Yes you can watch movies in Costa Rica - if only you believe
The power went out on my mini-DVD player while I sat in the car trying to finish the last of In The Wild. Coco was in her ballet class. I figured it was a good way to kill an hour.
I’d started the movie the other night, and got a 1/4 of the way through it. This is the only way I can watch movies with kids - a bit at a time. I watched about 35 minutes in the car, when the machine gave me a warning that I was about to loose power.
Even without kids, movie watching is a challenge. When I first moved here, seeing documentaries or anything slightly “non”-Hollywood was almost impossible. DVD shops began to spring up, when it was clear VHS was going by the wayside. But many of those DVDs turn out to be pirate copies. If they do work in your DVD player, then you have to decide if the quality bothers you.*
A few times I’ve rented a movie and could actually hear the audience chuckling in the background. If it is a “higher” quality pirate that has been recorded from machine to machine, I’ve excitedly sat down at the end of the film to watch those delicious extras I so love, and they won’t work. Lots of those copied DVDs skip, jump, and will freeze up. However, if this is your only choice to pop some popcorn and relax in front of a film, don’t hesitate. Most people I know get their movie fix this way.**
A few years ago between children, I had a bit more time to watch films. I got brave and tried NetFlix. What a great idea! Oh, the documentaries available made me drool. The first three arrived, and since we had no limit on when to return them, slipped them back in the mail to then wait for our next batch. Unfortunately, a few went missing. One arrived cracked. NetFilx is quite forgiving, but after too many un-returned videos, I can’t blame them for cutting me off.
Now, my choice is Video Centro. First the chain had a few locations, and it was very hard for me to drive to and return a film in one or two days. They have opened in many places throughout San José, and they say they rent only original films. And to this day, I’ve never had a film freeze up, and I always get to watch the extras. There selection is beginning to include more documentaries and independent films.***
I had to return Into the Wild in the morning. After two days of “pause” and “play” I was determined to see this film to the finish. (I didn’t know it was a true story, so imagine my surprise at the ending!) I gathered up all the wires, the min-DVD player and the case and trudged into the waiting area for parents. I plugged it in and watched another 30 minutes.
I finally finished the film at home and zipped out to the video store while on errands the next morning. When I handed the young man my videos, he told me I was at the wrong store. In a way, this was an odd bit of good news because it meant there was another store just down the way.
Our little Costa Rica is growing up.
*VHS tapes here get moldy. If you bring them, be ready to toss them when you see green spores sprout atop the celluloid.
** Of course you can watch movies on cable. I have basic service and it’s, well, basic. I suppose downloading will be the way to go, but I’m waiting for it to become a little less frustrating to twiddle with the Internet - call me an optimist!
***Most adult English language films are in English with Spanish subtitles. Children’s films in the theater are often dubbed in Spanish. On DVD, you usually have a choice to watch in English or Spanish.
Arp on 29 Nov 2008 at 6:51 pm #
What did you think of Into the Wild? I’d never read the book and don’t know how true to reality the movie is, but it really bugged me out - I was thinking what would make a kid care so little about his family to do that (until they explained what the family was like), or how I would feel if M voluntarily disappeared. And that the kid was quite unwise in having no preparation or experience beforehand.
Susan on 30 Nov 2008 at 9:51 am #
Absolutely unwise. I’ve done a lot of wilderness camping and would have never taken that risk. I do think the movie was pretty true to script. But in some ways, many of us go out in search of our “Alaska” something radically different than our dysfunctional backgrounds in hopes it will save us. I think he did find what he was looking for, as we know, too late. Perhaps our “Alaskas” are just the black hole inside. I think he actually found what he was looking for in all those people he met on the way. His story can teach us to hopefully look in our own backyard for what’s really missing and there all the time anyway.