Cheap Movie Rentals

Unemployment is at a 14-year high. The stock market is rapidly circling the inside of the U.S. economic toilet bowl. And George Bush has another 74 days in office until Obama can immediately turn everything around. Times are tight. Too tight to even rent a movie for a moment of escapism, right? Maybe not.

Due to the popularity of my "Catching a Movie for Cheap" posting, I now have cheap places to rent movies. The crack research staff at the Hollywood Temp Diaries has scoured everything between Fairfax High and The Grove to find inexpensive movie rentals. And remember, you can write off those rental fees on your taxes. Just call it "professional development." Of course that assumes the Federal Government hasn't already seized your property in a socialist takeover and taxes are just a distant memory. Good luck!


Work at CAA (2000 Avenue of the Stars, Century City) -- The Death Star has hundreds of movies on their intranet. For what purpose, I'm not sure. NMP. And to think, they blocked Yahoo! Mail because they think you'll waste too much time on it. Show your boss which is the bigger time suck, have some fun and watch Titanic. Three hours and 14 minutes later you'll all but forget why your boss threw a stapler at you. SPOILER ALERT: THE BOAT SINKS.

Los Angeles Public Libraries (multiple locations) -- Nothing says fun on the cheap more than free movie rentals. All you need is a library card and the patience to deal with government workers and a smattering of homeless. But the payoff is spectacular. They have thousands of movies to choose from and a lot of them are good.

Beverly Hills Library (444 N Rexford, Beverly Hills) -- Same thing as L.A. libraries, but in true Beverly Hills fashion, they make you pay to rent the movies.

Hulu -- The perfect site for your inner Roger Corman. Hulu, which is Chinese for "Legal YouTube," offers the a great collection of B-movies and straight to DVD cinematic fare. Wanna watch Hercules in New York or the 1972 Tom Selleck vehicle Daughters of Satan? Or perhaps you've been craving something with Dirk Benedict. You're in luck as they have Body Slam which also stars famed midget Billy Barty and Match Game panelist Charles Nelson Reilly. Hulu also offers something they think is interesting and I find dumb, clips of real movies like Dazed and Confused, X-Men and Animal House.

Amoeba -- If you're making the big bucks (more than $12/hr), you probably want to splurge every once in a while and go to the theater. I have a better solution, go to Amoeba (6400 W. Sunset Blvd) and buy a new or used movie on DVD. It's less than a ticket at the Arclight, and when you're done, you can make copies and sell them to friends.