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Archive for the ‘Movie Mania’ Category

Oak Harbor Cinemas nab new local owners

Posted in Movie Mania, tagged , , , , on April 2, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Bryan and Carrie Stucky pose in their new business. (Photo property Oak Harbor Cinemas)

The business empire expands.

Oak Harbor City Councilman Bryan Stucky and his wife Carrie are the new owners of Oak Harbor Cinemas.

The duo, who own and operate Wallin-Stucky Funeral Home, acknowledged the move on social media Wednesday afternoon.

“After seeing the theater sit on the market for an extended period, we couldn’t help but worry about its future, especially with the possibility of it closing or falling into the hands of an off-Island investor,” the couple wrote on Facebook.

“After months of thoughtful conversations, we knew we had to step up to preserve this beloved community asset.”

The three-screen complex debuted on Barlow Street in the mid-’80s and was my home away from home for many years starting with the arrival of Tim Burton’s “Batman” in 1989 shortly after my family moved to Whidbey.

There was a substantial time period (decades even) where a seat in the back row of each of the three rooms perfectly contoured to my posterior — until the scourge of cell phone usage in otherwise-darkened theaters drove me to move my viewing hours to my duplex.

The Stucky’s, however, still believe in the power of communal cinema, and I wish them all the best.

“While streaming from home is convenient, there’s something truly special about experiencing a movie with family and friends on the big screen,” the couple said on Facebook.

“It’s an important part of what brings people together, and we’re committed to keeping that tradition alive.”

In introducing themselves as the new owners, the couple talked about plans for the future.

“We have some ideas in the works and are eager to collaborate with the fantastic staff to bring even more excitement to Oak Harbor Cinemas,” they said.

“Expect fun additions like expanded concessions, birthday parties, sensory friendly showings, video games on the big screen, and possibly some other surprises along the way.

“While this may help bring a little something new, we want to assure you that the heart of the theater will always remain the same: a welcoming space where everyone can gather and enjoy a great movie.”

The Stucky’s bought the theater from business partners John Solin and Michel Gahard, who took control of Oak Harbor Cinemas in 2019 after Far Away Entertainment pulled out, ending a 15-year run.

Solin was the original owner of the business.

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Well, I mean, it could be drugs…

Posted in Movie Mania, tagged , , , , on August 1, 2024| Leave a Comment »

The last day of July was a good day for saving DVDs.

Can’t stop, won’t stop. This time I can save them all.

All things being equal, I’d rather be camped out at a video store than writing here on a sports blog.

Of course, video stores pretty much don’t exist anymore, and modern-day teens don’t even have a concept of what they were in the first place.

But I cling to the past, of days spent watching Bugsy Malone and eating Reese’s Pieces and somehow being paid to do so.

With the fuse relit by one basketball coach cleaning out the closet and sending DVD’s my way, I’m building Videoville 2.0 in a bedroom of my duplex.

From three films to making a run at 4,000 in a matter of months, I preserve a chunk of my past and once again marinate in the movie madness.

Some days it’s one or two. Yesterday, it was 83 DVD’s coming to their new (maybe) forever home on the shores of Penn Cove.

Three more Best Picture Oscar winners — Amadeus, Birdman, and Gandhi — the last two of eight Jesse Stone detective flicks starring Tom Selleck and his muscular mustache, two different versions of Sherlock Holmes battling The Hound of the Baskervilles, and Gregory Peck kickin’ unholy amounts of booty as The Chairman.

Plus, School House Rock!

Who gives that away to a thrift store and sleeps at night, I ask you??

So, in I swoop, basket in hand, ready to brain anyone foolish enough to try and get between me and The Ghost and Mr. Chicken or Hangin’ with the Homeboys.

While praying tomorrow will bring me another mystery box of DVDs courtesy someone embracing modern day life, streaming, and the allure of spring cleaning.

The Bad News Bears Go to Japan and Dudley Do-Right?

Eastwood pallin’ around with an orangutan and Schwarzenegger running wild through the futuristic world of … 2019?

The irrational dream lives on for another day.

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I’m back on that cinematic crack

Posted in Movie Mania, tagged , , , , on June 25, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Preserving cinematic history, one DVD at a time.

I can be calm.

I can be rational.

I can be…

“Dear Sweet Lord! Is that Howard the Duck??!!!?!?”

Spoiler alert: It was.

Face it.

I may write about sports on a daily basis, but movies have almost always been my one true obsession.

Fifteen years of video store life, of being paid to watch films, and I’d still be doing it if the world hadn’t shifted around me.

Once we lived in a world where David got screening copies of movies every single day and enough free cinematic-related swag to choke a horse.

T-shirts for Apollo 13 and The Stupids! A River Wild bomber jacket!! Boxes of Forrest Gump chocolates!!!

And now, we inhabit the darkest timeline, where Walmart sells record players(!) in 2024(!!) to underage hipsters but has removed the $5 DVD bin from the middle of the store in Oak Harbor.

But we fight on!

I was sliding through life with just five DVDs in my duplex, watching streaming, and then, thanks to one generous CHS basketball coach, suddenly the door on my addiction was cracked back open.

Since I have to go zero MPH or 1,000 MPH — it’s just my way — bam, a couple of months later, I’m pushing 3,000 DVDs.

Which means when I drive Whidbey Island, I’m always scanning the side of the road for free bookcases now.

And haunting the thrift stores of three towns, always looking for that sweet, sweet hit.

An unopened nine-pack of Alfred Hitchcock films for a couple bucks??

A pristine set of ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentaries for what amount to spare change??

A two-disc anniversary edition of Forbidden Planet, with Leslie Nielsen in his straight guy prime, before he became the king of deadpan comedy with Airplane and The Naked Gun movies???

A dusty box of DVDs featuring fairly obscure Avant-garde films??

We have liftoff (and muted screaming inside my head as I try and stay calm on the outside).

My small home has become a refuge for these DVDs being rejected by the world at large — a forever home where they can come and have a water view of Penn Cove, not fearful of ending up in a landfill.

I’ve already had to decide that no, I don’t have the room to save VHS tapes.

Maybe if I had a warehouse, and not a duplex…

At some point I’ll probably have to be realistic and cut down to one copy of any particular title, and not do what I’m doing now, which is to preserve any DVD that comes my way.

I may love A Knight’s Tale with Heath Ledger rockin’ out in the world of jousting, but I don’t really need six copies of it.

But six different people have donated a copy to me, so, for now, sanctuary!

I’m being (semi) responsible here. No hoarding. No piles of DVDs on the floor.

It’s all on shelves, strictly alphabetized from Abba: Gold to Zoolander.

Whenever I add another title, be it a thrift store find, a garage sale rescue, or a donation from someone accepting it’s 2024 and the world has changed, it takes me back to my Videoville days.

The mystery of opening a box of donated DVDs from a Wolf Mom and finding … An American Werewolf in London … The Goonies … HOWARD THE FREAKIN’ DUCK!!!

The hunt in the wild, skulking in thrift shops and at garage sales and unearthing Support Your Local Gunfighter or Cry-Baby or Have Gun, Will Travel or The Last Starfighter!

There’s a vast world of DVDs out there.

Some are Chinatown or L.A. Confidential.

Some are … The Brady Bunch in the White House or Monster Mutt.

All deserve a safe haven in a world gone wild. The work goes on.

A small smidge of my revived obsession. So many DVDs still left to save…

 

Have DVDs (or a bookcase or two) you want to send on to David’s retirement home for movies? 165 Sherman in Coupeville is your destination.

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“It’s a fuchin’ miracle!”

Posted in Movie Mania, tagged , , , , on April 23, 2024| Leave a Comment »

A little piece of history, it is.

“What’s the plan, Uncle David?”

“We’re going to have more movies than Scarecrow Video!”

“But I thought you said they had like 120,000 titles…”

“They do.”

“And you have?”

“1,310 DVD’s and one VHS. Not bad for someone who had like five DVDs a month ago.”

“I’m going to tell mom you’ve lost it…”

“I’m sure she already knows.”

“And what do you mean we??”

“It’s the royal we, my lad. And by we, I mean less talking by you, and more crawling down in that dusty bin at the back of the thrift store and looking for the DVD’s hiding down there.

“We will find “Song of the South! Some day!!”

“Great … Uncle David is going to have a section devoted to racist cartoons…”

“Exactly. That’s why we need those Tom and Jerry ones!”

As I alternate between entertaining my nephews and causing them to arch their eyebrows at me like they’re old money country club lifers and I’m Rodney Dangerfield storming the castle, my most-recent detour into embracing my video store past is going like gangbusters.

All it took was one basketball coach doing some spring cleaning and offering free DVDs and I’m right back at it, crafting a tribute to Videoville in my side room.

Five movies here, 200+ there, me trying not to scream like a little girl who found a pony under the Christmas tree when I discover a Criterion edition of the French film noir Le Corbeau for $1.00 at the thrift store.

Or when I go through a donation from a former Videoville customer and find … Jaws! Tommy Boy!! Indiana Jones!!! Cry Baby!!!!!

It’s a work in progress.

I have Lawrence of Arabia, but not On the Waterfront.

Have Chinatown, but not The Right Stuff.

Have The Fifth Element, and (somehow) the first five Resident Evil movies (viva Milla Jovovich and my autographed photo!) but not Blade Runner or The Last Starfighter.

Or Shock Treatment, The Apple, the ’70s version of Gone in 60 Seconds, Bugsy Malone, or Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical.

Yet.

But I do have Bottle Rocket, Memento, Spirited Away, both the Johnny Depp and the Angela Lansbury(!) editions of Sweeney Todd plus Riverdance, which is a direct touchstone to my Videoville days.

And, as you can see in the picture above, I just got The Matchmaker, one of those films which evokes an enduring memory from my time behind the movie counter.

It’s a great little romantic comedy, but the reason it takes me back is this — there’s a crusty old coot in the flick who, in deep Irish accent, is prone to saying “fuchin.”

When you pronounce it that way, it seems somehow … more genteel. And slightly acceptable for saying in the store, as we did for many months after the VHS of the film hit in ’97/’98.

“You got some fuchin’ late fees here.”

“Did you just cuss?”

“Not likely. Just working on my Irish accent, you fuchin’ bastard.”

Ah, memories.

Now I just need to find a DVD for Margaret’s Museum, a lovingly crafted tale of Helena Bonham Carter collecting bits ‘n pieces from all the deceased coal miners in her small town.

“She put what in the jars, now?????”

“Oh yes, exactly what you’re thinking. But it’s a beautifully done movie … you fuchin’ bastard.”

“Not your cup of tea? Well, can I interest you in some possibly racist Tom and Jerry cartoons??”

 

PS — If you’re spring cleaning and want to help me marinate in the past, I’m accepting any and all DVDs and giving them a home with a view of Penn Cove.

You can find me at a Coupeville baseball or softball game or drop ’em on my porch at 165 Sherman.

If I had a warehouse, I’d take your VHS. But I don’t have a warehouse, so, unless it’s something that can only be found on VHS like the one below, I probably have to pass.

While crying tears of regret…

David’s one current VHS tape.

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I want that 24/7/365 Reese’s Pieces smell, baby!

Posted in Movie Mania, tagged , , , , on March 27, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Ooh baby, baby…

I came from the turbulent sea, where whitecaps rocked our boat at all hours and the smell of decaying seafood forever scarred my nose hairs.

It was … what … yes, it was Penn Cove, and not the Bering Strait … it was still horrifying.

No, I’m not being a fancy lad … well, maybe a little bit … but I still have nightmares, thank you very much.

Back in 1994, when I fled the mussel rafts after multiple months of “learning about life,” the chance to work in a video store — especially a snug lil’ popcorn-scented joint like Videoville — was like gaining entrance to heaven itself.

VHS tapes crammed ceiling to floor, a movie on the TV screen, the smell of “butter” in the air, easy access to Reese’s Pieces … I was never leaving.

And I didn’t, for a very long time.

A year in the small house in which Videoville began, then another 11 in the “new store,” which introduced Cow Town to the concept of paying extra for your coffee thanks to Miriam’s Espresso.

The bigger store wasn’t quite as snug as the house, maybe, and the popcorn machine was replaced with a giant gumball dispenser.

But it also had three TV’s instead of one, so I could play Bugsy Malone and the ’70s version of Gone in 60 Seconds in surround-vision.

And I still got paid to stand around and scarf Reese’s Pieces and tell people they were missing out on the finer things in life if they didn’t accept Bottle Rocket as their true lord and savior.

While staying far, far away from the mussel rafts.

They will rock you.

Miriam Meyer, who was my boss from 1994-2006, was more than a boss.

She was a second mom, and she let me largely run wild, ordering movies that often had no business being on the shelf of a small-town video store.

Suicide Club. Shortbus. Ichi the Killer. Hands on a Hardbody. Doggy Poo.

The last one was a Korean animated short film about a pile of doggy doo-doo seeking inner peace and enlightenment. Seriously.

The first four?  The one that sounds like porn (Hands) was completely not, while Shortbus was … an arthouse … film. Or something like that.

Videoville never had an X-rated section, but we did appeal to the higher-minded nudie lovers who wanted overly complex plots crafted by pretentious artistes.

We used to put little notes on movies sometimes to give customers at least a fighting chance to know they would be renting something likely to offend.

Or to allow me to rant and rave about the quality of small gems that otherwise would be invisible.

Love Serenade, where a weathered disc jockey transforms into a fish and swims away from a small-town love triangle.

Margaret’s Musuem, where a lonely woman collects “bit and pieces” of each dude who dies in the town’s coal mine.

Strictly Ballroom, a passionate ode to big hair and bigger dance moves.

Dead End Drive In, where teens are trapped in a Hellhole of endless junk food and junkier movies and can’t leave … and, wait, how is that a bad thing??

Basically, what I’m saying is my years in the video store biz are bathed in a hazy, golden nostalgia, and the mere smell of Reese’s Pieces makes me weep that one day I had to return to doing actual work.

Having busted my back as a landscaper, farm hand, booze pusher, dishwasher, onion chopper, and on other assorted gigs, writing ain’t that hard.

But it’s not video store life.

So, from time to time, I get caught up in the lure of recapturing the olden days and I amass movies in my duplex.

I’m doing it again, having gone from a couple of DVDs to 600+ and counting in the last week or two, thanks to people doing spring cleaning in a streaming world.

It begins … again.

Yes, it’s a slippery slope.

One day you have just The Abyss and Moulin Rouge, and the next you wake up to find the back bedroom turned into a shrine to my Reese’s-scented days.

My sister and landlord shake their heads, while my youngest nephews, who weren’t around in the video store days, are captivated by this reoccurring burst of mania.

“You should get VHS, too, Uncle David!! Be a real hoarder!!! I mean … history preserver.”

And then they giggle as their mom shoots them an arched eyebrow and they return to looking on Ebay for cheaply priced mystery boxes of movies they can buy me for my upcoming birthday.

I hope…

 

Want to beat them to the punch?

I’m taking in all your tired, your poor, your huddled masses of DVD (not VHS!) yearning to breathe free and have a forever home with a view of Penn Cove.

The address: 165 Sherman, Coupeville, WA, 98239. There’s a porch in front and another in back, just waiting for your drop-offs.

Or find me, or my dark green, dirt splattered Xterra, at a CHS baseball or softball game this spring and take me back to my golden days.

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