Yep the government and public response to 9/11 basically killed the America that we had before. Never forget the way they used Fear to justify taking our freedom and privacy. Don't keep falling for that bullshit.
this post was submitted on 06 Dec 2023
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Pretty sure the internet killed this tho.
I don't miss Blockbuster at all. I do miss mom and pop video stores, which would get you pretty much whatever you wanted if you asked them to order it. And I miss stores that specialized in cult, foreign and classic films.
My wife worked at the video store that her best friend's parents owned while she was in and for a while after high school and I hung out there with her all the time. It was a good job for a teenager and we got to see all kinds of weird and cool movies. She also got to take screeners home- screeners were pre-released movies sent to video stores so they could decide whether or not to buy them, so you got to see video releases sometimes months early- you just had to deal with a 'do not copy or sell this video' message on the screen occasionally.
That's what I miss. Blockbuster was corporate trash. It was the Walmart of video stores.
We used to have a great local place called Pic-A-Flick Video, and they always had all these great foreign films and weird indy movies that you couldn't find anywhere else! It was one of those old school places with a locked door at the back where they kept all the porn tapes lol
Yep, the one where my wife worked had an 'adults' room too. They'd occasionally find someone jacking off back there, but the owners didn't allow the employees to go back there, only they dealt with that room, which I think was pretty cool of them.
This place originally just had a beaded curtain, but kids would always sneak back there so they eventually put in a door with a lock and you had to get the door code from the guy at the desk so they knew exactly who was doing what back there lol
Maybe not what exactly.
You just reminded me of a rental place I used to frequent. Insomniac videos. It was dark and musky, and the staff all had an encyclopedic knowledge of the weird and unknown or cult classics. Those were also the only movies they carried and they were next to the cheapest pizza place in town. My roommates and I at the time would often checkout something the staff recommended and load up on junk food on the rare occasion we all had a night off together. Good times.
would get you pretty much whatever you wanted if you asked them to order it
Happy Scrappy Hero Pup?
Going to the local Blockbuster with our babysitter and getting to choose which candy we wanted at the register. Renting a Pokémon or old Nickelodeon VHS tapes to watch over the weekend. Eating like 3 bags of popcorn in a single evening.
I miss the simplicity of it all.
You were allowed to get register candy!?
My parents left the sitter money for treats, if we were good!
I know what you mean. When I call babysitters now and try to get them to watch a movie with me it gets weird quick and they put their dad on the phone. It's like, obv I don't want to talk to your dad! Used to be easier hanging with the babysitter in the late eighties for sure.
Going to the video rental store was hella fun. My partner and I were going to a local Family Video up until it closed a bit after the start of COVID.
It's conceptually just like listening to music on vinyl; the ordeal, the inconvenience of it makes it special... even fun. It turns something that has become so simple that it's boring (i.e. picking out a movie) and it makes that thing into an event.
That movie wasn't very good. The only nudity in it is Gilbert Godfrey. The 80s and body hair :/
The only nudity in it is Gilbert Godfrey.
I thought you said it wasn't very good.
It's the screaming I cant deal with.
80s and body hair! I thought I loved 90s.
The mom & pop ones had popcorn machines and porno videos.
All hail the black tapes!
Ah, I had blockbuster as a kid in a post 9/11 world.
I miss going with family and friends on Friday and browsing for what to watch that night as a group. Had to make a whole trip about it, get snacks and dinner, then start your weekend in style.
I sure don't have a modern equivalent.
I LOVED blockbuster. Absolute thrill to go through all of those movies, find some weird thing, give it a chance. It was so fun ti have the surprise and anticipation and basically roll the dice that movie night would be fun becsse the movie was good or fun because it was bad and we has to think on our feet and make something else happen.
Man I feel like even the worst movies back then were better than now. Even most blockbuster hits are a dud for me now. RIP
I feel like such an old man saying this but goddamn movies were better in the 90s. Now it’s all CGI bullshit and the same recycled stories. I don’t even watch new movies anymore. Get off my lawn.
Yeah. The writing has fallen off, studios are happy to blow half their budget on VFX and the other half on casting with no focus on the story. Back then, before you pitched a movie, you had to have a story worth telling. Now it's all reskins of the same shit
1 weak reality? Back in my day it was a two day reality before Blockbuster started adding fees. They'd also add a fee if the tape wasn't rewound. Kids these days don't know how good they have it.
They nickel and dimed the hell out of everything which is why my family switched to other video stores.
Doesn’t every reality require fees? I do feel sorry for the fact that your reality is only two days long. Gosh. That’s really not long enough to exist at all considering my reality is like 70-100 years long.
I live in Atlanta and we still have a local video store that I take my kids to every week. It's still awesome!
That is an accurate statement lol
I miss taking out a reverse mortgage to pay the late fees.
Not sure that's how I'd describe '02 -'07
Well given they're explicitly talking about the time BEFORE 9/11 then yeah. I'd hope he isn't talking about '02-'07