Everything to Entertain You: The Story of Video Headquarters Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.0

Everything to Entertain You: The Story of Video Headquarters Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf March 11, 2024

The video store. For some, it’s a source of tremendous nostalgia, recalling a time when communities gathered to rent movies, often hunting for titles in a sea of options. There was candy, video games, and walls covered in posters and advertisements. There was physical contact with product, increasing excitement as film-watching risks were taken. For others, the video store is the place your parents occasionally talk about while failing to find anything on a streaming channel. “Everything to Entertain You” is a short documentary about Video Headquarters, perhaps the most popular video store in New Hampshire, which kept its doors opened for 32 years, enduring all kinds of financial and business attacks until it finally closed in 2015. Director Brantley C. Palmer was part of the Video Headquarters experience and he was there when it all came to a close, picking up a camera to document such an event. “Everything to Entertain You” provides a history of Video Headquarters and its employees, but it’s also a mild offering of remembrance, gifting viewers a time machine to an era when the world of home video was something thrilling.

Palmer returns to the town of Keene, where the final iteration of Video Headquarters is located. It’s 2015, and the store is closing, putting on a massive sale of video offerings and equipment, with people lined up to get inside and start purchasing pieces for their personal collection or acquire artifacts from their childhood. After being in business for three decades, the loss of Video Headquarters is felt by many, and “Everything to Entertain You” looks to soften the blow, presenting a warm tribute to a company that touched so many lives.

Video Headquarters began with an idea shared by Ken McAleer and Steve Mosca, with the men of computers and business catching on the developing wave of home video entertainment, as Mosca’s experience with an early VCR inspired an idea to bring such distractions to New Hampshire. Video Headquarters opened in 1983, offering customers 500 titles to choose from and a showroom of VCRs to rent and purchase. McAleer took command of the company, working with the surge in VHS popularity throughout the 1980s, helping to grow Video Headquarters into a major player with multiple locations and a few real estate moves to deal with the growing library of titles.

“Everything to Entertain You” turns to McAleer to explore his time with Video Headquarters, overseeing a loyal staff of film fans who could work with the public, encouraging a community vibe for the business. Interviewees help to form the documentary, which uses conversations with former employees to best understand the atmosphere of the chain and McAleer’s leadership skills. And artist Steve Bissette joins the conversation, also involved in the New Hampshire video store gold rush, routinely interacting with McAleer and his efforts to build the New England Buying Group, which helped other store owners deal with Hollywood business issues through a united front.

While “Everything to Entertain You” isn’t a flashy documentary, it does contain some interesting detours. Perhaps most compelling is a brief look at Video Software Dealers Association conventions, where the big studios wined and dined video store buyers, putting on grand displays and trotting out celebrity guests to help lubricate sales. Some footage from these glory years is provided, and the interviewees add their own memories from the experience.

Everything to Entertain You: The Story of Video Headquarters Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.78:1 aspect ratio) presentation deals with some technical limitations, as the production works with commercial grade cameras that don't always offer major visual power (focus being an issue at times). Detail is satisfactory, exploring skin particulars on the interviewees, and interiors at Video Headquarters are dimensional, examining video titles and plenty of decorative additions. Color is appealing, with primaries lively on signage and box art. Greenery is also distinct. Skin tones are natural. Some mild banding is detected.

Everything to Entertain You: The Story of Video Headquarters Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA mix provides a basic understanding of memories from the interviewees, with voices clear throughout the listening event. Scoring supports with a gentler sound, softly changing moods for the saga of Video Headquarters.

Everything to Entertain You: The Story of Video Headquarters Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary features director Brantley C. Palmer.

• Making Of (14:42, HD) is an interview with director Brantley C. Palmer, who details his upbringing, falling in love with movies as a child, waiting for the day when he could work at a video store. Palmer ended up at Video Headquarters, recalling an interview question. After trying his luck in the world of film archival, he ended up returning to Video Headquarters, working as a manager and planning the documentary when the business as preparing to close. The interviewee examines his storytelling choices and process, collecting interviews and visuals, also relying on others to create graphics for the picture.

• "Composing the Music" (6:58, HD) is an interview with Dustin Krefft, who scored "Everything to Entertain You," meeting director Brantley C. Palmer via mutual fandom for a horror podcast. The interviewee discusses his influences, his love of movies, and his creative challenges.

• "Designing the Titles" (5:11, HD) is an interview with title editor Nick Schwartz, who was an old college friend of director Brantley C. Palmer, looking to help out with the picture after screening a rough cut that featured rudimentary graphics. Going with a VHS theme, Schwartz details his labor when generating a proper look for "Everything to Entertain You."

• Interview (62:47, HD) is an extended conversation with Video Headquarters owner Ken McAleer, who walks through his life and professional growth, establishing his video store adventure with a building and 500 titles. This is an unedited discussion of business life and experiences, with McAleer responding to questions from director Brantley C. Palmer and producer Sarah Cushing.

• Interview (22:20, HD) is a discussion with Justin LaLiberty, director of operations at OCN Distribution. The interviewee recalls his experiences with video stores and Video Headquarters, and shares his thoughts on video store culture and its influence.

• Interview (83:30, HD) is a 2020 video conference meeting with Doug Johnson, Faulkner Wright, and Dave Mast.

• Radio Interview (40:47) is chat about "Everything to Entertain You" with director Brantley C. Palmer, conducted by WKBK's Dan Mitchell.

• Image Gallery collects personal photos and Video Headquarters store shots, VHS art, advertisements, and news articles.

• And a Trailer (2:14, HD) is included.

Everything to Entertain You: The Story of Video Headquarters Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"Everything to Entertain You" isn't epic, as Palmer has limited resources to work with, trying to generate a valentine to a company that meant so much to him, also representing a kind of business that no longer has a place in the world. The picture can be a little dry when getting into the mechanics of store activity, and it's easily distracted, taking a sharp turn for a sequence devoted to the wonders of the annual Christmas party. And there are curious gaps in history found along the way, including the saga of Steve Mosca, who isn't mentioned again after an introduction, despite his position as the co- founder of Video Headquarters. Lowered expectations are best for "Everything to Entertain You," which primarily connects as an offering of nostalgia, with Palmer delivering plenty of visual and anecdotal evidence of video store heaven, as it once was to generations of customers.