What is Brick and Mortar anyway? An action flick starring Brock Lesnar and Jon Cena? Or something that actually exists beyond my imagination?  

Brick and mortar stores—actual buildings where you go buy shit—do still exist. For now--until Nexflix streams and Amazon drones kill them dead—something that won’t be possible to do to a Lesnar-Cena team-up.[1]  But is brick and mortar still relevant? Some say no. Who needs that shit? I get my shit online. The drones have my gate code. And a spare key in case I’m taking a nap.

But what about the communal benefits of venturing out into the world? Like seeing the video store recommendations of flesh and blood video clerks instead of some bland A.I. with a preppy asshole name.[2]  A shelf full of mainstream Gene Picks.[3] Or arthouse Vincents. Hell, if you go back in time to 1985 Manhattan Beach, you can probably check out the Quentin picks—as in Quentin Tarantino. You could even have three hour conversations with him about space westerns, Sonny Chiba, and Icelandic erotica. [4] In person. It seems like it might be challenging to get a word in edgewise, but you’re a time traveler. You could train for that shit.

But time travel isn’t real and there are only about 2,000 video stores in the US left—down from tens of thousands 30 years ago—so your odds of getting to chat with a walking, talking manic film encyclopedia are lower than in any time in recent memory.   

If The Diveby were to inherit a video store from an eccentric, long lost relative, there would be no liquidating—we’d just change the name and have a hell of a time losing money. And these would be the movies on The Diveby’s movie picks shelf.           

Top 5 –Chris Rock plays a one-time superstar comedian trying to leave behind cheesy movies while preparing for a TV wedding to a reality diva (Gabrielle Union). He begins to question the pending nuptials after bonding with a reporter (Rosario Dawson) over a shared love of hip hop (among other things--the hip hop theme is more thread than focus). Proof that rom-com can be smart and funny, this movie has lots of great star cameos, with Jerry Seinfeld and DMX being the best.  Requisite Post Movie Discussion:  Your top five rappers of all time.   

Annihilation—After the loss of many men, a group of lady scientists led by Natalie Portman’s hyphenate-you-don’t-see-everyday (solider-biology professor,) go on an expedition into a weird (and spreading) electromagnetic field known as Area X to try to figure out what in the world is going on. Creepy, provocative sci-fi, from screenwriter, director Alex Garland (Ex Machina)[5] with a cast rounded out by Tessa Thompson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez and token dude Oscar Isaac. Requisite Post Movie Discussion: What the hell?

Arrival—After alien ships show up at major cities all over the world, a linguist played by Amy Adams is tasked with figuring out how to communicate with them. She doesn’t have much time—the world’s militaries are itching to just try bombing shit. Jeremy Renner co-stars as Arrow Guy, itchin’ to bow up shit. (Actually he plays a physicist, he’s good.) Forest Whitaker is solid as a US army colonel. Directed with style by Denis Villaneuve (Sicario, Bladerunner 2049).      

Everybody Wants Some—Richard Linklater’s semi-biographical story of early 80s college baseball players convening for practice and partying a few days before classes start. Linklater creates a team full of distinct characters, led by nice (but not too nice) freshman named Jake (Blake Jenner, no relation to the Insufferable Ones).  It’s a great hang, as the team uses their down time to find the right balance between making/keeping friends, showing dominance, and finding time for the ladies.  Plenty of nice 80s touches, especially music. Especially recommended for: fans of Dazed and Confused, dudes.   

District 13—This 2004 release has been known for some time as THE PARKOUR MOVIE. A couple of  spectacular chases—especially the one about 10 minutes in—make this worth a watch—though I was disappointed there wasn’t more; this movie isn’t to parkour what Premium Rush is to bicycle delivery—but maybe we’ll get that some day. Parkour co-founder David Belle plays streetwise Leito and parkour-and-martial-arts guy Cyril Raffaelli plays an undercover cop. The dystopian future plot provides sufficient pretext for some extreme running, but know that it’s directed by erratic creative force Luc Besson (La Femme Nikita, The 5th Element, Lucy, The Transporter, and the God-awful Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets), and be ready for his signature caricatures, over-acting, and pointless sexploitation in between the movie’s 3 or 4 big action scenes. A perfect movie to play at a bar without the sound. Also a perfect way to spite a girlfriend who insists you should watch more foreign films.         

[1] Unless they go Butch and Sundance or Thelma and Louise. Which would actually be a pretty awesome twist.

[2] Siri, Bixby, etc.   

[3] Flesh and blood can still be lame. Elaine Benes says the Gene rack is stupid and mainstream. In that Seinfeld episode, Elaine falls for Vincent, only to track him down and find out he's a 15 year old kid.

[4] That we know of

[5] Also wrote the novel The Beach that the Dicaprio movie was based on, and the scripts for 28 Days Later, Sunshine, and the good Judge Dredd movie that Karl Urban was in.