I am writing this on Mother’s Day and want to give you a belated chance to celebrate (since this appears on the Tuesday after).

In keeping with that holiday, You can watch my movies Mommy and Mommy 2: Mommy’s Day on Prime (and elsewhere) right here:

Mommy

Mommy 2: Mommy’s Day

And you can visit mother-and-daughter sleuths, Vivian and Brandy Borne (from the Barbara Allan Antiques mystery novels by Barb and me) in our little movie Death By Fruitcake right here:

Death by Fruitcake

If you prefer to visit Mommy on physical media, try here (best price).

And Death by Fruitcake on DVD (no Blu-ray) is here – your support is MUCH appreciated!

Ted Turner died last week.

He created cable as we came to know it, and he created CNN and the 24-hour news cycle, and actually a lot more. I celebrate his dedication (through TCM) to making classic (and not so classic) films from the dawn of sound up.

He did not create streaming. I’m not sure anybody should have, at least not in the expensive, dishonest, frequently stupid way it has evolved. I don’t have to explain “expensive” – it’s the reason why following worthwhile shows on various streaming “services” is prohibitive for anyone but the wealthy.

I should explain “dishonest,” though – it’s the way we were sold a bill of goods that “everything” would be available to us at a click and we would no longer need physical media, like DVDs, Blu-rays and 4K discs. This has proven not only to be false but what is available (even after we’ve paid the monthly service charge) often includes a fee with no physical media attached. You can “buy” a movie this way, and “own” it, only to have it stripped away sooner or later without notice.

And I will explain “stupid” by way of the reality that streaming services are funding series and movies often well below the former standard of cable and even network TV. The drawback of network TV was always the limited channels; but the plus has been occasional shows of quality like classic Star Trek, Twilight Zone, Perry Mason and Seinfeld – which generated what used to be called “water cooler” talk.

Yes there are first-rate streaming series – as indicated, enough of them to make prohibitive signing onto a streaming service for its one or two good seriess. But quality shows happen only because talented people, not in need of guidance from a corporate daddy or mommy, can create a Sopranos or Breaking Bad or Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Give streaming accidental credit for that much.

And I say “accidental” because the streaming services show no signs of telling good from bad, mediocre from excellent. A series like Apple’s Palm Royale with the great Kristin Wiig and Carole Burnett can begin well and sputter into unexpected embarrassment. That same service’s Hijack can have an excellent first season and a become a travesty of itself in the second. And if you can’t give Idris Elba something worthwhile to wrap his acting chops around, give up.

The missus and I often sit down of an evening to peruse the streaming possibilities from Netflix to HBOMax, from Apple to Peacock, and we’ve been to Hulu, Disney and Paramount Plus (among others) on our travels and through the associated travails. And what we end up doing, three out of four times at least, is turning to my substantial collection of physical media – where we know something will be worth re-watching, with the unwatched tempting enough for me to have laid money down for its individual promise.

I am part of Robert Meyer Burnett and Dieter Bastien’s Let’s Get Physical Media show which is on most Sunday afternoons (1 p.m. Central). There I discuss noir and noir adjacent releases, and Rob and Dieter focus mostly on science fiction, fantasy, horror and fun schlock (Dieter proudly self-describes as the Trash Panda). I’ll include a window on a recent episode – I show up an hour or so in for an hour so appearance, recommending Blu-ray and 4K releases. Occasionally DVDs, too.

The decline of physical media for movies and TV has created a collector class for whom the Let’s Get Physical Media show is designed. These are collectors after boxed sets of single and multiple releases, fancy editions with slip covers and tons of bonus featrues and assorted bells and whistles including books – and it’s not unusual for one of these limited releases to cost fifty bucks or more.

But on every episode it’s noted that, of new discs, DVD sales still rule, with Blu-ray lagging behind and the superior format, 4K, a virtual afterthought. And yet in recent months physical media is making a vinyl-like comeback. Best Buy and Barnes & Noble are still strong in sales of all three forms (most other brick-and-mortar stores dropped out of physical media sales of video a couple of years ago).

What’s interesting about the comeback of physical media is that it’s driven by two groups: those special edition collectors I mentioned; but also Gen Z buyers – a younger generation that has rejected the streaming era and is turning to…DVD.

It’s a good trend – young people building libraries reflecting their personal tastes. One aspect of the trend has these Z’ers – with less disposable income than some previous gens of kids – going to Goodwill and other second-hand stores and buying DVDs for a few bucks (or even one buck). These buyers are less concerned having the high def aspect (if at all), possibly because they are used to the small screens on their phones, and video that’s just okay is okay by them.

I’m going to stop short of saying, “Physical media is back, baby!” But it’s definitely a shifting scene.

My buddy, editor/publisher Charles Ardai has an in-depth Crime Reads interview here about Hard Case Crime (and I rate a mention or two).

The movie version of Road to Perdition gets included in this list of great mob movies. (Exciting Perdition news forthcoming.)

M.A.C.