Up to last year, to preserve my finances, I gave myself strict rules regarding money spent on Blu-Rays, and prevented myself from buying anything that cost more than €5 per film. I had already raised the limit to €7-10, but this ceiling was shuttered once the HMV shop opened in Brussels, in combination with the realisation that most non-Hollywood films will never be priced under €20.
I have accepted that my middle-age crisis doesn’t manifest itself in a Porsche car or cigars but in a large quantity of shiny discs.

Still, the €26 I spent on Denis Villeneuve’s Polytechnique felt like a lot of money for a single film.
But last week, on the shelves of that shop, I found a copy of the Criterion Collection’s edition of Eraserhead, for €34. I was tempted, but I didn’t buy it.
The same goes for Hedwig and the Angry Inch: the Criterion disc has been there for months, but never lowered in price.
Not to mention the Before Trilogy set, which has a tag of €78.
Should I give up and accept that some good things come at a very high price? Is it a high price at all or am I just being stingy?

Back home - despite no longer using Google and being in general quite careful about tracking online - YouTube sensed my thoughts and started suggesting the Criterion Closet videos, where famous film professionals are given the chance to pick whatever they want from a small room (Jude Law calls it a ‘cupboard’) where the walls are covered in shiny discs in their creatively decorated boxes. I wonder whether famous film professionals too think that €34 is a lot of money for a single film.

I’m probably late to the party, but I find these short videos extremely addictive: I’ll tell myself I’ll watch one just before going to bed, and I end up spending an hour in front of the TV. They are a great palate cleanser before sleep.
Different guests have different styles: some actors talk about the films as works of art, some about their own story with the film; some choose movies by people they worked with. Directors pick mostly the films and the authors that influenced them, and sometimes draw parallels with themselves.
I suppose some Blu-rays must be very strategically positioned because they are mentioned over and over. Is Down by Law such an important movie? Is Steven Soderbergh’s Che really his best film?

I liked how Denis Villeneuve almost changes personality when he switches from speaking in English to French; I loved the dynamics between Ethan and Maya Hawke; [Winona Ryder]’s warmth too.
I especially loved the video where Chiara Mastroianni picks, mostly, her father’s films (and none of her mother’s), and talks about how much she loves horror. Chiara is one of us!

Anyway… after watching these short videos, it’s difficult to resist the Collection.
Does anybody know whether the closet is locked? I’ve noticed it hosts three or four copies of each film… would anybody be interested in a heist?