Movie Renting Tips From Yours Truly

Here's some movie renting tips from yours truly to help you save a buck and get the most out of your money.

1. Libraries are gold mines when it comes to classic movies. Sometimes they'll even have those harder to find lesser-known and more expensive movies that even the big video stores don't carry. If they aren't your cup of tea, give em a chance, what's the worst that can happen? You'll like it?? Once you watch the classics, you'll see how many modern movies homage and rip them off. Once in a while you'll even find the odd new release Hollywood flick. Best of all, it's FREE. Well technically, libraries are funded through your taxes, so you already are paying for it, so you might as well use em. Many libraries also have online catalogues where you can request holds (sometimes its free, but sometimes there is a small charge, usually a buck or less -- still cheaper than renting from an actual video store).

2. With many rental stores now offering "No Late Fees" policies, you effectively have an extra week, and even an extra month (minus a possible restocking fee). Now I'm not telling you to keep a movie for that long, because if everybody did that, everybody loses and no one would see the movie they wanted. Where this can be useful is in avoiding the lineups of the average moviegoer who gets rentals on Fridays and Saturdays. While most people only have free time on the weekend, you can preplan your weekend by dropping by the video store during the middle of the week during less busy hours. Those couple of extra days won't cost you anything because of the "No Late Fees" policy. Spend your free time watching a movie, or waiting in line to rent it, the choice is yours.

3. Some rental outfits offer guaranteed rentals on certain titles, and if they don't have it in stock, its free the next time you return. If you don't mind not seeing a certain movie right away, you can get it free during its release week by visiting a store during the later hours on a Friday or Saturday, as most people have likely rented them all during the previous hours. Conversely, if you really want to see that movie, go early or call ahead, most places will also place holds for you.

4. Now that you have the movie, there's nothing more annoying than in the middle of watching it, all of a sudden it stops or begins to skip like crazy because some random asshole doesn't know how to handle a DVD (You Know Who You Are). This last tip will help you avoid those. It's not 100% perfect, but it certainly helps. Unfortunately, most video rental places have their discs secured so you can't see them for wear and tear until you've paid for it. What you want to do instead of just grabbing a random copy off the shelf, grab a copy on the lowest or highest shelf, and grab the bottom copy, the one most inside. Most people tend to grab the copies at arms length on the middle shelves, and hence return copies are placed back in the exact same place. Those lesser rented copies can yield a disc with less wear and tear. Sometimes, the outside of the case is also an indicator, if its uncharacteristically dirty or grimy, skip it.

A Bonus Tip! Not related to renting a movie, but in watching it. Unfortunately DVDs today can be loaded with advertisements, trailers, and disclaimers (in multiple languages). It just makes me wanna barf. We've all gone through DVDs with dozens of these, taking upwards of several minutes before the movie actually plays. To avoid this, instead of selecting "PLAY" at the main menu, choose "SCENE SELECTIONS" or "CHAPTERS" or something to that effect, and then choose the very first scene or chapter. Choosing the "PLAY" option activates said advertisements and disclaimers, whereas using the latter method skips all that crap and sends you straight to the beginning of the movie.

So there you have it. Efficient time planning, money saving, and maximizing movie enjoyment, what more can you ask for? :)