I have always been a movie addict ever since I was in high school. I have been inside most of them: theatres in Dagupan, Urdaneta, Asingan ( yes there was one in our backyard which makes it conveninet for me. But it opens only at night). When we came to Canada in the '70s, the first thing I did was to scan the movie page to check what movies are being seen where. The first movie I saw with my son Ollie ( who was still very young then ) was JESUS CHRIST, SUPERSTAR at the Varsity theatre in the Manulife building, in downtown Toronto. He also became a movie fan like me. He finished a degree re: films in York University.
I was one of the first ones to buy a Beta machine..It was about 1200$ at that time. That was 1975 at a pre inflation price! The blank tapes were 20$ each. It was at a time when Free Trade was not still enacted. So everything ( or mostly everything ) were made in US/Canada.
Another movie I saw was ALIEN directed by Ripley Scott. I saw the movie one time at the University theatre here in Toronto. This theatre was the best one hereabouts at that time: got the best screen, best sound ( 6 channel Dolby ). So on an afternoon after work, I dropped by and saw it. I could not bring Ollie then because he was still under 18 and the movie was rated R. But it did not stop him from seeing ( in a home movie version )at one of the buildings in the Canadian National Exhibition. Then they started selling movie tapes..1 movie then cost an average of 100$..And when the Beta version came out, of course I bought it for him..It was on sale for a whooping $80.00
Few months later, this was during the ealy '80s, they started renting out Beta movies.VHS format was also invented at that time so both formats were rented side by side. Sam the record Man was one of the pioneers of this tape rental business and at its height of popularity, it rented ALL KINDS of titles, close probably to 2000 movies. And that was just during the start of the Home Movie revolution.Now a days, this market was cornered by Blockbuster and Rogers..
From the time I started buying movie tapes til now, I must have accumulated thousands of tapes in my basement. Some were copied of course, but as formats change, the old formats were sold cheap. So I bought my favorite movies whereever I saw them: garage sales, flea markets, clearance bins..see them once, store them..Then all of a sudden I saw them cluttering my basement spaces..! Twice I bought out the movie collection of a Janitor working at a mall. He sold his VHS movies to me at about 1$ a title..It was a lot sale and he sold ALL his movie collection at around that price.
Yesterday, there was a bazaar at church. I took 2 tables. Paid 40$ for both of them..Michelle, my daughter and her husband Jonathan Forbes came in and helped me out with the transport and they even stayed until the closing time which is about 3:00 pm. Mia and Emma were also there of course! Many of the buyers ( and some sellers ) are from St. John's. They know me of course ( although I do not know most of their names ). But one thing I found out: the VHS movies ( good titles ) are the best sellers in any flea market, garage sale type of business! There are so many movie fans and some of them are still looking for titles they want their children to enjoy..I think I was the one with the highest sale yesterday..At the day's end I split the net proceeds with my 2 grandaughters: Michelle and Jonathan declined to get their share. Jonathan is a doctor anyway, he makes much money. He helped us for Charity's sake and for the experience. The two girls enjoyed the whole time ( it is their first time too!). Every now and then they would flit from one table to another and would go to their Mom with something which caught their fancy.
Being with people to whom I play for on Sundays, I found out that we and the kids had certain "previleges". When we went to the snack bar, our snacks were free! The seller declined to receive my money. Mia and Emma were greeted by people who hear them sing at church and every now and then, they hear praises from them for their singing. Somebody gave me a small subwoofer. I just examined it at one point, then asked how much it cost. The lady said :"Take it Victor, it's yours!" I said "Thank you" and brought it home. It is still working..!
It was a hectic day. I missed my morning and afternoon naps. I had to load and unload my stuff. But it was a perfect day as we found out when we came to the end of it.---#
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