Last week Blockbuster announced it was closing the remaining 300 company-owned stores in the US (although 50 franchised locations will remain open). This announcement surprised no one, particularly since we have been living Blockbuster-free here in Canada since 2011.

I grew up across the street from a Blockbuster. My family rented movies there often, and like everyone else, we often struggled to find something we could all agree on. When I was old enough to rent movies with my friends, my Dad reserved the right to veto our selections if he deemed the content objectionable (and as a kid, I wasn’t allowed to watch Rugrats, so no choice was safe!) One night my friend Adam and I really wanted to rent Zoolander, and even though my Dad had started to become a bit less strict, we knew this was borderline acceptable. So we called my Dad, he looked it up online, and to our delight, he gave us the green light. But what we didn’t count on was that once we got home, he decided to watch the whole movie with us! We tried our best not to laugh at the inappropriate jokes and he even forced us to fast forward a particularly racy scene. Talk about awkward.

Blockbuster also helped initiate my love of film, which continues to this day. Around the same time as the Zoolander story, I convinced my parents to rent Gosford Park, which was a stretch because I was 13 and it was rated 14A (and they also agreed that my 3 year younger sister would be excluded from this viewing). I considered this a huge victory, and it stands in my memory as the point of departure for my serious interest in film. However, I remember being furious when my sister came down to the basement halfway through the move and was allowed to watch it with us! What an outrage!

As an older teenager, with my Dad having finally withdrawn his veto powers, trips to Blockbuster finally offered endless possibilities. In university, I started branching outside of Blockbuster, as my double major in Humanities in Film Studies required that I find obscure titles that Blockbuster didn’t have. But Blockbuster remained a staple, particularly when my friend Matt was in town. We could be counted on to show up at Blockbuster just before its midnight closing to continue our ongoing debate of foreign films versus direct to DVD.

This past week, lots of people have been sharing similar Blockbuster memories, but it doesn’t seem like the majority care too much about the disappearance of video stores. Last week I was visiting friends, and as we were about to start Lars and the Real Girl (borrowed from the library), I remarked that I love going to Videoflicks, which is a wonderful independent video store in my neighborhood. The response was incredulous: “You actually pay money to watch a movie!”

Full disclosure: I get most of my DVDs from the library, since it is conveniently located across from my apartment, whereas Videoflicks is a 20 min walk away. Still, I want to fully endorse getting movies from video stores. These trips give you the opportunity to be spontaneous by giving something random a chance, share recommendations with friends, and recollect all your previous selection triumphs and failures. So this Saturday, instead of just downloading a movie, go out and rent a DVD. It may cost you 5 bucks, but at least the experience itself will be memorable.