I avoid Blockbuster Video for a few reasons, but the main ones are their preference for the pan-and-scan, edited for TV versions of movies. There has been a lot of discussion and denial about them supplying edited versions, but my suspicion is that it really came down to use their using the TV version. They won’t carry an “unrated” version, and some DVDs come out with the Director’s Cut, which makes them unrated.

Because of Blockbuster’s clout, I didn’t want to support something that might move movie makers to eliminate the widescreen version. But according to a Slate article, “Blockbuster Video, the country’s dominant rental chain, announced that from that point on it officially preferred widescreen DVDs to pan-and-scan (also known as “full screen”).”

The small video stores in my area have already been put out of business, so it’s probably okay for me to rent G, PG and mild R movies there now.