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Post by sepiatone on Jul 21, 2023 15:13:51 GMT
The only "device" I have(that I consider so) is my desktop PC. And since I also have a 50" flat panel monitor in my living room, watching movies on my PC's 20" monitor doesn't make sense to me. And too, I have a lot of "physical media" when it comes to music AND movies. All stored in three different rooms in my house. And it really isn't all that much of an inconvenience.
Sepiatone
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Post by BingFan on Jul 23, 2023 21:33:04 GMT
It’s really interesting to hear how folks experience TCM and/or classic films. One thing that’s clear is that while we all have classic film in common, how we get there varies quite a bit.
For me, I get TCM via one of the major satellite services, which is very expensive for what I use it for — besides TCM, mainly just the local PBS stations as well as the Food Network and Cooking Channel. But because we live in a semi-rural area and can only get slow Internet service, streaming isn’t feasible, unless you like watching 10 minutes of buffering for every minute of actual programming. So we’re stuck with the cable-like satellite service, although at least it provides a high-definition picture (a definite advantage over what I’ve seen with streaming when visiting relatives).
Like others, we keep TCM on much of the time, discovering enjoyable movies unexpectedly sometimes, as FF described. When we actually sit down to watch a whole movie, we either draw on our collection of commercially-issued DVDs and Blu-rays, or on the many DVDs we’ve recorded, mostly from TCM. As someone else mentioned, we could probably go for years just watching these discs. (Same with music CDs.)
With our recorded DVDs, which start in 2005, we can go back to the days of Robert Osborne and “One-Reel Wonders.” I wouldn’t mind at all if TCM itself returned to those days, too, re-running his intros. But since that’s unlikely to happen, I’m happy enough with today’s hosts. I think Ben et al. do a very good job (esp. Eddie), providing valuable context for the movies; without them, TCM would just be a bunch of movies, and I hope we’ll agree that it’s much more than that. (Yes, the hosts aren’t perfect, but who is?)
A few people have mentioned the “political” content that sometimes creeps into the hosts’ intro. While it wouldn’t bother me to return to the more apolitical Osborne Days, I find the additional context that the hosts now provide interesting and valuable. They’ve often caused me to think about new things concerning the movies that I hadn’t focused on before. (After all, how many times do we need to hear the same old story about Bogart replacing George Raft and becoming a star, or Bette Davis being suspended for turning down a role? I enjoy that kind of context, too, but I don’t mind a broader perspective.)
I’m hopeful that TCM lasts in its original form for a long time, especially because the new technologies don’t offer me much right now. I don’t want to return to the old, old days before TCM, when you could only find classic film on the late show or, if you were lucky, at a repertory movie house. (Oh, that’s right — those are almost completely gone...)
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Post by lydecker on Jul 23, 2023 22:16:55 GMT
I stopped receiving cable many years ago when satellite came along, and I quit satellite about three years ago. The packages had become so expensive and nonsensical. I don't know who arranges those packages, but they are either evil idiots or evil geniuses. Either those things are designed by drunken house cats riding backwards on a donkey (read: no logical sense at all) or they are designed by masterminds who understand that by arranging the packages in such a way that has no logic necessitates a user buying more packages.....wait a minute, I think I'm on to something.....
But seriously, folks. I was paying for the one package in which I could get TCM from my provider, and I watched precisely nothing else in the package. (And the only reason I kept that provider as long as I did was because I could also get the MLB add-on for a good price.) I don't watch reality shows (reality. what a laugh), and that's mostly what was on all the other channels in the package. Also, I don't care to watch commercials. I feel that when I'm paying a premium to receive programming, I should not have to pay again with my time and irritation to be sold diapers, detergent, dentures, or any other darned thing. I realize this is not the way of the world, but it's my way, and I do have a choice -- I can just turn it off.
So that's what I did.
As has been mentioned here (was that by FadingFast?), WatchTCM requires that you be paying a provider, so I do not have that option. I share Max with a friend, so I have access to the TCM "hub" titles (which they are now calling "brand", which is way too advertisey for my taste), but I am disappointed in that option. It's pretty much the same small group of movies all the time. Even the newer films on Max suffer this issue, I believe, but I digress.
I miss TCM.* I miss having the channel, and I miss so much of what the channel used to offer. It had a feel that it no longer has. Part of the discussion we've all had regarding TCM centers on the fact that things change, and I know that things do and must change, but I personally tend to resist changing things to make them appear to be something they are not. Frankly, that's lying. ("Here. Eat these strained peas. They're DELICIOUS!") What I see happening with TCM is that they are trying to force classic movies to fit into the taste/politics/mores/desires/consciousness -- call it what you like -- of a viewership that has little or no cultural/intellectual/educational/familial -- call it what you like -- connection with the content. Putting some bright colors and modern music up front with pc intros for the films does not change/modernize/equalize/sanitize -- call it what you like -- the films. Instead, it tells an untruth about what the films are, what they represent, what their place is in the cultural/literary/artistic/industrial -- call it what you like -- history of film and by extension the people from whence those films came. To me, it's a teaching opportunity lost, but that doesn't fit the fiscal bill for Warner Bros. Discovery -- call it what it is.
I keep hoping it's a cycle. Perhaps in future TCM will see that the classy/retro/artistic/cool -- call it what you like -- appearance of the channel and presentation of the films that used to be is a better reflection of classic film. Perhaps they will stop apologizing for their own product and celebrate it instead.
* I miss Robert Osborne!!
Brillant post and so true. |
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Post by gerald424 on Jul 24, 2023 1:45:59 GMT
I stopped receiving cable many years ago when satellite came along, and I quit satellite about three years ago. The packages had become so expensive and nonsensical. I don't know who arranges those packages, but they are either evil idiots or evil geniuses. Either those things are designed by drunken house cats riding backwards on a donkey (read: no logical sense at all) or they are designed by masterminds who understand that by arranging the packages in such a way that has no logic necessitates a user buying more packages.....wait a minute, I think I'm on to something.....
Its a bit complicated. The channels themselves are arranged in "packages". In order to carry one, you must carry the other four. Here's an example: Remember the channel AMC ? Well it has become somewhat successful because of shows like Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, Mad Men etc... But, in order to carry AMC, a service must also carry BBC America, IFC (independent film channel), Sundance TV and We TV.
In 2012, Dish informed AMC that they no longer wanted to carry those other channels. And only wanted to carry AMC by itself. AMC refused. And Dish pulled all their channels off of their service. Which I agreed with. But, after lawsuits, Dish had to put AMC and the other channels back on their service and pay millions to AMC for their trouble. And since carrying all those extra channels, the price goes up.
The original concept of SlingTV was 25 channels, $25: Your choice ! But, the channels themselves wouldn't allow it. If they had that plan, I would have it tomorrow.
I firmly believe most of the channels on cable/satellite would go out of business if it weren't for deals like this one. If each channel had to stand on its own, most would fail. They claim to give you 200 choices but, when most is Home shopping, religious, music channels and "reality" TV, what choice do I really have ?
That's where TCM is stuck. The cable/satellite plan is obsolete. They have to find another place to go.
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Post by Andrea Doria on Jul 24, 2023 5:05:57 GMT
We're readers first in this house so most days we don't even turn on the TV, but we always had basic cable, mainly just so I could watch PBS on Sunday nights. About ten years ago we decided to cancel it, then the Spectrum representative asked me what they could do to keep us and I said, well if you could give me TCM and MLB we'll stay. So that's what we have. Hundreds of stations and we watch three.
I agree with BunnyWhit that TCM doesn't need to apologize for itself. One of the coolest things about old movies is stepping into the time warp and seeing how people used to look, act and think. PBS is also trying hard to ruin itself by pushing a political agenda and daring to twist the plots of classic novels to fit it. I'm watching both stations less all the time. Even my son is watching his baseball station with the sound off because the announcers are so obnoxious.
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Post by midwestan on Jul 26, 2023 18:54:33 GMT
I cut the cord on cable 4 years ago and went with YouTube TV as my primary content provider (TCM is part of the regular lineup), and it's been great for me. Getting additional semi-premium stations like Paramount+, Apple+, Curiosity Stream, and Peacock can add more to my monthly bill, but it still isn't as high as what I was paying for cable when I decided to stop using that service. On top of that, I get to go down various YouTube video rabbit holes on a big screen TV instead of a much smaller computer screen (lol).
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Post by rover27 on Sept 15, 2023 5:09:45 GMT
When you say "recorded," is it to a DVR you own or just to a hard drive. Asked another way, how do you record these movies? The reason I ask is that every DVR I've ever had was/is rented from the cable company and now Tivo (which I don't like, but it solved a wiring issue, long story), so I've never really owned my recorded movies. Thank you.
About ten years ago I had bought a combination VCR and DVD player/recorder. This way I was able to transfer classic films I had on VHS over to DVD. If I didn't have something already on VHS that I wanted, I would just record it on to a DVR from TCM, RetroPlex, Encore and FXM Retro which used to be called the Fox Movie Channel.
Sometimes the cable would pixillate badly depending on the weather or TCM's times would be off by a few minutes so a movie might get cut off. I would watch what I had recorded on the DVR and if the quality was good and I had the whole movie intact and more importantly, it was a movie I wanted to keep and have on disc, then I would copy it from the DVR on to the disc with the DVD recorder. Then I'd erase it from the DVR to free up room on the DVR. When I got rid of cable, obviously I got rid of the DVR.
Originally, I had almost 2000 VHS tapes with movies on them. After transferring my movies from VHS on to DVD, I had no reason to keep the VHS tapes. I gave a lot of those VHS tapes to second hand shops, friends, and what nobody wanted, I threw into the trash. That was a little heartbreaking, LOL, but I wanted to get away from VHS without losing what I had.
After switching from VHS to DVDs, I had about 750 discs with my recordings. When I moved to Phoenix, the UPS company lost one of my boxes which had half the discs in it. But I still have about 400 discs of films I recorded through the years. The discs have anywhere from two to six movies on them, and they are all grouped by theme. Example: 'Mae West & Cary Grant' or 'John Wayne & Maureen O'Hara' or 'Late Career Joan Crawford' or 'Noir from the mid-50s' etc.
Another reason why I don't feel a need to have TCM anymore is because my interest is not solely classic film, but I have an interest in classic television too...so I have been buying a lot of episodes of classic TV from the 1950s to 1990s either on DVD or on streaming platforms. And I need time to watch those things.
I am a very structured person. I only allow myself to watch one classic film per day...usually the one I am going to review for my blog which I put here on the Neglected Films thread. I allow myself to watch one or two classic TV episodes per day and sometimes not all the time I will write reviews on those episodes. I also write outlines for shows I am developing...so that requires a certain fixed amount of time per day to work on and polish those outlines. And if I am in the middle of writing a story, I am usually immersed in what's happening to my characters, so I don't want to be distracted by someone else's characters in a movie or TV show I could watch...that is why I limit what I watch, because I don't want my creativity compromised if I start saturating my brain with too much product devised by other writers.
I allow myself a certain amount of time to write posts on this message board.
I work six days a week and have zoom meetings to attend, since I am on three different teams at work. That takes up time.
So long story short, it doesn't fit into my lifestyle and my personal interests to spend many hours a day watching TCM anymore. But I still wish TCM continued success, as I think it's a good way to introduce films from specific eras to new and young viewers...whether that stays on cable TV or transitions fully to streaming platforms.
I definitely do not care for TCM's politics, I find the channel's politics way too left, and I am a moderate. So I don't miss a lot of the agenda-driven commentaries from some of the hosts. I don't miss wine club ads. But I carry with me the general good feeling and respect that someone like Robert Osborne had for classic film. This feeling and sense of history is something that underscores my passion as a viewer, and it informs my reviews and supports my ongoing interactions with other classic film, TV and radio fans. |
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Post by rover27 on Sept 15, 2023 5:15:57 GMT
I have satellite service. I also have a VCR/DVD recorder. I have a lot of movies recorded to DVD from TV and have transferred VHS tapes to DVD. Mostly now I just record to DVR. How do you record from DVR to DVD? I've tried and get the TV program that's playing and not the DVR recording.
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