Organizing my ancient DVD collection

“That sounds…” “Comforting.” “Yes.” “It is.”

I have two bankers boxes that I’ve been hauling to every place I’ve lived since 2009. I even, inexplicably, mailed the boxes to myself rather than bring them on a five-hour U-Haul drive over a decade ago. The boxes are filled with all the DVDs I collected as a teenager, during the absolute peak of the DVD industry.

What else could they be filled with, honestly?

This weekend, I took the boxes down from their perch in the coat closet and sat down to make sense of these treasured items. Because some of them are no-brainers—of course a millennial with a Jurassic Park Tour Guide t-shirt and multiple dinosaur Legos would have Jurassic Park on DVD—but some of them require some explanation. And the people love a tiered list, which is an organizing framework that works nicely for my brain. The tiers are as follows:

• Household Names

• Personal Classics

• Hear Me Out

Details on each tier to follow, but first:

Special Mention: John Cusack

I completely flopped at alphabetizing these, but it’s too late to turn back now!

The movies: 1408, Better Off Dead, High Fidelity, Say Anything, The Ice Harvest

I’m calling out my John Cusack collection for a couple of reasons. One, because this entire cataloguing exercise is very much inspired by Rob Gordon, the Rob Gordon, and his autobiographical reorganization of his entire record collection.

“That sounds…”

“Comforting.”

“Yes.”

And two, because I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the massive crush I had¹ on John Cusack. That I only own five DVDs with his name on them is honestly a big surprise. The five that I do own have their rightful places in the other tiers on my list, from undisputed classics to weird misfires, but I believe he deserves his own shoutout section.

Household Names

The movies: An American Werewolf in London, Before Sunrise/Before Sunset (double feature), Casino Royale, Coming to America, Eddie Murphy Raw, Goodfellas, Jerry Maguire, Jurassic Park, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, My Best Friend’s Wedding, Night of the Living Dead, Shaun of the Dead, The Godfather (parts I and II), The Office (UK), West Side Story

Most recently watched: Jurassic Park
Least recently watched: Eddie Murphy Raw
Most obsessively rewatched: Shaun of the Dead (the only movie I’ve watched every commentary track for)
Make me cry every time: My Best Friend’s Wedding, West Side Story, The Office Christmas Special
Cusack belongs here: High Fidelity, Say Anything…

For the most part, these are the movies that people know even if they’re not big movie people. Iconic representations of their genre, with instantly recognizable scenes, shots, or quotations. I hedged about whether the double feature of Before Sunrise/Before Sunset belonged here or in the next tier, because that is more of a cinephile pick. It’s also still in its wrapper, which indicates to me that I bought it based on reputation alone; and I was shocked to find it in the bankers box. But something in my heart is telling me to leave it there, so there I shall leave it.

This is also some evidence of my tragic status as a “the British version” girlie. Because I stand by the British version of The Office as a towering achievement, one that changed what sitcoms would look like for the next twenty years at least. We don’t get Abbott Elementary, What We Do in the Shadows, or Modern Family without The Office. We don’t get the greatest TV performance of the 21st century without the British version of Veep², and we don’t get the British version of Veep without The Office. We don’t even get this iconic moment in white allyship history without Tim from The Office without The Office. A formative text in so many ways. And, sadly, not the last time you’ll see Ricky Gervais on this list.

MIA: My The Lord of the Rings extended edition box set. I know it’s in the house, and I’m weirdly sure it’s in the pantry with all of our tote bags. But I’m not going to look for it; I shall keep it secret, keep it safe.

From here on out, stuff starts to get pretty idiosyncratic.