Somebody Tell Bogdanovich

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There is no spoon, there is no dress, and there is no Nickelodeon/Last Picture Show DVD. Or at least, not in the Manhattan video stores (quaint term!) I've been to today.

The kid at the downstairs video desk in the Union Square Virgin Megastore said the buyers never even ordered it. "Only the really big titles between now and closing," he said. "But Dave Kehr reviewed it last week in the N.Y. Times and made kind of a big deal about it," I stammered. "I thought you guys might at least have four or five copies." Naahhh.

Even the guy at my favorite little video store, a place that sometimes sells Blurays ahead of their street dates, said "we never got it in. A friend who works at Sony has a copy but copies never came to us."

I know it's irrational and sort-of stupid to go to video stores when it's obvious they're no longer the providers they once were and with online ordering being so easy and simple. But I wanted to see Peter Bogdanovich's black-and-white version of Nickelodeon today, not next Monday or Tuesday or Wednesday.

This is the end of a world I've known and loved since the '80s. The lazy camaraderie of movie mavens in a well-lit, library-like atmosphere, casually assessing some of the latest releases in terms of remastered visual quality and, strictly as a secondary consideration, how good they are in terms of story, theme, directorial chops and emotional penetration. Union Square Virgin is the last well-stocked DVD store in Manhattan and it'll be closing in three or four weeks.

Hello, Amazon.com. Farewell, impulse buys and browsing through the stacks and getting lost in that world. No more, never again.

The Devil Probably<< previous | next >>Give Truth A Break

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on April 21, 2009 at 3:42 PM

comment #1

D.J.Z. says ...

I feel for you, since they stopped selling Criterion movies at Best Buy, too. On the positive, if you're a Borders' member, they're getting rid of their excess DVDs for half price.

Posted by D.J.Z. at April 21, 2009 3:54 PM

comment #2

BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey says ...

Makes sense at Virgin - the entire chain is closing down so realistically they're only going to get lunchtime shoppers buying Twilight and Bolt between now and closing time.

Hopefully there'll be some good deals there as they start to sell off stock. Even Circuit City in Union Sq. had DVDs at 40-60% off.

Posted by BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey at April 21, 2009 3:56 PM

comment #3

chad_pole says ...

Funny, the Best Buy I go to in L.A. JUST started carryring Criterion dvds and made its own section right next to the blu-rays.

Posted by chad_pole at April 21, 2009 4:03 PM

comment #4

115thDreamer says ...

Yep - we have to live in rube world, Jeff, there's no getting around it. When "Man On Wire" came out, I went to grab it at Best Buy, figuring they'd probably have it. But, when I checked the "Documentary" section...nothing. So, I asked one of the blue-shirted schlubs about it, and after checking the computer, he said they had three in stock. Great, I said, where are they? After checking the documentary section (even though I told him I'd already done so), he offered to check in the back. I wait a minute or so, and here he comes out of the back room, carrying all three copies. So -it's 6-7PM on release day, and all three copies have been in the storeroom the whole day. Oy vey.

Posted by 115thDreamer at April 21, 2009 4:27 PM

comment #5

BurmaShave says ...

Impulse buying is for a 4.99 copy of THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT at the Giant, not something like this. Your melancholy point is well taken though.

Posted by BurmaShave at April 21, 2009 4:35 PM

comment #6

KevinTC says ...

Which one, Chad? Westwood store bummed me out by taking their Criterion shelf down...

Posted by KevinTC at April 21, 2009 5:03 PM

comment #7

cwratliff says ...

It makes me sad. Another NYC staple, Kim's, has left its location on St. Marks and moved over to 1st Avenue a few blocks down from where it used to be. And while it used to be three floors where you could browse and discover all sorts of things-- plus every new release you could imagine-- now it's a much smaller store and it just isn't the same experience.

It's great that there are so many things you can discover on eBay and Amazon, but I wish there was room in the world for a balance. You're exactly right that nothing is quite the same as being able to browse the stacks and make discoveries.

It feels odd to get nostalgic for a giant corporate megastore like Virgin, but I can't help it. Ever since I was a little kid, these giant music-and-movies stores like Virgin and Tower were these amazing places to me, and pretty soon it feels like they'll all be gone. And it happened so quickly, too.

I remember laughing as a high school kid watching Husbands & Wives when Woody Allen loudly protested that "Change is Death!" but with each passing year, I can't help but feel that way a little bit myself...

Posted by cwratliff at April 21, 2009 5:11 PM

comment #8

Mr Bohemian says ...

Thanks for the news I'll get one at Amazon and won't bother to shop where I live. Just like I am buying M.O.D.'s from Warners

Posted by Mr Bohemian at April 21, 2009 5:14 PM

comment #9

btwnproductions says ...

J&R on Park Row has, or had, a good DVD selection. I haven't been there in a while.

Posted by btwnproductions at April 21, 2009 5:34 PM

comment #10

Dance Commander says ...

Welcome to the real world most of us struggle with every week Wells. You went out and actually expected to find a forgotten Bogdonavich film which is being released as a double bill DVD? Physical media is a well running painfully dry my friend. Circuit City is dead. Border's is eliminating CD's and most of it's DVD's. Barnes and Noble are slowly phasing out CD's. They still have a very nice DVD collection but they've always charged ridiculous prices. Best Buy is carrying fewer and fewer catalog titles when they come out. Places like Wal-Mart and Target were never more than iffy to begin with. Virgin Megastores are dying off. There's nowhere left to go.

Posted by Dance Commander at April 21, 2009 5:35 PM

comment #11

Mr. Peel says ...

I went to Amoeba in Hollywood this afternoon looking for this. You'd think that there would have been several on the New Releases shelf, but no dice. After a few minutes of searching I finally found one lone copy in the "Drama Collections" section with various other double bill discs. I guess they're figuring there's not going to be much demand, even with a prominent write-up in the New York Times. Based on the few minutes I've sampled, the B&W version looks like how the movie should probably look.

Posted by Mr. Peel at April 21, 2009 5:55 PM

comment #12

lipranzer says ...

Even though we get some hardcore movie fans at our store - many of whom read Dave Kehr's column every week and ask for what he writes about - no customer I know has asked for that title, which is also sad (although to be fair, while the black-and-white may make all the difference, I was never a fan of NICKELODEON).

I keep meaning to make it to the Union Square Virgin Store before it closes. Maybe this Friday.

Posted by lipranzer at April 21, 2009 5:56 PM

comment #13

Deathtongue_Groupie says ...

"But...but Dave Kehr reviewed it last week in the N.Y. Times and made kind of a big deal about it," I stammered.

You are SUCH a New Yorker now, Jeff. Only one would say something like that without it being part of some metajoke or other.

Gift Horse In The Mouth Award to - 115thDreamer
Wonder if it ever occurred to you that managers routinely do that for items they only get a few copies of for those customers who really want it (well, that's being charitable - its for those that are going to be giant pains to shut them up).

Posted by Deathtongue_Groupie at April 21, 2009 6:02 PM

comment #14

anonymous2 says ...

I saw the Nickelodeon/Last Picture Show dvd at Kim's on first avenue this past saturday. It looked like they had a healthy suppy.

Posted by anonymous2 at April 21, 2009 7:59 PM

comment #15

D.J.Z. says ...

Peel: Amoeba's a pretty horrible place to actually buy stuff in general, which is why I wonder how they stay in business.

Posted by D.J.Z. at April 22, 2009 12:08 AM

comment #16

Gordon27 says ...

"Union Square Virgin is the last well-stocked DVD store in Manhattan"

Virgin was never the best store in New York. That's just stupid. Walk over to Entertainment Outlet on 14th and 6th (one of three locations). You'll not only find exactly what you're looking for, but three or four other things so cheap you can't help but buy them.

They're only well stocked for a huge chain; half the video stores in NYC had a better stock.

Posted by Gordon27 at April 22, 2009 12:11 AM

comment #17