A.J. KABAGE
Staff Writer
While the closure of the Malibu Blockbuster Video on has frustrated and confused many on Pepperdine’s campus, there is one person who remains completely unbothered by this change.
John Renteria, 42, has more than 1,100 movies in his collection, both DVDs and videocassettes. Renteria, who works as the coffee barista at the Sandbar, has been collecting movies ever since he started working at Pepperdine back in 1997. Since that time, Renteria has earned the title “movie god” from some of his friends.
His collection started with video cassettes, and by the time he bought his last movie on cassette, “Young Frankenstein,” in 2002, he had obtained more than 750 cassettes.
“I would buy four or five at a time for about $20 at swap meets back then. I got them cheap because they were usually bundled together, and sometimes a few would be missing their boxes,” Renteria said, perched at his usual seat at the end of bar in the Sandbar.
Renteria bought his first DVD, “Blade,” in 2002. Since then, Renteria has collected 390 movies on DVD, only 15 percent of which are repeats of ones he has on videocassettes.
“The problem with DVDs is that, even though they contain more features and information than cassettes, they are more expensive than VHS tapes.
“Whereas I could get four movies for $20 when I bought VHS tapes, now I can spend up to $100 for the same amount of movies,” Renteria said.
He also has noticed that the price of DVDs in general has gone down from when he first started collecting.
Renteria said he began collecting movies to catch up on films he had missed. In fact, the last movie he saw in theaters was “Spider-Man” in 2002.
“I wanted a hobby, something to do. I really don’t go out that often, because I work at night, so this allows me to see movies, even if it is a couple months later than most people,” he said. “Plus, working at the Sandbar, it gives me something to talk about with the customers. Everyone goes to see movies, and I’ve seen a lot of them, so if I haven’t seen it, I can at least discuss what I’ve heard about it.”
Renteria’s collection spans across a wide range of different genres. Most of the films he purchases are comedies or action flicks, but he also owns many dramas and enjoys the science fiction, horror and family-oriented movies that he has collected over the years. Renteria has quite a few Westerns, as well, which he used to watch with his dad. He even has some musicals, and his favorite is “The Blues Brothers,” which he finally received on DVD for Christmas this year. However, Renteria said his favorite movie of all time is the 1938 “The Adventures of Robin Hood” starring Errol Flynn.
Recently, Renteria also started collecting TV shows on DVD. Since, he doesn’t get back to his house until 1a.m. on workdays, he is unable to watch most shows live. Therefore, he has gotten used to skipping commercials between the shows he tapes. Of TV shows available on DVD, Renteria’s favorites are generally science fiction, like “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Smallville,” and “SeaQuest DSV,” or animated shows, such as “Family Guy,” “Speed Racer,” “Gigantor” and “Kimba the White Lion.”
Yet, Renteria is not likely to give up movie-collecting in favor of TV programs.
“Honestly, I just think a good movie is greater than everything else,” he said.
01-26-2006
