Windsor Civic Video still trading as another video shop bites the dust

Guirong Wu, owner of Civic Video Windsor, said the pressure is mounting to become the 'last video shop still trading in Australia' following the impending closure of another Civic Video chain store, this time in Hervey Bay, Queensland.

"Lots of shops have closed recently, but fortunately not me," Mr Wu told the Gazette.

"Hervey Bay is closing in two weeks and going out of business. This will leave only three Civic Video shops in the world: Civic Video Bowen in Queensland, Frankston in Victoria, and Civic Video Windsor - that's us, folks, the 'Last Kangaroo'."

Mr Wu said there are lots of new movies in store for hire this month, including Disney's live-action adaptation of its own 1992 animated classic Aladdin, which he said had something for the whole family to enjoy.

"There are lots of computer-generated special effects, including the quite scary Cave of Wonders and co-star Will Smith as the huge, comedic, blue-skinned Genie," he said.

"The language is very mild, with just a few insults along the lines of 'street rat', characters flirt and kiss, and Genie tosses back a couple of martinis."

He said the musical remake keeps the spirit of the original and adds a boost of female empowerment to messages about friendship, courage, integrity and honesty.

"It will always be compared to the original version of 1992 with Robin Williams as the genie. It is still huge fun and Will Smith does a good genie."

He also recommended new release Bumblebee, an America science fiction action film centered on the Transformers character of the same name.

"Bumbebee is tasked with escaping to Earth from his own planet in an attempt to provide refuge to the Autobots. A good family movie which will appeal to all age groups," Mr Wu said.

With locals getting in to the spirit of Halloween at the end of October, and a new Maleficent film out at the cinema, Mr Wu noticed a rise in the number of families hiring-out the original 2014 Maleficent starring Angelina Jolie in a family-friendly re-telling of the classic Grimms Brothers tale of the sleeping beauty.

"It's a beautifully-designed film (although the CGI motion capturing fairies leaves something to be desired), and the music score is one of the best in years," he said.

Other good films to hire this month include John Wick 3, MIB International, X-Men Dark Phoenix and Godzilla 2.

Brand new in store this month are Secret Life of Pets 2, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Toy Story 4, After, Stuber, Annabelle Comes Home, Yesterday and Crawl.