Video Asylum

Posted by 4season (A) on September 27, 2007 at 22:03:40

Sounds like a "What-if?" scenario, doesn't it? But this is exactly what I encountered when I got to the local Hollywood Video "library store", 15 minutes before closing: large going-out-of-business banner across the front, and *all* rental DVDs were priced at $7.99!

What to do? I rushed over to the Blu-Ray/HD-DVD shelves, but there was nothing to be had here: These, they shipped off.

Next, to the rather complete Criterion Collection collection, and this too was gone! Was later told that a single individual bought it all including the signs! Nuts, I'd have liked to have the Akira Kurosawa and David Cronenberg movies on Criterion, maybe Fellini too.

I had just dropped off a brand-new copy of "Dora Heita", but someone must have snatched it out of the drop box, because it was nowhere to be seen, although the OTHER movie I had returned was still there.

On to Documentaries: Quick look to see if they had the "Architectures" series put out by Arte (nope).

Foreign movies: Still pretty intact, so I grabbed some non-classics including "The Eye X", "Cursed" and "The Locker". Quick look for any of the Maiku Hamma series including "Stairway To The Distant Past" turned up nothing. Left behind "Happiness Of The Katakuris", "The Green Butchers" and "The Kingdom vol. 1"

Animation was kind of picked-over, but I found "Tokyo Godfathers", left behind "Patlabor III", "Perfect Blue", and "Paranoia Agent vol 2". Not much left by Hayao Miyazaki, no "Lupin The 3rd" or any other items that I didn't already own.

Looking at my sales slip, they only charged me $20 for my four finds, and one item actually rang up as $0! May try to return tomorrow, but won't have a chance until evening and imagine it'll be down to the dregs by then, but who knows?