Blockbuster Video

Say It Isn’t So!
The 1 star is not for the store or service (both of those were great, «were» being the operative word here), its because this outlet of Blockbuster has CLOSED… sniff!
Bye Bye local Blockbuster who served all my movie watching needs, I will miss you. Being a member of the Blockbuster version on Netflix this is doubly crumby because now I can’t simply walk down the street and exchange my mailed movie for a DVD in hand.
This just sucks! Damn economy!

First, I must say that I used to be a huge fan of Captain Video, a local Marina video store. Their staff really knew about all types of films including foreign and independent films. I was sad to see them close and I was sad to see Blockbuster move into the area.
But, that being said, I was a regular at Blockbuster Lombard since the location was convenient.
Well, now, they’re closing. I guess Netflix and Comcast On Demand have even taken over. I used to enjoy talking to other customers I’d meet in the store. It was always fun getting meeting neighbors and giving and getting some video advice.
The worst thing about Blockbuster closing is that a MAJOR PET COMPANY is trying to take the space. I’ve lived in this neighborhood for 20 plus years and I’m very happy with the two independent pet stores we have on Chestnut. One of them has been here for longer than I have. Whether you live in the Marina or not, I’m sure all of the independent businesses across the city could use your support in keeping another big corporate business out of the area.
Bye, bye Blockbuster. You may not have been the best in town but your staff was always friendly and you’ve always been very helpful. Thankfully, you’ve had some other movie fans that I’ve always enjoyed talking to and thanks for all of your suggestions. Thanks for waiving some of those nasty late fees too! I really appreciate it and I’m sorry to see you close. Good luck to all of the employees there as well!

Hey everyone, this Blockbuster is shutting down and EVERYTHING MUST GO! I got two movies last night, and a tub of gummi bears (don’t judge) for 14 bucks!

Why get Netflix, when you can exchange your Blockbuster movies either through the mail OR in the store.
And this spot — it might not be in the best condition — but it’s in a convenient location and has all of my favorite flicks on Blu Ray: Mona Lisa Smile, Fried Green Tomatoes… anything with Jessica Tandy.
The staff is nice and very helpful when they’re not bored out of their minds (can’t blame ‘em), and their roof almost never usually leaks.
So stay away if it’s raining.

Wow, what’s up with the $ 5.41 rental price? This place never has any movies that really interest me. The people who work here are nice though.

I love to cuddle up and watch a good movie or two, especially with the boy. So when I’m in the Marina with the boy, we prefer to go over to Blockbuster to pick up a couple flicks. Yes, Netflix is way more convenient and probably cheaper in the long-​run (don’t know because I don’t have it… did I mention that I like to buy movies and grow my DVD collection?) and ITunes is pretty good as far as downloading either rentals or bought movies. But there is still some charm in Blockbuster for me. I like going down to the video store and perusing the racks to see what the new releases are (and hope the one I want is available, aw simple pleasures when the one you want IS) or maybe remembering an oldie but goodie we haven’t seen in a while.
In any case, there isn’t a Blockbuster anywhere near where I live, so I take the opportunity when I’m in the boy’s ‘hood to hit up this location. It’s convenient enough and the service is fine, so why not? It’s part of the fun of movie nights at home to GO and pick up the movies somewhere :)

One word: Netflix.
Use it.
It’s not even just that it will save you money. It will save HOURS of your life, which will without a doubt be spent talking to Blockbuster managers in person, on the phone and with the company’s corporate customer service representatives.
And even after you watch helplessly as hours of your life go down the drain, your issue still will not be solved.
True story.

We had a choice: head out to bars on a Sunday and compete over how many new people we could meet in one evening, or rent some movies, watch them, drink some beer, and get some sleep so I could get my ass back to Seattle at least slightly rested.
My bro’s wisdom won out. By the time I had gotten to SF three days earlier, I was so burned out from not sleeping before my drive that my jokes were actually GOOD. So getting a night of sleep before my drive back would probably be a good thing, rather than taking off hung over and red-​eyed.
Besides, my poor puppy dog was hanging out in his apartment, all alone in a strange place wondering where his daddio went. And probably needing to pee. Responsibility wins again. Damn you Responsibility!
We didn’t know exactly where the Blockbuster was, so we capitalized on our Zen Wandering skills:
Thanks to whomever that nice blonde girl was who didn’t seem to mind us following her for blocks at a time. I still can’t believe she actually led us to the Blockbuster. It’s scary when that works.
We headed in and grabbed a couple vids I’ve never heard of. My bro was laid up in bed for a couple months due to a bad accident, so he’s seen just about every video there is. When we hang out all we got left is the really experimental shit.
This required walking in front of a yuppie couple browsing and attempting to take up the entire aisle looking at videos. Was that really a stink-​eye for daring to step in front of you and asking you to excuse me politely? Wait till you see MY STINK EYE WOMAN! I am not afraid to drop my pants in public, ask Dfens Dan!
We grabbed «Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead» and something else. I don’t remember the something else, so I will hereafter refer to it as ‘Something Else.’ Mostly because we didn’t get around to watching Something Else. Otherwise I might remember what it was. FYI, ‘Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead’ is one of those movies that is really good and yet leaves you with this really fucked up feeling. And reminds you how totally hot Marissa Tomei is. Jesus.
While he was attempting to pay for the videos, I became entranced by the video monitor over the registers, which was playing Spaceballs. Holy crap! Spaceballs! I saw that one with my dad for one of my teen birthdays. Just him and me and a box of red vines. Crap, I just dated myself, huh.
I was kind of aware of this odd exchange going between my bro and the dude who worked here. See, they apparently had him on record as a customer about three apartments and two cities ago. There was apparently some kind of mix up, where he just wanted to update his address and rent the videos, and the guy was having trouble with it. I’m not sure which, because I was laughing at Dark Helmet play with his action figures. «Oh… your helmet is SO BIG!»
Then I kind of realized that my bro and the guy were still trying to work things out. Nice blonde girl we Zen followed in got her movies and left. So did yuppie couple. They didn’t catch my eye, as they now had to excuse themselves to step in front of me to get out. Stink-​eye ME will ya? Look what I got for you! (@ _​-) Or even ()*()
Eventually we got our videos and left. I had to brush the cobwebs off my feet. At least, when we watched them, we didn’t have to fast forward through entire scenes because they discs were so scratched, like with the Hollywood Video that used to be up on Van Ness. They deserved a 21 Stink-​Eye Salute!

No «late fee» my ass.
Yes, the selection of movies at Blockbuster is poor. I only go there on rare occasions when all of my Netflix are in the mail. Blockbuster gets an «A» for effort by seizing this small window of opportunity to f-​k me over. Of course, I take advantage of Blockbuster’s swell policy of «no late fee.» I rent two discs, which adorn the top of my TV for two months. That’s long enough for Blockbuster to «sell» me the DVDs and bill my credit card without notifying me.
Blockbuster sells you the movies and bills your credit card, then charges you a «restocking» fee if you choose to return them. Dress it up any way you want, a-​holes, but this is a late fee. The staff does its best to make this bullshit scam of a policy sound reasonable as they explain it to customers, but you can’t policy a turd.
After 30 days, Blockbuster will not let you return movies even if you pay the restocking fee. The good news is, now I can buy a box set of Curb Your Enthusiasm and be totally careless with the two discs in the middle of Season 4, because I’ve got backups!
I get to go back and talk to Steve, the manager, on Monday. Maybe I can charge Blockbuster a $ 43.26 «storage fee» for the time I spent keeping the movies at my house?
I could see this as an opportunity, using the $ 43.26 as motivation to get myself more organized and stop returning movies late in the first place. Or I can yell at Steve and tell him that Blockbusters is a bush league, junior varsity operation whose bogus attempt to lure customers with «no late fees» is tantamount to fraud. «Up yours, Steve! I’ll see your ass in court!»

It’s blockbuster… I don’t need to say much more. The two stars are for the fact that «sometimes» I can actual find the latest release that I want to see on the shelves.
One thing that totally pisses me off about Blockbuster is that the TV’s in the store NEVER work. As anyone else noticed that? You go there and you can hear the audio from a trailer of the latest release but then you look towards the TV to find yourself looking at static or a screwy picture.
Get some new LCD TVs Blockbuster… I’m betting you can afford them.

5 stars for an all star staff !
3 stars for the mediocre selection of films…
Unfortunately you can’t expect this blockbuster to carry any older favorites like Swiss Family Robinson, but you can except to be greeted with a warm smile & very helpful attitude. I really like these guys, they keep me coming back… Them and the «no late fee’s» policy. It’s definitely a worthwhile combination.

why do i even go here? little supervisor chick is such an arctic bitch.

Might as well be the Moscow Blockbuster. Perpetually out of everything except for microwave popcorn and «Ishtar». Two stars for the nice staff and for being one of the few Marina establishments with an actual parking lot.

As a former film student, it shames me to say that I have a Blockbuster card. Ah, the good old days in L.A., when I had a membership to Rocket Video, that hallmark of righteously cool video rental. But eventually, I gave into the dark side of convenience and got a Blockbuster card for the reaches of the universe beyond Rocket. I also took issue with the fact that somebody once told me years ago that Blockbuster had financial ties to evangelical Christians and anti-​abortionists. And there is nothing I like more than to make judgements on pure hearsay.
So, on to this particular location of anti-women’s rights parading as a crappy selection of material that dares to call itself cinema. Parking is easy enough, and the selection isn’t that much more substandard than any other Blockbuster. Don’t even bother asking for recommendations, but really, who would do such a thing at Blockbuster? Well, I overheard one guy doing so once, and the female worker who was trying to hit on him recommended a bunch of sheisse like Lucky Number Slevin. Pffft.
Incidentally, despite its best half-​assed efforts, Blockbuster will NEVER compete with Netflix (who, by the way, has a fairly fabulous collection of the more obscure). Case in point: Blockbuster tried to emulate the whole «rent it out for as long as you want» business that has made Netflix so popular. Except with Blockbuster, it’s «rent it out as long as you want*,» where the * equals «as long as it’s in a 48 hour period, otherwise you bought that movie, fool!»
Which is what happened to me and my rental of Strangers With Candy, for some reason a 2 day rental. Of course the bf and I are very casual about returning our movies since Netflix has spoiled us so, so a few days after we were supposed to return the movie, I get an automated call to the tune of, «Congratulations! Since you have kept your movie past its due date, you are now the proud owner of (automated voice) Stran-​gers With Can-​dy!» Which, as much as I appreciate their attempt to put a positive spin on trying to screw me over, instead I just laugh in their collective corporate face. Because, really, I DARE Blockbuster to comb its records in hopes of finding a current credit card of mine on file. In your face, Blockbuster!

actually i have never been inside, but you can park here for free until the wee hours on the weekends when parking pickens are slim, and they don’t tow. this is one of those things i prob shouldn’t tell people…

An anemic selection pretty much all-​around (even when it comes to mainstream hits.) However, if you’re not in the mood for anything remotely obscure or enlightening, you might get lucky and find a copy of a film like «Something New» in stock and be pleasantly surprised with your enjoyment of it.
Locals know to first check the stacks of DVDs on the counter before going to the shelves — if you’re looking for something popular it’s likely to be there waiting to be put back into rotation.