I was reading a great but disturbing article on MetaFilter. The gist of it was about our shrinking entertainment media. The writer said she had tried to find a movie on her streaming systems and had been unsuccessful. She was searching for Fresh Horses, a mediocre 1988 flick that starred Molly Ringwald and Andrew McCarthy. She knew it wasn't a blockbuster but after a separation she wanted to see it to touch base with some aspects of her life that was represented in the film.
They can't all be Schindler's List. But we have all seen movies that for some reason appeal to us. Some are lousy, some are just OK. I can remember that for me there was a flick called Fluke. Absolutely one of the worst movies of all time, but damned if I didn't like it. In fact I was one of only 4 people who bought it when it came out on VHS. It was about a guy who is in a car crash, dies, and is reincarnated into a dog. Matthew Modine was the character and I think this was his last starring role. Amazingly bad, but I liked it. We all have our guilty pleasures. Films that speak to us about a certain time in our lives, or that speak to a certain way we believe or feel
Fresh Horses wasn't available. She didn't want it next week, she wanted it now, and isn't that why we like our Roku and Amazon Prime streaming services? But it wasn't available on any streaming platform or instant rental. After some research she discovered a brutal truth. With every new entertainment format less movies, TV shows are transferred. Less movies were transferred from VHS to DVD, and even less has been transferred from DVD to streaming.
Lets rewind a second to something we all did 20 years ago. Remember when we'd go to the local video store to stock up on weekend flicks? For us it was usually Titletown in G-Burg. Anticipation on the way there, perhaps to get that new movie that just came out or maybe to stumble on an oldie you'd like to see again. Briefly there was a place called Movie and A Pizza on Seminary Street. You could call for a pizza that was quite good and you could order movies and they would deliver it all to your door in 20 minutes. That was the apex of convenience. Both are gone now, like dinosaurs of an age that was all too brief and standing in the way of progress. It was the age of Blockbuster, local stores and even grocery stores and gas stations. They all had VHS movies and later DVD's. Family Video is still around but surely its days are numbered. Only a handful of Blockbusters exist in Alaska.
Amazon, HBO, Netflix and soon to be Disney have reformatted our entertainment into streaming, and DVD's will eventually fall by the wayside. Here's the thing:
There will never be as many titles on DVD as there were on VHS, there will never be as many titles on Blu as there were on DVD, and so forth…newer generations with shallower memories determine what gets out, the cost of upgrading and remastering old stuff versus the projected size of the audience and likely sales rarely ratio well — history forgets a dying king.
One could always find classics like Casablanca or The Godfather Trilogy at the video stores but in reality these films are becoming rarer to find on the streaming platforms. And if that's the case, all those middling flicks are going to be evaluated by bean counters and ratios and maybe won't be available at all for future generations.
On Netflix right now there are only 3 films made in the 50's. In fact they have half the movies in their catalog than three years ago. They are focusing more on original programming. Amazon Prime is better but it is obvious that all the major streaming companies are focusing on new stuff. How can a new generation fall in love with some of the great films from the first 100 years if they can't get to see them?
On Borrowed Time, Guns At Batasi, Seven Days in May, and Outward Bound are just four of my guilty pleasure flicks. The bean counters are going to run them through their ratios and chances are they will be consigned to DVD and Turner Classic Movies but not to any of the future streaming services. generations not yet born will not have access to some of the almost great film making of the past.
Those fun trips to the video stores enabled us to touch, read, and personally evaluate our entertainment choices. It was a brave new world of tactile anticipation. The aisles we slowly explored held the promise of worlds, humor, and stories we couldn't imagine. The place was usually filled to the rafters with all manner of DVDs - not enough room to see everything with just one visit.
Now you push the Netflix button and scan the choices someone else has made for you. Things are changing, but not for the better. History forgets a dying king.
Here is the original article:
https://blog.blcklst.com/in-search-of-the-last-great-video-store-efcc393f2982
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