Where VHS is King ⇒

Kirk Semple reporting for The New York Times:

In this age of online streaming and Blu-ray Discs, there is still a place where the bulky VHS cassette endures: the immigrant communities of New York City.

Be sure to watch the accompanying video.

My love of VHS has less to do with nostalgia and more to do with the privilege of having a unique viewing experience. The defining film for me was Ingmar Bergman’s Cries and Whispers, which looks astounding (and totally different) on VHS. Similarly, Lindsay Anderson’s If…. is almost a different movie on DVD than it is on VHS.

In both cases I’d still choose the DVD/Blu-ray version (of course), but it’s always nice to see how organic even these home video formats can be. Glad someone is keeping it alive.