Oh where did my video store go? Oh where, oh where can it be?

Written November 12, 2011:

So, I went to the video store today… Yes, a video store. You know, one of those places that only a few years ago there used to be one located every dozen blocks or so. With the advancements of internet technologies, more people are searching for movies to watch on-demand or online and streaming their choices right to their television, laptop, computer or even cell phone. It is sad to think that children born today will never know what a video store was because in probably the next five years they will all be gone.

Back in the early eighties, once or twice a month my brother and I used to rent a video machine and about ten videos for the weekend. Add a couple friends, chips and pop and soon our family room turned into a make shift movie theatre with marathon video viewings.

After dabbling with one of the first cable movie channels in Canada and suffering the onslaught of multiple viewings of the same movies every month, we decided that our viewing choices would be best served by going back to video rentals and we purchased our first VHS video machine. This unit even had the advanced technology of a wired remote control. Yes folks, not wireless but a wired remote that we had to run the cable along the wall so we would not be tripping over it all the time.

Our local video store which at the time was the only one in town became my second home. Many afternoons I would spend in that store perusing the titles, hold the big boxes in my hand, getting the latest information on upcoming releases and reserving them so I could be one of the first to view them.

When I found out that “Raiders of the Lost Ark” was being released, I saved up the $49.95 and had my local video store order in an extra copy for me. I became very popular with my friends when they found out I had a copy of the movie and we could watch it anytime. It is funny to see that now for five dollars less than that initial purchase I can buy a DVD collection all four Indiana Jones’ movies.

Even though my first video purchase would be the precursor to me mounting a huge VHS an later DVD movie library, I never gave up on my visits to the video stores to find new movies I have not heard of before, missed seeing in the theatres or revisit an old gem I may have not yet purchased for my own collection. There is a certain awareness that is hard to describe in picking up the box or case and admiring the art work and the credits or just the shear appreciation of what it took to make that movie and deliver it to my video store to view or buy.

 Some of the drawbacks of the video store were that your desired choices may not be in stock at the time and you actually had to drive to the store to get the movies and going back to return them when done. Not to mention late fees or upon returning to the store you discover that you have an empty case because you forgot the DVD in the machine.

At one time I used to subscribe to an online DVD rental by mail service where for a monthly fee I could rent a select number of movies at a time that would be sent to me. How the service worked was that I would login online and choose a number of movies that would go into my order cue which the service would choose titles from to mail out. Once I was done, I would mail the DVDs back in prepaid envelopes and when they received them, they would send me out another batch. The huge drawback is that I would never know what titles I was going to get from cue and sometimes it took a while for newer titles to get to me because of demand.

Maybe it is because of these drawbacks why video streaming has been booming – the convenience factor. Through the menu system on your cable or satellite box, on demand you can search for movies to watch and after a few buttons clicks you can viewing the movie without leaving the couch. But even these services have draw backs like the selection of movies are limited to newer titles and from my experience slightly more expensive to rent compared to the video store.

If you have a movie channel subscription to Movie Central or Super Channel through these providers, you most likely have the ability to watch a movie or television show from their libraries which is free because the service is included with the subscription but once again the selection is limited.

Online video streaming services such as Netflix, YouTube and Rogers via the internet has provided a greater selection of movies and for most part better pricing but you have to have an external device that is internet capable to watch them on the family television. Some DVD players and video game systems which are usually already connected to your television have built in software to connect to these services. My own Blu-Ray DVD player with built in Wi-Fi allows me to watch Netflix movies but if I want to watch something from YouTube’s or Roger’s collection I have to hook up the laptop to the television.

There are some devices out on the market now that will help you use these services more easily on the 52-inch screen in the living room which you can be certain that in a few years there will be more inexpensive devices on available that can do it all. This will of course make it easier to plunge a dagger into the hearts of the remaining local video stores.  When that day comes, old timers like me will shed a tear and reminisce about the good old days. That day may be coming more quickly than I would like.

Just a short five minute walk from my place there used to be a Blockbuster that I frequented many times a month which closed up at the start of the summer. The next closest video store was an independent chain that closed this location because of an increased to the rent made it not financially sound to remain open. To this day, both stores remain empty with only the memories of me walking the aisles for the next delight.

We still have a Rogers store about a ten minute drive away which is where I was today with my daughter and niece, spending the time to look over all the newer releases and older titles, picking up the cases and getting excited in reading what may be in store for our evening’s viewing. Some of the choices my daughter picked out I made her put back because we could watch them for free on-demand with our movie channel subscription. We limited our choices to just a mere three which I know, a lot less then the ten or so I used to get when I was her age but I getting old and cannot stay up as late as I used to.

As I reflect on this situation, how it also applies to the music industry and look ahead at what my movie viewing experience is going to become in the future, I guess for the time being I have treasure what video stores I have left in my area as I find more things to entertain thyself.

Follow me on twitter for more entertaining thoughts - @RonClift.

Kevin Smith - Film Maverick

Written September 2011

 

What is the deal with films today? Most of what has come out to the theatres or video in the last few years has been, well, not good. There are a few exceptions and diamonds-in-the-rough pictures that have surfaced to bring back some faith that there are good stories still left to tell but most of what is out there are simply rehashed from what good films used to be about.

Today’s standard seems to be mega-budget films of which are action packed computer generated imagery with ear blasting music and quick cut shots but forgo solid story or plot line. Simply it comes down to this, after spending absurd amounts of money, to get people in the theatres and buying the DVD’s the studios of today spend hundreds of millions to making their films and at the same time spend almost as much on advertising. The studios are not making films any more, they are making products.

Independently made films used to be the saving grace by letting the directors and screenwriters make their stories without the interference of the “company” mentality of the big studios to hone the project into something the would generate as much profit as possible. Back in the mid-80’s and into the early 90’s, independent films started to move from being mavericks of the film market to mainstream and in the process began to be swallowed up by the production machine of Hollywood. Those still trying to make their independent films are now finding it hard to raise the minimal amounts of money is takes to turn a good story into a film production – movies that could become the saving grace to the humdrum machine we are seeing today.

There is a glimmer of hope in the horizon. There are some mavericks still out there rattling the cages in Hollywood.  One of those doing so is filmmaker Kevin Smith who entered the independent film market with his shoe-string budgeted film Clerks in 1994. His fresh and unique storytelling extended into films like Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Jersey Girl and Clerks II. Most of these films were released non-independently through film companies such as Miramax, Lions Gate and Dimension which may have never became box office hits but for the most part turned a profit with minimal advertising and in the process have become cult classics.

With the release of his 2008 film Zack and Miri Make A Porno, seemingly his most commercial film at that time, it took the blundering of the film studio in the way it marketed the film to turn this high concept movie, starring hot box office actor Seth Rogen, to what is considered today as a box office failure. In time, with DVD sales and TV rights, the film most likely turned a profit which for the most part can contributed to Smith’s thrifty method of budgeting his films.

After Zack and Miri, Smith took what is considered a “gun for hire” job by directing the cop-buddy comedy Copout starring Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan. This was the first movie Smith has helmed as a director in which he was not also written. This “Hollywood” style movie gave Smith more insight into how the big studio’s market their films and in turn was the turning point to what is to become the most fresh and unique move in film history in probably a few decades.

Smith, known mainly as a comedic story teller, has been toiling around with a horror movie idea for a few years called Red State which stemmed from the idea of far-right fanatical religious families in the United States. Going back to the days if his original movie roots of being an independent filmmaker, Smith sought private funding and raised 4-million dollars (partially from Canadian investors) and production took place last October with cast of such well know actors as Michael Parks, John Goodman and Academy Award winning actress Melissa Leo.

Unusual by Hollywood standards, each night after film had wrapped for the day, Smith would edit the days filming at home and by the time the film had wrapped, he was able to show a completed rough cut at the wrap party some two days later to his cast and crew. This is an outstanding feat for any filmmaker.

During the filming process and even up to today, Smith has been quite open about the whole process and quite frequently discusses all aspects of how the film is made on many of his internet podcast broadcasts.  Included in these was a show that was structured as a classroom where he brought in actors and crew from the film to discuss the shoot.

When the finished film was premiered at the Sundance Film Festival back in January, typically an event for independent film makers take their movies to showcase and hope to sell to a distributor, Smith stunned the film community by announcing that he and his producing partner Jon Gordon will forgo the traditional distribution route and self-distribute the movie in the USA themselves. The Hollywood film community were none too pleased by this but Smith and Gordon countered that the traditional distribution model was too wasteful with exuberant budgets for advertising and other associated costs.

The initial release of the film was done as single showings in select cities which Smith himself would present the film and follow with a question and answer session afterward. These shows were billed as an event with a price tag that was as high as 4 times the normal price one would pay to see the film in a normal cinema presentation. This move was widely accepted by his core audience which many of these event shows were sold out or near to selling out.

Smith has made himself a career of doing question and answer shows over the last decade which with his unique comedic storing telling style and infamous way of taking a 3-minute question and turning it into an one hour answer have sold out shows across the US, Canada and UK. With the showing of Red State and a shorten down Q&A, Smith’s fans flocked to the shows. When foreign pre-sales (including Canada) of the film were added into the revenue, Red State is turning a profit.

     

This past August Phase 4, the film distributor in Canada, arranged a similar tour in a few major Canadian with Smith on board at each date. The of August 16^th show of Red State at the Vogue Theatre in Vancouver with having Smith talk so passionately about this project was a pure delight.

On September 1^st in the USA, Red State was available as video-on-demand and on October 18^th in Canada the film will be available on DVD from Phase 4 Films. In additional to these releases on September 25^th there will be the first of what Smith is saying is the beginning of many event showings in select USA cinemas where one can see the film in the theatres via satellite along with a live performance of Smith’s popular podcast Hollywood Babble-on with his show co-host Ralph Garman. Smith as promised that later showings of these events would include cast members from the film.

On Thursday September 29^th at select Metro Vancouver area Cineplex theatres, there will be a 7:00pm showing of Kevin Smith’s Red State which is the only local cinema showing listed to date before it’s October DVD release by Phase 4 Films in Canada.

What’s next for Kevin Smith? Other than continuing to build an internet podcast and radio empire, he has announced that his next film adventure, which he has stated will be his last doctorial effort, is a two part feature called Hit Somebody. Taken from the Warren Zevon song, Hit Somebody will be about the life of a professional hockey goon that spans the 1950’s to 1980’s – a story that will be true to any Canadian’s heart. Though Hit Somebody will be his last film, Smith has promised he will still be involved in the film industry in many different forms so there is more to come from this true film maverick.

Welcome to my blog

As a distraction from creating new screenplay ideas, I decided to start tweeting (http://twitter.com/#!/RonClift) and blogging about things to entertain myself. I am trying to not be too serious here so I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoy writing them.