1 year ago, I had cable TV disconnected. And rediscovered VHS.
On TV, there were hundreds of channels--and nothing to watch. Except for Turner Classic Movies, American Movie Channel, History channel and the Discovery Channel.
Then I made an interesting discovery.
VHS movies which from 1978--1990 cost between 30 dollars and 130 dollars were now being sold in thrift shops in Los Angeles between $.50 and $2.00--most averaging $1.00 each.
And the selections were incredible. As people dumped their VHS movies and replaced them with DVDs or Blue Ray, they provided a smorgasbord of Hollywood history.
Every night for a year has been a virtual history of motion pictures.
All those films that I always wanted to see but did not feel like putting out
the original VHS price or the more recent ten to thirty dollars for a DVD copy
that would probably be watched one time were now available on VHS.
And many of them printed since the 90's have been done so digitally.
Absolutely bearable to watch even for a VHS.
Some films have never even made it to DVD or Blue Ray.
It's been quite an extensive further film education:
At least a dozen John Wayne films--"The Shootist" is incredible;
Where are the Judy Garlands now? They don't exist;
Where are all the James Cagneys now? They don't exist;
MGM Musicals--How did I ever not see "Kiss Me Kate" ???;
Marlon Brando--all the classic films;
Paul Newman--all the classic films;
I had seen every Elvis film but missed "A Change of Habit" thinking it
was probably lame--it turned out to be his best ever in a unique role;
Had heard about 1937 "Topper" with Cary Grant--it is extraordinary with special effects
20 years ahead of its time;
There is something magical about films from 1955-1960--big sweeping
dramas in Cinemascope with tantalizing Technicolor;
Somehow had missed Frank Sinatra in "Pal Joey" and "The Man With the Golden Arm"--this guy could really act;
I always preferred Charlie Chaplin but Buster Keaton has been much overlooked;
When you see all the stars of 60's TV series popping up in films from the 30's on,
you see a deep acting side of them you never knew existed;
I had already seen 10,000 films easily since as a child, I have now added hundreds more.
Will TV return? Possibly, but most likely for those four channels previously mentioned.
If you think that the best movies only come from the last 5 years, you really have
a lot to become familiar with.
I had one of the very first VHS machines in the late 1970's.
And there was basically nothing available to play on it.
Goodwill and Salvation Army are now extensive libraries of VHS gems.
And they even sell the machines as well.
