General Discussion : Library DVD Collection Advice?

[snallygaster]

while i applaud the idea and wish you the best of luck, i'm not sure if i'm understanding where you're coming from. the majority of americans these days avoid subtitles like they're the plague, and those are the same people who are completely oblivious to the fact that at one point there was no color in films, much less intentionally watching something in black and white. i'd completely understand the concept if you were trying to do this in a liberal community where you have a large audience, but a small town in wisconsin? once again, i really like the idea and think more libraries should do this, but the criticker forums regulars are hardly the average film goers. i guess my question is: who would watch them, and why bother?

The people you're talking about don't go to libraries, and stuffing the shelves with Hollywood blockbusters will have zero effect on that. Possible exception for kids' films.

One source to consider, is if you have any local colleges with film courses, see if they have any syllabi posted online. Of course you'll need to use your discretion.

If your dollar budget allows it, I would also give preference to Criterion editions (or other releases of similar quality). The supplementary materials & commentary on the Criterions are valuable for people with an interest in film, and they're often not available from streaming services / rental outfits.

As for Kurosawa, if you can only pick two, I'd say they should definitely be 1) Seven Samurai and 2) either Ran or Rashomon.

[td888]

while i applaud the idea and wish you the best of luck, i'm not sure if i'm understanding where you're coming from. the majority of americans these days avoid subtitles like they're the plague, and those are the same people who are completely oblivious to the fact that at one point there was no color in films, much less intentionally watching something in black and white. i'd completely understand the concept if you were trying to do this in a liberal community where you have a large audience, but a small town in wisconsin? once again, i really like the idea and think more libraries should do this, but the criticker forums regulars are hardly the average film goers. i guess my question is: who would watch them, and why bother?

Because someone who is interested in watching these kind of movies has a place to go and get them. There is plenty of supply for dumbed down popcorn action movies via TV, cinema, netflix (?), but having a library in town with some quality movies is an asset in my eyes. Regardless if the 'stupid' town folks are interested in watching them or not.

Just because there is no demand for quality movies doesn't mean you shouldn't offer them.

[TheDenizen]

Lots of Akira Kurosawa and Sergio Corbucci.

Which two Kurosawa films would you guys say are the most essential to a collection like this?

As far as Corbucci, I'd never heard of him before now, but he would fit into the Spaghetti Western genre wouldn't he? I have heard of his film The Great Silence and that would be a good option for that category wouldn't it.

Also, anymore say on this Evil Dead film or B-Horror in general. Can we come up with 5 essentials in the genre? It's mostly an 80's thing right?

I agree with the others who've said that Seven Samurai and Rashomon are the two most essential Kurosawa films. I personally prefer Ran over Rashomon, but you could easily argue that Rashomon is the more significant film, historically.

Corbucci is mostly known for his spaghetti westerns, and yes, The Great Silence is his masterpiece. You should also look into Django and/or Companeros. If you're considering a few spots for spaghetti westerns, Once Upon a Time in the West is truly epic.

B-horror is tough, since it's very nichey and people's taste in them tends to vary. But you can't go wrong with the first two Evil Dead films, Return of the Living Dead, Re-Animator and Night of the Creeps.

[Gregzilla]

Also, anymore say on this Evil Dead film or B-Horror in general. Can we come up with 5 essentials in the genre? It's mostly an 80's thing right?

I think The Thing (1982) is a classic (and still surprisingly watchable) and also Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978).

Others:
From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
An American Werewolf in London (1981)
The Fly (1986)
Pet Sematary (1989)

I would change The Goonies (1985) with the Lost Boys (1987). The Goonies is terrible to watch now, the Lost Boys still got some charm.

I would tend more toward The Thing from Another World (1951) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956). ok, Admittedly the remakes are just as good and more accessable to modern audiences, But I always liked watching the original first before the remake. I feel it's important to know where a film came from. But that's just me. Now with "The Fly" I'd definately go with the remake.

Blood Feast (1963) may have started it all, But people would really be missing out if they didn't go on to Two Thousand Maniacs! (1964).

I'd agree with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) and Night of the Living Dead (1968).

Evil Dead and Re-Animator are good 80s choices.


...And Seven Samurai (1954).

[Hopscotch]

I'm going to have to agree with the consensus on the Kurosawa films. Rashomon and Seven Samurai are in.

Now onto finalizing the B-Horror/Gore Films. I've looked into all that have been mentioned and narrowed it down a bit. Some I took out because they'll probaby come up in later groupings (Invasion of the Body Snatchers), and others are just FAR to controversial (Cannibal Holocaust). Anyways, this is where I'm at right now as far as the choices. One of these lines will have to dissapear to make five films total:

Two Thousand Maniacs!
The Evil Dead or Evil Dead 2
Night of the Living Dead or Dawn of the Dead
Blood and Black Lace, A Bay of Blood, Suspiria, or Deep Red
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Halloween
Re-Animator or The Fly

Any opinions would be helpful. As for the rest of us who aren't familiar with the B-horror genre, we can start on a few more topics utilizing KGB's outline.

Seeing as how this one's already been brought up:
What are the 5 essential Spaghetti Westerns?

And to get through the silent films:
These seem like harsh limits, but what are the 2 essentials of early Soviet Cinema? The 2 essentials of German Expressionism? The 5 essentials of silent era Hollywood? And to round out at 10 silents, can we think of one more definitive film?

Also to help complete the early history of film I've been looking at some of the box sets and compilations available that cover the early experiments. When I come to some decisions on the most likely of those I'll post a few to see what you guys think.

I'll resume the director lists after the general topics have been covered.

In response to Luna6ix's post, beyond the very valid points the others made, this place NEEDS a shift in focus. Because as of right now the children of the town view it as a video game parlor, and for several adults, all the library serves as is a place to read grocery store romance for free and scratch already worthless discs beyond playability. We have enough popular fluff for those who could care less, and the rest have been starved of quality for years.

Besides, I'm sick of people saying the sub shop down the street has a better selection than us

[KGB]

And to get through the silent films:
These seem like harsh limits, but what are the 2 essentials of early Soviet Cinema? The 2 essentials of German Expressionism? The 5 essentials of silent era Hollywood? And to round out at 10 silents, can we think of one more definitive film?

Not so harsh really when reducing film history to 200 films. If I had to throw ten more or less according to your restrictions, and without repeating any directors, i'd go with:

Intolerance (Griffith, 1916)*
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Robert Wiene, 1920)
Nanook of the North (Robert Flaherty, 1922)
Nosferatu (Murnau, 1922)
Safety last (Harold Lloyd, 1923)
Strike (Sergei Einsenstein, 1925)
Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927)**
The Cameraman (Buster Keaton, 1928)
The man with the movie camera (Dziga Vertov, 1929)
Modern Times (Chaplin, 1936)***


*That or just any shorts compilation by Griffith. His films are pretty horrible imo but his endless contributions to the medium were crucial, whether one likes it or not. If you want to encompass all of film history, he's a must, otherwise not really, not at all. Intolerance though is the most watchable of his films I've seen, and the most representative of it's time, even though it's 3 freaking hours long.

**Note that over half of Metropolis was considered lost for over 80 years until a full copy was found a few years ago (I even knew the guy who found it ). The full version of the film has been restored so make sure that if you do get it, you get that one. I've seen the complete last act and it was amazing.

***not really silent era but it's a silent film anyhow, and probably the most important american film until Citizen Kane.

----

on a side note, I thought 'Suspiria' was really awful but Deep Red is seriously awesome, I fucking love that soundtrack.

[Gregzilla]

5 out of these 13?

Two Thousand Maniacs!
The Evil Dead or Evil Dead 2
Night of the Living Dead or Dawn of the Dead
Blood and Black Lace, A Bay of Blood, Suspiria, or Deep Red
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Halloween
Re-Animator or The Fly



Is there going to be a more general Horror catagory?

If so I think the Giallos (1 or 2) could possibly end up there.

[Hopscotch]

THIS POST IS VOID UNTIL A CAREFULLY BALANCED PLAN IS FINALIZED!!

5 out of these 13?

Is there going to be a more general Horror catagory?

These two statements got me thinking about just how small a number 200 really is. Unfortunately that can't be changed, so instead I've decided to map out the distribution of the films as a way to pre-plan this discussion. I'm sorry to say it's going to seem even more restrictive now, but it's best this way I think.

Now, since I have an outline for myself, all the questions I've posted so far are no longer valid; I'm sorry about that. In this version there are five categories total: Genre Films (66), World Films (57), Notable Directors (40), Influential Film Movements (19), and American Films By Decade (18).

Before we get started (again) I'm going to tell you guys that the libraries collection at currently comes in at over 1000 DVDs and a few hundred VHS tapes. Prior to this final project to fill the gaps, we had purchased a few hundred discs (fairly randomly), and so most of these categories have already been developed a bit. What I'm basically trying to say is that we aren't starting from scratch.

Now I've decided to begin with the notable directors list. In total I have chosen 40 directors based on KGB's recommendations, the TSPDT top 250 list, some quick research of my own, careful browsing, Criticker reputations, checking whether or not they have a presence in our library (in case you note the lack of Hitchcock, Ford, Lang, etc...), and in the end deciding, based on my knowledge of our patrons, who stands a chance (sorry Parajanov).

So here are the first 5 directors I've chosen. This time around we have to decide on just one essential film:

Abbas Kiarostami
Akira Kurosawa
Andrei Tarkovsky
Billy Wilder
Buster Keaton

[TheDenizen]

Anyways, this is where I'm at right now as far as the choices. One of these lines will have to dissapear to make five films total:

Two Thousand Maniacs!
The Evil Dead or Evil Dead 2
Night of the Living Dead or Dawn of the Dead
Blood and Black Lace, A Bay of Blood, Suspiria, or Deep Red
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Halloween
Re-Animator or The Fly

Ditch the Two Thousand Maniacs!....HG Lewis was always overrated IMO.
I prefer the first Evil Dead if you're limiting yourself to one.
Assuming you're going with the Romero Dead films, Dawn is the better movie, but NOTLD is certainly more historically significant. It's a toss up.
For the giallos, it's a tossup between Blood and Black Lace/Deep Red. The first film created the genre, the latter is one of the best examples.
Halloween. It's the best slasher film ever. TCM is great, but it can't compare to Carpenter's masterpiece.
Re-Animator, no question. It's better than either version of The Fly.

Seeing as how this one's already been brought up:
What are the 5 essential Spaghetti Westerns?

If I had to pick 5 only:
Once Upon a Time in the West
The Good the Bad and the Ugly
The Great Silence
For a Few Dollars More
Django

There were a lot of great spaghetti westerns but Sergio Leone and Sergio Corbucci were the masters of the genre.

[Hopscotch]

Thanks for the responses Denizen, but I'm sorry to say the list isn't quite going to work this way now as there just isn't enough room in the current plan. Speaking of the plan, that might as well be a part of the discussion. This is what I have as of right now. Any ideas on improving this before we really get going?

Notable Directors (40 Films)
Abbas Kiarostami
Akira Kurosawa
Andrei Tarkovsky
Billy Wilder
Buster Keaton
Carl Theodor Dreyer
Charles Chaplin
David Cronenberg
David Lean
David Lynch
Ernst Lubistch
F.W. Murnau
Federico Fellini
Francois Truffaut
Frank Capra
Ingmar Bergman
Jean Renoir
Jean-Luc Godard
Jim Jarmusch
John Huston
Kenzi Mizoguchi
Krzysztof Kieslowski
Lars Von Trier
Luis Bunuel
Martin Scorsese
Michelangelo Antonioni
Orson Welles
Quentin Tarantino
Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Robert Bresson
Roberto Rossellini
Roman Polanski
Satyajit Ray
Vittorio De Sica
Werner Herzog
Wim Wenders
Wong Kar-Wai
Woody Allen
Yazujiro Ozu
Zhang Yimou

Influential Film Movements (19 Films)
3 New American Cinema
3 Italian Neo-Realism
3 French New Wave
2 German Expressionism
2 Film Noir
2 Early Soviet Cinema
2 Blockbusters
2 Beginnings of Film

Genre Films (66 Films)
10 Horror
10 Comedy
5 Action
5 Western
5 Thriller
5 Documentary
5 Crime
3 War
3 Science Fiction
3 Romance
3 Musical
3 Fantasy
3 Animation
3 Adventure

American Films By Decade (18 Films)
2 Silent Era
2 1930s
2 1940s
2 1950s
2 1960s
2 1970s
2 1980s
2 1990s
2 2000s

World of Film (57 Films)
4 United Kingdom
4 Russia
4 Japan
4 Italy
4 Germany
4 France
2 Spain
2 South Korea
2 Poland
2 Iran
2 Hong Kong
2 Czechoslovakia
2 China
2 Brazil
2 Australia
1 Yugoslavia
1 Turkey
1 Taiwan
1 Sweden
1 Portugal
1 New Zealand
1 Netherlands
1 Mexico
1 India
1 Hungary
1 Greece
1 Denmark
1 Canada
1 Argentina
1 Africa

200 Films Total