There’s a “Cheap DVDs” thread, but it died four years ago, also a “Rolling I’d Buy That for a Dollar” thread from 2008, but I guess that one ran up against the dollar-records thread. The last two or three years has been a great time for buying discounted DVDs, as companies seemingly make the slow transition over to Blu-ray. (I’ve never really been clear on what’s going on there.) So if you find anything worthwhile for $5 or thereabouts, post about it here.
― clemenza, Sunday, 20 March 2011 19:57 (2 years ago) Permalink
All of these were $5 at a local flea market I scour once every few weeks:
The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid (Phil Kaufman’s sort-of first film)4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 DaysBoyz n the Hood (two discs)The Wicker Man (original, Anchor Bay)
Also bought the first season of Room 222 for $12. The less said about such abject nostalgia the better.
I thought the Great Northfield Minnesota Raid was inferior to the Long Riders myself.
― Fig On A Plate Cart (Alex in SF), Sunday, 20 March 2011 20:03 (2 years ago) Permalink
Walmart has $3 bins that are so big that you almost have to climb into them to reach stuff. Considering much of Walmart's local demographic, it's like bringing dumpster-diving indoors. I've never seen anything in them I'd climb in for, though.
― lowfat dry milquetoast (WmC), Sunday, 20 March 2011 20:04 (2 years ago) Permalink
Northfield is the only one of the four I haven't yet seen. As the Room 222 purchase indicates, I'm much more inclined to buy second-tier stuff from the '70s than from any other decade.
Those Wal-Mart bins are ridiculous! I even spoke to someone there once, suggesting that it's not a great incentive to buy when you're afraid of causing a major catastrophe if you dislodge one DVD too many.
― clemenza, Sunday, 20 March 2011 20:10 (2 years ago) Permalink
I'm upset that Warner Bros. has put a moratorium on a large chunk of their catalog titles, probably so they can start selling them through the WB Store at a higher price in that piddly DVD-R format. I was having fun buying them in 3-packs for $5 at Big Lots.
― Simpsons Christmas Boogie (MintIce), Sunday, 20 March 2011 20:20 (2 years ago) Permalink
Recently acquired for $4 each from a local rental store going OOB:
Kicking and Screaming (Criterion)3 Women (Criterion)Paris is BurningEating RaoulShowgirls (but it skips, boo)All About Evesomething else I can't remember
― Sheneneh et Caro (Stevie D(eux)), Sunday, 20 March 2011 20:30 (2 years ago) Permalink
3 Women for $4? Wow--that's like just over a dollar per woman. Seriously, that's a great deal. All I have is an old VHS I taped off Bravo...which I've still never watched, for some reason.
― clemenza, Sunday, 20 March 2011 20:37 (2 years ago) Permalink
Got these for $5 each from a guy who always has a great table of still-sealed DVDs at Toronto record shows.
The Tomorrow Show: Punk & New WaveThe Tomorrow Show: John, Paul, Tom & RingoYou Bet Your Life: The Lost EpisodesWoodstock (2-disc director's cut)Big Brother & the Holding Co.: Nine Hundred NightsHelter Skelter (have no idea how this will look today; I was right into it when it played on TV in the mid-'70s)2001: A Space Odyssey (2 discs)
― clemenza, Sunday, 27 March 2011 23:16 (2 years ago) Permalink
King of Comedy ($5)Targets ($5)
Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry ($0.99)
I already have the Kerry film, but I bought two copies for future gifts. It's not like one of those campaign books that are embarrassments a year later--it's actually a really good film.
― clemenza, Sunday, 10 April 2011 23:10 (2 years ago) Permalink
(Kenneth) Mars Attack today @ Big Lots w/Desperate Characters (I'm also still in possession of my Netflix copy) & What's Up Doc? for $3 apiece.
I've got a bag or two of similar Big Lots bargain discs acquired over the past several months. And if I had wanted to spend the money today, I could have also picked up Getting Straight (Elliot Gould/Candice Bergen college movie--anybody rep for it?), The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T and a bunch of Sony Pictures Classics titles for the same price.
― Handjobs for a sport (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 13 April 2011 05:57 (2 years ago) Permalink
These were from a Blockbuster buy-2-get-1-free sale, so they cost $14 together:
The Beaches of AgnesThe Great Happiness SpaceYves Saint Laurent: His Life and Times/5 Avenue Marceau 75116 Paris
$5 each at a discount store:
Disclosure (for shame, for shame--one of my favourite pieces of unmitigated junk ever)2010: The Year We Make Contact (not crazy about the original, so this makes a lot of sense)Erin Brockovich (never seen it)Anne Frank Remembered (should be useful in class)The MLB Cubs box set--eight games, eight discs, including the wild 12-11 game from '84 where Sandberg won it in extras with his second home run of the day. I remember watching that game on Saturday afternoon.
― clemenza, Saturday, 30 April 2011 23:38 (2 years ago) Permalink
Just noticed C. Grissom's query about Getting Straight. I watched it a couple of years ago and thought it was the most hopelessly dated kind of early-'70s "New Hollywood" film. And I have a very high tolerance for almost anything in that vein.
― clemenza, Saturday, 30 April 2011 23:46 (2 years ago) Permalink
Canadian Blockbusters started liquidating on Friday. Didn't realize this had started till today, so I got a two-day late start. I hit the two close to home this afternoon; if I can remember where they all are, there are at least another six reasonably close. Everything's 30% off to start, so all of these were just under $5:
I'm Still Here (most acclaimed film since Otto Preminger's Skidoo!)All the Real Girls (I saw this when it came out, sort of stayed in my mind ever since)Please Give (I thought Lovely & Amazing was pretty good)Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist, and Strangely Creepy Old ManPunch-Drunk Love (two discs)When the Levees Broke (two discs, easily the best thing I found today)
I also bought The Social Network for $7--controversial, inspired a long ILX thread.
I passed on the 160-minute Carlos; having seen the full six hours, the abridged version doesn't hold much appeal for me. Sadly, someone beat me to the second Spike Lee Katrina film.
Felt sorry for the girl at the first store. She was the only person working (maybe someone was on a break). She had to handle cash, field questions, deal with people like me who brought a bunch of unpriced stuff up that had to be scanned before we made up our minds, manipulate all those unwieldy plastic cases, etc. When the guy in front of me commiserated, she mumbled a very terse "They don't pay me enought for this." I'm sure they never did--it's just much worse now.
― clemenza, Sunday, 29 May 2011 17:51 (1 year ago) Permalink
Blockbuster kind of mastered the art of understaffed stores--->shitty employee treatment. I've avoided their liquidations partially because of the scenario you've mentioned, and also because I'd be tempted into buying too much stuff. Well, and also the fact that I'm pretty sure the stuff I'd have no problem buying (IFC exclusives), probably have already headed out the back door and on to Amazon for $20 & rising.
Anyway, back to the thread topic. Half-Price Books is doing a extra 20% off sale this weekend. I picked up very gently used copies (still had all the inserts) of Our Man Flint, In Like Flint & Modesty Blaise for $4 each. While talking to a friend on the phone later, I checked the titles on Amazon and found out they were all now OOP (although the Flints are now exclusive to a in-print combo pack), with used copies of Modesty going for $20+ and new ones starting @ $30. My friend--a big Joseph Losey fan--commented that Modesty wasn't a film you spent that much for.
― Mucho! Macho! Honcho! (C. Grisso/McCain), Sunday, 29 May 2011 18:58 (1 year ago) Permalink
Bought
The Song Remains The Same (2 DVD remastered) - concert footage better than I remembered. The playacting still sucks.BBC Sherlock Holmes w/ Peter Cushing ( 4 "long lost" episodes - Cushing was a cool Holmes though played a little too sweet and understanding compared to J. Brett)
both $6 each.
― Vendo Caramelos A Veces Sin Dinero (Capitaine Jay Vee), Sunday, 29 May 2011 23:49 (1 year ago) Permalink
It sure didn't take long for those Blockbusters to get picked clean; the shelves are almost bare 10 days into the sale. They're down to 50% off, so these were $4 or $5:
Client #9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer[/i]Casino Jack and the United States of Money (the Gibney documentary)Joan Rivers: A Piece of WorkThe Sweet HereafterMean Creek
Mean Creek's the only one I haven't seen yet. I expect they'll go to 75% next week, as they try to clear out whatever's left--Police Academy 6, Christmas with the Kranks, The Godfather III, etc.
― clemenza, Monday, 6 June 2011 12:32 (1 year ago) Permalink
These ones were 4/$10:
Bulworth -- I cringed a lot when I saw it on release, but I realize that (sometimes, anyway) I was supposed to cringe. I'll give it another try one night.Till the Clouds Roll ByBeat StreetSlaughter -- The Jim Brown film...Got home, discovered I already had it (with a bunch of other blaxploitation titles in the "Soul Cinema" series). This is the third time this has happened in the past couple of weeks; I also recently bought redundant sale copies of Mulholland Dr. and The Sweet Hereafter.
These were $5 each:
Act of God -- Jennifer Baichwal's documentary on people who've been struck by lightning. I didn't think it was as good as it could have been, but it's G-rated, so I might get some use out it in class.Nerakhoon -- Looks good: http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-11-19/film/the-betrayal-nerakhoon-offers-a-phantasmagoria-of-wartime-indochina/.High Art -- Doesn't look like my kind of thing, but a friend recently listed it as one of his 50 favourite films on a countdown we're doing.The Rainmaker -- Aaargh...see Slaughter.Tibet: A Buddhist TrilogyThe Wild Child
― clemenza, Sunday, 3 July 2011 23:44 (1 year ago) Permalink
Spielberg's "War Of The Worlds" (Special edition/Widescreen) $3.75
"Renegade" (aka "Blueberry" - sort of fun and eyepopping yet sorta terrible Acid Western. Based on Moebius comics series. Starring Vincent Cassell, Eddie Izzard, Michael Madsen... Yep.) $3.00
Thank you, Half.com
― Vendo Caramelos A Veces Sin Dinero (Capitaine Jay Vee), Monday, 4 July 2011 02:34 (1 year ago) Permalink
Weekend before last, Big Lots-
$3:
Storefront HitchcockPrizzi's HonorMacon County LineKentucky Fried Movie
$5:
John Wayne: The Franchise Collection (budget bundle from Universal; contains Seven Sinners (w/Dietrich), The Shepherd of The Hills (Wayne as a moonshiner), Pittsburgh (w/Dietrich & Randolph Scott), The Conqueror (oh yeah), & Jet Pilot (a semi-legendary nutso anti-commie feature helmed by Hughes/Von Sternberg, co-staring Janet Leigh as a comely Russian pilot/spy--Truffaut paraised it in The Films In My Life)).
― Mucho! Macho! Honcho!: Turn Off The Dark (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, 4 July 2011 03:10 (1 year ago) Permalink
O_o
― death to ilx, long live the frogbs (strongo hulkington's ghost dad), Monday, 4 July 2011 03:12 (1 year ago) Permalink
C. Grissom -- I've got the Gary Cooper and Bela Lugosi equivalents of your John Wayne collection:
http://www.amazon.ca/Cooper-Collection-Design-Ibbetson-General/dp/B0007RTB9M/ref=sr_1_2?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1309792389&sr=1-2http://www.amazon.ca/Lugosi-Collection-Murders-Morgue-Invisible/dp/B0009X770E/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1309792481&sr=1-1
― clemenza, Monday, 4 July 2011 15:15 (1 year ago) Permalink
This Film Noir one is great if you can still find it. My local Target had them in its giant budget dvd bin a year ago:
http://www.amazon.com/Classic-Film-Noir-Movie-Pack/dp/B0006Z2NS6
― Vendo Caramelos A Veces Sin Dinero (Capitaine Jay Vee), Monday, 4 July 2011 15:34 (1 year ago) Permalink
Not technically the same series, but definitely a good collection. I like The Strange Love of Martha Ivers a lot. Is the quality okay, though? With a collection like this--unlike the "Franchise" series, which is put out by Universal (or whoever owns the Universal catalogue)--you never know what the quality will be like.
― clemenza, Monday, 4 July 2011 16:06 (1 year ago) Permalink
Quality varies from film to film but "Detour" looks fantastic as do "The Stranger" and "The Hitchhiker". Well worth getting cheap.
― Vendo Caramelos A Veces Sin Dinero (Capitaine Jay Vee), Monday, 4 July 2011 16:12 (1 year ago) Permalink
The Sears outlet store by me put out a bunch of interesting stuff at 4/$10, and I kind of went crazy.
Didn't realize I had these already: My Kid Could Paint That, Hannah and Her Sisters, Novocaine, Cooley High
Bought these a second time intentionally: Coming Home, Cisco Pike (bought that one full price on Amazon a couple of years ago)
Woodypalooza: Broadway Danny Rose, Alice, The Purple Rose of Cairo, A Midsummer's Night Sex Comedy (like the first, will likely never watch the others; passed up Scoop)
Old Stuff: Casanova's Big Night, The Gay Divorcee, Cimarron, The Ugly American, He Walked by Night, Killer's Kiss, The Curse of Frankenstein/Taste the Blood of Dracula (Hammer), The Jackie Robinson Story, Suddenly, Pride of the Yankees, Storm Warning, Made for Each Other (the Jimmy Stewart one--wish it were Joseph Bologna/Renee Taylor instead)
Newer: Eight Men Out, Fired!, Married to the Mob, The Saddest Music in the World, She's Gotta Have It, Singles, Shakespeare Behind Bars, Vernon, Florida
Because I like the '70s: Two-Minute Warning
Because Madchen Amick's in it: Dream Lover
When I went back today to get The Love God with Don Knotts, it was gone. This broke my heart.
― clemenza, Monday, 18 July 2011 19:37 (1 year ago) Permalink
Same 4/$10 sale as above:
Reagan: Knute Rockne All American, The Winning Team, The Hasty Heart. The Winning Team, a bio of Grover Cleveland Alexander, is one of the first half-dozen films I can remember watching as a kid.
Other old stuff: Flying Down to Rio, The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle, Something to Sing About, Allegheny Uprising.
Plus: The Big Bounce (1970, Ryan O'Neal, Get Shorty before Get Shorty), Mr. Mike's Mondo Video, The Tomorrow Show: Tom Snyder's Electric Kool-Aid Talk Show (Kesey/Leary/Wolfe/Grateful Dead), Copycat.
At home, I far prefer watching junk I've already seen to anything that requires thought and attention, so the only thing I've (re)watched so far is Copycat. Was surprised to see Laszlo Kovacs did the cinematography.
― clemenza, Friday, 5 August 2011 00:54 (1 year ago) Permalink
I just learned Kovacs did Say Anything... Cinematographers have the most strangely diverse careers in the movie. Kovacs had a bunch of romcoms later on as did Sven Nyquivst.
― Mucho! Macho! Honcho!: Turn Off The Dark (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 5 August 2011 02:19 (1 year ago) Permalink
Big Lots, this afternoon, $3 apiece:
GoBrickThe Taking of Pelham One Two Three (original)A Man For All Seasons (Hello again, Mr. Shaw...)Too Late The HeroRoadie
I limited myself to spending $20, so I had to put back Snow Angels (which was actually a resealed rental copy as opposed to a remaindered sealed edition normal for the chain), Sex and Death 101 (sorry Winona) and the 3rd season of Strangers With Candy, all which were also $3 a throw.
My friend hit up another location last week and found Petulia for $3, and the deluxe Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? for $5.
― Mucho! Macho! Honcho!: Turn Off The Dark (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, 8 August 2011 02:26 (1 year ago) Permalink
Gazuntite!
― clemenza, Monday, 8 August 2011 13:52 (1 year ago) Permalink
More from the 4/$10 place last week:
Old -- Rancho Deluxe (wrote a bit about this on the Jeff Bridges thread), Let's Do It Again, Starman, Marooned, and Starting Over (watched this last night...sort of okay for a while, then awful; for Pakula to go from All the President's Men to this in the space of four years is as sad in its way as all the other '80s horrors stories)
Older -- Father of the Bride, The Fountainhead, Platinum Blonde (don't think I knew this was Capra), and a double Three Stooges: Gold Raiders and Meet the Baron
Junk -- Jennifer 8, Taking Lives, Blood and Wine (Bob Rafelson and Nicholson, undoubtedly bad)
Recent (more or less) -- Lust, Caution (Ang Lee, don't remember it), 2:37, The Sea Inside, Vera Drake, The Fountain (Darren Arnofsky, don't remember it), Anything Else, Wag the Dog
Documentary -- The Cutting Edge (about editing--not Visions of Light, but not bad)
― clemenza, Sunday, 25 September 2011 04:15 (1 year ago) Permalink
I just got back from an unfamilier supermarket, where I found a sealed copy of the Kino edition of Jamaica Inn mixed in w/a bunch mexican movies & direct-to-dvd indie stuff for $2.99.
― The Man With The Flavored Toothpick (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 28 September 2011 05:23 (1 year ago) Permalink
4/$10 yet again:
They Died with Their Boots On, The Helen Morgan Story, The Princess and the Pirate, Cheaper by the Dozen, 3 Godfathers (presumably much better than Godfather III), White Heat (best film in the haul)
The Love God?, The McKenzie Break, A Little Romance, True Confessions (remember it as deadly dull the one time I saw it years ago), Streamers (probably the best find)
Family Business, Backbeat, Boiler Room, Gangster No. 1, Unprecedented (documentary on the 2000 election--never heard of it), Dick (a friend loves this; I liked Election much better), The Company (Altman), The Company (TV mini-series about the CIA)
Also a couple of MLB productions on the 2009 series and famous Red Sox moments.
― clemenza, Saturday, 29 October 2011 23:27 (1 year ago) Permalink
4/$10: King Kong (1933 original, two discs), King Kong ('70s remake--Kael liked it), The Out of Towners (original; must have seen this half-a-dozen times before I was 15), The Producers (original, two discs--have never seen it).
2/$10: The Shining and Twister, two discs each.
― clemenza, Monday, 7 November 2011 02:06 (1 year ago) Permalink
Haven't done much cheapo dvd shopping lately, but last week I got the two disc of Elvis: That's The Way It Is plus Waking Life (both sealed new copies) from Half-Price for about $5 each. Also scored $5 copies of Young Frankenstein, Halloween, Rocky Horror Picture Show and An American Werewolf In London (the last a two disc-er) from Wal Mart as part of a Halloween sale.
― The Man With The Flavored Toothpick (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, 7 November 2011 03:34 (1 year ago) Permalink
Wow, was just checking on Amazon, and found another (albeit used) $5 item from my Half-Price trip, Lina Wertmuller's Love & Anarchy, is going from $19.97 used.
― The Man With The Flavored Toothpick (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, 7 November 2011 03:42 (1 year ago) Permalink
dudes i have a billion dvds i want to get rid of, would anyone want me to list them here? lots in their original packaging too. was trying to figure out how to unload them
― the jazz zinger (s1ocki), Monday, 7 November 2011 04:55 (1 year ago) Permalink
List away. Be forewarned: my artistic standards go up a bit in a private sale, but I remain just as cheap.
― clemenza, Monday, 7 November 2011 12:47 (1 year ago) Permalink
List!
― Lawanda Pageboy (Capitaine Jay Vee), Monday, 7 November 2011 13:32 (1 year ago) Permalink
k will do later today!
― the jazz zinger (s1ocki), Monday, 7 November 2011 13:36 (1 year ago) Permalink
I also have interest in ur day vay days
― NO NUTRITIONAL CONTENT (kelpolaris), Monday, 7 November 2011 16:13 (1 year ago) Permalink
s1ocki?
Anyhoo, was out today and stopped by Big Lots, where amongst seemingly endless assortment of x-mas movies I emerged with:
$3 Each-
The Squid and the WhaleUp In Smoke (Collector's Edition)An Almost Perfect Affair (MONICA VITTI)Pink Cadillac
$5-
There Will Be Blood (2-disc)
― The Man With The Flavored Toothpick (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 11 November 2011 00:19 (1 year ago) Permalink
Forgot about this thread.
These ones were from the 4/$10 place: Electra Glide in Blue, Divided We Fall, Bitter Victory, Towelhead, Angel Unchained/Cycle Savages, A Day at the Races, Basket Case, Tarnation, The Limits of Control, The Tempest (Cassavetes), American Pimp (outtakes from the documentary, plus a CD of period music), The Cotton Club, Avalon, The Spirit of St. Louis.
$5 each: Cabaret, Brick, Black Gunn, A Clockwork Orange (two discs), City for Conquest/"G" Men/Each Dawn I Die/White Heat (TCM), An Unreasonable Man (Nader documentary--very good).
― clemenza, Friday, 6 January 2012 03:11 (1 year ago) Permalink
Towelhead sucks. Some interesting ideas all run into the ground via Alan Ball Overdrive.
I've got another bag from Big Lots around here somewhere. Ah, here it is! They had a bunch of MGM catalog stuff on for $1.88 Black Friday weekend. Got The Grissom Gang & The Indian Runner while combing the stacks the following Monday. I also picked up Career Opportunities, Safe Men A Fine Madness and Modern Romance for $3 apiece.
Picked up new copies of The Passing Show-The Life & Music of Ronnie Lane ($4) & "The Complete M-Squad w/Lee Marvin" (15 discs-$16) @ Half-Price during the year-end sale.
Got the 2-disc 70th anniversary Wizard of Oz for $4 @ Wal-Mart.
Finally, Discs found in Strange Places:
The President's Analyst-$4 @ Staples, the office supply store.The Late Show-$3 @ Ross, the clothing & housewares store. I also got a pair of New Balance cleats in my size for 49 cents.
― Lady Writer, Male Seether (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 6 January 2012 04:25 (1 year ago) Permalink
Yeah, Towelhead was pretty crude (and I love American Beauty). I think we're finding things that fell off the back of the same truck: The Grissom Gang, Modern Romance, The President's Analyst, and the MGM stuff all turn up here, too.
― clemenza, Friday, 6 January 2012 04:47 (1 year ago) Permalink
What else? 4/$10: Ghost Dog, Why Do Fools Fall in Love, The Haunting (Robert Wise original), A New Kind of Love (Paul Newman--never heard of it), Adventures of Don Juan, For Your Consideration, The Fog ('70s). Also Ultimate Gretzky, even though I don't think I've watched a hockey game since 1994.
― clemenza, Monday, 23 January 2012 00:45 (1 year ago) Permalink
A different Big Lots:
$1.88- Vernon, Florida$3.00- Lookin' To Get Out! "Extended Version"
There were some other things I passed on because they had multiples upon multiples. I think they got in a new shipment of MGM & Warner cast-offs.
― Lady Writer, Male Seether (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, 23 January 2012 03:26 (1 year ago) Permalink
Definitely the same truck--the place I go to always has a couple of copies of Vernon, Florida. Keep an eye open for The King of Kong and My Kid Could Paint That.
― clemenza, Monday, 23 January 2012 12:29 (1 year ago) Permalink
$3 each: After Hours, The Statement, An Education, Half Nelson, Synecdoche New York, The Animation Show.
4/$10: Never So Few (Sinatra), Frost Nixon, Fail Safe (recent TV version), The Story of Seabiscuit, John Q., In America.
$1: The Bronx Is Burning. (Three episodes into this. Hard to get past John Turturro's pinned-back ears, but it's almost okay...or least the bits of real footage are great.)
― clemenza, Monday, 6 February 2012 03:23 (1 year ago) Permalink
$3 for The Brown Bunny from Goodwill some weeks back. Haven't watched it yet.
― Diary of Anne Frank, Confessions Of A Teenage Drama Queen (scottfree), Monday, 6 February 2012 03:51 (1 year ago) Permalink
It probably means public domain.
― svend, Sunday, 7 October 2012 14:52 (7 months ago) Permalink
Yeah, Public Domain. On the back cover the original copyright is credited not to a studio but to "The Haig Corp." Welles' The Stranger used to pop up in bargain sets with other PD titles like the original DOA, ...Martha Ivers etc., but apparently MGM re-copywrited it in 2007 and put out a bare-bones disc under the "Film Noir" banner.
As for the Invasion... CE, it came out about 10 years after the original disc to grease the wheels for the Kidman/Craig remake. It ports over the Kaufman commentary and adds some technical featurettes ("The Special Effects Pod", "The Cinematography Pod" etc.) plus a new anamorphic widesceen transfer (the old disc was a Pan & Scan/4:3 Letterbox Widescreen flipper).
― 50 Shades of Greil (C. Grisso/McCain), Sunday, 7 October 2012 20:08 (7 months ago) Permalink
Well, as part of my shopping experience yesterday, I received a "one-day only" 20% voucher whose one good day was today. So once again I suckle at Big Lot's proverbial teat/crack pipe of cheap dvds. (different location tho)
$2.40 each:
Me & Orson WellesA Little Help (starring Jenna "Pam from The Office" Fischer and...Dion DiMucci?!)The Front Page (Billy Wilder version)Strange BrewGreenbergBefore The Devil Knows You're DeadI Know Who Killed Me (films like this single-handily justify the existence of bargain bins everywhere) (also includes the special feature "Extended Strip Dance Scene"--did Sony know their audience or what?)
$4:
Wild Things trilogy (that there are two more of these films--albeit barely related direct to dvd jobs--is as much news to me as you)
― 50 Shades of Greil (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, 8 October 2012 01:19 (7 months ago) Permalink
Saw your post and decided to take my 20% off coupon to my local BL (didn't need it, they were ringing up everybody's stuff at %20 off). Got:
Reno 911: MiamiIt's All True (Orson Welles' "lost" movie)OleanaGreenburgOrgazmo
$2.40 each. Had Hostel in hand for $4, but decided I didn't need to see it again.
― nickn, Monday, 8 October 2012 04:50 (7 months ago) Permalink
For some reason, this one discount store in the area that's usually a wasted trip had some good stuff from Universal:
$3: Slaughterhouse-Five, Trick Baby, Your Friends & Neighbors$5: This Gun for Hire, Black Angel (never heard of it, but there's a quote from Sarris on the back), Marnie, and the American The Man Who Knew Too Much
Also, in the interest of full disclosure, a two-disc Memoirs of a Geisha for $5.
― clemenza, Saturday, 13 October 2012 21:35 (7 months ago) Permalink
3/$5: American Buffalo, Addicted to Plastic, Alfie (remake)
$3: Light Sleeper, The Lost Room, High Roller, Best Seller. Got through 15 minutes of High Roller before shutting it off. I remembered Best Seller as passable junk--same guy who directed Tarantino favourites Rolling Thunder and The Outfit--but it wasn't all that passable.
$5: Fort Apache, They Were Expendable, The Howling
― clemenza, Saturday, 27 October 2012 18:40 (6 months ago) Permalink
I only buy DVDs for my kids these days, because they're the only ones who are going to watch them enough to make them worth owning. $5 is my cut-off for them, too, with occasional exceptions. Some recent $5-and-under scores: Coraline, The Iron Giant, The Neverending Story, The Dark Crystal.
― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Sunday, 28 October 2012 01:48 (6 months ago) Permalink
I remembered Best Seller as passable junk--same guy who directed Tarantino favourites Rolling Thunder and The Outfit--but it wasn't all that passable.
I think John Fylnn might have been a two-film wonder. Those two films both deserve the high praise tho.
― 50 Shades of Greil (C. Grisso/McCain), Sunday, 28 October 2012 05:28 (6 months ago) Permalink
Big Lots, where I combed the picked over racks to seemingly no avail. "Is this the end of me and cheap dvds?"* I thought, before finally landing on the following:
$5: Eight Men Out "20th Anniversary Edition"
$2.88: Charley Varrick (which is full-frame, and probably the only way I'll get to see it until both the film and I go blu someday)
*I found a copy of Jesus' Son for $9. I've never seen a single film that expensive there. It's only about 90 cents more direct from Amazon.
― 50 Shades of Greil (C. Grisso/McCain), Sunday, 11 November 2012 01:11 (6 months ago) Permalink
At my local swap meet last Sunday, for $37 (didn't try to bargain):
I'm Not There (that Bob Dylan thing, 2 discs)The Shiver of the Vampires (Jean Rollin film from 1970)Altman's NashvilleHelter Skelter (apparently a director's cut of a TV production)A History Lesson (doc on LA punk in 1984 - Meat Puppets, Redd Kros, Minutemen, Twisted Roots)The Tomorrow Show Punk and New Wave (2 disc comp of shows from 1977-81)National Geographic's Taboo season 1
― nickn, Sunday, 11 November 2012 02:40 (6 months ago) Permalink
Jesus' Son is a wonderful movie.
That A History Lesson, though... was really disappointed by that.
― Ryan's taint is definitely unavoidable. (stevie), Sunday, 11 November 2012 10:54 (6 months ago) Permalink
H-E-B (for the unhip, a Texas grocery store chain) $3.99 each:
The Quiller MemorandumHalls of MontezumaThe MagusThe Seven-UpsNo Way Out (the Poitier/Widmark/Darnell noir)The Omen "Collector's Edition" (2 discs in a steelbook)
The price sticker's claim that these are all "previously viewed", but methinks these are really remainders offloaded by Fox and mixed by the store in a dumpbin with a bunch of genuine retired rentals.
― 50 Shades of Greil (C. Grisso/McCain), Saturday, 17 November 2012 01:00 (6 months ago) Permalink
BTW if anyone cares, I watched that Charley Varrick disc that evening, and I wonder if it's just open-matte instead of pan'n'scan. IMDB sez it was shot 1.37:1 but protected for 1.85:1 which was the projection AR. It didn't seen very pan'n'scanny with some scenes having major head room.
― 50 Shades of Greil (C. Grisso/McCain), Saturday, 17 November 2012 01:11 (6 months ago) Permalink
Something excellent for $5 yesterday: a new copy of Payday, the '72 film with Rip Torn as a washed-up country singer. "36 hours in the life of a madman," according to the cover.
Also, $7 each for new copies: two-disc Howl and Hour of the Wolf.
― clemenza, Sunday, 18 November 2012 17:19 (6 months ago) Permalink
Payday's a good'un. There's a passage in Guralnick's I Feel Like Going Home wehere he mentions that on separate occasions Waylon Jennings, Johnny Paycheck, and IIRC, either David Allen Coe or Merle Haggard assured him that the film was based on their life and no others.
― 50 Shades of Greil (C. Grisso/McCain), Sunday, 18 November 2012 19:44 (6 months ago) Permalink
Over the last several months, at several different Big Lots, pretty much because of this thread:
$5There Will Be Blood - feature onlyA Fish Called Wanda - 2-Disc Collector's Edition
$3The GraduateWalk Hard: The Dewey Cox StoryBrickRonin - 2-Disc Collector's EditionThe Big Red One - 2-Disc Special EditionWolf CreekGet Shorty - 2-Disc Collector's EditionNational Lampoon's VacationSweet and LowdownRoxanneTrue StoriesSpecies - 2-Disc Collector's EditionStrange Brew (first thing I saw when I got to the kiosk…)A Mighty Wind (…last thing I found after twice digging through the dross)King Kong (Peter Jackson) - 3-Disc Deluxe Extended Edition (<<<< LOL)AC/DC: Let There Be RockBurn After ReadingDo The Right ThingThe Right Stuff10
― a worthy pioner! (weatheringdaleson), Tuesday, 20 November 2012 20:19 (5 months ago) Permalink
$5: An American in Paris, Fort Worth/Colt .45/Tall Man Riding (Randolph Scott), Lost in a Harem/Abbott & Costello in Hollywood
$3: A World Apart, Letters from Iwo Jima, The Sentinel, Antony and Cleopatra (1972)
$2: Dangerous Liaisons, Barton Fink
― clemenza, Monday, 26 November 2012 03:53 (5 months ago) Permalink
$3
After HoursCasualties of WarKiss Kiss Bang BangCarrie - "1970s Decades Collection" (includes a CD with eight 70s tunes on it wtf???)The Incredible Mr. Limpet (!!!!!)
― a worthy pioner! (weatheringdaleson), Monday, 26 November 2012 05:38 (5 months ago) Permalink
Thanksgiving-
Big Lots, $3.75 each (that day's sale price/promotion):
Mad Max "Special Edition"All The Right Moves
Toys R Us, $1.00:
Funny Bones
Black Friday evening @ a different Big Lots-
$1.88:
Experiment In Terror (perhaps the find of the evening--disc must have been sitting in some wherehouse, has been OOP for ages and goes for $25+ on Amazon)HeartbeepsLa Chamade ("Heartbeat") (late 60s Francoise Sagan adaptation w/Deneuve & Piccoli)The Long Goodbye (already have, will be stocking stuffer for friend tbd)Kiss Me, StupidNick & Norah's Infinite PlaylistRebecca"Don Knotts: Reluctant Hero Pack" (bundle of The Love God?, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, The Reluctant Astronaut and his sought after Bresson collaboration The Shakiest Gun In The West)
Raggedy Man (fullframe--boo!)VolverWhen Did You Last See Your Father?"Mission Hill: The Complete Series" (animated series w/Wallace Langham, Brian Posehn, and Jane Wiedlin that ran for 5 minutes on the WB back in '99-2000. been meaning to pick it up for yoinks, so this was the other find of the night)
Alice (Woody Allen)
Between this, my HEB trip the other week, and the B & N Criterion sale, I finally may have crossed the threshold of having too many fucking movies.
― 50 Shades of Greil (C. Grisso/McCain), Tuesday, 27 November 2012 01:45 (5 months ago) Permalink
A Don Knotts box set for $1.88: truly a Thanksgiving to remember. (Absence of The Incredible Mr. Limpet notwithstanding.)
― clemenza, Tuesday, 27 November 2012 02:16 (5 months ago) Permalink
Saw a couple at a thrift store on Sunday but didn't get em - Sick (the Bob Flanagan doc), and God Told me To... which is about a serial killer and has Andy Kaufman and the late Deborah Raffin in it. Anyone know if these are any good?
― nickn, Tuesday, 27 November 2012 05:58 (5 months ago) Permalink
Both of those are amazing
― If you will not name your dog "Ping Pong" you are no longer my friend (jjjusten), Tuesday, 27 November 2012 07:36 (5 months ago) Permalink
Will have to stop by again soon, they were 3 or 4 bucks each.
― nickn, Tuesday, 27 November 2012 08:06 (5 months ago) Permalink
They actually had several copies of that one separately for $3 (It's a WB title, while the box is from Universal), so I passed for the time being. But Knottsfever may lead me back...
― Big Sambola & The Tailspinners (C. Grisso/McCain), Tuesday, 27 November 2012 19:51 (5 months ago) Permalink
"Don Knotts: Reluctant Hero Pack" amazing
Sick (the Bob Flanagan doc) is p amazing but keep the blindfold handy for the hammer scene.
― saltwater incursion (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 27 November 2012 19:56 (5 months ago) Permalink
Saw a couple at a thrift store on Sunday but didn't get em - Sick (the Bob Flanagan doc), and God Told Me To... which is about a serial killer and has Andy Kaufman and the late Deborah Raffin in it. Anyone know if these are any good?― nickn, Monday, November 26, 2012
― nickn, Monday, November 26, 2012
Finally went back last Sunday, Sick was gone but I did get the other one for $3.
― nickn, Tuesday, 11 December 2012 21:58 (5 months ago) Permalink
I rolled the dice on the Mayan thing and have been stocking up on cheap DVDs. Well played, me.
$5: Cujo, Purple Noon, Joyride, The Host, Dead Man, Crash (the comatose one film critics like...some, anyway)
3/$10: North by Northwest, The Agronomist, Adoration, Dead Alive, Naked Lunch
$3: Joe, Capricorn One, The End of Violence, Paraíso Travel, Dr T and the Women, Thirst, Back to Bataan, Extract, The Incredible Mr. Limpet, Born into Brothels, Volver, Candyman, Horsemen (watched this--HOF awful performance from Dennis Quaid), Monkey Shines, Airplane, Fun with Dick & Jane ('70s), Deep Cover, The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show.
Also a Bob Hope box with seven films for $15. I'm occasionally seeing Big Lots stickers on some of this stuff, so, as suspected, it all comes from the same warehouse.
― clemenza, Saturday, 22 December 2012 22:10 (4 months ago) Permalink
we are in a golden age of cheap, overwhelmingly plentiful entertainment. some good finds in there.
― Aimless, Saturday, 22 December 2012 22:27 (4 months ago) Permalink
Momus Man of Letters for $1. It's actually a 36-minute VHS tape, but I'm including it cause it's Momus.
― nickn, Sunday, 30 December 2012 17:55 (4 months ago) Permalink
I picked up Mel Brooks's "To Be or Not To Be" at a flea market for about $5 this summer. Good fun.
― o. nate, Monday, 31 December 2012 01:06 (4 months ago) Permalink
Heartbeeps is weird, like in a "This must have been greenlit between regimes" way.
― Big Sambola & The Tailspinners (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, 31 December 2012 06:06 (4 months ago) Permalink
H-E-B, $3.99:
The Great White HopeWarlock (the Widmark/Fonda/Quinn western)Casino Royale "Collector's Edition" (the '67 version, reissued to tie in with Quantum of Solace; doesn't come with the 50s version, which I think other editions of this do)
― Big Sambola & The Tailspinners (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 9 January 2013 18:41 (4 months ago) Permalink
Another thrift store haul, they were having a 99 cent sale:
Dead Ringer (Bette Davis movie from 1964)Play Misty For MeSouth Pacific (2-disk "Collector's Edition")VolverVicky Cristina BarcelonaHistory Channel doc on the 1906 SF earthquake
― nickn, Sunday, 20 January 2013 22:12 (3 months ago) Permalink
See Thread Revive on phone while running errands, remember there's a Big Lots not 5 minutes from where I stand, bargain sirens begin to sing...
Beautiful CreaturesThe Gingerbread Man (Altman once claimed this was the biggest time he ever got screwed by a studio)The Incredible Mr. Limpet (Knottsfever did indeed bring me back)CompulsionThe Great Northfield Minnesota Raid
"Saturday Morning Cartoons 1960s Volume 1" (2-disc comp featuring a bunch of Warner holdings with the odd notice on the back cover "[this collection] is intended for the Adult Collector and is Not Suitable for Children", which leads me to believe it contains the long-anticipated "Wilma Flintstone & Betty Rubble lezz it up" cartoon)
― Big Sambola & The Tailspinners (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, 21 January 2013 00:57 (3 months ago) Permalink
$3: March of the Penguins, L.A. Story (Kael's last-ever review, I think), Storytelling, Get Shorty, The Green Berets
$5: Don't Bother to Knock, The Accidental Tourist, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Manhattan, Annie Hall
― clemenza, Wednesday, 30 January 2013 03:44 (3 months ago) Permalink
The Newton Boys
Big Lots, $3:
The BorderPanic In The Streets (I wish I could find more of the Fox noirs this way)
PS, I watched the "Flintstones" ep on that Saturday Morning set. There was no hot Wilma on Betty action to be had.
― Big Sambola & The Tailspinners (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 30 January 2013 04:33 (3 months ago) Permalink
All Fred and Barney, eh?
― nickn, Wednesday, 30 January 2013 06:05 (3 months ago) Permalink
Worse--Fred and...Dino.
― Big Sambola & The Tailspinners (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 30 January 2013 08:17 (3 months ago) Permalink
3/$10: The Limey, Land of Plenty (Wenders--looks bad), Interview with the Assassin (looks gimmicky)
$5: Take Shelter, Assault on Precinct 13 (original), Red Hook Summer, Basquiat, Rollover (early-'80s Pakula film I'd forgotten)
$10: Elizabeth Taylor Turner/MGM Collection (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Butterfield 8, Father of the Bride, The Sandpiper)
$20: Hepburn/Tracy box with all nine films + documentary (thought this was incredibly lucky, but I see it's on Amazon for even less)
― clemenza, Monday, 18 February 2013 00:35 (3 months ago) Permalink
Uh-Oh, Big Lot's is having a 20% sale on everything for rewards members for part of this weekend.
― Vol. 3: The Life & Times of E. "Boom" Carter (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 1 March 2013 00:35 (2 months ago) Permalink
I started browsing through this online catalogue the other day, and it seemed like everything you and I are buying from these cutout bins was there:
http://www.daedalusbooks.com/Products/?Media=DVD
― clemenza, Friday, 1 March 2013 00:41 (2 months ago) Permalink
Ah, that's not as fun as digging through stacks of discs flanked by discontinued lawn furntiture and nearly expired Little Debbie's.
― Vol. 3: The Life & Times of E. "Boom" Carter (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 1 March 2013 04:52 (2 months ago) Permalink
Big Lots 20% Weekend
$2.40:
Brando-Rama w/ The Teahouse of The August Moon, The Formula, Mutiny On The Bounty (two-disc "Special Edition") & A Countess From Hong Kong.She's Gotta Have ItMoon Over ParadorCold Comfort FarmHilary and JackieThe Baxter
Village of The Damned/Children of The Damned "Horror Double Feature"On Her Majesty's Secret Service "Special Edition" (from 2000--the first SE of this title)Xanadu "Magical Edition"The Thrill of It All! (Doris Day/James Garner advertising satire from '63. Script by Carl Reiner, direction by Norman Jewison. Watched last night and is amsuing in very Kennedy-era way. Wonder if the "Mad Men" creatives ever saw it?)
― Vol. 3: The Life & Times of E. "Boom" Carter (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, 4 March 2013 17:59 (2 months ago) Permalink
was pretty happy to find Slap Shot for $4.99 at a gas station in Forest, Mississippi
― Hector. Hector the Booty Inpsector. (will), Monday, 4 March 2013 18:12 (2 months ago) Permalink
Village of The Damned/Children of The Damned "Horror Double Feature"
Every time I see this, I want to buy it all over again--great deal. A (somewhat annoying) former VJ here, Kim Clarke Champniss, was in one or both of them when he was a kid.
― clemenza, Monday, 4 March 2013 19:23 (2 months ago) Permalink
Hmm, didn't know that.
On a somewhat related note, Big Lots has started carrying a fair amount of cds. It looks like they've struck deals w/Concord Music Group (found a bunch of their Jazz reissues and some Stax stuff in the bin) and Wal-Mart (several copies of Kiss' Sonic Boom and AC/DC's Black Ice alongside discarded copies of the latter's back catalog--I got the Columbia High Voltage for $4 sale price).
I also found a copy of Chinese Democracy.
― Vol. 3: The Life & Times of E. "Boom" Carter (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, 4 March 2013 20:23 (2 months ago) Permalink
4/$10: Do the Right Thing (2-discs), The Class, Me & Orson Welles, Consenting Adults (Pakula)/An Innocent Man
3/$10: Lorna's Silence, Inland Empire, Elevator, Here, 12, Battle Beneath the Earth/The Ultimate Warrior
I'll get to the ones with subtitles later--tawdry '90s thrillers are my go-to films at home, so I'm already all over Consenting Adults.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 19 March 2013 02:59 (2 months ago) Permalink
Haven't done this in awhile, and besides the $5 CD bin at Fry's (Universal & Sony catalog titles as far as the eye can see!) is quickly becoming my new money pit.
Tony RomeMan of The West
These two purchases were separated by like a month. The store's stock is seemingly frozen.
I also just ordered Caddyshack for $3.99 to fill out an Amazon order for free shipping, and I missed getting a copy of Foreplay (70s sex comedy omnibus thing w/Jerry Orbach, Paul Dooley, Zero Mostel & others, now distributed by Troma) from Fry's for around $1.79.
― Sheela-Tubb-Mann, You Real Know-It-All (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 10 May 2013 19:10 (1 week ago) Permalink
Same here--of the four or five places I check semi-regularly, the stock has been frozen for months in all but one of them, as if that's it for budget DVDs once they're gone. Also, the Zellers chain here was bought out by Target, and Target has nothing. I've consequently been forced to expand into the high-rent district of $7 and $10 DVDs, where I sometimes run into Donald Trump and Warren Buffet while browsing bins.
$10: Warners Academy Award Winners from the '50s (Around the World in 80 Days, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Bad and the Beautiful)Marlene Dietrich: The Glamour Collection (Morocco,Blonde Venus, The Devil Is a Woman, The Flame of New Orleans, Golden Earrings)
$7: Fiddler on the Roof (2 discs)The Seven-UpsDarlingMurder, Inc.
$5: Twilight Zone: The MovieChariots of FireHereafterViva Knievel!PiranhaFoxesValley GirlThe NetThe War on the War on DrugsCasablanca (2 discs)
$3: Somewhere
― clemenza, Saturday, 11 May 2013 23:36 (1 week ago) Permalink
of the four or five places I check semi-regularly, the stock has been frozen for months in all but one of them, as if that's it for budget DVDs once they're gone.
I hear that. Was out today and happened to pass by a less-frequented by me Big Lot's. I dropped in, more out of curiosity than the need to actually buy something since I'm still wading through the purchases from the last several months.
First of all, their stock is the smallest I've ever seen at this location (lots of empty space on shelves). Secondly, pretty much everything they had was stuff they'd had to have had for at least a few months, almost all of which falling into the categories of "already got" or "never gonna get". And finally, although I ended up buying no dvds, I was still out three bucks because I got ambushed by a panhandler inside the store. On top of that, this person hadn't held my three singles 30 seconds before asking for another $10-15 so they could leave and tie up the convoluted sob story I just heard. Put me right out of whatever spending mood I had left in me.
Ugh.
Also symbolic (and more on dvd topic), I found a copy of Gigantic, a 2009 Zooey Deschanel/Paul Dano/John Goodman quirkfest, only to discover somebody already liberated the disc from the case. This was a $3 movie...at Big Lot's...and still it was stolen.
― Sheela-Tubb-Mann, You Real Know-It-All (C. Grisso/McCain), Sunday, 12 May 2013 04:21 (1 week ago) Permalink