Posted on 02/23/2010 11:18:29 AM PST by raccoonradio
Convenience, choice drawing consumers to other movie options
On a recent weekday, Ken Moore browsed the new release wall at Hollywood Video but he couldn’t avoid the “Store Closing’’ banners that draped the inside and outside of the Quincy store.
“I’m like a dinosaur,’’ said the father of two from Milton. “People tell me ‘You’re still going to the video store?’ and I’m like ‘Yeah.’ ’’
Moore is a part of a growing minority of movie renters who shun the convenience of instantly uploading moves online or grabbing a DVD at supermarket kiosks in favor of roaming the aisles of the big-box video rental stores such as Blockbuster or Hollywood Video. At a time when mainstream video store chains are being challenged like never before by the growth of on-demand cable movie rentals and Internet-based mail delivery outlets, these cinephiles are like nomads, driving farther and farther to find another video store when their neighborhood shop closes.
“The trend for video stores is, in some ways, going in the same direction as neighborhood bookstores, in that they’re closing,’’ said Gloria Boone, a media and advertising professor at Suffolk University. “Between choice and convenience, it really is dooming the local video stores. It’s their death knell.’’
The shuttering of movie rental stores has become common in recent years as closings have quietly dotted city neighborhoods from Dorchester and Porter Square to Abington and Quincy.
Earlier this month, Movie Gallery Inc. filed for Chapter 11 protection and is closing 760 of its Movie Gallery, Hollywood Video (including five in the Bay State), and Game Crazy stores nationally, according to the company website. Blockbuster Inc., which owns Blockbuster Video, closed 300 stores last year and will shutter up to 600 this year.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
2. Netflix is the only place I can think of where you can get classics such as "The Battle Of Algiers" (greatest war movie ever made) without making a $40 purchase.
I’m currently watching every single movie in a coffee table book someone gave me about 500-must see films. I could not do this without Netflix.
If you have a movie in mind, Netflix is insanely efficient. I do not like the Netflix recommendation feature however.
(And for the record, I like Will Smith. He has just enough charm to make ludicrous movies entertaining - though I don’t ever watch him in Oscar-bait. He can make something as stupid as Hitch a worthwhile way to kill a Wednesday night).
One thing that has become indispensable for me is the availability of star ratings by other members of the public (not critics). The correlation of satisfaction and star count is pretty high.
Many movies look good per box description only to find out later that you wasted two hours of your life watching and it only had two stars. If I recall Blockbusters does not readily disclose star count, so renting from them is a crap shoot.
Even HBO on Direct TV has star count on their listings, a great piece of information.
>>Where am I going to rent “Breakin’ II Electric Boogaloo” On VHS?
At the public library.
It’s borderline. It’s not really considered porn, but it’s pushing the envelope.
The recommendation feature works pretty well once you’ve rated most of the stuff you’ve seen. You can actually ignore movies you’re not remotely interested in, so they don’t pop up again.
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