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Movies => Bad Movies => Topic started by: Susan on August 17, 2005, 10:24:46 PM



Title: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: Susan on August 17, 2005, 10:24:46 PM
Ok, so out of that lawsuit settlement i got a bunch of coupons for free movies and dollar offs for Blockbuster and i went to rent. I wanted to get "suspiria" and another older film and i was looking all over for the Horror section. I must have overlooked it so I asked the guy in there and he said they didn't have one, they put it all in the Drama section.  So, right next to Hellraiser is Howards End. I turn around to hunt for the sci-fi section - again, this is all mixed in with the drama.

So basically there are 4 sections: Drama, comedy, action and Childrens. I think there is a half a shelf reserved for foriegn films. Needless to say to make room for all their xbox games and movies for sale, they don't actually rent out good older movies. Back in the day you could wander around and pick up really obscure titles that nobody has heard of, the stores were constantly expanding shelfspace.

so i ended up buying Suspiria at Fry's Electronics. They're the only place that has a more extensive collection of movies to purchase. They were in the middle of reorganizing their shelves and i was a little annoyed when the guys were placing obvious sci-fi movies in the horror section and vice versa. I just wanted to shake them and say 'DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT MOVIES??!!"

It should be mandatory that if you work with dvd's/movies you have to know all about movies. So they weren't very helpful in locating the titles i wanted as they scratched their heads as if to say "lady, if I've never heard of it then it can't be a good movie". I almost wanted to say "Why don't you guys go home and let me re-organize these shelves. no charge"



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: AndyC on August 17, 2005, 11:30:11 PM
That's been a long-time complaint of mine. In Canada, however, sci-fi and horror both seem to be lumped together with action, although there are exceptions. Pretty much any time I go into Blockbuster, I find myself looking through the entire store for a movie. Check the section it belongs in - no. The next most likely section - no. And finally, what the hell is it doing in this section? When the placement of movies doesn't make sense, it's almost easier when they only acknowledge a couple of genres.

That's if they have the movie at all, and the chances are getting less. I agree that those damned console games keep creeping further across the store. I remember when the whole thing was filled with movies. Now, at least half is games and game accessories. Funny, you can't buy a splitter or a piece of cable for video equipment, but there's a pile of hardware for your frigging X-Box.  If they want to get that heavily into renting games, spin it off into a new store chain of its own, or build bigger stores, but don't screw up the movie selection to make room for games. Blockbuster is a movie store first, as far as I'm concerned. Seems like it can't be too long before the only movies in there will be the new releases around the walls, which seems to be where most of the denser clientelle limit their searches. Or perhaps I meant the denser concentration of clientelle. Nah, I meant the denser clientelle. Ever stand in Blockbuster and listen to people pick movies? It's priceless, but scary at the same time.

Whew! Good rant. Thanks.



Post Edited (08-17-05 23:33)


Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: ulthar on August 18, 2005, 12:32:53 AM
I few years ago, before we moved to the town we're in now, we exclusively rented from a locally owned shop.  They had a MUCH MUCH BETTER selection than Blockbuster.

They had the following DISTINCT categories and each was at least one BB sized shelf:

** New Releases (actually, one of the smallest secctions in the store; it had to be NEW to be a New Release, unlike BB here which has movies over 1 year old on the NR shelf).

** Drama
** Comedy
** Action/Adventure
** Horror
** SciFi
** Classics
** Cult Favorites (some dupes with other sections, like ReAnimator would be here and in horror)

** Childrens/Family
** Musicals (including rock videos and such)
** Western
** Documentary/Informational
** Foreign Films
** Employee Picks (with explanations)
** Some General Section (I can't recall the name) that just had a mishmash of good, fun movies.

Man, I miss that store.

Now, in BB, I go in and waste an hour looking for SOMETHING to rent, because I generally cannot find what I really wanted.

I've asked for a Netflix subscription for Christmas this year partly because BB has such a lousy selection.



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: daveblackeye15 on August 18, 2005, 12:35:28 AM
Ugh I'm not a big fan of Blockbuster. Yes I have an account at Holywood Video and Blockbuster but I also have an account at Flix and Pix (mom and pop) Sadly Flix is on the other side of the city.

But there are movies that I rent from those first two video stores.

But when I enter DJ's Video in Ashland Oregon, there are TONS of movies I have never heard or seen! Plus there are movies that I know like Evil Dead and Dawn of the Dead and Bad Taste. But it's also like newer movies perfectly blend in with the older movies.

GOD I lOVE DJ'S VIDEO!!!!!!

To hell with you Blockbuster and you're 80% new releases and movies that can be found EVERYWHERE!



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: odinn7 on August 18, 2005, 07:17:20 AM
The only thing my local Ballbuster has going for it is that they do actually have most movies in their proper categories which really amazes me. There are many drawbacks and reasons for me to dislike the place however, but I am not going to rehash that as I think I've mentioned it numerous times.

BTW- Susan, I might be seeming to be nosey and/or stupid here but what lawsuit settlement?



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: Mr_Vindictive on August 18, 2005, 07:33:41 AM
My opinion of Blockbuster has been tainted by two different events:

A.  Team America on DVD.  I had seen the R cut in the theater and was looking forward to renting the unrated DVD.  But nooooo, they only carry the rated R cut.  I asked the cashier why that was and she said that management did not want to carry an unrated cut or even the film at all.  They were pushed by the area management to stock the movie.  (Same for "A Dirty Shame")

B.  Stupid stupid stupid f'ing managers.  I already posted this in another thread a while back, but I'll do it again.  I really wanted to see The Machinist when it came out on DVD.  So, I go to Blockbuster on the day of it's release and it's not there.  I figured I was missing it somewhere among the horde of new releases.  I went up to the manager and asked where I could find the DVD.  She looked at me like I was an idiot and said she had never heard of it.  She then asked me if I had the name wrong.  No.  The Machinist.  So, she goes over to her little computer and punches it in.  She finds it in their database and says:

"Oh.  You're right.  I guess it DOES exist"

At this point I'm p**sed off.  I ask her if they carry it and she says no and that they probably NEVER will due to the fact that SHE has never HEARD of it.  Apparently the dumbass manager realized how many OTHER people had HEARD of it since they started carrying it about a month later.

The horror section at the local Blockbuster is terrible as well.  They used to have an extensive collection of horror flicks, but recently it has been reduced to about half of what they had.  The shelf is just empty now, probably waiting to shelve more video games on it.  The biggest shame about their horror section is that they had The Changeling on VHS, which is one of my favorite horror films.  This was one of the films to go when they cut back their horror section.  Its sad that there is going to be kids renting Scream 3 and such never to have seen The Changeling.  

Oh god, I'm ranting.  Can't stop now.

Then, there's the looks that the cashiers give you when you rent a film.  Usually my wife and I rent two films at a time, and quite often they are foreign films.  You have no idea the kind of looks I get when we rent stuff like City Of God/Ichi The Killer.  They look at us like we are from another planet; like they don't understand why we didn't rent White Chicks or Are We There Yet.  When you do rent something they've seen, they always give you their personal commentary on the film:

"You rented Fahrenheit 911?  You know that Moore guy is a communist." - I heard this one once.

"Das Experiment?  That's way too much German for me." - Heard this one too.

I do love when someone asks me what a good movie to rent is when I'm in Blockbuster.  Depending on the person that asks, I'll point at Kinsey or Kill Bill, just something different.  I don't know if any of those people actually like the films that I recommend they rent but I sure as hell like to think they do.  

I just wish that Blockbuster hadn't run the local Mom&Pop shops out of business.  I used to love renting horror flicks from the local shops during the summer.  Most of they had a 7 Movie-7 Day-7 Dollar deal and I would pick up seven horror flicks and have them returned within two days.  

But, those times are gone and we have succumed to the corporation and what they believe we should watch.  It's sad.

DAMN YOU BLOCKBUSTER!


/end rant



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: odinn7 on August 18, 2005, 08:08:14 AM
I get comments too, Skaboi. I've even had them try to talk me out of renting some things like as if they were trying to help save me from the junk I was renting. They've since fired those people and brought in a whole new crew (there must have been more to it but I don't know) and now they're a little better but they still give the looks. I also get annoyed with them trying to sell me some kind of deal package every time I set foot in the place. I get tired of saying "no" and having them continue to try and convince me of what a great deal I'm passing up.



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: LH-C on August 18, 2005, 10:25:15 AM
Susan, I first read your post in the middle of the night on my cell phone. Blockbuster just p**ses me off!!!!! But strangely I had problems with the mom and pop store 6 blocks from me during the last 3 years it was open in the late '90s. It was just that I had been shopping there for 10 years, very loyally, when I tried to get a job there, yet they wouldn't hire me. To make a long story short, even though I shopped there for eventually 13 years (the last 3 years while also shopping at 3 great Hollywood's), they never hired me because 'they only hired people they knew'. WTF?!?

Also, the Hollywood I've mainly been going to for the past eight years has distinct sections which is great! Even Sci-Fi and Fantasy have their own sections.



Post Edited (08-18-05 14:31)


Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: AndyC on August 18, 2005, 12:29:09 PM
The staff at the nearest Blockbuster to my house are actually not bad, but there is still one thing they do that annoys me - the greeting. It's obviously store policy for them to say hello. Not that I mind that, of course. The problem is that the way the entrance is set up on the stores, the greeting is coming from twenty feet directly behind me. My first reflex, naturally, is to stop in mid-step like a startled doofus and crank my head around, because it takes a second to realize it's not somebody who really wants to talk to me. Of course, part of me also feels kind of rude when I just bark "hi" without breaking stride or shifting my attention, so I'll often make some equally awkward manoeuvre even when I anticipated the greeting.

The one thing I dare not do is ignore it. This has never happened at the current store, but the staff at the BB store I used to use would get all p**sy if I failed to return the greeting. Hell, it was so half-hearted, far away and occasionally slow in coming, sometimes I wouldn't notice it at all, or wouldn't be sure it was for me. The snide comment (of the 'pardon me for living' variety) from behind would confirm that it was.

I mean, what to they care? They don't know me. Somebody's making them say it. They don't even have enough respect for me as a customer to be polite beyond what is mandated. What do they care if I say hello? I don't care if they say hello to me.

I'm a polite person, but I just don't see the point in turning around after I'm halfway across the store just to return a greeting that wasn't even sincere. I'd be more than willing if the store was set up so that I approached or passed by the counter on the way in, because I would at least have an opportunity to actually make eye contact. As it is, it just seems ridiculous.



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: Gerry on August 18, 2005, 04:14:09 PM
I haven't been into a Blockbuster or Hollywood video in years.  Basically I stopped going when my video collection became bigger than theirs.  It didn't take too long either.  There isn't a thing they have to interest me that I dont already own or am planning to buy at some point down the road.


Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: Susan on August 18, 2005, 08:16:53 PM
Unfortunately mom and pop video shops have all but closed except in the lower income areas of town where they are mostly converted into makeshift porno rooms where they gross most of their profit. I used to love my mom and pop shop, after blockbuster began taking over i noticed fewer people in there and the porn room was renovated to take up 1/3 of the store. Then late one night a man approached me in broken Russian..... "meednight veedeeo?" he asked as he pointed to a newspaper clipping of a video store advertising XXX films. I realized at that moment that blockbuster would take over the world and i was stuck in a store with pornofreaks. I quit going when I rented "mission impossible" and during the scene when he's being lowered into the room i began to hear the audio quite clearly of a narrarator talking about the mating rituals of sea otters. Apparently they were struggling and taping over used videocassettes, they began overcharging and i gave up.

I used to have a membership with Hollywood since they had a larger selection of movies, but not by that much. But they screwed me bigtime when they changed their due date without any notice. I quit going. Now it's the library or i buy my own movies. I saw netflix is advertising for $9.99 a month, i'm seriously considering.


RE: LAWSUIT SETTLEMENT:
Click HERE (http://www.newsreview.com/issues/chico/2001-08-02/biz.asp) to read more about it.  Basically I noticed they were overcharging me for late fee's. Then I got into it with an employee when they were slapping a late fee on me when i returned the movie ON TIME, I called the manager over and it got really ugly as we began arguing. Someone behind me was saying "Just pay the guy already" and that made me furious because they were trying to screw me out of money and refused to let me rent a movie until I paid the fee. Some guy jumped in saying the manager should honor the customer and I declared i was through with that store as I threw my money over the counter and stormed out. For the most part i am, i go maybe once or twice a year at most. And i'll only be returning to redeem these stupid coupons.



Post Edited (08-18-05 20:22)


Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: dean on August 19, 2005, 01:15:32 AM

My local blockbuster is brilliant.

This is all to do with the fact that the managers basically don't give a damn about blockbuster head office.   They were a different chain of video stores until getting taken over a few times.

Not only do they have great deals [except on video games] of 6 weekly movies for AU$6 [which is by far the best I've seen anywhere] they also have a pretty tidy selection of films, ranging from a large Arthouse section [where most of the foriegn stuff is put] a small, but well maintained Martial Arts section, to the usual drama, action, horror/thriller/comedy/kids/music and a section titled 'favourite actors' featuring movies from people like Arnie, De Niro, and all the big guns really.

They also don't give me funny looks and try and talk me out of renting movies, especially when I walk up to the counter with copies of Breakdance, Breakdance 2: Electric Boogaloo, Footloose, Glitter and such combined with horror titles.  

I'm sure that if I went to rent Gigli, one would appreciate someone trying to talk you out of it, but these guys probably don't mind at all if you do, and the fact that they play great movies in store when I'm there is a bonus of course!

The annoying thing was, I could have got a part time job there a few years back, but unfortunately they needed people to work when I wasn't available and couldn't offer me a position.

Ah well...



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: BeyondTheGrave on August 19, 2005, 02:52:24 AM
Susan, My friends father went through the same thing. They kept charging him for late fees when he was bringing them back on time and then they finally after aruging they gave him some coupons too.

I don't like BB either due to their to attiude. Meanwhile they never seen a movie before 1999 and think they  know everything. But they do have that 2 candy for a $1 that really helps me out when I am broke and need some sort of food.


-------------------------------------------------
Most of all I hate dancing then work, exercise, people,stupid people


Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: Susan on August 19, 2005, 07:10:27 AM
Rich - at least they gave him coupons. They didn't give me "JACK SQUAAAAT" (as chris farley would say). I hate to wait until the settlement and I still feel shortchanged, it's not enough.

Rich - you can go to the dollar store and get the same candy for a dollar (sometimes 2 or 3 for a dollar if it's a single small sized box) So your money goes further there. I also hate how the blockbusters here overwhelm you with FORCING YOU TO STAND IN LINE.

In the old days you formed your own little lines, now they have a line roped off with massive shelves of crap they want you to buy. These are called "impulse buys", groceries stores do it too. They probably tell store employees to check out people slower (because frankly they have gotten alot slower since they started this whole candy line thing) so that they will look at the items in the line and buy them.  When they became the kind of company that was more about making money than loving movies, i hated them.

All the snotnose kids in there barely 19 working their summer jobs who don't know anything about film. I remember back in the day video store workers knew about films, they often hired people who where enthusiasts about film.  I even walked in blockbuster the other day and a kid was standing up from so he could give every person who walked in a speech about their movies that they sell and how i need to buy one. I told him i can buy them cheaper on the internet and the movie hasn't been viewed a jillion times.  He had no response.



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: Mr_Vindictive on August 19, 2005, 08:46:31 AM
Susan wrote:

> I even walked in
> blockbuster the other day and a kid was standing up from so he
> could give every person who walked in a speech about their
> movies that they sell and how i need to buy one. I told him i
> can buy them cheaper on the internet and the movie hasn't been
> viewed a jillion times.  He had no response.


Once, one of the clerks was trying to tell me that I could buy 2 DVDs and get 1 free.  I looked at him dead in the face and said:

"That's why I have a dvd burner"

He didn't say anything after that.



Post Edited (08-19-05 08:46)


Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: AndyC on August 19, 2005, 10:56:41 AM
Good one.

I really hate when they try to push deals at me at the last minute. I've just spent at least ten or fifteen minutes searching the store for three movies I feel like watching (and my wife will approve of), stood in line for another five or ten minutes, and the guy says to me "you know, if you get one more movie, you can get them for such and such a price."

I usually just say no, but I feel like saying "After half an hour in your store, when I'm ready to pay and LEAVE, you expect me to go back and look around for one more goddamn movie I didn't want in the first place, and then come back here and wait again? Give your head a shake."



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: ulthar on August 19, 2005, 11:01:01 AM
My own 'late fee story:'

Once at the local Mom n Pop shop I mentioned above, we tried to rent a few movies.  The clerk told us we could not rent movies because we had overdue late fees, in the amount over $6000.  I did some quick math in my head and informed him that to have accrued that much at their daily rate, I'd have rented my movies before that store even existed.

He was very cool, said it was a computer error, and fixed it on the spot.

As for employees, this shop always had college age kids WHO DUG MOVIES.  Their employee picks section had some really cool stuff in it, and their little (hand written) notes about 'why I like this movie' were cool, too.

We tried the Mom n Pop shop here, but it's not that great; we end up in BB most of the time.  There's a Hollywood up the road, about the same distance as BB, but I've never been in there.



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: Fearless Freep on August 19, 2005, 11:16:37 AM
I found Hollywood Video to have a much larger selection of Sci-Fi, Horror, etc...than BB.  Considering the BB is around the corner so to speaj and the HV is several miles away, I still thought it worth the trip.



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: Susan on August 19, 2005, 07:10:34 PM
Wasn't blockbuster at one point trying to buy out hollywood video? God, if they get enough money they'll probably try and take out neflix and all competition



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: peter johnson on August 19, 2005, 11:18:49 PM
We have Video Station in Boulder county.
50,000 titles, perfectly arranged and catalogued.
I have no complaints at all.
You may hate me now . . .
peter johnson/denny crane



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: odinn7 on August 20, 2005, 08:23:41 AM
Susan wrote:

> Wasn't blockbuster at one point trying to buy out hollywood
> video? God, if they get enough money they'll probably try and
> take out neflix and all competition
>

...And eventually...THE WORLD!

Ha-ha...that brings up a crazy thought...could you imagine a world run by Ballbuster?



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: AndyC on August 20, 2005, 10:03:35 AM
We've got a pretty good independent store where I live, Generation X Video. I live in a city with two universities, a big arts community and a thriving high-tech sector, so the market is here for it. I mean, it's only a hop, skip and a jump from the local repertory cinema.

I've mentioned this video store before - movies divided by genre (horror, sci-fi, drama, western, musical, war, action and on it goes) and also by director. Foreign films by country. A section for Canadian directors. Separate sections for cult films, animation, B&W classics and literary adaptations. Kaiju, blaxploitation, exploitation and other such genres get their own sections. Movies that go together (Hammer horror, James Bond, etc.) are together. There is a whole basement full of anime, with a hentai section. And when DVDs became common, they went HEAVILY into them. No gradual acquisition. They've been buying them like crazy - all genres, all years.

Needless to say, I love that store. The only reason I use BB at all is for new releases and more common stuff, because it's right around the corner.



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: BeyondTheGrave on August 20, 2005, 02:56:06 PM
 I noticed through alot of these posts that the reason alot of us go to BB is that it near us. I think that the only thing they got going that their everywhere. I used to have a BB up the block but it got run out town by the mom and pop business.

-------------------------------------------------
Most of all I hate dancing then work, exercise, people,stupid people


Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: Susan on August 20, 2005, 05:42:10 PM
Yeah blockbuster is everywhere alright. Within a 1 mile radius of me i can count 5 easily. The problem is there is no other real competition. Some company like Hollywood needs to really pull a "Target" on them. Remember how target stores started to suck? Then you thought for sure walmart would take over the world. Although they have, target stores made a huge comeback by completely revamping the whole store from selling more trendy items to competing with a grocery store. I like them better, less chaos and they never use overhead speakers. But that's another topic.

I miss the old video stores iwth their turnstiles going in and the dim lighting. They had a small candy rack but i always remember putting a quarter in the bubble gum machine on the counter because they had a thing where if you got a blue ball you got a free rental. I thought that was cool when i one once. ;-)  They always had stuff like that going on in there, they had movie posters all over the inside of the store in marquee lights. sigh



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: ulthar on August 20, 2005, 10:34:26 PM
I have no idea if this is true, but I once 'heard' that Walmart's goal was to have stores no farther than 25 mi from each other; you'd always be with 12.5 miles of a Walmart.

Perhaps BB has something like this up their sleeve.

There's no doubt, though, that this thread clearly shows that at least among the movie buffs on this board who rent, the Mom n Pop's are by far the favorites. I believe it is not just the movie buffs.  Too bad BB could not do some market research and realize they'd PROBABLY make a bunch more money if they at least TRIED to imitate the good features of the smaller, locally owned video rental store.



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: Menard on August 20, 2005, 10:42:43 PM
I always find it interesting that BB tried  came to my local community and could not compete with the local store which has been here for years. BB left. (http://www.smileys.ws/sm/grinning/00000032.gif)



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: daveblackeye15 on August 20, 2005, 10:55:33 PM
Ha HA HA HA!!!! Your town rules ,Menard!



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: Menard on August 20, 2005, 11:26:03 PM
Nah. Mostly just outsider phobic. Although Wally World has been successful in town, probably due to putting money in the right pockets, this town has never been too particularly friendly to outsiders. Most of what probably kept BB from succeeding is that the local video store is not run by fools, but by people who know what they are doing and have had a presence in this town for over 20 years.(http://www.smileys.ws/sm/grinning/00000003.gif)



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: AndyC on August 21, 2005, 01:43:59 PM
Yeah, video stores used to be so cool. I can remember a couple of huge ones in this area in the late 80s - nearly the size of a small department store, and always jumping. Racks full of anything you could name, and stuff I'd never heard of before.

Bandito Video was like that. It was a local outfit that had a big original store and was starting to branch out into two or three other locations. Then it just disappeared. Used to drive 20 minutes into the city to rent from them.

Jumbo Video were, I believe, the largest chain in Canada before BB took hold. They are all but wiped out at this point. Last time I went into a Jumbo, I couldn't believe how much it sucked. No selection, crappy prices, nothing worth going back for. But in the late 80s, the local Jumbo was enormous. Racks everywhere, self-serve complimentary popcorn, and a separate room for horror that was dark and modelled to look like a castle. You walked through an arch to enter it. Jumbo was the coolest store. Then, little by little, the stock disappeared. The horror room vanished, to be replaced by one little rack on the wall. Then they started to focus on stocking large numbers of new releases - guaranteed availability of the hottest new stuff became their thing. Then the big store closed, to be replaced by little stores tucked away in strip malls. Depressing.

For a while there, it was a golden age for video stores. Pity it didn't last.



Post Edited (08-21-05 21:37)


Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: Shadow on August 21, 2005, 05:25:51 PM
I'm one of those old enough to remember when there were no video rental stores...period. Then they seemed to spring up overnight, propagating like mad in the early/mid 80s. Those were the "good old days" of movie rentals, before the cold corporations took over and squeezed out the little guy. Now I don't even know where the closest "mom and pop" store is to my house, though BB is about half a mile away. Sad, really. Like the extinction of the drive-in theaters, it heralds the end of an age.



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: Susan on August 21, 2005, 06:40:02 PM
maybe we all need to open up our own chain. Obscure movies, b movies, kickass movies, new releases. Large selection, decent prices, staff only comprised of absolute film junkies who will also help recommend titles and actually HELP customers find what they are looking for!  On that note they can have a staff pick shelf.  I suggested this to a kid at blockbuster (even tho we know their agenda would be pushing the new releases) and he replied "I tried suggesting that but they said no."

We can also have freshly popped popcorn cooking at peak hours for 75 cents a box (old fashioned boxes) or you can buy a bag of it to take home. There can be in the back a hotdog area where you can take home dinner. My mom and pop shop did this in their later years, I had forgotten about this. I loved going in and smelling the popcorn and munching on a box as I browsed the video store, they also had hot dogs if you wanted to take them home with your video. They didn't have an obscene wall of candy surrounding their checkout either.  Special ways for customers to win a free rental.  Cool music playing at a decent-low level (i'd rather have this than a bunch of movie screens trying to push new film releases on you, plus it's no fun if you have to be aware of the Ratings of what you can show)

I would also make sure the game shelves take up a small amount of the store - since it's a video store not a game store. And that's that.



Post Edited (08-21-05 18:48)


Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: AndyC on August 21, 2005, 10:05:07 PM
Tell me about it. I remember when the nearest movie rentals were in another town. A big local TV and stereo shop started carrying movies in the late 70s, and they were the only game around for a while. The few gadget lovers who had VCRs at the time would have to drive into the city to get movies. In those days, the movies were cheap to rent, but the membership cost money (I'd seen lifetime memberships at some places going for $100). The great thing is, that place is still renting movies. When the big boys came to town, they were smart, and marketed their wide selection, older titles and expert staff. Probably helps that they're also more or less downtown, while BB seems to have remained more of a suburban phenomenon around here; it stays out with the supermarkets and the box stores.

I can remember when the first store opened in my home town around 1981 or 82 (also still there, but BB has not yet come to town - I'm hearing rumours). Just a young local guy who saw the next big thing and grabbed it. The place was tiny at first, with a diverse, albeit modest, selection of movies. Watched that grow into the thousands, as the store moved twice to bigger units in the same plaza. I can also remember the place renting Atari cartridges in the beginning.

I wasn't a customer for a couple of years though, until my family got our first VCR (for about $800). Before we had a VCR, we rented one a couple of times. It was something like $30 for the VCR in a big padded case, and four movies for the weekend. Then there was a hefty damage deposit, since it was such a valuable piece of equipment. Don't know when that service stopped. Probably around the time VCRs became pretty much universal. But I can remember seeing most of my movies at a friend's house. I'm sure everybody had at least one friend whose dad was into gadgets. This guy had the VCR (actually a portable unit with a shoulder strap, for use with a camera), and he had the movie channels - all two of them!

Those were exciting times. Now, of course, home video is taken for granted.

The sad thing about many of those early stores is that those people had vision, they took a chance on something new, and built something great with it - then some corporate a***oles muscled their way in and took it away, leaving us with crappy, soulless stores that are all exactly the same. Hooray for free enterprise.



Post Edited (08-22-05 08:48)


Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: Menard on August 21, 2005, 10:56:58 PM
I agree that we do take home videos for granted. I remember in the 80s whenever I had an opportunity to have a VCR available, as I did not own one, it was a treat to watch movies, often times regardless what the movie was.

I had once, in the early 80s, worked with a company which used shoulder carry VCRs for its sales presentations. As I had one with me one weekend, I went out and rented movies like DOCTOR BUTCHER M.D. and I DISMEMBER MAMA (try to find those titles in stores today). I had a blast that weekend as it was a treat. Today I can just go to the video rack in my hallway and choose one of those titles (I have both). The novelty just isn't there anymore.

Oh yea. The early 80s was a time when a lot of the titles which were available on video were independents and imports. A lot of those titles are hard to find on video or DVD anymore. And if they are, few rental places are carrying them.



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: ulthar on August 21, 2005, 11:28:39 PM
AndyC wrote:

>
> Those were exciting times. Now, of course, home video is taken
> for granted.
>

So taken for granted, we now have DVD players in CARS.  I love movies, but that bothers me.

Anyway ...

My first exposure to video rental was in Germany in 1979.  My sister's husband was in the Army over there, and video rental was a big thing with the soldiers who did not want to watch German TV.  We went to visit them that summer, and we had to drive 45 minutes each way to rent movies.  We'd rent enough for several days, and go back for the next batch.

Exciting times indeed.  When I got back to the US, dudes I went to school with could not believe we were renting movies and watching them AT HOME!

And to Shadowfyre: drive-ins are endangered, but not yet extinct.  We go to one here several times a year (though Robots was our last outing).  It's great.  2-3 movies per night. On holiday weekends, they set up a real grill behind the concession stand and grill the burgers and hot dogs.  It makes the whole place smell, and feel, like a big block party.



Post Edited (08-22-05 10:44)


Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: ulthar on August 21, 2005, 11:32:27 PM
Susan wrote:

>  I suggested this to a kid at blockbuster (even tho
> we know their agenda would be pushing the new releases) and he
> replied "I tried suggesting that but they said no."

Our BB here has that.  Or it did.  I did not see it last time I was there, so maybe they had to remove it.

> Cool music playing at a decent-low level
> (i'd rather have this than a bunch of movie screens trying to
> push new film releases on you, plus it's no fun if you have to
> be aware of the Ratings of what you can show)
>

I don't particularly like movies playing in the video store when I'm there, especially if it is something that I want to see, but have not yet.  Talk about spoilers.



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: dean on August 22, 2005, 04:38:28 AM

peter johnson wrote:

> We have Video Station in Boulder county.
> 50,000 titles, perfectly arranged and catalogued.
> I have no complaints at all.
> You may hate me now . . .
> peter johnson/denny crane
>

That's pretty darn impressive.

There's a few hardcore 'we love movies'-type stores in my area, some a good 15 minutes drive away, with new releases imported from the states [which sometimes means, before they are in cinemas here] but I barely go to that one in particular.

Lately I've just been borrowing DVDs from my Uni library: it's free, and because it's mainly collected through the Cinema Studies faculty, they have an excellent and diverse, though somewhat limited collection.

Also I've noticed that there's a very spiteful vibe going on towards staff at blockbuster.  Some perfectly valid, like the clerk trying to talk someone out of a rental because they think it's a crap movie, but some are a little unfair, especially when they are trying to 'add on' sales with a 'if you get one more' etc.

I have to do something similar at my work, the bosses insist on it, and it always annoys me when some customers are very rude to me for asking a simple question like 'would you like anything else' or 'with purchase A, you can get purchase B for half price.'

I know it may annoy some people, and can get a bit repetitive, but a simple no will suffice, no need to get cranky at someone just for doing their job.

Get annoyed at the heads of Blockbuster by all means for the way they run things, or to staff who are generally rude but don't, however, get angry at someone doing their job by asking simple questions.  It might make you feel better to have a go at them, but just don't, it doesn't help in any way to get all cranky over something so petty.

That being said, I too dislike the way some blockbusters are run in the sense that I really don't like anything that is geared towards a purely superficial, money making ideal without treating the customers with proper respect.
Though I don't have a problem with an extensive games list.  Why is that a problem, other than the obvious taking up of space? It's much better to rent a game you vaguely feel like playing rather than spending $50 on one you don't really care too much about, they're much more expensive than movies to buy...

Oh and I liked that blue gum ball and get a free rental idea, that is a nice touch.



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: AndyC on August 22, 2005, 09:16:36 AM
Oh no, I wouldn't be rude to the staff, of course (I do take exception if they are rude to me, however). Actually, the staff at my current local Blockbuster seem fairly nice. I lay the blame for any of the annoying things they do squarely on their employer, since it's pretty obvious they're following instructions, which is why I give it as a reason I hate going to Blockbuster - it's universal.

I only feel like yelling at the staff, but I'm aware that they probably consider the sales pitches as big a pain in the ass as I do. Perhaps more.



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: AndyC on August 22, 2005, 09:22:10 AM
My first experience with video rental was on a family vacation around 1980. We were driving across the country and stopped to visit relatives in Alberta. We went to a cousin's place for dinner at one point, and they had a VCR. As a special treat for us, they rented a movie - '9 to 5,' as I recall. We were very impressed.

Man, to think that in those days, renting a movie was special. It was something you could plan to do when company was coming. Now it's something people do at the last minute when they're not doing anything else.



Post Edited (08-22-05 12:13)


Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: odinn7 on August 22, 2005, 10:47:03 AM
There were times that I felt like yelling at the idiots that were working at Ballbuster but I held back. The ones that were telling me I shouldn't rent certain movies are the ones I wanted to give it to but for the most part, I just dealt with it. As I said, all of those people were suddenly removed and replaced with all new staff that are really quite personable. I realize that they are told to try and upsell everything so it's not their fault. Even though it annoys me, since the people are nicer now, I've tried to handle it by giving a thoughtful look and then remarking how it does sound like a great deal but I think I'll have to pass on it for now. Eventually they may remember me and just stop asking...until then, it's just people trying to get by at a job that they probably don't really like too much. I can sympathize, I've been there before.



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: ulthar on August 22, 2005, 10:57:05 AM
dean wrote:

> Though I don't have a problem with an extensive games list.
> Why is that a problem, other than the obvious taking up of
> space? It's much better to rent a game you vaguely feel like
> playing rather than spending $50 on one you don't really care
> too much about, they're much more expensive than movies to
> buy...
>

I think the gist of the games vs. movies taking up space is that (1) Blockbuster will do whatever will make them the most money and (2) this is a movies forum, so the denizens here would probably, in general, prefer to see those shelves lined with obscure horror, 50's sci fi, etc, like they USED to be.

It's a question of competing interest; we, the movie crowd, want what we want to rent at a video rental store; BB is maximizing profit.  Personally, I've never rented a game and probably never will.  That's just me.  And BB does not care about that.  Their "profit density" is obviously greater with games and a huge shelf of "Pearl Harbor" and other 'main titles' than the movies *I* want to rent.  I often wonder why it has gotten so hard to find fun, b movies, and the answer must simply be that there is no perceived market for it.

The big thing I can find to lament about this is that BB drove out so many GOOD locally owned MOVIE RENTAL shops while being a MOVIE store that now, in many places, they are pretty much all that's there.  So, we are again left with what I call the "Walmart Syndrome:'  the customer cannot find what he wants, he can only buy what is available, cheaply, today.  (Lowes and Home Depot are like this on the 'hardware' side of things....).



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: Menard on August 22, 2005, 11:17:22 AM
A proper reply for a sales pitch: (http://www.smileys.ws/sm/action/00000056.gif)

(http://www.smileys.ws/sm/laughing/00000002.gif)



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: dean on August 22, 2005, 11:43:06 AM
Menard wrote:

> A proper reply for a sales pitch:
> (http://www.smileys.ws/sm/action/00000056.gif)
>
> (http://www.smileys.ws/sm/laughing/00000002.gif)
>

Somebody has been spending way too much time looking through the emoticons list!

But anyway, yeah I totally agree that Blockbuster is a big pain in the butt when it comes to renting more obscure titles, and their whole 'mission statement' of sell sell sell, especially when we already feel hard done by as fans of the Cinema Obscura,  I guess that's why I got a Quickflix subscription and have recieved a heap of lesser known titles which would never EVER be stocked at a blockbuster, not matter how much they like to think that they have a good and varied selection.  

I guess I'm not so affected by the whole corporate Blockbuster machine since I delibrately go elsewhere as we have so many different chains/stores and Blockbuster is so expensive in comparison that I fail to see the point.  As a point of interest I actually walked into the big Blockbuster in my local shopping strip and noticed that since I've last been in there it's been given an overhaul, is now expanding into the traded Dvds and Videos market and increased it's Video Games section twenty fold [with ones for sale as well as rent now, plus a few consoles you can play in store] and has that whole 'aisle of candy' area.  So now I can see why people are so p**sed off.  I guess the changes are starting to come into effect here now, because this store used to be pretty straight foward in it's setup and had a pretty good selection.  Now I just wonder what happened to all the stock that they used to have...

Anyway, the only Blockbuster I go to is, like I mentioned in an earlier post, pretty much a locally run business which hasn't changed since I've known of its existence, except in name.  So I guess that doesn't really count then...



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: StatCat on August 22, 2005, 05:06:33 PM
Blockbuster= Ballbuster, I had a stupid gift card with about $25 on it that someone gave me and they practically deducted the whole thing when I tried to use it a few weeks ago. It was old but not THAT old.



Post Edited (08-22-05 17:07)


Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: daveblackeye15 on August 22, 2005, 07:01:05 PM
I hate it to StatCat when those gift cards run out so quickly. Me and bro usally get those 25 dollar ones for our bithday's and Christmas.

Off topic: It's funny, you're one people that was here when I first joined the board and it was just before I started typing this reply that I noticed your name is StatCat, this whole time I thought you were "StarCat"

Lol.

Okay no more pointlessness.



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: Susan on August 22, 2005, 08:27:10 PM
ulthar, we don't just have dvd players in cars. I was at sears the other day sitting in the lawn section resting my feet when i looked up and saw a treadmill for sale with a dvd player/tv screen in the panel.

When we lived in germany my folks endured  2 years of crappy tv, so when we got stationed in the philippines (circa 70-80) they bought a vcr for $800 so they could have friends in the US ship them video's taped from HBO. It was awsome to have video's of our own to watch, because we didn't go to the movies often and they didn't have a ton of features overseas anyways. So each cassette could fit around 2-3 movies on it. We would rent them out each weekend (for free of course) to neighbors and set them out front like we were our own video store...lol

Now when cable came around I thought HBO was the bomb, but back then I dont' remember hbo showing alot of quality movies, if any movies at all, during the daytime when i got home from school. This was probably in 82-83, i remember how excited i would get when the movie of the week would premiere and the intro began with the HBO theme song and the camera zooming into the O from the HBO logo and them lots of lights and sparks and then darkness. Yay!!!  

Yeah, we do take it for granted, the younger generation doesnt' remember what it was like when it was a luxery. now it's a necessity. When i tell people i don't have cable i get the "look", like i'm from another planet and they go into a spiel about how they can't live without it regardless of the cost. Now cable is just a bunch of excess. I like living in my cableless world where i am surrounded by my movie collection and i can recreate the fun of the friday night movie of the week on my own!



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: ulthar on August 22, 2005, 08:39:34 PM
Susan wrote:

>When i tell people i don't have cable i get the
> "look", like i'm from another planet

I don't have cable either, and I know that look well.  The last time I had cable was around 90-91 or so; Cablevision (Durham, NC) jacked up my monthly price about $1-2 per month every so often and dropped channels THAT I LIKED with the rate increases.

I dropped it, and never looked back.

And yes, I agree with the special night aspect, too.  Movie night for us (my wife and I when the kids aer asleep) is a special, once a month or so treat.



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: Amanda on August 23, 2005, 10:26:54 PM
I'm sad to say that I've given up completely on my local video stores (Blockbuster, Hastings).  They never have much of anything worthy of renting, and as my husband will attest to, I'll watch just about anything.  Hell, I bought "Galaxina", much to his family's horror.

I've not heard anyone mention "Netflix", so I'm wondering if people on here have problems with them?  I'm enjoying my Netflix subscriptions.  They have some truly AWFUL movies, things that I would never, in a MILLION years find ANYWHERE in this part of Texas, and I'm loving every minute of it.

Let me put it this way - I had to drive to DALLAS to see Shaun of the Dead in the theater.  2 hours away, to see a movie.  That is not right.



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: Fearless Freep on August 24, 2005, 12:55:35 AM
I'll watch just about anything. Hell, I bought "Galaxina"

*bought*   Wow!!!  I've rented it but unless I could buy it for the cst of rental ($1 or two)...I don't think I would ever buy it :)


I've not heard anyone mention "Netflix", so I'm wondering if people on here have problems with them?


I have a subscription.  Right now I'm waiting for...lesses..Cube Zero and disk 4 of the StarBlazers series...and AstroZombies is on deck...and 130 or so odd other movies in my queue



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: BeyondTheGrave on August 24, 2005, 01:52:48 AM
NetFlix owns my soul(http://www.smileys.ws/sm/action/00000024.gif)

-------------------------------------------------
Most of all I hate dancing then work, exercise, people,stupid people


Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: Mr_Vindictive on August 24, 2005, 07:08:10 AM
I've wanted to try Netflix but my wife is against it.  She'd rather rent what she wanted when she wanted instead of making a list and then getting the films randomly.

For me though, I don't care either way.



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: Anonymous User on August 24, 2005, 08:09:06 PM
And the same sound be true for people working in music stores --



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: Amanda on August 24, 2005, 09:35:51 PM
I just couldn't help myself when it came to Galaxina....I thought it was hilarious.  My inlaws thought I was nuts.  I think I bought it more to horrify them than because I actually WANTED the movie.  *L*

I forget how many movies I have in my queue at the moment, I believe it's roughly the same.  Have you seen "Zombie Planet"?  Interesting premise, and not a terrible movie......



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: Amanda on August 24, 2005, 09:37:41 PM
It doesn't have to be randomly.....you can change the order in your queue.   Granted, it's roughly about a day to get it, but you can always change the order and get what you want, next....



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: Amanda on August 24, 2005, 09:58:41 PM
*happy smile*  yes.  It is wonderful, isn't it?  I'm just sorry it took me so long to realize....



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: Just Plain Horse on August 25, 2005, 11:52:24 AM
Susan wrote:

> Ok, so out of that lawsuit settlement i got a bunch of coupons
> for free movies and dollar offs for Blockbuster and i went to
> rent. I wanted to get "suspiria" and another older film and i
> was looking all over for the Horror section. I must have
> overlooked it so I asked the guy in there and he said they
> didn't have one, they put it all in the Drama section.  So,
> right next to Hellraiser is Howards End. I turn around to hunt
> for the sci-fi section - again, this is all mixed in with the
> drama.

Welcome to the homogenization of American entertainment. Consider yourself lucky you can still find Hellraiser... in five years, it'll be gone, too. The truly ignorant and bland elements of our society seem to be trying to bleach us of anything not considered mainstream. If it isn't G-rated or made in the last four years, you're really going to have to hunt for it.

> So basically there are 4 sections: Drama, comedy, action and
> Childrens. I think there is a half a shelf reserved for foriegn
> films.

Half a shelf? That's more than I expected. I sure hope "The City of Lost Children", "Ikiru", "Matango" and "Princess Mononoke" don't take up the space that could be used for the new Dukes of Hazard movie...

>Needless to say to make room for all their xbox games
> and movies for sale, they don't actually rent out good older
> movies. Back in the day you could wander around and pick up
> really obscure titles that nobody has heard of, the stores were
> constantly expanding shelfspace.

Yeah, and video game stores are getting better, rarer DVD's by contrast; I actually ran across a XXX DVD and an Inhumanoids DVD in an EB Games the other day... a silly cartoon from the 80's, but I didn't know it was on DVD before yesterday... bizarre.

> so i ended up buying Suspiria at Fry's Electronics. They're the
> only place that has a more extensive collection of movies to
> purchase. They were in the middle of reorganizing their shelves
> and i was a little annoyed when the guys were placing obvious
> sci-fi movies in the horror section and vice versa. I just
> wanted to shake them and say 'DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT
> MOVIES??!!"

The only section they ever get right are the new releases. I always check the entire store... I've found horror mixed in with drama, romance with action... they're total morons; why the hell does Jaws go on the same shelf with Indiana Jones: the Last Crusade and Leviathan with- I s**t you not- El Marachi?!?! How wrong are those?
 
> It should be mandatory that if you work with dvd's/movies you
> have to know all about movies. So they weren't very helpful in
> locating the titles i wanted as they scratched their heads as
> if to say "lady, if I've never heard of it then it can't be a
> good movie". I almost wanted to say "Why don't you guys go home
> and let me re-organize these shelves. no charge"

Maybe some people enjoy playing Hide-n-go-seek for their movies...

Ballbuster used to be a place where you could find "Mermaid's Forest", "The Nest", "Zarkorr", "Mystery Science Theater: The Movie" and films I've never even heard of before (a movie called "Fear" that has nothing to do with "Marky" Mark Walhberg... but with a spooky wooden figure named Morty)... Now, you're lucky if you can find "Jaws: The Revenge" or "Forbidden Planet". How long before they declare bankruptcy? Five years?

The independant video stores are, I think, beginning to make a comeback... but it'll be a long damn while before anything less generic than Aliens vs. Predator is the darkest thing you'll see lining the shelves...



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: Menard on August 25, 2005, 12:58:47 PM
Perhaps, or a least we can hope, independent video stores are going to make a comeback, but I have a feeling the opposite may well be true.

When video stores first came about, it was something different, and quite frankly fun to see movies which were not on the big screen, or perhaps those we missed or had not been available for a while. As the video store has become more commonplace, it has been moving in the same direction as the  theatre: mainstream.

A good number of people I know go to the video store to rent new releases, without even a consideration of checking out other movies.

There are those who want selection and variety, and the ability to make their own decisions; but the majority of video store customers are looking for the same thing they would be looking for in the theatre: that the selection be made for them and they be told what to watch



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: Susan on August 25, 2005, 05:27:18 PM
I don't think indy stores will make a comeback. In fact I think eventually blockbuster stores will shut down. More and more people will eventually rent online  I think, and with cable now you can order movies on PPV (mostly new releases clumbed into several pages of a hundred or so) but eventually i can imagine they will somehow have more and more movies titles on PPV to choose from so you can watch it anytime you want, any movie you want for the 24 hour time period (maybe they'll extend it) because these new sets you can pause, rewind and fast forward through the PPV movie. If they could somehow get almost all movies ever made on the tv i swear i wouldn't miss video stores. Then i could get ANY movie i wanted

I wonder if that might be the wave of the future, then video store companies would go under even with online rentals. As more and more people figure out how to copy dvd's they may do away with those dvd rentals alltogether. If you have to order all your movies on PPV you could record it from the tv but the quality wouldn't be as good as from a dvd..plus they might figure out someway to code and block...god i am really digressing here so i'll shut up now ;-)

I still have Das Experiment to watch (seen it before but liked it) and figure out when to return it. The "Late fee's are over" slogan btw is wrong, alot of lawsuits coming about since if you don't turn it in within a certain time period they charge you for the movie and a restocking fee (that they never advertised anywhere in the store when it first came out so how was a customer to know)



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: Ash on August 25, 2005, 08:00:50 PM
Susan wrote:

The "Late fee's are over"
> slogan btw is wrong, alot of lawsuits coming about since if you
> don't turn it in within a certain time period they charge you
> for the movie and a restocking fee (that they never advertised
> anywhere in the store when it first came out so how was a
> customer to know)

Actually, my local BB is very good at letting you know what date the movie is due back on and they are also good about telling you that there's a seven day grace period after the due date and will usually give you the last date of the grace period.
They will also point out those dates to you on the receipt.
I love being able to keep an old release for 2 weeks.
(and no, my BB doesn't have the movie grouping problem...putting films in the wrong sections etc...)

Some BB's are definitely more customer oriented than others...more willing to please.

I guess I don't hate BB as much as some here do.
I don't love them by any means or rent there exclusively....but if I'm in a hurry and know that they have it in stock I'll stop there.
Plus it also helps that they're just down the street from where I work and one of my old high school buddies is the store manager.



Post Edited (08-26-05 17:58)


Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: AndyC on August 26, 2005, 03:31:23 PM
Yeah, Blockbuster used to be a good store, back when there was more competition. It was actually one of the places I'd drive into the city to rent from, when I was looking for movies beyond what my local Mom & Pop carried. I remember them having many different sections, including large horror, sci-fi, foreign etc. I could actually find episodes of Force Five amongst their animated offerings.

It is only since they've built themselves a virtual monopoly around here that BB has gone downhill. This is what people never realize when the great new chain store moves to town. These outfits try to outclass the competition in every way, beat them on all fronts. But once they have a lock on the market, they start to maximize their profits, streamline their operations and cut costs, and the first things to go are quality, selection and staff with any kind of expertise. Once a company becomes big enough to dominate, it goes downhill, and there's nothing to be done about it. Potential competitors do not want to risk opening independent stores, and if they do, most people are too cheap, lazy or indifferent to give them the support they need.

It's funny how the big companies claim to be giving people what they want, but at the same time, provide limited options from which to choose. You can have whatever you want, but here are your options. At what point are they telling us what we want? That was the question I kept putting to the idiot radio PD I mentioned in the 'Bad Albums' thread. Not surprisingly, he didn't get it.



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: Just Plain Horse on August 27, 2005, 09:04:26 AM
Susan wrote:

> I don't think indy stores will make a comeback. In fact I think
> eventually blockbuster stores will shut down.

I don't know if indy video stores will be even half as popular as they were before the Blockbuster explosion, but I do think the big name rentals will close, leaving some room for the lesser ones. Too many people are too tech-stupid or security paranoid to do a lot of renting online... at least, not for another 20 years or so. Also, as more video stores are carrying both DVD's and video games, they still manage to pull in some youthful customers- perhaps those who don't wanna shell out 50 bucks for a game until after they've tried it out first.

 >More and more people will eventually rent online

Eventually is the key word; most people who currently rent are not comfortable enough with computers to make the switch from the video store to the webpage. Most of them won't die out for another 20 to 30 years. The technology is there; the human's understanding of its potential isn't. Those who will rent online most likely aren't video store customers currently or never were (their parents did most of the renting).


>I think, and with cable now
> you can order movies on PPV (mostly new releases clumbed into
> several pages of a hundred or so) but eventually i can imagine
> they will somehow have more and more movies titles on PPV to
> choose from so you can watch it anytime you want, any movie you
> want for the 24 hour time period (maybe they'll extend it)
> because these new sets you can pause, rewind and fast forward
> through the PPV movie.

PPV is good if you like what's been in theaters for the bulk of the past year, and mostly from this country. Anything else, and it's a basically useless feature; I'm sure it's a deal made to allow companies to make some modest profit off the crap they shovel in and out of the box office every three weeks or so. "Double Jeopardy", "The Cell", "8 Legged Freaks", "Crow 2", "Jurassic Park 3", " US Marshals" (AKA: The Fugitive 2) and Roland Emmeric's "Godzilla" are the kind of films you'll find on PPV... whoopty-s**t, right? "Crouching Tiger" and "The Lord of the Rings" is the best PPV has ever had to offer, which is mostly coincedental... and I've seen both available in my local library!


 If they could somehow get almost all
> movies ever made on the tv i swear i wouldn't miss video
> stores. Then i could get ANY movie i wanted
>
> I wonder if that might be the wave of the future, then video
> store companies would go under even with online rentals. As
> more and more people figure out how to copy dvd's they may do
> away with those dvd rentals alltogether. If you have to order
> all your movies on PPV you could record it from the tv but the
> quality wouldn't be as good as from a dvd..plus they might
> figure out someway to code and block...god i am really
> digressing here so i'll shut up now ;-)
 
I have a feeling if they figure out how to "code and block" movies on tv from being recorded, more money would be lost from those who record all their programs then what would be gained in DVD sales... unless the ones in charge are dumber than I thought...

In conclusion, I'm not saying small video store chains are going to balloon up after Blockbuster busts, but I don't think they'll become extinct too soon. Hell, there are still movie theaters open, and they get much less business than any rental store.



Title: Re: I hate blockbuster...again
Post by: StatCat on August 28, 2005, 09:26:31 PM
DaveBlackEye:

>Off topic: It's funny, you're one people that was here when I first joined the board >and it was just before I started typing this reply that I noticed your name is >StatCat, this whole time I thought you were "StarCat"
>
>Lol.
>
>Okay no more pointlessness.

Never got that but I have had people call me Scatcat or Stratcat so it happens. I'm an old timer here that just didn't register officially until like last year.  Think I might've been just using the name cat on the old board way way back.



Post Edited (08-28-05 21:29)