In 2005 Chris Wheatley, a bookseller at Blackwell with a passion for film to match that of books, managed to convince colleagues that it was a good idea to stock DVDs.
The guiding factor behind this move was not to stock films just because they were new on release, but rather along the lines of how film critic Derek Malcolm described a book of his on classic films, as “a list of ‘Desert Island Movies’ “. In other words, films of quality; many that perhaps people had loved in the past, but somehow forgotten about in the ebb and flow of life; that would delight, entrance, move and inform as well as entertain. Films that deserve more than one viewing, in fact.
And this perhaps is the reason why, despite technological changes having altered the way customers approach buying films greatly in recent years, we believe DVDs are still worth stocking.
At Blackwell Broad Street we have a veritable treasure trove of DVDs for sale at prices which vary from a few pounds to the more select and expensive. They are divided in to 5 sections as follows:
1. Feature Films, including Hollywood and British films from the silent age up to today, such as Chaplin’s ‘City Lights‘ ‘ Apocalypse Now’ ‘Some like it Hot’ , ‘Kes‘ , and ‘Bright Star’
2. World , Art House, and Independent Films, from ‘Les Enfants Du Paradis’, ‘ Tokyo Story’, ‘ Rashomon’, ‘Fitzcarraldo‘ ‘Wings of Desire’, ‘Diva’, to ‘ Of Gods & Men’ and ‘White Ribbon’
3. Plays of Shakespeare and others including , Sheridan, Marlowe , Chekov, and Eugine O’Neill
4. TV favourites, such as; ‘Lewis’ , ‘Inspector Morse’, ‘Love in a Cold Climate’, ‘Brideshead Revisited’, ‘Smiley’s People’,’ Alan Bennett’s ‘Talking Heads’, as well as many TV adaptions of Classic literature like Hardy’s ‘Mayor of Casterbridge’ , ‘ Northanger Abbey’ ‘Persuasion’ and ‘East Of Eden’
5. More recently added, and has shown to be very popular is a wide range of Documentary and Special interest DVDs which includes, ‘The Story of Maths, ‘The Ascent Of Man’, Sagan’s ‘Cosmos’, ‘Etre et Avoir’ ‘ Charles Darwin & The Tree Of Life’ , ‘ Edward Said’, ‘Zizek,’ ‘History Of Christianity’ ‘No Direction Home’ ‘ Guns Germs & Steel’ and many, many more.
The range of our films is very strong and several customers from different corners of the world have even been known to comment that it is the best range they have ever seen in one place, which makes us determined to continue dredging through what is, after all, an enormous catalogue, searching for those films you just can’t find anywhere else, or at the very least all together in one shop.
If we do not have a film in stock we can lay our hands on it very quickly when available, and if it is not, we endeavour to do our best to find it for you.Whether you are a cinema buff,a lover of great entertainment or just enjoy the odd film (……many DVDs are sold here purely out of nostalgia!), come along to our shop on Broad street and discover the magic for yourself.
- Ray
Filed under: DVD, Oxford, blackwell bookshop, DVD, Fitzcarraldo, inspector morse, Kurosawa, movies
