I first noticed redbox when we came back to Oklahoma on vacation a few years ago. They were everywhere - McDonalds, Walmart, Walgreens. It seemed like everywhere I looked, there was another redbox. And there were always people at them.
They seemed fun and convenient and very cool - and that was my first sign that redbox was definetely not for me. I'm never able to master the "cool" category (especially if "cool" involves technology of some sort) so I immediately disqualified myself from redbox use.
Furthermore, we were very happy with our itunes arrangement. Itunes provided an easy and legal way to watch movies in the copyright-infringement-rich land where we'd been living. If it was available on itunes, it soothed our conscience to rent movies that way instead of buying them off the street. At $4 a pop, it was a little pricey, but again...what price can you put on soothing your conscience? =)
Fast forward two years. I'm now living in America and the thought of renting a movie for $4 seems so...I don't know...1980's? Blockbuster, anyone? One night I took a gamble; I threw off my cloak of technological ineptitude and gave the redbox a try.
I loved it. One dollar. A buck. Uno dinero. For a movie - and new movies, too! Not those has-been, cheesy direct-to-DVD movies. New releases. Such a bargain - I was sold and very much in love with redbox.
Our first foray into redbox brought The Karate Kid into our lives. Can I just publicly state that we loved that movie? I was ready to pack my bags - again! - and get on a plane. Who would have EVER thought I'd miss the idea of lazy repairmen and dirty hutongs and obsessively inquisitive chinese people?! Josh and I both thought the movie was culturally accurate, and was accurate in ways that conveyed humor, not scorn. [The lazy repairman scene was my favorite - does anyone else remember that scene? Where the kid asks the repairmen to fix his hot water? And there was one repairman smoking, one sleeping, and the rest playing cards - CLASSIC!!]
Ok. I'm totally off topic. Back to redbox.
So, we loved Karate Kid. Score one point for Rachel.
Next was Legendary, which I rented as an act of love and sacrifice for my husband. It was about wrestling and had super-scary-buff dude John Cena in it.
I counted it as a Josh-movie because it was about wrestling, but in truth it probably fell more into the drama/borderline chickflick category because people fall in love and live happily ever after. We enjoyed the movie and were disappointed to google it afterward and find out that it was not based on a true story, even though it kind of pretended to be one.
We liked Legendary. Score one more point for Rachel.
A few days ago, still basking in $1-movie-rental-bliss, I stopped into walgreens to stock up on Coke. I drifted by the redbox and decided to pick up a movie for that night. The selection I originally wanted to make was out, so I picked up Sherlock Holmes. Cracked us up - we totally loved it. [I wasn't such a fan of all the witchcraft stuff that was involved in the plotline, but in the end, good ol' Sherlock shows everyone how it wasn't exactly witchcraft anyway...sorry for the spoiler while trying to justify my actions!]
The next day was Tuesday - crazy, crazy Tuesday when everyone has gymnastics and we still try to manage dinner and schedules and feeding babies in a span of a few hours - and I forgot to take the movie back.
I totally forgot.
Sidenote: Did you know that redbox tells you if you've kept the movie for more than 28 days, you get to keep the movie? (Obviously, they're charging you $1 a day, so by day 20 you've bought a pretty pricey movie!)
That must be the thing about redbox - they entice you, making you think you'll only pay a dollar for a movie. And there's probably a decent chunk of the population that returns their movies on time. But, if you play the odds long enough, eventually redbox will win.
I'm still ahead in the standings, but redbox has put a score on the board.
Rachel 2, redbox 1.
What should I rent next?
4 comments:
We LOVED Karate Kid also. Do you remember Malachi karate chopping his sisters after he got back? You know what's funny...that scene with the lazy repairman was not at all in the China version. Also, the girl and Jaden Smith never kiss. There were several scenes that were deleted from the China version. It was interesting to see which ones they deemed inappropriate for a Chinese audience.
We're obsessed with Redbox! I scoff at Blockbuster when we drive by now, thinking WHO ON EARTH would pay $4 for a movie when you can get the same movie for a buck?!?! :) Redbox has scored on us a couple times, but we still figure we're saving money even when paying twice at redbox...since it'd be 4x the cost at Blockbuster.
We rented "Babies" last night. Documentary on 4 different babies raised in different ways all around the world (SanFran, Mongolia, Nigeria, & Japan) for the first year of their life. Brandon fell asleep. :) But I thought it was TRULY intriguing.
Rach..
I HATE to admit this to you..and the viewing public. Your father and I have NEVER rented a movie from Redbox. Now, Holly and Katie have zillions of times. We have watched the movies they rent with them. But, as for dad and I, nada. We have lots of movie channels, so I'm sure that's why. And, by the by, no telling how many late fees I paid to Blockbuster & Hollywood Videos. If I did know..I wouldn't tell. :)
Oh Redbox, how I love you! I am a redbox fanatic. Did you know you can actually go online and find our which redbox has the movie you want and then reserve it??? Seriously, it's amazing. When we were all throwing up last week, the only thing in my inbox was redbox receipts. It got a little out of hand (six rentals in three days???) but there was a lot of sickness. So glad you are also a fan.
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