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Joe Blevins 
"Don't I look handsome?"
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 Posted - 09/11/2010 : 23:55:07
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Fellow Fourumers:
I have assigned myself a rather daunting and completely ridiculous movie scavenger hunt, one that might take me several years to complete. Back in the 1980s, movie critic Danny Peary released three Cult Movies books. Each one was a collection of essays about specific films -- 100 in the first book, 50 each in the last two, 200 all together. These books were enormously influential on me and really opened my eyes to lots of movies that I never would have known about. They also took some movies I did know already and put them in a very new, possibly subversive light.
Over the years, I collected several of these films on DVD, sometimes picking them up sight unseen, and suddenly the idea came to me: would it be possible to collect all 200? Right now, the numbers are either daunting or encouraging, depending on your point of view. I own about 50 out of the 200. For the remaining 150, I have set a few ground rules:
1. Legitimate DVD releases whenever possible.
2. Bootlegs only when the movie is otherwise unavailable.
3. Used copies are highly preferred.
4. New copies only if I happen to find them deeply discounted or in a cutout bin.
5. Does NOT have to be a special edition or the latest version. Any reasonably good quality copy is acceptable.
6. Above all: cheap, cheap, cheap.
7. VHS doesn't count. Must be on disc.
Again, the list of all movies is here.
Any practical suggestions other than, stop right now?
P.S. - The ones I already own are: 2001, American Werewolf, Annie Hall, Basked Case, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, Blade Runner, Blood Feast, Blue Velvet, Body Heat, Bride of Frankenstein, Casablanca, Citizen Kane, Clockwork Orange, Dark Star, Dr. Strangelove, Eraserhead, Fantasia, First Nudie Musical, Glen or Glenda, Greetings, Halloween, Hard Day's Night, Honeymoon Killers, Little Shop of Horrors (1960), Long Goodbye, Man Who Fell To Earth, Mommie Dearest, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Napoleon, New York New York, Night of the Living Dead, Peeping Tom, Picnic at Hanging Rock, Pink Flamingos, Plan 9, Pretty Baby, Psycho, Rock & Roll High School, Rocky Horror, Seconds, Seventh Seal, Shock Corridor, Sunset Blvd, Taxi Driver, Terminator, TX Chainsaw Massacre, Two Lane Blacktop, Walkabout, Wild Bunch, Willy Wonka, and Wizard of Oz. I have the following just on VHS: Duck Soup, Faster Pussycat, and Massacre at Central High. |
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Sean
"Necrosphenisciform anthropophagist."
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Posted - 09/12/2010 : 00:04:58
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All I can say is.... Good Luck! 
...and thanks for supplying me with a bunch of movies to put on my to-watch list. |
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Joe Blevins
"Don't I look handsome?"
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Posted - 09/13/2010 : 00:53:10
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Thanks, Sean.
After doing some initial research, I have found some good news and some bad news. The good news is that many of these movies are on DVD for $5 or less at Amazon. As for the bad news...
* The movie Chilly Scenes of Winter does not even seem to be available in bootleg form. May have to resort to VHS on this one.
* A couple of the flicks, The Black Cat and Duck Soup, are only available as part of pricey boxed sets.
* Russ Meyer's Faster, Pussycat, like most of Russ's movies, is only available domestically as a wildly overpriced DVD practically devoid of extras. I'd be paying roughly $30 for an 80 minute flick and four trailers! Now that Russ has passed on, can someone sensible take over the distribution of his films?
And those are just the issues I ran into on page 1 of a four-page list! |
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randall 
"I like to watch."
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Posted - 09/18/2010 : 02:50:10
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Joe, the movies in those Danny Peary books -- which I own as well -- aren't nearly as culty in the home-video era as they were when first pubbed. You should be able to find more than 3/4 of them easily. And remember, you don't even have to own them to see them any more, any time you want; if you're still having trouble finding a few stragglers, I recommend a subscription to Netflix. Oh, that's right: you say you have to have the physical DVD. Um, why?
P.S. Also try Peary's ALTERNATE OSCARS. Lots of fun!
P.P.S.: Re DUCK SOUP: assuming it's the Marx box I have, go ahead and buy that pricey boxed set!
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Edited by - randall on 09/18/2010 03:10:10 |
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Joe Blevins
"Don't I look handsome?"
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Posted - 09/19/2010 : 00:08:30
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quote:
Originally posted by randall
Joe, the movies in those Danny Peary books -- which I own as well -- aren't nearly as culty in the home-video era as they were when first pubbed. You should be able to find more than 3/4 of them easily.
So far, I've found that to be true. Boy, though, is Los Olvidados more scarce than I had predicted!
quote:
And remember, you don't even have to own them to see them any more, any time you want; if you're still having trouble finding a few stragglers, I recommend a subscription to Netflix. Oh, that's right: you say you have to have the physical DVD. Um, why?
I don't really know why. To prove it can be done, I guess. I realize the idea of actually buying/owning movies is going the way of the dinosaur in the era of Netflix/Redbox/YouTube/streaming video/etc., but that's actually part of why I'd want to do it, paradoxically. It's part of the same reason I've long been obsessed with the Guinness Book of World Records: I'm kind of fascinated by the stubbornness and single-mindedness of it. There's a kind of purity in, say, gathering the world's biggest rubber band ball or playing the longest continuous game of hacky sack. This is maybe 50% about movies and 50% about obsessive-compulsive insanity. Maybe 60/40 in favor of the latter.
Keep in mind, I'm just at the outset of this project and have not really begun. It may morph into a quest just to see all 200 movies.
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P.S. Also try Peary's ALTERNATE OSCARS. Lots of fun!
I read it many years ago and quite enjoyed it.
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P.P.S.: Re DUCK SOUP: assuming it's the Marx box I have, go ahead and buy that pricey boxed set!
The set is one I have checked out from the local library in the past, and it is indeed excellent. The reason I haven't purchased it is because it was so easily accessible at the library. And I realize this only reinforces your earlier point.
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randall
"I like to watch."
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Posted - 11/26/2010 : 15:21:53
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| Joe, I hope you're reading: I heartily recommend Roy Blount Jr.'s new book HAIL, HAIL, EUPHORIA, a love letter to DUCK SOUP. |
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GHcool
"Forever a curious character."
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Posted - 11/27/2010 : 05:26:46
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Many of these aren't even cult films. They're just regular good classic films. Casblanca? Citizen Kane? Its a Wonderful Life?
I own 12 on DVD, 4 on VHS, and 1 on laserdisc. |
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Cult movie DVD scavenger hunt
