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​Quentin Tarantino Doesn’t Like Netflix And Misses The Days Of The Video Store

​Quentin Tarantino Doesn’t Like Netflix And Misses The Days Of The Video Store

"I’m not on Netflix so I can’t even tell you exactly how that works," he said.

James Dawson

James Dawson

Before I begin, depending on how old you are, this may be relevant to you.

If you're below the age of 20, you might be unaware that there used to be an actual building where you could go to rent out actual copies of films. We called these places video stores, we were creative, you see, back in the old days.

They worked pretty much like Netflix, except you had to exchange money for a box containing a video tape of the film you wanted to watch. Quentin Tarantino remembers. And he also thinks that world is worse off without them.

Credit: PA Images

The Pulp Fiction director is famous for his love of the old ways, he is a collector of vinyl records, and presumably still owns a VHS player.

Anyway, he misses the time when you'd have to actually ask someone whether a movie was good or not, rather than scrolling through Netflix's 'Recommended for You' section.

In an interview unearthed by Yellow King Film Boy the filmmaker hit out at Netflix and defended the video store: "It's very sad to me. It's very, very sad to me. And I'm a little surprised how quickly it happened, and I'm a little surprised at how the public has moved on, and no one's looking back, and they don't really care.

"And it's not just out of the nostalgia. I'm not on Netflix so I can't even tell you exactly how that works.

"Even if you just have all the movie channels in your [cable] package, and that's something I do have, you hit the guide, and you go down the list and you...watch something or you tape something and maybe you never get around to watching it or you actually do watch it, and [you decide], 'Nah, I'm not really into this.' That's kind of where we've fallen into.

"However, there was a different quality to the video store. You looked around, you picked up boxes, you read the back of the boxes.

Credit: PA Images

"You made a choice, and maybe you talked to the guy behind the counter, and maybe he pointed you toward something. And he didn't just put something in your hand, he gave you a little bit of a sales pitch on it to some degree or another.

"And so the point being is, you were kind of invested, in a way that you're not invested with electronic technology when it comes to the movies.

"Now, of course, we all rented three movies and didn't get around to watching the third one, but there was more of a commitment to what you ended up getting. In a weird way, what's lost is commitment."

While I agree that video stores were pretty great, they would have probably kicked off if I had come in on Sunday morning wrapped in a duvet, wearing only my pants.

Netflix, on the other hand, doesn't care. And it certainly doesn't judge me.

Featured Image Credit: Miramax Films

Topics: Film