The guy at the rental store who refused to let me take Birdemic home

Last Friday I walked into this hole-in-the-wall video place near my apartment in Austin. I grabbed Birdemic: Shock and Terror off the shelf, honestly just for the memes. The guy behind the counter, maybe 60 years old, shook his head and said, “No, you're not ready for that one. Start with The Giant Spider Invasion instead.” He made me watch the first 10 minutes on their little wall TV before I could leave with it. That movie has a scene where a flying spider puppet crashes into a car window and I almost cried laughing. He was right, and now I always ask him for a recommendation before I pick anything. Anyone else got a shop clerk or friend who gatekeeps your bad movie choices in a good way?

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1 Comment

eva_thompson25d ago

Ha, okay but I gotta correct you on one thing. Birdemic is not a "bad movie" in the fun way, it's a masterpiece of accidental garbage. The guy was smart to delay you because you gotta build up to that level of nonsense. If you watch Birdemic first, everything else just feels weak. The spider movie is a warm-up, not a punishment. Also, that rental clerk sounds like a national treasure, we should clone him and put him in every video store that's left. You're lucky you have a place like that still open, most of us are stuck scrolling streaming for actual gold like this.