This time I'm swapping new DVDs for rental DVDs. I used to rent DVDs all the time when I actually lived near a DVD rental shop, but that was when I was at uni. In the 5 years since I left uni I seem to have amassed a DVD mountain, which I have spent the last couple of months sorting, re-watching and donating (I give mine to the National Trust property I volunteer at to sell in their 2nd hand bookshop and at their summer fair) and I definitely don't want to rebuild my mountain anytime soon. So I've joined Lovefilm.com where for the princely sum of £3.99 a month I can rent 2 DVDs per month, sent to my door in an FSC envelope!
Now I need your help to decide what films to order - what are your favorites?
And do you think renting DVDs online, rather than using an actual DVD rental shop is better or worse?
I can see both sides - renting online cuts out the need for a chain of shops, and so saves building resources and the power to keep the shops open and lit, tills working, etc. And you can buy movies to watch online, which cuts out the need for a plastic disk and it's plastic box altogether. But renting from a local (especially independent) shop provides jobs for local people, and puts money back into the local area. Aren't things tricky once you start thinking about them! I'm going to turn my brain off now and watch my first film!
Yup, it is tricky... We don't have a local DVD rental shop, just the library.. So we just rented stuff there, when at all..
ReplyDeleteSis and I watched lots of stuff online, like the Japanese dramas.. (Only had times when I got somewhat addicted to those, not all the time!) It's free too..
The problem with shipping DVDs or books is well, packaging. And the problem with online storage is that eg YouTube uses a LOT of energy - the servers etc. You may wish to check where the servers of this company are located, if you wish to be on a safe side - some webhosts are cool and sort-of-eco, some are worse..
DVDs and CDs are not recyclable in Slovenia, so in a way watching online is probably still better, especially if you don't watch a lot..
I think any option is better than buying new physical CDs or DVDs! (And you can use both occasionally if you have tons of money - DVD rental in Granny's town was quite expensive!)
As for films, dunno - been wanting to watch a few, can't think of titles, you may have watched them already!
Some of my all-time favorites are What's Up Doc with Barbra Streisand, Labyrinth with David Bowie, The Grease (I. and definitely not II!) with John Travolta - not sure if any of it helps? :)
What kind of films do *you* like? (Might be easier to recommend something then, I guess?)
Thanks for that info on servers Layla, I didn't know about that and I'll check it out, although generally I don't like watching films on my laptop, becuase the screens hard to see and you have to spend ages getting it angled right so you don't see everything negative! If it's more eco friendly then I might have to stop being so fussy though!
ReplyDeleteAhh Labyrinth - I LOVE that film! You have good taste! I haven't seen the Barbara one, I'll have to look it up :) I like all sorts of films, I haven't had access to anything new for so long though becuase I haven't had any pennies, that I'm at a bit of a loss now to come up with a big enough list for the rental company (you have to have a list of at least 10 DVDs you want to be sent,put them in order of what you want to see most, then they send them to you randomly) I recently got 500 days of summer, which was pretty good, and I have Micmacs which is by the director of Amelie on my list too.