Richard Brody Makes the Case for Keeping Your DVDs
At the end of this month, after more than two decades, Netflix is phasing out its DVD-rental business. While that may not come as a surprise given the predominance of streaming platforms, it\u2019s a great loss to cinephiles, according to the New Yorker\u2019s Richard Brody. Streaming services routinely drop titles from circulation, and amazing films may be lost to moviegoers. \u201cPhysical media is what protects us from being at the mercy of streaming services for our movies and our music,\u201d Brody says. \u201cIt\u2019s like a library at home.\u201d Brody gives the producer Adam Howard a peek into his own personal stash of films, and picks a few DVDs of films he would take with him in a fire: Godard\u2019s \u201cKing Lear\u201d (\u201cthe greatest film ever made \u2013 literally\u201d); \u201cChameleon Street,\u201d by Wendell B. Harris, Jr.; \u201cStranded\u201d and \u201cThe Plastic Dome of Norma Jean,\u201d by Juleen Compton; and a box set of five films by John Cassavetes.