http://www.cult-labs.com/forums/blogs/snipsmovies/ Cult Labs is the friendliest forum on the web for discussing the latest cult releases, particularly from Shameless Screen Entertainment and Arrow Video. en Thu, 20 Jun 2013 12:42:09 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.cult-labs.com/forums/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.cult-labs.com/forums/blogs/snipsmovies/ http://www.cult-labs.com/forums/blogs/snipsmovies/441-confessions-video-trade.html Sat, 15 May 2010 11:06:52 GMT Saturday morning arrives, the beginning of the busiest day of the week, and ultimately the day that determines if the movies that arrived yesterday... Saturday morning arrives, the beginning of the busiest day of the week, and ultimately the day that determines if the movies that arrived yesterday appeal to the renting public of the Wirral.

14 titles hit the shelves yesterday afternoon. The 'gimmes' of course take priority (they pay the rent !) - category 1 films - which consist of the Hollywood mainstream - Sherlock H, The Road and the new awful looking Sandra Bullock (known as Bullshit in store) movie. Then the 'fillers' - cat.2, the movies that folks rent when all the other mainstream stuff is out. They are primarily decent movies, but generally unremarkable. Clive Owen's new film 'The Boys Are Back', 'Ripple Effect' with Forest Whitaker and Ashton Kutcher's Spread - grim thought...

The other 8, let's call them Cat.3, are what I think has kept us going while so many other Video Stores seem to have sadly fallen by the wayside. They consist of the small indies and horror, world cinema and general curios. Most of these barely break even, but I'm a firm believer in the fact that they establish us as a supporter of independent cinema, diversity, and potentially the only bricks and mortar rental establishment in Merseyside that folks can see such movies.

This weeks additions in this category are such gems as 'High Lane' (France), 'Adoration' - Atom Egoyan's new film, 'The Ape' (Sweden) - and of course the CultLabs supported 'Harpoon'.

I got an email yesterday from Zuno Dunlop who runs his own UK Independent distribution company 'Exposure Cinema'. He invited me to take his new acquisition - the Belgian horror 'Left Bank'. I obliged of course it looks fantastic, it arrived today and I can't wait to see it - and I reckon my customers will like it too.

Since I hit 30, I've become more and more aware of the fact that we are living in a society that is being gradually conditioned to be exposed purely to mainstream entertainment. Its a concerning situation. Indie Video Stores are an increasing rarity, Blockbuster is on its knees restructuring and focusing primarily on Hollywood fodder. High street retailers have disappeared. Cinema chains no longer consider smaller films 'economically viable'. Television stations such BBC2 and Channel 4 that used to pride themselves on specific 'Film Seasons' now seem to be overlooking the medium.

True, you CAN get anything you want online. Amazon, Play, HMV stock every movie released on DVD in the UK, as do online renters like Lovefilm... they don't however have a nerdy looking guy / girl giving you his / her opinion like I did when I was 16 hazily browsing the shelves at my local fleapit Video Store. Without that bit of guidance back then I sometimes wonder if I might have taken a different path, content with spending my Saturday evenings watching the latest Matthew McConaughey movie as I simply don't know there is anything better out there. ]]> snipsmovies http://www.cult-labs.com/forums/blogs/snipsmovies/441-confessions-video-trade.html