a few shops that I had known during my previous visit had either closed down or move to else where. the information that I got from a local forum was rather disappointing as the shops turned out to be smaller and not as well packed as I thought it would be. then lastly, I didn't had that much time to shop around n check out the price.
anyway ... on the last night and day, I still managed to find some shops and some decent discount over what the online sellers are selling. I can't help but feel that I had over purchased dvds.
Gotten 14 dvds and spend close to 200 bucks
It started with a Visit to Hong Kong Records as I was seeking for the Sparrow OST CD ... I found one at HMV but I got a feeling it might be cheaper elsewhere and the only other CD shops that I could visit in that span of time was Hong Kong Records.
Managed to find one that is about 6 dollars cheaper there but still rather expensive compared to any of the dvds I had gotten in this trip
at Hong Kong Records, I managed to find more older / unpopular titles that I couldn't find in other dvd / vcds shops (beside HMV).
First up, these 3 for HK$99 ... I gotten Double Tap before but there is a problem with playback and I wanted to get one that is problem free ... but it turned out that the same problem with playback occurs ... I am a bit wary of dvds from Universe as there another title that has problem playing and ironically, the other two from this set are also from ... Yes Universe ... Initially playback and testing, Viva Erotica and Future Cops had no problem ... haiz, I don't it won't become a problem eventually ...
Had Plenty of Fun watching Viva Erotica and Future Cops. It was an unexpected surprise and might review them later on if I got the time.
then were other titles like I'll Call You, The Dragon from Russia and It had to be You which were slight cheaper here. There a funny way that the Dvd shops in HK rack their HK movies and it's according to the Stars that's in the movie. Such as Ekin Cheng n Karen Lam for It had to be you, The Hui Brothers for The Dragon from Russia & Andy Lau for I'll Call You at Widesight shops (even tho he only cameo in this one). At least HK records placed this under actual male lead.
There were also the joy of finding unexpected discount by digging thru their dvd rack (in that limited time span). For It had to be You, the dvd under Ekin Cheng was priced at the normal price while Karena Lam's one offered a 20 dollars discount from that normal price. I was already ready to buy the normal price version so the extra discount came as a unexpected joy.
Then it was off to HMV ... normally the more expensive place to get stuff but hey, this time round, they are cheaper than the smaller stores n online sellers. They are having some Christmas sale and I gotten some in a rather low price (which I hope I won't discover that I was wrong ... specially I'm rather anti HMV's pricing)
First up, it was there 3 for $149 promotion. Saw it as a great chance to get Hooked on You at less than S$10. Wanted to get the original Ashes of Time dvd too as I suspect I won't like the redux version of this film ... I know it's a not so good version of this film but got one just in case that the future version only have the new redux versions ... then I will at least have a can of pineapple copy of dvd that won't expire (unless touchwood ... dvd rot or machine obsolete strikes) ... a piece of memory if you will.
The funny thing was that when i was at Causeway Bay HMV, they had Ashes of Time & "Hero" as part of this promotion but when I reached back at Kowloon, they were without the stickers. Had to ask the counter people and after some checking with their computer, it turned out some folks at that branch didn't do his or her job.... kinda "lucky" that I asked
Then it's a blind buy for Breaking News (to get the 3 items special price)... I was so tempted to get another "Hero" dvd because Yesasia which replaced a faulty dvd with one that got a damaged cover ... and I guess you should know how anal I am when it comes to things like that. But I control a bit, decided to cut down my duplicate purchases and went for something new ... since it's from Johnnie To, I think it's unlikely that I will be disappointed by this ... hopefully
Chungking Express which will be getting a Criterion release soon (if not already out). As a casual movie watcher ... I feel that this version will be enough to satisfy my "wants" ... maybe in time to come, I will get both copies ... so can compare compare a bit
Before I could start my departure from Hong Kong, I went to the Cheapy stores to grab what I noticed during my initial scout around for price. The first major thing that I noticed that Re-cycle Director Edition cost only HK$59! that about S$12! Last time, I drool over hearing people getting this edition at abt S$20 and I got mine at about S$ 24 ... Kinda greedy, I got this at the low price and hope I am able to find someone who likes this movie as much as me to let off ...
Also grab You Shoot I Shoot and Sparrow before I go go. Not much discount for You Shoot I shoot but I put it off long enough and since i could save on the shipping + I could inspect the quality of the cover, I decided to get it now ... Sparrow was relatively cheap but I suspect the price will drop more in a year or two .. but since i gotten the OST, so what the heck... the only nagging thought is that it's from Universe imprints.
That about it. ... should be going thru the dvds to check it's playable or not ... but it's kinda pointless as even it's faulty, I won't be able to change them ... unless someone going to HK and offer to do it for me.
Some stuff that I noticed during my dvds shopping in HK ...
firstly, the range of HK Dvds are really small compared to the Hollywood ones ... the way they stacked their local dvds at the back and in rather dismay conditions were a sad sight... latest Hollywood movies like Wall-e and other Japanese/ Korean / Foreign movies get the prime spots and it just so sad that We Asians don't love our own stuff that much
Then there were stores that I used to frequent that had disappeared and stores that forum mention couldn't be located or was disappointing in actual size... maybe the sales of movies in dvd/vcd formats are declining and no longer that popular ... specially in the Internet age where everything is so easily located online?
Lastly, someone mention in a forum before that the Hong Kong citizen favours the Vcd formats more than the Dvd formats ... with the latter format deemed as only snobs would collect. Visiting the Hong Kong Stores, it really felt that way ... Vcds are placed at the front and Dvds often at the back ... a strange sight as in Singapore, we could hardly find Vcds anymore ... could it be that the Hong Kong people prefer price over quality?
No comments:
Post a Comment