Bye Bye Blockbuster

Blockbuster Video is closing its doors forever. The end of Blockbuster signifies the end of video stores forever. I know, I'm crying too.Video stores were a huge part of my childhood. It was always such an exciting moment when mom or dad would tell us we got to go to Hollywood Video to pick out movies. Of course, the new releases were more expensive so we always got older movies. Me and my brother rented every single Pokemon video in that place (some of them multiple times). Because of video rental stores I was able to walk around the store and look at all the covers, read the descriptions, take way to long with my selections, and have my mom yell at me to hurry up. I got to discover Mighty Morphin Power Rangers in a time when Wild Force was on the air. We found a lot of great "hidden treasure" films by browsing the shelves of Hollywood, and before that its predecessor Crazy Mike's Video. Crazy Mikes was probably the most magical place on Earth. I can still remember the way it smells (I'm not creepy I swear). When we would walk in there were rows and rows of videos. The new release wall always had the newest Land Before Time movies and in a time before the internet, running over to that shelf was always how I'd check if there was a new one out yet. I also loved the song "American Pie" and I always wanted to rent the movie because I thought it was associated with the song, but for some reason dad never let me get them. My dad and me found two series of dinosaur movies that I was in love with and rented over and over again: Walter Cronkite's A&E specials, and another one hosted by Gary Owens. I remember the constant pestering to rewind our movies. I remember how the Charlie Chaplin movies were in the back of the store. But most of all I just remember how exciting the feeling of going to Crazy Mike's was. It's a shame my children will never get to experience anything like that. And while it may seem stupid for me to be emotionally-attached to video stores, it reminds me of my childhood and all the incredible memories I have of picking out movies on a Saturday night. So while my family never actually joined Blockbuster, I am sad to see it go. It represents the end of an era. An era that I will always remember fondly.

-Matthew

P.S. Be kind, please rewind.