Film Junk Bonus Podcast: Movie Organization Manifesto, Part 2
This is it people! The second and final episode of the Movie Organization Manifesto is about to change the way you think about movies. This time around we revisit the contentious topic of genre sorting within a DVD collection and whether or not the simplicity pure alphabetization sucks the enjoyment out of life. We also introduce some new and exciting organizational concepts such as ‘the seasonal shelf’ and the always controversial ‘juicing’. Finally, we do our best to answer your listener emails and help a few friendly folks resolve some frustrating roadblocks faced on their quest for the perfect collection. Se7en before Seabiscuit? Numeric vs. Alpha-Numeric? In the immortal words of Judge Mills Lane: “Let’s get it on and get it decided!”
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Comments (91)
Frank is right about the alphanumerical organization.
Posted by patrik on September 14th, 2011Is that Franks collection? It’s beautiful.
Posted by indianamcclain on September 14th, 2011Frank is wrong about Seven before Seabiscuit though, but 2001 goes before 28.
Posted by patrik on September 14th, 2011@indianamcclain
That picture can´t be Franks collection cause theres TV mixed in with movies.
Posted by patrik on September 14th, 2011I like that sideways position of the box sets in that picture.
Posted by swarez on September 14th, 2011I just wan’t to say regarding when buying releases… picture quality always comes first. Packaging, region codes, cover art etc. are all secondary to me in that case. Usually even the price.
Posted by Vikke_AJ on September 14th, 2011The iTunes version is only an hour.
Posted by rjdelight on September 14th, 2011I think our server is just getting bogged down right now. I usually put the latest episode on Libsyn but we only have 100 MB to work with so this is on our web server, which doesn’t always handle the load very well. Try downloading again in a bit.
Posted by Sean on September 14th, 2011@patrik If I believe that the ‘true’ title of Se7en is spelled thusly, then it MUST come before Seabuscuit.
I think that is Jay’s collection, and I at first liked the sideways boxed sets. Upon further review, it has too much character.
Posted by dirrrtyfrank on September 14th, 2011Ikea is changing the design of the classic Billy. What does this mean for DVD collectors?
http://alturl.com/nw3di
Posted by Film Ape on September 14th, 2011Wait, in the picture at the top of this post whomever’s collection that is, they keep the white tape over the top of the blu-ray cases?! For what reason?
Posted by rot on September 14th, 2011Jay delete your icollect account and go to My Movies app, it works great, I think it costs a couple of bucks.
Posted by rot on September 14th, 201128 comes before 2001. Only an idiot would justify a different numeric system. Look at any library or bookstore shelf. Even modern PCs know how to sort numerical values properly.
Posted by Miike on September 14th, 2011Not necessarily. As James from FilmRot pointed out on Twitter, if you put all your film titles in Excel and sort the column, 2001 will be before 28 because it sorts them alphabetically by character. I still think numerically makes the most sense, but alphanumeric sorting happens more often than you might think.
Posted by Sean on September 14th, 2011I love the setup in the pic. Nice.
Posted by Kasper on September 14th, 2011Regarding Seven/Se7en…
Look here, check out the THEATRICAL POSTER:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_%28film%29
“Seven”
Posted by Colin on September 14th, 2011@Mike PCs would sort 2001: A Space Odyssey before 28 Days Later. Type a bunch of titles into Excel in a column including those to and sort A to Z … I just typed four in and sorted … this is the result
2001: A Space Odyssey
Posted by dirrrtyfrank on September 14th, 201128 Days Later
Se7en
Seabiscuit
Yeah I’m kind of wondering when the movie officially started being referred to as Se7en. Did it come from the opening titles in the film?
Posted by Sean on September 14th, 2011Well on the podcast, we IMDBed it as the ‘official’ title.
Posted by dirrrtyfrank on September 14th, 2011I really don’t give a fuck where people put Se7en (Seven) … as long as its not in their numbers section
The new bluray digibook has it labelled at Se7en
http://www.amazon.com/Seven-Blu-ray-Book-Brad-Pitt/dp/B001BPQT8A/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1316032408&sr=8-3
Up Next:
Posted by dirrrtyfrank on September 14th, 2011Movie Organization Manifesto, Part 3 – devoted to the history of the name of Seven … concludes with a phone call from David Fincher … start using some connections Dwy
I haven’t listened to the episode yet, but in the movie, it’s called SE7EN:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VfGRi39g6ag/S9F5muvTg3I/AAAAAAAAAlM/Pmhxa735sks/s1600/seven_contact.jpg
Posted by bard on September 14th, 2011Where do you guys file Darren Aronofsky’s ??
Posted by Miike on September 14th, 2011(Sorry, that was supposed to be the symbol for Pi.)
Posted by Miike on September 14th, 2011Pi goes in the P section…
Unless you’re a computer like Frank, and then you have to put it at 3.141592653589793238462643383279502884197169399375105820974944592307816406286208998628034825342117067982148086513282306647093844609550582231725359408128481117450284102701938521105559644622948954930381964428810975665933446128475648233786783165271201909145648566923460348610454326648213393607260249141273724587006606315588174881520920962829254091715364367892590360011330530548820466521384146951941511609…
Posted by Colin on September 14th, 2011Sorry for breaking your website…
I blame Frank.
Posted by Colin on September 14th, 2011I think we addressed this in the show, unless that question got left on the cutting room floor.
Posted by Sean on September 14th, 2011But the DVD cover for Pi uses the symbol as the title. Following the Se7en argument, would it go under P, numerically between 3 and 4, or in its own section for mathematical symbols? (And if so, is that before or after numbers?)
Posted by Miike on September 14th, 2011Pi is also the Greek letter P. So it goes under P.
Posted by Sean on September 14th, 2011I will accept that! Thanks Sean!
Posted by Miike on September 14th, 2011Hey, that’s what we’re here for!
Posted by Sean on September 14th, 2011I agree with filing Pi in the P section only because film databases (iMDB mainly) indicate that the film title is Pi over ?. If it was the latter case, with ? as the title, alphanumeric sorting would suggest that ? would be at the end of the alphabet.
Posted by alechs on September 14th, 2011If you were also considering the graphic title on the case of the box as the primary rule for organizing then you would put ? after Z and in its respective position on the Greek alphabet.
yikes… all the ? are in place of the pi symbol
Posted by alechs on September 14th, 2011I’m with Frank on going with the alphanumerical organization. Don’t back down, bud!
Posted by Aaron on September 14th, 2011So if Pi is in the “p” section because it’s the Grecian “p,” would it come before all the other “p” titles because it’s an older version of the letter?
Posted by Nat Almirall on September 14th, 2011what comes first Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle or Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay?
Posted by Drew on September 14th, 2011That is NOT my collection. The image was simply pulled from google images.
Posted by Jay C. on September 14th, 2011I agree with the guy who said let anarchy reign and you’ll know true freedom.
My collection is only vaguely organized. It’s all by genre with no alphabetization and it feels great. I know where every damn movie is because I PUT IT THERE!!!
I’m the master of my own domain so if anyone’s looking for anything, I shall find it for them. It’s also more fun to pick movies because with a group, you just go to a section and see what you can see and by doing so you end up in the most delightfully wonderful places! That’s how you end up watching something like Street Trash or Monster Squad, you don’t plan a night around those movies, you tumble down the rabbit hole and role with it, sucka.
I have a huge collection of horror/exploitation movies and I own almost every single classic Japanese Yakuza and samurai film available on DVD in North America. Those are the jewels in my crown. They deserve to be separate from the rest because they generated the most monetary attention/affection from me. I also have radically varying shelf spaces, a lot of books and comics and I live in a 1-bedroom WITH my girlfriend of 10 years! In that situation the OCD has to go out the window.
There’s a great comparison between the two disciplines in the forums between my DVD collection and a dude who disgraces it both in organization and size. Check it out here:
Posted by Fatbologna on September 14th, 2011http://www.filmjunk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=486
The Seven/Se7en debate ends here. Official opening title sequence has Se7en.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yALjuJcfg90
If it’s the title in the actual film from day one then that’s the title you go by.
Posted by rjdelight on September 14th, 2011Frank’s right, alphanumerical organization is the only way to go.
Otherwise where would you place films like 11:14 or 2:22 ?
Posted by aperfectsix on September 14th, 2011Since there are time it doesn’t carry the same numeric value as films like 28 days later or 127 Hours, so you wouldn’t be able to compare the two
“If it’s the title in the actual film from day one then that’s the title you go by.”
I disagree. The simple solution is whatever the spelling is on the spine. There are many older exploitation films that go by multiple titles, and the one used in the actual title sequence of the film isn’t always the title chosen for the DVD.
So keep it simple: tile as it appears on spine.
Posted by Jay C. on September 14th, 2011I have a few “low grade” dvd’s where the publisher printed the spine “upside down”. So, if I tilt my head to the right to read the spines, I will come across a few movies that are “upside down”. Would you keep them upside down or flip them and have the case upside down? Also, my copy of Day of the Dead from Anchor Bay has the spine printed such that the front of the dvd is facing to the left instead of the right. AAAAAAGGGGHHHH!!!!
Posted by Deaftongue on September 14th, 2011Ok I got a possible solution to the alphabetical vs genre debate. Best of both worlds. I think we all can agree with large collections you need to pick an online catalog system for tracking, easy access while shopping, insurance purposes. I agree Frank’s way of rigid alphabetical would be NO FUN when you are “in a mood” for a particular genre. Solution – pick an online catalog that you can sort by genre and use it for browsing during those “in the mood moments”. It would need to be a system that allows cover art since that is part of browsing enjoyment. of course it assumes you have a cpu within reach of entertainment area. After browsing and finding the collection of movies u want to watch, then go to your collection and the choices are easy to find as then are alphabetical
BOOM!!
Manifesto Rule: In this day an age, all REAL collectors will invest in an online cataloging system to allow the petty personal organizing not allowed under said manifesto’s numeric/alphabetical organization. So say DVD MASTER
Posted by rus in chicago on September 15th, 2011oh and if you want to pull films out for a “seasonal” shelf each collector will buy Plastic FILMJUNK tabs that will be placed in collection to denote where each dvd was pulled from. (Frank is going to love the look of that, so organized) BOOM, shake ur moneymaker!!!
Posted by rus in chicago on September 15th, 2011Frank is full of crap. Alphanumerical organization doesn’t work it is first of all insulting to movies, movies doesn’t like that system. It’s exactly the same like mixing blurays with DVD you can’t put Minority Report next to Meet The fockers, you CAN’T put DogDay Afternoon next to Dodgeball.
Posted by kyri on September 15th, 2011And I ll give you another reason why alphanumerical organization doesn’t work but genre-alphanumerical organization works.
Genre-alphanumerical organization gives you the advantage to be able to select according to your mood and then the organization automatically recommends you similar films to see.
For example I am in a scifi-ish mood. I go to my Sci-fi films and I make my choice. My collection AUTOMATICALLY recommends me something that I ll probably enjoy “hey you want to see STARGATE as well?” ..”it’s been a long time mate” ..my collection adds.
In alphanumerical organization you need to select your movie WAY in advance for example ..StarGate and your obnoxious fascist collection recommends you.. STARSKY AND HUTCH!!
I DON’T WANT TO SEE STARKY AND HUTCH!
It’s hard when you are WRONG buddy but YOU ARE WRONG about this one.
Posted by kyri on September 15th, 2011When you are into the mood of watching comedy you go to your Comedy section. IT FEELS GREAT!
When you are into the Horror genre mood you go there and select HORROR. IT FEEL SWEET!!
Being forced interact with something entirely out of your mood FEELS LIKE SHIT.
It’s like wanting to meet your friends but being forced to meet your BOSS because he shares the same name with your friends..
IT’S STUPID!!!!!!
Posted by kyri on September 15th, 2011I sort by value, not alphanumeric.
Posted by Matt McNeely on September 15th, 2011I have a big problem. I know this deals with catering towards others feelings but what do i do with intentional juicing from an outside party? I have a decent collection but each yr i receive 10-15 joke bluray/dvds from my cousin which seem to be out of spite to muck up my collection. Now i honestly get a chuckle out of what he is able to dig up each yr but i shudder when receiving Thunder in Paradise 2 without having Pt one. These usually come in those enlarged Sega CD type cases which dont fit on the shelf and have very, very poor inserts. So do i put them in a funny/shit section or just throw them in a box and just confront my cousin each yr when he dosent see them infecting my collection?
Thanks,
Posted by chrism on September 15th, 2011Speaking of Louie Season 1 Blu-ray… you can get it in Blu-ray packaging but the discs still are the crappy flipper-type discs with DVD on the other side and Blu on the flipside. I had to return my set to Amazon because my stand-alone player refused the play them.
Posted by Vikke_AJ on September 15th, 2011IN the words of Louie C.K. does that make u want “f*ck an aids patient just so you can facef*ck Louie and kill him for that inconvenience”?
Posted by rus in chicago on September 15th, 2011If you think the Criterion Collection has to be arranged separately, then you are falling for their marketing strategy. It must have went like this “Just put the word collection in our name and people will feel they need to own all of our releases.” One of the most unique thing CC does is sometimes do some restoration to the old films they release on home video. But other companies do that too, occasionally. They were the first home video company to offer special features back in the laserdisc days, but now everyone does that. The only other reason I can see to put them separately is that the box art is newly re-done for their releases. If it’s unique enough to have it in it’s own gallery, than I see Jay’s point. Go the extra mile and frame them and hang them on the wall. Otherwise, intermingle them.
Posted by Mason on September 15th, 2011After listening to this episode, I’ve come to one conclusion: A manifesto for movie organization is impossible.
There are too many gray areas that cannot be confined with simple rules. I would go so far as to say that Jay doesn’t necessarily want a manifesto. The moment he said that he wants his collection to have “character” (or whatever the word was) it throws the idea of having strict organization rules out the window.
I’m not complaining one bit, these two specials are incredibly hilarious. Just thought I would throw my two cents in.
I know you guys said you weren’t going to do another one, but I’d love to hear another episode a few months from now to see if you actually changed your collection in any way.
Thanks again for the great show.
Posted by bard on September 15th, 2011Criterions should always be separate (and in numerical order if possible). If they would have released them in normal blue cases then I would understand if people want to mix them up but with these clear cases it is just crazy talk
Truth be told, I don’t really care about any other sorting methods… I prefer completely random chaos. Just keep different formats and Criterions (and possibly Masters of Cinema releases) separate.
Posted by Vikke_AJ on September 15th, 2011Vikke_AJ,
AGREED!!
Mason,
It may be that you’re taking Criterion for granted in your assessment. If it weren’t for them most of the films they’ve released over the years would have gone unseen. The reason they’re so amazing and collectible isn’t because of the packaging, extras or transfers, although all of those elements are obviously part of the deal, it’s the very fact that you get an opportunity to see the movies they distribute.
I also do have a tendency to separate by distributors within my genres. Blue Underground, Panik House, Synapse, Severin, HVE and others often get lumped together or within the same vicinity in my organized chaos.
Posted by fatbologna on September 15th, 2011I’m with Vikke_AJ on keeping the Criterion Collection separate and ordered by spine number. I do this for any brand that numbers their releases – MoC, Oscilloscope, Second Run, etc. – if I plan on collecting most or all of their titles.
As for alphanumeric ordering, how consistent are you, Frank? Does it only apply when the first word in the title is a number? Would you place Superman 3 before Superman 2? Just wondering.
Posted by Dennis on September 15th, 2011Thanks for the specials.
Every debate you guys had could be resolved by simply buying more than one copy of the troublesome movie:
Can’t decide which genre section to put it in? Buy one for each genre you’re debating.
Can’t decide where in the alphabet to put it in? Buy one copy for each spot you’re debating.
Disperse your Criterions in w/ the collection or have a separate section? Buy two copies and do both.
Canadian release has better picture quality but suffers from French titles? Buy a copy of the US release and put the Canadian disk in it.
Done and done. You guys already spend a ton of money on movies, why not spend just a bit more and have the dream organization in which any debated movies are located in every possible location?
jb
Posted by Jeff on September 15th, 2011Also, does Frank have an insurance rider on his renter’s or homeowner’s insurance policy to cover his collection?
If it burns or gets stolen, it is unlikely that a typical policy would cover the full replacement value of such a collection.
Frank rocks either way. Love me some Frank.
Posted by Jeff on September 15th, 2011Insurance policies have lump sum on interior contents. I know this because I work out of a home/office and have a lot invested in cpus and entertainment. I did a spread sheet and use it to keep serial numbers of equipt. and the number of dvds etc. Simply put, if you have the basic insurance but have not checked if all your equipt., cloths, dvds, VALUE will be covered by the lump sum payout after a fire, flood you could be screwed. If u have a huge collection like Frank you may need to call up insurer and go up in lump sum. (I sent the spread sheet to insurer to put in my file so there would be no problems in the event of loss)
Posted by rus in chicago on September 15th, 2011I agree with Fatbologna. No organization = freedom
Posted by RC on September 15th, 2011Just fly by the seat of your pants.
I don’t believe we are even having this debate. Frank is a turd. If he only agreed on the genre issue FILMJUNK would have concluded to a manuscript, and EPISODE 3 would have been the debate about GENRES. instead. (because frank is a turd) the negotiations ended abruptly and a great premise for a Movie Organization Manifesto remains unfulfilled.
NEVERTHELESS I LL put mine outthere in a desperate hope to inspire a PART3:
M.O.M
[MOVIE ORGANIZATION MANIFESTO]
(Part 1.0)
RULE 1. MOVIES ARE TO BE PUT ON A SHELF AND KEPT IN THEIR CASES no binders no hard drives no steaming/streaming websites.
MOVIES ARE TO BE PUT MIXED AND RANDOMLY AT FIRST.
COLLECTIONS GO TOGETHER
RULE 2. MOVIES ARE NOT ALLOWED TO BE PLACED HORIZONTALLY UPON OTHER MOVIES THAT ARE PLACED VERTICALLY. this is strictly forbidden.
{expansion needed}
(Part 1.2)
[ONCE THE COLLECTION STARTS TO GROW]
(100-500 specimens)
DVDS AND BLURAYS MUST NOW BE SEPARATED
TV AND FILMS MUST BE SEPARATED AS WELL
(500-1000 specimens)
FILMS MUST NOW BE SEPARATED INTO GENRES
GENRE-SEPERATION
HORROR
COMEDY
SCI-FI
DOCUMENTARIES
SPORTS
WRESTLING
PORN
MUSIC
REST OF FILMS
FILMS FROM SPECIFIC DIRECTORS MUST GO TOGETHER AS WELL
{THE LIST OF DIRECTORS IS DEBATABLE AND WILL BE DECIDED ON PART 3}
COLLECTIONS MUST GO TOGETHER as well.
for example
Criterion FILMS go together. HENCE THEY ARE A COLLECTION
JAMES BOND FILMS MUST GO TOGETHER HENCE THEY ARE A COLLECTION
ACTION/THRILLERS and DRAMA are not REAL GENRES therefor DO NOT DESERVE a SEPARATION. THEY FORM the “REST OF FILMS” section of the collection
(Part 2.0)
[GENRE-ALPHANUMERICAL SEPARATION]
Once the collection surpasses 2000 specimens
an alphanumerical separation must occur.
Henceforth all sections of the collection must be reorganized.
{expansion is needed}
PART 2.1
[JUICING]
You must now De-Juice your collection.
(Otherwise how can you sleep at nights?)
distorted cases
empty cases
burned DVDs
pure taste dvds
BAD MOVIES
ALL NEED TO BE THROWN AWAY or REPLACED.
{expantion needed}
Part 3.0
[GENRE CRITERIA]
THIS WILL BE DECIDED ON PART 3
what makes a horror film ?
what goes to comedy?
what goes to sci-fi?
The removal of action-drama-thriller categories removes most of the Grey areas, but still a clarification is needed.
Posted by kyri on September 15th, 2011Sorry, Kyri, your manifesto is as much a failure as Jay and Frank’s!
This topic is far too personal and nebulous for anyone to ever agree on. The most that can ever come of it is a list of general guidelines for people to follow at their leisure. Frank’s fascist approach will never work for everyone, nor Jay’s “on-the-fence” half-assed approach or complete chaos. People need guidance but not complete dominant direction.
I think we’ve learned a valuable lesson here these last couple days: DVDs are just as unique as the folks who own ‘em.
Posted by Fatbologna on September 15th, 2011HAHA, indeed mate, I don’t really use a manifesto, it’s just for the sake of entertainment that I posted it, I mean I do separate my films by genre from now and then, but they’re mixed up later, my little sister uses my collection, she borrows films to her friends.. And ofcourse it is IMPOSSIBLE for me to EVER sort them alphanumerically.
..it’s actually a pretty disgusting thought
Posted by kyri on September 15th, 2011I don’t think I ever mentioned the fact that although my DVD’s were separated by certain genre’s, my blu rays always remained mixed and alphabetical. Not sure why, but it’s probably a numbers game. I just have a lot of horror and documentaries on DVD.
Also, regarding the strict alphabetization of the collection: I’m not against it but it begs the question…if the only thing allowed within a collection is alphabetization, what’s left to be said? The conversation is then dead and the fun of discussing the minutia is killed.
I’m not totally against mixing everything into one big A-Z wall of media, but the prospect of talking about it is certainly not very interesting (which makes me think the act of doing it is equally uninteresting).
Posted by Jay C. on September 16th, 2011were is Frank and his response? I’d really like to hear from him how he addresses his “in the mood moments” does he just sit on the couch and go through his head of all his horror films…wait, he doesn’t like “jumpy” films so bad example. Looking at my collection now I really don’t think alpha would work – I totally go by feel.
Posted by rus in chicago on September 16th, 2011Maybe I’m as a dork as Frank, but I don’t think it makes any sense to sort by number-value. We’re sorting by symbols to begin with. Sorting by value is like sorting by most used words, so “Go!” would be first or something…
Though I have no sorting at all, the best I ever did was put all the DVDs on a shelf without giving a shit about the titles, but usually they are all over the place. But I only have like 1-200 so I’m not even at a real ‘collection’ yet. I take it back, Frank is a bigger dork than me.
Posted by Henrik on September 16th, 2011I just counted and I’m just over the 200 mark, but proud to say there is barely any juicing going on (and there are few things I hate more than receiving a shitty movie as a gift that taints the collection).
My dvd’s & blu’s are organized by genre, which works for such small numbers. If I’d ever went towards the 500 mark, I would say alfanumerical would be logical. But in any case ‘Batman Begins’ and ‘The Dark Knight’ are spooning like newlyweds.
Posted by Bas on September 16th, 2011All my Criss nolan films spoon like newlyweds. Even his short film. I own the original CINEMA16 BOX-SET so I don’t know If that’s really Juicing.
Anyway, like Jay said If the only thing allowed within a collection is alphabetization, what’s left to be said? The conversation is dead and the fun of discussing the minutia is killed. PART3 HAS NO REASON TO EXIST.
BUT if FRANK (the turd) starts bending a little bit then maybe we can do business..
Posted by kyri on September 16th, 2011I did juice my collection recently when “blockbuster” was going out of business. I waited until the last day and I got all my dvd purchases for $1 each. They were all titles up my alley. Foreign, and non mainstream films. I got about 30 dvds for under $40. I don’t think this was juicing… I think it was smart buying. Anyways… keep up the great work!
Pe@ce,
Posted by Loren Adam on September 16th, 2011Loren
Frank is chicken…bach bah! Jay should film one of his and Franks “in the mood” moments
- Frank sitting on the couch racking his brain trying to remember all the films he owns from that particular genre or director
- Jay prematurely ejaculating as he runs his hand over the overwhelming filmography presenting itself in one section of his collection
Posted by rus in chicago on September 16th, 2011You guys really popped it this episode. Completely loving this. Please do a part 3.
Posted by Andrew on September 16th, 2011Not sure if we actually fully discussed this in the episode but you can easily rectify your “in the mood” moments with a DVD collection database that can be sorted by genre. No need to physically store everything in a way that facilitates those special situations.
Posted by Sean on September 16th, 2011Regarding my ‘in the mood’ decisions.
My inspiration doesn’t usually start from ‘I want to watch a movie’, my inspiration usually comes in a few different forms:
1. ‘I HAVE to watch right now!’
2. ‘ is coming out in a week or two and I’m really excited, I want to revisit past works/entries.
3. I’m juiced … it’s 3AM… break out Cape Fear/Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure/Alien/Nothing But Trouble
To summarize, I’m usually inspired to watch a particular movie, not a movie in general, and that would explain why I’m bigger on alphabetization over genre.
Posted by dirrrtyfrank on September 16th, 2011Sorry that post turned out completely wrong … i had brackets used by html in there and it fucked it up …
Regarding my ‘in the mood’ decisions.
My inspiration doesn’t usually start from ‘I want to watch a movie’, my inspiration usually comes in a few different forms:
1. ‘I HAVE to watch (insert movie) right now!’
2. ‘ (insert movie) is coming out in a week or two and I’m really excited, I want to revisit past (insert movie/director) works/entries.
3. I’m juiced … it’s 3AM… break out Cape Fear/Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure/Alien/Nothing But Trouble
To summarize, I’m usually inspired to watch a particular movie, not a movie in general, and that would explain why I’m bigger on alphabetization over genre.
Posted by dirrrtyfrank on September 16th, 2011I believe we are closing in on a resolution!!!!
The Manifesto should be written that Genre/Director Sorting is allowed in online record keeping systems, that ARE A MUST for any serious collector due to record keeping, insurance, loaning, shopping questions. Basically, if you collect, the Manifesto will dictate you get with the program on APP system
It should be decided if the filmjunk crew will allow you to choose:
Option 1:Keep the physical DVDs in numeric/alpha and sort by genre/director online
or
Option 2: Keep the physical DVDs in genre/director and sort by numeric/alpha online
Now we need Categories!!!
Posted by rus in chicago on September 16th, 2011wHaaaT? “online DVD collection database” .. I want to watch a freaking movie not get electrocuted. Furthermore the use of technology invalidates the entire point of having a real movie collection, because once you get to that road why not download everything? where you draw the line sean? furthermore the whole purpose of M.O.M is to be able to experience your collection on multiple levels.
I don’t need a banker for movies in my basement just in case that the internet goes down.
You sound like Reed.
@Frank
A point WILL come in your life that you will not have ..an obligation to watch films. A point will come that you ll have to live your collection. Experience it. interact with it. But your collection will be incapable.
An empty soul in an empty room sorted alphanumerically..
Posted by kyri on September 16th, 2011I fail to see how using a DVD database is the first step to downloading your entire movie collection. It just gives you the flexibility of filtering your collection using any criteria you want since you cannot possibly organize your collection physically using all possible criteria.
Even if you did group your movies by genres, what if suddenly you’re in the mood for a Jack Nicholson movie? Oops, too bad, you already sorted everything by genre. If you have a DVD database, you can just do a quick search and BOOM, you’re watching Jack.
Posted by Sean on September 16th, 2011dude, an online system allows u to “experience” your collection outside ur basement!
U can show it off to chicks and others while out.
Check on things when shopping.
Restore ur collection when ur basement floods.
Prove to your dirty uncle he still has ur Show Girls
Posted by rus in chicago on September 16th, 2011Not true, I returned it to Kyri last week.
Posted by Bas on September 16th, 2011actually a flood destroyed my house 3 years ago, everything was gone and I.. started from scratch.
nevertheless..
Can this “Dadabase” work without the Internet?
Let’s say the day we are all preparing has come, WW3 and all the shit. Other men are outside dying in massive scales for their countries and the remaining oil supplies..
And we.. ..We are locked in our basements with our solar panels on the roof and our awesome movie collection to keep us comfort.
The question is.
Will I be able then to enjoy my collection on multiple levels?
Posted by kyri on September 16th, 2011@Bas
but the disk is missing..
Posted by kyri on September 16th, 2011no u can’t … and thank God u have your apocalypse movies in one section…
its up to Filmjunk now, all sides have made their case…we await your orders Dark Lords from the Film Watching Regions of the North
Posted by rus in chicago on September 16th, 2011I think if there are any future installments of the Manifesto that there needs to be a point where your organizational skills are put to the test. Have some friends come over or something and try to find stuff. Ask them to find certain things, if they can tell what your sorting theme is, if they would know where to look if they had something they wanted to find that they weren’t sure you had, stuff like that, to see what works best for other people that might not be as savvy to genres, filmmakers, or your own personal tastes.
I personally sort alphabetically (though I do split up movies and TV) because a) it only makes perfect sense and b) I have parents, friends, and loved ones that are exactly like Frank’s dad. It’s the closest thing to foolproof as you’ll get, because while not everyone knows that Renny Harlin directed Die Hard 2, they can find the letter D.
I also sort chronologically when it comes sorting by series, and it’s based on the original name of the series. For instance, Army of Darkness follows Evil Dead 1 and 2, Jason Goes to Hell and Jason X follow Friday the 13th, and Dark Knight follows Batman Begins, which follows the 80’s and 90’s films. If you’re sticking Dark Knight over in “D” (assuming you’re going alphabetically) on it’s own, or dragging Batman Begins over to “D” just for the sake of sticking it directly in front of Dark Knight, you’re kind of an asshole. If someone wants to watch a Batman movie, don’t make them go hunting elsewhere for it. Just put it with the other Batmans! I’m sure if I pick up Amazing Spider-Man in a year, I’ll stick it right at the end of the previous Spider-Man series since the series had already been established as “Spider-Man”.
Posted by PlanBFromOuterSpace on September 17th, 2011wow wow wow PlanBFromOuterSpace, your Test is invalid mate,
yes not everyone knows that Ronny Harlin directed Die Hard 2 but certainly not EVERYONE knows the names of all action movies or all horror films or all comedies.. As you can realize your friends will be having a VERY difficult time finding “the new batman film” that is hiding behind ..Transformers3 on the lower section of your collection.
But with genre-separation your friends will be having the time of their lives selecting the film they want to see but don’t know yet what it is. (not that anyone cares about them but anyway).
Posted by kyri on September 17th, 2011Hilarious stuff, guys! I almost wish it would continue!
But, what this all comes down to is I think this proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the both of you are insanely OCD…. or insane AND OCD. Not sure which yet.
The whole thing makes me want to sneak into your houses and secretly rearrange great swaths of your collections just to see if I could hear the scream of horror/rage from 2000 miles away.
Seriously though, loved it!
Posted by milath on September 17th, 2011I am coming to grips with separation in my collection; in the spirit of a seasonal shelf. I propose having a Master Collection and keeping Sub-Collections separate. A specific genre, director, or sigh, the criterion movies can go together on a separate shelf.
This doesn’t mean you can go overboard with sub-sections. I’m thinking two or three. It really depends on how big/complete you can make a sub-collection.
Posted by starrman on September 18th, 2011I am with Frank for the most part, but I separate my Criterion’s out for the exact reason that I throw away slip covers and never buy steelbooks or digi-books unless I absolutely must; I own two and will replace them with regular blus as soon as I can.
The organization of my collection is all about aesthetics, so I keep all of the normal, proper blu-ray cases on their own (alpha-numeric of course) and all Criterions & boxed sets go in their own area on the end, both alphabetized in their own sections. They look very different and mixing them all together makes it look like shit to me.
Most other things I do follow; TV and DVDs separate (and not even touching the blu-rays). No other groupings aside from boxed sets and Criterion.
Excellent podcasts. Thanks for discussing this and sorting through the various questions that confound all of movie purchasers on a daily basis.
Posted by KeithTalent on September 18th, 2011By the way, genre makes zero sense to me. If I have people over that want to watch a specific genre of film I just hand them my phone with the app open and the collection sorted by genre. There are far too many grey areas to do it with the actual collection. Alphabetical is cleanest and easiest to use, then use an app for any other sorting you need to do.
Posted by KeithTalent on September 18th, 2011What about people who own a lot of foreign films or live in countries like Germany that have different regions from the US. some movies have German titles some other English other have French because the film is French and other have Greek. or Chinese. It depends on the film and the country you live in. What Kind of manifesto is this? you should add a “North American” at the beginning. pardon me but I believe that a manifest must take under consideration global standards. or
am I supposed to basically go against the law and buy movies from different regions just to serve the sorting?
The Sorting is supposed to serve ME remember.?
Posted by kyri on September 20th, 2011When it comes to movies with titles in different languages, I would say it comes down to however you can best remember it for yourself, and that can take priority over what the actual title is on the spine. If you speak German and you’ve got a bunch of movie titles in German that you can understand and remember, that’s fine, but personally I’m not going to file The Good, The Bad and The Ugly under “Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo” even if that’s what the packaging says because I’ll never remember what that title is and where I filed it.
Well, okay, I might remember that one… but you know what I mean.
Posted by Sean on September 20th, 2011So, when can we expect an agreed upon “Manifesto”? Sounds like there is still a lot of disagreement.
Posted by cinekill on September 21st, 2011If your DVD says “Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo”, you pretend to sort your films alphanumerically yet you choose to put it at .T.
Then you are a racist.
BUT with GENRE-alphanumeric separation you can hide it!
a french mate comes at your house n wants to see “Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo”
-where is it seanny mate?
-It’s right there là mate, juste à côté de l’autre westerns!!
Posted by kyri on September 21st, 2011Leave a Reply