Shiny’s Movie Review Corner…

I rented a DVD this past Saturday night — something I don’t do regularly! Often if there’s something I want to watch, I’ll wait for it to be on basic cable or, occassionally, *ahem* elsewhere attainable.  We do not have a Netflix membership because we simply don’t rent DVDs enough for it to be cost-effective. And driving all the way to Blockbuster for them to reject my membership card because they’ve moved to a new system and have to resubmit me for membership? Not interested.

But I did try something new: I went to my local supermarket and rented a movie through Redbox.

First — a quick film review a la LeSombre:

You know what? Not nearly as funny when I do it. Hmmm…

But yes. I’m that behind the times that I haven’t seen The Dark Knight until almost a year since its theatrical release and a good six months since it came out on DVD. (Or Blu-ray. But let’s get real: is the type of person who can’t get off his ass to the video store to rent The Dark Knight in a timely fashion really the type of person who has a Blu-ray player? Thought not.)

Was the movie good? Yes.

Was it good enough for me to endure Blockbuster’s four bucks and change — as well as time served — to rent it? Perhaps. But I wouldn’t have made it that far to find out.  Instead, I happened to be at the supermarket. I waited behind a couple who was trying to select a movie for about 90 seconds before it was my turn.  And I paid $1.05 (including tax). Not bad.

The selection isn’t so hot. But then again — neither is Blockbuster’s on a random Saturday evening at 10pm.  But there are some pretty great advantages:

* One dollar plus tax. One-day rental = one dollar. Every additional day is another dollar.  This goes up to the twenty-fifth day at which point you’re charged a maximum of $25 (plus tax).  That’s really not bad. Considering that a five-day rental at Blockbuster might cost almost five dollars but usually doesn’t span to the whole five days?  You’re getting a relatively good value. I felt much better about paying a dollar than four. There are many movies for which this is the case.

* Redboxes are all over the place. There are six within a five mile radius of where I live. Some are in 24-hour supermarkets; some are at 7-Elevens.  For me, the notion of renting and returning a DVD while I’m already at a location is a good option.  And also:

* You don’t have to return your DVD to the same Redbox location. Again, helpful in that one doesn’t have to worry about making a special trip — at least not nearly as much as one would to head to one specific location.

* No leery-eyed clerks watching as you select “Revenge of the Boarding School Dropouts” for viewing. This is as straightforward as it gets. Yes, you need a major credit card to rent movies — but as I recall you need one to apply for a Blockbuster membership as well. In fact, I remember them taking my drivers license information! Icky.

* Free promo codes! Well, kind of. They used to have codes redeemable for free rentals every Monday which are being cut back to once a month.  But that’s still something for them to gain momentum.

* Email-driven receipts. If you enter your email address, you’ll receive a receipt when your transaction occurs — and you’ll get one when your movie is returned! I’ve had issues with drop-box locations “losing” my movie for several days after it has been returned…

* DVD Reservations: If you’re looking for a copy of Who ‘Dat Ninja and are afraid that your local Redbox won’t have it — you can go online and pre-reserve it! You’ll have 24 hours to get to the location you choose with the DVD before it  becomes up-for-grabs again.

I know I’m late to the party on this one. I feel like you’re looking at me the way I looked at my Dad seven years ago when he told me that he discovered this great invention called “Top Ramen” at the grocery store.  But still — Redbox has certainly found a market for those folks, like me, for whom NetFlix is simply a bit excessive. For those one-time rentals this can’t be beat.

They even have a part of their FAQ on the website alerting customers to the possibility of credit card skimmers on Redbox machines and how to identify them. How cool is that?

(This post is in no way sponsored by Redbox. If you want to shower me with free promo codes, however — I’m not going to stop you.)