Laura's Digital Wish List

        Like any self-respecting Redcloud brother, I love DVDs. Sometime last year, I think, DVDs suddenly became the norm for me; renting or buying a movie actually meant renting or buying a DVD. Spending money on a VHS suddenly made me feel queasy and wrong, like I was wasting my money. "I won't even be able to play this in a year!" I thought, with disgust. Actually, I have never had a VHS that I played so much it wore out, except possibly the Mary Martin version of Peter Pan I had as a child (I think that was a crappy copy, anyway; my grandma taped it off TV, onto a tape containing the Woody Allen classic Bananas which I now imagine really was in a continual state of fast-forward).

        Actually, all of the arguments for DVD are meaningless or trivial to my situation. I don't even notice the difference in picture quality; I'm in no danger running out of space with my less-than-massive tape collection, which consists mainly of taped episodes of Xena and Seaquest; my VCR is fairly new, and I don't even have my own personal DVD player (although there is one in my household, which I will be leaving in September). (Unless the colleges all reject me--yeesh!). And yet there's just something about DVDs which makes VHS unacceptable to me. Menus, man! Menus!! And when I have to rewind or fast-forward the old way, I feel like I'm living in a primitive time of the past when dinosaurs roamed the earth.

        With that impassioned intro, let's get right to the skinny: the DVDs that I want.

The Neverending Story
This one is from the "nostalgia" department. Some of you reading this will do a double take and cry "Didn't that just come out?" That is because you are old. I am young, and The Neverending Story reminds me of a more innocent time, when it was acceptable to have a crush on the willowy pre-teen Atreyu. The movie was also educational, teaching children that if you read, the story would come to life--literally!--and that it was OK to steal as long as it was a book. The day I got to watch The Neverending Story at school was the happiest day of all.

Labyrinth
The classic cult fantasy where David Bowie plays the Goblin King and a young Jennifer Connelly travels through a mystical land full of muppets is actually not a bringer of nostalgia for me, at least, not for any further back than last summer, when I watched it for the first time with Nick and Paul. Up until then, I had simply been pretending I had seen it as a child, responding to those who would interrogate me by nervously repeating "Take off your head! Take off your head!" Clearly, it was idiotic to waste $3.50 renting it, since I knew I was going to love it enough to own it someday. And someday, I hope to do just that.

Troll
I've never actually seen this movie. I found it looking for Noah Hathaway, the actor who so adeptly portrays Atreyu, on IMDb. Apparently there was a movie where he plays a kid named--get this--Harry Potter. And there's a troll! And, AND, AND, apparently, it has Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, TV's Elaine--naked. What could be better?
        ...Come to think of it, I think this one may actually be a stronger candidate for rental than purchase.

Bill and Ted (Both Kinds)
As a young'n, I found Bill and Ted hilarious, and, provided you don't watch them every single Sunday afternoon, the movies still stand up to today's rigorous standards. While I personally think Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey is the superior film--Death is a great character, and the scenes in heaven and hell are classic explorations of the human concepts of the life & death--both are necessary in any serious collection, and if possible, it would be nice to have both Excellent Adventure and Bogus Journey together in a little set.

Old Star Wars
Since I'm just starting my DVD collection (going on the blind faith that my college computer will have a DVD player) I'm going to need to stock up on the old classics, and no matter what George Lucas tries to do to ruin it, the original three Star Wars films are must-haves. I don't abide by the Special Edition though, and I think that's all you can get on DVD. I suppose I would live with the Special Edition if there was no other way to have it on DVD, but god, oh god, if only there were some way to have the original versions...! Sigh. Anyway, continuing in the category of "classics," let me just list the following, so I don't need to waste your time with blurbs: The Princess Bride, Back to the Future, The Hidden Fortress, It's A Wonderful Life, Rear Window. Now, that wasn't so hard, was it?

Lord of the Rings
Clearly, yes, when the hype dies down, I will want those movies. They will be classics, you know. Until then, I'll satisfy myself with the Rankin/Bass extravaganza, which brings back so many fragmented memories of my youth that someday I will need to have it on DVD. Someday. Regardless, let it be known to all that FRODO + SAM 4EVA!!

The Complete (X) Season
There are many shows for which I would like DVDs, but there's so many episodes of any given show that it gets expensive quick. And, I'm sorry, but it's not worth my hard-earned moolah to be spending $45 on the complete first season of Silver Spoons or Square Pegs. So it's not likely that I'll ever get every episode of any given show. However, I'd like to be able to visit the following worlds whenever I want:

• Boy Meets World--Clearly I'm a fan, although it's not a huge priority since the Disney Channel current reruns BMW between 2 and 4 times every day. If I could have any season, I would probably go for Season 5 or 6, around Shawn's height of cuteness, and Eric's height of power. I would not want Season 1, probably not even if it was free, because it is pretty lame. (Surprising, huh?)
• DeGrassi Junior High--I saw this at Jen's house for the first time a few months ago, and ever since I have dreamed of recapturing its beauty. It's from PBS! It's so afterschool-specially! It's great! Theoretically, Degrassi High would be good too, but I don't know for sure.
• Welcome Back Kotter--You never know how much you'll miss a show until it gets pushed off of Nick at Nite. I find myself thinking about Mr. Kotter and the Sweathogs a shocking amount, considering how long it has been off the air. My guess? That if/when I actually do get to visit again with Horschak, Barbarino, Washington, and, um, the other one, I'll be sorely disappointed with the non-quality of the show. Well, whatever.
• The Wonder Years--Just kidding. I would never own something that lame!