Thursday, April 8, 2010

a forgotten behemoth


I stumbled upon a stack of somewhere between 80 and 100 laserdiscs yesterday.  Films that ranged from the seminal transfer of Snow White to the Brian DePalma's Nic Cage eye-roller Snake Eyes.  Quite honestly, I've barely searched through this pile of digital frisbees as the concept of laser discs was a brief flash in my eye somewhere around my freshmen year in high school.

But it makes me wonder?  Is there still a small handful of laserdisc enthusiasts out there drooling over a clean copy of Lost Boys?  Is this three hundred pound pile of oversized CD worth something to someone out there? 

Or maybe this distaste of laserdiscs is just another slew of misguided ageism.  Perhaps these hulking behemoths are truly the greatest, the sharpest, the best sound versions of these films, and I, already well on my way in to the wilds of DVD-dom by the time I even had the financial means to purchase a laserdisc, have unjustly dismissed them.  Perhaps I should be in the market for a device that will allow me to peruse these monstrous bits of filmic vinyl. 

Or perhaps I should throw a 1 dollar price tag on each and every one of them, stuff them in to a dirty cardboard box, and let someone who cares a little bit more indulge to their hearts content.

Thoughts film enthusiasts on laserdiscs and their ill-fated careers?

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Criterion Counsel: The goings are rough.  Criterion Conquistador and I are planning to power through the remaining M. Hulot pictures this weekend.  But after a slew of evenings where I've nearly passed out standing, this is a bold claim.

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