Help me name by new DVD business

April 12, 2004 10:33 AM

Looking for suggestions for naming a new DVD business. (Prizes!) [more]

I've been wracking my brain for a while trying to come up with a name for a new DVD business. I'm bust so am asking for suggestions.

It's going to start as an online biz and eventually, hopefully, be a store. The emphasize of the business is delivery of rental and sale DVDs, specializing in foreign, classics, documentary, arthouse, Criterion, etc. For the life of me I can't think of a name I like. I'd prefer something that is available in a .com but that's not mandatory.

I like names that are double entedres (though not of the risque variety). The only one I can think of is Grand Illusions (makes me think of old time Hollywood, the dream factory, etc., and ties in with the Renoir film Grand Illusion).

Any and all suggestions welcome. To encourage answers and brainstorming, if you come up with a name I end up using, I'll send you a DVD of either Lars von Trier's Breaking the Waves or the Criterion Silence of the Lambs or Criterion Robocop (they're all out of print). Your choice.

posted by dobbs to Work & Money (45 answers total)

DaViD
posted by JohnR at 10:44 AM on April 12, 2004

It seems like there's a "tech" (as in technology)and "theque" (as in "Cinematheque") pun to be made.

I'll keep thinking.
posted by blueshammer at 10:45 AM on April 12, 2004

De Vida DVDs
Disc Continued
The Disc Array
Flickerphilia
posted by rushmc at 10:46 AM on April 12, 2004

NetFlix? Sorry, couldn't resist.

How about "Play It Again" (you know, from Casablanca).

I'll keep thinking. . .
posted by _sirmissalot_ at 10:56 AM on April 12, 2004

DVDepot
posted by ph00dz at 11:03 AM on April 12, 2004

You might not want to refer specifically to DVDs in your name, like they are popular now but ten years from now there might be some different format out there.
posted by bobo123 at 11:14 AM on April 12, 2004

Movie Pile
posted by bobo123 at 11:27 AM on April 12, 2004

CineFile
posted by TimeFactor at 11:47 AM on April 12, 2004

Déjà Viewed
Delivery D
Letterbox

I suppose the first two are more plays on words than double entendres. I'll think about it a bit more.
posted by me3dia at 11:55 AM on April 12, 2004

Second Reel
posted by trojan_horse at 12:04 PM on April 12, 2004

Playing off puns is kind of lame. If you want an air of authority try playing off the classy.

"The Dobbs Collection"
"The Modern Cinematic Collection (MoCin)"
"Modern Cinematic Features"

Etc.
posted by geoff. at 12:12 PM on April 12, 2004

Well I guess Dobbs Collection is really close to Criterion Collection. You could do "Dobbs Private Stock" or "Dobbs Special Reserve"
posted by geoff. at 12:15 PM on April 12, 2004

"Cinémathèque" is just a gorgeous word. I suppose the play on words you could make out of it is Cinématech, but that just doesn't seem right.

I'd suggest L'Avventura but that depends on if you think your customers will get that it refers to being adventurous about trying interesting, unique films, or if they'll associate it with risky service.
posted by livii at 12:26 PM on April 12, 2004

How about "Gobs o' Dobbs"?
posted by blueshammer at 12:40 PM on April 12, 2004

"Cinema Obscura"?

Google returns some hits for that term, but I don't think any are trademarked.
posted by falconred at 1:11 PM on April 12, 2004

La Dolce DViDa

Actually, with the right typography, you could just go with la Dolce ViDa to emphasize the DVD letters already in the title.
posted by adamrice at 1:19 PM on April 12, 2004

I like Letterbox. You may want to keep in mind that you'll need to register a good domain name. That may help you narrow your selections. MobyDVD.com, for instance, is available at this moment.
posted by theora55 at 1:27 PM on April 12, 2004

efilmera

(nowhere on google)
posted by milovoo at 1:27 PM on April 12, 2004

You could go the route Amazon took, and have a name completely unrelated to film:

-Daylight (okay, vaguely film related)
-PigeonPark
-Toledo (with a little conquistador mascot)
-Mumbles
-Fingerling

(Potential customer question: How will your inventory compare to GreenCine's, which also focuses on arthouse, foreign, documentary, etc.?)
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 1:27 PM on April 12, 2004

FilmStock
posted by _sirmissalot_ at 1:33 PM on April 12, 2004

Caligari's
Andalusian Dvd
posted by dirtylittlemonkey at 1:33 PM on April 12, 2004

filmstock.org open, as well as film-stock.com
posted by _sirmissalot_ at 1:36 PM on April 12, 2004

Ciné-matic (.net and .org available.)
posted by me3dia at 1:49 PM on April 12, 2004

Are there any picture/sound processing technologies like Cinerama whose trademarks have expired? Because those '50s retro-futuristic names are the ginchiest. Tingle-Vision, perhaps?
posted by blueshammer at 1:51 PM on April 12, 2004

I like to watch.
posted by ColdChef at 2:27 PM on April 12, 2004

"...specializing in foreign, classics, documentary, arthouse, Criterion, etc."

MovieSnob.com

Self-effacing, short, descriptive, and available.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 3:57 PM on April 12, 2004

Response by poster: Thanks for all the suggestions, folks. Keep them coming.

And Crash, thanks for the excellent suggestion. However...

Moviesnob.com is not available.

>>> Last update of whois database: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 07:09:44 EDT < br>
Me thinks whoever did that wasn't very nice.
posted by dobbs at 4:06 PM on April 12, 2004

CineC.ita

Rosebud

Popcorn

Lumiere

Verite

Featurette

ExtraBonusFeatures(.com?)
posted by amberglow at 4:26 PM on April 12, 2004

best boy

long shot

new wave
posted by _sirmissalot_ at 4:45 PM on April 12, 2004

dframe?
posted by grimley at 5:40 PM on April 12, 2004

Verite

Cinema Verite

[on preview, amber beat me to it... shit. I guess I got nothin. verite is a nice word, though.]
posted by zpousman at 6:06 PM on April 12, 2004

we'll share the prize, zpous : >
posted by amberglow at 6:14 PM on April 12, 2004

Last try,

changeover.

That's the (admitedly kinda boring) name of the marks in old films that told projectionists to sync the two projectors. Dunno, might have a nice ring to it.
posted by zpousman at 6:14 PM on April 12, 2004

a few more:

Chimera
Feathers or Vurt (from Jeff Noon)
DVDream
posted by amberglow at 6:22 PM on April 12, 2004

QuonsarVideo
posted by Wet Spot at 7:33 PM on April 12, 2004

DVDMe!

MyDVD

DVDizzay
posted by whatnot at 7:46 PM on April 12, 2004

I once had a dream of opening up my own video store, specializing in art-house films.

I was going to call it Filmskis' which (I believe) is the Croatian word for "movie."

That way, people could easily associate it with movies, but it was still foreign and kind of cool.

Seeing as how my dreams have been crushed by the iron grip of reality, you can have it if you want.
posted by Quartermass at 11:45 PM on April 12, 2004

DVDiggler.com (available)
DVDigger.com (available)
DVDog.com (parked)
DomoDVD.com (available)
DunkinDVD.com (available)
DVDKun.com (available)
LovinDVD.com (available)
DVDSpasm.com (available)
TheDVDon.com (available)

I could go on forever.
posted by Meridian at 1:36 AM on April 13, 2004

Actually, dobbs, moviesnob.com has been registered for a long time; I think what you saw was just a reference to when the internal database of the registrar site was updated or something. But "moviesnob.net" is available, and so is "movie-snob.com". Here are more suggestions (I've looked up all these):

cinemafix.com

cinemalicious.com

filmloon.com (my fave)

magic-cabinet.com / magiccabinet.com

lunafilm.net / cineluna.com / lunacinema.com

varietylights.com

flickerama.com

avidities.com
posted by taz at 1:52 AM on April 13, 2004

Make Mine Movies

Dee Veedee's DVDs (for all your movie needs; even has a built-in mascot)

Movie Sign (If the Mystery Science Theater 3000 creators (Best Brains) haven't trademarked it, of course)
posted by Servo5678 at 4:59 AM on April 13, 2004

House of Dobbs

Rear Window (because you're offering stuff not seen in the normal video store collections - .com taken though)

Take the Cannoli (though The Godfather probably isn't art house enough - .com available)

Smell(s) like honeysuckle (from Double Indemnity - .com available)
posted by humuhumu at 8:17 AM on April 13, 2004

DO NOT use a hyphen in the site name, or you'll have to explain, forever, that it's "my dash word dot com, don't spell the dash, it's a hyphen."

looks good when printed, but when you deliver it verbally you have to pass along TMI and it WILL confuse people. They'll hear either 'myword.com' or 'mydashword.com,' as the explanation will get lost in the shuffle.
posted by mwhybark at 9:02 AM on April 13, 2004

Film Loupe (.com is available).
You could have a wolf as the logo.
posted by me3dia at 10:03 AM on April 13, 2004

Response by poster: Again, thanks to everyone for suggestions. There's nothing yet that's telling me YES! so feel free to keep suggesting if you wish. I won't be using anything with my name, just FYI, or a dash/underscore as I hate them in urls.

I did register cinesnob, just in case I want to use it as a backup. If I do go with it, I'll deem Crash the winner--but I'm still fishing for something that grabs me more.

Taz, that's really weird. Obviously Crash saw it as free. I went to register.com and checked it and it was free. I then went to godaddy (my registrar) to buy it and it was gone. I went back to register.com and it was gone. So, either we both typed it wrong or... i dunno. Weird, though.
posted by dobbs at 10:55 AM on April 13, 2004

cinemall (seen 'em all) has gone, allas.

scenemall is available though
posted by davehat at 6:35 AM on April 14, 2004