CHESSNOID

Back in the day when I was a young lad, I used to frequent the cinema theaters with my girlfriend-now-turned-wife. We used to watch many movies every weekend. I especially liked the indie and foreign films in the little theaters, which have mostly disappeared. Planning was essential. If done just right, we would take in 3 movies on a Saturday or Sunday . Usually 2 matinees and 1 regular priced admission. Yes, all in the same theater and free unlimited freshly popped buttery popcorn refills. Those were sweet wonderful days. We would spend no more than $30 including the extra large bucket of popcorn and 2 large diet cokes. Shweeeeet! I know nowadays, that same experience would cost us at least $100!!. Cha ching.

Today, it is even better. I tell you technology and capitalism are making our lives easier. We have been a long time netflix customer. We were once up to the 7 movies plan but that was even too much for us. We use to go and spend hours at blockbuster, Hollywood video, and the wherehouse picking our movies. In those days, you had to “please be kind and rewind.” No More! Yippee. Today, I open up my mailbox and viola: DVDs! True movie magic with no late fees and no racing to the stores by midnight to avoid those nasty extra fees. Now I just drop them off at the nearest mailbox. If you haven’t tried these dvd services yet, and love watching movies, you should sign up.

We usually watch movies as we get them and send them out asap. In a week we can watch 6 movies if the mail turnaround is good. That works out to be about 24 movies a month which averages the cost per DVD to less than a dollar a show. However, lately the service has been slipping so we may be averaging only 15-18 movies a month. Enter blockbuster.com. They have a trial version we just signed up for. We are getting the movies back like boomerangs. I think netflix used to be like that when we first started. Now, we are deciding which ones we are gonna go with after a month. With tax on each of 3 movies plan, they both are just about $20 month. Of course both are a deal and a steal compared to what we would spend at the theaters. Also, there isn’t that annoying stranger talking on their cell phone that doesn’t understand movie theater etiquette sitting near you.

Netflix does have an online service where you can watch movies but it is a limited selection. Most movies on there are really no better than the movies on hbo, cinemax, or showtime repeatedly show every other day. The great thing about both netflix and blockbuster is that all movies sent to us are our own personal selections. Never any surprises. Although, there seems to be a discrepancy and a lot of finger pointing as far as who chose the bad movies (after we have watched it and realized it was a dud).

Gotta go and get the Paul Newman’s popcorn out of the microwave. His popcorn is the best. Have an excellent movie filled weekend.