Some movies were just made to be seen in high def. Sure, you can enjoy the fast-paced action of Casino Royale or the sweeping aerial shots of Planet Earth on standard DVD, but watching them on Blu-ray brings them to a whole new level of raditude (it’s a word).
Here are some of our favorite movies to watch on Blu-ray (to add one to your Queue, follow the link, then click “See All Versions”):
2001: A Space Odyssey
3:10 to Yuma
Casino Royale
Band of Brothers
Batman Begins
The Dark Knight
Baraka
Into the Wild
Iron Man
Kill Bill, Vol. 1
Kill Bill, Vol. 2
No Country for Old Men
The Bourne Supremacy
Planet Earth
I know what some of you are thinking: “Hey, chief, that’s all well and good, but I don’t have a Blu-ray player. How does this benefit me?” First of all, please don’t call me chief. Second, **completely unsubtle hint** maybe you should play our Blu-ray Days trivia tomorrow. For details on the trivia giveaways, see our earlier post on Blu-ray Days.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Our Favorite Movie Moms
Mother’s Day is May 10, and we’ve put together a list of movies and TV shows featuring some magnificent moms. So whether your mother put up with teenage hijinks like Maggie Seaver, or protected you from a time-traveling, cybernetic killing machine bent on the destruction of all mankind like Sarah Connor, we salute her and moms everywhere.
Growing Pains
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Family Ties
Juno
Baby Boom
Because I Said So
The Jeffersons
Terms of Endearment
Steel Magnolias
The Brady Bunch
Children of Men
The Addams Family
Erin Brockovich
Baby Mama
The Cosby Show
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Bewitched
One Day at a Time
Weeds
Forrest Gump
Almost Famous
Leave it to Beaver
If you’re looking for some movies to watch with your favorite lady, check out our Movies for Mom list.
Growing Pains
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Family Ties
Juno
Baby Boom
Because I Said So
The Jeffersons
Terms of Endearment
Steel Magnolias
The Brady Bunch
Children of Men
The Addams Family
Erin Brockovich
Baby Mama
The Cosby Show
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Bewitched
One Day at a Time
Weeds
Forrest Gump
Almost Famous
Leave it to Beaver
If you’re looking for some movies to watch with your favorite lady, check out our Movies for Mom list.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Blu-ray Days
As I’ve said before, we love Blu-ray here at BLOCKBUSTER Online. We’re totally down with high-def, which turns a normal family movie night into a first-class trip to Awesome Town. That’s one of the reasons we don’t charge extra to rent Blu-ray movies online.
But how much do we love the Blu-ray? Over the next couple of weeks, you’ll find out.
You may have noticed we’ve changed our blog and Twitter colors blue, but that’s not all we have up our sleeve. Our big plans include Blu-ray-themed blog posts, plus trivia and daily giveaways via Twitter.
How do you get in on all this sweet action? First, check the blog regularly. Next, make sure you’re following us on Twitter. We’ll tweet a new trivia question each business day at 2pm Central for the next two weeks. The first person to correctly answer the question will win one of many sweet prizes, like a Blu-ray movie, BLOCKBUSTER GiftCard, free trial of BLOCKBUSTER Total Access, or even a Blu-ray player!
Happy Blu-ray Days!
PS—Here are the official giveaway rules, as written by our wise team of lawyers. Heed them!
But how much do we love the Blu-ray? Over the next couple of weeks, you’ll find out.
You may have noticed we’ve changed our blog and Twitter colors blue, but that’s not all we have up our sleeve. Our big plans include Blu-ray-themed blog posts, plus trivia and daily giveaways via Twitter.
How do you get in on all this sweet action? First, check the blog regularly. Next, make sure you’re following us on Twitter. We’ll tweet a new trivia question each business day at 2pm Central for the next two weeks. The first person to correctly answer the question will win one of many sweet prizes, like a Blu-ray movie, BLOCKBUSTER GiftCard, free trial of BLOCKBUSTER Total Access, or even a Blu-ray player!
Happy Blu-ray Days!
PS—Here are the official giveaway rules, as written by our wise team of lawyers. Heed them!
Monday, April 20, 2009
Nature Strikes Back
Earth Day is this week, and we hope that you’ll go out and do something nice for the planet on Wednesday, whether it’s replacing standard light bulbs with CFLs, starting a recycling program, planting a tree or something equally laudable.
But if movies have taught us anything, it’s that sometimes nature can be a real jerk. There are literally hundreds of examples (note: “literally” might not be the right word, since I’m too lazy to look it up) from cinema where the environment/nature comes after humans. I’m talking tornados, giant storms, animal attacks, volcanoes, and even huge objects hurtling toward us from space. Seriously — a gargantuan space-rock that leads to the death of Bruce Willis? That’s just messed up, Mother Nature. So please go out and support the Earth this week. But watch your back.
This is what I’m talking about:
The Perfect Storm
Twister
Deep Impact
Armageddon
Jaws
Deep Blue Sea
The Edge
The Birds
Poseidon
The Day After Tomorrow
The Happening
Lake Placid
Deadliest Catch
The Great Outdoors
Dante’s Peak
Volcano
Earthquake
But if movies have taught us anything, it’s that sometimes nature can be a real jerk. There are literally hundreds of examples (note: “literally” might not be the right word, since I’m too lazy to look it up) from cinema where the environment/nature comes after humans. I’m talking tornados, giant storms, animal attacks, volcanoes, and even huge objects hurtling toward us from space. Seriously — a gargantuan space-rock that leads to the death of Bruce Willis? That’s just messed up, Mother Nature. So please go out and support the Earth this week. But watch your back.
This is what I’m talking about:
The Perfect Storm
Twister
Deep Impact
Armageddon
Jaws
Deep Blue Sea
The Edge
The Birds
Poseidon
The Day After Tomorrow
The Happening
Lake Placid
Deadliest Catch
The Great Outdoors
Dante’s Peak
Volcano
Earthquake
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Non-Linear Movies
Today we have a guest writer: blogger/BLOCKBUSTER Online employee/all around swell guy Randy Hoyt.
Most movies present events in chronological order, one event following the other in a linear fashion. This is not surprising, since we experience the real world in chronological order. But some movies, often categorized as "non-linear" movies, present events in some alternative order to achieve certain effects.
The enjoyment that many movies provide comes from the tension or the suspense of not knowing the ending of the story. Non-linear movies often turn this around by showing the ending first. The movie Bandits (2001), for example, opens with a scene that occurs near the end of the story. The characters played by Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thornton are involved in a bank robbery that has gone awry. The events from earlier in the story are then presented in between moments from this robbery. A different kind of suspense is created as you puzzle over how their early nonviolent and even fun nighttime robberies turn into the heavily-armed robbery in broad daylight.
Non-linear movies often have some connection to memory. Although we experience the world in chronological order, we do not remember it that way. All the events we have experienced exist in our memories simultaneously, and our recent memories are much more vivid and easier to recall to mind than our earlier memories. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) takes advantage of this aspect of memory in its non-linear presentation. The characters played by Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet both have each other erased from their memories. During the erasing procedure, we travel through the memories of Jim Carrey’s character in (more or less) reverse chronological order to see the couple break up, then grow cold towards each other, then fall deeply in love, and then meet for the first time. The story of their relationship is incredibly powerful when presented in this manner.
Here’s a short list of some good non-linear movies to get you started. What others do you recommend?
• Intolerance (1916)
• La Strada (1954)
• Two For The Road (1967)
• Pulp Fiction (1994)
• Mulholland Dr. (2001)
• Memento (2001)
• 21 Grams (2003)
• The Fountain (2006)
• Babel (2007)
• Vantage Point (2008)
• Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
Most movies present events in chronological order, one event following the other in a linear fashion. This is not surprising, since we experience the real world in chronological order. But some movies, often categorized as "non-linear" movies, present events in some alternative order to achieve certain effects.
The enjoyment that many movies provide comes from the tension or the suspense of not knowing the ending of the story. Non-linear movies often turn this around by showing the ending first. The movie Bandits (2001), for example, opens with a scene that occurs near the end of the story. The characters played by Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thornton are involved in a bank robbery that has gone awry. The events from earlier in the story are then presented in between moments from this robbery. A different kind of suspense is created as you puzzle over how their early nonviolent and even fun nighttime robberies turn into the heavily-armed robbery in broad daylight.
Non-linear movies often have some connection to memory. Although we experience the world in chronological order, we do not remember it that way. All the events we have experienced exist in our memories simultaneously, and our recent memories are much more vivid and easier to recall to mind than our earlier memories. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) takes advantage of this aspect of memory in its non-linear presentation. The characters played by Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet both have each other erased from their memories. During the erasing procedure, we travel through the memories of Jim Carrey’s character in (more or less) reverse chronological order to see the couple break up, then grow cold towards each other, then fall deeply in love, and then meet for the first time. The story of their relationship is incredibly powerful when presented in this manner.
Here’s a short list of some good non-linear movies to get you started. What others do you recommend?
• Intolerance (1916)
• La Strada (1954)
• Two For The Road (1967)
• Pulp Fiction (1994)
• Mulholland Dr. (2001)
• Memento (2001)
• 21 Grams (2003)
• The Fountain (2006)
• Babel (2007)
• Vantage Point (2008)
• Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Finales
Having some favorite TV shows to look forward to every week is comforting, like when your mom used to make hot dog octopi for dinner. It becomes such a part of your routine that a season or series finale can really bring you down. It’s nothing earth shattering — we’re not dealing with missiles here — but it is kind of a bummer.
Some recent season/series finales that have made me and others on the Online Content team all frowny-face include Burn Notice, Psych, and of course Battlestar Galactica.
So how do you fill the void? You could learn a new trade, get out there and meet new people, take classes to expand your mind, or volunteer at a local charity. Or you could be like me — avoid any sort of engaging, socially responsible activities, and just find a new TV series to rent on DVD.
Here are some series that are perfect for putting the Seven Stages of Finale Grief behind you (please note that I habitually deal in superlatives, but these really are some of the best shows out there):
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
This is the funniest show on TV right now. Ironically, it’s also the one that I miss the most after the finale each year. Sort of like Seinfeld, but the characters have less redeeming qualities.
The Wire
Best show ever!
Mad Men
Just started this, but it’s a good one. Follow the exploits of 60s ad guys as they booze, womanize, and create the modern ad industry. Since my background is in advertising, I especially like it.
Arrested Development
This is the funniest show ever to grace the small screen. For serious.
Psych
Quirky USA show about a fake psychic detective agency. Featuring Dulé Hill from The West Wing!
The West Wing
Speaking of The West Wing, it’s fantastic.
Burn Notice
Another USA show that I really like. Kind of like an updated A Team, only with Bruce Campbell as Face.
30 Rock
Super smart funniness from Tina Fey.
Magnum PI
No explanation necessary.
Hope that helps soothe your television-troubled souls.
Some recent season/series finales that have made me and others on the Online Content team all frowny-face include Burn Notice, Psych, and of course Battlestar Galactica.
So how do you fill the void? You could learn a new trade, get out there and meet new people, take classes to expand your mind, or volunteer at a local charity. Or you could be like me — avoid any sort of engaging, socially responsible activities, and just find a new TV series to rent on DVD.
Here are some series that are perfect for putting the Seven Stages of Finale Grief behind you (please note that I habitually deal in superlatives, but these really are some of the best shows out there):
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
This is the funniest show on TV right now. Ironically, it’s also the one that I miss the most after the finale each year. Sort of like Seinfeld, but the characters have less redeeming qualities.
The Wire
Best show ever!
Mad Men
Just started this, but it’s a good one. Follow the exploits of 60s ad guys as they booze, womanize, and create the modern ad industry. Since my background is in advertising, I especially like it.
Arrested Development
This is the funniest show ever to grace the small screen. For serious.
Psych
Quirky USA show about a fake psychic detective agency. Featuring Dulé Hill from The West Wing!
The West Wing
Speaking of The West Wing, it’s fantastic.
Burn Notice
Another USA show that I really like. Kind of like an updated A Team, only with Bruce Campbell as Face.
30 Rock
Super smart funniness from Tina Fey.
Magnum PI
No explanation necessary.
Hope that helps soothe your television-troubled souls.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Clarification: Blu-ray prices in-store
We originally posted yesterday that Blu-ray prices in BLOCKBUSTER stores are the same as standard DVD prices. A little clarification is in order — Blu-ray DVD rentals cost the same as new release DVDs.
There may be some franchise stores (franchises make up about 15% of our stores, nationwide) that charge more for Blu-ray, but none of our corporate-owned stores do. Hope that helps, and sorry for any confusion!
There may be some franchise stores (franchises make up about 15% of our stores, nationwide) that charge more for Blu-ray, but none of our corporate-owned stores do. Hope that helps, and sorry for any confusion!
