# What cna you tell about a person by his/her movie collection? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 19, 2005, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cna-you-tell-about-a-person-by-his-her-movie-collection/295334 "2005-03-19T18:33:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Captain\_Gutgore\_Blooddrink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Captain\_Gutgore\_Blooddrink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Gutgore_Blooddrink)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cna-you-tell-about-a-person-by-his-her-movie-collection/295334/1 "2005-03-19T18:33:59Z")
Think it holds any standings? I’ll show you mine if you show me yours. [Cap’n GG BD’s Private Stash](http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?cat=1&id=flayed+and+eaten) 🙂 , Cap’n GG BD ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cna-you-tell-about-a-person-by-his-her-movie-collection/295334/2 "2005-03-19T18:36:54Z")
And here’s [mine](http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?cat=1&sub=ANF&id=gobear). ---
**Author:** ![Kaspar\_Hauser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b3f665/32.png) [@Kaspar\_Hauser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaspar_Hauser)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cna-you-tell-about-a-person-by-his-her-movie-collection/295334/3 "2005-03-19T18:43:42Z")
[Mine!](http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?cat=1&sub=All&id=richk) ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Gutgore\_Blooddrink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Captain\_Gutgore\_Blooddrink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Gutgore_Blooddrink)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cna-you-tell-about-a-person-by-his-her-movie-collection/295334/4 "2005-03-19T18:47:19Z")
Holy shit, **gobear**! That’s a nice collection! ---
**Author:** ![Kaspar\_Hauser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b3f665/32.png) [@Kaspar\_Hauser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaspar_Hauser)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cna-you-tell-about-a-person-by-his-her-movie-collection/295334/5 "2005-03-19T19:13:09Z")
I can tell from his collection that the Captain likes horror movies. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cna-you-tell-about-a-person-by-his-her-movie-collection/295334/6 "2005-03-19T20:04:31Z")
[Mine too!](http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?cat=1&id=biffy+the+elephant+shrew) Note that several music-related DVDs I own could not be found on the DVD Aficionado database. So I’ve got more jazz and prog-rock stuff than shows up. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cna-you-tell-about-a-person-by-his-her-movie-collection/295334/7 "2005-03-19T20:18:42Z")
[http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?cat=1&id=candidgamera](http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?cat=1&id=candidgamera) And mine. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cna-you-tell-about-a-person-by-his-her-movie-collection/295334/8 "2005-03-19T20:20:45Z")
Mine is online at [http://www.geocities.com/bigbadvoodoolou/moviecollection.html](http://www.geocities.com/bigbadvoodoolou/moviecollection.html) . ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cna-you-tell-about-a-person-by-his-her-movie-collection/295334/9 "2005-03-19T20:54:50Z")
**Swami Askia** knows all, sees all. **Captain Gutgore Blooddrink.** You have a deep appreciation for well-done fantasy that evokes both childlike wonder and genuine fright. You prefer tension and suspense to slasher horror. but aren’t above watching the occassional well-done gorefest that attempts genuine chills. Your tastes in horror are in some ways fairly narrow, mostly because of your discriminating standards, although you will sample the same things from other cultural perspectives. This will occassionally lead to questionable lapses in judgment in an otherwise impeccable collection. (LXG???) At the same time you love iconclastic family humor that is irreverent, fast-paced and occassionally sacreligious, but with plenty of American pop cultural references. You don’t embrace all that is cutting edge in animation although your tastes are fairly catholic. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cna-you-tell-about-a-person-by-his-her-movie-collection/295334/10 "2005-03-19T21:16:41Z")
gobear. I suspect you tend to make your DVD purchases in part by the ouvere of certain, select directors (Hitchcock, Tarantino and Spielberg are well-represented) and some cases, star power (You’re a Bette Davis and Leo DeCaprio fan, I see – but only his romatntic movies, unless you got _Catch Me If You Can_ as a gift.) There’s a good mix of adventure, action, and period Asian movies of the non-Hong Kong variety. In fact, you enjoy a lot of exotic period movies (your sole animation selection is Triplets Of Belleville), but the lack of Kung-fu makes me think you don’t enjoy owning those as much. When the occassional chick flick rears its head (Steel Magnolias), it’s usually one of the least objectionable ones. I suspect this was either a gift for someone or a date prop. Then again, you could just be a fan of the better done contemporary Southern movies. Looking further, you have a good eye for stark drama while embracing camp, you will when movies have been recently remade, you’ll try the originals that inspired modern remakes. All in all, nice collection. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cna-you-tell-about-a-person-by-his-her-movie-collection/295334/11 "2005-03-19T21:33:13Z")
**Kaspar Hauser.** Holy --! I thought I fell into a time warp. All sorts of selections from Hollywood’s Golden Age, including a bunch of movies I always wanted to see but never tried from the Criterion Collection. Ooo, you’ve got Metropolis! The Winsor McCay documentary! Sperman: The Lost Episodes. Are those Fleischers? You’re a surprisingly big animation buff – I’d have never figured you for a King of the Hill Man. So far, yours is the house I’d want to be invited over to see a movie at. I’m bound to see something there I haven’t before! ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cna-you-tell-about-a-person-by-his-her-movie-collection/295334/12 "2005-03-19T21:48:43Z")
**Biffy the Elephant Shrew.** You have so many music related DVDs I wonder if you bought Melvin Van Peebles’ Watermelon Man because you thought it was about Mongo Santamaria. Your Simpsons fandom shows, and I see you’re no slouch in the Red Dwarf, Lord of The Rings, Babylon 5 and Looney Tunes departments, either. Personally I think it’s a good sign that, excepting Bullets Over Broadway, the only Woody Allen DVDs you’ve listed are the only ones I’ve ever liked. Booo, Hannah and Her Sisters! Booo, Crimes and Misdemeanors! Off hand. I’d say you highly value humor and music over just about everything – although when you do watch Sci-fi, you like yours decidedly ahead of the curve, in terms of science, visuals or POV. ---
**Author:** ![JoeSki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b487fb/32.png) [@JoeSki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeSki)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cna-you-tell-about-a-person-by-his-her-movie-collection/295334/13 "2005-03-19T22:02:00Z")
Here’s mine: Fellowship of the Ring EE Two Towers EE Return of the King EE The Simpsons first season Family Guy volume one and volume two Upright Citizens Brigade Season 1 Monty Python and the Holy Grail SE Monty Python and the Meaning of Life Amelie The Big Lebowski Phone Booth Solaris (given to me) Old School About a Boy The Game Suicide Kings Dead Poets Society Donnie Darko Signs Braveheart Road to Perdition The Matrix The Animatrix National Lampoons Loded Weapon Shawshank Redemption A Fistfull of Dollars For a few Dollars More The Good the bad and the Ugly Once Upon a Time in Mexico Tombstone The Magnificent Seven Casablanca Dawn of the Dead remake Army of Darkness Boomstick edition From Dusk till Dawn Nightmare Before Christmas Boondock Saints The Incredibles Pulp Fiction The Usual Suspects Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Critereon edition Fargo O Brother Where Art Thou? From Here to Eternity When Harry Met Sally Sleepless in Seattle My Big Fat Greek Wedding The Royal Tenebaums Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy BBC miniseries The Best of the Chris Rock show Seinfeild: I’m Telling You For the Last Time And coming soon: Rocky Anthology So what is it Doctor? ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cna-you-tell-about-a-person-by-his-her-movie-collection/295334/14 "2005-03-19T22:17:20Z")
**CandidGamera.** Okay. If studies into laughter as a means to battle chronic disease have any merit, you should be cancer-free and functionally immortal all the rest of my days. I knew you were seriously goofy, but MAN. “Murder by Death?” The On the Road Hope/Crosby movies? UHF? Get Smart Again? UNDERCOVER BROTHER??? Sheee-- even I won’t see that one. Thankfully, though, I didn’t see any Martin Lawrence, Rob Schnieder or Adam Sandler movies so I guess there’s only so low you will go. (Caveat: 50 First Dates and Punch-Drunk Love excluded) No, wait you do have “The Waterboy.” Tsk-tsk. Overall, an interesting mix of humor, sci-fi, and adventure movies here – you have some nice out-of-the-box-thinking type choices in the latter category – The Flint movies, Gold Rush, the underrated Hudson Hawk. The Satanic Rites of Dracula. If you can only be cured of the unfunny sequel disease that compels you to get Airplane 2, Ghostbusters 2, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls… ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cna-you-tell-about-a-person-by-his-her-movie-collection/295334/15 "2005-03-19T22:47:22Z")
**Big Bad Voodoo Lou. JoeSki.** I thought I would finish before I have to go – but I didn’t so I can’t. I’ll try nabck next time I log on. Joeski: Quick assessment: I’m betting you’re a novice in the western genre but you’re trying more movies like that, provided they’re more in the spaghetti western vein or DON’T star John Wayne. You appear to have a thing for Meg Ryan. Solaris wasn’t your thing but pop reference humor strikes a chord with you. You also like movies where one man succeeds in taking on the forces arrayed against him. Also, gritty heist movies. I’m astounded Shaun of the Dead isn’t on your list. You’re a devotee of Sergio Leone, Monty Python and Peter Jackson. I haven’t seen THAT combination beofre. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cna-you-tell-about-a-person-by-his-her-movie-collection/295334/16 "2005-03-20T01:50:14Z")
One comment on the reliability of judging personality and likes/dislikes from a DVD collection is that you are only getting what the person “liked.” As an example, I have a lot of the standard fare of your average internet geek: Bladerunner Cowboy Bebop The Professional The Alien series Se7en Fight Club etc. From these you would assume that I would like the following: Ghost in the Shell The Matrix Which I don’t. I frankly think that Ghost in the Shell was an hour and 20 minutes of someone failing to be profound with 10 minutes of some very well animated action that still doesn’t excuse the fact that I sat through an hour and 20 minutes of not a lot. And Matrix is just a ripoff of that same movie but a) failing even more to be profound and b) openly blurting out the entire backstory in a single 2 minute scene twenty minutes in, thus deriving me of at least the enjoyment of trying to figure out what is going on. Certainly it had nifty special efects, but I had already seen all of those same special effects in anime presented just as well, and if anything the blatancy with which those effects were stolen from anime just annoyed me. So, you can see my list of stuff I had and a fairly haphazard set of grades (yes my friends, “Big trouble in Little China” ranks up there with the collected works of Shakespeare–I stand by this decision fully) at my [homepage](http://www.aahz.com) in the reviews section. Kindly no comments on anything else there. This is my place where I go out and feel good about various half finished thingies that I just felt proud of when I posted. I have no particular desire to go back and tone down any chest-beating that I might have evinced due to that momentary sense of accomplishment, so I ask only that you ignore it as such. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cna-you-tell-about-a-person-by-his-her-movie-collection/295334/17 "2005-03-20T01:57:27Z")
> [@Sage Rat](#): > > I have no particular desire to go back and tone down any chest-beating that I might have evinced due to that momentary sense of accomplishment, so I ask only that you ignore it as such. And now after looking at my comments in the Library after several years of ignoring them… Might after all be time to go back and tone those down a tad. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cna-you-tell-about-a-person-by-his-her-movie-collection/295334/18 "2005-03-20T02:16:08Z")
I don’t know if this’ll work, but [here’s](http://www.intervocative.com/dvdcollection.aspx/asterion) my collection. I think this is updated properly; I might have some DVDs laying around here I haven’t gotten in yet and forgot about. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cna-you-tell-about-a-person-by-his-her-movie-collection/295334/19 "2005-03-20T02:26:32Z")
> [@gobear](#): > > And here’s [mine](http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?cat=1&sub=ANF&id=gobear). Looks like you’ve got every MST3K available on DVD. Your stock just rose a whoooole lot in my book. ---
**Author:** ![Berserker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Berserker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berserker)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cna-you-tell-about-a-person-by-his-her-movie-collection/295334/20 "2005-03-20T02:27:02Z")
Mine! [http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?cat=1&id=berserker](http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?cat=1&id=berserker) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cna-you-tell-about-a-person-by-his-her-movie-collection/295334.md?page=2)