Cinefile Video

09/30/11

Worst Rental Experience Ever

by icen9ne

I was a member for nearly year until a bearded employee, "Bill" -- claiming to be a manager -- was extremely rude.

What started out as confusion as to why my late fees were so high, soon quickly became offensive. He went as far as to use several cuss words when I pointed out he that he was being rude, and that he shouldn't have to "follow me around and wash my (testicles)" when I pointed out he had been unfriendly from the beginning.

Long story short, I brought some DVDs back knowing they'd be a day late. This "manager" claimed that they were in fact two days late. This would be fine, but I'm 100 percent positive the employee I rented from said to have the DVDs back on a Thursday, so my DVDs should have only been one day late. I paid the late fee because he wouldn't budge or compromise -- it is what it is...

But I absolutely did not appreciate his cussing and offensive remarks. When I finally left I did call him a "jerk" but it was nothing in comparison to the nasty things he said to me.

I want an apology from ownership, but I probably won't get it. I also canceled my membership. If I want cold, distant service then I might as well rent from RedBox or an online service.

11/13/06

My favorite place for ecclectic videos!

by dmenkes

I've been a member for years and love the staff! You either "get" this place or you don't. I particularly like renting their bizarre 70s and 80s cartoons and children's films like The 12 Tasks of Asterix or The Great Land of Small. They also have an excellent assortment of genre and subgenre films. Just ask; their knowledge is sometimes scary.

• Cons: street parking

08/27/06

good and obscure

by yaaarg

Cinefile isn't the place to go to find the newest Ashton Kutcher movie. It isn't a place for video games at all. But just like you don't go to sushi restaurants for chicken fingers, you don't go to Cinefile for mainstream pop cinema and "Halo 2."

The setup of the store keeps every movie geek in mind with sections by the basic genres like horror and more specific genres like "evil eye movies" as well as sections by country of origin and sections by directors. Most anything a film student could want is here, and many of the rental films are even for sale to those interested. Out of print, VHS-only, and other obscure finds are also here, even the occasional film on a consumer burned DVD.

The prices aren't bad, unless you're renting a new release, and the rentals are for five days, mostly. And for the junkiest of film junky, they offer package deals for habitual renters. But fear not, even if you don't know who Fassbinder is or the original Japanese names of all of Kurosawa's films, you can still find that just-below-Blockbuster's-radar flick that friend of yours kept telling you that you absolutely had to see if you found it.

• Pros: great great selection for film buffs
• Cons: parking can be difficult

10/01/02

kick ass

by axiom235

Sure they don't have the newest blockbuster releases, but that isn't why you go there. They have one of the top 10, or fewer, best collections of near impossible to find videos, in the country.

Legal bootlegging like crazy. An amazing resource, and apparently very underrated in the LA community. Where else are you going to find the same stuff without going to San Francisco, Seattle or New York. Where else would you find Meet Marlon Brando, or Lars Von Triers Student Film.

• Pros: extremely rare titles, next to Nuart theatre, $2 + free titles