College students are broke. There’s no myth to deconstruct, it’s just plain fact. Where my peers get the money (or the time, for that matter) to hit the movies and catch all the latest flicks is beyond me.
Cable and digital TV are beyond my means and stealing it is beyond my intellect, so I usually end up at home with a movie and a bottle of wine— a far cheaper prospect than even a matinee and happy hour.
With more than a few nights of movie renting under my belt, I’ve definitely picked up a few pieces of video store gold along the way.
Part of the beauty of rental is the wealth of old movies — new doesn’t necessarily mean good (think Snow Dogs).
The Man with the Golden Arm (1955) Director: Otto Preminger
Frank Sinatra stars as a fresh-out-of-jail heroin addict and talented card dealer. Despite a crippled wife, Frankie’s falling for another woman and struggling to keep from falling back into his old habit.
2000 Maniacs (1964) Director: Herschell Gordon Lewis
Backwoods Southerners still embittered over the Civil War return to life and enact gory hillbilly revenge on vacationing Yankees, with Playboy centerfold Connie Mason.
Family Plot (1976) Director: Alfred Hitchcock
In his last film, Hitchcock follows two criminal yet contrasting couples — one a fake psychic pair, the other, kidnappers — as they cross paths in search of a missing woman and a family fortune.
The Thin Blue Line (1988) Director: Errol Morris
Okay, so it’s a documentary, but it wouldn’t be listed if it wasn’t damn good. The film tells the story of hitchhiker Randall Dale Adams, who was convicted of the murder of a police officer and sentenced to life in prison. His case was reopened after th e film’s release, and Adams was eventually proven innocent and freed.
A Simple Plan (1998) Director: Sam Raimi
When three men find a crashed plane containing $4 million buried in the snow, they devise a way to keep the money, but their plan soon snowballs out of control.
Five decades, five beautiful movies. Happy renting.
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