On Wednesday morning, a couple buying some coffee browsed the newspaper rack at Miklo's Coffee House on the south side. After brief discussions about both The New Mexican and Journal North, the pair glanced over the choices in the DVD Now rental kiosk.

"Do you have Martian Child yet?" the woman asked co-owner Edwina Garcia. "I love (John) Cusack."

"Joan (Cusack) is in it, too," Garcia replied, referring to the actor's famous sister.

"She is so quirky," the woman said. "I adore her."

Although they didn't rent any movies, they made a comment that renting from the kiosk would be more convenient than going to video stores or subscribing to Netflix.

The kiosk is a bit more cost effective, too, if you keep the movies for only two days. People can rent movies for only $1.08, per day, including tax.

The machine was put in the shop in December, a month after it opened, and Garcia said it's been a big hit with the residents who know about it.

"It's great," Garcia said. "It's very popular. We have people that come in a just rent movies and that's fine with us. We're not like, 'Well, you have to buy coffee, too.' "

Garcia said the machine is provided through the shop's Internet service provider, Computer Network Service Professionals. Garcia provides a space for the machine and the money it generates helps pay for the cafe's free Wi-Fi access.

"We do sort of a trade," Garcia said of the service.

When movies are taken out of the rotation, they go on sale for $8 each. That money also goes toward paying for the free Wi-Fi.

If you feel the urge to rent a DVD at Miklo's but you want to make sure it has the movie you're looking for, you can visit dvds.santa-fe.net and browse what's available.

"One of the things that people say, because we're smaller and we're sort of tucked away back here in the neighborhood, is that they're more likely to find the new-release movie that they want," Garcia said.

Miklo's is open from 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday; 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays; and 7 a.m. to noon Sundays.

Contact Ana Maria Trujillo at atrujillo@sfnewmexican.com.