Feel Sorry for Our Future Generations

Questionaire:
1. Have you ever worked for either Blockbuster Video or Hollywood Video?
2. Have you rented anything (movie/game) from BV or HV in the last year?
3. Judging from your interactions with them, are BV/HV employees knowledgeable about movies? On a scale from 1-10?



According to Cinematical, Blockbuster lost $435 million dollars last quarter.
How. Is. That. Possible?
I understand that Netflix, Redbox, illegal downloading, and hundreds of other more attractive alternatives have done their parts to hurt the corporate giant. But really? There wasn't anything they could do? They had to see it coming.

As I reported last month, a number of the Hollywood Video locations are shutting down. Since then, news broke that the Hollywood Video I worked for back in the day is closing down as well. After leaving that job, I worked at Circuit City. Looks like I'm the bad luck charm. It's only a matter of time until the age of Video Store Chains is extinguished.

Mom & Pop proponents can't help but feel a little justified. The corporations which shut down independent rental stores throughout the 80s, 90s, and 00s are now in major trouble. Blockbuster's attempt at online rental services arrived too late and failed to save the already weakening business. Starting last year, they introduced Blockbuster Express kiosks (a la Redbox) but to this day I haven't seen one in person.

I have a theory. There will always be a demand for in-person rental stores because there will always be people too stupid to figure out Netflix. Rapper Lil Wayne sold a million copies of his album The Carter III in its first week while critically-acclaimed artists (such as Mos Def) take much longer to hit those numbers. Why? Because Mos fans are smart enough to download illegally. Lil Wayne fans need Best Buy to get their music. The rest of us just need Google.

And while Redbox's kiosks were practically designed specifically for these dumb-dumbs, you can't count out that stupid people thrive on being stupid in person. Nothing makes these people happier than slamming a "Display Only" case down on a counter and yelling "I want to rent The Blind Side!" which, in turn, forces the poor 16-year-old fat kid who makes up for his minimum wages with over 365 free rentals per year to explain what the words "Display Case" mean even though I know it won't do any good and they'll make me crawl into the return box and look for a recently dropped off copy WHICH WON'T BE IN THERE! IGUARANTEEYOU! IT'S SATURDAY NIGHT! THAT MOVIE JUST CAME OUT! * CATHY STRESS SQUIGGLE*

You know what? I hope they go out of business. I'm sorry 16-year-old fat nerdy kids who dream of getting paid in free rentals and posters but it's just not worth it. Trust me. Plus, most of the people you work with won't know anything about movies. And neither will a large percentage of your classmates in the State school undergrad film program. Get a Netflix subscription and a comfy couch for your parents' basement. You'll make it to your Master's program...someday.

The DVD Collection Keeps Growing

Quite a few of the Hollywood Videos around here are shutting down. They're selling their entire libraries for really cheap. Here are some of the DVDs I picked up the other day.


Old Joy - The first Mumblecore movie I ever saw. Two old friends take a roadtrip through Oregon. This has been on my Top 10 to Own list for a long time.

The Last Detail - The poster for this movie made me never want to see it. Randy Quaid didn't help either. But when I finally broke down and watched The Last Detail, I loved it!

Stuart Saves His Family - This is a terrible movie but I'm an SNL junkie. If they had had It's Pat I would have bought that too.

Coneheads - Like I said, SNL junkie. And Conehead is way funnier than you remember.


Festival Express - Buying this DVD was a personal victory. For six years, I've been waitng, biding my time until I found a copy that was less than ten bucks. Finding it for $3.99 was definitely worth the wait. If you haven't seen this great documentary yet, you should.

A Nous La Liberte [Criterion Collection] - They were selling Criterion Collection films for four dollars a piece! Whitney bought a ton of them. I bought this Rene Clair classic. Whitney bought Criterion films while I opted for Stuart Saves His Family. We're a great couple.

Adam - This played at Sundance last year but I didn't get to see it. But my mom rented the DVD and loved it so I bought her a copy.

The Wrestler - Most of my friends got copies of The Wrestler from me for Christmas. But I forgot to buy myself one.


Searching For Bobby Fischer - I can't tell you how many times I've seen Searching For Bobby Fischer. It was a mainstay in my house as I grew up. That and Sister Act, haha.

Planet B-Boy - Like Festival Express, I've been waiting to find a cheap enough copy. I'm just glad it turn less than six years to find one.

She's Gotta Have It - Spike Lee's first feature film for four dollars and the DVD looked brand new! No scratches. No fingerprints. I doubt that anyone had ever rented it. Great find.

Are the video stores in your area closing down? Maybe it's just a regional thing. Have you found any great DVD deals lately?