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RICK GERSHMANAnd not this store, for that matter. Unique Video in Carrollwood has the films buffs are unlikely to find elsewhere.
CARROLLWOOD - It was always Unique Video, but these days, there are more ways to interpret that name.
There's only one copy each of most of the store's 6,500-plus titles. That's fairly unique.
And this store in southeast Carrollwood is different in that - unlike corporate giants Blockbuster Video and Hollywood Video - it carries an extraordinarily diverse collection of VHS tapes and DVDs, while carrying very few mainstream releases.
Of course, one cannot leave out proprietor Frank Granda Jr.'s note-card summaries - occasionally outrageous, but always informative and entertaining - attached to many of the films.
But what's most exceptional about Unique Video might well be this:
It's still open.
That's a phenomenal rarity for an independent, "mom-and-pop" video store in 2004. Blockbuster, Hollywood and the precursors they assimilated eventually put virtually all of their competitors out of business, especially in Tampa.
With very few exceptions, such as Tampa's singular remaining Movie Gallery (in northwest Carrollwood), Blockbuster and Hollywood are the only choices for storefront video rental in this area.
But after 17 years, and almost 10 at its current site, Granda's film-buff bastion somehow carries on. Every day at 5 p.m., seven days a week, the store - often manned by Granda's father, Frank Sr. - is open for business.
How?
Granda, who opened the store when he was 25, says it's because Unique Video isn't only the name of his store, but the very reason it endures.
The only way to survive in today's video rental industry, he explains, is to carry the very films Blockbuster and Hollywood do not: the more esoteric art films, foreign releases, genre pictures, the uncut, unrated and NC-17 rated movies.
"I decided to buy every single movie I can that they don't have," Granda said.
Why stick with the industry niches? Because with the volume discounts the corporate giants receive, there's no way to battle them on their turf.
That's probably a good idea, because physically, Granda's 2,000-square-foot store practically is on their turf - or, depending on how you see it, they're on his.
See, Unique Video has lasted a decade on the southwest corner of Armenia and Waters avenues despite the fact that there's a Blockbuster directly across the street, on the northwest corner.
And Hollywood? Even closer. It's right next door.
That's why if new visitors pop in to Unique Video looking for a commonly available mainstream release, the Grandas usually suggest they instead head over to the corporate competition, where the customer can keep the movie out longer. The standard rental period at Unique Video is 24 hours, since the films are hard to find.
It's not that Granda is being snooty; he's just helping out the neighbors. Granda said he actually has developed a friendly and mutually beneficial relationship with the Hollywood and Blockbuster managers.
Returning the favor, managers and employees of the stores often drop in to rent from Granda, and even refer customers to check out Unique Video for more obscure films.
While both corporate chains carry some alternative, foreign and genre films, they only stock so many and do not hold them indefinitely. If a title hasn't rented well lately - referred to as its number of "turns" - it gets sold off.
In fact, that's how Granda has picked up some of his titles.
"If a film only gets three turns in six months, they sell it," he said. "So I'd go through their bargain bins and find great titles like (the German cult thriller) Das Experiment."
The competition wasn't always so friendly. Not too long after Granda moved Unique Video from its original location a bit further south on Armenia, he tried something new. Granda struck a deal to open a kiosk in a (now-defunct) retail store that shared the plaza across Waters with Blockbuster.
The joint venture was severed, Granda said, when corporate lawyers from Blockbuster, contending Unique Video was too close for comfort, served papers to the retail store demanding the video kiosk get the boot.
But that was a long time ago, Granda said: "Over time, Blockbuster has become our friend. The local management likes us, and they rent from us."
They'd have to, if they wanted a particularly obscure title and did not want to pay far more to purchase it off the Internet.
As for Internet video rental providers such as Netflix, most still don't have a very diverse selection, and almost all are limited entirely to DVD. That leaves out thousands of obscure titles that have been released on VHS - still the majority format at Unique Video - but never have been released on DVD.
For example, good luck finding Disney's 1946 classic Song of the South, which Unique Video has on VHS, anywhere else. Since its last theatrical release, in 1986, the film basically has disappeared, due to negative feedback Disney received over the film's use of racial stereotypes.
The film had been released on VHS and laserdisc - DVD's precursor overseas - but not on DVD, and not in the United States in any format, according to film historian Christian Willis. As of December 2001, Song of the South had been withdrawn worldwide. A Disney official has said the film is on "permanent moratorium."
Another Granda specialty is films that never see theatrical release in Tampa or sometimes even in this country.
"Tampa is so behind in getting films. Sometimes it takes us years to see something everyone else has seen," he said.
Sometimes those are unassuming little art films that didn't squeeze into the lineup at downtown's Tampa Theatre or other alternative cinema venues, such as Sunrise Cinemas in Old Hyde Park Village. Other times they're films so controversial they hardly got screened in New York City.
Case in point: One of the most popular titles at Unique Video is the uncut version of Ken Park, the film noted at the beginning of this article. The film's co-director, Larry Clark, won acclaim for his films Kids and Bully, but Ken Park was highly controversial because of sexual content involving teenage characters, though the actors were over 18. It was barely released in the United States, and even banned in Australia.
Similarly popular: Irreversible, a 2002 French release that received mixed reviews and stars two of that country's biggest stars, Monica Bellucci and Vincent Cassel. It is less notable for its narrative told in reverse (as in Memento) as it is for its scenes of graphic violence.
Suffice it to say you won't see the uncut versions of either film at a corporate store. But not all, or even most, of the films Granda stocks push the envelope. The store has an extensive collection of Disney films - not just the controversial one - along with many classics and other family-friendly films. And the store prides itself on one of the largest Bette Davis collections you'll find, with more than 70 of her titles.
Still, visitors should be cautioned there's plenty of adult-oriented content here. Unique Video contains an extensive section dedicated to gay and lesbian-themed films. Elsewhere there is an "adult" section, and though even that contains quite a bit of high-end, European and artsy-type content, there's also some straight-up porn.
The extensive selection of horror films contains some of the goriest imaginable, and Unique Video is one of the rare places one can still rent the notorious Faces of Death films, which combine file footage of actual deaths with a heavy complement of fake footage. You'll find them in a section next to knockoffs with such titles as Traces of Death and Inhumanities. Another video purports to show the old-school "highway safety films" intended to scare viewers into defensive driving.
But most film buffs who patronize Unique Video don't give that stuff a second look. For fans of particular filmmakers, this is paradise. Whole sections are devoted to such auteurs as Andrei Tarkovsky, Nicholas Roeg, Gregg Araki or Abel Ferrara, to name just a very few.
Especially fun is the opportunity to unearth the early cult films of directors whose most recent works are among the world's most popular and critically acclaimed movies.
For example, long before director Peter Jackson helmed the sensational Lord of the Rings series, cult film fans knew the New Zealander for his super-gory horror comedies Bad Taste and Braindead (which was trimmed and renamed Dead Alive for the United States).
And in 1989, long before the South Park boys even thought about filming marionettes in adult situations, Jackson put marionette-puppet hybrids - filthy Muppets, basically - through outrageous developments in Meet the Feebles.
Similarly, director Sam Raimi set box-office records and thrilled critics with Spider-Man and its sequel. But horror fans still love him best for 1981's shoestring-budgeted, brilliantly creative horror film The Evil Dead and its follow-ups.
Corporate video stores likely will carry the most recent works by Jim Jarmusch, Lars von Trier or Peter Greenaway, but Granda carries as many of their previous works as he can get his hands on.
Granda, an ex-actor and theater buff who has done film reviews for newspapers and local television, prides himself on the film summaries attached to many of the films.
By clearly defining the film's content, adding historical context and explaining what makes the film special, the mini-reviews not only intrigue some patrons, but also provide a needed caution.
"We've had those since Day One - you can glance at the card and know in two seconds what the film's about," Granda said. "And if you don't want to see something with disturbing images, you'll know. It will say "TWISTED' or "EXTREMELY DISTURBING' or "THIS IS HARDCORE.' "
Granda enjoys getting "converts" - people who come in for a particular film or just are curious and stop in, who soon realize there's a whole alternate world of video than what one finds on mainstream shelves.
"They'll come in and they go to what they want," Granda said. "And it takes them about 15 minutes to realize they've never seen anything in here before. They'll ask us, "What is this? Where did this come from?' "
Certainly there are far more profitable ventures than operating a niche video store, but Granda can't ever foresee closing.
"I couldn't see selling because I'd have to sell everything with it," he said. "And they're all treasures, in a sense."
And so far he's still doing okay. As Granda puts it: "It doesn't matter how many Kmarts and Wal-Marts you open, it hasn't closed any of the designer shops. If you want designer product, you have to go to the designer shop."
Granda noted that Haslam's, the legendary family-owned bookstore in St. Petersburg, hasn't folded after 60 years and enormous competition, both storefront (Borders, Barnes & Noble) and online (amazon.com).
"They have their own playing field," Granda said. "So do we - 90 percent of our titles, you can't find anywhere else."
That's also why it's important to have employees like his dad, Granda said. Frank Sr. indeed is well-versed in Unique Video's wares, offering suggestions and answering questions about all areas of the diverse stock.
"You can't succeed at this unless you really know and love the product," Granda said. "You've got to have the background."