How many of you movie fans have ever had this happen? You get the urge to see a movie you own, you think about it for a bit, you walk to your library and then just stare blankly at your choices, unable to make a decision. I do this quite a lot but it isn’t because I have (totally not bragging) over 500 DVD/Blu-Ray titles staring back at me. It is solely because I just can’t find the time to watch what I really want to watch. Now that’s what truly gets me sometimes. I mean, if you have this wonderful assortment of toys just dying to be played with, wouldn’t you want to play with all of them? For me, the answer is yes, I want to play these titles, but sadly I just can’t find the time to invest in them. Tis a sad day indeed…
Now the idea for this post came from great topic stared by Cinematical last year entitled, Do films you love Collect Dust on your DVD shelves? It’s a brief but interesting read as it brings to light one issue I have found increasingly difficult to remedy. However their post is really about indecision whereas I am not only conflicted with that but also time constraints.
To me, I really would love to watch Patton, The Dark Knight, The Right Stuff or Casablanca more frequently than once every 2 years but when I get to my “Sacred Shelves”, all I can think about is how I simply can’t invest 2 plus uninterrupted (key word there) hours needed to enjoy a movie I really love without something coming up. Maybe it’s because I’m married, am a homeowner, I work late and we have 2 dogs, but thus is the case where the nighttime after work hours yield only episodes of LOST or The Office and the weekend-long marathons watching the entire Lord of the Rings, Back to the Future or Star Wars trilogies are nearly gone forever. It seems like there’s always something keeping me from being able to delve into one of my favorite films and enjoy the escape and immerse myself solely on the film. Sad really.
But what has taken the place of my favorite films getting repeated spins in my Blu-Ray player are the films I don’t have to pay attention to which generally are “Brainless entertainment” or “popcorn films”. While I still yearn to put on Kingdom of Heaven: Director’s Cut or Blood Diamond, I end up watching Saving Silverman, Shaun of the Dead and Transformers. Why you ask? It’s becasue I can quote them all the live long day, I don’t really have to pay attention to the TV and can enjoy the film in snippets and because I can come and go without fear of missing my favorite scenes. I’m not totally complaining, as the films that find themselves playing more often than others are still films that I enjoy. Also every title I own, I do own because I love them. But still, I’m starting to get burned out on re-runs, so to speak.
Unfortunately I’m not finding any better luck with Netflix and Netflix Instant. No matter how many movies I do watch, I can never fully enjoy them interruption free. Also regardless of my efforts I still have over 100 films on my queue and 20 Instant films (like Metropolis, Glory, Cleopatra) that have been in my queue pretty much since they started the Instant feature.
Now I don’t have a problem watching The Goonies, or Big Trouble in Little China for the bzillionth time (hell they’re even on my phone so I can watch them anywhere/anytime), but kind of like being in a shitty job, or drinking blended scotch all the time…don’t you just want something better? Wouldn’t you strive for Lawrence of Arabia and a nice glass of 18 year old Macallan?
I will acknowledge that maybe I need to make more of an effort because to quote a line from The Matrix Reloaded (another fallen soldier rarely getting time off my Shelves), “If we do not take time, how can we ever have time?”. But maybe I’m just at that point in my life where “It’s not about you anymore, Marc“, maybe I just need to stay up later or try watching something in the early morning. Either way I don’t bet I’m alone…at least I hope not.
So I’ll ask you all. Is anyone else out there finding trouble finding time to watch the movies you truly love and want to see again? If so, what titles are you craving to see again but still have yet to??
