So here’s me, musing to lady hatter that I can’t think of anything to write about (a mere 24 hours after pointing out to someone how hard posts like this can be to come up with), when two recent tidbits come together to form a serendipitous idea.

The first was that conversation with Steve about essential dvd’s and the somewhat popular post it has spawned. The second was chatting about the first film I have watched for the King of Pain series, a film that Lady Hatter owns but doesn’t particularly like. The point of it all, is that i got to wondering if I (or perhaps others like me) buy dvd’s “just to have”.

Allow me to explain. There are titles out there that we have seen…very, very good titles. Often times these could be high-browed, important, “message” films. You saw it, you loved it, something inside of you told you that you had to have it (Perhaps it was the “2 for $20” signage on the store shelf. But you never watch it. There it sits, untouched and unwatched.

A film that I can think of in my own collection like this is Polanski’s THE PIANIST. I know how much it rocked me when I saw it, and how much admiration I have for the film. Next month I’ll have owned this rather dee-luxe edition for eight years, and I think I’ve watched it two times. I wouldn’t ever dream of getting rid of it, but yet I can’t envision myself reaching for it to watch on a whim.

I have a few others like this: CAPOTE, BROKEN FLOWERS, CLOSER, THE LIMEY…films I know I dig, but I probably don’t need to own.

In reality it’s these titles that feel like I’m trying to show off (but no Steve, not my Criterion copy of HIDDEN FORTRESS – That one is badass). It feels like I bought them and keep them with the notion that someone will see them on my shelf and think “Good taste in films!”. In reality, they’re probably asking themselves “Why the deuce does Hatter own LEAVING LAS VEGAS?”

C’mon folks…cheer me up a bit. Tell me that you too own a title or two that aren’t the sort of thing you’d really actively reach for. Tell me that there’s a title – pretentious or not – that you own “Just Cuz”.