The Last Video Store in the World.
Every now and again, I scour local business directories for any last remaining video stores. (And please, let’s not get into any semantics battles: Even when they’re renting DVDs, I still call them “video stores.”)
As you know, they’re a dying breed. I used to only complain when larger chains were killing off the gloriously unique “mom & pop” stores, but now, even the giants have fallen – or are falling quickly. (We don’t even have a single Blockbuster left in my city.)
It’s not like I don’t understand why they’re going away. Between my computer and cable box, the only movies I couldn’t easily find are old and obscure things that only a handful of people would ever seek out anyway. Renting a movie need not involve travel, and even if it did, there’s a Redbox machine everywhere you look.
Still, and with full admission that nostalgia plays a huge part in me saying so, those conveniences will never compare to walking up and down video store aisles, basing your night’s entertainment not on previews or star ratings, but on VHS/DVD box art.
No matter who you were, what you were into or where you were from, there were few places as simply “comfortable” as a video store. Even if money was involved, it had the charm of a library, and the process of going there and being there was often more fun than watching the movies!
For the past year, my searches for such stores have been unsuccessful. Yeah, I could’ve driven to one of those last remaining Blockbusters, but that wasn’t quite what I was looking for. I wanted the GRITTY kind. The aforementioned “mom & pop” kind. The ones that weren’t a part of any major chain. The ones with lots of hand-drawn signs, and the slight stink of stale cardboard mixed with old electronics. That’s where the real magic is, and until yesterday, I thought those relic stores were too far from my neck of the woods to consider.
BUT THEN I FOUND THIS PLACE:
Majors Records. Holy shit.
The most incredible thing about Majors was that it was actually IN my city. Apparently, there’s a series of shopping plazas tucked on a part of Staten Island that I almost never venture to. With the hope that the few online mentions of this store weren’t outdated, we drove out there last evening. Even before I found Majors, the experience was already magic. Throughout the course of X-E and Dino Drac, I thought I’d seen every last inch of my city, searching for “reviewable” locations. Discovering a bunch of “new” shopping plazas made me feel like I’d driven through a supernatural portal and ended up in some other place and time.
The store was everything I wanted it to be, but before we go inside, I need to set things up properly… Read More…
1980s Candy Heads!
If you’re unfamiliar with “candy heads,” they were candy-filled containers shaped like the heads of our most beloved TV and movie characters. But you could probably tell that from the photo.
They still exist in many forms, but it isn’t like it used to be. There was a time when virtually every “kiddy character” had a candy head, and though few could’ve loved the cheap treats inside, something about pouring them from disembodied heads always made those experiences feel special.
The samples below barely hint at their collective volume, but it’s a start! Read More…
Epoch’s “Dracula” Game, from 1982!
I wrote about this many years ago. Now I will rehash my thoughts in video form!
Epoch’s DRACULA game was released in 1982. Even if its graphics and noises are way dated, the theme hasn’t lost a step. There are monsters, mazes and coffins, and it’s up to YOU to steal Dracula’s gold!
Get the full scoop in today’s vid:
A hint of Halloween?
Random McDonald’s Trayliners!
Here’s the sequel to something I wrote back in 2007, about old McDonald’s “trayliners.” You know, the paper placemats that lined our trays whenever we ate at McD’s. Truly, the biggest disadvantage of taking your food to go was missing the chance to watch oily fries turn a trayliner translucent.
Since the trayliners were typically used as “ad space,” they’re great reminders of McD’s ancient, awesome promotions. Here are six random examples…
#1: Richie Rich Trayliner (1994)
I’ve never seen this film. It all started with my unreasonable resistance to anything starring Macaulay Culkin after Home Alone. I don’t know what that was about. Maybe it’s because we’re roughly the same age, and I had some teenage jealousy?
For a movie that I know nothing about and will never see, I’m strangely drawn to its trayliner. A silver platter and a prop newspaper really do make fast food seem more sophisticated. I also dig how those mysterious hands hint less at a butler and more at Mickey Mouse.
If I was making an artsy film, I’d start on this shot. The rest of the movie would play out in flashbacks, slowly revealing the chain of events that led Mickey to serve fries and a phony newspaper on a silver platter. Critics would find it “pandering,” but I don’t give a shit.
Google says that Richie had his own private McDonald’s in the film. So I guess this was the lesser-end of a deal between McDonald’s and Warner Bros.?
“We see the inclusion of McDonald’s in our film to be a mutually beneficial partnership, with substantial rewards for everyone involved. But the candy would be so much sweeter if you threw in some trayliners.” Read More…