What about movies in particular? Why yes, thank you very much.
I love movies. I love going to the movies, I love renting movies, I love collecting movies. For a long time, I was a pretty avid collector of movies on VHS, then DVDs came along, then Blu Rays came along… then Netflix came along and ruined everything.
I was a die-hard fan of Netflix back when they mailed out DVDs, then when they started their streaming service, I reluctantly got on board. Soon, all my media was packed up (along with my drawing table) and it stayed in storage for several years.
In the meantime, I became a pretty big advocate of streaming. We cut the cable and rely entirely on streaming services for our entertainment, and I do mean, we subscribe to them all – Netflix, Disney+ with Hulu, Amazon, HBO MAX, Paramount+, Peacock, Tubi, Pluto… I mean, if it’s a streamer, we subscribe.
In recent years though, I’ve found that the return on the investment is not what I’d hoped. When the streaming services were $9.99 a month, it was fine, eight of them was still cheaper than cable, but now, they’ve all raised their prices, limited their content and still charge a fee to rent a movie even when you pay a monthly subscription fee (I’m looking at you, Bezos!) Combined with the fact that you only get whatever version of a given movie that service is licensed to, director’s cuts, extended editions, alternate endings, are not available, AND, you miss out of special features like behind the scenes footage and commentary tracks.
So I dusted off my boxes of DVDs and Blu Rays, got a new player for my birthday and have been watching my old movies, AND stocking up on more titles in bunches.
Boutique Labels
I sure do love the idea of Arrow and Criterion and Shout Factory and all those fancy boutique labels and their fancy matching cover art, but paying the premium prices for special artwork and little else doesn’t appeal to me.
I had always dreamt of making custom art for a collection of movies, keeping the theme and style consistent across the entire series. The first idea I had was a series of clean, minimalist covers for all of the movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Spanning 30+ movies at the time, I knew I was going to have my work cut out for me, especially when I didn’t even own a single MCU entry in physical form. I dropped the idea for the time being.
Fast forward to, well, just last week when I decided to revisit the idea of custom media cover art. I messed around and made a custom cover for my recently acquired copy of The Hangover. I liked the way it came out, so I dove in, head first, as I am wont to do. The idea morphed, adjusted and expanded and, before you knew it, I had created my own personal boutique label. I’m calling it “Grimm’s Vault”
Wednesday’s posts will be dedicated to new acquisitions, art I’ve developed in the previous week, and my thoughts on just movies in general.
Oh, and, in case you were woefully unaware, I am a HUGE horror fan. I LOVE me some horror movies, and my favorite franchise will be on full display in my first post next week.
Tomorrow, we will talk about photography/videography.
But, until then, as John Landis would say, “See you next Wednesday…”
-Phil