A humble collection of physical movies. Photo by Adrian Naves.
We are living in a digital-dominated era in mass media. Movies, music, books, video games, etc. – they have all gotten the digital treatment, where convenience is the key feature to consume media. The days of buying physical media has sharply decreased over the decades…decreased but not gone. Nostalgia is an intense feeling; it grabs a hold if you ever come across with you grew up with. That feeling of picking up a movie off the shelfs and reading the back of it to help you decide of giving that new movie a try.
Blockbuster Video in its prime. |
An empty Hollywood Video store in Decatur, IL. Photo by Adrian Naves. |
Since the early days of home cinema, physical media has been the foundation for the film industry since the 1980s. When VHS made its debut, it dramatically changed the way people watch movies. Prior to watching movies at home, if you wanted to watch a movie, you had no other choice but to go to the theaters. The idea of getting to watch movies in the comfort of your own home was so revolutionary, it changed the film industry forever. Fast forward to today and watching movies at home has become the gold standard in the film industry. Although the video and audio quality of streaming still falls short of the quality that Blu-ray and DVDs discs offers – physical media remains the better option for home movie consumption. So if you’re in the market for physical media, whether you want top tier video/audio quality, or if you’re looking to add to your collection – then take a look at some of the Blu-ray/DVD boutiques around Chicago.
The Brewed Coffee
The colorful coffee shop is filled with memorabilia from the owners’ personal collection. Owners Nick Mayor, Jen Lemasters and Jason Deuchler, made the coffee shop as a love letter to the movie/horror genre, a place where horror aficionados and locals can have a cup of coffee in a collector’s library. The Brewed Coffee serves locally made coffee and snacks, including Halfwit coffee and Sugar Moon Bakery pastries. The Brewed Coffee is located at 2843 N. Milwaukee Ave. Chicago, IL 60618.
For more information, please visit: thebrewedcoffee.com.
The Video Strip
The Video Strip is now one of the last brick-and-mortar rental stores in the city. It’s one of the last remnants of renting physical media in the pre-streaming age, when finding something to watch required more effort by reading it the case or asking a clerk for insight. The other notable factor of The Video Strip is the size of its catalog, the Strip has accumulated more than 25,000 Blu-ray, DVDs, and video games. The store isn’t only known to Chicago residents. In 2015, the Video Strip was included in a list of 50 “cool” video stores still operating in the U.S. The Video Strip is located at 3307 S Archer Ave, Chicago, IL 60608.
For more information, please visit: facebook.com/thevideostrip.
Rolling Stones Record Store
The Rolling Stones Record Store does have a respectable number of movies to choose from and its main focus is music, but it’s still in the same spirit of owning physical media. Rolling Stones Records began in 1971 as a small storefront record store. It has grown over the past couple of decades and the store now takes up a city block. Rolling Stones is well known in the Chicagoland area for its huge selection of CDs and movies, the store has a hip atmosphere feel to it with brightly colored neon lights and thousands of CDs attached and hanging from the ceiling. The store had some famous artists that have visited; they include Alice Cooper, Megadeth, and Rob Zombie to name a few. The Rolling Stones Record Store is located at 7300 W. Irving Park Rd, Norridge, IL 60706.
For more information, please visit: rollingstonesmusic.com.
Seeing some brick-and-mortar stores still supporting physical media is a sign of hope with folks who have a shared interest in physical home movies. With streaming sties pulling the plug on some tv shows/movies from their catalog and refusing to release them on Blu-ray, its a growing concern in the film industry and with fans of film. With movies like “The Irishman” on Netflix and “Killers of the Flower Moon” on Apple TV refusing to release a physical version of those films, fans of those films are stuck with the streaming services holding their favorites hostage. What would a film’s fate look like if any of these companies remove their tv shows/movies from their catalog. If a piece of media gets a physical release copy, then the risk of that media being lost to time is greatly reduced, which could prolong it further by people showing their support and buying the physical version. By owning that piece of media, you have the power to see it whenever you want to watch it, along with friends and family.
The main seating area inside The Brewed Coffee.
