I very briefly stepped out this afternoon to do some much needed, seasonal cold-busting, thrift-DVD shopping at Sonic Boom, a landmark indie CD/DVD store in the very hip and artsy neighbourhood of the Annex, in Toronto.
I very efficiently perused hundreds of DVDs, from one section to the end - alphabetical, weekly drops (essentially, re-sale DVDs 'dropped' on a certain day), genre-defined - until I caught myself doing something I've never done before.
In front of the foreign and classics section, I took my sexy, solo-skinned iPhone out (I named her Norma), defaulted the screen to YouTube and proceeded to "tsots" (pronounced "Ts-ohtz": trailer-surf-on-the-spot) some unknown films.
It was a hard feat to manage at first. There were several guys on the row rushing as much to finish the section, but nothing that a thoughtful, "Oh, go ahead", or a step-back-step-front can't solve. (Note to shoppers: More skill is required if you have some "harvest picks" already in tow - and this is where a store basket will come handy; otherwise, clip items with your arm.)
Needless to say, I looked like I was scanning a section of the foreigns and classics this afternoon.
It took me a bit longer (Note to self: Expect some foreign film clips on YouTube to be un-subtitled, and therefore, irredeemable.), but it was an immersive and unique experience in the end. I even went to an auteur website at the back of a DVD to read notes about some very offbeat experimentals. But it was what transpired after that I found most interesting.
A boomer standing nearby looked over Norma's screen, the actual film on my other hand, and very slowly reached for his own smartphone and started browsing his own movie trailer in the store.
"Good idea," as if a letter landed on his crossword puzzle.
-----
I left with two femme fatales in tow: The Bad Seed (a disturbing movie from 1956 about a perfect, little murderer-child) and Mildred Pierce (a 1945 film noir with the incorrigible, Joan Crawford).
Take a peek at the very dangerous, Mildred Pierce (courtesy of Warner Home Video).
