Trips to video store not as much fun

Trips to the video rental store used to be a lot more fun.

Back in the day, a trip to the video store produced what seemed to be a bottomless pit of entertainment opportunities. From laugh-out-loud comedies, to high-flying sci-fis, to poignant dramas, to edge-of-your-seat action-adventures, there was always something worth a couple of bucks to keep you and your friends entertained in the living room.

But something, apparently, has changed.

Last Friday night, with both kids away at sleepovers, my wife Jena and I decided it would be a good night to rent a movie. But rather than a smorgasbord of entertainment options at the video store, what we found were slim pickings.

I don't think we're too picky when it comes to movies. We like movies that are fun to watch — nothing too gory, nothing too racy, nothing too "artsy." We prefer to avoid anything too depressing, and we're usually more comfortable when foul language can be kept to a minimum.

And generally speaking, we have the same tastes, the chief difference being that I would be content to watch "The Godfather" for the 79th time, whereas Jena prefers more "uplifting" films. (What's not uplifting about "The Godfather"?)

With these guidelines, you wouldn't think it would be too difficult to find a movie that is appealing to us. But it is.

Consider some of the newest releases at the video store. There's "Halloween II," "X Games 3D: The Movie," and "Final Destination." There's "District 9," "Fame" and something called "Jennifer's Body." Not one of these films was remotely appealing to us. Among the new releases, only "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" looked reasonably interesting, but it would have seemed wrong to get that one with both kids out of the house.

Looking across the range of DVDs to be released in the past year, it's a similar story. The few that looked remotely entertaining, we saw in the theaters. The rest look like a bunch of duds.

It didn't used to be this way. I remember a time, not too long ago, when the new release shelves were packed with movies I was dying to see. Movies like "Batman," "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" and "Back to the Future 2." Flicks like "Dead Poets Society," "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" and "Field of Dreams" Heck, even movies like "The Little Mermaid," "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" and "Driving Miss Daisy" were better than sitting around doing nothing on a Friday night.

Believe it or not, each of the movies listed in the previous paragraph came out in a single year — 1989. Back then, there was always something to see. Two decades later, it's a different story.

Or maybe we've just grown out-of-touch when it comes to pop culture. Looking at the hype surrounding this new "Avatar" film, I would say this is probably the case. "Avatar" is setting all kinds of box office records, and just Sunday won the Golden Globe for best drama. I just don't see the appeal. A movie about weird-looking blue things, who can apparently fly? Just looks dumb to me.

Back to Friday night — after wandering the shelves for quite a while, and enlisting the assistance of one of the video store clerks, we settled on "Slumdog Millionaire'" and I must say, it was a top-notch film. Other than some dialects which were initially difficult to understand, it was a fine movie to watch. It's good to know there are still a few movies out there worth watching, even if you have to look long and hard to find them.