Perfect Internet Time Waster

This is a perfect use of the internet. I love that it's getting easier and easier to find obscure movies and music. When DVD took over, a lot of the titles were overlooked, because the major publishers were only publishing the stuff that would sell well. VHS lent itself so well to collectors and enthusiasts because you could dub tapes. Even if the quality was shit, you could at least watch it (most of the stuff I like is trash anyway, so it doesn't need to be hi-def).

But DVD marketing took the reins and now it's a stigma to have a cathode ray TV or a tape player. I've bought into the hype a little bit, and I must say a blu-ray on a 56 inch HD TV looks balls-out awesome. However the downside of this revolution is that it came right when distributors were really starting to dig deep into film archives for releases. With the advent of blu-ray, they won't need to release, say, "The African Queen", when they can just re-release Spiderman 3 again. By the way, there are probably thousands of wish lists and gripes out there about what hasn't been released on DVD.

So as much as I liked seeing "Hitman" on blu-ray, it's no substitute for a wide catalog. That's why I love Criterion and Something Weird. But even they have to keep up with the times, and there's only so much demand for "Bloody Pit of Horror".

Which brings us to the point of this post, which was to share this site I came across (via the Flavorpill newsletter):

www.europafilmtreasures.eu

Here's an ever growing collection of hard to find stuff whose existence validates the importance of the internet. A new venue for those who can't find the time or money or space for VHS. Sometimes you have to sacrifice quality for the privilege of getting to watch something you wouldn't otherwise see. Check this out, the parachute stunt at the end is batshit-insane. They even have Marilyn Monroe's first (only?) nudie movie, "The Apple Knockers and the Coke".

Plus, it's a good way to kill time before class and makes you feel better than watching skateboard accidents all morning.