Collecting DVDs and Blu Rays

One of my favorite things in life is collecting DVDs and now Blu rays. I think it is so cool when one has a huge massive collection of movies. My ex’s mother had a massive collection that was sub par at best. Granted that she has over a thousand DVDs, but most of the DVDs she has are crap. I remember looking in awe at that massive collection but then as I went through the shelves reading the titles, I realized it was big but it lacked substance. When I had my time of plenty I had a lot of DVDs and a lot of them were garbage and now since I am not as financially savey as I used to be, my collection is smaller but, fuck, it’s so much better. Title for title my current blu ray collection is much better then my American dvd collection ever was.

In terms of my Korean collection, which is about 300 now. At one point my Korean collection was 350 movie dvds and about 25 Korean dramas(soaps), I sold some of the shittier American versions of the Korean DVDs and the inferior Chinese versions as well. I also sold about 10 Korean dramas. To be honest it is kind of stupid to buy these Korean dramas. Most of the stories are pretty much the same and they have like zero replay ability. With the exception of the drama Money War(쩐의 전쟁) and the Jewel in the Palace(대장금) Complete Saga, this includes the rarely seen Jang Geum’s Dream Anime(장금이의 꿈), all the other Korean dramas kind of suck. The cool thing about the Jewel in Palace DVDs is that they all look like books, so it looks like a massive 8 volume set of books.

The only thing that kind of pisses me off when it comes to collection DVDs and Blu rays, is the fact that a lot of the movie companies like to release many different editions of movies. At the height of my collection mania I had 4 versions of the Korean movie called “Old Boy”. I had the original Korean Region 3 Release(basically the Korean import), I had the single disc American version, I had the massive 3 disc American version, and then I had the Blu ray version. That’s bloody crazy right? It wasn’t like a director’s cut of the movie or different version, it was basically the same movie, just with maybe, a few different special features. I sold all of them except for the original, Korean import. I must confess though, that in past 6 months I bought this Blu ray set called “The Park Chan Wook Vengeance Trilogy” which also included the Blu ray, Old Boy. So I still have two different versions of the movie. In the DVD collecting world, this is called “double dipping”.

Double dipping is something that has been something that I have both loved and loathed in the course of me collecting DVDs. I have been collecting DVDs for over ten years now, and at times, I felt pride when I would have double dips, but these more thought filled days, I feel that it is rather dumb. I feel that it is a waste of money and there is no point. At the end of this I will tell you my list of double dips.

I guess collecting DVDs and Blu rays may seem dumb to a lot of people, but it seems to be the only thing that I really love. In the past I have tried collecting other things, video games or movie ticket stubs, but for whatever reason, I just love movies. I remember when I was in 8th grade and I started collecting VHS movies, my grandfather on my maternal side bought me “Batman Returns” and Matilda” on the video cassette and that was the beginning of my collection.

The following is a list of the DVDs or Blu rays, that I own that are double dips. Most is due to different imports of the movies:

A BITTERSWEET LIFE (I have a bootleg copy and an expensive, actor and director signed director’s cut)
AN EYE FOR AN EYE (I bought this DVD and I also got it for my birthday from a friend)
MARATHON (The Korean import and I have the Korean import box set, never opened)
MOMENTO MORI (Korean Import and the Korean Import Ultimate Edition which is a 6 disc set, yes it’s insane)
MY SCARY GIRL (I bought an inferior Chinese version, and then I was able to get the Korean import)
OLD BOY (Korean import and the Blu Ray)
SYMPATHY FOR LADY VENGEANCE(I have the Korean import and on Blu Ray)
WELCOME TO DONGMAKOL (Korean Import and Korean Import Gift Set)

Recently I preordered this Korean movie called “Secret Sunshine” on Blu ray, but I already have it on Korean import DVD. It’s historic, in my opinion since it is first Korean movie to get the Criterion Collection treatment.