> Someone else has to watch every film in existence?
To some extent, all the film program students and film critics provide your backup reserves: they're watching tons of films on their own, and you don't even have to pay them until you hire them.
> VidArc was a tiny store in a mini-mall, with barely room to squeeze past other customers, but it made up for its size with the percentage of rare and obscure titles that were available, and with the knowledge of the film-nut staff, notably the cinema-obsessed and mile-a-minute talker Quentin, whose low-budget life at the time has been explored in several books. Denise's card was number 1410, and when I made my trek from Oregon in the Orange Monster (my '72 Olds Cutlass), I became a customer as well, discovering the world of strange and disturbing cinema under the tutelage of Quentin, Rowland Wafford, Gerald "Big Jerry" Martinez, Stevo Polyi, Roger Avary, and the owner of VidArc, Lance Lawson.
To some extent, all the film program students and film critics provide your backup reserves: they're watching tons of films on their own, and you don't even have to pay them until you hire them.