What IS Blockbuster on Demand

I don't know how I got to this page—Blockbusternow—but apparently Blockbuster still has not realized that their business model is out-dated and over-priced although I guess it's now Dish's fault since they bought them.

Why would someone want to stream a movie from Blockbuster for between $2.99-$4.99 per movie when they can play a flat rate for Netflix, Amazon Prime Movies, or any other better-than-Blockbuster streaming service.

They were on top of the world with all their stick-it-to-you late fees and now...it's too little too late for these guys.

Redbox Scratch Off

This is a pretty neat way to market to people. I texted to a number a particular phrase and I get a text back with a link. I visit the link and what you see in the video is what happens.

I'm easily amused and enjoyed the digital scratch off. It's still a pretty cool but simple way to interact with customers...at least it keeps people (me) involved.

DCU Son of Batman DVD scan

This is similar to a previous post here.

How many languages does the DVD Son of Batman need to be translated/subtitled in?

Apparently many.



Yeah, random. I know.

A Redbox reminder is already unavailable

I got this email reminder from Redbox that Thor: The Dark World is available for rental today.

I checked at 7:30 a.m. and it is not available anywhere near me!  How is that possible?

Now granted, the email reminder was sent around 2 a.m. but really? Enough people were up at that time or even midnight just waiting to rent Thor from Redbox?

Weird...and disappointing.

The many translations for the White House Down DVD

How many languages does "White House Down" need to have for its viewing audience(s)?

In the news 02/26/2013

Saw this article today on Gizmodo.

Just my two cents:

If you take away the pirating issue (Argh!), I'd say the recording industry had a harder time "making money" because people were able to pick two songs individually that they liked for about $3 versus purchasing an entire album with 12 addt'l songs they didn't want at $17.99+...not to mention that the overall quality of a song these days has gone down drastically.

Even when music was (IMHO) better, there aren't many albums which I liked ALL the songs. I can probably count on one hand how many I did but even then I only purchased the album for a few songs and figured I'd listen to the other songs. 98% of the time the songs they didn't play on the radio but were on the album weren't very good and that's why they packaged it together.

Anyway, when the RIAA and MPAA start putting out GOOD or even BETTER products, I'm sure they'd make tons of money like before but more from a good product rather than shoving shit mixed in with the good.

Blockbuster Home Page Has Changed

What the hell has happened to my Blockbuster.com home page?! I go to log in today to print out my free movie coupon before it expires and the landing page after log in is weird and confusing. The page itself looks fine but trying to find the new releases is not obvious...to me at least. See image below.

When I highlight "Browse" it shows a list of options with "Movies, TV Shows, Games." When I click on "Movies," it goes to the page in the image below.

This page only shows a list of "DVD Spotlight" movies and some other genres but it doesn't give me a list of recently released movies...this week or last week. Where the hell did that option go? Did they do a survey on this and polled a bunch of idiots!?

This is very frustrating. Another stupid move by Blockbuster management. If I didn't get such a good deal at this time with the Total Access Plan, I would definitely be looking into Red Box or something!

I just want an easy way to find the new releases and add them to my queue without having to know the names of the movies that are new releases. Before, I'd just go through the new release list and add to my queue.

Is it too much to ask for ease of use these days!?

Oh and before anyone says anything, the "see more Blue Carpet releases" button takes me to the page captured in the second image above.

Cobie Smulders in The Avengers

This is Cobie Smulders. She played Nick Fury's second-in-command, Agent Maria Hill, in The Avengers.

I hate to say it but she is way hotter than Scarlett Johansson aka Natasha Romanoff and that's huge praise from "Jay" because I have always thought Scarlett was hot.

It's their natural prettiness and beauty that gets me every time! Colbie's got those piercing blue eyes! Also, I would believe her doing all those moves that Black Widow does in the movie than with Scarlett but who am I to judge.

When Agent Maria Hill got hurt in the ship attack, I was sad because I thought they killed her off! Boy was I ecstatic when she was fine (and I mean FINE) other than the bloody scratch(es) in this screen capture.

I hope to see more of Cobie in other movies and I don't just mean her pretty blue eyes!

Diane Neal aka A.D.A. Casey Novak from L&O:SVU

I did not know that this woman



is the same as this woman



In case you didn't know, this is Diane Neal. She plays A.D.A. Casey Novak on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. I always thought she was attractive in a simple, natural beauty kind of way.

I came across her name today because I was watching the movie Dracula III: Legacy. I haven't actually seen her in the movie...yet...at least I don't think so but I was trying to find out who another woman in the movie was and then saw the 1st picture and then the name Diane Neal and then I found out who she was and where I'd recognize her from.

Anyway, I just thought I'd share that little tidbit.

Carry on...

Freaky hallway in an old folks home

For Thanksgiving, I went to the wife's grandfather's old folks home for lunch. This man is like 92 years old. He is definitely an old codger. He's almost deaf, or is deaf if it wasn't for the hearing aids, but he still has most of his mental abilities.

So, in truth, I guess this old folks home is really called an assisted living center. Above a convalescent home and below your own personal home. He has to sign out if he goes anywhere just so they know where he is/was if they do a bed check or whatever and he's not there. The staff were friendly and the food was good. The place seemed well kept and well run.

He gave us a tour of the place and the hallway right outside the door of his room kind of gave me that creepy feeling when I looked down it from his doorway. The photo below is what it looks like.

All that's missing is "The Grady Twins" and a little boy going, "Redrum, redrum, redrum."

Red Dawn...remake?

Can they really be making a remake of Red Dawn?

Apparently so.

There's just no replacement for Patrick Swayze for Jed, Charlie Sheen for Matt, Lea Thompson for Erica, C. Thomas Howell for Robert and Powers Boothe for Lt. Col. Tanner.

Some movies just shouldn't be remade. Footloose. Bad News Bears. Clash of the Titans. The Hitcher. Anyway...

WOLVERINES!

There's Jessy from Kyle XY

At least one of the main characters from the show has moved on to something...

Screen cap from the movie Thor.

Netflix's availability

I have admitted that I am a Netflix virgin. I've been a member for only two months and one month was the trial period. I've already mentioned my dislikes about the system as well as some of my likes. Now, I must share my lack of understanding some terms in the Netflix system.

For instance, this screen capture of my Instant Queue.

What does this "available until" mean? My assumption is that they can only have a movie available for Watch Instantly for so long but then I wonder what is the point? I guess limited time availability is better than no availability but some of us don't have the time to watch every movie we put in the queue in a short time. Sometimes it takes a few weeks, months, or even longer.

What's worse is the movie listed in the capture isn't a well-known, or even sort-of-known, movie. So, what gives?

Takers (2010)

Takers (2010). I've had this movie too long to justify the cost of my BB Total Access Plan. I blame school. I've had a lot of reading, studying and homework to do and it's cutting into MY play time.

Anyway, just like any movie about heists and criminal schemes, this movie was pretty predictable. It was pretty good action, acting and all but it's just been done many times before. See movies like The Italian Job, The Score, and just about any Steven Seagal movie. The plot is simple: a group plans a heist, someone in the group is disgruntled and plans to screw over the others in the group, some people get hurt and/or die, the remaining group members get their revenge and live "happily ever after." Or as happy as you can be with a million or more bucks.

Unfortunately, there were a lot of scenes in this movie where I found myself saying out loud, "Bullshit!" Yes, yes, I know it's a movie but I do believe that you must maintain some semblance and "reality" to keep people's attentions if it's a reality-type movie and not some CGI or fantasy movie.

There are probably spoilers ahead in no particular order:

• Jesse (Chris Brown) is running from Jack and Eddie (Matt Dillon and Jay Hernandez) through the subway, buildings, streets and parks. He's flying like one of those free runner guys...leaping over walls, fences, and vehicles. There is absolulely NO POSSIBLE WAY that Jack and Eddie would be able to keep up with him. Just not having it!
• The entire time the whole team, especially leader Gordon (Idris Elba), is careful to pay attention to Ghost's (T.I.) behavior and intentions. After the heist, they let their guard way down before being totally sure they made their getaway with the money. It leads to troubles. I don't believe a master planner would be so quick to lower his guard.
• Jack Welles is too smart to be a detective. He has all the answers to the many mysteries of finding out who the robbers are and shit. It's annoying for them to write a part like this. It reminds me of how annoying and unbelievable Det. Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio) was in Law & Order: Criminal Intent.
• They wrote Jack Welles as the cop that is too invested in his job...like every other detective movie. He has his daughter with him and he avoids being a father to her on his "off" day. Too typical and already done way too many times.
• I can't believe they killed off so many of the group. First, A.J. (Hayden Christensen in a part he did quite well in) get's killed in the backstabbing shoot-out in the hotel room after the heist. Jesse and Jake are tracked down (which isn't explained on 'how') to their house and have a shoot out with many policemen. Their survival or death not clear afterwards. John (Paul Walker) and Gordon are confronted by Ghost and Jack at the airport. Ghost is killed. Jack wounded. Gordon wounded and John are seen leaving to who-knows-where with a bajillion dollars.

Okay, so I've probably overanalyzed the movie. I'm not saying it was bad. I'm just saying it has already been done, better, previously.

In the end, it's a good watch if someone you know has it available to watch. Otherwise, you can wait to instantly watch it on Netflix when it becomes available.

Shit movies on Netflix

It looks like my assumption was somewhat right about how Netflix doesn't have the movies we (I) want to watch. It seems like Netflix is more like premium cable television channels: they play new(er) movies over and over and over during seemingly peak times of the day and they play 5-10-20-yr-old movies over and over and over during all the other times of the day.

Anyway, check the Gizmodo write up here and I believe they have a link to the actual article within theirs.

The Human Centipede [First Sequence] (2009)

The Human Centipede (First Sequence) (2009). This is another movie that I was able to watch on my Netflix free trial. I think I had it on my Blockbuster Queue as well but I figured since I can get it on watch instantly, why wait for it to come in the mail.

I must say that I was quite disappointed with the movie. It was slow and too drawn out. It was pretty boring. Maybe if it had a better storyline/script and was about a maximum of 45 minutes long (and that's pushing it), it would have been a lot better.

The guy that played the doctor played the part fairly well. I mean he looked the part which added to his creepiness. I'm not sure that he could have fended off any of the individuals that became part of the "first sequence" if they decided to fight back before becoming "attached." He was pretty frail compared to the Asian guy as well as the two girls. I know they were drugged and all but after they were attached the Asian was pretty functional compared to the other girls. Yes. Yes. He was probably in a huge state of shock to wake one day to find some naked hot chick's lips surgically attached to his sphincter but I would think "fight or flight" would have kicked in at sometime.

I don't recall how the Asian guy got captured but the two girls are just plain stupid. If this doctor would have answered some door I knocked on, I would have turned tail. My danger radar probably would have been chirping if not blaring full blast. It's like if Lurch from the Addam's Family answered the door. I...Am...Outta...There!

I'm not medical enthusiast but I really didn't understand the point of removing the victims knee caps. Maybe it was to keep them from trying to "run" away but I would think that having your knee caps removed would hurt like fuck! As such, I would think it would hurt like fuck to crawl around on your knees.

The point of a horror movie is to inflict fear into an individual in the sense that they think this could actually happen. I don't think this movie did a very good job at that. I mean the occurences could happen but it wasn't a frigtful notion as much as it was an "Eh, it could happen but not likely" kind of thought.

SPOILER ALERT! I didn't like the ending much either. I didn't like how both the detectives/investigators were killed. They both got popped by a puny, scrawny, severly injured man. The first cop got cut and shot (I think). Granted he was feeling the effects of ingesting a bit of whatever drug the doctor put in his water. Note to self and readers: DON'T TAKE DRINK OFFERINGS FROM STRANGERS! The second cop, the seemingly smarter of the two, had a hell of a shot to the doctor's forehead but he himself was shot and died shortly after.

I did find it sickly amusing when the Asian guy had to shit. His reactions and emotions were priceless. It totally sucked ass (literally) for the girl stuck to his ass. This scene had to be one of the better of the entire movie.

So, at the end of the movie, I was left with two impressions:

1. I guess the 2nd sequence will probably start off with someone finding the doctor's insane "research notes" and decide to continue with his work since he's dead.
2. It sucks for the girl that "survived" to be the middle link of the three-pede. The guy's whose ass she is sucking on killed himself and her friend who's sucking on her ass died from infection. She is stuck in the middle (Ha! I crack myself up!).

In the end, I was very disappointed in this movie. I saw a bunch of previews and articles talking about it before it premiered that were more positive than negative. I guess my expectations were set too high. I felt like I was watching a movie made by a high school theater student with an old Hi-8 camcorder and some friends or random people he asked to be part of his "project film."

There was no mystery, suspense, intenseness, or ANYTHING that would keep someone interested. I, unfortunately, make myself watch all of a movie because I hate to not complete the watching of a movie. It's weird, I know. Anyway, even the very brief nudity of the two female characters that was shown was not enough for me to speak much more about this horrible film. I've already wasted too much time and effort.

If you haven't figured out my verdict yet, I will definitely tell you to pass on this movie. It is a waste of the studio's time, money and effort as well as yours. So listen to me and avoid it! Don't even listen to anyone that says ANYTHING positive about this movie. They lie and they don't know what the hell they are talking about. Just leave it on the shelf, literal and virtual.

Red (2010)

Red (2010). I had an unexpected day off from work yesterday. My kids were off for President's Day. We didn't know until Friday around 6pm when the school district emailed a "Just for clarification" email to explain/confirm the dates of make-up for the four missed ice/snow days near the first week of February. Anyway this led to me having to take a vacation day because I could not find any one to pawn my children off to. Now granted they are probably old enough to "take care" of themselves for eight hours during the daytime but a good excuse is the best excuse to take an unexpected day off. Besides, we had workers coming to the house and we needed it to be empty for them to work.

Anyhow, that was great of the district to let us know of the day off the Friday evening before the weekend before the day off.

I have had this movie in my possession way too long for my BBTAP membership. I think it's been like 2-3 weeks since I rented them. That's too damn long to fit into my cost-worth analysis.

The kids and I ended up watching this movie together. It's rated PG-13. There wasn't much bad in it other than cursing, some occasional blood, and some not-so-graphic assassinations/killings.

The movie was actually entertaining and funny. The kids thought it was fairly funny too. I was kind of bummed (spoiler alert) that Joe, Morgan Freeman's character, didn't survive the movie. I guess I can see the point as he went out doing what he knew and loved instead of letting his terminal cancer kill him slowly and painfully. Some people commented that they felt Malkovich was over the top and too high on LSD. I thought he played it perfectly. Willis' character is typical Willis these days: comedic ex-military specialist/killer/etc. Freeman's character was minimal but it was similar to a few of his recent/past roles: retired expert in whatever field he retired from. Mary Louis Parker's character was forgettable other than how attractive Parker has gotten over the years. I think her role could have been written out or differently but I don't think it was a central catalyst in the movie. She's still pretty hot in a weird kind of way. Helen Mirren is one of the hottest "old broads" I've seen in film these days. There's something about her that just hits a nerve within me. I can't explain it but it's a little weird to me in a cool way...like I want to see her topless just as much as Parker. I thought Mirren's character was well done and they explained and weaved her story well within the group. SPOILER ALERT! I almost cried when I thought she was going to die after gettig shot in the hip area. Richard Dreyfuss had a pivotal but small part. I don't recall seeing him in a movie in some time. It looks like he may have had some facial work done. Dreyfuss' role was short and sweet and not overdone.

Overall, I didn't know what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised and entertained. By all means, this is no award-winning film but it did the job it was supposed to do and did it fairly well which was enjoyable entertainment.

Nothing against the movie but I'm still a cheap ass so I would recommend this movie if you can get the $1 Redbox price or something under $3.

Silence of the Lambs 20-year anniversary

Not a big post or anything really about the movie but I did read an article about the creation of the characters and such. It was pretty interesting and I'd link to it if I thought about it before I closed the website down.

Anyway, my reason for posting is until I read the article...

I didn't realize this guy

was the same as this guy

How he has changed and so have his roles.

Interesting...just interesting.

Blockbuster needs a new business model (obviously)

Today, I curiously clicked on the "On Demand" button within my online Blockbuster account. This curiosity was created because of my use of "Watch Instantly" on Netflix. I'm still getting my money's worth out of my free trial. I've mentioned previously about why I can't justify Netflix—lack of recent movies for instant play. But, my free trial has made me look into what Blockbuster can offer me in comparison for online movie play.

After viewing the FAQs of On Demand at Blockbuster.com (here), I understand why more people are choosing Netflix. The first two sentences in FAQ #2's answer sums up that reason perfectly:

"No. Blockbuster On Demand is separate from a Blockbuster By Mail subscription plan."

What...the...fu...?! Seriously!?

Once again, this is how BB appreciates and rewards is customers, old and new. How long have customers felt like BB has screwed them over the years with exorbitant rental and late fees? How did BB respond: they took late fees away and then sort of brought them back as well. Now customers want to be able to view movies online. What did BB do: to please customers and to compete with Netflix they added On Demand...but with a catch. Unlike Netflix, the online viewing at BB will require a per movie rate versus a monthly rate. Wrong move BB!

Without getting into the nitty gritty and regurgitating facts I'm sure many others already know (because I'm new to Netflix and online movie streaming), Blockbuster has failed once again to capture, retain or gather customers. Why would ANYONE want to pay extra for something that a competitor already include in its packages? Other than the brick-and-mortar store exchanges, BB has no differentiator...and this differentiator obviously isn't enough to compete.

Anyway...just for shits and giggles, let's compare a plan of each.

Netflix Unlimited streaming only @ $7.99 Unlimited streaming and 3 DVDs @$19.99.

Blockbuster Unlimited streaming not available in any plan 3 DVDs/Games @ $19.99 (5 in-store exchanges per month)

I Am Sam (2001)

I Am Sam (2001). Continuing with getting the most out of my free trial of Netflix, I saw this title available for instant play. I was going to take my time watching it but in the notes section of my queue it says, "Available until 2/15/2011." I don't know what that means or why but it made me start watching this movie today, at work but before my start time around 7:45am. I had to pause a few times once others started trekking into the office but I finally finished it this evening.

I didn't realize/remember that Dakota Fanning was in this movie. It's weird to see her young after just seeing her in The Runaways. She was so pale, blue-eyed and blond as a child. She could have been a real-life Powder-type.

Watching this movie reminded me of how hot Michelle Pfeiffer was. I don't recall seeing her in anything recently (past few years) or even in paparazzi shots so I don't know what she looks like presently. I was able to get a screen shot from the movie though. Those eyes. Those lips. That hair. Um...

Anyhow, this movie was fairly good. Getting closer to the end, I realized that I may have seen this movie already. If not the entire movie, at least the ending starting with when Dakota starts living with Laura Dern. I think the acting was well done even though Sean's character made me think I was watching Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man or Leonardo DiCaprio in What's Eating Gilbert Grape. Penn was kind of a combination of the two. I thought the supporting cast of the mentally challenged was hysterical and well-acted. I wanted to thumb Dern's character on the head for being such a bitch to Sam but I can understand where she was coming from. At the same time, Sam seemed to be able to raise Lucy up to the age of 7. Granted she was going to surpass him and the parent would become the child but the court could have supplied a support system or a tie to some church group or something. I guess it's better and cheaper to just take the kid away than to provide support. I can see that point of view as well.

So, before I get too carried away. I would recommend this movie. I wouldn't pay for it as it came out some eleven years ago but I'm guessing you won't find many friends with this in their movie collection.

By the way, did I mention how hot Michelle Pfeiffer was? With one exception, when she was crying and the bluish veins started showing through her pale skin in her forehead/temple. That was kind of gross because she looked like she was on her way to becoming one of the living dead.