 Welcome to the Adam does movies podcast I'm Adam and today on the show we're gonna be talking about movie rentals how we consume media now how it's changed over time for the better and sadly more the worse what we have to do is start at the beginning back in the eighties and nineties when you go into a movie rental store like blockbuster or Hollywood video or in my case mr. movies in the Midwest Minnesota at the time you would go in though it's always the same you plop down a few bucks you get that new release or whatever nostalgic thing you want to watch you get it for a day or four or five depending on the deal going on and you bring it back and do it all over again now you better make sure to rewind if it's VHS or you get that upcharge that's how they get you you don't rewind the tape you're screwed which is really funny because the the VCR took a couple minutes to rewind a tape it felt like an eternity but if you went to a video rental store they pop it in their machine and it's like done take some like four seconds I know you could purchase what they had but it was it was very hard to find I don't even know how people did we didn't have Amazon to go online and order it you had to find it like a unicorn in the wild these quick tape robot winders anyway I miss blockbuster I miss Hollywood I miss all of that because what we have now are these competing apps these services that seem to pop up or night they change their branding constantly now we have max instead of HBO max they change their terms of service Netflix just gave me a nice little email saying that I can't share my account with other family members that live in a different household which sucks because there's so many services that each have like one or two decent shows or movies in this revolving door that you really can't have one or two and it gets really annoying to have to cancel restart up over and over when your show comes back I mean I opened up a list of some of the streaming services listen to this there's the direct TV stream you have YouTube TV you have Fubo or fit fileio Hulu plus live TV sling TV spectrum TV you got max AMC plus lifetime movie club Paramount plus history vault the CW that's a thing peacock showtime hallmark stars MGM plus Netflix Hulu did I not list these already I feel like some of these are being redundant they're redundant that's for sure Apple plus everything's got a plus for some reason I'm going to name mine a minus Adam does movies minus you get less content and less is more or at least that's how it used to be now it's more is more these services are constantly throwing tons of money trying to get something to stick so there's always new stuff on the platform which pushes people there movie rental stores they didn't have that problem new release comes out every Friday boom we're good we're golden people come in during the weekend they get their movies they get out let's step back there back in the 90s a favorite pastime of mine was not only going to the cinema to see the new big release but to go to the movie rental store in case I missed them obviously I wasn't paying for my own movies when I was a kid my parents would and they didn't take us to movies every weekend can afford that what we could afford a couple bucks to pony up to watch the new Jean-Claude Van Dan movie or the new Disney movie once they release it from the vault the Disney vault by the way was trash I hated the Disney vault because it's not a real vault it's not like Walt in the fam have this thing that they open and the vault opens up Hans Gruber's on the other side happy that he can get Dumbo out or Bambi or Aladdin it was ridiculous and unlike today when movies hit theaters back in the 80s and 90s they didn't pop up on a streaming service they didn't pop up in the movie rental store in a month or two sometimes it felt like it was a full year before a movie would come out I felt like Beauty and the Beast took two years before it hit the shelves probably not true but in my mind it was in 13 or 14 year old Adams mind Beauty and the Beast took forever to hit the shelves I miss it I miss going into the store seeing friends seeing relatives seeing the familiar faces that work behind the counter watching you judging you about the pick it said something about a person when you'd walk up to the counter with your copy of Operation Dumbo drop that means hey I'm out of options I haven't really looked too hard and this is where I felt it was always a madcap dash on Friday nights to get to a blockbuster just to get the one copy that's left of whatever the new release is probably something by Eddie Murphy he was big in the 90s Beverly Hills cop threes out I want to get it there's what there's nothing better either then getting the last copy that's on the floor shelf and you see it you Wesley snipe it from across the room and you just book ass to get there you don't go on a full run you don't sprint you do a light half ass jog run as you're kind of prancing through the aisles skipping past the video game section that's taunting you but you don't have time right now you got to get to that last copy of Pluto Nash which spoiler once you get home and watch it you will realize it was not worth the risk of getting in a fistfight over this film especially when you had Matthew Broderick's masterpiece Godzilla on the next shelf over plenty of copies of that one sarcasm aside it's a it's a it's quite a treat to be the winner to be victorious in that sort of scenario then you go up to the counter you have all the expensive trinkets and treats at your disposal the four dollar box of licorice the old stale milk duds sitting in the carton with the lights beautifully grazing the side of the packaging but I don't I got food at home I got snacks at home as much as I want to as much as I might throw a fit to mom she's not having it Adam we got leftover pizza in the fridge I don't know about you side note but I like a good cold leftover pizza from time to time at least young version of me did it's got to be one of the other either you eat the pizza cold as ice next day or you heat that shit up properly so that there's not a cold part of the cheese that hits your mouth because if there's even a minuscule infinitesimal amount of cheese that's cold that touches my tongue the whole things game over I don't want that pizza anymore I'm turned off by the entire situation and it's happened believe me it's happened as I was saying movie rental stores were a magical magical experience some of them had the beaded doorway it's kind of an all-access pass to manhood they would put the scandalous rated r films the x not rated r I'm sorry the x movies x x behind this little secret passageway this was the Disney vault for teenage boys you go in there you come out an entirely different person I only think I went in there once it's always on a dare to it's like I dare you to go into the section it's like you're stealing the declaration of independence trying to get into that thing the manager is always keeping a close eye the managers of movie rental places to hold all the cards they have all the power they get to choose which movies they get how many copies they bring in I remember being very but hurt when I went to find a copy of the comedian which was a Jerry Seinfeld flick it was kind of an indie movie it featured Chris Rock and a bunch of comedians Bill Cosby had a big section this was pre him you know taking advantage of women this was back when Bill Cosby was a role model I'm sure that movie doesn't hold up very well because Jerry Seinfeld's very much like Cosby's my idol I love him blah blah blah anyway they didn't carry the movie there because they didn't like Jerry Seinfeld so everyone else got to suffer because a couple of assholes that own the company that own this establishment didn't think Jerry was funny well I don't think this is very funny that I can't find this movie there was another rental store that carried a copy of Tough and Deadly with Billy Blanks and Rowdy Roddy Piper I rented that movie and Python with Casper Van Dion stupid amounts of times I would have paid for them tenfold in fact one time I went in and I requested that I am sorry poor poor choice of words I demanded them let me buy Tough and Deadly because I've rented it so many times they said nay they wouldn't let me and then I looked at the guy said let's be honest no one else is renting this thing it's just me dude it's always here I can set my watch to this movie being here and they said like it's it's better for us to just have you keep renting it and I did Tough and Deadly super stupid movie complete schlock action flick it's got everything I love from cheesy action movies guitar strums when dudes get kicked slow motion roundhouse kicks punches jogging section where they're eating ice cream together in their pink belly shirts they're doing training at parks it's really really awkward and I love every second of it the montages are gold tough and dead and cal pythons equally as terrible rip off of anaconda starring Casper Van Dion who's the go-to sea list movie star d list I guess he's always the guy you find in top shelf movie rentals which is the other thing I want to talk about the top shelf movie rentals or in some instances it's the bottom shelf which is more apt but where I went to his top shelf these are the crap movies that don't go to theaters that often piggyback off the success of real movies usually they're asylum films or another production company of lesser quality which seems almost an unimaginable because asylum's trash for every twister there's a tornado for every volcano there is mountain that blows up there's always a child version of the film that's a complete copy but has no budget and no actors it's just trash they still make these today cocaine bear came out and we've already seen several spin-offs like cocaine shark there's a cocaine raccoon it's called something a camera what it's called but very similar on animals doing drugs they get high and they start ripping people apart these movies are amazingly bad and I had a great time watching them with my friends and again because they were so cheap usually a dollar lets you rent them for a couple nights you get a few you have some popcorn you have a bunch of soda you have stupid fun I miss it I miss it a lot and of course these are available on all the services I listed and more Netflix you can find tons of these prime is full of this trash shark versus Megalodon octopus versus Python like it doesn't matter every animal that's somewhat vicious has a counterpart X version alligator X crocodile it's there somewhere three-headed shark versus six penis bear it's all there I don't really watch them anymore but they were fun back in the day they're in on their own joke is the problem for a while I felt like they were trying to make decent terrible movies now they're in on their game they're the shark Nato's of 2023 and it's lost its magic and it's luster plus there's something truly special about going in and physically holding a copy of a movie taking it up to the register saying I would like to watch this yes I am under 17 and this film is called showgirls but I need to see her dance around naked because I watched every season of Saved by the Bell like 35 times I'm so excited I'm so scared that you're not gonna let me rent this and yeah I would also like to watch Barb Boyer with Pamela Anderson sure you save some face now at home when you rent these things kind of privately but there's something to be said about the shame you feel by doing this in public although I don't think the new generation really has any shame anymore seeing the stuff that's posted to tiktok they just don't give a shit I kind of respect it in a way it's got to be liberating to not care how you look or sound or act at all somewhat refreshing the other thing I liked about these video you know these establishments is that there was a sense of community that's missing you go into one of these places you see old and young alike both appreciating cinema taking the time to look through the rows and rows of films both terrible and good bumping into a teacher who has a copy of an inappropriate film in their hands it's something I'll never forget it's so good oh hey mr. Montesmith what are you doing with them what are you doing with that Charlie's Angels Full Throttle you a big fan of that big fan of that film Charlie's Angels Full Throttle it's gold Best Buy Target Walmart barely even have movies in there anymore or CDs I mean that's even worse you go into a Best Buy though it's it's fucking fridges and microwaves and you know obviously you have video games and systems still tons of phones and computers and then some sad little section in the far back corner it's all dank and depressing there is your Blu-rays they don't even have a whole row anymore they're in the back there they're like the misfit toys of Best Buy the remnants of a different time period there's an old janitor sweeping back there what are you looking for a blu-ray what's the word I haven't heard in a long time sir there's something right next to you what what where am I right now is this Wendy's no no sir oh my god I'm in the wrong place and then he leaves and gets in our car accident on the way to Wendy's it's a it's a whole thing they find out that he was the owner of the last blockbuster that's the big plot twist here where am I what am I talking about anymore or yes movie rentals let's jump to today we have our past it was great the buddies would go with you you debate for hours with your parents with your friends with your brother your sister about what movie to watch sometimes there was one for them sometimes there was one for you the best was when you had to force the other person to watch or you got the pick that week anyway let's move on to where we're at now all these streaming services too much control too much power in the hands of consumers is what I say we used to think that choice was a good thing I'm thinking it wasn't because when I go into Netflix or Hulu or Prime or the cock which is peacock check it out in the cock there's just a bunch of noise it's chaos Max was probably the the best at least HBO Max was they put the new releases at the top it was pretty clean pretty simple I just hate it I hated so much and you can never find anything and I swear they somehow know they're in my brain at this point that when I want to watch something it will absolutely not be on any of these platforms I will have to rent it or find a different source to get this for free because like oh I want to watch happy Gilmore where is it it was on prime last week it's gone hey remember Wayne's World let's check out Wayne's World see if that holds up nowhere to be found it was there just two weeks ago I swear I saw the ad for Wayne's World nothing not a zilch they're listening man they're doing stuff behind the scenes I swear they know it there was a brief stint where red box was a thing if you remember red box you could go outside of a Walmart and there was this giant red machine they're also inside McDonald's and you just sadly stand there and kind of swipe around and find the movie out of the 30 that they have to offer that might even be too generous then it comes out comes out of the bottom this was kind of kind of the the quicker way the alternative to Netflix back when they actually sent movies to you you could mail them out they'd come to you that was very very weird an on-demand physical service kind of like kind of like ordering food and doing door-dash and it shows up Netflix dash Netflix and chill that was short-lived I know they're still around I know you can still find these ugly ass boxes but I don't see anybody use them they just collect dust in the corner streaming services keep going up in price they keep rebranding and they keep expanding and you always see articles like so-and-so is losing money now they're hemorrhaging money yet they seem to be flourishing and doing just fine so I don't really know what to believe all I know is this at the rate we're going you're spending a hundred bucks on different streaming services you have now paid for cable which is the remnant of the past as well that dinosaur that continues to keep going because it's propped up by Fox news and sports events I guess ESPN Fox single-handedly keeping this thing afloat for people that are like 85 and older and they just continue to watch but it's gonna go away and that's another sad thing because with cable was choice but you were also still very much handcuffed to what they wanted you to watch or what was available and sometimes that's okay I've seen Shawshank redemption on TV like a thousand times you'd have the one friend who would have access to HBO or Showtime or skin a max you'd always go to their house around that 10 o'clock mark when the parents are in bed and really take in the the crappy soft-core porn that they had to offer Beverly Hills bordello red shoe diaries hosted by David DeCovney real sex that one was never very good that was always a little too raw for me a little too in your face people were always ugly because they were real looking but that was a magical time in a young man's life now they can just go on the internet and again do whatever they want whenever they want see whatever they want and that's just disaster that spells disaster too much variety too much control is hard for us to handle we needed funneled we need someone to go in and cultivate the right type of viewing experience these apps try they try with the algorithms and with the search recommendations based on your history you're gonna like this you fall into this bucket well I don't like that you're telling me that I know what I like you don't know shit Netflix don't start feeding me stuff don't make me think you know me you don't know me man I never felt that with cable though it was just okay this is gonna be on this week regardless of whether or not I like it I know I have my slot for the Simpsons I know I have my slot for Seinfeld it was not a good system but I think it was better than what we have now so we cancel Netflix because I'm not paying another you know 16 bucks a month extra so that other households can have access to Netflix we don't watch crap on it and it's the most expensive app we have eventually maybe when Stranger Things comes back we'll get it again but I don't even give a shit about Stranger Things anymore it really hasn't been good since season one it's been watchable the same way Jurassic Park movies were watchable after the first they weren't necessarily good they just had dinosaurs in them and I love dinosaurs we have to do something better I don't know what the solution is I think we're just screwed kind of we've already made our bed and now we have to just sleep in it they're gonna keep coming out with more services unless something can come out that just blows them out of the water with highly crafted movies and shows but that takes years to get off the ground and none of these services have time for that they're all losing money today they need to make money tomorrow they needed to make money yesterday they're gonna keep pumping out trash after trash and hopefully something sticks occasionally it does but for the most part it's running to the ground afterwards anyways Wednesday season two and three I'm sure at some point that show is gonna start sucking really bad you can you can bet on it actually okay those are my thoughts that's my tripped on memory lane talking about movie rental stores how it's changed over the course of time where do we think it's gonna go next it's hard to say right now these apps are on your TV on your your system whether it's an Xbox PlayStation Nintendo I don't know does an antenna switch have apps on it feel like I don't really know half the time they don't work I know for us the cock barely runs at all peacock on the PlayStation 5 or on the Samsung TV these apps are just so sketchy they're constantly needing maintenance updating where do we go from here do we somehow go back do we revert like we do with fashion like we do with music from time to time where you get back into a hook a feel from the 80s you're bringing back cords bringing back frosted tip hair can we get back to some of this stuff when it comes to movies and how we treat them movie theaters are already kind of a nightmare people are assholes they're on their phones constantly they're rude they're talking loudly they're vaping I had people vape in the movies that I was at I want some respect I want some decorum brought back into the space that's sorely been lacking lately let's get movie rentals back somehow maybe bring back a rental place but what do you have in it there's no there's no physical media anymore it's dead it's not even like the records they can go to a record store it doesn't have that boutique feel to it yes there's collectors but it's not the same yeah I don't know maybe let me know what you want to see if you're on YouTube watching this put a comment down on Adam does movies on this video say Adam here's what I want for movies here's where I want it going forward whether it's some amazing streaming service or you can somehow tether all your services together and house them under one centralized platform or there are these boutique shops that prop back up that are like the good old days right where you can go in say hi to chip behind the counter get judged by the movies you watch yeah I'm renting alien three because I heard it's not as bad as I remember chip I'm trying it out because it's one dollar and I'm feeling a little frisky today I would not rent alien three it is as bad as I remember by the way just using that as a reference point that's my thoughts let me know yours this podcast comes out every Monday at 8 a.m. on Spotify and on apple podcast that was called apple pod apple plus podcast or some stupid crap I think it's on other platforms you can also find me watching along live on youtube 8 p.m. so morning it's available but at night you can watch along with me on youtube if you want I'm there in the comments letting you know saying hi if you really like this podcast that 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then take care