Do you find the streaming era of film viewing to be lacking a certain something? Do you look back fondly on making the video store the first stop on your weekend journeys? Writer/director Bobby Canipe Jr’s documentary Mom n' Pop: The Indie Video Store Boom of the 80s/90s may scratch some itches that have been plaguing you for likely the last two decades. Utilizing interviews with proprietors, longtime clerks, low-budget filmmakers, superfans, and internet/social media personalities, Canipe explores video store history and culture through the lens of warm nostalgia.
The recent wave of appreciation for Blockbuster Video has been puzzling to me. All the film fans I knew growing up and into my early adulthood hated the corporate behemoth. This film is a sort of antidote to that revisionist history in that it celebrates the true heroes of the period. The footwork for making movies more accessible was actually done by folks slinging tapes out of the back of tanning salons, gas stations, and other unlikely retail spaces. My personal favorite shop from the early ‘80s was actually just an empty house that somebody used as a store. There wasn’t any furniture and I don’t think anybody lived upstairs or anything, but the walls were lined with shelves and each room was a different genre. Like the living room housed all the comedies and the bedroom was the horror section.
Canipe focuses on these types of bizarre setups. Starting with the dawn of the VHS era, he makes his way through a few distinct periods before concluding how the scant few stores left now offer a viable alternative to streaming culture. Along the way, he touches on topics such as porn’s place in video history, how videogame rentals figured into the scene, Blockbuster’s ruinous effect, and the advent of streaming forever altering how we consume media.
The presentation is basically your standard talking heads type setup. DP Cagney Larkin varies the type of looks we get for each participant, though, so the film doesn’t feel static. There are also a few choice clips from some of the films discussed edited into the piece which adds some dynamism. Participants are all enthusiastic and engaging. My favorites are probably Lloyd Kaufman (of Troma fame), collector par excellence Paul Petroskey, and the matter-of-fact Gary Cohen.
At right around 80 minutes, the pacing never feels labored. Canipe structures the film logically and mostly chronologically, allowing the right amount of time for each of his subjects. Even the detour into video games fits into his rhythm. The only nitpicks I have are that there are some differentiations in audio levels that are noticeable and the credits sequence oddly repeats some footage from the film proper. Neither of these aspects detracted from my enjoyment, though.
Bobby Canipe Jr’s Mom n' Pop: The Indie Video Store Boom of the 80s/90s lovingly examines a time in history that many film fans revere. It’s clearly a micro-budgeted picture, but the story is thoughtful, informative, and entertaining. It’s available now on Prime. Highly recommended for fans of The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope, and Frazetta: Painting with Fire.
Michael Cavender