How It All Started

Whilst I have watched films throughout my life, it is only in the past 2-3 years that I have taken an interest in learning more about the visual art form we call film.  Via a small network of friends I have been exposed to literally a whole new world, including different actors/actresses, new genres and foreign language.

As my interest grew I toyed with the idea of starting my own collection of films on DVD/Blu-ray. Even though I have watched many films deemed "classics" I've never really subscribed to the notion that most films can be watched over and over.  To this end I did not see any benefit from spending money on a home collection.  In the past if I was not able to rent a film via Lovefilm (when I lived in the UK) I would try to buy a copy via amazon or ebay for as little as possible, watch the film, then resell. 

As my enjoyment of film watching has grown and my wanting to continue exploring the world of film I learnt about Criterion.  Not only do they offer a vast array of films but more importantly, for me, they offer extras.  These can include deleted scenes, exclusive interviews with those involved with the film production, booklets, as well as remastered / restoration of the actual film.  Given their expertise I thought that this would be a good place to learn.

Last month a friend of mine (@cine_scope) alerted me to a sale at amazon.com, all their Criterion's were 50% off.  This seemed to be a good time to start so I had a look at the list of films on the Criterion website.  Not all titles are available as new, films go "Out Of Print" when Criterion loses the license etc so not all films were including in the 50% sale.  Nevertheless, there was plenty for me to choose from, in fact, had I bought all that I wanted there would have been some serious damage inflicted on my credit card.

I started to make myself a list, I am nearly half way through the Criterion Collection, of the films that I would like to own in the future.  Amazon hold 2-3 sales offering 40-50% off the Criterion Collection every year.  Barnes & Noble too hold sales, in fact they have one right now, offering 50% until 5 August, click the link above to go to their website.

And that is story about "How It All Started" with my Criterion Collection.  As I have said in the Blog title, I shall be sharing my purchases with you so please Follow by Email, Subscribe (links in the right column) or bookmark and check back.  Sharing this Blog with your friends via Twitter/Facebook is very much welcome, as are any comments.