TRAILERS
Trailer for 'The Last Blockbuster' Doc Reminiscing About Rental Shops
by Alex Billington
March 17, 2020
Source: Vimeo
"Did you know that Blockbuster had a chance to buy Netflix, but they didn't?" What?! No way! Pop Motion Pictures has debuted an official trailer for an indie documentary called The Last Blockbuster, which is indeed a film about the very last Blockbuster video rental store to ever exist. Many of you might know the Twitter account, @loneblockbuster, which was started as a joke but is also based on the real-life reference - the very last Blockbuster video rental store still in operation, located in Bend, OR. The Last Blockbuster is a feature length documentary film about the rise and fall of Blockbuster video and how one small town store managed to outlast a corporate giant. Kevin Smith is featured prominently, along with Sandi Harding, manager of the last Blockbuster store. I'm most curious to hear what this former CEO has to say about it all.
Here's the first official trailer for Taylor Morden's doc The Last Blockbuster, direct from Vimeo:
The Last Blockbuster is a fun, nostalgic look back at the era of video rentals and also the story of how one small town video store managed to outlast a corporate giant. The film follows the manager of the world's last remaining Blockbuster video (located in Bend, Oregon), Sandi Harding, as she navigates the difficult task of keeping a video rental store open in the era of Netflix. The Last Blockbuster is directed by doc filmmaker / cinematographer Taylor Morden, director of the doc films Here's to Life: The Story of The Refreshments and Pick It Up! - Ska in the '90s previously, as well as a few other shorts and other production work. This hasn't premiered at any festivals or elsewhere yet, as far as we know (only in Bend this May). No release date has been set - expected later this year. For more info + updates, visit the film's official website.
9 Comments
1
Why do we never discuss how they were once the big corporate guy who bought or destroyed every other video store.
Rick Walz on Mar 17, 2020
3
yea. when blockbuster came to my town, 3 local video stores ended up closing. one was owned by a friend of mine.
dan on Mar 17, 2020
4
I used to be nostalgic about those places (I even worked as a young man in one of them), but now, not so much. It was much more about the business than about films for the people who run them ...
shiboleth on Mar 17, 2020
5
I used to be nostalgic about those places (I even worked as a young man in one of them), but now, not so much. It was much more about the business than about films for the people who run them ...
shiboleth on Mar 17, 2020
6
I guess if they tried to pivot their business model a little faster, they could of done something, but they most likely were bound for failure. I did like running around the aisles though.
DAVIDPD on Mar 20, 2020
7
Fun fact: The first video rental store to ever open anywhere is still in operation in Germany.
Terry Craig on Mar 23, 2020
8
Oh that definitely makes sense. Germany has some many leftover parts of it that are totally lost in time, like record stores and rental shops (all over the place). I don't get it. Who still goes there and rents? But they still exist all over. Somehow...
Alex Billington on Mar 23, 2020
9
Haha, I think it's cute. I've been there and the guys who took it over from the original owner are treating it as a sort of cultural heritage for film buffs, and they organize a small yearly film festival, and curated screenings there (I guess not atm due to the Corvid).
Terry Craig on Mar 24, 2020
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