作譜

The drive on my multi-region DVD player is starting to skip and stutter. Amazon just paid me this quarter’s associate fees. Do the math.

Sure, I could have been geek enough to replace the drive on my player with a DVD-ROM, and there are resources out there to help me with such a task. But do I really want to spend a weekend messing around with the innards of the only DVD player I own?

I think I’m more concerned with the time expended than with the risk to the player itself. So I ordered the same player Jette bought. I chose the path of least resistence.

I placed the order yesterday because my player couldn’t even get through a 42-minute episode of The West Wing without burping. I also threw in Sunday in the Park with George on DVD and Meryle Secret’s biography Steven Sondheim: A Life in with the order.

I let Jette borrow my UA DVD to see if her player can play a Region 2 disc, which it did, so that bodes well.

Most recent impulse purchases: Kiki’s Delivery Service and Princess Mononoke. OK. I am turning into a Miyazaki nut. I will be very happy when Fox releases its stranglehold on My Neighbor Totoro.

I spent about $500 on my multi-region DVD player in 2001. The multi-region player I just bought cost $70 in 2005.

Well. After spending the last two months watching a whole bunch of movies, I figure I may as well write about them.

Just what I need — yet another web site to neglect. But hey, at least it’s another portfolio entry.

As part of the summer movie series, I’m keeping a log of what I’ve already watched. I may want to review them at a later time. I doubt I’d find that time, though.

I took a quick gander at some Netflix rates, but for now, I think 2-for-1 Wednesdays at both Vulcan Video and Waterloo Video will suffice.

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In reference to this journal entry, I’m making a list of movies I aim to watch this summer. I’m still welcoming suggestions, but I also want to make note of titles I encounter on my own.

• American Splendor. Probably because I just watched Ghost World. When is Adrian Tomine’s Optic Nerve going to be turned into a movie?
• Adaptation. I liked Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind enough to get in on DVD, and while I wasn’t blown away by Being John Malkovich when I saw it in the theater, it’s clear that Charlie Kaufman has some serious screenwriting game. Thing is, I’m no fan of Nic Cage.
• The Flaming Lips: The Fearless Freaks. I still think Wayne Coyne has a lot to learn from Shiina Ringo.
• Ghost World. A friend of mine e-mailed in this suggestion, as well as Adaptation and Kinsey, and I’ll admit, I did actually want to see Ghost World when it first came out in the theaters.
• Jersey Girl. Just to be a Kevin Smith completist.
• Kill Bill, Vol. 2. I saw Vol. 1 during JournalCon 2003, but I never got around to seeing Vol. 2
• Kinsey. It’s been in the back of my mind to see this as well.
• Memento. If it was enough to inspire OmarG to write an entry backward …
• Nausicaä: of the Valley of the Wind. I think I only want to see this because I saw Howl’s Moving Castle. I think I may be turning into a Miyazaki nut.
• The Phantom of the Opera. I’m glad my Andrew Lloyd Webber phase ended in high school. I’m more curious to see how this movie stacks up against Chicago. Probably no contest. Evita was way too long, and changing the score to fit for Madonna’s range didn’t work for me. I hope Sam Mendes’ adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd turns out well.
• A Room With a View. Since I’m on such a Merchant Ivory, costume-drama trip.
• Say Anything. Just to see what all the Lloyd Dobler swoon is all about.
• Sense and Sensibility. See Angels of America list item regarding Emma Thompson. And I want to see how diverse Ang Lee can get.
• The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie. I mean, he’s tolerant after all.

*sniff, sniff* Wow. It’s kind of musty in here.

I am not a movie person. I’m probably way more psyched for the upcoming release of Sleater-Kinney’s The Woods than I am about seeing the new Star Wars movie. (Because I’ve already listened to the new Sleater-Kinney, and man does it crush!)

But if I have to pinpoint one movie I would brave a theater to see this summer, it would be Howl’s Moving Castle. I’m not a Miyazaki Hayao nut by any mean, but I’ve watched Spirited Away, Laputa: Castle in the Sky, Kiki’s Delivery Service and Princess Mononoke — none of them disappointed.

I’m also looking forward to the DVD release of Steamboy. It played for all of two weeks at the Dobie, smashed right between SXSW and AAS’ wedding. I couldn’t find the time to go. So I’ve already pre-ordered the DVD from Waterloo.

As for the other big movie event of the summer, I’m waiting another few weekends to go see it in the theater.

I was randomly browsing my Amazon Wish List when I noticed the entry for Howards End had an “Add to Cart” link next to it. The DVD has been out of print for a while now, so it made me wonder — is it back in print? And if so, is there a deluxe edition coming out?

A quick search confirmed — an expanded edition of Howards End gets released on Feb. 15.

I was about ready to get this DVD from the UK (although it looks that edition is out of print since the deluxe edition has been available there since last year). Now I won’t have to.

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