The Pending Pile ...
Everyone has one ....just some of us have a bigger one than others. Talking frankly, mine has grown year on year since the advent of DVD and has now grown to monumental proportions. I blame a combination of mid-life nostalgia and unbelievably good deals. I mean ...can you blame a person for snapping up all nine seasons (across 60+ discs) of the X-Files for under sixty quid? Or what about the complete Emma Peel Avengers collection across 17 discs for a mere thirty quid? My most recent acquisitions have been as a result of US bargain hunting. I mean why let a drop of water put pay to my shopping aspirations. The complete Addams family (to sit next to my complete Munsters collection) on 9 double sided discs for 20 quid. Or The Vincent Price Collection - 7 films and an extras disc - for ten pounds. And it goes on. Generally they don't break the bank. I have few vices or expensive hobbies and maybe buy a couple of sets a month. What's twenty or thirty quid when it costs me over fifty to fill my car up? Well, that's my excuse...
Of course, the only problem now is time. I could almost map out my remaining years in likely disc viewing figures which is a scary thought.
I take solace in knowing I'm not alone. Those of us with the deepest addictions can often be found lurking on bargain DVD sites and there's no doubt that I'm a fairly light offender compared to some.
Anyway....I just wanted to lay claim to the topic on this fantastic new site and hopefully instigate some fresh confessions to join my own.
Of course, the only problem now is time. I could almost map out my remaining years in likely disc viewing figures which is a scary thought.
I take solace in knowing I'm not alone. Those of us with the deepest addictions can often be found lurking on bargain DVD sites and there's no doubt that I'm a fairly light offender compared to some.
Anyway....I just wanted to lay claim to the topic on this fantastic new site and hopefully instigate some fresh confessions to join my own.
Your Opinions and Comments
I made a conscious effort to get rid of the DVDs I know I'm not going to watch again, and not to be so click-happy with future buys. But then, I'm what you might term a 'habitual re-watcher', so don't need a steady influx of new stuff to watch.
As such, my pending list is so insignificant, they just get slotted in where there's room knowing that I'll get round to watching them some day.
Now, games, they're another issue completely. If there's a pile deserving of a good lancing, it's 'Matthew's games he hasn't got round to playing yet.'
I have about 60 films, 4 TV shows and the Complete Prime Suspect which lie unwatched on a shelf. They look at me, I'm sure they do, wondering why they stay in their box when I pick one of the ones I've already seen! The odd thing is that this makes me feel guilty but then I don't know where to start.
To compound matters, I have essays to write, review discs arriving most weeks and can't say no when I see a title I fancy at an attractive price.
The summer holidays will allow me time to clear the decks before the whole process begins again in the next academic year!
And the inclination, well, it's not like I would actually play them. 99% of old games haven't aged well. And I doubt the 5 seconds of daily pleasure I'd derive from looking at a shelf of obscure Japanese box art would warrant the time and effort.
But that's just me. And we're talking DVDs. Carry on...
I've frequently gone on about my "comfort movies", and I'll always default to watching something out of that collection unless I've recently bought something new that I've been looking forward to and/ or enjoyed. Of course, other family members have to be taken into the equation (which is why I'm often up in the wee hours watching review material).
Although my collection has grown to some size over the past eight years, I don't think it's excessively big compared with some correspondents on the Home Theater Forums, and there are a lot of discs I haven't watched "properly". Again, for me a lot of pleasure is to be had from simply having my own copy of a fondly remembered movie, or a reference copy of a recommended movie that I'll get round to watching sooner or later.
...and this is precisely what I mean. It's impossible to resist, even when the Pending Pile is threatening to keel over and bury me under the weight of unwatched DVD's!!