Of Cinema Tickets, Downloading and DVDs

I watch a lot of movies. That may or may not be obvious.

Mostly, I watch films at the cinema. I have an Unlimited card, which is actually a pretty good deal. £11.99 a month, and I can see as many movies as I like for free. Considering that, some weeks, I watch three or four, and the prices range from £4 to £7.80 (3D movie, Saturday evening), they're definitely making a loss on this deal.

I really like going to the cinema. It doesn't have the strange feeling of a special event any more, but it's a nice place, and I know my local cinema as intimately as one can who doesn't work there. It's nice. I like the smell of popcorn (although I never buy any), I like the trailers (although I avoid the first ten minutes of adverts as often as possible), and I like the fact that it's on my way home from work, or ten minutes away from here by bus.

That 'on the way home from work' thing isn't as helpful as you might think. I work odd hours, which mean that I cannot see films, on days when I'm working, which start after 11:30am or before 10pm. This limits my options somewhat. Fortunately, sometimes I have three or four days off in a row, which allows me to get my fix of movies (although I am fully capable of watching three in one day).

I don't just watch new films; I also rent films and, more often, TV series. I have an account with LoveFilm if anyone's wondering. Might not be the best deal out there, but I like them, and they tend to be punctual and helpful. Only problem with their site is the fact that it can be a little tricky to move movies from one list to another when you have as many on there as I do (341 at last count). You have to dig right through the list to find it - if you use the search function, it will tell you that it's on your list, but won't allow you to move it to another one. But, to be fair, the list feature in general is excellent.

My collection of DVDs is relatively small, which may be surprising. I have a long list of DVDs that I want to own, but I rarely get around to buying them (Waterstones is right next to HMV, and it always distracts me on the way there). I have a few unusual things that I really love, like the first season of the Twilight Zone and the two animated series' of Discworld, and a few foreign films, which are difficult to find to rent, but I would say that I don't own more than twenty or so DVDs. I rarely download movies either - the last one would be Flower Drum Song, which I can't find to rent or buy anywhere (except as a region 1 disc, which wouldn't play on my PS2). I also download the odd foreign film which has no plans for a European release. Generally speaking, though, I prefer to rent, buy, or watch films at the cinema. I just think they seem more special that way.

I am sorely tempted to break this personal guideline in certain other cases, though. Like for A Muppet Christmas Carol. Although the VHS version, which I owned as a child, has the full movie, all DVD releases have a key scene missing. I refuse to buy a dvd with part of the film missing, but my VCR is long gone, and I have a tradition of watching the movie every Christmas.

Bartelmy