Notes From the Movie Room June 17, 2024

 

🎬 Imagine, if you will, the sheer horror of loading a beloved DVD into your Blu-ray player, a DVD that you've watched and enjoyed multiple times for years and discovering that it no longer plays. Imagine the sadness, the overwhelming feeling of deprivation, the near hysteria that can overtake a movie freak at such a moment. This happened to me recently when I tried to play my copy of WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? (1962), the classic Bette Davis/Joan Crawford thriller. 

The 2-disc DVD is part of the Bette Davis Collection: Volume 2 from Warner Home Video. This was the first time it refused to play. Weirdly enough, the second disc, which has the extra features, still plays with no problem. At least, for now. I keep hearing people in the Youtube physical media collectors' community talking about similar problems with Warner DVD releases. The only previous problem I had was with one of the double feature discs in one of the Film Noir box sets, where the second feature wouldn't play. I own all the Film Noir box sets and so many other Warner releases. It's been a while since I played most of these classic films, so I may have other unpleasant surprises waiting for me.

Replacing BABY JANE on a Blu-ray was a no brainer for me. One can only suffer from Davis/Crawford withdrawal for a short while until medical and/or psychological intervention becomes necessary. So, I picked up a copy from Oldies.com. All the extra features are on this release. I'm hoping this is an isolated experience that won't be repeated, but I have a sinking feeling that won't be the case. I'm not even sure how many of these classics, including all the Noirs, have been released on Blu-ray. I doubt seriously that most of the early, more obscure Bette Davis and Joan Crawford films will be remastered for Blu-ray. But that may happen eventually.

  🎬 I'm arriving very late to the party regarding the 1990-91 TV series TWIN PEAKS. I picked up this box set a few years ago, started watching it, and only made it through the first disc. It was enjoyable, but I just got distracted. So, I recently decided to start again from the beginning, and have completed the first four discs. Binging TWIN PEAKS can be an unsettling experience. But I'm enjoying its weirdness and want to see all of the mysteries get solved. I've been a David Lynch fan ever since I saw ERASERHEAD at a midnight movie in a local theater back around 1979. I even picked up the 2017 sequel when it was on sale at Barnes & Noble. This will take a while to get through, because binging, for me, can get old really fast.

This series first played thirty-four years ago, and yet I think of it as "modern" television. That's because my connection with whatever may-or-may-not be on TV has been severed for a very long time. I don't say that to sound like an elitist. It's really just a matter of practicality. I worked what's known as "second shift" most of my life. That means, usually, 3 PM-11 PM, or, for much of my working life, 3:30 PM-Midnight. This goes all the way back into the 1970s before the advent of home video. As someone who spent a lot of happy hours watching TV while growing up, probably way too many hours, I found myself cut off from the world of Prime Time. And I can't remember missing it all that much, to be honest. When the VHS era started, I was able to record occasional shows, but, still, that continuity with sitting and watching TV night after night was broken. Even on my nights off, I rarely watched anything. One major exception was SEINFELD. I discovered it one night when I had an unexpected night off and totally fell in love with that insane show, and now own the entire series. But that's about it. Even after nine years of retirement, I never even think about sitting down to watch an evening of television shows, network or otherwise. That's not to say that I haven't seen anything. But on those rare occasions when I find myself channel surfing, I haven't found much that captures my interest. I remember my dad talking about THE X-FILES, and he kept telling me I should start recording it. Eventually, I did start watching and collecting that show, after it had gone off the air. I still haven't watched many of the episodes. My evenings at home usually consist of relaxing in the movie room and watching old favorite movies from the collection or new titles, many of which are first watches. And I also watch old TV favorites that I remember from my lost youth, not to mention a lot of shows from the old days that I never got to see. For the most part, I continue to live in the cultural past, and I'm very happy to be there. But TWIN PEAKS, that "new" and much-discussed show, has entered into my radar. I am intrigued.