I'd Buy That DVD for...Somewhere in the Neighborhood of $5

from a used book sale $2 each:
3 Jodorowsky movies: Holy Mountain, Fando y Lis, La Cravate
Looney Tunes Spotlight 6 twofer

also Raiders of the Lost Ark from amazon for $0.01 plus shipping

Black Friday, before & beyond:

H-E-B, $3.99:

Peepers (amusing mid-70s noir spoof w/Michael Caine, Natalie Wood & Timothy Carey)
Cousin Bette

Target, $5.99:

Silver Linings Playbook

Best Buy, $1.99:

Jaws "30th Anniversary Edition"

Krogers, $1.99:

Do The Right Thing "20th Anniversary Edition"

Wal Mart, $3.95:

Magic Mike

Black Friday time is a great one for picking up TV boxes: got the last two "Mad Men"s for $9 each at Target (the last set only dropped a few weeks ago) and managed to not spend a pretty penny getting the back half of "Breaking Bad" through Best Buy, Target, and Amazon.

One of my go-to stores, the Big Lots-connected one, is closing down. So this was after a 20% discount:

$4: Breakfast at Tiffany's (two discs), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Electric Horseman, Hideaway/Hush

$2.50: Anatomy of a Murder, The Front, Winchester '73, The Runaways

What else is new?--already had the first two and the last. I wasn't sure if the store-wide discount applied till I cashed out; will go back for some more.

(The Anatomy disc, on Columbia, says "This film is presented in a FULL SCREEN VERSION which preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio, approx. 1.33:1." That didn't seem right--Preminger = widescreen in my mind--but it said original theatrical aspect ratio, so I figured everything was okay. I just checked, and the Criterion is 1.85:1. So is Columbia just lying, or am I misinterpreting?)

Hopefully your DVD comes with the awesome trailer. But if not:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWjctRQSMfg

(The Anatomy disc, on Columbia, says "This film is presented in a FULL SCREEN VERSION which preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio, approx. 1.33:1." That didn't seem right--Preminger = widescreen in my mind--but it said original theatrical aspect ratio, so I figured everything was okay. I just checked, and the Criterion is 1.85:1. So is Columbia just lying, or am I misinterpreting?)

Columbia is lying. Their disc is an open-matte transfer (not pan-and-scan) with the intent to be projected at 1.85.1. There's a chance that upon initial release it may have played in some theatres that weren't yet equipped with wider screens or proper matte plates in the 1.33:1 ratio. When Criterion announced their edition, blogger/sociopath/self-appointed aspect ratio policeman Jeffrey Wells went on the warpath with his usual rhetoric about the "1.85:1 Fascists" (his term, not mine) "cleaving' (ditto) the tops and bottoms of frames blah blah blah. Criterion responded by sharing on FB a photo taken inside the theatre during the the film's premiere as the film unspooled, which clearly revealed a 1.85:1 image.

Ironically, the Full-Screen AoAM disc is now oop, but you can get a dvd-r edition of the widescreen version (presumably the same transfer as the CC, but sans extras) from their MOD service for slightly less money than the CC dvd. What a world!

One more thing: "PANTIES!"

I knew you'd be able to fill me in--thanks. Don't think I'll ever open the disc then (which does include more than one trailer--xpost)--I can watch a junky thriller in full-screen, but not anything where it matters. I have seen it in a theatre once or twice.

I think the biggest problem is how offended you are by excessive headroom.

Anatomy image comparisons

Half-Price Books 20% off sale

The Hired Hand "Collector's Edition" 2-disc sealed - $5.59
Slade In Flame, sealed - $1.60
"Red Hot + Blue", sealed dvd/cd combo - ''
Taffin, used - 80 cents (a bargain at twice the price just so I can say I own one of the greatest pieces of scenery chewing in Cinema history: http://youtu.be/tXcgt6l_LcA )

I also got a British edition of Kael's Deeper Into Movies for $4.79.

Made another (and final--not much left) trip to the LW store going out of business.

$2.50: Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, The American, Pale Rider
$4.00: Dark Shadows, Sweeny Todd (2 discs), The Big Chill, For Your Eyes Only (2 discs), Die Another Day (2 discs)

Also, from some other store, Dangerous Liasons (the television version with Catherine Deneuve) and The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection, Volume 2 for 2/$15.

My sister gets screeners from where she works, so I came home from Xmas with about 20 DVDs, including Spring Breakers, Shutter Island, The Master, End of Watch. I may enter the whole list later.

Best Buy Boxing Day blu-ray sale:

Inglourious Basterds $4.99
Chronicle $6.99

The Hired Hand "Collector's Edition" 2-disc sealed - $5.59

^^ so good, such a great soundtrack too.

Wal Mart, $5:

End of Watch

'', $3:

Raising Arizona

Pawn Shop, 4 for $10 (all used):

Boom Town
China Seas
Wife Versus Secretary*
Dirty Deeds (Aussie gangster flick w/Bryan Brown, Toni Collette, Sam Neil & John Goodman)

*I think they were parting out this box--I put back San Francisco.

Spotted $4 copies of The Falcon and the Snowman and Johnny Dangerously in the HMV bargain bin last weekend, and put both back after deliberating for a brief minute. Haven't seen the former in almost 20 years, and the latter in at least 25, and am wondering if I should go back for either next weekend.

johnny dangerously still rules

Same Chain, Different Pawn Shop, 5 for $10 (all used):

Love Me or Leave Me
Suspicion
The Wrong Man
I Confess
Strangers on A Train (two disc)

Once again with the parting out of box sets--this time the WB Hitch set and this Doris Day one (had Calamity Jane in hand before finding all the Hitch's).

Two of the stores I'd regularly go to have closed within the past couple of months, leaving basically two places where I can still buy this stuff (not counting regular chain-store sale bins). I'm going through withdrawal.

$5: The Kids Are All Right, Primal Fear, All the President's Men (two discs, replacing the single I already had)

4/$10: Excalibur, The Invention of Lying, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Late Shift

$5 is exactly what I paid at HMV for a drastically marked-down Tree of Life recently, a coupla months after scoffing at its ridiculous original marked price of $35.99.

Big Lot's, $3:

Mr. Smith Goes To Washington
Shane
Altered States
The Yakuza
Savages (the Linney-PSH one)
Baby, the Rain Must Fall

Also, for those curious about replenishment cycles, according to my ticket most of these were from a "February assortment". The exceptions were Savages & The Yakuza, both from a "Horror/Thriller assortment" (WTF? on the former film) from the months before last Halloween.

At the Pasadena City College swap meet:

$1 each: King Of Comedy, The Doom Generation
$2: Journey to the Flames (Burning Man doc)
$2.50 each: Chuck and Buck, Wildflowers
$5 each: Arrested Development Seasons 1 and 2, It (Clara Bow, includes a doc on Bow), Chappaqua, Last Days of Disco, and a Something Weird three-on-a-disk with Rent-a-Girl, Aroused, and Help Wanted Female (mid-60s sleaze)

had gone to a library book sale w/ my mother & bought pauline at the beach for $2

later, my gf came over and the dvd was still out on my table.
she said-- 'oh is your mom still here?'
i was like 'what? no'
she said 'oh so you bought pauline at the beach?'

p good zing

Walmart, $3.96:

North By Northwest "50th Anniversary Edition" (2-disc)
Malcolm X (2-disc)

This one location had a floor display featuring these and other WB special editions (Wild Bunch, Pat Garrett..., True Romance, the Burton Batmans...).

Last weekend at a thrift store,

$3 for season 1 of the Dave Chappelle show (12 eps on 2 disks).

My first Big Lot's in three months, and they had nothing I wanted to buy. Well, maybe a couple things, but they were all in quantities guaranteeing they'll still be on the racks in the future alongside copies of movies I already own. As for the rest...more and more of stuff that already wasn't selling...I had no idea Jessica Simpson had made so many movies...Burt Reynolds did a VOLLYBALL movie in the last few years?

My local BL seems to be getting out of the DVD business. Last time I was there they were down to maybe 100 DVDs (total, not titles), all of which consisted of movies I had seen there over 6 months ago.

They might be doing that at some of the stores. The one I went to is maybe the biggest one in the area. They still had a sizable selection, albeit not as large as it once was & with a heavier emphasis on $5 titles and a current "2 for $14" tv box set promotion. Since I didn't buy anything, I don't have any replenishment cycle info from a receipt.

PS: That Burt Reynolds Vollyball movie is from 2006: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0403946/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_25

Co-starring Tom Arnold and Gary Busey because, of course it does.

Tony Danza ...
Himself (uncredited)

Target, $5 each:

Party Down, Seasons 1 & 2

Big Lots, $3

Adaptation

Also, in an amusing postscript to:

*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), Saturday, November 10, 2012 7:11 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Over a year and a half later, this same copy was still sitting on the shelf. I notice a closeout printout on the rack which indicates its label color (white) is included in a sale. I take a chance and lo and behold the movie is mine for the princely sum of 90 cents. My receipt tells me the store mislabeled the disc as a "Warner 3 Pack" upon receiving it, hence the high original price.

great movie, that one.

Every junkie's like the setting sun, ditto anyone addicted to dump bins. Even when supply is very short.

$3: Stonebrook, Deal, Further, Married Life, Cronos, Nobody's Fool, Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael, Leaves of Grass, The Promotion, 54, The Truth About Charlie (two discs--includes Charade), Straight Out of Brooklyn, Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her, The Life of David Gale

$4 (Wal-Mart--thankfully racked at the front of the store, not in one of their may-cause-the-building-to-topple-over-if-disturbed sale bins): Stoker, Trance, Twixt

$5: The Interpreter, Hobo with a Shotgun (two discs)

I'm still pondering the existence of Twixt. Hope I'm wrong, but I'm guessing Coppola would have done better lending the name to a breakfast cereal.

Bought a $2 copy of Kitchen Party, a Canadian teen comedy from the 90s that I'm interested in primarily because Robin Wood loved it, at my school's bookstore yesterday. Considered Mazursky's The Tempest, but put it down because I couldn't remember if it was supposed to be interesting-bad or just plain bad.

Freebies (!!)--thanks to a kindly friend doing a collection purge--of:

Born Yesterday (blu-ray)
Titus (blu-ray)
Rear Window (2DVD set)
Strangers on a Train (2DVD set)

Somewhat reluctantly gave up a blu-ray of Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia to another friend who was picking through the same pile. I grabbed it first, but it just seemed to mean more to him, plus he was already noticeably peeved about missing out on the Titus that I wasn't relinquishing.

Another Big Lot's 20% sale weekend. Went to the location I wrote about on June 22nd, and it looks like they haven't got anything in since then. Ended up buying two cds for $4 each (Aerosmith-Live Bootleg and an expanded Heart-Little Queen).

Salvation Army thrift store was having a 50% off sale, got SNL Best of Will Farrell and Coheed and Cambria The Last Supper (live at Hammersmith Ballroom 2006). $1 each.

Not much out there, is there? I haven't binged in ages--I might find two or three things at a time now. Not $5, but I bought a used copy of Tony Richardson's The Border today, which I've wanted to see for ages. (I think I may have seen it on release, but I don't remember a thing.)

Local swap meet today, got Sugarcult's Action, which seems to be a few videos, home video footage, a photo scrapbook, and some live performance stuff. Also $1.

HEB, $3.33:

World's Greatest Dad (used, resealed)

They actually had a reasonably big assortment of used IFC & Magnolia releases from the past several years as '3 for $10' specials. They just had one of these, so I snapped it up. not sure I want any of the other stuff, alotta faceless indie fare.

A while back at Walmart, $5:

To Have And Have Not

Suddenly in stock because Bacall had died (same reason I suddenly started seeing Johnny Winter albums in the CD bin).

Mixed bag of remaindered, sale, and used stuff:

$3: The Double, Raising Victor Vargas, Bad Company (junky thriller, not the Robert Benton movie)

$5: The Minus Man, Died Pretty Things, Millennium Mambo, Less Than Zero, The Abyss, Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, Contagion

$10: The Boris Karloff Collection (five movies, half-price sale)

$11: Universal Spotlight Collection (The Mummy, The Wolf Man, The Invisible Man, Phantom of the Opera--same sale)

$5: Vamp

Now I know what I'm watching on Halloween this year.

No Direction Home, the Scorsese Dylan doc, at a thrift store for #2.50. By the date on the price tag it was stocked today. (They also had the I'm Not There movie, but I already have that so I left it for someone else.)

HEB, $4.99:

John & Mary
Laura

I always jump a little when I find a Fox Noir title in the budget bins. I'd put back the one copy they had of John & Mary about a month ago, so between it still being there (amongst a load of new Fox & MGM castoffs) and landing the sole copy of Laura this was a good day.

Arrested Development, season 3.
Velvet Goldmine.

$3 each

Another thrift store.

Four 1-hour Best of the Dean Martin Variety Show ($2 ea)
Lovely & Amazing ($2.50)
It Happened One Night ($2.75)

Half-Price Books, $10 (reduced from $20 with coupon):

James Stewart Signature Collection box set (The Cheyenne Social Club / Firecreek / The FBI Story / The Naked Spur / The Spirit of St. Louis / The Stratton Story)

Big Lots, $5:

Hot Fuzz "3-Disc Collector's Edition"

$3:

42nd Street
The Longest Yard "Lockdown Edition"

Half-Price Books, $1 (all used):

Bodies, Rest & Motion
Beavis and Butt-Head Do America "Special Collector's Edition"
"Richard Pryor Double Feature" w/Moving (1988, never heard of it--supporting cast full of SCTV/SNL people) & Greased Lightning

My dad took me to see the B&B movie on a weekday afternoon during xmas break in '96. It'd been out maybe a week or so, but we were among only about other 5-8 people at the screening (if that many, and it was in a big room to boot). When I got back to school, I found out I was only one of maybe three people in my Grade 8 who'd actually seen it. Scream (which opened the same day) was the cool movie to have seen right then.

Moving (1988, never heard of it--supporting cast full of SCTV/SNL people)

here's a story from the writer!

https://wfmu.org/LCD/20/pryor.html