New on Netflix – July 27th and August 3rd
July 26, 2010
Everything new for you to view!
Well, here we are – summer at its peak, days hot and sticky and a bunch of new movies out on DVD and at Netflix! Let’s see what the next 2 weeks have in store.
July 27th
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (family action, Logan Lerman, Uma Thurman, Pierce Brosnan) – Netflix DVD and Blu-Ray release (delayed from purchase release of June 29th)
Hot Tub Time Machine (comedy, John Cusack, Craig Robinson, Rob Corddry) – Netflix DVD and Blu-Ray release (delayed from purchase release of June 29th)
Crush (thriller, Christopher Egan, Emma Lung) – Netflix DVD release (delayed from purchase release of July 13th)
Operation: Endgame (action, Joe Anderson, Zach Galifianakis, Rob Corddry, Emilie de Ravin) – Netflix and purchase release, DVD and Blu-Ray
The Art of the Steal (documentary, Albert Barnes) Netflix and purchase release, DVD and Netflix Instant Streaming
Vincere (foreign, drama, thriller, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Filippo Timi) - Netflix and purchase release, DVD and Netflix Instant Streaming
Acceptance (comedy, Mae Whitman, Joan Cusack) – Netflix and purchase release, DVD
Clash of the Titans (action, Sam Worthington, Alexa Davalos, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes) – purchase release, DVD and Blu-Ray, delayed Netflix release
Repo Men (sci-fi, Jude Law, Forest Whitaker, Liev Schreiber, Alice Braga) – purchase release, DVD and Blu-Ray, delayed Netflix release
Batman: Under the Red Hood (animated, action, Jason Isaacs, Jensen Ackles, Bruce Greenwood, Neil Patrick Harris) – purchase release, DVD and Blu-Ray, delayed Netflix release
August 3rd
Kick-Ass (action, Aaron Johnson, Chloe Moretz, Nicolas Cage, Christopher Mintz-Plasse) – Netflix and purchase release, DVD and Blu-ray
A Prophet (foreign thriller, Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup) – Netflix and purchase release, DVD and Blu-ray
The Ghost Writer (thriller, Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Kim Cattrall) – Netflix and purchase release, DVD and Blu-Ray
After.Life (thriller, Liam Neeson, Christina Ricci, Justin Long) – Netflix and purchase release, DVD and Blu-Ray
Happiness Runs (indie drama, Adam Sherman, Hanna R. Hall) Netflix and purchase release, DVD and Netflix Instant Streaming
Open House (horror, Anna Paquin, Rachel Blanchard, Stephen Moyer) – Netflix and purchase release, DVD and Blu-Ray
Diary of a Wimpy Kid (family, Zachary Gordon, Robert Capron, Rachael Harris, Steve Zahn) – purchase release, DVD and Blu-Ray, delayed Netflix release
Well, that’s a pretty good load of new movies. A couple of big release delays for Netflix subscribers, but hey – you can finally rent Hot Tub Time Machine! Ahhhh, summer.
3 Movies to Watch This Week
July 25, 2010
A few tidbits for your viewing pleasure
So, are you sick of summer blockbusters? Seen ‘em all? Hate summer blockbusters? Maybe it’s time to try something that just may have passed under your radar its first time around. There’s a world of fun, light movies out there, perfect for summer nights, in which few if any items actually blow up.
Most of the film world is made up of small movies with small budgets that few people ever see. They’re the building bricks upon which blockbusters are born – every actor and director starts out somewhere. Here are three of those to try out as we approach the dog days of summer.
Waitress (2007)
Keri Russell of Felicity fame stars as Jenna, a young woman stuck in a loveless marriage and an unwanted pregnancy. She gets through the day by dreaming of bigger things while practicing her art – the art of making the perfect pie. She works at a pie diner and much of the movie is framed by her marvelous creations, often with very un-dessert like names reflecting her inner conflicts.
What makes Waitress special is the performance of the entire cast as well as the unconventional fairy-tale type structure of the narrative. Terrific turns by Nathan Fillion, Cheryl Hines, Adrienne Shelley and Andy Griffith (yep, one and the same) pull together the strings of the sweet, funny and poignant film. Tragically, director Adrienne Shelley will not be making more movies, as she was murdered before she could see the beauty she created in Waitress. All the more reason to eat up this one.
Once (2006)
Hate musicals? Me too. But I love Once. This little film from director John Carney garnered an Oscar for Best Original Song and makes all the Disney pabulum of the past years look like schmaltz in comparison.
The story is very simple – two people meet by chance and connect through music. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova play the street musician with higher aspirations and the truly gifted pianist struggling as a single parent in a new country.
What makes Once special is the fantastic music by Hansard and Irglova, the lack of pretense of the entire production and the genuineness of all involved, looking to make a movie with little money and great dreams and succeeding wildly.
Happy, Texas (1999)
Okay, now one that is just plain silly. Steve Zahn (who I love) and Jeremy Northam are escaped convicts that just happen to wind up being mistaken for a gay couple coming to a small Texas town to coordinate a little girls beauty pageant. I know, it’s a ridiculously stupid premise. But it’s handled with just the right touch. It doesn’t pretend to be realistic, it just has a good time with its own farcical antics.
What makes Happy, Texas special are fine performances by Zahn as he gets into his role as pageant director and William H. Macy as the town sheriff. Formulaic and predictable, it’s also silly and fun and light – never taking itself too seriously.
Each of these small movies is easily available for rent and could be just the right thing for a summer evening when you aren’t in the mood for 3-D or big screens. Or, for that matter, spending uber-bucks at the theater. I highly suggest consuming these treats with a nice slice of Jenna’s Kick in the Pants Pie.
Dumbass of the Week – Mel Gibson
July 15, 2010
So wrong in so many ways…
It’s been quite a while since a truly worthy candidate appeared for Dumbass of the Week. Let’s face it, Jesse James is a hard act to follow in terms of utterly stupid self destruction and general smarminess. But Mel Gibson – with an already tarnished record a mile and a half long – has outdone the ex-Mr. Bullock by a country mile. Gibson makes James look like a choir boy. Fine, a choir boy that’s a big fat creep, but still.
In case you haven’t been paying attention, Mel Gibson has gone off the deep end. After his 2006 arrest during which he disparaged Jews, women and nearly flushed his career down the crapper, he checked himself into alcohol rehab (nice ploy, Mel – the public loooooves rehab). This, combined with an apology (that wasn’t really an apology – more like a denial) and the critical success of Apocalypto, saved his sorry butt from the fiery furnace of public scorn.
Jump to 2009. Mel divorces his wife of many years (and many children) and takes up with pianist Oksana Grigorieva, with whom he has yet another child (for the record, that makes 8).
Jump to this week, when Mel dives head first into the insanity pool in recorded conversations with the now estranged Grigorieva. He’s not just angry, he’s raving. He’s tossing out racial slurs, threats of violence, massive blasts of general misogyny and other little tidbits for the consumption of the masses.
First a disclaimer. I don’t think this is a pure, one sided story with Gibson as devil and Grigorieva as angel. It was she, after all, who made the tapes without his knowledge. I do not believe that if we heard tapes of other conversations between the dueling duo that she would seem quite so calm and rational. She wanted him to blow up so she could get a restraining order – fair enough. But exactly how did those tapes make their way onto the internet? The entire internet? Right, I don’t think she’s quite as much of a fair damsel as she might like us to think.
On the other hand, Gibson is a raving lunatic. He’s huffing and puffing and ranting and nearly incoherent in his vast, seemingly bottomless hatred. Who is it that Mel hates? Let’s take a look. Mel Gibson probably hates you if:
- you are homosexual
- you are female
- you are African-American
- you are Hispanic
- you are Jewish
- you are the mother of any of his tribe of children
- you are not Mel Gibson
Yes, I think that just about covers it. Chances are pretty much 100% that Mel Gibson hates you. And me.
Think about it – this man was adored by women the world over from the time he made Galipoli in 1981. At 54, he could be aging into a successful directing career (don’t forget, he owns an Oscar for Braveheart) as well as cherry picking plum acting roles. But that isn’t how it is in MelWorld.
In MelWorld it’s impossible to cork it about your unpopular, bigoted and violent beliefs and just do your damn job. In my perfect world I wouldn’t know word one about Mel Gibson’s religion, prejudices or bad habits. Sure, being in the spotlight opens actors up to scrutiny and that sometimes sucks. But Gibson has never failed to parade his weirdness as if it were a badge of courage and honor rather than a sign of mental illness. That he can’t tell the difference is probably the most frightening thing of all.
Nice going, Mel. Between the bottle, your warped psyche and your intense hatred for everyone who is not you, you’ve managed to alienate the world. Rehab isn’t going to cut it this time. At least for this movie-goer, you’re toast on a stick and your career is over. Hopefully you’ll go to jail for beating your girlfriend (which you admitted) and save us all from having to see you or worse, hear you speak. You are my Movie Rewind Dumbass of the Week, eclipsing any who have come before you with the sheer magnitude of your vile insanity. Now, please, for the sake of everyone – shut the hell up!
New on Netflix – July 13th and July 20th
July 12, 2010
It’s hot outside, and there are mosquitoes. Lots and lots of mosquitoes. So what are we to do in the evening? Watch movies, of course! Let’s see what’s new on Netflix and the wider DVD world for the next two weeks.
July 13th
Saint John of Las Vegas (indie comedy, Steve Buscemi, Romany Malco) – Netflix and purchase release, DVD
The Greatest (indie drama, Susan Sarandon, Pierce Brosnan, Carey Mulligan, Michael Shannon, Aaron Johnson) – Netflix and purchase release, DVD, Blu-Ray and Netflix Instant Streaming
8: The Mormon Proposition (documentary) – Netflix and purchase release, DVD
The Bounty Hunter (action comedy, Jennifer Aniston, Gerard Butler) – Netflix and purchase release, DVD and Blu-Ray
Chloe (thriller, Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore, Amanda Seyfried) – Netflix and purchase release, DVD and Blu-Ray
Terribly Happy (foreign thriller, Jakob Cedergren) – Netflix and purchase release, DVD and Netflix Instant Streaming
The Book of Eli (action, Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis) – delayed Netflix release, DVD and Blu-Ray (original purchase release date June 15, 2010)
Airline Disaster (action, Meredith Baxter, Lindsey McKeon) delayed Netflix release, DVD (original purchase release June 29, 2010)
Formosa Betrayed (thriller, James Van Der Beek, John Heard, Leslie Hope) – Netflix and purchase release, DVD
How to Make Love to a Woman (romantic comedy, Krysten Ritter, Josh Myers, Ian Somerhalder) – Netflix and purchase release, DVD, Blu-ray and Netflix Instant Streaming
Crush (paranormal thriller, Christopher Egan, Emma Lung) – purchase release, DVD, delayed Netflix release
Caught in the Crossfire (thriller, 50 cent, Chris Klein, Adam Rodriguez) – purchase release, DVD and Blu-Ray, delayed Netflix release, probably mid-August
Greenberg (comedy, Ben Stiller, Rhys Ifans) – purchase release, DVD and Blu-Ray, delayed Netflix release (scheduled for August 10th)
July 20th
Mother (foreign thriller, Bin Won, Hye-ja Kim) – Netflix and purchase release, DVD and Blu-Ray
A Town Called Panic (animated foreign family) purchase and Netflix release, DVD and Netflix Instant Streaming
Green Zone (action, Matt Damon, Greg Kinnear) – delayed Netflix release, DVD and Blu-Ray (original purchase release June 22nd)
The Runaways (drama, Dakota Fanning, Kristen Stewart) – Netflix and purchase release, DVD and Blu-Ray
Ninja’s Creed (action, Alexander Wraith, Pat Morita, Eric Roberts) – Netflix and purchase release, DVD
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers (documentary) – purchase and Netflix release, DVD, Blu-Ray and Netflix Instant Streaming
Cop Out (action comedy, Bruce Willis, Tracy Morgan) – purchase release, DVD and Blu-Ray, delayed Netflix release
Our Family Wedding (romantic comedy, Forest Whitaker, Carlos Mencia, America Ferrara) – purchase release, DVD - delayed Netflix release, look for it mid-August
The Losers (action, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Zoe Saldana, Chris Evans) – purchase release, DVD and Blu-Ray, delayed Netflix release
Just Another Day (drama, Wood Hector, Jamie Hector, Ja Rule) – purchase release, DVD and Blu-Ray, delayed Netflix release
Not a bad selection for the middle of the summer. This week we should definitely have ice cream. Who’s buying?
Cry Me a River, Lindsay Lohan is Going to Jail
July 7, 2010
Actress gets exactly what she deserves
In the latest installment of Hollywood Eats Its Young, Lindsay Lohan is headed to the clink. Her crime? Ignoring the terms of her probation on a litany of drug and alcohol related offenses. 90 days in the slammer followed by mandatory inpatient rehab. Sweet.
The court refused to address her real crime, which is appearing in public repeatedly and purposely looking like an unwashed, dead-eyed, strung-out junkie in spandex leggings from 1984. But since that’s more a crime of fashion, I understand that it’s more appropriately dealt with by peer pressure. Oh wait – Lindsay has no peers, only subordinates.
So why is this even news? We all know Lohan is a train wreck. Her blubbering of excess make-up all over her attorney’s sweater doesn’t make me any more likely to want her set free than does her overly collagen-injected pout. She did the crime – repeatedly, and refused to follow even the ridiculously lenient probation terms – she can do the time.
But there’s something else here – the real reason she deserves this sentence. Once she’s in jail, she’ll get better treatment than she’s received in her entire life. She won’t be catered to, she won’t be coddled, she won’t have a mother who thinks having an alcoholic teenager is just dandy, she won’t have a jailed father trying to weasel his way into her fortune. She might actually have a little discipline, some guidance and some real life, grown-up advice on how to get her shit together before it kills her.
God knows she needs it. Lohan is a 24-year-old infant, without the slightest ability to care for herself or make appropriate, reasonable adult decisions. She has never been expected to do so, why should she learn? What, do we really think responsibility just blossoms out of teenage pores when they hit the age of majority? Newsflash – child stars are screwed up because the adults around them fail them miserably.
Some get through it. Robert Downey Jr. and Britney Spears both look to be on the upswing (especially RDJ). But none of that happened before they paid a heavy price for their infantile behavior. Downey did jail time and Spears not only did some inpatient time, but also lost custody of her kids.
Those who never pay a big, head slapping price for their actions (the actions set in motion by the adults meant to care for them) do not fare as well. Michael Jackson, Corey Haim, Dana Plato, River Phoenix. All dead. Why? Because they never became adults and never had to answer for their juvenile foolishness in any meaningful way. They got their way until their way killed them.
So count your blessings, Ms. Lohan. Cry until you have no more tears to shed. But that judge probably just saved your sorry ass. Oh, and your life. Pull yourself together and stop acting like a baby. Maybe then you can count yourself as a child star survivor instead of just another child star tragedy.
TV Hoarding Shows – A Compare & Contrast
July 1, 2010
Which set of compulsive hoarders do we like best?
I’ve long ago admitted to my addiction to A&E’s Hoarders. What can I say, maybe it makes me feel better about my own housekeeping skills. But there is something fascinating about delving into the pathology that makes people keep old soda cans and diapers.
Clearly I’m not the only one who thinks so.
There are currently 3 popular cable reality series that focus on hoarders. Each has its own spin, but they all exploit…er, examine the phenomenon of compulsive collecting of crap. Let’s take a brief look at all three and you can decide which is best suited to your viewing preferences.
Clean House
The Style Network entry is the longest running of the three as well as the most shallow. They don’t really use the term “compulsive hoarders” and the overall tone is relatively light. Main host Niecy Nash (yeah, the one from Dancing With the Stars) and her team descend upon families whose homes have become battle grounds over clutter.
Nash and Co. have the signature MO of The Yard Sale. They talk people into giving up their crap and sell it all at a big garage sale in order to finance designer Mark Brunetz’s redesign of the home. Nash matches up to the first $1000. After the yard sale, the family goes off to a hotel and the team does its thing, creating an organized, spiffy new space for them.
Clean House Pros:
- - Tone is light
- - Yard sale is a fun idea
- - DIY fans will like the renovations
- - Home is cleaned
Clean House Cons:
- - Families do little of their own work
- - Hoarding is not addressed as an ongoing issue
- - No aftercare
Clean House is Hoarders Lite and the show does nothing to really help the families it portrays. They’re hoarders and they will simply crap up the new space just like they did the old. Clean House is for entertainment only – there is no examination of pathology. The other two shows are far more serious in their approach.
A&E’s Hoarders
This one I’ve discussed before. They choose severe hoarders who are in danger of dire consequences if they don’t get their shit together. A psychologist or other expert comes in and assists an organizer in clearing the house in two days to try and avert whatever disaster is imminent.
In this case, the families or individuals have to agree to the “intervention” and work with the organizers. Much of the show focuses on the frustration felt by the experts, family members and the hoarders themselves over the difficulty of the clean-up process. Once the two days are up, the show is out of there, usually leaving a clean house and sometimes averting [insert name of this week's disaster here]. There is no host or set team, though there is a revolving set of docs and organizers who apparently have signed on with the show. There is also occasional ominous music.
A&E’s Hoarders Pros:
- - These are the worst of the worst hoarders. They appeal to the voyeur in all of us.
- - The title cards clearly label hoarding as a disorder
- - The docs involved provide pretty good analysis of what the hoarder experiences during the clean up
- - Aftercare is provided
A&E’s Hoarders Cons:
- - Makes me want to clean.
- - Two days isn’t enough time to really address the underlying pathology
- - A cleaning team or group of friends/relatives usually does most of the work
- - Aftercare is only funds
Hoarding: Buried Alive
The newest entry into the Hoarding Sweepstakes comes from TLC. I have boundless love for TLC due to many happy hours watching fashion victims get make-overs on What Not to Wear, but I was sceptical of their hoarding show. It seemed like a lot of bandwagon jumping when it debuted last season. I should have had more faith.
Hoarding: Buried Alive features moderate to severe hoarders. Each discusses their own problem and discusses it with a professional of some variety. The pair begins with some sort of activity designed to reveal some of the root causes of the hoarding or some way to change behaviors that lead to hoarding. The show is far more slowly paced and focused on the individual and why they hoard as well as how they can get better. Each person featured has sought help, usually without the intervention of family or friends.
Hoarding: Buried Alive Pros:
- - Hoarder does most if not all of their own cleaning and discarding
- - Clearly addresses pathology on an individual basis
- - Allows adequate time for the individual to make changes
- - Care appears to be ongoing
Hoarding: Buried Alive Cons:
- - Really makes me want to clean
- - Show is pretty slow paced
- - Not shiny and happy – the disorder is revealed as being painful and intractable
- - Lacks the instant gratification of seeing the whole house de-cluttered
Which show you choose in order to indulge your hoarding watching sort of depends on your mood. Do you want silliness? Go with Clean House. Do you want the thrill of watching really disgusting messes get cleaned up tout suite? Go with A&E’s Hoarders. Want something that is a little less exciting but delves more deeply into the disorder? Try Hoarding: Buried Alive.
It is reality TV – all are exploitative to a degree. But they all also address a problem that is more common than most people think. Every time I see a house with a two car garage that has both cars parked in the driveway I think HOARDER. Come to think of it, every time I look in my basement or my pre-teen’s room I think HOARDER. Exploitation can be fun and educational, too!
So go, indulge in your choice of hoarding shows. I watch all three depending on my mood. Clean House has been around the longest so runs in repeats about 20 hours a day and you have the best chance of catching at random. A&E’s Hoarders is available on Netflix and you can watch some full episodes on the A&E website. Hoarding: Buried Alive has only had a single season of which you can catch occasional reruns. You can buy the DVD or get it through Video on Demand, but it isn’t out on Netflix.
Now I’m going to sit here and fight the urge to clean the bathroom.
New on Netflix – June 29th and July 6th
June 28, 2010
Got Netflix?
Well, even though the studios are squeezing Netflix by forcing DVD release delays on them, we still want to know what’s new, now don’t we? Of course we do. More now than ever since some films will release for purchase and rental on the same day and others will be held hostage for a month. So here we go!
June 29th
The Crazies (horror, Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell) – Netflix and purchase release, DVD and Blu-Ray
The White Ribbon (German drama, Ulrich Tukur, Susanne Lothar) – Netflix and purchase release, DVD and Blu-Ray
The Eclipse (thriller, Ciaran Hinds, Iben Hjejle) – Netflix and purchase release, DVD and Blu-ray
Creation (biography, Paul Bettany, Jennifer Connelly) Netflix and purchase release, DVD and Blu-Ray
The Wolfman (horror, Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins) Netflix release, DVD and Blu-Ray – delayed 28 days from June 1st purchase release
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (children and family, Logan Lerman, Uma Thurman, Pierce Brosnan) - purchase release, DVD and Blu-Ray, Netlix delay probably until the end of July
Hot Tub Time Machine (comedy, John Cusack, Craig Robinson, Rob Corddry) – purchase release, DVD and Blu-Ray – Netflix delay – look for it at the end of July
The Pagan Queen (sci-fi/fantasy, Winter Ave Zoli, Csaba Lucas) – Purchase release, DVD – Netflix release delayed
Airline Disaster (action/adventure, Meredith Baxter, Lindsay McKeon) – purchase release, DVD, delayed Netflix release – this one looks like a Direct to Video release. Maybe it will never come out on Netflix. Maybe we don’t want it to…
July 6th
Brooklyn’s Finest (drama, Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke, Wesley Snipes, Antoine Fuqua director) – Netflix and Purchase release, DVD and Blu-Ray
Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (foreign thriller, Michaeil Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Sven-Bertil Taube, Ewa Frohling, based on novel by Stieg Larsson) - Netflix and purchase release, DVD, Blu-Ray and Netflix Instant Streaming
A Single Man (drama, Colin Firth, Julianne Moore) – Netflix and purchase release, DVD and Blu-Ray
Curb Your Enthusiasm: Season 7 (TV comedy, Larry David, Cheryl Hines) - Netflix release, DVD, delayed from June 8th purchase release
That’s a big up-tick in delayed releases. Now that we all know now that it results in no increased DVD sales, no financial gain for the studios and a highly probable increase in piracy, it just makes the studios look stupid and stubborn. Remember, Warner Bros., Fox and Universal – piss me off, lose my money down the road. For once have a little foresight and admit that your actions make no sense, achieve nothing other than ticking off DVD renters and ultimately increase criminal piracy and maybe I’ll consider spending my money on your theatrical releases. I’m petty and vindictive, Hollywood, don’t try my patience.
On the other hand – so cool that Girl With the Dragon Tattoo will get Instant Streaming right away! Petty, vindictive and fickle. That’s me!
This week let’s have Raisinettes, shall we?
Questions Remain About Vince Flynn Movie – “Consent to Kill”
June 24, 2010
Fans wondering who will play Mitch Rapp
Fans of Vince Flynn’s Mitch Rapp novels will finally get to see their hero on the big screen, but who will they see? Casting remains one of the biggest questions for fans of the author and his series of counter-terrorism novels.
Early on, there was only a studio – CBS Films optioned the movie rights to Consent to Kill in 2008. Then came a screenplay by Jonathan Lemkin. Early this year it was announced that Antoine Fuqua would direct.
Right there we have at least one iffy decision. Jonathan Lemkin’s resume is neither long nor impressive – and there was a 7 year break between his last two projects. However, he did pen Shooter, which Fuqua also directed, so maybe his presence had some pull in getting the director behind Training Day involved in the project. But neither director nor screenwriter give me great confidence – both have minimal credits and even more minimal quality credits.
Also at issue is why CBS and Flynn decided to start with book 7 in a series when making the first Mitch Rapp film. Will it necessitate too much monkeying around with both the arc of this story and the establishment of the Mitch Rapp character? Another reason to question the decision to bring in a screenwriter without a more impressive and extensive resume.
But the biggest question of all remains unanswered – who will play lead character Mitch Rapp? It looks like Fuqua and producers Lorenzo Di Bonaventura and Nick Wechsler have narrowed the field to three:
Gerard Butler, who seems to be a fan favorite and perhaps the frontrunner.
Colin Farrell, whose broody good looks and (let’s face it) better acting chops may give him an edge. If he can behave himself.
Matthew Fox, whose only saving grace seems to be that he really, really wants the role.
Fan sites are looking to be all over Butler, but who knows? There’s been little news on the project since Fuqua signed on. Even with a script and a director, this thing is going nowhere fast. Get casting already, CBS – Vince Flynn and Mitch Rapp fans are tired of waiting!!
Consent to Kill has a scheduled release date of 2012, which seems like a long time away. But if they don’t get moving on casting they aren’t going to make even that generous deadline. Fans are clamoring, time’s a’wastin’, let’s see some action on this Vince Flynn movie!
More Studios Delaying Netflix Releases = More Stupid Studios
June 19, 2010
Studios and Netflix look pretty dumb in light of Paramount study
Earlier this week I wondered about the Netflix release delay of Green Zone. It isn’t a Warner Bros. release, so it shouldn’t be subject to their agreed upon 28 day delay, right? Wrong. It looks like Universal (the studio releasing Green Zone) and Fox have also sealed deals with Netflix to delay their DVD releases for rent.
In light of famine, global warming and gushing oil spills this hardly measures as tragic. It is, however, annoying, particularly for those of us who rent rather than buy our DVDs. The logic, apparently, is that if the studios make renters wait an extra month they are more likely to buy the DVD.
Bullshit.
Renters and buyers are different breeds.
If I really want to see something, I’ll see it in the theater. If I am waiting for it on DVD it’s because I don’t want to pay full theater price for it. I’m sure as hell not going to shell out full DVD price for a movie that might suck and that I will almost certainly watch only one time. DVD buyers are going to buy no matter what – they collect DVDs, are repeat watchers, or whatever. They aren’t me and I’m not them - nothing the studios do is going to change that.
And now we have proof that I am right.
The Los Angeles Times is reporting a 10 month Paramount study of the the impact on DVD sales when rentals were delayed. The result? Withholding rentals does not increase sales. No freaking duh, people. For a bunch of people who supposedly live and breathe movies, Warner Bros., Universal and Fox sure as hell don’t know much about the people who watch their products.
I shouldn’t be surprised, really. It’s a leap before you look world. Why bother checking to make sure your theories are sound before acting on them? That just delays the money factory! Too bad, big boys, your money well is not going to be helped by withholding rentals. As a matter of fact, your bottom line might suffer more than just a little bit and in ways you didn’t see coming.
You see, also inferred in the Paramount study is that those who want to see a DVD on release day without buying it are going to find a way. In other words, withholding rentals is just going to increase piracy. The studio then loses both a rental and their mythical sale. Add in anyone else who watches the pirated movie and there goes more rental money.
Then add in me. I don’t steal movies. But the studios refused to do their homework and thought they could trick or strong-arm me into buying products I have no desire to own. Thus I will be punitive and vindictive. That’s just how I roll, people. Though I don’t see a whole lot of movies in the theater, that number has begun to increase as my kids get older. I also like to see things in the nice, expensive theater. But I’m choosy about the films upon which I lavish my big screen dollars. Unless Warner Bros., Universal and Fox decide to release their stranglehold on Netflix, I may just stop seeing their films in the theater. Wouldn’t that just be too bad for them.
Studios need to remember that regardless of what their focus groups and polls and other yes-men tell them, it’s the people who have the money that keep them afloat. Does my teenage boy spend money going to movies? Yes. Where does he get it? From me. Keep me happy or lose my business, folks. And his. That’s the way capitalism works. If you screw up, you better come crawling back and do some ass kissing if you want me to give you the money that I work long and hard to earn. In other words, stop pissing me off or my wallet closes.
For now, I’m giving Netflix a provisional pass on my wrath, for I imagine they were forced into these deals with threats of complete withdrawal of access to the titles held by the studios involved. But I’d surely like to see some lobbying by them to regain first day renting rights now that it has been proven that withholding does no one any good and only harms Netflix and helps those who steal movies. If they won’t stand up for themselves, I’m sure as hell not going to. They might be stuck with the deals already on the books, but any more like them signals a company that doesn’t have a spine or a brain.
New on Netflix – June 15th and June 22nd
June 14, 2010
Wanna watch a movie? We can have popcorn!
So what do we have coming out on DVD and to Netflix in the next two weeks? Let’s have a look!
June 15th
Valentines Day (romantic comedy, Julia Roberts, Ashton Kutcher, Jamie Foxx, Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Jennifer Garner, Bradley Cooper, Patrick Dempsey) – Netflix release (delayed release – was released for purchase in May)
Hoarders – Season 1 (reality TV, A&E) – Netflix and purchase release , DVD
When in Rome (romantic comedy, Kristin Bell, Joah Duhamel) – Netflix and purchase release, DVD and Blu-Ray
Youth In Revolt (comedy, Michael Cera, Portia Doubleday) – Netflix and purchase release, DVD and Blu-Ray
Control Alt Delete (indie comedy, Tyler Labine, Sonja Bennett) Netflix Instant Streaming and purchase release, DVD and Blu-ray
The Book of Eli (westerns, thrillers, Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman) – Release for purchase – delayed Netflix release, not date announced. Since it’s a Warner Bros. film, expect to see it on or around August 5th.
June 22nd
True Blood – Season 2 (TV, science fiction, fantasy, Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer) – Netflix and purchase release, DVD and Blu-Ray
Remember Me (romance, drama, Robert Pattinson, Emilie de Ravin, Pierce Brosnan, Lena Olin, Chris Cooper) – Netflix and purchase release, DVD and Blu-Ray
The Last Station (biography, historical drama, Christopher Plummer, Helen Mirren) – Netflix and purcahse release, DVD and Blu-Ray
Bluebeard (foreign drama, director Catherine Breillat, Dominique Thomas, Lola Creton) – Netflix and purchase release, DVD and Netflix Instant Streaming
TiMER (indie comedy, Emma Caulfield, John Patrick Amedori) – Netflix Instant Streaming and purchase release, DVD
Green Zone (military action, Matt Damon, Greg Kinnear, Brendan Gleeson, Amy Ryan) Purchase release, DVD and Blu-Ray. Netflix release delayed, reasons unknown.
That last one is a puzzler. It isn’t a Warner Bros. release (it’s Universal) thus I have no idea why the Netflix release is delayed or for how long. I’ll keep an eye on it for you, though. They don’t give this job to chimps, after all.
Will you make the popcorn?
