Movie rentals near Rosslyn? (Arlington: how much, buy, theatres)

[browns47]

I am one of the few 28 year olds that prefers renting movies from actual movie stores (Sorry Netflix, I dont know what i want to rent 3 days in advance, and apolgies to you Red Box but your selection is horrible).

Does anyone know a good movie rental store within 20 min drive of Rosslyn? (We live off Lee Highway, so heading west is the preferred option)

[stateofnature]

Try streaming movies off Netflix. The selection for streaming video is getting better and better all the time, and you don't have to wait 3 days, you get what you want instantly. It's cheaper than renting, too.
Or, try ordering movies through your cable provider. For example, I know that if you have Comcast you can buy movies that were recently in theatres.
The days of the movie rental store are over. I don't think there is a Blockbuster or any reasonable alternative within miles of Rosslyn. The very last Blockbuster in DC, located on 8th St SE, just shut its doors a few months ago.

[hilsmom]

I like Redbox kiosks for rentals. Looks like there are several in the Rosslyn area.

Redbox Locations | Find DVD Locations at Redbox.com and Rent a Movie

The rentals are $1 per movie per night. If you friend them on Facebook, they send out free codes from time to time (they also have an app).

You can go in person OR reserve the movie online from a particular kiosk.

OOPS - sorry, I missed your part about not liking this service! Then I've got nothing, sorry. I think your options are streaming, on demand or pay per view.

[cdmurphy]

There's a Blockbuster on King St. south of 395 that should be within a 20-minute drive from Rosslyn.

[browns47]

Sigh - thanks for the help. It looks like that Blockbuster is the only choice, for as long as it stays open anyway!

I really am a dying breed. I have used the Netflix streaming - it isnt the same as watching a DVD or blue ray, its nice for the convenience, but the quality is absolutely not the same.

Thanks, all.

[persnicketygal]

If you're in the mood for older movies, be sure to check out the Arlington library. They have a lot of DVDs -- movies and TV series, foreign films. OK, so not new releases. You can search the library's online catalog and reserve whatever you want (and, full disclosure, probably have to wait. Maybe a while). But the upside? When you get your e-mail notice that one of your movie reserves is ready for pickup (I use the Shirlington library for that), you've probably totally forgotten you've put it in your reserve queue--and it's like that dollar bill you find in a pocket of the pair of jeans in the bottom of the laundry basket!

(I still like Redbox every so often for that more immediate gratification!)

[mjw703]

Have you heard of Potomac Video? They are a local chain with supposedly a good selection of classic, indy and foreign films. I haven't used them (Netflix user here) but I have heard they are pretty good. There's one at 4828 MacArthur Blvd., which is probably about 20 minutes or so from Rosslyn, depending on traffic.

[hilsmom]

Sorry. FWIW, I used to love going to the video store and browsing the shelves to find what I wanted. Since I don't watch many movies these days (too many TV shows on my DVR), Redbox works for those rare occasions when we want to rent movies. We don't have a Blu-Ray player, so the On Demand movies are also acceptable to us.

I do hope you can find a service that works for you. I wonder if there is a dvd swap service online or something?

[The Dissenter]

Originally Posted by cdmurphy

There's a Blockbuster on King St. south of 395 that should be within a 20-minute drive from Rosslyn.

Yes, I often used that store and it had a nice selection.

[SallyField]

Originally Posted by browns47

I have used the Netflix streaming - it isnt the same as watching a DVD or blue ray, its nice for the convenience, but the quality is absolutely not the same.

Ah, you're a dinosaur! Streaming is the way to go. You may not realize it because of your Internet connection, but Netflix streams a better picture than DVD and often streams as good as the highest quality BR. Where it doesn't match DVD or BR is -- sometimes -- in the sound and closed caption departments. Where all DVDs and BR have 5.1 surround as an option and closed captioning available, only some Netflix streaming have these. But most big movies have them, and stereo encoding is fine for most people, so it's not really an issue.

BTW, you should also look at Amazon streaming, since their content library is pretty good, too.

To get the best from Netflix (or Amazon), you need a fast Internet connection. Netflix (and Amazon) measures your download speed and delivers the content in one of three tiers, depending on how much bandwidth you can handle -- the lowest level is exactly the same as DVD quality, the middle level is slightly better than DVD but not as good as BR, and the highest level is 720p or 1080p (depending on what you are using to access Netflix), which is as good as BR gets.

We have Verizon FiOS (35/35) and the streaming service definitely is much better than DVD, most is BR quality. Certainly, it is much more convenient and you never have problems with losing or scratching a disk. I'm a fan, but more importantly, streaming is obviously where the industry is going. Give it another shot!