“Not long ago there were video stores in which you could browse among the shelves, discovering films you had heard of and always meant to try. Most of these stores are history… Supply rewards demand–what else is it to do? When people no longer know what to ask for, some films will go out of stock.
This is not written in anger or indignation. Cinephilia is well catered to now–so long as it is prepared to overlook the memory of movies as a screen-projected film and maybe two thousand people watching. That was the context that made moviegoing not just important but essential. So are movies settling back into the status occupied by novels? That’s possible, and we can be comfortable with it. But consider this possibility: that movies were once based on an inspiring contract, according to which “everyone” could see and be moved by some marvel all at once. That was the nature of a mass medium, and it went beyond entertainment, art, or culture. it was a hope for preserving our perilous existence and sharing experience.” -David Thomson, in The New Republic
Creative Camerawork 