Everything has its time and all things must pass.

I walked home tonight past my local Blockbuster which has just closed for good and was gutted in readiness for another occupant (in all probability a bank or insurance company).

The closure comes as no great surprise as many outlets in the US and UK  have ceased trading long ago. Of late the shop has had a tired look when compared with the racks of video cassettes (remember them?) that filled the shelves when it first opened in late 1990s.

I still recall being irritated when they started setting aside more space for DVDs in the days before I had a player. In hindsight, Blockbuster were right to take advantage of the fact that home entertainment was turning digital but the more recent switch to Blu-ray seemed like a desperate last-ditch attempt to capture the rental market.

Renting movies from online resources like Amazon is still in its infancy in Italy but the ease with which movies can now be downloaded, copied or streamed means that renting from a high street store is no longer necessary. If you really want a hard copy of a favourite picture, it often costs about the same as to hire and ,anyway, having a physical copy never has the same romance as owning a vinyl album does for music lovers.

In under two decades the way I and the world watch movies has changed beyond all recognition. Amazingly, cinemas are still doing good business as much as a community service as for the films being shown. It’s still the perfect venue for dates or a night out with friends.

Film buffs/snobs like me pray that this also means that a few independent cinemas will stay open to show non mainstream films. Personally I’d love to see more cinemas run seasons of classics in the way I remember London venues like The Everyman in Hampstead or The Scala in Kings Cross used to in the 1980s.

Blockbuster could have maintained my custom if they’d widened their selections to include more cult movies or world cinema but I recognise that I am in the minority. There aren’t many who will shed a tear for its passing but it still feels like the end of an era and I shall keep my Gold Card as a souvenir.

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