Ash Ketchum

"Once upon a time, before we could imagine a movie and make it appear in our heads the way we want it and be able to change anything in it, people had to sit and watch movies where other people decided everything in it beforehand and you couldn't change a thing, you just had to sit there and watch someone else's conception."

"Really? That's so cool. I've often wondered how great it must be to watch a movie and not know what's going to happen in it. You know, be surprised. Movies must have been fun then."

caligulathegod

I'm actually nostalgic for the days before video, when I had to get up at 3:00 to watch some rare gem on the late late show. Also, films were more special when they were harder to obtain. Wizard of Oz has a special place in the hearts of our generation because it was only available a certain time of year. Now, youths think of it as just any other movie, if they've even seen it, ironically because it is too available.

This isn't to say that I would go back. But having lived through a time when movies were a more rare and precious commodity makes me appreciate how available they ARE now.

My Other Self

This has got to be one of the worst instances of of PhotoShop I've seen used in a poster.

TheMovieman

I can't believe a talent like Ricky Blitt would stoop to such levels. And it's his follow-up to writing a segment in Movie 43 to boot!

Count Dooku

Two things:

One is that going to the video store was a shopping experience. Sometimes you were going there to acquire a specific title, usually the newest release of some blockbuster. But just as often, you were just there to shop for a movie. Having all the boxes set out on shelves so you could wander around and consider your options. Finding an old favorite or making a new discovery. Letting your curiosity roam.

Two is that the video store was a social experience. I remember going to a "Mom and Pop" shop with my friend when were in high school. We were young guys interested in good movies, the guy that worked there was a film nerd who loved to talk to customers and make recommendations. Also if you went to the video store with a date, you got the chance to walk around and talk about movies, and find out what you liked, and what you have and haven't seen.

The modern experience is far more convenient. No going to get the movie. No having to return the movie. But the ritual surrounding "a movie night" is not something to be dismissed as a pain in the ass from the past.

Mike86

Yeah the video store experience was awesome and I miss it at times. I loved going out and about roaming the video stores and looking at all the great cover art and being lured in just by things that looked cool. Sometimes it didn't work out but I found some gems that way. It really was an event and something special to do on the weekends. I like convenience too at times but to me streaming just isn't the same.

hanshotfirst1138

There is a simple one-word answer to this question: Photoshop.

Sean O'Hara

Ah, remember the good ol' days before Photoshop when all movie posters were hand painted and so much more original, with none of this floating head nonsense.

Draven

I worked at a video store for several years during college. I had zero desire to ever set foot in one again.

There are plenty of ways to discover new and different movies. Netflix has a ton. I don't obsessively watch trailers so I don't really know what's going to happen in a movie I'm watching.

I dunno...just seems like nostalgia for the video store is glossing over all of the annoyances that went along with it. I've rewound more tapes than I care to count.