Wednesday, March 10, 2010

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO WATCH!": An Independent Video Store Manifesto

The thrill of DISCOVERY is being bled out of cinema.

In our daily life we're constantly bombarded with a million different options from a million different places. How do you chose? Go with the popular pick? Millions of people can't be wrong.

Right?

Film is becoming background noise. It is the static to fill patches of silence in conversation. People don't experience film anymore. It exists in the mindless vacuum of “Something to do because there's nothing else to watch.”

When was the last time you truly LOVED a film?

Popularity equates universal appeal. Universal appeal means the loss of the little things. The moments that make a picture stand out, become memorable, really make you think, or give you nightmares, or make you laugh so hard that you can't breathe anyone.

When was the last time you saw a film that made you want to go run out in the streets and let everyone know THEY HAD TO SEE THIS?

Where have those films gone?

They're in your local Independent Video Store. They are waiting for you to discover them. They are dying for you to watch them. They want to be discussed, they want to be shared they want to become a part of your collective consciousness.

They want to be loved.

An GOOD Independent Video store is a thriving community. It is artistic cinematic passion that pops to life. It's staffed by knowledgeable people are always excited about film. They will love to recommend things you would have never had a chance to see. They will love to talk about cinema in way that are impossible to replicate anywhere else. They will be your fuel, your drive, your compass.

Unless the Independent Video Store dies out.

The collection of wonders will disappear. The people that know their stuff will fade into the darkness. The passion will disappear. Discovery will be replaced by popular vote.

Don't let this happen.

Did you know it's BLOCKBUSTER policy to not allow clerks to give out their opinion on things?

Go down to your local Independent Video Store. Pick something different. Talk to the clerk. You will find something to ignite the love for cinema. It's out there. You just need to grab it.

Keep watching. Don't let it become routine. Let it be move you.


If you know someone that thinks cinema is dead, pass this along, the Independent is dying and it needs your help.

Sincerely,

Justin Decloux
Clerk at Eyesore Cinema (801 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario)
All the pretty colors of the rainbow.

1 comment:

  1. As a former Blockbuster employee (when I quit I flipped over a table of DVDs and walked out), I can say that the policy doesn't really mean anything. Only issue is that most people employed at Blockbuster generally watch the same crap that everyone who rents there does. I made it my duty to go into every nook and cranny to find the hidden goodness inside the corners of the store while I worked there. Blockbuster is the MacDonalds of video rental, and that's why it's on its way out.

    I see a fair amount of movies (thanks to Cinemageddon and Netflix) that leave me with a sense of excitement that I can't even begin to describe. The only trouble is getting people to believe me, or to get a hold of the movies for other people to see. But, just earlier today I introduced someone to Cinemageddon and they had their eyes blown through the back of their skull. Chances are at some point down the line, they'll find something that they too can't begin to describe.

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