In my mind owning a physical copy of a movie is the best way to watch and experience a film outside of going to a theater. However, not all of us can afford to collect every release from every boutique label that we love. Collecting DVDs, Blu-Rays, and UHD discs is a monumental undertaking. Beyond the monetary concerns there are issues of space to house collections and time to watch every disc in a collection. The trick is to curate one’s collecting habits based on one’s taste.
First off if you don’t like a movie you shouldn’t own it. There is an impulse to be a completist when it comes to collecting. But being a completist undermines one’s own taste. Just because you like Werner Herzog as a director does not mean you like all of his films or that you should own them all. Buy the films you do love and save some money.
There’s also the issue of re-watchability that factors into collecting. You may love or admire a film that you don’t necessarily re-watch with any regularity. These films are not essential to own. Buy and keep the films that you love and revisit time and time again.
Keep space in mind at all times. Don’t clog your collection with films you haven’t seen but seem interesting. Only buy unseen films that come highly recommended by your favorite critics or wait and ask for these titles as gifts. Space is always at a premium with collecting and you don’t want to end up with shelves of movies you have never seen and will never watch.
Lastly it is important to purge a collection of titles that don’t resonate with you. Sell or trade in titles that you don’t revisit. This allows a collection to pay for itself to some degree. Because, like us, a collection should always be changing to reflect a collector’s evolving taste.
There’s this pressure from film communities on social media to buy every new release. Don’t give into that pressure. Collect what you love and ignore the rest. A collection of movies should be a thing of joy, not a point of anxiety.
