"Obsess much?"

It’s disgusting.

I KNOW!

I started my VHS collection sometime during my first years of college when a Suncoast video store had opened up at the mall. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Rows upon rows of video cassettes in their bright colored boxes. Candy. The concept of owning a movie was slightly foreign to me. I was used to renting. After the great Blockbuster debacle of 94 where I wound up having to pay $40.00 in late fees, I realized that I was too irresponsible for the rental game. Here I had only to pay from ten to twenty dollars and the movie would be mine! Forever! The first of my collection… Ace Ventura Pet Detective. I KNOW! I know! I was fresh out of high school and Jim Carrey was brand new. So it’s a valid choice!

In a short amount of time my collection had grown to about 200 and I was feeling like a movie god. Without warning some bastards came up with a new format called DVD. I had seen a demo of Assassins playing in high resolution at one of the video rental places and noticed that it did indeed look better. I think what truly amazed me was that I was sold on a Stallone and Banderas film. While many people said it wouldn’t last, I had a feeling the format would take hold once the prices went down. Crap… I had to have one. To make matters worse, my friend Julio, who was employed, had bought one of the coveted devices along with a copy of The Fifth Element. He invited a few of us over to bear witness to the grand event. We sat down, he loaded up the disk, the machine purred and the movie began. IT LOOKED AWESOME! Crap… now I really have to have one.

First DVD

I was finally given a DVD player for Christmas sometime after Hurricane Georges pulverized the hell out of Puerto Rico. I set out to build my collection again. I would eventually replace many of the VHS tapes with their new DVD counterparts. This time it began with Dark City (Love that movie). As the years went by and I graduated college and landed my first few jobs I felt… I sensed… no… I knew… I was screwed. A large portion of those checks was going to be sacrificed to the dark lord of cinema. I bought everything. It was bad.

On a positive note it kept me away from other potential addictions such as drugs or alcohol. (This is me trying to justify what some have referred to as “my disease.”)

Some new, some used but never copied… 2,252 DVDs align my walls and each has its own story. Throughout the cacophony of people saying that I was sick or nuts or just plain stupid… one voice stood out and asked “Oh… so you’re a movie collector?” and it made me think. A collector. A film connoisseur. Nope… I’m probably just sick.

Ah… let’s not forget the indelible beauty of High Definition that can only be achieved through Blu-ray! SWINE! EVIL CORPORATE MONEY HUNGRY PIGS! (My Blu-ray collection began with Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and it looks fantastic.) BUT THEY’RE STILL BASTARDS!