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What are you binge watching, and is it streaming or physical media?


Zathras
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So, finding myself at home, I have been on a kick of binge watching a lot of different stuff. Some successful, some not. I have tried a few shows on Amazon Prime, primarily Man in the High Castle. I barely made it through the first season. It was soooo slooooow. It was an interesting concept, but it really seems like a show that had good ideas that could have really been just a miniseries and done. Too much filler, and after reading about seasons 2-present, after Frank Spotnitz's departure, things fell apart. I also tried movies like A Quiet Place, which literally lasted 15 minutes. I signed up briefly for CBS all access for Picard, and while it kept me watching, I wasn't too impressed with either Picard, or CBS ALL Access (the options just aren't good...most of which can also be viewed on Ion TV).

 

So, I started turning to my disk collections, with an assortment of DVDs and Blurays. So far, on bluray, I've made it through the Aliens collection (including Prometheus and Covenant and AVP1) , Predator collection, the Terminator collection, Godfather and Goodfellas movies, the Bluray collection of the TNG classic 2 part episodes like BOBW, Chain of Command, Reunion, All Good Things, and a few others, all the Star Trek films, and my bluray collection of Star Wars 1-6. I've also watched on DVD the Indy Jones collection, Phantasm, Stargate SG1 and Atlantis, and a few other old school movies like Demon Seed, hammer horror, Space 1999, babylon 5, the Black Hole, Tron, etc.

 

 

There's a few things I found out about myself. One, I am STILL a physical media guy. I don't have the largest collection, but I would like to think I have a decent collection, especially where 1970s and 1980s sci fi are concerned. All this home media I have had for a while, but rarely watched, I am now watching big time now. I know movie collecting is really a product of the 1980s-2012ish, before streaming took things over.

 

Second, to me, streaming isn't the be all end all of home media. I still think you get a better movie experience on disk, especially when you have a 4k tv and 4k player and a decent sound system. I don't have state of the art, but pretty decent. Things on DVD and Bluray get upscaled a lot. I have found DVDs I watched on my old 1080P TV and DVD player have a huge upgrade with 4k tv and player. It literally looks pretty close to bluray quality. It makes old DVDs I've had for years and lost interest in because they are "just" DVD, look so much better and gives new rewatchability. Also, bluray looks darn close to 4k. It's not 4k but close enough for me, and upgrades the 2k blurays as much as it does DVD.

 

So, have any of you been binging, and if so, what? Also, do you like physical media or did you make the leap to streaming exclusively?

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I want to take TROS for a spin in 4K, but the wife is hogging up the living room being at home all the time. The DVR in the living room 37% to 0 in the weeks with her home. Now if she's get the crap of the one in the bedroom. I still go to work so I don't have time to binge anything.

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I want to take TROS for a spin in 4K, but the wife is hogging up the living room being at home all the time. The DVR in the living room 37% to 0 in the weeks with her home. Now if she's get the crap of the one in the bedroom. I still go to work so I don't have time to binge anything.

Well, luckily my wife and I have the same tastes for the most part. She is cool like that. So, we rarely fight over the remote, unless it comes to Criminal Minds, NCIS Los Angeles, or Blue Bloods. I can't stand those, but she loves those shows, so we work out viewing times. When all else fails, I have a cheapie 55" TCL 4k in the bedroom that I can "banish " myself to.

 

I recently ordered Scarface and Casino on 4k from Amazon, and I can't wait to try those out!

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While I like physical media, I don't like having a lot of STUFF. I also prefer the ease of streaming. That said, I am bummed out that I can't even get my own TV show in physical form. It only exists via streaming.

 

I am watching a lot fo TV, just going through my list of stuff I have had forever but not had the time to pound through. HBO has been killing it. I have been into a lot of their content, Barry, Silicon Valley, Euphoria, Westworld, Run, Insecure-- all of it great.

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While I like physical media, I don't like having a lot of STUFF. I also prefer the ease of streaming. That said, I am bummed out that I can't even get my own TV show in physical form. It only exists via streaming.

 

I am watching a lot fo TV, just going through my list of stuff I have had forever but not had the time to pound through. HBO has been killing it. I have been into a lot of their content, Barry, Silicon Valley, Euphoria, Westworld, Run, Insecure-- all of it great.

I can appreciate that. If one collects stuff, it is easy to get cluttered. I used to have a lot of DVDs, until I felt I had too much clutter. So, a while back, sold many of them off, because my book case was getting cluttered, keeping only my top favorites. At some point, I felt I cut too close to the bone, and started to get the itch to replace some of what I sold. For a long time, I had no desire to repopulate my book case, until relatively recently. But I vowed not to repurchase anything on bluray, if I still had DVD. Basically, I just kept my collection to what I feel is the "essentials." I have 2 and a half shelves worth of bluray and DVD, and anything else I do buy on disk, I'll be very choosy about.

 

I like Westworld. I don't know of most of those other shows. As far as your show, which one is that?

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I want to take TROS for a spin in 4K, but the wife is hogging up the living room being at home all the time. The DVR in the living room 37% to 0 in the weeks with her home. Now if she's get the crap of the one in the bedroom. I still go to work so I don't have time to binge anything.

Well, luckily my wife and I have the same tastes for the most part. She is cool like that. So, we rarely fight over the remote, unless it comes to Criminal Minds, NCIS Los Angeles, or Blue Bloods. I can't stand those, but she loves those shows, so we work out viewing times. When all else fails, I have a cheapie 55" TCL 4k in the bedroom that I can "banish " myself to.

 

I recently ordered Scarface and Casino on 4k from Amazon, and I can't wait to try those out!

That's all the shit my wife watches!!! We have sitcoms and stuff that we watch together on the DVR. She'd watch whatever i'd want to, but it's easier just to watch wrestling in the bedroom while she watches Blue Bloods from the beginning. And Bewitched from the beginning, and so on and so on lol.
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I streamed Friday the 13th movies 1-7 the other day.

 

Also, I just finished yesterday binging Planet of the Apes the TV series. While the film series of the same era is definitely retro, for the most part, it is still pretty watchable, the first 3 being my favorites. However, while you had Roddy McDowell in the TV series playing yet another chimpanzee, it is horrible.

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I've largely stopped collecting physical media except Criterion sets, Black Friday Blu-rays, and whatever I'm given as gifts, but I still have a sizable unwatched backlog dating back over a decade, thanks in part to my wife's previous job at a company that dealt in multimedia products. While she and I have been diving into assorted streaming shows, on my own time I've resolved to plow through all those sets this year or else.

 

My physical binge-watching over the past two months:

 

Static Shock - final season

Homicide: Life on the Street - final season

Batman: The Brave and the Bold - s.1

Battlestar Galactica - s.1, just started s.2

The Weird Al Show - two episodes in

 

Non-physical viewing for the two of us lately:

 

Unbelievable

House of Cards - s.1-2

Wild Wild Country

Tiger King

McMillions

The Crown - s.1, nearly done with s.2

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We blitzed through Tiger King the other week (enjoyed the after show episode as well!!), and as we finally got Disney + here in the UK at the end of March, I have been working my way through Clone Wars from the start so I can watch those final episodes fully refreshed! Really enjoying it!

 

The Trip to Greece was superb - love those series. The 2 of them are so funny together!

 

Other than that, Better Call Saul series 5 finished last week (love that show and looking forward to seeing how it will all end and tie up with BB in Series 6).

 

We had a good show here on BBC called Race Around the World - teams of 2 competing against each other to get from the starting point to the finish. Loose concept is that by taking a flight you miss out on so much below you, so with a modest budget of a flight from start to finish, complete the journey with no air travel, getting small jobs on the way to boost your budget. Each episode ends at a check point and the teams then start next leg they set off staggered based on how far behind the leaders they are.

First series last year was from London to Singapore, and this second one finished last night, going from Mexico City to Ushuaia at the very southerly tip of South America. Amazing places they visit - great to see the world while on Lock Down! Ha ha! :yes:

 

Finished off Arrow and have been storing up the other DC shows to finish off the current runs. Not sure how much I will continue with the shows now that the massive crossover has finished - they are entertaining, but sometimes feels like a chore.

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As to the other point, I still buy items, but only key things these days as I have so, so many DVD's and Blu-rays. Film-wise, yep, I got TROS to complete the sequel set (to accompany the 6 film complete saga box set! :yes: ), and then the Marvel ones just because I am a bit of a sad collector and need it on the shelf.

 

Other than that, just the smart looking Blu-ray sets they have been releasing for the classic Dr Who series. 7th one due out next Monday, which is Tom Baker's 3rd series in the role, so that will be nice to binge watch when it arrives. Excellent extra's on those.

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I stopped collecting disks for a long time, even downsized, only to repurchase a select few on BR. When I buy it is usually when there is a good deal to be had on a Blu Ray. Not sure I am going to collect many 4k, unless it is something I really want. The vast majority of my collection, is older stuff, much from the 1980s-early 2000s that I consider essential and are my favorites of favorites. I haven't collected the MCU, though, because that is just too many, and they will always be streaming somewhere in my lifetime. The same can be said about most of my collection, really, between streaming and channels like Comet or H&I, or cable. But, I like owning certain things and always having it. I know that is irrational. At least I am not a completist anymore, though. I can now have incomplete franchise collections, and only collect the films of those franchises I only truly love.

 

Isn't it interesting though that collecting movies is such a turn of the century/millennium thing? I think one has had to have grown up during the 1980s and 1990s with video rentals and have and lived through the "Great DVD Glut of the 2000s" to understand the "need" to collect movies. Younger millennials and zoomers don't generally collect because they barely remember a time whens streaming wasn't accessible. Just an observation. I should be that way too, but some things I gotta have physically.

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You are spot on there! Growing up where it was costly to buy a VHS in the early days, and it would a very long time before they were even released after their time at the cinema, when it became much more affordable and quicker in the 90's, I went nuts! Ha ha!

 

I still like having a physical copy of things, but I definitely have been more picky in what I choose to buy.

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Just finished latest season of The Last Kingdom and have started watching Giri/Haji (duty/shame) on Netflix.

 

I love last kingdom as I love the author who wrote the books, but the acting is pretty questionable and the sets look kind of cheap but the actual story is really good.

 

And Giri/Haji has just been amazing so far. It's a bi-lingual Yakuza series set in Tokyo and London. Very good so far.

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I rewatched Parks & Rec. This country IS Pawnee. And we need more Ron Swansons in this world.

I have seen PnR probably 10 times through. I have a picture of Ron Swanson on my desk at work. Did you see the special last week?

 

Anyways, I am currently watching Schitt's Creek. I tried it once and never really got into it, I tried again and once I hit episode 5 I really started enjoying it. I am halfway through season 2 and love it!

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Okay, to start - while I like physical media in concept, and I'm not getting rid of my dvds, streaming just jives best with how and when I consume things now. So, all of my watching has been through streamers.

 

Currently, I'm bouncing back and forth between Community (my first time watching it) and Hollywood on Netflix for bingers. I want to go through The Midnight Gospel again, too - I had a hard time focusing on what was being discussed AND studying all the crazy details in the animation.

 

For weekly viewing, I'm watching Killing Eve, Mrs. America, What We Do In The Shadows, Motherland: Fort Salem, and up until last week Saturday Night Live. I haven't followed this many shows as they've aired since high school.

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  • 2 weeks later...

We switched over to streaming media mostly because of the kids. When they want to watch the same effing episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, you just put it on. We have Netflix, Disney+, and Prime. We have a huge physical DVD collection that we pruned down on space by moving them into these binder books. They take up maybe 1/10th of the space they used to. We haven't bought a DVD since The Last Jedi, and it was probably The Force Awakens before that. I waited for The Rise of Skywalker to come out on Disney+.

 

My husband watches a lot of (what I call bad) anime on Netflix. There's anime about high school boys volleyball (Haikyu). "We" watched that. We're slowly working through The Clone Wars from the beginning. We also watched Ronja, The Robber's Daughter as a family on Prime. We watched the Stargate movie this weekend. (We have all of SG-1 and Atlantis on DVD.) We've also been slowly working our way through Tales from the Loop on Amazon. That one is interesting, but hard to binge watch. Something about it, I can only watch like 2 episodes in a row. They feel really long even though I'm enjoying them.

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