A Little Less Tim Burton-y?

Hello Cinemaniacs! Ealan here with another HMC Newsletter! My apologies for not releasing a newsletter last week. Phew! Summer is already nearing a close (time flies, am I right?), so once my girls are back in school, things will look a bit less hectic and a bit more regimented around Osborne Manor. 😄

Thanks for all who were able to join the live stream earlier this week with Brad and Derek taking the wheel. I was MIA, trying to keep my head and my stomach intact while riding roller coasters with my family at Six Flags near San Francisco. What a thrill! But holy smokes, by the end of the day my body and brain had had enough fun to last me several months, if not years. 🤣 Getting older sucks, fam.

My youngest daughter turned 10 years old that same day, and it was a huge milestone for her, deciding she was brave enough to ride all the roller coasters this time, and not just a select few that she deemed “not too scary.” They grow up so fast, don’t they?

“A man tells his stories so many times that he becomes the stories. They live on after him, and in that way he becomes immortal.”

Next week Derek and I will be continuing this Tim Burton showcase by watching Big Fish, the modern classic fairy tale from 2003 (has it been that long?!).

Even without discussing it previously, Derek and I were already on the same page when we were both thinking about revisiting this film which (at least me) seems like the least Tim Burton-y Tim Burton film. Of course there are still signature costume decisions, set designs, and art direction that could only originate from Burton’s twisted mind, but as a whole (at least from what I recall), Big Fish has this place in my mind as a slight departure from his usual film projects.

Only time will tell if that’s true or not, so please join us next Tuesday August 4th at 12PM PDT/3PM EDT and see what we thought about this 23 year old film. It doesn’t look like it’s streaming for free anywhere at the moment, so if you have a physical copy of it, sweet! Otherwise you can rent it, buy a digital copy, or perhaps walk into your local Best Buy and see if…just kidding! 😄 Although your local Barnes & Noble might have a copy! Sadly mine does not have it in store, but I could order it online if needs be!

Ownership

I know we at Hidden Movie Club sound like a broken record at this point, but I just wanted to briefly touch on the importance of physical media once again. With the news about Sony’s decision to axe physical copies of games in January of 2028, as well as suddenly removing a ton of digital movies for seemingly no reason, owning a piece of cinema history seems to be gaining steam amongst general consumers once again.

I know a lot of you who subscribe to Hidden Movie Club are already fans of it, because we are the few and the proud who still collect physical discs. But the fact that the desire to truly “own” a copy continues to slowly creep its way back into the mindset of the general public is such a trend I’m here for.

Price hikes with streaming platforms, paying for 4K when in fact a platform is secretly broadcasting in 1080p, more and more ads being inserted when it was promised no ads were the selling point, not to mention the inferior picture and sound quality…there’s never been a better time to get back into collecting.

I know I’m preaching to the choir, so let us get out there and spread the good word to our friends and family that we’re not in a cult. 😅 We actually care about what we watch, when we want to watch it, and how we watch it.

I think it’s so disturbing that when I pause something on Paramount+ or Amazon Prime Video, there is a static ad that pops up which does not go away until I hit play again. These companies have realized that revenue solely based on subscriber counts is unsustainable, and have resorted back to the days of cable television ( or worse), knowing full well that they screwed up by promising no more ads.

It was revolutionary when it first hit the mainstream around 2012, like with Orange is the New Black and House of Cards on Netflix. But 14 years later and these companies are scrambling to find a way to stay afloat.

But do you know the last time I saw an ad pop up in the middle of me watching Lord of the Rings on 4K Blu-ray? Never…because that’s just not a possibility. 😄 When was the last time the picture quality suddenly dropped due to buffering? Oh yeah, also never.

So keep at it, Cinemaniacs! Just you wait…one day people will realize they messed up by tossing out all their DVDs, relying solely on streaming for their entertainment, being forced to repurchase their favorites to hold onto for dear life this time around. “I wish I would’ve kept collecting like you did.”

“Yes. I know.” 😆

That’s it for this week, my friends! Thanks again for sticking with us, watching our live steams either live or on demand and/or downloading the audio only version on your favorite pod catcher.

And a big welcome to any new subscribers! Thank you so much! We’re in this together, so let’s keep trumpeting the benefits of owning physical copies! 🥳

See you on Tuesday for Big Fish! Have a great weekend!