Mr Cosmo

I was in New York last week and went to Greenwich Village and saw a video store - something I can never pass without a good browse, and it was like walking back in time. First of all the movies were well laid out (40s thrillers, 50s thrillers, 60s etc.), a section of British films and such long forgotten gems there as MORGAN - A SUITABLE CASE FOR TREATMENT, TOM JONES, BLIND TERROR, WHERE LOVE HAS GONE and rare foreign releases like MADAMOISELLE and loads of films that I see people requesting copies of on this board. Many of them were NTSC - VHS copies long deleted items from way back and my only worry was how I was going to carry my stash home - then disaster - I was told that all the titles I had picked were for rental only. I comforted myself with the Hammer Box Set with Captain Clegg, Phantom Of The Opera etc and that night I dreamt of what might have been. (I have considered the cost of moving to New York but it's not a practical proposition.)
I am mentioning it here as you lot are the only people I know who can empathise with it - and who knows, there may be some New York people on here that can make use of it.
Anyway - the store was Evergreen Video at 37 Carmine St in Greenwich Village. If you find yourself in New York have a browse at least.
When I get to heaven, I like to think there will be a video store like that!
Sam leaves stage left with a dreamy look on his face

smudge

MORGAN is still available from Amazon.com for just $17.99 and you can get copies of TOM JONES from their Marketplace sellers too...

SMUDGE

Welcome to my house. Enter freely, and of your own will...

Sgt Dudfoot

I love the idea that in Heaven there is a video shop full of the stuff you like (including the lost films you never got a chance to see, of course) and none of films you consider worthless and rubbish. Although I would like a small section of films I hate just so I can 'tut tut' at them and shake my head and make myself feel superior, which probably goes against the heavenly ethic!

ChristineCB

When you come across that section, maybe watch out for trapdoors...

"What that first step, Sir. It's a doozy..."

Hopefully, blowing razzberries or shouting "Julie Andrews" can extricate yourself from that sense of plunging.

Mr Cosmo

Actually the reason I mentioned it is that I get more of a kick out of browsing for some of these old things than watching them sometimes. Have you ever had that feeling when you go through a bundle of stuff and then there at the end of it all is your Holy Grail - your LIVE NOW PAY LATER or NIGHT AFTER NIGHT AFTER NIGHT - and in heaven they are all there remastered with DVD extras including audio commentaries from people who died years ago and deleted scenes that were never shot and an interview with God telling you his favourite films / favorite movies.

Time for my medication....

By the way - I know NANAN is available somewhere - I was using it as an illustration.

Joenoir

It's rather spooky - or do I mean reassuring - when you find someone who has similar fantasies to yourself. I imagine brand new copies of British films of the 1940s, complete with lurid trailers, contemporary interviews with cast and crew, documentaries, bloopers and and behind the scene footage. Maybe my medication needs changing?

sippog

Gary Larson once drew a cartoon of the video shop in hell: it stocked nothing but copies of "Ishtar".

I think I visited that same video shop in Greenwich Village on my sole trip to New York a good few years back and, like Sam Boone, got all excited until I realised that they were only for hire.

I cant be the only one who laments the passing of the video shop. Over the years all the funny little ones in my area have gone and now even the big chain stores, Apollo and Blockbuster, have bitten the dust. Ordering on line just isn't the same. You cant make those impulsive choices that sometimes unearth treasures.

I counted myself extremely lucky to live near a shop that claimed to be the "oldest video hire store in the uk", Star Videos in the Walworth Road, near Elephant and Castle - closed last year. They had an incredible stock of old tapes which they'd hire out: seven for seven nights for seven pounds. I got to see a lot of rare old films that way.

Merton Park

To Sam Boone:

I went into that shop last September, and like you it had a similar effect on me. Wonderful place to browse and buy.