I worked a a small mom & pop rental place for a few months around 1992, before DVD. Everything was VHS with a limited box of laserdisc that I never saw move. I lived less than a quarter mile from the place. Despite the size of the shop, they were one of the very first to open in the 1980s so everyone had a membership there, and early on my family would have to drive two towns over because they were the only place around. There was also a Domino's pizza directly next door, which was symbiotic for both.
I was hired because I lived close, and they were dabbling with renting out Genesis, NES, and SNES games. Gamestop did not exist yet. I had actually sold them a few games I was done with in order to afford some new ones.
They weren't one of those places who would play movies on a TV to entice people. Their computers were ancient, even by 1992 standards. Every night we'd have to back up the day's transactions onto a 5 inch floppy, through a heavily screen-burned monochrome monitor. They'd rotate between 4 discs, each one groaned and strained from being overwritten hundreds of times.
The work was shit. Nonstop filing tapes onto shelves or tags onto hooks for the adult section. Customers were often rude and in a hurry. If someone had reserved a movie (this system was pen and paper) but the previous renter was late with it, they'd bitch like it was you who personally arranged to fuck up their night.
I can't say it was a magical place to work but it was convenient for me. Eventually a second store called 'Choices' opened in town and it was MUCH larger and had a better selection. That place even had a music section that sold new release tapes. I remember buying 2 Live Crew there because they didn't card despite the warning label.
At that point the small place panic fired half the staff. They hung on for a few more years because a liquor place opened in the connected building, (parking lot mishaps and fights became legendary after this) but eventually a Blockbuster opened in town to counter Choices and it all went under.
Redbox just died about a month ago, and despite having locations all over, cheaply replaced product, and no staff to pay, they still couldn't hold it down. Opening a physical, staffed location would likely fail.
Part of the experience isn't the convenience of picking product up, it's the inconvenience of having to return it. The modern audience is too spoiled to have to get up and return a disc if they're set on sitting down all night. The ethic just isn't there, and being charged a late fee hurts their feelings.
We're talking about a generation that will rent movies on their phone, to watch over mobile data, while on the clock at work.
Been using the same set of Senn HD598 for a decade on my gaming setup. I find semi-open back cans amazing for gaming. Aside from not being completely cut off from hearing around you, your ears don't feel so disgusting after a long session.
The woman whose life he enriched was Jewish. Otherwise, he probably would have walked free.
This tweet has it all.
Framed fantasy scenario that has nothing to do with anything
"I'm the victim"
Political opposition as bullies
Accessible liberal politicians as family who care deeply about you and your feelings on a personal level because you are special
Trump deliberately antagonistic for no reason
Eagerness to respond with violence
Yeah but how much of those other companies listed here do they own? Maybe none, maybe a lot, but I doubt they'd settle for just half a percent ownership if they're going to meddle with the company's value.
They're even censoring names of illegal drugs because it might imply those drugs are bad, and that the people using them aren't victims.
If she'd just said "fuck hipsters" a lot of people might even agree, like 'that's true, fuck hipsters.' But she had to make it about the unrecoverable injury.
I have to wonder how this would go between three factions.
The Horde might jump in if it looked like the government was in peril because their free ride would be over. Then again they might let a power vacuum manifest so they can force sharia, and they're not above going door to door to clear out a city to make it theirs if they have to since they're still using the 7th century playbook. I wouldn't doubt there are groups who would be very happy to start arming them if they say the word.
Trump has an ongoing litigation against CBS or whoever they initially suggested and agreeing to appear there would have provided a conflict of interest they could have used against him. Of course he wouldn't accept their initial challenge and they knew that it would be a win/win for them; either he fucks up his lawsuit or they start whining about it to make him look bad.
"Something to consider: Most cis women rely on clitoral stimulation to get off, and a dick is literally a modified clitoris."
Yeah, you just pump a clit full of aftermarket Y chromosomes and back alley hormones and add a high performance necroflesh urethra, takes one trip to the hospital. Totes not a big deal.
Shipp is a highly suspected gay but isn't open about it. I will cede that this doesn't make him a creeper but Flash can't get a break.
We're in the "govern by gaslight" age. I'm still amazed that they just memory wiped Biden's mentioning "Trump is the bullseye" a day or two before the shooting. If Trump did January 6th just by saying "I'm going to take a walk" then Biden may as well have been doing finger guns at the camera.
Every time I see AI used it's either to manufacture bullshit or filter actual information. This has not been the marvel of human achievement that it should be. I'm now leaning hard on the opinion that it's officially detrimental.
It's gimmick casting, nothing more.
When you think of casting Dr Doom, is RDJ even in the running? They thought this would bring fans back, that's all. Otherwise Disney would have cast a nonwhite/nonbinary.
After Biden, the nation is primed for levels of bullshit we wouldn't expect under any other candidate with any marketable qualifications. People are familiar with her, they're familiar with how things have been going, and they know she's been on board with it all so no real changes or improvement are implied. Now they can just bump her to the front of the house and say things will be different because she's "black" and has a front hole. Somehow, to the left, this is better.
It's doesn't get too political other than Deadpool being half gay for Wolverine. If anything it's so full of fan service that it feels predatory, like jiggling keys in front of a baby. Seriously, they dug up characters that were written off a decade or more ago. They dug up the old Fox/New Line cast. I won't elaborate.
That's the gist of it. It's an excuse to tie these random characters together. It's funny, it takes a few shots at Disney. I didn't despise it and no real alarms went off, so I'd rate it a safe watch, but not necessarily a clean one in terms of not feeling pandered to. If you liked the other Deadpool movies, you'll enjoy it just fine.
Yeah, he has it. Doesn't wear it full time though.
It wasn't a 10/10 but the movie Blackberry has zero politics (or even black people) in it at all. It's an interesting and funny look at the rise and fall of the Blackberry phone and the hurdles they hit. It's worth a watch if you like silicon valley type success stories and 90s nostalgia.
It's also a problem that having a full time job will not necessarily make you able to afford to get off the streets. The rental market is out of control and the only people who benefit are migrants and landlords.
If some weirdo wouldn't make CG porn of it, it's not going to succeed as a hero shooter.
It's going to be a race to the bottom between this and Dragon Age Veilguard trying to out-woke each other in pursuit of this mythical "modern audience" that they insist does exist.
They just released a 10 minute trailer of finalized Star Wars Outlaws gameplay through IGN and it looks like absolute SHIT. It is getting destroyed by viewers. It's definitely going to bomb. With that writing on the wall, they're panicking.
I appreciate how they're still making these despite how difficult it must be to tiptoe around accidentally pissing off the woke crowd who are trying to claim they're offended by these films.
Maybe it was at BB. The place I was at was run by cheapskates. It was definitely like that in Gamestop around 2001-2005 as they were expanding all over the place.