Edward T.
Yelp
Wow! In my old age, I've really come to appreciate just what a great store this is! My routine with the store...for God knows how long...has been to hook up with an old friend and travel here about once a year. When I wrote the initial review, it was probably the 1st time I had ventured to the store (and the town) on my own. The last time I visited (with my friend) was pre-Covid.
In other words...I've come to really like Princeton since I first traveled here on a high school "field trip" as a teen, but I don't come here all that often.
But...that's destined to change.
I don't particularly like buying my DVD's on Amazon, or at Barnes & Noble, especially when it comes to foreign movies. And the only comparable store to the Princeton Record Exchange that I can think of...Spin Me Round in PA...has a non-existent selection of foreign movies. It's that which prompted my latest solo visit to Princeton (yesterday).
I'm somewhat anal-retentive in my movie viewing habits. One week, I'll watch an American "classic" I haven't seen (although sometimes I'll settle for a decidedly "non classic" film). The next week, I'll watch a foreign film I haven't seen. The 3rd week, a horror movie.
Foreign movies, I've learned, can be tough to come by. If you buy them on Amazon, or at Barnes & Noble, they can be prohibitively expensive. And the selection isn't always the best.
This week was "foreign movie" week for me, and...well, I had run out of foreign movies on my "to be watched" pile. Where to go? The obvious answer came quickly to mind. Where else but Princeton?
According to their website, their hours have changed, Covid protocols are being followed (in other words, you gotta wear a mask to enter the store, and you have to maintain your distance from others), and only 25 people will be admitted at any one time.
I arrived early. They weren't packed (I had feared they might be). Outside of everyone in the store wearing a mask, and maintaining their "social distancing," nothing much has changed. Did I find my foreign movie? Actually, a bunch of them. And a horror film. "Rage of the Mummy." Am I expecting the Mummy movie to be good? No. But if it's crappy...I only spent $6 on it, and won't feel much regret in tossing it after watching. And a tip of the hat to nostalgia...I was able to get a DVD copy of "Phantasm," which I haven't seen since it was first released. Will it be as good as I remember it? Probably not, but I didn't break the bank purchasing it, so who cares? I also bought a Moody Blues CD, 2 Stooges CDs I was unfamiliar with (and I'm a dedicated Stooges fan), a Popul Vuh CD soundtrack from Herzog's "Nosferatu," and 2 CDs of classical music. All of that, for under $100. You just can't beat that. In my excitement, I missed a Ramones CD and an early Rolling Stones one, both for an astonishingly modest price tag. Maybe next time.
The check out experience was friendly, pleasant and efficient.
They still have a bin for Moby Grape CDs without any Moby Grape CDs actually contained within, but...what the hell...if that's the only deficiency of the Princeton Record Exchange, it's one I can live with.
I ventured up the street to Labyrinth Books, but they had "curbside pickup" only. On my way back to my car, I passed 3 barbers sitting on the sidewalk, discussing the attractiveness of the women on the TV show "Little Women of Atlanta." One guy said (I'm paraphrasing), "Some of them are hot. But you can't really admit that publicly. It would be like admitting you find fat women hot." Hopefully, they're better barbers than they are commentators on American popular culture and women. You can't make this stuff up, folks.
As I mentioned in my initial review, I'm not thrilled about the ride down 206 South through Somerville, Hillsborough, Montgomery, or my ride back up 206 North, through Montgomery, Hillsborough, Somerville. The configuration of the road has been changed somewhat (I'm not sure if its a temporary alteration due to construction or not). The ride down was uneventful (flat, bleak countryside alternating with ugly strip malls and gas stations), but on my way back, a major traffic collision had occurred. Of course, a collision could happen anywhere, anytime...but it doesn't do anything to decrease my lack of enthusiasm for traversing that route.
But...you know what? I'm going to bite the bullet and do just that, much more often than I have in the past. In fact, I'm going to make my "once a year" pilgrimage to the store my "once every other month" pilgrimage, with friends or solo. That's a bold statement for an anal-retentive neurotic who doesn't like driving much (especially on Rt. 206) to make, but I'm making it! Princeton Record Exchange has always been a great store, but I've come to realize in my maturity (or decrepitude) that its level of excellence is unsurpassed. If you're into records, CDs, DVDs, Blue-Rays...this is the pinnacle. It's Mecca. It's the best there is, anywhere.