DVD collection update + a few announcements!

I’m pretty sure I’ve said this in every monthly wrap-up over the past year (including the most recent, posted a couple of days ago), but can you believe that we’re already over a month into 2013? Time is flying once again!

I managed to pick up a few DVDs and Blu-rays in January, so I figured I’d share a little DVD collection updated on the blog today.

My most recent purchase was found by accident. You will already know this if you follow me on Twitter, but at school one day I stumbled upon a $4.99 copy of Tony Rome, a Frank Sinatra picture I hadn’t seen before. I browse the campus bookstore’s DVD selection every once in a while and this is the first time I’ve seen a classic in there, so I had to get it! The cashier told me they’d just put that on the shelf the night before, so it was a serendipitous blind purchase.

Mid-month my dad and I took an impromptu trip to Best Buy so he could pick up some fancy wireless headphones and be the technologically advanced dude that he always is. But I can’t make a trip to Best Buy without digging through the $4.99 bargain DVD bin and $7.99 bargain Blu-ray bin. Here were my selections on that day:

Blu-ray: Amityville Horror (1979)
I was reminded just how much I love this crazy film (and the crazy story that inspired it) when TiVO recorded it as a suggestion early last month. I knew I had to get it as soon as I saw it floating at the top of the Blu-ray bin. It’s one of my favorite horror films and I’m glad to finally have it in my collection.

DVD: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
This was… wait for it… a blind purchase. Yes, you read that correctly: I have never seen Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in its entirety. As you probably know if this isn’t your first time visiting TMP, I’m not a huge fan of Westerns, but it roped me in for a few reasons: $4.99 price sticker… Robert Redford… and most of all, Paul Newman. I’ve also set a bit of a goal for myself this year to “break the dealbreakers” that I outlined in a post last year and expand my movie-watching boundaries (with the exception of number 5 and possibly number 9, which I can’t really see myself enjoying in any instance), so hopefully this will put me on my way to becoming more tolerant of the genre.

DVD: Miramax 6 Romantic Dramas set
Included are the following films: About Adam (2000), A Month by the Lake (1995), A Price Above Rubies (1998), A Walk on the Moon (1999), My Life So Far (1999), The Shipping News (2001)
The second-best bargain of the bunch, this set gives me six films, none of which I had seen or heard of before, for only $4.99. That’s about $0.83 per film. And one of them stars Kevin Spacey. I couldn’t pass it up.

DVD: Slapstick Encyclopedia DVD Videobook
This is the crown jewel of my Best Buy purchases. I have no idea exactly which films are included in this set and can’t seem to find a list anywhere on the internet (which means I’ll have to construct one as I watch, of course). What I do know is that there are apparently over 50 silent short films in this set, all comedies, all with shiny new instrumental accompaniments! I’m blanking on the exact price, but this was either $7 or $10… either way, a freakin’ great deal for a set of 50 silents. The packaging is also very nice-looking and will make a good addition to my boxed set shelf.

Blu-ray: Straw Dogs (1971)
Another “You seriously haven’t seen this, Lindsey?” blind purchase. I’m mildly terrified to watch this one because I’ve heard it’s pretty graphic, but I love a good psychological thriller so at the same time I’m very interested.

I also went a-hunting at Target for some new Mill Creek sets that Todd had seen at his local Target, but they were nowhere to be found. I ended up getting a couple of corny movies from the bargain section to quell my sadness over not being able to find those sets – Kindergarten Cop, the Carol Burnett version of Annie and Ramona and Beezus.

Now that we’ve got the collection update out of the way, I’d like to announce a brand new series coming to a TMP near you (this one) very soon. The name? “Classics of the Corn.” A few months ago it was recommended by Silver Screenings that I capitalize on the love of cheesy films that I’ve so often expressed here, so I’ve finally decided to do that by starting a whole series dedicated to the cheese. Films of any era will be available to this series (though I’m still keep with my policy of one post-1970 review each week, and will be reviewing corny pre-1970 films for this series as well). The name of the series is inspired by one of my favorite corny films, Children of the Corn (1984).

The only criteria is that the films must be corny as hell, the best of the “so bad it’s good” genre. I’ll also be adding some older posts to this series, because I’ve reviewed many a corny film in the past.

If you’d like to submit a suggestion of a film you think I should watch/review for this series, or if you’d like to submit a guest post on your favorite cheesy film please email me at tmplindsey@gmail.com (or leave a comment on the Projects page).

Also coming soon will be a brand spankin’ new Recap and React series. The Alfred Hitchcock Presents version of R&R should be back up and running some time in the near future, but I’ve decided to start an R&R series on The Dick Van Dyke Show as well. The series is available on Netflix Instant and I’ve been watching a lot of it lately, so why not get a few blog posts out of it, eh?