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Badmovies.org Forum  |  Movies  |  Bad Movies  |  Remembering how Blockbuster Sucks « previous next »
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Author Topic: Remembering how Blockbuster Sucks  (Read 21906 times)
Vermin Boy
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« Reply #30 on: January 14, 2003, 05:43:15 PM »

Personally, I do think that it's a lousy practice for distributors to shut out a film because it's rated NC-17. Once upon a time, legitimate movies like A Clockwork Orange and Midnight Cowboy were rated X, and still got distribution, critical acclaim, and awards. Today, those films would have to be cut in order to go anywhere except straight to video. Unfortunately, too many people have gotten it into their heads that "for adults" equals "porno," and use the NC-17 as a label to dismiss it as such.

Plus, there's the fact that the MPAA is a non-government group with biases up the wazoo. When Robert Rodriguez' "El Mariachi" was rated NC-17, he asked the studio why the much more violent Reservoir Dogs was rated R. The response: "Oh, it's a Miramax film. The MPAA loves them."

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-Vermin Boy

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Funk, E.
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« Reply #31 on: January 14, 2003, 05:54:50 PM »

Objectivity and people are two words that all too rarely have anything in common. If I was on the MPAA I know my leniency or strictness would probably be dictated by my mood and personal standards. If I had seen a glut of violent films to judge my tolerance for violence would change over time. If I had to review one too many sexual thrillers I might give a relatively mild film an R rating faster. I don't know I think the whole rating system is awkwardly applied
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Paquita
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« Reply #32 on: January 15, 2003, 01:05:33 AM »

well none! butt im just saying!

edward penishands or the layin king cos they sing vagina matata


love colleen
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AndyC
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« Reply #33 on: January 15, 2003, 09:53:26 AM »

Funk, E. wrote:
>
> Well Andy, that there is a hell of a can of worms you've
> opened up there

It's a gift  :)

Seriously, I'm not sure we really disagree on this. My complaint is not that Hollywood doesn't take chances. Of course they don't. I'm just suggesting that by creating a climate in which independent films seldom get a wide release, they have lost the people who took the chances for them, and gave them proven ideas. Meanwhile, the tried and true is getting more and more stale.

I agree that we have very selective memories, and only the best is remembered, but when theatres are so full of remakes and adaptations of 30-year-old TV shows, that fresh ideas are in shorter supply than they used to be, or at least fresh ideas that have been sufficiently proven. Sure, plenty of really creative  independent films fail to make a lot of money, but when these films don't have an opportunity to succeed, everyone loses out on the knowledge of which ideas do appeal to the mainstream.
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Funk, E.
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« Reply #34 on: January 15, 2003, 05:08:59 PM »

We're definately on the same page and you'r right that we've entered into a period of movies where people like Peter Jackson whould never get discovered because of the the current dynamic that exists between distribution and production. However, this will change, when the should be blockbuster starts failing to bring in much more money than a fly-by-night indie the industry will again cull the wasteland that is indie film making for the next big thing the next unknown that'll breathe life into the industry. We've watched the populare music industry go from cookie cutter to avant guard to cookie cutter more than once over time.

Also, The technology need to make projects with quality production value is dropping daily making indie production easier. There will be a revival of good film making I sure of it.
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Pancho
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« Reply #35 on: January 15, 2003, 10:17:43 PM »

Wow, this is gonna p**s you off Paquita.  I'm 16 and they never card me.  I rent about three R rated or unrated movies at a time and they just take my money with a smile.
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Susan
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« Reply #36 on: January 15, 2003, 10:26:43 PM »

Not to be nitpicky, but I never could understand why Blockbusters can't alphabatize the movies. Sometimes I find more H's way over in the L's. usually it's just a big mess, which frustrates me since most of the movies I rented were small titles which means there's only one copy I had to spend 15 minutes staring at the shelves looking for. Nothings changed, I went back this past weekend after many years. The line went to the back of the store, couldn't find anything and even tho i get to keep my movies for a week I still figure they're goign to try and find some way to screw me. %-/

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JohnL
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« Reply #37 on: January 16, 2003, 05:31:11 AM »

>I see. Are you also up in arms about airline versions? TV-edited versions? The

There's a difference. As someone else pointed out, you're not paying to see movies in those situations, but you DO pay to rent movies at Blockbuster. Also, Blockbuster is forcing many small video stores out of business, so that you often have no choice but to rent from them or another similar chain.

>R-rated/unrated disparity? Is it also similarly evil when the theatrical distributor
>comes back and says, "This'll get an NC-17 -- edit it down to an R or we can't
>distribute it"?

Yes, it is. The ratings are supposed to be an advisory, not a tool to force studios to censor movies.

>Go to Blockbuster and find me an movie edited from the theatrical version that
>doesn't say so on the box. Go ahead. I'll wait here.

Some people aren't aware of the differences between versions. Someone looking to rent Showgirls might not even remember what the theatrical version was rated, or they might not know to check the rating because they don't expect a video store to be carrying censored copies of movies (regardless of who did the censoring).

>For instance, the side of the case will say - American Pie 2 - Unrated version. Or
>- Showgirls - R version. And the cover box will also have some kind of
>explanation of that fact,

You mean somewhere on the case it will say something to the effect of "This is not the version that was in theaters", or "Censored version created especially for Blockbuster"?

>I think with the advent of DVD, Blockbuster is loosening it's policy.

Are they willing to carry NC-17 movies now?

>Most of the toned down versions of films we get are some series of skin flicks
>made by Playboy, and we carry the R-rated versions.

And what makes Blockbuster think that people who would want to rent these videos would want to see a specially censored version of them? If I were going to rent a 'skin flick', it wouldn't be for the plot or the dialog.

>If I was on the MPAA

You have to be a parent to be a member of the MPAA. At least that's what I've always read, since the ratings are supposedly intended for parents.

>well none! butt im just saying!
>
>edward penishands or the layin king cos they sing vagina matata

EP always sounded interesting. I've also had an urge to see Buffy The Vampire Layer...

>Not to be nitpicky, but I never could understand why Blockbusters can't
>alphabatize the movies.

The first video rental store my family got a membership at (way back when video tapes were enough of novelty to justify renting them on a regular basis) didn't even have the movies sorted by type, everything was just thrown in together. Except for the adult videos, they were on the other side of the store.
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TC
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« Reply #38 on: January 16, 2003, 06:10:41 AM »

>For instance, the side of the case will say - American Pie 2 - Unrated version. Or
>- Showgirls - R version. And the cover box will also have some kind of
>explanation of that fact,

"You mean somewhere on the case it will say something to the effect of "This is not the version that was in theaters", or "Censored version created especially for Blockbuster"?"

No, I mean that somewhere it will say it is rated R.  Rated R movies are the "hardest" rating that Blockbuster carries because of their "family video store" image the like to maintain.  However, lately, they like to carry the "unrated" version of DVDs like The Sweetest Thing, Road Trip, Y Tu Mama Tambien, ect.  They can get away with doing this since these versions haven't been rated by the MPAA and can just stick a youth-restricted viewing sticker on them, like they do with anything not rated by the MPAA.  


>Most of the toned down versions of films we get are some series of skin flicks
>made by Playboy, and we carry the R-rated versions.

"And what makes Blockbuster think that people who would want to rent these videos would want to see a specially censored version of them? If I were going to rent a 'skin flick', it wouldn't be for the plot or the dialog."

It's the same reason people watch the Cinemax movies on late-night television.  The versions we carry are the same that play on there.  And believe me, there are plenty of men - married, single, old, young - that rent these softcore R dick teaser movies.  With the advent of the Internet, cable, and adult movie stores, I'm not really sure why though.  I guess for some guys, all it takes is a bare pair of fake boobs and a lame softcore erotic storyline to get their jollies.
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TC
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« Reply #39 on: January 16, 2003, 06:14:23 AM »

Sounds like a problem that's just particular to that store.  Our store, everything is kept in a loose alphabetical order.  Our's is pretty close to alphabetical, but it's impossible to keep it exact, since it changes every Tuesday, and you have to follow a certain merchandising scheme of how many cases go on a shelf and how they are to be arranged.
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JohnL
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« Reply #40 on: January 16, 2003, 06:28:34 AM »

>No, I mean that somewhere it will say it is rated R. Rated R movies are
>the "hardest" rating that Blockbuster carries because of their "family video
>store" image the like to maintain.

Some people aren't aware of this or that studios create special R-rated versions of some videos just to make Blockbuster happy.

>It's the same reason people watch the Cinemax movies on late-night television.

Because there's nothing else on, the movie is there and you don't have to pay anything extra for it? That's the only reason I've watched them.

>The versions we carry are the same that play on there. And believe me, there
>are plenty of men - married, single, old, young - that rent these softcore R dick

That's just sad. Not that they rent skin flicks, but that they'd pay money for the same softcore crap they can see on any pay channel.
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nshumate
B-Movie Site Webmaster
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Posts: 760



« Reply #41 on: January 16, 2003, 10:06:31 AM »

JohnL wrote:
>
> >I see. Are you also up in arms about airline versions?
> TV-edited versions? The
>
> There's a difference. As someone else pointed out, you're not
> paying to see movies in those situations, but you DO pay to
> rent movies at Blockbuster.

And you get exactly what you're paying for.  The version of the movie is marked clearly on the box, just like the title and other salient information.  I don't think that the basic skill of reading the English language is too much to expect of the average renter.
>
> >R-rated/unrated disparity? Is it also similarly evil when
> the theatrical distributor
> >comes back and says, "This'll get an NC-17 -- edit it down
> to an R or we can't
> >distribute it"?
>
> Yes, it is. The ratings are supposed to be an advisory, not a
> tool to force studios to censor movies.

Wait -- so who's the big ee-vil in this case?  When a distributor comes back and says, "Sorry, NC-17 doesn't play well in Des Moines, we can't distribute anything above an R or we'll lose money" -- are they somehow being evil by (gasp) trying to stay in business?

>
> >Go to Blockbuster and find me an movie edited from the
> theatrical version that
> >doesn't say so on the box. Go ahead. I'll wait here.
>
> Some people aren't aware of the differences between versions.
> Someone looking to rent Showgirls might not even remember
> what the theatrical version was rated, or they might not know
> to check the rating because they don't expect a video store
> to be carrying censored copies of movies (regardless of who
> did the censoring).

Oh, come on.  Anyone who remembers Showgirls remembers it entirely because of it being the first theatrically-distributed NC-17 title in a decade.  There's a point at which you should assume some minimum of intelligence in the renting public.

And there have been enough R-rated vs. unrated versions of movies around that anyone who doesn't think to look at their box is an idiot.  If you want to criticize Blockbuster for not wholly accomodating the idiot demographic, well...

> >For instance, the side of the case will say - American Pie 2
> - Unrated version. Or
> >- Showgirls - R version. And the cover box will also have
> some kind of
> >explanation of that fact,
>
> You mean somewhere on the case it will say something to the
> effect of "This is not the version that was in theaters", or
> "Censored version created especially for Blockbuster"?

See above note on fully accomodating idiots.  (And by the way, these versions are rarely created exclusively FOR Blockbuster.  The first place I saw a rated version of Showgirls was on the shelves of Hollywood Video.)

> >Most of the toned down versions of films we get are some
> series of skin flicks
> >made by Playboy, and we carry the R-rated versions.
>
> And what makes Blockbuster think that people who would want
> to rent these videos would want to see a specially censored
> version of them?

Probably the fact that, um, PEOPLE RENT THEM.  And come back and RENT SOME MORE.

You seem to think that Blockbuster doesn't know how money gets into its cash drawer.

Nathan
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Nathan Shumate
Cold Fusion Video Reviews
Sci-fi, Horror, and General Whoopass
AndyC
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« Reply #42 on: January 16, 2003, 12:56:34 PM »

Hmmm. On one hand, the average movie renter lacks the intelligence to enjoy something new and different, and can't be expected to notice anything outside the Hollywood mainstream. On the other hand, this same person is supposed to be aware of different versions of the same movie, carefully read labels and understand the rating system. Seems kind of contradictory.

I know reasonably intelligent people who regularly confuse R and NC-17, and one who thought that unrated was a tamer version "because there was no need to rate it." I have one friend who pretty much chooses his movies based on the box art. All of them can appreciate a well-made film.

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nshumate
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« Reply #43 on: January 16, 2003, 01:44:00 PM »

>
> Hmmm. On one hand, the average movie renter lacks the
> intelligence to enjoy something new and different, and can't
> be expected to notice anything outside the Hollywood
> mainstream. On the other hand, this same person is supposed
> to be aware of different versions of the same movie,
> carefully read labels and understand the rating system. Seems
> kind of contradictory.

I don't think that the person looking for nothing out of the mainstream is going to be the one who is p**sed because the difference between the R-rated and unrated versions of Dead Alive wasn't spelled out with big neon letters.

The big theatrical releases for which Blockbuster and other rental outlets have carried variant versions, either tamer (Requiem for a Dream) or wilder (American Pie, Soul Survivor) had big broad banners across the front, either proclaiming them "Edited Version" or "UNRATED -- Not Seen in Theaters!"

Aside from having a Blockbuster clerk standing at the customer's elbow speaking in small, easy words, what more could they do?

> I know reasonably intelligent people who regularly confuse R
> and NC-17, and one who thought that unrated was a tamer
> version "because there was no need to rate it."

So now your complaint isn't against Blockbuster, it's against any video distributor who puts out an "Unrated" version that doesn't have a big explanatory footnote, "This means more breasts"?

 I have one
> friend who pretty much chooses his movies based on the box
> art. All of them can appreciate a well-made film.

I'll let you discover the wonderful straightline/punchline effect of these last two sentences on your own.

Nathan
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Nathan Shumate
Cold Fusion Video Reviews
Sci-fi, Horror, and General Whoopass
Bernie
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« Reply #44 on: January 16, 2003, 03:31:33 PM »

One point was made earlier in this thread that kind of got overlooked that I think is rather important:

All of the pro-Blockbuster posts seem to have an underlying assumption that people have choices -- that if you don't want to rent at Blockbuster, go somewhere else.

Well, for an ever-increasing number of people, there is nowhere else to go.  In too many towns and neighborhoods, big chains like Blockbuster have pushed out the smaller, more idiosyncratic (sp?) mom-&-pop stores.  Those at the mercy of a lowest-common-denominator corporate mentality like Blockbuster's can't vote with their pocketbooks (as the old phrase goes) -- they're simply stuck.  

I'm lucky -- I happen to live somewhere where my video rental choices range from the predictably bland to the  downwright goofy.  But not everyone is so lucky.
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