Five Star Laser

Yup, just as I expected, my order never came. So after 3 phone calls, with each promising delivery, they could not be bothered to send me my order. I should have known when the guy didn’t bother to take down my name which makes his promise of delivery a blatant lie. Why keep your website up if you have no plans on following through?

I have a few friends living out in the San Gabriel Valley, but I’ll make it no secret that I only go out there when I’m getting a hankerin’ for some of the best damn Vietnamese cooking around or to visit the in-​laws. It’s like those bad situations from The Flintstones or The Jetsons, but visiting them is a complete hassle. Maybe it’s the cliché of culture clash between us, but aside from the delicious food, I never look forward to the bouts of awkward silence and looks of judgment I garner from them. Just because I don’t have the type of work they would expect their daughters husband to have. The idea of being an independent artist is difficult for them to fathom, but I digress!
Every time we go out that way, there’s only one way to subdue my fiery temper: she has to treat me to a visit to Five Star Laser. I’ll make it no secret that I have a tremendous weak spot for east Asian cinema and this place is a mini Mecca of sorts. It’s an incredibly tight space, but they seemed pretty jammed pack with the latest releases from Hong Kong. They have an excellent collection of Shaw Brothers films with excellent transfers and they have an excellent Blu-​Ray selection right behind the counter. Thanks to them, I own about seven Johnnie To films on Blu-​Ray. Unlike so many places in the San Gabriel Valley, these films are all legitimate releases. no bootlegs here with Xeroxed copies. To add to my love of films from China and Hong Kong, on the east wall, they have a pretty amazing collection of Korean and Japanese films. They have some Japanese releases I would expect including some Takeshi Kitano, Yasujiro Ozu and Nagisa Oshima; all without releases in the west. Before Criterion reissued In the Realm of the Senses, this was the only place I could find it without having to pay copious amounts.
If you want to bask yourself in the pleasures of the films they have, prepare to buy one of their cheaply priced region free DVD players. I bought one two years ago with one of the three dollar HDMI cables and I haven’t been any happier. My wife complains about the fact I have a Blu-​Ray player next to a DVD player next to a laserdisc player next to a VHS player, but damnit, these are all necessary to my habits! She needs to understand!