DVD Library

[Murdoch]

At first mine was alphabetical, but that was just too boring for me. If someone were to look at my binder that holds all my DVDs it would seem to be in no discernible order, but is actually arranged autobiographically. For example I bought Dark City the summer of 06, and the Three Colors Trilogy I bought in the Spring of '06, but I have three Colors put after DC in the binder because it wasn't until my second viewing of them a week after I bought Dark City that I fully appreciated the films. It's a very complicated arrangement and a good test for my memory.

Damn straight!

[Felix]

Does anyone else have a "Shame Pile" of DVDs that aren't worth enough to sell but you don't want them sitting on the shelf with the rest of your DVDs?

Well, they may be for selling if I ever get down to it but it is a big, big pile. Under the influence of the DVD Delirium books, and too much disposable money, and to help a guy who works for the same folk as I do to finance his long time dream to make the definitive Zombie film, I bought an enormous heap of Euro and Jap shocker and B, very B, horror films from him.

I am working my way through them now to make shelf space and because I have a bit of time and it is hard, hard work... So much gore, so many cheesy 60's soundtracks.

Never mind, I am down to a mere one Jess Franco still to watch, five in the recycle pile, and I wouldn't watch it at all (life is too short...) were it not Faceless, his Les Yeux Sans Visage "tribute" (which sits next on the shelf to the Franju, directors alphabetically, how cool is that?) And I never touched any of his zombie collection...

[swo17]

too much disposable money

I don't feel sorry for you.

[Felix]

too much disposable money

I don't feel sorry for you.

It was a one-off but hey, I don't smoke, drink, or drive a car, and one does have disposable money in those circumstances...

Tonight's viewing was Flavia the Heretic. I do feel sorry for me...

[colinr0380]

It was a one-off but hey, I don't smoke, drink, or drive a car, and one does have disposable money in those circumstances...

Tonight's viewing was Flavia the Heretic. I do feel sorry for me...

I'd take them off your hands!

Fun fact (which I also mentioned in the thread for the disc): Gianfranco Mingozzi made the Antonioni: Documents and Testimonials documentary that is contained on Criterion's disc of L'Avventura!

[Felix]

It was a one-off but hey, I don't smoke, drink, or drive a car, and one does have disposable money in those circumstances...

Tonight's viewing was Flavia the Heretic. I do feel sorry for me...

I'd take them off your hands!

Fun fact (which I also mentioned in the thread for the disc): Gianfranco Mingozzi made the Antonioni: Documents and Testimonials documentary that is contained on Criterion's disc of L'Avventura!

OK Colin, I will eventually get a list together; they are all very good items of their sort, my colleague knew his stuff. I used to watch a lot of this back in the early 70's at a local cinema which would show anything with nudity and wanted to revisit my youth, which I have. After being around during the post Bulger time I also wanted to see just how far some of these things went, which I have. (Fujiwara's Torso is the first film I have ever had to switch off for its grueseomeness...)

I had no idea he did the Antonioni, and I have it as well.

[ByMarkClark.com]

My collection is well into four figures these days, so I have it organized sort of like a video store, into sections and sub-sections and alphabetical within each of those. It can be sort of baffling to outsiders, especially since I own a lot o movies that could theoretically fit in more than one section, so placement is sometimes arbitrary. But it works for me.

[Matt]

I'm shocked to see I haven't already weighed in on this topic yet. I'm sure you're all dying to know how the librarian organizes his video collection, and no, it's not by Dewey Decimal number you jerk. Everything is mercilessly alphabetized, no exceptions. No separation by studio, era, genre, anything. Sets for director or actor are alphabetized by last name. My DVD Aficionado collection, however, is divided up with sections for certain labels (Criterion, MoC, et al), several directors (they must have four or more individual DVDs in my collection to get their own folder), and TV shows.

[Hopscotch]

I just alphabetize everything.
That's right: everything.

[fiddlesticks]

Alphabetize everything--everything--I just.
Right, that's?

Fixed.

[swo17]

I once tried organizing chronologically by director, but I felt a little silly after. Just straight alphabetical for me.

[domino harvey]

Alphabetize everything--everything--I just.
Right, that's?

Fixed.

Brilliant

[Doctor Sunshine]

My modest VHS collection was chronologically. My DVD used to be vaguely grouped by country and within those by director, chronologically. I'd always intended to go back and formulate a more methodical system but recently I got rid of a bunch of stuff and added other stuff in randomly. The strangest part is that I don't even care. It's worse than when I stopped spinning the discs around so that the disc art was always the right way up when I put them back in their cases, it's like I don't know who I am anymore.

[milk114]

I learned a new word today "kevyip." Thats what happens when I miss a few months around here. I googled it and low and behold, its in Urban Dictionary. And ya'll're sourced! good job.

I put all my discs in alphabetical in softbound CD cases that hold 200 a piece. I separated TV, cartoons, documentaries, and music videos/concerts. Now I have to figure out how to add new stuff into the system. I know you cared, but I found it interesting that this thread has carried on this long so I thought I'd update on my situation. It was hard throwing away all those cardboard boxes but at least I donated the plastic cases to goodwill! at night, sneaking around like a ninja.

[Hopscotch]

Oh, you guyz.

Actually, milk, I'm moving next week and getting softbound wallets for my dvds too. It's the only way to conserve space and still bring them all along.

[karmajuice]

I've often thought of organizing my DVDs in some way or another, but I never settled on any satisfactory method. Alphabetically seemed too soulless, directorially seemed too auteurish (and difficult, when it comes to box sets or TV series), chronologically seemed impractical. And you have Criterions, which one is inclined to organize by spine number.

So I just settled on not organizing them. I keep track of their placement by memory (I have around 145 at the moment, so it's not too difficult). I have moments of cohesion (Coen Brothers are all lumped together, Kurosawa is lumped together, Criterions are generally together but not in any order), but those are traces of pattern within chaos.

I have The Third Man, Playtime, and Brazil sandwiched between the Palm Director Label Series and my Hitchcock and Teshigahara box sets. It makes no sense whatsoever, but it works for me, and it makes supplanting films I have less interest in easier (I often blind buy, and while my intuition is generally good, sometimes I make mistakes).

I keep VHS, TV shows, and non-movie DVDs in a different place altogether.

[Perkins Cobb]

Um ... Why on earth would anyone throw away their DVD cases?

[mfunk9786]

Um ... Why on earth would anyone throw away their DVD cases?

I've never understood this either, especially something really nice looking like a Criterion digipack. They look way too nice on display to actually throw away, I don't care if I'm living in a 12x12 studio apartment, I'll find somewhere for them.

[milk114]

because accessability is more important than aesthetics. If I didn't simplify the DVDs would have ended up in closet on the other side of the apartment away from the TV. They would look pretty in the dark and never be watched.

My roommates of 2+ years never could figure out my "archaic" director/year system, instead remembering where movies they'd want to watch were located. With the current system, my wife and I both can find whatever we're looking for.

And yes, I was heartbroken when throwing away the cardboard boxes. But I kept all the liner notes, inserts and books. Now they're in 3 banker boxes in the closet, never thumbed through. Any ideas how to organize those? They don't stand up on a bookshelf very well.

[myrnaloyisdope]

Um ... Why on earth would anyone throw away their DVD cases?

I've never understood this either, especially something really nice looking like a Criterion digipack. They look way too nice on display to actually throw away, I don't care if I'm living in a 12x12 studio apartment, I'll find somewhere for them.

Agreed, especially on the Criterions but in general. You also will have a hell of a time trading or selling any of your DVDs without the case.

[milk114]

I made the explicit decision that I wasn't going to trade or sell any. They are now like tattoos... the folly of my youth. So I get to live with my buying choices of years past, when I thought I would forever enjoy Waiting as much as Brazil.

[davebert]

I have a few of those travel cases full of DVDs in addition to the numerous shelved ones, and the main problem I have is that the ones in the wallets are largely forgotten. Out of sight, etc. The discs subjected to the travel cases also often emerge with light scratches.

[PillowRock]

Everything is mercilessly alphabetized, no exceptions.

Typical practice, from what I can tell, for alphabetizing by title in English is that leading the's are not considered.

How do you treat the le's and la's (or l' when the noun right after begins with a vowel) that are equivalent articles in their native language?

I've noticed that store Foreign Language sections tend to randomly put some of those under L and some of them in the section for the first letter of the next word. Why they can't succeed in picking one rule or the other and then stick to it, I don't know.

[Matt]

How do you treat the le's and la's (or l' when the noun right after begins with a vowel) that are equivalent articles in their native language?

I've noticed that store Foreign Language sections tend to randomly put some of those under L and some of them in the section for the first letter of the next word. Why they can't succeed in picking one rule or the other and then stick to it, I don't know.

Oh you have touched on one of my biggest video store pet peeves, the shelving of foreign titles under their initial articles. In my collection, all initial articles are ignored. La Notte is under N, L'Avventura is under A, L'Eclisse is under E, Il Posto is under P, and so forth.

I suppose if there is one quirk to my alphabetization, it's how I shelve collections/box sets. If I can break apart the contents at all, I will. All Eclipse titles, for example, are broken apart and the individual titles shelved appropriately. When I can't do that (The Alan Clarke Collection, The Complete Jean Vigo, The Work of Director Chris Cunningham, The Cary Grant Box Set), they go under the last name of the filmmaker/actor. Because how else would I find them? C for the Vigo set? W for the Cunningham?

And, okay, I do shelve some foreign titles differently. My French DVD of Black Narcissus is next to the Criterion under B, not under the title that's on the box: Le Narcisse noir. And L'Imperatrice rouge is under S because I know it better as The Scarlet Empress. In these cases, I am using what we call in the biz the uniform title. But, no, not everything is precisely as according to AACR2.

[swo17]

How would you alphabetize the following:

Ghost World
Ghost Dog
Ghost Busters (or is it Ghostbusters?)

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
The Good Girl
Good Fellas (or is it Goodfellas?)