With the end of January just one week away and the start of February just around the corner, it’s a good time to revisit my To Be Watched list for the first month of 2023.
Since I am not sure about when I will be moving to Brandon – all I know is that I will be moving and that I have mixed feelings about it – I have cut back on my Blu-ray purchases. Not only do I need to rejigger my budget somewhat, but if I add more titles to my collection, that means more items that I need to pack (and thus worry about).
Still, I did add some titles to my collection this month. The most notable, of course, was Sony Pictures Home Entertainment’s reissue of Groundhog Day in a limited edition steelbook multiformat set with a 4K ultra-high definition (UHD) Blu-ray disc, a 2K high definition Blu-ray disc (BD), and a digital download code.
I didn’t watch Groundhog Day right away on the day I received it (January 12) because I own it on DVD and wasn’t in the mindset for it then. I did, eventually, watch it – on the 4K UHD disc – and had a good time revisiting director Harold Ramis’ 1993 blend of fantasy and romantic comedy, which incidentally celebrates its 30th anniversary in February.
I also have the steelbook of Young Sherlock Holmes (1985) on pre-order, but that Blu-ray won’t be released till next week (on the 31st). I’ve only seen the first few minutes of this non-canonical account of how a young Sherlock Holmes (Nicholas Rowe) befriends John Watson (Alan Cox) in an English public school and solves his first mystery, but I’ve been told that the movie is worth getting. So even though I’d canceled the order earlier in the month, I re-ordered it and used some of my Visa Reward card’s Shop with Points to pay for it.
As I’ve said in previous posts about my To Be Watched (TBW) lists, I don’t take a bunch of Blu-ray packages down from their IKEA media towers and create a stack the way I do with my To Be Read pile of books. I typically watch a movie (or a TV series episode) purely on impulse and based on my emotional state at that moment.
Even then, I sometimes think that I want to watch, say, Emmanuelle, take the disc out of its jewel case packaging, put it in the player, and stare mindlessly at the movie for a few minutes, only to say, “Nah. I don’t feel like watching this.” I’ll stop the movie, eject the disc, put it back in its case, and return it to its proper place in the media tower, and end up watching a totally different title.
Thus, the following TBW list is purely aspirational and is highly susceptible to revision:
- Shane (1953)
- Airplane! (1980)
- Amazon Women on the Moon (1987)
- The War: A Ken Burns Film (2007)
- Star Trek: Discovery – Season Four (2022)
- Star Trek: The Motion Picture – The Director’s Cut (2022 4K UHD Edition)
Other possibilities include:
- John Williams: Live in Vienna (2020)
- West Side Story (2021)
- Ken Burn Presents: The West (1996)[1]
- Billy Joel: Live at Yankee Stadium (2022)
Of course, if the mood strikes me – it hasn’t as of late, though – I can always watch one of the many Star Wars films or animated series that I own on Blu-ray/DVD.
Well, that about wraps this post up, so I’ll just say “Goodbye” here. Until next time, Dear Reader, stay safe, healthy, and warm, and I’ll catch you on the sunny side of things.
[1] Of all the titles on this list, The West, which was directed by Stephen Ives and produced by Ken Burns, is the only one I don’t have on Blu-ray. PBS Home Media has only released this amazing documentary on DVD.
A Certain Point of View, Too 
You must be logged in to post a comment.