Why has Finding a Good Movie Become So Hard?

I miss Blockbuster and, yes, I wish it was back. This is in response to the very question asked on Patch just last week, "Do you wish Blockbuster was back?" And again, I do, very much.

Blockbuster was where we went. It was actually the penultimate thing we did most Friday nights, right before we went home to do nothing-- well, to watch a movie. It was our thing. Our son really just got big enough for us to allow him to wander off by himself to find numerous movies he had already seen to rent again and Jim would go off and find something for me to reject and keep doing that until I found what we would watch. Then we would all go home, scatter to our respective nesting places and watch.

And watching movies, well, I almost consider it a second job now. I have to watch movies - good movies. But now I have Netflix, and, um, I understand they are the new mega-ultra-giant-monopolizing-end-all-be-all of moviedom, but seriously, am I missing something? We signed up through our Wii when Blockbuster disappeared and I find the selection to be comparable to what you might find in a box of VHS tapes at a garage sale in a retirement community in South Jersey .  And when I do find something I might actually like to see - the movie's image will be there, but it will say "not available" or "by DVD only" when I try to choose it. What the what?  And I swear when we first signed up a few months ago, "Meet Joe Black" was in the new arrivals section, and now I just checked again and I see "GI Joe" is listed as a new arrival - that is from 2009.  So, do I need a Netflix class? Am I doing something wrong that I can't see all the good movies or at least new movies that made Netflix this movie giant?  How did Netflix rise to such power, essentially snuffing out my Blockbuster? Is it our collective desire for instant gratification that makes us settle for a crappier selection? Because we are settling friends. Netflix stinks! Was the trip to Blockbuster so hard? Actually, sometimes it was, people from the pizza place across the street would park there - I have had incidents.

So we have been sticking to IO on Demand on the cable box, which seems to have a much better selection than Netflix. But do you know what would be awesome? Some Redbox machines all over town. The first time I saw a Redbox machine, I was blown away (yes, it really takes that little), an exercise in genius, not having to stop at the video store. Brilliant. However, the feelings of rage created by waiting for two people who really could not care less that you or 10 people were waiting behind them while they peruse every movie in the box kind of takes away from the overall experience.

Now here we are in the lazy, hazy hot days of summer when television is a barren wasteland of craptacular proportions (except for Breaking Bad - you are watching the greatest television show in the history of television, right?) and when the work day is done, and then the work at home is done, what is a girl to do? Watch Groundhog Day on Netflix? I need some DVD satisfaction Morristown - give me a Red Box or else Jim and I are going to have to practice the fine art of conversation after our son goes to bed when we have already spent years mastering comfortable silence. (HA, he wishes.)

So there we are, Blockbuster is gone, what will take its place - shall we fantasize? Oh my gosh, so many great things can go there, a bank would be awesome, or maybe a pricey boutique, perhaps some kind of Asian Cuisine. I seriously am not even going to bother because, not to sound negative -but it is negative- I am sure it will be something that I absolutely do not need one bit. Okay, I will fantasize a little bit - maybe it will be a sports bar, or a great seafood place (cooked seafood  -  to be clear) or do you know what would actually be cool, something for kids to do. We took our son to Chuck E Cheese the other day and it seems such a waste that we have to drive so far to be totally annoyed. It would be so much better if we could use less gas to spend $40 to be irritated by a hundred kids. 

If anyone knows what will take Blockbuster’s place, please do tell, unless it’s some kind of purveyor of raw fish or lender of money - I am not saying it so as not to conjure either.