Chasing DVD's Essay by Shale March 15, 2015 Today, I biked 8.75 miles to the MovieStop store in North Miami Beach to see if they had a particular used DVD that I could get cheap. It was a beautiful bike-ride day and the trip was good exercise - but the destination was quite disappointing. MovieStop was no more. The sign was gone, the windows bare and the darkened floor space empty. This may be the last used DVD store that I will find within biking distance and the end to one of my enjoyable recreational activities, perusing shelves of movies old and recent, mainstream and obscure that pique my interest to check out and perhaps to add to my collection, which as of March 6 was over 720. I can't remember exactly when I started collecting DVD's. I had about a dozen VHS movies, mostly Star Trek movies and a few others (porn flicks) when a friend bought and set up my first DVD player. I didn't have one DVD, so I went to the neighborhood Blockbuster on Collins Ave. and found a two-sided video with Conan the Barbarian and Conan the Destroyer. The DVD of these 1980s movies was dated 2003, so that is likely the year my collection started. One of my DVD Shelves. Conan is in the Ancient Period Fantasy Section I got more movies from Blockbuster over the years, a lot of used ones from their tables of reduced prices but then in 2004, I discovered Specs Music & Videos on Biscayne Blvd. around 123rd Street. So, my recreational biking destination was 4.5 miles to the video store to see what bargains or old movies that I wanted to revisit were available. Even when I broke my leg in 2005 and borrowed a car to get around, I would drive up to Specs (Specs became F.Y.E - For Your Entertainment in 2007) and peruse the shelves. My Other Two DVD Shelves Then FYE on Biscayne went out of business. Fortunately they had a very nice store on SoBe at 5th Ave. so my bike trips were even more convenient to see a current movie at Regal Cinema on Lincoln Road then go down to the video store and hang out. ALL THINGS MUST PASS Again, my recreational activity changed as the FYE store on South Beach ended, but there was a smaller store at Bayside, so my bike trips moved there - 10 miles away. In January 2012, the neighborhood Blockbuster on Collins went out of business, so for a while there was only the SoBe Blockbuster for used videos on Miami Beach. By November 2012 the FYE store at Bayside folded so I was finally left with no place to shop for used DVDs. That is, until a co-worker alerted me to the MovieStop in North Miami Beach in July 2013, and I was happy again perusing the shelves of DVDs. Also, the ppl working there were into movies as well as some older customers who just seemed to always be hanging out. We had some nice movie discussions while wandering the large store. But now, that too is history. DVD itself may be another technology that has become outdated. Ppl are into NETFLIX, streaming and other ways of accessing movies that do not require owning or renting a DVD. That is likely why all the video stores have gone out of business. I may have to upgrade my computer or purchase one of those services to access videos someday, but I will miss the thrill of the hunt, of finding a particular movie that you barely remember from the past and can revisit again or discovering indie films that were not too popular but very entertaining. It is a sad day for me, this apparent end of my chasing DVD's.
well, there's always the DVD section on craigslist you can also get dvd's from the library, you just can't keep them
