Friday, March 5, 2010

Gone But Not Forgotten

I rarely have the time, energy, or patience to commit to a watching an entire movie. I just don't. In my twenties, however, I watched movies all the times, often the same ones over and over. Sometimes I sat absorbed and attentive. Other times I used movies as the backdrop for crafting, hair curling, or treadmilling.

Last year, hubby and I weeded through a bunch of our VHS tapes and gave them away (whether anyone would/does want VHS tapes these days, I am unsure). If you asked me to name five titles that we gave away this time last year, I probably would struggle to come up with a list. A sign that we were ready to part with those movies. But, we were both unable to relinquish a few of our very favorites.

In this year's efforts to clean and declutter and in acknowledgment of the fact that we don't have a working VCR hooked up anywhere in our home, we decided that it was time to give away the entire VHS collection, including the very favorites . . . every tape except the one labeled "Badin JV vs. Purcell," which happens to have our wedding recorded upon it.

I feel okay with the decision because I know that probably all of these movies are available on DVD should I ever wish to own them again. Plus, I imagine that in another couple of years, it will be possible to order up any movie that exists for immediate viewing on one's television or computer. Maybe that's possible now?

However, like the pack rat and sentimental sap that I am at heart, I decided that I could part with my last bunch of VHS tapes much more easily if I first documented what I had. I wasn't worried that I would forget how much I love Four Weddings and a Funeral, When Harry Met Sally, or While You Were Sleeping, but I was slightly uneasy that I might forget a lesser-known treasure like Pure Country (starring George Strait!), Sliding Doors (for Gwyneth's awesome haircut alone), or Shag. What if I forgot about Shag and never got to watch it with Sweet P? Unthinkable.

And, so in the interest of posterity and as a means of offering a glimpse into the person I was in my twenties and maybe still I am, I offer this glimpse of some of my favorites.

The Rockies belong to hubby.

What about you? Do you still have VHS tapes? What were/are your over-and-over movies?

15 comments:

Stacia said...

That Jimmy Valentine, he's a sweet potato! (Man, I love Shag! Got it on DVD for Christmas last year ... to replace my tired VHS.) =>

Beth Weist Allman said...

We have almost identical tastes in VHS movies!
Although, I think i would have a few John Candy movies added in, especially Uncle Buck and Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.

: )

kenz said...

Ohhh I see you had The Big Chill...one of me and my mom's favoritesss..we recently switched over to the DVD from the VHS...now we can rewind and re-watch much more efficiently!

Actchy said...

I am 100% sure I watched Pure Country with you at some point in college, because I can't imagine any other circumstances in which I would know that movie. And I can't think of Tommy Boy without happy thoughts of PE and the sound of GC snorting with laughter.

Heh heh heh...It's a clip-on.
Heh heh heh...Are you sure?

PITA said...

This is the most fun! Shag was on TV last week and I shrieked out of excitement. I was disappointed when it was at the very end, I did get to see Pudge clinch the Shag contest though. I had a lot of the same tapes. I have watched many of those tapes so many times it is kind of embarassing. Anne of Avonlea pulls on the heartstrings.

Heather said...

Yep, still have 'em, and still watch them sometimes. Gabe's favorite's are E.T. and Godzilla. I love Happy Gilmore and The Wedding Singer.

Weird how much space those darn tapes take up, isn't it? They are the 8-track cassettes of our generation :)

Denise said...

I recently did a purge of VHS too, I never realized how many we had accumulated - particularly the kid vids. I got rid of all but one Sesame Street tape that they watched until they almost wore it out. I don't know why I had to save that because the technology probably won't exist to even watch it! (and why I'd even want to watch it, who knows)

dusty earth mother said...

Loved those pictures. I must confess, mine would include While You Were Sleeping and Cousins. Obviously I was going through a romantic period...

LAP said...

I love that your wedding tape is labeled "badin JV vs Purcell". Of course we can't locate ours right now so if only there were a BHS tape here for us.

I never had an extensive VHS collection, but on a related note, I did recently toss some old mix tapes. Not sad as they can be easily replicated on iTunes but wow did they used to take a lot of time putting those together back in the day...

cake said...

we still have a vcr, and thus, the vhs tapes, but then again, we still listen to a lot of vinyl and audio cassette tapes. we support a number of formats in our household.

i've seen 'oranges aren't the only fruit' a dozen times, and carl and i enjoyed it again, just last year. so, i'm not ready to toss those old movies yet.

Cynthia said...

I pitched all the VHS' when we moved. Can I say, that I loved the moving Sliding Doors...LOVED it!

east coast bro said...

Shawshank Redemption.......Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing dies.

Sarah Sullivan said...

We just gave away all of our VHS and our VCR, too. Don't tell my husband, but I was unable to part with "The Natural," bootlegged taped off of HBO about 20 years ago. Maybe it was just my mom's handwriting on the case that made me so nostalgic. So, it went with all the other mementos that I can't bear to part with: the 5th floor of an unheated storage facility off of Highway 44 in Saint Louis. At least I know roughly which box it is in...

Anonymous said...

Did I spot the Cutting Edge in there? m

melissa said...

MEP, exciting news for you. Netflix! you can get any dvd in the mail, keep it as long as you want. send it back they send you another one. and they also do something called instant que where you can stream it directly to your tv. Not all movies are on instant que, but most old ones for sure and they're getting more and more new releases. plus, tv series are available as well. They just signed a deal that they will start getting all new release a certain number of days after they release on instant que. Either way, all those old movies are there!

And all this can be yours for about $9 a month. Since we got our big screen tv, we haven't been to the movies except to see avitar(the 3d movie, which by the way gave me motion sickness). We watch movies all the time, espeically if there's nothing on tv.

btw steel magnolias rocks!

 
Blog Designed by : NW Designs