Big Fish
I slot out times for aimless adventure in my week. It isn’t consistent because you can’t predict that moment, but you have to make space for it.
Yesterday was the perfect day for it. I had finished up everything I needed to do work-wise in the morning, and it was a warm & sunny Monday in SF, which we know can be rare.
When it comes to aimless adventure, anything goes (within reason of course). You take the first nudge to do what you want to do & then the next.
Yesterday I thought, “I want to bike to Dolores Park & grab a coffee & sit in the park.” So I did just that. After sitting in Dolores Park for an hour, I thought, “I really want banana ice cream.” Since I was in walking distance to a spot with banana ice cream in Noe Valley, I went. After I got it, I thought, “How cute is Noe Valley? I’ve never really walked around here.” So I started exploring.
This is where I then saw it… a video store. An old school video store. My interest was immediately piqued, so I walked in.
The owner, Colin, was there & gave me the rundown. From what he told me, Video Wave has been open since 1983 & he’s owned it for the last 20 years.
I did some browsing & then Colin & I started chatting more. He told me about the rental subscription & fees since I live in the city. Then I asked, “What draws people into the subscription? How do people choose the physical DVD or VHS vs streaming now?”
You could tell Colin loves this question. He was ready with his case.
A few main points he had:
Physical copies of movies can’t be censored. Studios have started editing or changing scenes that don’t age well.
There’s actually more inventory in stores than on streaming. Everyone thinks they have everything at their fingertips, but they don’t.
The quality of Blu-ray DVDs is still higher than streaming.
Nothing replaces the manual curation & nostalgia that comes with being in a store.
Colin gave an excellent example. Robert Redford died not long ago & Colin had put together a whole section of Redford movies, many you can’t find on streaming. He had also curated sections for Wes Anderson, Francis Ford Coppola, Clint Eastwood, etc.
It’s clear it isn’t just about the movies. It’s about community & trusting a local’s taste to guide you toward new art.
There were even printed articles around the store about how streaming just might not cut it for movie lovers.
All of this led to me discovering my new favorite movie. I didn’t rent it from Video Wave because I don’t own a DVD player, but I did pay $3.99 to rent it on a streaming platform with 48 hours to finish. So already, I was seeing the intrigue in the business plan.
I saw the movie sitting on a middle shelf & for some reason, I had a distinct memory of watching it at my best friend’s house growing up, but zero recollection of what it was about.
It was Big Fish.
It’s a movie I wouldn’t have imagined watching in a million years if I hadn’t seen it in that store. It’s not even available to stream anywhere right now, only to rent.
Big Fish is one of those movies you might watch as a kid & think, “Oh, this is about a dad who tells tall tales.” But as an adult, you realize, “Oh wow, this is about the story people want to tell about their lives & the legacy they leave in the world.”
So that’s how one of my aimless adventures led me to finding my new favorite movie. I’ve always struggled with that question because I never truly knew. I hadn’t found my favorite movie & after this one… I knew. Now I have my answer.
