In praise of the DVD
Plus in memoriam: Bill Moyers
Last week, on my way by bus to do my grocery shopping, I spied out of the window a brand new Little Free Library, and just had to stop, even though it would mean walking the rest of the way to the store. And I’m glad I did; while the new Library wasn’t heavily stocked, it did include the following treasure, which I scooped up:
Yes, you’re looking at a DVD, a vestige of a prior time, before streaming, even before Blu-Ray, when DVDs were the way to watch what you wanted, when you wanted, from the comfort of your own home. But, here’s the thing: DVDs are still an excellent option, especially if the cost of subscribing to multiple streaming services is more than you want to pay. Here, with examples, are five thoughts about DVDs, and why they should still be part of your entertainment lineup.
They can feature content not available elsewhere
The Stephen Sondheim Collection is a six-disk set, and includes a combination of stage and concert versions of five Sondheim musicals plus a celebratory birthday performance. Sondheim fans won’t need to hear much more than the shows in the set (including Sunday in the Park With George, Sweeney Todd, Company, and Into the Woods) to want to seek this DVD out. For me, the real treasure was a documentary about the legendary 1985 Follies in Concert with, among others, Barbara Cook, Elaine Stritch, Mandy Patinkin, George Hearn, Lee Remick, and Carol Burnett. Half the documentary is the behind-the-scenes buildup and half is selections from the concert itself. The slightly dated non-HD visuals are actually appropriate for a show about nostalgia, plus I felt Follies-like pangs myself as those who are no longer with us (including Sondheim himself) took the stage. In the interest of full disclosure, you can, at least for now, see this documentary on YouTube, but my overall point still stands: Not everything that you can find on DVD is streaming, particularly for free.
DVD commentary tracks can provide an education in film
When I first began buying DVDs, which I generally limited to movies I had already seen and loved, the big plus was the commentary track. Even casual conversations with the stars were pleasant ways to revisit the film, but what I most appreciated were the scholarly commentaries on art-house and indie films. If you’ve ever enjoyed reading a book analyzing a film or director in depth, the piece that is missing is the actual film itself; the book may include stills from the film, but when you're talking about motion pictures, the “motion” is key. A DVD set I cherish is that for Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Three Colours: Blue, Red, White. The films are amazing, and you don’t have to be a film critic to at least subliminally appreciate how each film’s color palette is dominated by its title hue. But to truly get to the bottom of each film’s magic, the commentary by film critic and scholar Annette Insdorf is invaluable. I must note that the Criterion Channel has the three films but the commentary tracks, once there, I believe, are not longer, so check out the DVD from your library, where you get more for less.
The DVD Packaging/Features Can Be Worth the Price of Admission
Robert Altman is a director who merits his own post, given how many films I cherish that he’s directed. Short Cuts is near the top of the list, but if we’re talking about only the DVD, it’s at the absolute top. The movie epitomizes two Altman trademarks, the stellar large cast, and the intertwined stories. The DVD packaging lists 22 main cast members; I’ll list only those with an Oscar: Julianne Moore, Robert Downey, Jr., Tim Robbins, Lily Tomlin, Frances McDormand, and Jack Lemmon. The intertwined stories come from the works of legendary author Raymond Carver, and gloriously enough, the DVD package includes a book with all the Carver stories that make up the film. The second DVD in the set has multiple documentaries, an hour-long interview with Carver, songs from the film performed by Dr. John, and more. Are you sold yet?
DVDs can help you celebrate a life
This past week saw the death of Bill Moyers, most remembered by some for the quality of his decades-long TV journalism, but most appreciated by me for the wide range of his interests. Moyers’s TV specials and series, all of which then became books, include A World of Ideas, with a dizzying array of guests; Healing and the Mind; The Language of Life: A Festival of Poets; and Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth, with viewership of around 30 million people (boy do I miss those days). The DVD I’ll be looking for to remember Moyers is Genesis - A Living Conversation, where scholars, theologians, and authors gather around a table with Moyers to explore in depth a story from the Bible’s first book. If you no longer have a DVD player, go borrow the book, but better yet, make sure you have a DVD player, because…
The public library is the 21st century Blockbuster
I’m guessing that everyone of a certain age has fond memories of visiting Blockbuster back in the late 20th century, often with no specific title in mind, but instead ready to walk through the aisles and let serendipity take over. Many good public libraries today can allow you to relive that same experience. Mine must have thousands of titles on display, well organized by genre or by language. Perhaps you’ll go seeking the DVDs I’ve called your attention to. Perhaps you have that favorite title from your past you want to see again or that classic you’ve always meant to watch. Or, maybe you’ll just enjoy browsing, knowing that anything that appeals to you is there for free. Silly me, I didn’t know until my son showed me that our PlayStation could also play DVDs and Blu-Rays, so maybe you have a DVD player you didn’t even know about as well. So give the streaming world and your pocketbook a break, and enjoy the myriad pleasures that DVDs can bring.