Village Video Store: Staff Selects

This episode features actor, writer, and fellow physical media addict, Ben Stanton. Ben is the leader of the Commonwealth Film Club, a group of friends we brought together to watch movies from our extensive physical media collections. He selected five films for his Staff Selects shelf that got us chatting about the power of music, memories on film, toxic lovers, early aughts nostalgia, lady plumbers, capitalist influence in East Asia, and Pixar. In addition to subscribing to this Substack, please consider financially subscribing, as all of the proceeds I earn from it will be used to open the Village Video Store. I’d also appreciate it if you could subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts. I’d like to expand the web of listeners and this is the best way to do it.Thank you for coming to the village. Get full access to Village Video Store at villagevideostore.substack.com/subscribe

This episode of the Village Video Podcast features artist, writer, and actor Kait Thompson, one of my oldest and dearest friends that I’ve made through the Philadelphia improv community. Kait selects five films for her Staff Selects that got us talking about lesbians, sex in film, the joys of music as a teenager, the cost of independent film, the destructive nature of capitalism, reality television, environmental racism, 90s hacking, and fish with lips. Please listen and enjoy.You can now subscribe to both the Village Video Store podcast on Apple Podcasts app. If you do, please rate and review it. The more people who find the podcast through there, the more people who may be likely to subscribe to the Substack. Watch Audience (Barbara Hammer, 1982)Watch Nitrate Kisses (Barbara Hammer, 1992)Thank you for coming to the village. Get full access to Village Video Store at villagevideostore.substack.com/subscribe

Oh look, another clown with a podcast.In an effort to celebrate the video store culture of yesteryear, the plan for this podcast is to bring on friends and have them construct their own “Staff Picks” shelf. A mainstay of the independent video store, Staff Picks were a way for customers to get a recommendation for a movie right when they walk through the door. Each employee’s Staff Picks was an opportunity for them to express themselves, what movies they love, or even what movies they just saw and think you should watch too.This first episode features filmmakers John Purcell and Malin von Euler-Hogan, two of my long time friends from the UCB Theater world and a real-life married couple. Their independent film Dead or Dying is premiering this month at the Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose, California. You can get tickets for either screening (March 12th or March 16th) by clicking on this link. Follow the film on Instagram so you can watch the trailer.John and Malin’s diverse selection of films generates a fun discussion about modern art and filmmaking, egotistical clout chasers, toxic masculinity, female friendship, eco terrorism, and the banality of evil. I’m a one-man band when it comes to producing this, so please excuse any sound difficulties. I was also sick when we recorded; I did my best to edit out my sniffles but apologies in advance for the ones I missed. I’ve also turned on the paid subscription options for this newsletter. Any money that I make from this will directly be used to open up a video rental store. This starts with creating a rental inventory. The posts and podcasts will always be free for subscribers, but I might create paywall content that follows the journey of creating the store. If you feel so inclined to contribute, I would be eternally grateful. Get full access to Village Video Store at villagevideostore.substack.com/subscribe