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Newspaper DVDs

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  • #1

    Newspaper DVDs

    Meaning, of course, DVDs which come free with newspapers, rather than DVDs composed entirely of newspaper.

    I'm not sure if this is a worldwide phenonenon, but there seem to be more and more of the things being given away free these days. Most of them are rubbish, as you'd expect, but in the last few weeks The Independent has provided me with Wings of Desire and Like Water for Chocolate (I'm halfway through now, but it made me hungry so I had to come down to make some food). They aren't films I would have sought out, and certainly aren't the type of films widely available in a small town like mine, but I'm really enjoying the random doses of "foreign" cinema. I hope the trend continues personally. I always like a good freebie. :)
    "That which does not kill us, makes us stranger." - Trevor Goodchild
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  • #2
    Like Water for Chocolate is a Beautiful film, I had to watch it for Film Class at University.

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    • #3
      Whereas today's Mail on Sunday (sister paper to the 'Daily Hate') gave away The Wild Geese. :) I couldn't lower myself to buy the paper just for the DVD, but luckily my parents-in-law take it and my wife's mother has promised to hang on to both it and theOrlando DVD that came with their Sunday Telegraph. :D

      There was a bit of a debate on Radio 4 recently (possibly the Today programme, or Front Row or something) about this phenomena - which is basically a newspaper war in all but name* - and whether this practice was devaluing DVDs in general. After all, you'd normally pay at the very least آ£8 for a basic, no-frills, vanilla DVD and here are national newspapers giving them away for آ£1.50.

      I seem to recall there was a similar debate last year about all the free music CDs that newspapers were giving away. Organisations like the BPI argued that 'free' music not only devalued CDs in the public's eye but also encouraged P2P downloads and the like.

      *The Summer, of course, saw the SuDoku wars, as each paper competed to contain more and more puzzles then their rivals. Even the Sun got in on the fad iirc.
      _"For an eternity Allard was alone in an icy limbo where all the colours were bright and sharp and comfortless.
      _For another eternity Allard swam through seas without end, all green and cool and deep, where distorted creatures drifted, sometimes attacking him.
      _And then, at last, he had reached the real world – the world he had created, where he was God and could create or destroy whatever he wished.
      _He was supremely powerful. He told planets to destroy themselves, and they did. He created suns. Beautiful women flocked to be his. Of all men, he was the mightiest. Of all gods, he was the greatest."

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      • #4
        Re: Newspaper DVDs

        Originally posted by DeeCrowSeer
        They aren't films I would have sought out, and certainly aren't the type of films widely available in a small town like mine...
        Which is why the island of Jersey was invented (around the same time as the Internet and credit cards). :lol:
        _"For an eternity Allard was alone in an icy limbo where all the colours were bright and sharp and comfortless.
        _For another eternity Allard swam through seas without end, all green and cool and deep, where distorted creatures drifted, sometimes attacking him.
        _And then, at last, he had reached the real world – the world he had created, where he was God and could create or destroy whatever he wished.
        _He was supremely powerful. He told planets to destroy themselves, and they did. He created suns. Beautiful women flocked to be his. Of all men, he was the mightiest. Of all gods, he was the greatest."

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        • #5
          Re: Newspaper DVDs

          Originally posted by demos99
          Which is why the island of Jersey was invented (around the same time as the Internet and credit cards). :lol:
          :lol: Very true.

          Of course it will cut into the sales of the official releases (the free version of Like Water... even had the trailer and photo gallery that the retail version comes with), but as Mike suggested with free/cheap books, could it help to generate interest in similar films? I mean, I won't be quite so reticent about checking out German or Mexican cinematic releases now, because I've enjoyed these tasters so much. I'd rather watch them at the cinema, personally, but that isn't an option in my area.

          Originally posted by manmiles
          Like Water for Chocolate is a Beautiful film, I had to watch it for Film Class at University.
          Crikey! I'd probably have felt embarrassed about all the nudity, but I'm fairly easy to embarrass. Also, all of that great food would have made me very sad to slouch off to the campus canteen. :(
          "That which does not kill us, makes us stranger." - Trevor Goodchild

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          • #6
            Maybe they could be really annoying and give out the first 50 minutes . . .

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            • #7
              The real issue with all these free DVD's and CD's isn't whether they devalue the commodities (although they do), but the fact that vast quantities of these non-biodegradable items are going straight from the inside of the newspapers into landfill sites.

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              • #8
                cds/dvds what ever is on them are easy to recycle give to a crafter and it becomes a mirror card, give to a drinker its a free drinks matt.give to the kids and its the eyes of the next bug eyed monster mask or wheels for the car.I know of a gardener who uses them to protect the tender roots of new plants from slugs and also uses them on sticks to label crops.
                was a beaver scout leader for a few years and the amount of stuff a child can create from junk is amazing.
                come to the dark side we have cookies

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