Two Posts in One Day?

I must be on crack!

Dave just asked a very good question in my comments thread about the National Treasure DVD. Go read it, I'll wait...

Back? Okay. Rather than just respond in the comments I figured I'd just address it completely (unfortunately this makes it seem impersonal, sorry Dave! I still love ya mate!)

My DVD buying policy is much like my policy on comics buying. I'll pretty much buy and watch/read any damn thing. It sounds dumb, and really it is, I waste more money on crap than anyone else I know, but it's just my policy.

How can I afford it? Well, with comics it's a lot easier, you can find comics cheap as all hell sometimes, and those discount bins are my favorite places to dig, so naturally I end up with piles of dung and a handful of good or great books. Personally I think it enhances the whole experience; getting lots of crap was worth finding that one friggin book you thought was amazing.

Same with DVDs for me, only it costs more. My one policy on DVD's is, with the sole exception of must-haves (READ: Geek films/ uber-cool special sets), I only buy them used. With National Treasure I also got two or three other movies because every used DVD place around me has a Buy 2-Get 1 Free or Buy 2-Get 2 Free sale all the time. That's how I end up with movies I don't always like and have never seen. When I can get three or four movies for $30 or less I'd much rather buy than rent. To rent four movies would cost me upwards of $20, especially if they're new releases. Then I have to return them, and only have a few days to watch them. For $10 more I can own it and watch it at my leisure. Sure, if I waited the rental price would eventually come down, or I could get it from Netflix (which I pretty much use for my TV DVD rentals), but I'd honestly just rather buy it. If I like it, I like it, if not, well I file it away or give/trade it off to someone who might enjoy it more (a good example is a movie I sent to ADD just the other day, but I don't wanna spoil the surprise, so I'll discuss it after he gets his mail!). I don't buy nearly as many movies as I used to, mainly because I lack the time to watch them and I don't have a lot of room for em.

Yes, I know it's a logic that's held together with spider-webs, one good breeze and it falls apart, but I love movies, and I love DVDs especially. There's so much there to explore, even with movies I don't like, that it makes it worth the purchase for me. So, yeah, I hate renting from video stores, and I dread going to the movies, I'd rather just buy them, especially considering this: Cost of two tickets-$15, Cost of large drink-$5, Cost of large popcorn-$6, Total-$26. If I'd spent $26 to see National Treasure I'd be pissed off as hell, add in the rudeness of today's movie goers, and well I just can't think about it. The DVD cost me less than $10, I got to watch it in a sleeve-less shirt and my crap-ass confortable shorts, in a recliner, feet up, a bottle of Juicy Juice in the fridge to keep me hydrated, and a bag of Ruffles with some dip to keep my stomach happy, and no one had to shell out the extra ticket prices. Total cost there is well under $20, but if I'd just watched the movie with my girl, no food or drink, I'm already over $5 to the good.

The only thing about this that ever works against me is finding mediocre movies. I like the bad ones, I like the good ones, but when a movie is really nothing but status quo throughout (like National Treasure) it just disappoints me. I'd rather they have gone all out and fallen on their asses than just kind of done without any real enthusiasm.

Don't mean to ramble, but I hope that at least answers the question (one I'm sure a few people have wondered about). So, thanks Dave!

-L