10 Movies of 2013 that Were Better than You Heard

January 6, 2014 By Ben Lane Hodson in Movies

I’m fully aware that not everything is great (or even good for that matter) at cinemas these days. But there were a few films that were hurt by bad reviews or even outright bombed at the Box Office that I think were better than you heard. At least I liked them.

Only God Forgives

Director Nicolas Refn’s follow-up to Drive (which I also liked a lot) is virtually impenetrable and yet, I was entranced. The cinematography blew me away. Gorgeous. I fully admit I can understand why some hate it but I thought it was great, challenging cinema. Huge Kubrick influences here (check out the framing and choice of music/tones).

The Last Stand

Arnold’s return to the movies since being governor (you can’t really count the Expendables cameos). He’s got his charisma and I like that they played up his older age now in an action movie. The bad guy here is pretty dumb but there’s some great chemistry between Arnold and his co-stars that made this pretty fun.

Gangster Squad

A lot of people hammered on two big things against this movie. Sean Penn’s over-the-top gangster bad guy and Ryan Gosling’s high-pitched voice. I liked both. Sean Penn was intense and ridiculous just like a gangster bad guy should be. Ryan Gosling is always good. He knows how to work a scene just off facial expressions alone. I liked the setting too.

Bullet to the Head

The great Walter Hill (48 Hrs, Red Heat) who virtually invented the buddy cop genre, directs a new take on the now tired genre where a cop and a hitman have to join forces to fight a bigger threat. Stallone’s one-liners are laugh out loud. Jason Momoa is a force to be reckoned with as the unstoppable bad guy.

To The Wonder

I’m a huge Terrence Malick fan and I have the attention span to not only sit through but even enjoy a contemplative long close-up. I loved the story of the priest who had lost his faith. I wish Malick had even kept more of those scenes in. They were captivating. Ben Affleck is actually quite good in this. Gives me faith in his upcoming Batman.

The Call

This one flew under the radar and I honestly went into it expecting it to suck pretty bad so I was pleasantly surprised to find that this was a great little thriller. Halle Berry sells her scenes with some strong emotion and a lot of heart put into it. The ending is pretty lame but up until that, it’s a taught suspense film.

Jobs

Despite Ashton Kutcher going a little overboard with his speeches about Steve Jobs, I really liked this movie. Being in some of the same situations in companies I have been a part of (sitting on boards where there is a lot of political maneuvering going on), I was mesmerized by Jobs rise, then fall, and subsequent re-rise to power at Apple. I know the overall story is accurate but have no idea if the “behind-closed-doors” things were actually said. Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The Lone Ranger

Yes, there are some big problems with the story, especially a subplot involving supernatural elements that goes nowhere and some throwaway characters that bloated the running time but this was MUCH better than you heard. The issue here was that the movie isn’t the classic telling of The Lone Ranger. It’s a reboot and gives a lot more running time to Tonto’s story and I loved the idea. The last 20 minutes of action is some of the best I saw this entire year.

Olympus Has Fallen

This movie is what Die Hard 5 should have been. It’s got the classic terrorist bad guys, a ridiculous international crisis, and an everyman good guy named Mike that ends up saving the day. The action is fun with some inventive gun fights. Gerard Butler delivers his one-liners with gusto. One of the better classic action movies this year.

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters

This movie had no right to be as fun as it was. This should have been a complete disaster but somehow manages to be clever, creative, and adventurous in many ways. The CG is better than you would expect. The story moves fast and keeps your attention. The costumes are excellent for a movie like this. Not Lord of the Rings caliber but much better than you’ve heard.

The 2013 Tombstone

January 2, 2014 By Ben Lane Hodson in Life Lessons

I took this photo just before New Year’s Eve, as the sun was setting on the snowy landscape of our little valley. It seemed a symbolic moment for another year now passed. The trees had long since lost their leaves, the vibrant colors of autumn had turned to a dreary ice-encrusted gray. Mother nature buried 2013 just as the darkness finally swallowed the light of the last day.

It’s with this introspective attitude that I reconciled 2013 in my mind. There’s a saying I live by each day:

“Have I created anything today?”

My day is not complete if I haven’t created something. I find it hard to sleep and even sometimes feel a sense of deep failure. It gnaws at me, driving me to “do something” before letting another day go by where I don’t create. Even a small thought or idea is enough to check the box on my creation-quota for the day. Sometimes there are bursts of creativity, other days it’s real work to come up with mediocre ideas at best. I find the more I work at it though, the easier it gets to let the ideas flow.

Tombstone Building

Each year, I have a couple of big creative goals. It’s rarely only one goal because I’m always multi-tasking and I don’t like to be tied down to one thing at a time. But 2013 was a bit different. There was one overarching goal: write a novel. Did I accomplish it? Yes, the novel is written. Is it done? No. Why not? Because I’m still revising. Tales of the Macabre West is my first novel so it has to be the best I can do. The only deadlines are self-imposed.

All of these goals, this quest for creativity each day, what does all it amount to? I don’t believe in reincarnation so I feel like I’ve only got one shot at this life and I better make it good. A friend once called the quest to accomplish creative goals: Tombstone Building and that’s a pretty interesting way of looking at it. What will they say about you when you’re gone. How will your kids and grandkids know who you really were?

“What you create says as much about you as what you do.”

So what will 2014 bring? Here’s a list of my big creative goals for 2014.

Publish Tales of the Macabre West by April. I’ve still got a lot of revising to do but it is really coming together and I’m proud of how it reads. I’m not a perfectionist so when it’s close enough and I’ve captured the intended “feel” of the book, it’s going to be ready. I’m in the home stretch.
Record a new album. It’s been almost two years since Railyard recorded and I’ve spent a lot more time writing comics and books rather than playing music. I’ve got a ton of ideas and am anxious to collaborate with some friends. I’m super excited for what’s going to come out of these sessions this year.
Write another short film. After the success of Marooned last year, I’ve been itching to get back to screenplay writing. I’ve got a couple of ideas for short films and we are putting most of the Marooned crew back together for a possible shoot this summer. I can’t wait to take what I learned on the set of Marooned and make it even better this time around.
Launch a new comic series. I’m working with an amazing artist I couldn’t be more excited about. We are well into planning and drawing a new comic series that should have a first issue out this year. The story is kind of a mash-up of war genre (World War II) and horror and I think people are really going to dig it.

Those are the ones that are pretty much set in stone and I think are likely to happen. I’m also working on ideas for another novel. I’ve got some pretty strong material for a science-fiction / thriller story. I’m also toying with the idea of doing a collection of Christmas short stories because I had a brain-blast over the holidays. Those will probably happen in the background as I work on the above list.

I’m stoked for the prospects of creativity in 2014. It’s going to be a good year. Stay tuned.

10 Most Fun Movies of 2013 – Part 2

December 30, 2013 By Ben Lane Hodson in Movies

In my previous post, I counted down the top 10 movies I had the most fun watching in 2013 (numbers 10 to 6). Here’s the rest of the list including my number one.

5) Elysium

I did a bit of a rant a few months ago wondering why Elysium took so much heat when it was better than you heard. Is it heavy-handed? Yes. Are there some obvious parts to the story? Yes. Is it as good as District 9? Not quite. But darn it if I didn’t have a blast watching it. Sharlto Copely’s Kruger is a revelation, chewing the scenery in my favorite bad guy performance of the year. The special effects are jaw dropping and the story compelling. I was thoroughly entertained.

4) Pain & Gain

Michael Bay’s best film in… Well, since I can remember actually. I was dying laughing. The Rock, Mark Walberg, Tony Shalhoub, all were used to the best of their comic abilities with great effect. Another one of those true stories you can’t believe happened. (I know it was a loose adaptation but these guys the film is based on really were complete idiots). I had such a blast watching this. Michael Bay, forget Transformers. Make more like this.

3) Gravity

Wow. That was all my brain could muster after watching the first unbroken and jaw-dropping scene. Gravity takes the film cliche “thrill ride” to a whole other level. Sandra Bullock is outstanding as the main character and George Clooney is at his most charismatic. I knew it would be good because Children of Men is still one of the best films of the last decade but even my high expectations were exceeded. I couldn’t tell where the “reality” ended and the “visual FX” started.

2) About Time

About Time hit me hard. I’m a big fan of Love Actually by the same director so I was anxious to see this one. I don’t care if it was sentimental, I cried and loved it. What a life-affirming film about really living, taking time to enjoy, using the limited time you have to make yours and other lives better instead of wallowing in negativity and pointless pursuits. I was truly touched.

1) Pacific Rim

This was so up my alley I saw it three times in the theater. The scene where they get into the jaeger to go to battle for the first time is beyond exhilarating. If I was 14 years old, this would be my all-time favorite movie. It taps into something visceral that captured my imagination. The plot twists keep coming. The stakes keep going up. The characters all look and behave like they are in a live-action anime (which they are). I cannot tell you how much fun I had watching this movie. In Del Toro I trust. Such a blast.

10 Most Fun Movies of 2013 – Part 1

December 26, 2013 By Ben Lane Hodson in Movies

This isn’t a list about the best films of 2013. It’s not a list about the most important or the movies that deserve awards. There are countless lists for those categories. No, this is the list of the movies I had the most fun watching in 2013.

Above all else, movies are entertainment. I go for the escape, the fun, the imagination just as much as the art, the message, and the presentation. So why not put together a list of the movies I had the most fun experiencing this year?

Did I see everything? No but I’ve seen a lot. Probably above average. This time of year, all of the “important” films get released for awards competition. I haven’t seen several of them yet but usually “important” is not synonymous with “fun” so I’m pretty sure this list won’t change a whole lot.

10) The Place Beyond the Pines

I love a great story and I adore interesting characters. The Place Beyond the Pines has both. I was mesmerized by the interlinking stories and the passage of time. The actions and decisions the characters make cause ripple effects that feel earned and compelling. I’d put this up with one of the greatest movies about consequences ever, A Place in the Sun (1951).

9) The Iceman

Michael Shannon is a favorite actor of mine (even though he wasn’t given much to work with in Man of Steel this year, he did his best). This is the movie to watch if you want to see a character with some meat to him. I love true stories that are so crazy you almost can’t believe they’re true. The true story of a hit man leading a double life as a loving family man. Not even his family knew the truth. Look for a scene-stealing performance from Chris Evans (Captain America himself) as well.

8) John Dies at the End

Don Coscarelli is one of my favorite directors. Not only did he make the Phantasm series which is all kinds of crazy horror ideas mixed together and Bubba Ho-Tep (a Bruce Campbell masterpiece), he also made a childhood favorite, The Beastmaster. Don’s never had the kind of budget that would do his work the justice it deserves but the guy does more with a few million than many films with budgets north of $50 million. The film is totally bizarre (as expected) but also a blast. So much creativity. You will never be able to guess what happens next and that’s the way I like it.

7) Phantom

I’m a huge fan of submarine movies and Phantom doesn’t disappoint. Ed Harris plays the captain of a Soviet submarine. I love that they didn’t force the actors to speak in Russian accents. It’s got tight quarters, lots of close-ups of people sweating, claustrophobia, and suspense. It’s great to see David Duchovny playing a slimy party-hack who’s the ultimate foil to Ed Harris’s haunted captain. This one flew under the radar but I loved it.

6) World War Z

On paper, World War Z should be a complete disaster. Massive reshoots at the latest possible minute. Rewrites and actor confusion. Whole parts of the story thrown in the garbage. Massive overages in the budget. These are usually tell-tale signs of a box office disaster. I had low expectations going into this but I was pleasantly surprised. Liked it so much we saw it several times. Is it like the book? Nope. Is that okay? Yep. The PG-13 rating doesn’t hurt the suspense and sometimes adds to it because you don’t get to see everything. Your imagination can be much worse. But what takes this one over the top for me is the hugely gutsy decision to end on a slow-burn, intimate final scene. The action goes from gigantic to close and personal and I love it for that.

Here’s part 2.

3 Facts About Christmas You May Not Know

December 23, 2013 By Ben Lane Hodson in Life Lessons

I’ve recently been reading several histories of Christmas. I wanted to learn a little bit more about what Christmas of the past was like, how the celebrations have changed, and where so many now common traditions came from. You may be surprised to learn that the Christmas we know today is a relatively new phenomenon, especially in America. In fact, most of the traditions we now revere each year have been practiced for less than 150 years in the U.S. (They would have been new and strange to my great-great-grandfather which is hard to imagine now).

Here’s a few fun facts I’ve learned along the way that you may not know about the most popular holiday of the year:

Americans Refused to Celebrate Christmas

In 1776, Americans were against Christmas. They saw it as a British tradition and since we were about to be at war with Great Britain, most Americans were against the celebration. Also, Christmas had traditionally been a ruckus affair with binge drinking, lewd behavior, and class warfare being the most common ways to celebrate. George Washington’s crossing of the Delaware during Christmas was specifically done because he knew the Hessian troops (German mercenaries fighting for the British) would be celebrating the holiday.

It wasn’t until 1870 when Christmas was declared a national holiday following the bloody Civil War and started to become what we know today. But it was much different from the British tradition. Americans had reinvented the holiday as a peaceful day of charity and giving (inspired by Dicken’s Christmas Carol and several other author’s writings on what a traditional Christmas should be).

Christ’s Birth Wasn’t Celebrated Until 300+ years after his Death

It wasn’t until 400 AD that the birth of Jesus became a recognized holiday by the church. Most people know that December 25th is not actually when the birth of Jesus occurred (he was born in the spring) but it did coincide with another popular holiday, Saturnalia, celebrated by the Romans as well as many Winter Solstice holidays celebrated by pagan groups around December 25th. So the church chose to place Christmas on this date to satisfy its growing membership who still wanted to celebrate their holidays.

Saturnalia (the worship of the god Saturn) was celebrated by appointing someone in the town as The Lord of Misrule. This person was authorized to lead the rest of the town who was obligated to follow in mischievous activities such as vandalism, public disobedience, extortion of the rich for money and gifts, and drunkenness.

Coca-Cola Popularized the Image of Santa Claus we Know Today

In 1822, Clement Clarke Moore (a minister) wrote a poem for his daughters called ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. His poem is probably most responsible for laying the foundation for what we know Santa Claus to be today. But in the 1930’s, Coca-Cola company commissioned artist Haddon Sundblom to draw images of Santa Claus for their advertisements that look very close to the way Santa is depicted today. While Coca-Cola was not the first to have Santa dressed in red and white (the same colors as their logo & brand), they had the marketing reach to educate the masses and Santa became hugely important to Christmas festivities.

Santa Claus had been around for a long time before Coca-Cola, but their marketing popularized him to the point that he’s remained virtually unchanged in the now “classic” way he is depicted even up to today with the red and white suit, rosy cheeks, long white beard, and Christmas hat.

8 Most Underrated Christmas Movies

December 19, 2013 By Ben Lane Hodson in Movies

We all know about Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, How the Grinch Stole Christmas (animated), and Charlie Brown’s Christmas. Those are the beloved favorites everyone looks forward to each year. But what about some lesser known Christmas movies?

Here’s a list of some Christmas movies I consider underrated. These are films that deserve more attention. Some of them you may not have seen or even heard of before.

8) Arthur Christmas (2011)

What a huge surprise this film was in 2011. On a whim, I went with the kids expecting to have to suffer through a children’s film with bathroom humor and self-referential movie spoofs. What I got was a heart-warming and clever story that had me smiling ear to ear when grandpa steals the sled and makes a break from the North Pole with Arthur. Ardman Studios (the people behind Wallace and Gromit) prove once again that they have a knack for great characters.

7) Scrooged (1988)

Bill Murray spouting sarcastic dialogue about Christmas while playing a TV executive with a crazy twist on the classic Christmas Carol story? I’m in. This is so “80’s” it couldn’t exist in any other decade. If you like Bill Murray’s sense of humor, you will absolutely love this one. If not, well…

6) The Small One (1978)

Brilliant Disney animator, Don Bluth (The Secret of Nimh) directed this lesser-known film about a boy who is trying to sell his donkey “small one.” The animation is classic Disney, the story inspiring, and the ending where you find out who ends up buying the donkey is the perfect Christmas tie-in.

5) Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964)

Worth watching for the title alone, this is the all-time most ridiculous Christmas movie. Martians come to Earth and kidnap Santa because they don’t have anyone on Mars to deliver presents to the Martian children. Yep, a rock-solid plot. This film is dripping with camp. It’s a laugh-out-loud movie disaster the whole family can enjoy.

4) Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas (1977)

This list would not be complete without at least one puppet movie. None other than the legendary Jim Henson directs this movie with a lot of heart about a poor otter family that risks everything to try and win a Christmas talent contest. The songs are now modern-day Christmas favorites. The pacing is a little slower for younger kids but if they can make it through, the warmth of the ending is truly a Christmas gift.

3) Mr. Krueger’s Christmas (1980)

James Stewart is my all-time favorite actor. Towards the end of his brilliant career, he did this little short film for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This movie brought me to tears the first time I saw it as a kid. Stewart’s scene with the Christ-child in the nativity where he expresses his love for Jesus and talks about his own weaknesses is one of the most powerful Christmas scenes I’ve ever seen acted.

2) Love Actually (2003)

I don’t care if it is sentimental, I love, Love Actually. There’s humor, romance, and a clever collection of stories about love in all its many varieties. My favorite story is probably the one with Liam Neeson and his love-struck son but each part has its own appeal. If nothing else, if you are a Walking Dead fan, it’s worth watching just to see Andrew Lincoln as a love-sick best man who’s in love with his best friend’s bride. He even speaks in his native English accent!

1) A Christmas Carol (1984)

And my number one favorite I’ve watched nearly every year since it was released is George C. Scott’s genius portrayal of Scrooge in the 1984 version of A Christmas Carol. Scott’s final phase of his career had several brushes with the horror genre including the criminally underrated The Changeling. And this version of the classic Dickens story doesn’t shy away from the macabre. There is a definite creep factor with the ghosts, Scott is the quintessential Scrooge, his change at the end feels earned and real, the ghosts are perfect, Tiny Tim isn’t too annoying, and the Victorian setting feels lived in and believable. My favorite interpretation of this classic.

Christmas Comes Early

December 16, 2013 By Ben Lane Hodson in Life Lessons

Christmas comes early. Literally. Like the week before Halloween. No, I didn’t get an early gift. I’m talking about the trend to draw out the holiday season ever longer each year.

Studies have shown that Christmas time causes intense stress for a majority of people. There are feelings of loss and loneliness for those without family or friends to share it with. There are unfulfilled wants and needs. There are expectations regarding gifts, meals, and visits.

So what do we do about all of this stress?

We extend the holiday season even longer.

Diminishing Returns

I know a lot of the blame can be placed on retailers. Christmas is big business. The biggest. But like any business, they respond to consumer demand. We demand better deals, easier payment options, more merchandise, and everyone is looking for an edge to get the best value.

“More of something special and unique only makes it less special and unique.”

Wouldn’t Christmas be more meaningful if it was kept to it’s box between Thanksgiving and December 25th?

Consumerism Gone Crazy

There’s even a study on how Christmas Shopping Stirs Primal Fears. Now this is truly terrifying to me. The article describes how holiday shopping causes increased aggression and survival instincts to kick-in. If anyone has ever braved going out on Thanksgiving night for Black Friday deals, you’ve seen how civilization can crumble when faced with a scarce resource like a good deal.

But what’s really scary about this article is towards the end where experts list ways that shopping can be done in a more calm and enjoyable way.

“And finally, learn the difference between ‘doing the shopping’ and ‘going shopping.’ “Doing the shopping is a chore. It’s shopping for items like cat litter and toilet roll and it’s unlikely to be very stimulating,”

Only in a highly materialized culture would a quote like that be taken seriously. This statement would feel right at home in Brave New World or THX-1138.

The Origin of Black Friday

Like many Christmas traditions, the real origins and meanings have been changed to make them more palatable to today’s Christmas celebrations. The Huffington Post has an article on the true origins of Black Friday. You may be surprised to learn that Black Friday started out as something much darker and more sinister. In the mid-1960’s, the Philadelphia Police Department dubbed the day after Thanksgiving as Black Friday not because it put retailers “in the black” but because of the chaos it caused in their city.

People were run over, trampled, fights broke out, and cops worked their longest day of the year that day. It was miserable. So they called it Black Friday. The term caught on and everyone started using it. Retailers, hoping to spin the term to something more positive, came up with the explanation of sales being so high it put the company into the black on their ledger sheet.

A Season of Hope

Christmas can be full of hope and giving. It can be about love and peace. But as the studies show, very few of us find peace during the holiday.

I don’t mean to sound negative. I’ll make the best of it as I do each year. Shortening it back down to a week or two would do wonders for making it more meaningful and special. The season is all about hope so that’s what I’m doing, hoping this trend can be reversed. And at least for now, I’ll push the fears out of my mind that seem to tell me one day we’ll have a Christmas season that starts in September.

Best Twilight Zone Episodes – Third from the Sun

December 12, 2013 By Ben Lane Hodson in Writing

When it comes to storytelling, Rod Serling is my hero. He wrote stories that worked on multiple levels. His stories were approachable, clever, and resonated as both social commentary and great narrative. I’ll be writing about some of the best Classic Twilight Zone episodes, listing my favorites, and talking a little about the story structure. My hope is it will excite someone to seek out Mr. Serling’s work and at the very least, watch some of these classic episodes.

I’ve watched the entire Classic Twilight Zone series many times over. Lately, I’ve been watching the first season again. It’s a great start to the series with some favorites like Time Enough At Last and Judgement Night. But as great as those episodes are, whenever I get to Third from the Sun, I’m always reminded of why it’s my favorite episode of all time.

Synopsis

Two families of Government employees plan to steal a spaceship and travel to another planet just prior to a nuclear war. They must also deal with a stooge who wants to stop them.

Why this Episode is Great

Camera Work & Cinematography
The camera work will blow your mind. It’s like nothing you’ve seen in any other Twilight Zone episode. Very aggressive for this era. The framing is slanted (a clever hint to the twist ending). The rule of thirds is employed everywhere (another thoughtful hint at the episode’s title). This episode is worth watching for the directing alone. Check out the camera panning during the card game. Some of the best work of the entire series.

Based on Richard Matheson’s short story
Matheson may best be known in this current day for his book I Am Legend (which is brilliant by the way and much better than any of the film adaptations).

Captures the Feeling of Nuclear Paranoia
I can’t think of a single TV Show that better captures the feeling of paranoia and fear that the world could quite literally end at any time due to nuclear war. It’s also one of the most exciting and tense episodes of the whole series. There’s great use of the “ticking clock”.

Edward Andrews as Carling
I can’t think of a more sleazy character in the entire first season. Edward Andrews outdoes himself as the “bad guy” in this episode and brings all the tension you could possibly hope for.

Rod Serling’s opening narration is brilliant:

Quitting time at the plant. Time for supper now. Time for families. Time for a cool drink on a porch. Time for the quiet rustle of leaf-laden trees that screen out the moon. And underneath it all, behind the eyes of the men, hanging invisible over the summer night, is a horror without words. For this is the stillness before storm. This is the eve of the end.

Watch It

You can watch the full episode here:
http://youtu.be/jYe7741Ce9A

Why Good Isn’t Good Enough

December 9, 2013 By Ben Lane Hodson in Books, Tales of the Macabre West, Writing

I’m seriously considering self-publishing Tales of the Macabre West this coming year. Because of this, I’ve read more self-published books this year than ever before. I’m trying to get a feel for the market, level of quality, and what I’m up against in my genre.

I’ve found there are quite a few good books getting self-published. In fact, many are borderline great and a rare few are absolutely outstanding. I wrote a few weeks ago about the overwhelming number of books being published today. With the tidal wave of content being released, good doesn’t seem to be good enough anymore.

Reading Self-Published Books Differently

One thing I’ve noticed is that I read self-published books differently. You never know what you’re getting. The author might really care about their work, have paid for editing and copywriting services, revised many drafts, and had a great idea to begin with. Unfortunately, many times that’s not the case. The book contains many grammatical errors, the story confusing, and the plot poorly constructed or derivative.

When the book is from an established author, I take off my editor hat and read with more enjoyment. When the author is unknown and the book is self-published, I’m on the lookout for errors, I question sentence choices, and I even hold the author more responsible for perceived style weaknesses.

You Have to Prove Yourself as an Author

Whether it’s fair or not, there’s a lack of trust in self-publishing. Someone like Stephen King can get away with all kinds of risky story structures and sentence choices but an unknown author has to follow most of the rules. Readers hold self-published authors to a higher standard.

“You have to follow the rules now to break the rules later.”

Comparing your work to a famous author isn’t good enough. You don’t just have to write at their level, you need to surpass it to really set yourself apart. Right or wrong, self-published authors are held to a higher standard, scrutinized more, and receive greater criticism towards their work. My feeling is, don’t self-publish until you’re as sure as possible that your work will exceed expectations.

The End of Blockbuster Video

December 5, 2013 By Ben Lane Hodson in Movies

The writing’s been on the wall for a long time now. Physical media is going away. It happened nearly 10 years ago with music. MP3’s drove a stake into the heart of CD’s. It took a while for movies to catch up. DVD’s held so much more information than a song track and bandwidth wasn’t fast enough to transfer the size of files a digital movie required. All of that’s changed now.

This past month, we witnessed a major step towards the end of all physical media. Blockbuster video, the oftentimes despised nationwide video rental chain has closed their doors forever. Judging by the reactions on social media, it was a joyous occasion for most. The endless late fees, coupled with poor customer service and an anemic video selection of mass market titles made it obvious years ago that Blockbuster’s days were numbered.

What Video Rental Stores Used to be Like

My memories of renting videos are much different from the experience a big rental store like Blockbuster (or Hollywood video – remember them?) offered. As a kid, we didn’t own a VCR. If we did well on our grades or for other special occasions, we would go to the corner video store and each get to pick out a VHS movie (we thankfully missed the early Beta craze). Along with our video rentals, we would also rent a VHS player to be able to watch them on our TV back at home. Not having gone to a lot of movies in the theater, home video seemed miraculous back then. Just being able to watch The Empire Strikes Back after it had left the theaters was worth it alone.

Later in High School, DVD’s hit and the back catalogs of older films became easier to find. We spent a summer watching nearly all 100 films from the AFI’s Top 100 Best Films of All Time list. We owned a DVD player by then and even had surround sound installed (a big deal at the time). It was almost like being in the theater.

But the best thing of all was going to the video store to find something to rent. We’d walk the aisles for hours, uncovering all kinds of bizarre films we didn’t even know existed. The pulpy DVD covers of the late 70’s and early 80’s were magical. You could get lost on the horror aisle where every cover promised a night of terror and dismemberment. Every science fiction cover showed a new unexplored world, with many of the covers actually being more interesting than the film itself.

A Bittersweet Goodbye

So why am I not joining in the shouts of joy over Blockbuster’s demise? On the one hand, we now have many great films available on demand and in HD to be played whenever you want. On the other hand, we’ve lost access to a lot of great films that were only available on VHS or DVD. For all the great things about Netflix, its streaming catalog is still shallow.

I think about an amazing independent video store like Scarecrow Video in Seattle who is on the verge of going out of business and I worry about all of the great undiscovered titles that we won’t have access to anymore. Unless you’re looking for a movie less than 6 months old and very mainstream, Redbox won’t have it either.

I wouldn’t know about some of my all-time favorite movies if it weren’t for video rental stores. So it’s a bittersweet goodbye, not because I loved Blockbuster but because it represents an end of a memory. Will we be able to access all of these old and hard-to-find titles one day on-demand? I hope so, but for now, Blockbuster was one of the last places where you could discover something you’d never heard of before and actually hold it in your hands.

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