The last film my VCR ever played was LA Confidential. I finished it a few minutes ago. Then I decided it'd be a nice treat to watch Chinatown for a full-on modernish noir Saturday, and the VCR reluctantly took the tape. Then the little platform went down halfway. Then it stopped. Then it went whrrrrrrr. Then I hit eject. Then it went whrrrrrrr again. Then something went snap. Then it stopped. Then the tape did not come out.
I pushed the tape around a bit. Something flew up beside the tape. It is a little piece of plastic with a metal doohickey on it. This has broken off the VCR. Now the tape is stuck inside and the VCR is dead.