The ghosts of Videoport will still tell you what to watch

Hi, everyone visiting the Videoport blog, either in wistful nostalgia or because you did a Google search for “Netflix sucks.” This is the ghosts of Videoport saying that of all the million things we miss about Videoport (you know, like existing), steering you toward just the right thing to watch was our favorite.

So, hey, why not use this space to ask your favorite ghost for some recommendations.

What should you watch? What should you definitely not watch? What’s that movie with that lady from that thing with the other guy in it? If you liked this one thing, then what’s another thing you’d like? You know—that sort of thing.

Sure, there’s the internet, and those streaming services that murdered us and shall not be named try to program their bullcrap algorithms to predict what out of their very limited selections you’d like. But we always thought we did this sort of thing better than anyone else. And, like we said, we miss it.

We’re still out here, ghost-style—just twiddling our ghost-thumbs and watching movies, like video store ghosts do. Ask away in the comments—we’ll check in and get back to you. (Oh, and we’ll only answer if you swear that you’re going to rent said movies at local video stores like Jet Video, River Bottom Video, or Bart and Greg’s DVD Explosion. If you’re using the streaming services that shall not be named, at least have the decency to lie. After all, they’re the things that murdered us.)

The ghosts of Videoport are waiting…. WOOOOoooooOOOOOooooooOOOOoooo…

(Header photo by Molly Haley)

A (living) video store is doing something cool for film fans

It’s the ghost of Videoport again… WoOoOoOoOoO! Here to tell you about our still-surviving cousin Bart & Greg’s DVD Exposion! up in Bruswick. They’re teaming up with Brunswick’s own cafe theater Frontier for artsy-cool movie nights. You should go to those, then rent movies at Bart & Greg’s. You know, since they’re great (and, you know, still exist.)

Read all about the Bart & Greg’s Film Series HERE.

And check out Bart & Greg’s website to see how great they are. Keep them alive, people.

A former Videoporter got paid to write about his pain at losing Videoport

I mean, the least you could do is read it, since we’re dead and all.

From the thing:

If you’re actually in a video store, the stakes are different. You’re engaged. You’re on a mission to find a movie — the right movie. You had to get out of bed, get dressed, and go to a store. You had to think about what you want, why this movie looks good and not that one, perhaps even seeking guidance or advice. Whether it’s from nostalgia, advertising, packaging, reputation, recommendation, or sheer whim, a movie chosen from the shelves attaches you to your choice. Before the film even starts playing, you’ve begun a relationship with it. You’re curious. Whether you’ve chosen well or poorly, you’ve made a choice, and you’re in it for the duration.

With online streaming, we don’t decide — we settle. And when we aren’t grabbed immediately, we move on. That means folks are less likely to engage with a film on a deep level; worse, it means people stop taking chances on challenging films. Unlike that DVD they paid for and brought home, a movie on Netflix will be watched only so long as it falls within the viewer’s comfort zone. As that comfort zone expands, the desire to look outside of it contracts.

Aaand, that’s the last nickel anyone associate with Videoport will probably squeeze out of the place we loved so much. Support your local video store—if you’ve still got one.

You let Videoport croak—here’s how you can atone

Bart & Greg’s. Brunswick. Go there.

There’s another, equally-outstanding video store still hanging on up in Brunswick, people. Here’s an interview with the owner by a former Videoporter. Read it. Then take a little drive.

“It boils down to one thing – if you want it, we’ve got it.” So says Bart D’Alauro, owner and co-founder of Brunswick video store Bart & Greg’s DVD Explosion, and he’s not wrong. “At this point, we have about 35,000 discs, which translates to about 26,000 individual movies and TV series,” he said, explaining that his store, housed since 2002 in the Tontine Mall on Maine Street in Brunswick, quickly moved into a large space in the mall, at first doubling and then tripling in size.

If only the same could be said of Bart & Greg’s customer base. Subject to the same forces (Netflix, mainly) which finally, in August, choked the life from Portland’s own movie rental institution, Videoport, the store finds itself looking for new ways to convince people that the local, indie video store model still has value. Having worked right ’til the end at Videoport (and with Bart at another indie video store decades ago), I had a lot to ask him about.

People think “well, Netflix has everything.” But that’s not true, right?

Except for “Star Wars,” “Harry Potter,” Pixar, the Disney classics, “Indiana Jones” – all pretty glaring omissions. There’s this idea, too, that, except for those few things, they have just about everything else. There are about 7,500 titles to stream in a given month, compared to our 26,000. Plus, every title in my store has been hand-picked because someone will want to see it. Netflix is filled with movies no one wants because they’re part of a package licensing deal – studios say, “If you want this movie that people care about, you have to take the junk along with it.” You could subscribe to 20 different streaming services and maybe get access to everything we’ve got.

Apart from the fact that it’s killing off video stores, what’s do you see as the worst thing about people watching movies online?

Netflix affects the way people watch movies. They watch 10 minutes and, if they’re not into it, they flip to the next movie. With a video store, there’s the fact that they’ve paid their $3.50, they’re going to give this a shot – you’re watching more challenging movies for that reason. The Netflix effect means people are only watching things in their comfort zone, genres they’re comfortable with. Movies that give them all the info they need in the first 10 minutes when part of the fun of watching movies is trying to figure out who these people are, why they’re doing what they’re doing. It’s a variation on cable – you take what you’re given. Netflix is cable with a few more options.

What’s lost when a community loses its last video store?

It’s a community spot, a gathering place. I enjoy that most people who return a movie want to have a short movie discussion, some analysis, some criticism – they’re not just zoning out to what’s on their screen. They’re actually thinking about it. We’ll get just about anything that’s requested, we pretty much get every new move people will have interest in – foreign films, foreign TV series, we get ’em all. I think the biggest loss is that without video stores you can’t go through Danny Peary’s “Guide for the Film Fanatic” and watch any of those movies – nothing on that checklist (of 1,600 essential films and cult classics) is going to be on Netflix. I have almost all of them.

Bart & Greg’s is a great video store (easily as good as Videoport was), so I urge anyone still smarting over Videoport’s demise, or anyone who values movies, to make the trip. Check out their website atbartandgregs.com. Like Bart & Greg’s on Facebook.

VideoReport #517

Volume DXVII— Well, That Happened

             For the Week of 7/14/15

 

Videoport gives you a free movie every day. Now Videoport’s owner Bill has something he has to tell you:

 

Videoport is closing in August. We want to thank the people of Greater Portland for your loyalty and friendship over these last 28 years, it’s been great. Thank You!

All is not lost! We are donating the Videoport movie collection to the Portland Public Library. Soon instead of a FREE movie every day at Videoport you will be able to get all your movies FREE at the library! Actually not all FREE, you need to support your public library just as you supported Videoport. Please enjoy all the Portland Public Library collections and services, and when you do, please make a donation to the library so they can keep up bringing in the New Releases!

The first movies moving to the Portland Public Library will be the Criterion Collection. You should find them on the shelf at the library sometime toward the end of July. Next we will start moving over the Foreign Language film section. Please stop by the library and check out their beautiful DVD section, sign up for a library card if you don’t already have one, and try out borrowing something! At Videoport the last day to rent movies will be Saturday August 15.

 

Middle Aisle Monday! Take a free rental from the Science Fiction, Horror, Incredibly Strange, Popular Music, Mystery/Thriller, Animation, or Staff Picks sections with any other paid rental! OR Get any three non-new releases for seven days for $7.99!

>>> Former Videoporter Regan says goodbye, as only Regan can. I started renting from Videoport when I was a teenager, I’d get movies delivered (they used to deliver!) and I think Lenny delivered Angel at My Table and Heathers the night I decided to give my innocence away to a greasy-greaza. and one of the staff, after noticing my coming of age rental habits, suggested Valley Girl. And I still watch it on the reg! Love. It. That was when I wished to one day work at Videoport, and I did. For nearly 15 years. FIFTEEN YEARS! And I loved mostly all of it. The last few years were a total bag of farts, and I started to resign myself to the end being near. But I just don’t get it. Portland had something great here! A museum of cinema! And assorted gross foods. I’m not the most cinephily of the cinephiles, but I do watch a sh*tload of movies, and it will still take me a lifetime to get through all of the movies I want to see at Videoport. But we don’t have the Housewives of the Suez Canal, and we don’t have that obscure documentary about swedish-Latino-Afro-punk bands (those might be fake). But Videoport has a HUGE documentary section, a unparalleled foreign section. But that’s not enough for Portland, Maine. Videoport has paid for health insurance for its employees before it became de rigueur to do so, but we NEED another f*cking locally sourced overpriced restaurant with signature cocktails. Eh. So it goes.

I love movies, and I thought this town did too. I’m mad as hell….and most of you don’t understand this reference. Thank you Bill, Yolanda, James, Betsy, Tim, Ivory, Johnny Snowballs, JackieO, Wheeler, Michelles-n-cheese, Greegan, Pook, JORDAN!, Pie HEAD, Allen, Christian, HAMMER, And the last of red hot lovers, Andy, Sam, April and Dennis. It was my ultimate pleasure.

>>>Former Videoporter JackieO says goodbye. Thank you for everything, Videoport. From Fat Guy Goes Nutzoid to The Third Man, from the roommates to the drinking buddies, from the undue street cred to learning how to count change back, it was a pleasure, mostly.

Tough and Triassic Tuesday! Give yourself a free rental from the Action or Classics section with any other paid rental! OR Get any three non-new releases for seven days for $7.99!

>>> Former Videoporter Michelle (AKA Pook) says goodbye, too. When I first moved to Portland in 2000, I came with one piece of knowledge, Anyone that that was anyone had a Videoport card. And so I went from never having that many films available to me to a whole new world of film lined up before me. The foreign film section was my first exploration. When I watched “Lovers Of the Arctic Circle” and then “Chacun cherche son chat” (When The Cat’s Away), I fell in love. And then suddenly I had Roberto Benigni in my home; making me laugh with “Johnny Stecchino”, crying with “Life is Beautiful”, and opening up a deeper appreciation of film with “Down by Law”. At this point in the Videoport timeline, I could even have these movies delivered to me with candy! I also enjoyed going to the store and overhearing the conversations and passions the staff had for film.  It is no surprise that not only was Videoport the catalyst for my love of movies, but it also was what made Portland my home. I had the true honor of working of Videoport. I met so many wonderful people while being both a renter and an employee there. I would not have the wonderful friends that I have today. Also, I would not be called Pook by so many people outside of my family. I would not have had the opportunities to learn about movies from people who were so passionate and knowledgeable. I know the Internet is an endless abyss of movies. But it is simply not the same as talking to someone in person, telling them what movies you love, and then having them reveal to you a treasure chest of films that will fill the craving for the movie you are looking for. No algorithm on any media platform will ever contain the same movie know-how as many of the employees and customers of Videoport. Movies are a way to have a shared experience with someone. Videoport gave people the ability to find other people to create these moments with. It is not just a store, it is not just a place to grab a movie, it is a full experience. No, it is magical. I am not sure anyone can recreate the Videoport experience. It is something unique and special to Portland, It is something that any of us that rented or work there know is some kind of wonderful. Bill Duggan made more than a just a video store, he made a Portland experience. He created a gateway to so many other worlds with his store for so many. He created a sense of community for so many. I hope we can all continue this magic with movie nights, encouragement of local film makers, and just simply talking together on the movies that we loved, hated, and can not wait to see. Thank you, Bill, for giving us so many years of Videoport and so many movies.

>>>Former Videoporter Allen says goodbye. I truly dream that one day I can operate a company of cinephiles that provide to the community, and to each other, the value that Videoport has provided me and my community for so many years. It was among the best jobs coming out of college. Hey, want a job where you are publicly lauded for your film knowledge? Want to work at one of the coolest places in Portland, where EVERYONE will see you, and get to know your face? Want to be part of a loving and caring group of people that will always remain close friends until you die with VHS tapes in your hand? Yes, I do. Thanks Videoport. For everything.

Wacky and Worldly Wednesday! You’ve got a free rental coming from the Comedy or Foreign Language sections with any other paid rental! OR Get any three non-new releases for seven days for $7.99!  

>>> Dutch Dennis (AKA Disco, Frenchy) says goodbye. It is a sad day when an institution like Videoport leaves town. I was the 92nd and last person Videoport ever hired. Half the friends I have I met through the store. It is highly unlikely I would have started watching Friday Night Lights without Regan constantly yelling at me that this was one of the best shows on television. Or that I would’ve started watching Andy’s crazy Asian recommendations, Sam’s action movies, Jackie’s Spanish adventures, anything Dennis recommended. I would have never watched hard-to-find documentaries I devoured, like Death by Design, Cane Toads, or Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe. I guess what I am trying to say is that movies and friends work well together. It sure did for me the three years I worked in that basement.

>>>Former Videoporter Matt M. says goodbye. I can’t add much more to what my former coworkers have said about Videoport. I made great friends with some of the sweetest, smartest, funniest(seriously) people around. I also got to wait on the sweetest, angriest, most eccentric customers you could ever imagine. I received countless free drinks due to being a “Videoport dude”. Videoport was a social hub for Portland, and it will not be replaced. Running into former coworkers is different than running into other old friends- much like what running into members of your fraternity/sorority must be like. We had the coolest, most fun job in town. Portland owes a huge debt of gratitude to Bill and Yolanda for making Portland what it is. I’m amazed, but not surprised, that Videoport is donating their collection to the PPL. Videoport cared about the community, and this donation cements that fact. This is truly a sad day for Portland.

Thrifty Thursday! Rent one, get a free rental from any other section in the store! OR Get any three non-new releases for seven days for $7.99!                                       

 >>> Emily S. Customer has one last recommendation for you. The VideoReport has done a lot for me. In its infancy, I wrote thumbnail reviews as an excuse to flirt with the fella I’d been dating, and — because then as now, he did the bulk of the writing every week — every review I submitted freed him up for more smoochin’. A few years later (almost exactly six years ago today as I write this), I presented Dennis with a week’s worth of reviews, written in secret during spare minutes here and there, so he could take off the week of our wedding and not worry about turning out a half-dozen reviews on top of everything else. (Thanks, Andy, for guest-editing that edition of the VideoReport.) The backlog of reviews and reflections we’ve both (but mostly your unfailing editor, Videoport Jones, a.k.a., Pancakes W. Meat, a.k.a., Dennis Perkins, freelance writer, true cinemaphile*, and swell guy) accumulated, years and years of writing for free, gave us each a springboard into professional reviewing. I’ll always be thankful for that.  But neither of us did it for that reason. We wrote, and write, for the VideoReport, because we believe in independent cinema, in local business, in the virtue of a video library not restricted by transnational corporations’ backroom deals, in the delight of walking into a real brick-and-mortar video store and having a conversation with a movie lover who can steer you to some unexpected treasure. Videoport has been a haven for me, for lots of movie-lovers like me and movie-lovers nothing like me, for decades. It’s been a gift to Portland. I’m grateful for all it’s given me, and us — us the couple, us the city, us the loyal supporters of indie everything. Goodbye, Videoport, and thank you for your gifts.

*During an interview, Malcolm McDowell called Dennis that, and the compliment buoyed him for weeks. Mr. McDowell, you don’t know how right you were. 

The Last Picture Show. Peter Bogdanovich’s tribute to the great Westerns of years gone by, this black-and-white 1971 masterpiece was nominated for eight Academy Awards. In a dusty Texas town, the local movie theater, the site of a lot of memories and fumblings in the dark, of dreams and desires onscreen and off, is closing down. A handful of friends — including Jeff Bridges, Timothy Bottoms, Cybill Shepherd, all achingly young and lovely, all already looking back over their past with the keen combination of nostalgia, pleasure, and grief we all know too well — gather for a last hurray. It’ll break your heart, and it should.

Kids Friday! One free rental from the Kids section, no other rental necessary! OR get any three non-new releases for a week for $7.99!          

>>> Dennis says goodbye. Too much to say. I wish it could be all “thanks for the memories” from me, but I’ve never been that guy. We’ve all put so much effort and worry, and doomed, desperate love into this place for me to put it in perspective. So I’ll just say to my coworkers: you are my best friends. To the customers who stayed: most of you are good people. To Netflix: I genuinely hope Anonymous infects you with a fatal virus. To me: go find something else to do with your life. To anyone who’s ever scratched our DVDs: you are genuinely bad people and we all think you are the devil. To everyone: movies still matter. I’m gonna go get a drink.

>>>Former Videoporter Christian says goodbye. Videoport exists in its own timewarp. It defied the odds and created a mythology all its own. I will always treasure my connection to Videoport. I’m so sorry to see it go!

Having a Wild Weekend! Rent two movies, and get a third one for free from any section! OR get any three non-new releases for a week for $7.99!                                            

>>>For Saturday, Sam says goodbye. There aren’t a lot of jobs in which you get to do what you love, but for me Videoport clerk is one of them. I got my first membership card when I turned 18, and when I was hired 6 years and over 600 rentals later, I was hired. The boss told me he was reluctant to hire me because I was such a good customer. I loved Videoport then and I love it now, almost twelve years later. It is one of those rare things that has made my life measurably better. Not just the coworkers, who will remain like family to me. Not just comfort of that nerd-haven of a basement. No, I’m talking about the money, that sweet, sweet dollar bill! Seriously, though. Videoport has been my home in countless ways for exactly half of my life and I’m going to miss it more than you’ll ever understand.

>>>For Sunday, April says goodbye. April here. The most important thing I can say is this… thank you. Thank you for supporting us and loving us for so many glorious years. Videoport isn’t just a movie store to me and it certainly was never just a job. It’s been a privilege to work at a place that I genuinely love, with people that I respect and admire, and to belong to a community of movie loving geeks. I grew up in Portland and Videoport was always the coolest store around. My mother put me on her card but as soon as I turned 18 I got my own. Becoming a member at Videoport was a rite of passage and, naturally, the first thing I rented was an 18+ anime. I never finished watching it, but it seemed so scandalous at the time for me to rent it. This sort of thing was possible here. The vast selection that the store has always had makes it possible for you to rent obscure experimental films along with the latest popcorn action flick. It’s also a community gathering place. People meet here, couples fight, and old friends run into each other. Once, I was a witness to a marriage at the store and I’ve watched children grow up to get their own cards. Thanks for all of this goes to Bill, the best boss you could ever ask for. Generous and supportive, Bill is just as awesome as you could imagine the owner of Videoport to be. His dedication to the store, his employees, and to his community is unparalleled. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
I will miss you.

New Releases this week at Videoport (because Videoport will keep bringing you the best movies right up ‘til the end): Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 (Well, not always the best movies, but we give you movies, anyway. Kevin James returns to fall down in a manner some people find amusing as the world’s best mall security officer heads on a Vegas vacation only to get stuck fighting terrorists—in a mall! What are the chances?!), It Follows (Now this is more like it. One of the best and best-reviewed horror movies in years, this indie from the director of The Myth Of The American Sleepover takes the idea of horny teenagers being pursued by an unstoppable monster to some genuinely terrifying and unique places. Artsy and terrifying, just rent it if you’re in the mood to wet yourself just a little bit), The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (Everyone’s aunt’s favorite movie gets a sequel, as Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Bill NIghy, and Dev Patel continue to enjoy late-in-life love at the hotel of their dreams. This time, Richard Gere shows up to fill a vacancy, causing heart to go all aflutter), Ex Machina (If It Follows is the great, artsy horror flick of the week, then this is the great, artsy sci-fi flick of the week. In it, young researcher Domhnall Gleeson is brought in by eccentric scientist Oscar Isaac to test out his new artificial intelligence program, which is housed in a disturbingly sexy female robot body. Things do not go well.), Clouds Of Sils Maria (A legendary actress [the always-stunning Juliette Binoche] finds herself forced to confront her life and career when she agrees to take a role in a revival of the play that once launched her career alongside young actresses Kristen Stewart and Chloe Grace Moretz), The Longest Ride (Another Nicholas Sparks adaptation about possibly doomed but probably not young lovers. This time, he’s a rodeo rider guy, and she’s very pretty, but in a circumstance that means they can never be together—or can they? Luckily, crusty old Alan Alda is on hand to offer sage love advice based on his own sweetly tragic love story)