20 list, if I see it for $10.00 or less, I must own it.
This week's guilty grab was Australia, a film I was very disappointed in, and planned never to see again unless I stumbled on it while flipping through cable channels. But there it was on half.com, "watched once, brand new" for $5.00. I thought about how very nice "the bucket scene" is, and how it's chock full of beautiful sunsets and rugged Australian landscapes (several that aren't named Hugh Jackman) and I caved. It's really the perfect movie for knitting to, because I can just concentrate on turning my sock heel, and look at the pretty cinematography. My DVD shelf is chock full of such films. Kate and Leopold, The Long Kiss Goodnight (worth far more than whatever I paid), my entire Mel Gibson collection, Marie Antoinette, The Wedding Singer, and so on. The list is long and not very illustrious (Vanishing Point remake, anyone?), but at least I can say I didn't go out of my way for most of them. I just threw them into the Target cart while shopping for flip flops. I'm always on the hunt for more. I saw The Transporter in a hologram box awfully cheap, and it's begging to come home with me for those awkward Sunday nights when I need something short before heading back to the grind.
So while Scott Weinberg was positively crowing about the fact that I'd willingly purchased Australia with my own money, I see nothing wrong in it. I can spend $5.00 on a lot sillier things, like a magazine that ultimately ends up in my recycle bin, or an enormous Starbucks espresso that is gone in a matter of minutes. But Hugh Jackman's tight shirt? That lasts forever.
This week's guilty grab was Australia, a film I was very disappointed in, and planned never to see again unless I stumbled on it while flipping through cable channels. But there it was on half.com, "watched once, brand new" for $5.00. I thought about how very nice "the bucket scene" is, and how it's chock full of beautiful sunsets and rugged Australian landscapes (several that aren't named Hugh Jackman) and I caved. It's really the perfect movie for knitting to, because I can just concentrate on turning my sock heel, and look at the pretty cinematography. My DVD shelf is chock full of such films. Kate and Leopold, The Long Kiss Goodnight (worth far more than whatever I paid), my entire Mel Gibson collection, Marie Antoinette, The Wedding Singer, and so on. The list is long and not very illustrious (Vanishing Point remake, anyone?), but at least I can say I didn't go out of my way for most of them. I just threw them into the Target cart while shopping for flip flops. I'm always on the hunt for more. I saw The Transporter in a hologram box awfully cheap, and it's begging to come home with me for those awkward Sunday nights when I need something short before heading back to the grind.
So while Scott Weinberg was positively crowing about the fact that I'd willingly purchased Australia with my own money, I see nothing wrong in it. I can spend $5.00 on a lot sillier things, like a magazine that ultimately ends up in my recycle bin, or an enormous Starbucks espresso that is gone in a matter of minutes. But Hugh Jackman's tight shirt? That lasts forever.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-05-2009 @ 10:53AM
Alana said...
Even better are the cheap Blu-ray discs you occasionally stumble upon. I got T2 for $9.99, and honest to God, it felt like theft. It didn't help that I already owned two copies, but darn it, I didn't have it in Blu-ray and less than $10 is too hard to resist!!
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7-05-2009 @ 10:54AM
Edward said...
Aren't most DVDs under $9.99 now anyways?
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7-05-2009 @ 11:47AM
Zachary Snyder said...
I feel the exact same way.
But for me I just can't resist a 1950's SciFi B-Movie if its $5 or under...
No home should be without such re-watchable classics as Plan 9 From Outer Space, Santa Claus Conquers The Martians, or The Killer Shrews...
I find the best place to get them is the Amazon Marketplace and occasionally you'll get really lucky at a Dollar Store DVD Bin, where do you find your cheap impulse dvds?
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7-05-2009 @ 2:39PM
Elisabeth said...
Amazon Marketplace is indeed the best -- and my Internet fall back when I can't find it cheap enough is Half.com. I don't think a lot of people use Half.com and I have found some pretty cool steals there of books and DVDs. (I got "Once Upon a Time in Italy" for $12)
For real stores, it's Target, and Best Buy. I used to get a lot of them at Wal-Mart (ugh, I know), but their cheap DVD rack has vanished in my area! Not sure what's up with that.
7-05-2009 @ 12:11PM
RTMS said...
Not in Canada where new ones are at least 23 dollars. I must confess I'm a previously viewed junkie myself. I always wait until the movies at my rental place are on the pre viewed rack before buying them. I rarely by the new copies these days. Pawn shops etc are also good places to find cheap DVD's.
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7-05-2009 @ 1:15PM
dale c said...
walmart is the best place to get cheap dvds ,they always have a rack of brand new dvds for $5 or sometimes $3-4, all kinds old clasic's or some new ones
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7-05-2009 @ 2:44PM
Jimmy B Goode said...
I'm even cheaper than that. fry's is the only place that still sells HDDvD's but they had Scary Movie 4 for 1.99, unopened. Smokey and the Bandit 7.99, Jarhead 4.99 you get the point. some of these are the DVD/HDDvD combos so it may still work for those of you that don't have a HDDvD player.
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7-05-2009 @ 6:58PM
Bob Foster said...
I do the same thing but with $5 movies. If its less than five bucks and I want it - I grab it. Same reason given above - five bucks can be wasted on so many other things its not too much.
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7-05-2009 @ 5:47PM
Jessica Dillon said...
The local blockbuster is going out of business, so I just picked up Snow Angels and RocknRolla. And I now own Australia for the same reason....
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7-05-2009 @ 6:02PM
YouFaceTheTick said...
Why buy a dvd? I used to and then I realized one simple fact: I never rewatch movies. I had hundreds of DVDs sitting on shelves. I stopped the madness. Now we rent from Netflix only (been a member since May 2000).
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7-06-2009 @ 12:44AM
Nick said...
I'm horrified that "Marie Antoinette" is one of your sewing movies, but that's another thing.
I don't really buy DVDs all that much, not because I don't rewatch movies, I definitely do, but most of the time I have quick access to them at a library for free. What my weakness is is cheap special editions. Criterions on sale, box sets, etc. if it's way less than list price, especially if it's only for a week or so, I'll buy it. Criterion had a sale when they upgraded their website and I ordered three.
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7-06-2009 @ 1:23PM
Julie said...
Oh the glories of a cheap DVD. I have come to hate grocery shopping for a variety of reasons. The one joy I get out of it is perusing the cheap DVD's at Walmart or Target. Going home with 3 or 4 new DVD's can make my week. When I began replacing all the VHS tapes those bargain racks really came in handy. How else would I have replaced something as dear to my heart as Chicken Run? Kevin Costner, Mel Gibson, Audrey Hepburn, John Wayne, even new releases from the last year. Pull a DVD off my shelf, nine times out of 10, I probably snagged it from a bargain bin. The only movies that never go down in price anywhere is Disney. It pains me to spend $20 a pop for those! And, If anyone finds Mel Gibson's Hamlet cheap,would you let me know? :o)
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7-06-2009 @ 1:57PM
Wade said...
uhh...Julie...the Mel Gibson Hamlet is $5.99 at Amazon.
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