Tim Robson

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What's a DVD anyway?

I like the word cohere. It's one of those words, not complicated, not a tongue twister, that sorts the linguistic sheep from the inarticulate goats. The donkeys from the asses. The Trumps from the Hillarys.

I mention this not because I'm a pretentious nob - I am, of course - but because it reminds me of something I once wrote (I paraphrase):-

"The list format helps the struggling writer cohere a random set of unrelated facts and opinions around a predefined structure to save them actually having to be creative."

Or something like that. Snappy, eh? Some of my best work lies on the cutting room floor of the draft folder, or banished into the dusty corners of the hard drive.* Which is my way of backing ungracefully into a flimsy article which has a list at its core.

Tim's Top 5 DVDs

DVD's - remember them? Yes, grand-dad, I do. What we had before the internet and Amazon Prime and Netflix. I still have some DVDs, tucked away in my French oak coffee table. Well, that is, until I sorted them out yesterday and packed them up in cardboard boxes. I'm moving house, you see. 

Necessarily, this little list has an air of a few years ago. I don't mind that - so do I. 

Clerks - Foul mouthed, funny, low budget, clever.  "36?"

Groundhog Day - Bill Murray relives the same day over and over again until he finds redemption.

Lost in Translation - Bill Murray has an unconsummated but profound romance with Scarlett Johansson (haven't we all?)

Before Sunrise / Before Sunset / Before Midnight - Ethan Hawke and Julie Delphy in a classy, verbally rich, trio of films shot over 21 years.

The Wicker Man - Early British 70's horror set in Scotland with great folk music, Britt Ekland and a shocking end for Edward Woodward.

And that's it. I thought you might like to know.

 

* Beating it hard tonight.