Sunday, November 11, 2012

Loving the Redbox

As I was renting a  movie today from my local Redbox, I couldn't help but reflect on how amazing it is that I can rent a Blueray movie for less than a buck fifty, with tax.  When I was a kid, a VHS movie was 2 bucks.  At least, I think it was.  We didn't actually get a VCR until I was in 8th grade, and even then we rarely rented movies, but from what I remember it was $2 at Blockbuster.  The last time I went to that establishment which is not surprisingly headed for bankruptcy, it was $4 for a rental.  And yet here it is, a few years later, and I can get a new release for a fraction of that price, and I don't even have to interact with another human being to do it.  You gotta love America.

Speaking of movies, Abraham Lincoln has had a busy year, as his second movie is coming out this week.  Apparently this one was less physically challenging than the last, where he purportedly turned to a body double for some of the more intense action sequences.  I still haven't seen either movie, and will look forward to getting them at the Redbox in the next few months.

The one bad thing about the Redbox is that the outdoor one I use comes with a sunscreen that is totally worthless at actually preventing the sun from washing out the screen, but that you have to hold up the entire time you're browsing movies.  Really, no one could come up with a button, clip, or velcro to keep this thing out of the way if I don't want to hold it?  C'mon guys, you're letting me down here.  Not just me, but millions of other lazy, cheap Americans.  I know you can do better.

I will close by advising you not to take your significant other with you to the Redbox.  It's much easier to just come home with a movie to watch.  There's nothing more aggravating than watching movie after movie that you would like to see go scrolling by, only to have the other person pick some lame Romantic comedy to watch.  At least that's what Heather tells me.