tv or movies

put movies out of their misery, and do it in 3-D smellovision

Jean-Luc Godard is an entertainer. He put a llama and a mule at a gas station in his latest film.

Best part is when the mule says to his friend "do you believe in god?" and the other animal nods and says "yes, I follow the dali llama."

damn those Navajo subtitles

And then the camera pans to a llama sporting an eccentric upturned mustache.

Anna Karina and Jean Paul Belmondo were told by Godard to put a mule in the barn. When they led the mule over to the barn, they decided that the mule's ears were to long and he would not fit into the barn. So they put their heads together and decided to get a ladder and a saw and saw the overhead of the barn out so the mule could walk right on in the barn.

They began their job and Godard walked over to them and asked them why they were sawing out the top of the barn. When they told him the mule's ears were too long to go into the barn, he said:

"Why don't you just get a shovel and dig the dirt out of the ground below, then the mule could walk on in"

Anna and Jean Paul looked at each other and said "We told you his ears were too long, not his feet."

The majority of anti-TV peeps in this thread seem to dislike TV because they don't know how to do it right. Because I actually agree with a lot of their points (TV sucks if you just sit and passively watch it for 8 hours at a time, it sucks to be locked into a schedule of watching shows, it's hard to judge the quality of quality television when you haven't actively engaged with television in 5+ years, etc.).

this is not it at all, at least for me. the simple fact is that the number of pleasurable viewing hours to be derived from movies (and I mean ALL movies going back to the dawn of film) is larger than the number of pleasurable viewing hours to be derived from TV (and I mean ALL of TV going back to the dawn of television). Some of this is attributable to the fact that so little TV bears re-watching - even the stuff that is pretty good (I never need to see an episode of Cheers, or MASH, or the Wire, or Happy Days ever again, for example). There are some exceptions (Simpsons, Sopranos, Twin Peaks, Twilight Zone, KITH, Mr. Show) but they're pretty rare.

This is not the case with films - decent films bear up under repeated viewing. And then there's the simple fact that the vast majority of TV is total shit. I simply think the hit:miss ratio for films is better.

don't understand why this thread got hung up on NEW TV shows and movies, that seems like a totally irrelevant and outdated way to assess viewing material in this day and age, when everything is available all the time.

SMC OTM --

voted movies, because I didn't assume n/a was talking about current tv and current movies in the OP

― William (C), Monday, December 12, 2011 5:15 PM (Yesterday)

this is a big problem with great, say, iranian movies, or indie budget flicks - they are just not available, even on the pirate bay, much less reviewed or written about

also yeah this is nonsense I can get this shit from my local video store

tbf you do live in iran

love this place - bros for all time and they're going to put in a screening room in their basement! awes

most people don't have hipster videostores nearby, including most people in sf or brooklyn

heaven forbid you should actually have to find a physical place, walk somewhere, and talk to an actual person to find a movie

you should print that out and post it on their window when they go out of business in 2 years

A major source of international films for me is the New York Public Library.

(I imagine other major cities' libraries stock many, many fewer)

including most people in sf

there's at least 4 throughout the city that I know of (Le Video and Lost Weekend are the best ones tho)

okay so I guess you should print out 4 copies

you should print that out and post it on their window when they go out of business in 2 years

people have been saying this for at least 5 years and not only are they still in business, they're expanding so whatever

anyway the point is these things are available if you are interested and willing to look for them on something that is not an internet service

don't understand why this thread got hung up on NEW TV shows and movies, that seems like a totally irrelevant and outdated way to assess viewing material in this day and age, when everything is available all the time

I totally get this. But I'm judging this silly poll in terms of "What brings the most pleasure to my life right now?"

hipster videostore economics aside, it's pretty easy to film relatively obscure films in 2011, 100x easier than it was in the 90s

esp if you don't live in a big city

There are going to continue to be niche video stores even after everything [sic] is streaming, the same way there are vinyl record stores for fanatics.

A major source of international films for me is the New York Public Library.

Yeah, my father-in-law actually gets lots of international films from his local suburban library and does interlibrary loan for the titles he can't find there.

so basically you guys are saying that movies are better than tv, but only if you do research to find the few obscure foreign movies that are actually good and have a niche hipster video store in your area that stocks these movies

eh I doubt it, everything is digital, there's no real difference between walking to a store to get those 1s and 0s or pressing 3 buttons on your computer, whereas record stores offer something 'different' from downloading on mp3

xxp

an

like there is such thing as vinyl fetishism there is no such thing as 'borrowing a dvd for 2 days fetishism'

afaik

this is not it at all, at least for me. the simple fact is that the number of pleasurable viewing hours to be derived from movies (and I mean ALL movies going back to the dawn of film) is larger than the number of pleasurable viewing hours to be derived from TV (and I mean ALL of TV going back to the dawn of television). Some of this is attributable to the fact that so little TV bears re-watching - even the stuff that is pretty good (I never need to see an episode of Cheers, or MASH, or the Wire, or Happy Days ever again, for example). There are some exceptions (Simpsons, Sopranos, Twin Peaks, Twilight Zone, KITH, Mr. Show) but they're pretty rare.

i guess it's impossible to crunch the numbers on this but i feel like there are more shows with like 50 hours worth of episodes that are all watching at least once than there are movies that are worth watching 25 times or whatever.

I am saying it's stupid to choose one or the other. AKA what is the purpose of this poll

lol "few"

like I said before the hit:miss ratio for movies is just better for me. If I want to find something decent to watch for two hours I just walk to the store - odds are I will enjoy whatever I rent there more than whatever new 22-minute episode of the one halfway decent show currently in production available on demand. for example.

I don't do "research"

many xp

there's no real difference between walking to a store to get those 1s and 0s or pressing 3 buttons on your computer,

this is wrong and you know it!

the best thing about Lost Weekend is actually going there, hanging out and shooting the shit with the people there, discovering new stuff I didn't know about etc.

i guess it's impossible to crunch the numbers on this but i feel like there are more shows with like 50 hours worth of episodes that are all watching at least once than there are movies that are worth watching 25 times or whatever.

yeah see the problem is I have seen all those shows that have 50 hours+ that are worth watching already. And I don't need to see them again. Whereas with film I feel like I've barely begun to scratch the surface of all the material worth watching 25x.

I meant w/r/t to the product you see not the 'experience'

but I don't think very many people actually care about 'the video store experience'

heaven forbid you should actually have to find a physical place, walk somewhere, and talk to an actual person to find a movie

― Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, December 13, 2011 6:23 PM (11 minutes ago) Bookmark Permalink

this snark is so misplaced. there is, honestly, not a single place within walking distance where I can rent a video that isn't bolt ii: hamster of death. the closest two places are blockbusters, and after that I'd need to take a bus to a train to another bus to get a place that charges a $90 annual membership to take out the remaining half of the criterion collection and old miss marple VHS tapes

you don't have a library?

ha ha ha you know nothing about public libraries in 99% of this country do you?

You can ILL all kinds of DVD's via ILL as Jaymc pointed out.

if you are really that into movies and you don't live in a place w/ an enormous library you should prob just get netflix?

Every interlibrary loan request I've ever made has been like pulling impacted wisdom teeth. "WHY in god's NAME would you ask me to do something like THAT, you think you're too good for these Touched by an Angel videotapes? ok, FINE. FINE!"

Whereas with film I feel like I've barely begun to scratch the surface of all the material worth watching 25x.

for ex. y'know, one day I will get around to going through all of Sam Fuller's films. Or Ozu. Or De Palma. I am fairly confident that these are treasure troves that I am likely to enjoy. I do not feel this way about diving into the entire run of, say, Lost.

xps

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/s320x320/381407_10150408507856548_683531547_8780150_621217801_n.jpg

Yeah, and I've seen everything I want to see from them. Unless I take up a marathon viewing of Armenian miniseries concerning the effects of genocide and the problem with Turks, that is. ILL is a great option in theory, but the wait time for anything that isn't Anne of Avonlea is +/- 6 months. I still do it sometimes, but by the time I get the movie I've ILLed, I've often moved on to something else or forgotten why I put it on the first place. I live in a suburb that's suburby enough (sorry, iatee) that I don't have access to the large city collection that I did even 5 miles on the other side of town. I do netflix, greencine, hulu, and DVDs by mail from Sprockets when I need, and I see a ton of movies through them but there is honestly _no_ local option for watching them.

ha ha ha you know nothing about public libraries in 99% of this country do you?

hahaha I was raised by a librarian, have two close friends that are public librarians in the SF library system, and go to our branch on a weekly basis. and get ILL all the time (primarily for sci-fi books and not for movies tho)

in conclusion, fuck you

Every interlibrary loan request I've ever made has been like pulling impacted wisdom teeth. "WHY in god's NAME would you ask me to do something like THAT, you think you're too good for these Touched by an Angel videotapes? ok, FINE. FINE!"

― William (C), Tuesday, December 13, 2011 6:46 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Permalink

that's a function of a person at your library being a total dick, not ILL itself as an idea.

Yeah, I loved the SF library system. And the LA library system. And the Seattle library system. And the Boston library system. Unfortunately I'm not near any of them.