Blockbuster Blog

6 Inspiring Football Movies in Time for the Super Bowl

Thursday, January 31st, 2013 at 4:41 PM | Posted by: jessewilson
Category: Movies | Tags: Adam Sandler, Denzel Washington, football, Invincible, Remember the Titans, Rudy, Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side, The Little Giants, The Waterboy

Super Bowl XLVII is happening this Sunday between the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens. This promises to be a great game with powerful storylines such as the brother versus brother match-up between head coaches Jim and John Harbaugh, as well as Ray Lewis’s magical postseason finale as he ends his career. That got me thinking about other great football storylines that we’ve seen in the movies. Most of these have the added bonus of being based on real life events. Without further ado, I give you my personal favorite football movies of all time.

6. The Waterboy
Say what you want about Adam Sandler now, but his films during the 90s were fantastic. With the great supporting cast of Henry Winkler and Kathy Bates, The Waterboy is the hilarious tale of a socially inept 30 year-old who becomes the star linebacker of a little-known college after getting made fun of his entire life, eventually leading them to a championship bowl game.
The Waterboy, in my opinion, is one of Sandler’s best works. It’s got a perfect balance of classic Sandler comedy and slapstick with a fun and, at times, touching story. If you like football movies or good comedies, then this one is worth watching again and again.

Great Sports Moment: All of Boucher’s big hits are pretty fun to watch, but my absolute favorite is when the opposing quarterback begs him to not hurt him as Bobby begins gearing up to sack him.

5. Invincible

Invincible tells the inspired-by-a-true-story tale of Vince Papale, a 30 year-old bartender who walked on to the Philadelphia Eagles roster after the new head coach offered open tryouts before the 1976 season. While the film does take some creative licenses, it gives us an inspirational tale about a real guy who did what many claim was impossible. If you’re an Eagles fan, then it’s even better.

Even after he passes the first round of tryouts for the Eagles, it only gets harder as he goes up against current players and the Eagles’ owner who all want him off the team. But with true grit and determination, he proves that he has what it takes to be in the NFL, inspiring a whole city along the way.

Great Sports Moment: On Papale’s first NFL play, it looks like he is going to be the hero … but then gets knocked silly by an opposing football player. It’s great because despite this embarrassment and disappointment, he picks himself up Read More

2012′s Top Movie Rentals and Why We Loved Them – Part 2

Friday, January 25th, 2013 at 5:31 PM | Posted by: jessewilson
Category: Movies, Top Rentals | Tags: Channing Tatum, Denzel Washington, Liam Neeson, Magic Mike, Ryan Reynolds, Safe House, The Campaign, The Grey, The Watch, Will Ferrell

A few days ago, we posted part 1 of the top 2012 movie rentals and why we loved them. We are closing out the list in this post here for the most popular movie rentals (as determined by number of times rented) from the past year and we highlight their best moments.

The Watch

The Watch was another theatrical disappointment for the studio, but killed it in the video rental market. Comedies typically do well as rentals and with the promise of Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller, and Jonah Hill headlining one film, it flew off rental shelves from November though the end of the year.

Why we liked it: Ok, now I’m a sucker for Vince Vaughn movies because I still think he is one of the funniest actors in Hollywood, and he and the rest of the gang in The Watch deliver the laughs here. Sure it gets pretty course at times, but Stiller, Vaughn, and Hill all show they still have great comedic timing. Richard Ayoade also delivers a great dry-humor “nerd” role to round out the foursome during their alien adventures.

Our favorite moment: As a guy, there’s a scene where the gang is in the car doing a stakeout and Vince Vaughn has to take a leak. For you ladies out there, what ensues is exactly what happens in situations like this for most groups of guys.

The Campaign

The 2012 Presidential election was a huge event this past year and the movie The Campaign came out on DVD/Blu-ray right in the thick of it. It appears that many Americans wanted to take a break from the real life political ads and mudslinging to laugh at some fake politicians do some mudslinging of their own.

Why we liked it: You wouldn’t know this from the trailers, but The Campaign is pretty dirty. If you can stomach that though, there are some pretty funny moments in it that are perhaps a little too close to what I imagine real politics is behind the scenes. Either way, Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis portray clueless politicians brilliantly.

Our favorite moment: When Marty Huggins (Galifianakis) brings up a crayoned story that Cam Brady (Ferrell)wrote when he was 8 years-old and claims it’s a communist manifesto. This is hilarious, because while perhaps not as extreme as this, our real life politicians pull stunts like this all the time when digging up the past.

WARNING: The video clip below has explicit language.

Magic Mike

Who would have guessed that a movie about male strippers could be so successful? Well, the year of Channing Tatum continued with this eye-candy feast and women that didn’t want to go check this one out in the theaters certainly weren’t shy about renting it for some Magic Mike “Girls Night In” parties. Read More

5 Reasons Why We Should Be Excited About J.J. Abrams Directing The Next Star Wars

Thursday, January 24th, 2013 at 5:52 PM | Posted by: Dave
Category: Movies

1) Life.
When J.J. Abrams attaches himself to a project, you know you’re going to get a long, winding story filled with great promise that eventually ends in a messy crash filled with unresolved story lines and miles of regret. Just like life. Does Chewbacca really even exist? Maybe he’s nothing more than the deluded mind fracture of Solo after he really “DIDN’T” kill Greedo (No, sorry, screw that, people. Han. Shot. First.). Perhaps the Leah-Solo-Skywalker love triangle isn’t resolved at all. Maybe the Emperor survived the shaft plunge. Maybe, all of this is simply a really bad Yoda premonition. Maybe they all actually died when the Empire blew up Alderaan and everything after that takes place in purgatory (Oh yeah, um, that whole Mr. Ecko thing? Still kind of annoyed about that one).

2) Togetherness.
It’s long been said: There are cat people and then there are dog people. There are Star Wars people and there are Star Trek people. But wait! Abrams is now BOTH. He’s like that fabled half-dog, half-cat creature that lives in Wisconsin and eats farm chickens in the dead of night. He bridges two universes, and now maybe we’ll see the epic crossover we’ve all been waiting for. Luke vs. Spock. Solo vs. Kirk. Ewoks vs. Tribbles. There’s no telling where the new Trek timeline can take us… why not to a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away?

3) More obvious plot devices.
Sometimes, all you need to do is add a monster. Maybe it’s made of smoke. Maybe it’s from another planet. Maybe it’s a polar bear. Maybe it’s an alien polar smoke bear. But all of it means the same thing: Man must conquer his own pettiness. Because greed and hate are made of smoke. And sounds like a freight train. Now that the Empire’s been toppled, maybe Solo and Luke need an intergalactic smoke monster to face—a Force-powered organism that’s consuming everything within its path… ugh. I can’t even finish this sentence.

4) Two words: Regarding Solo.

5) And Hurley.
Personally, I can’t think of a better Jedi knight than Hurley. Can you imagine the Hurley/Yoda dialogue?
HURLEY: Uh… dude? There’s a really big lizard thing over there and it’s really scary.
YODA: Conquer fear, you must. Face it, you will.
HURLEY: What, dude?
YODA: Strong is the force in you. Feel it, you must.
HURLEY: Seriously dude, I don’t understand a word you’re saying.
YODA: Dude, I am not. Jedi, am I.
HURLEY: Dude, are you asking me? Was that a question? Why do you keep saying things all backward like that? And why are you still hanging on my back, dude? You’re getting really heavy. Can we just hang out here until the lizard thing is gone…”

2012′s Top Movie Rentals and Why We Loved Them – Part 1

Thursday, January 24th, 2013 at 3:45 PM | Posted by: jessewilson
Category: Movies, Top Rentals | Tags: 21 Jump Street, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Channing Tatum, Jennifer Lawrence, Marvel, The Avengers, The Expendables 2, The Hunger Games

Well, another year has come and gone and once again Hollywood has done its best to outdo the previous year. Fortunately for movie fans, 2012 did not disappoint (well, that’s not entirely true).

Here at Blockbuster, we see a unique side of the movie industry, the movie rental side. Sometimes a movie performs poorly in theaters, but has a great run as a video rental. Sometimes a movie does great at the theaters and then continues to dominate as a rental too. Either way we’ve listed the top DVD/Blu-ray rentals from 2012 with our favorite moments from each film.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is a great example of the so-so theatrical run turned to rental gold. Sometimes, a movie just isn’t worth paying $10+ per person to see, but to split a $3 rental between a group of friends…sure!

Why we liked it: It’s a reinvented President Lincoln that hunts the undead and is an amazing fighter! What’s not to like?

Our favorite moment: The first time you see Honest Abe wield that silver ax of his and take care of business Quentin Tarantino style.

The Expendables 2

The original Expendables movie proved that just because action stars get old, doesn’t mean that people won’t go pay to see them. The Expendables 2 upped the ante and brought in even more old men to deliver the punches to the world’s bad guys.

Why we like it: Well, obviously, this film franchise rides on the star-power of its overloaded cast. But it’s pretty hard to not enjoy a Read More

The Best 2012 Films You’ve Never Heard Of

Tuesday, January 22nd, 2013 at 1:07 PM | Posted by: jessewilson
Category: Movies | Tags: Aubrey Plaza, Bernie, Bradley Cooper, Dax Shepard, Emily Blunt, Ewan McGregor, Hit & Run, Jake Johnson, Kristen Bell, Mark Duplass, Matthew McConaughey, Safety Not Guaranteed, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, Shirley MacLaine, Tom Arnold, Your Sister's Sister

2012 was a big year for movies. We saw the third highest grossing film of all time, the end of perhaps the greatest superhero trilogy ever made, the start of the latest young adult book-based franchise, and the beginning of another hotly anticipated trilogy that would take us back to Middle-Earth.

And that doesn’t include big surprise hits like Ted, the return of James Bond, and the rebooting of an only 12 year-old mega movie franchise. But amidst all these major movie blockbusters that garnered all the media hype, it was easy to miss some great movies that were in the 2012 lineup. We don’t want you to miss out on these hidden gems, so we wanted to put together a list of the best films from 2012 that you probably don’t even remember coming out.

Hit & Run

It’s not often that action movies with big names like Bradley Cooper and Kristen Bell go under the radar, but this action-comedy about a former getaway driver on the run from his old gang didn’t generate much buzz when it released earlier in 2012.

After spending time in the witness-protection program, Charlie Bronson (Dax Sheperd) vows to get his new girlfriend to LA in time for the interview of a lifetime. Unfortunately, her jealous ex-boyfriend digs up his past and alerts his old crew. Chaos and car chases ensue in this witty film that sees Bradley Cooper playing a neurotic gangster and Tom Arnold as a less-than-proficient US Marshall as they both try to track down Bronson.

If cars, explosions, and clever action one-liners are your movie preference, be sure to pick up Hit & Run soon.

Your Sister’s Sister

Released to only double-digit theaters this past summer, Read More

CES 2013 Summary

Wednesday, January 16th, 2013 at 12:08 PM | Posted by: jessewilson
Category: Technology | Tags: 3D, 3DTV, Blu-ray, Bluetooth, CES, Ultra HD, Winbot

This year’s CES provided much of what we expected and (as usual) a few surprises.

Trends: As opposed to individual stand-out products, I find it interesting to look for trends that appeared in multiple locations. Here are the trends that caught my eye.

1. Expected Trend: As expected, there were 4k TV (or alternately called Ultra HD) everywhere. Admittedly, the pictures can be amazing, however I still doubt there are near term reasons for the average consumer to upgrade. The format is impressive and there seem to be two reasons that (aside from commercial uses) will drive sales. The first is that for screens larger that about 80” there is a marked difference between HD and UHD. The second is 3D. Although 3D TV has failed to take off, there is no denying the impact of films in 3D. The benefit of UHD is that with 3D you get a full HD picture for each eye as opposed to half resolution with regular HD. The other piece of data that came from all of the Ultra HD displays is that up-converted Blu-ray looks great on an UHD set. In fact, many of the UHD sets on the floor were shown using up-converted Blu-ray. The take away here is that Blu-ray has a much longer future as the dominant physical medium than we otherwise might have suspected.

LG Ultra HD TV (4K TV)

2. New Trend: One trend that was new this year was high quality Bluetooth speakers. In previous cycles we’ve seen Bluetooth used for headphones and game controllers, but this year there were a significant number of high quality speakers that you can pair with your phone or other music player. The concept here is that you can move the speaker around (i.e. outside or to the garage) or just leave it on the nightstand to playback high quality music from the device you carry with you all of the time. I’d expect to see more of these speakers going forward. In the future we may have one (or a pair) in every room.

3. Trend in Search of a Need: This year’s technology in search of a need was augmented reality. A number of organizations showcased augmented technology solutions that used tablets or phones to add animation to still objects or add virtual detail to the real world. The challenge here is that none of the displays I saw had any business case or hint of financial purpose. I have no doubt that eventually there will be a good business case… but we haven’t seen one yet.

4. Growing Trend: The internet of things continues to grow. In previous years we’ve seen networked refrigerators and light bulbs and this year just about everything on the show floor included and wi-fi or Bluetooth chip. The future is clear… everything will feed Read More

6 Top Ski/Snowboard Movies

Wednesday, January 9th, 2013 at 12:36 PM | Posted by: jessewilson
Category: Movies | Tags: Aspen Extreme, Dumb and Dumber, Ernest, Extreme Days, Hot Tub Time Machine, Jeff Bridges, Jim Carrey, Jim Varney, John Cusack, Out Cold, Skiing, Snowboard Academy, Snowboarding, Zach Galifianakis

Well, it’s January and in many parts of the country that means cold, ice, and snow. For myself and many other people across the United States and around the world, that means that it’s ski and snowboard season. With that, I’d like to review a handful of movies that have plots based around skiing and/or snowboarding. So love it or hate it, we’re going to list these out anyway.

Extreme Days

Ok, so Extreme Days isn’t a snowboarding movie per se, but it’s a movie about four friends on an epic road trip doing extreme sports, one being snowboarding… while paintballing. This film is an early 2000s classic that I recall being notable for lacking a lot of the content typically seen in PG-13 movies such as swearing, sexual references, course jokes, etc. So if you’re of the more conservative nature, this could be a good one for the kids and family.

Regardless of how you feel about that kind of content, Extreme Days is a film about friends having fun doing all kinds of extreme sports and wild things that young men love to do, including snowboarding. If that isn’t enough to entice you, Extreme Days has Rufio in it in his first major appearance since Hook! Ok, maybe not technically Rufio, but the actor who played him, Dante Basco. Either way, it’s worth checking out the film.

Snowboard Academy

Another ski/snowboard film from the 90s, Snowboard academy parlays the classic formula of skiers versus snowboarders into a winner-takes-all competition between two brothers with opposing winter sports viewpoints. The brothers duke it out on the slopes of their father’s ski resort to determine if snowboarders will be allowed to use the mountain forevermore.

Five favorite Nicolas Cage roles

Monday, January 7th, 2013 at 4:37 PM | Posted by: Dave
Category: Movies | Tags: Coen Brothers, comedies, David Lynch, Drama, Elisabeth Shue, Laura Dern, Nicolas cage, Oscars

Whose birthday is it? NOT. YOURS.

It’s Francis Ford Coppola’s nephew’s birthday, and in that honor, we present our top 5 favorite Nic Cage roles. Why? Because: Nic. Cage.

Movie: Kick-Ass (2010)
Role: Damon Macready/Big Daddy
Why it rocked: This ultra-violent comic book adaptation about a kid who happens to have a really high pain threshold was an instant cult classic. Cage played “Big Daddy,” a Batman-stylized vigilante who had also trained his daughter to be the most lethal 11-year-old on the planet. While we LOVED the movie, Cage gets a tip of the hat for his channeling of 1970s Adam West in this role.
Best line: “Mindy, no more homework, Babydoll. Time for Frank D’Amico to go bye-bye.”

Movie: Vampire’s Kiss (1989)
Role: Peter Lowe
Why it rocked: The story centers around Cage’s Lowe, a literary agent becoming completely unhinged over the course of the movie. Believing himself to have been bitten by a vampire, he spends the rest of the film alternately torturing his secretary, Alva, (Maria Conchita Alonso) and hiding under his couch. It’s pinnacle Cage-Craziness at its finest.
Best line: “Alva, there is no one else in this entire office that I could possibly ask to share such a horrible job. You’re the lowest on the totem pole here, Alva. The lowest. Do you realize that? Every other secretary here has been here longer than you, Alva. Every one. And even if there was someone here who was here even one day longer than you, I still wouldn’t ask that person to partake in such a miserable job as long as you were around. That’s right, Alva. It’s a horrible, horrible job; sifting through old contract after old contract. I couldn’t think of a more horrible job if I wanted to. And you have to do it! You have to or I’ll fire you. You understand? Do you? Good.

Movie: Raising Arizona (1987)
Role: H.I. McDunnough
Why it rocked: Cage plays McDunnough, a parolee petty robber who marries a cop (Holly Hunter), finds out they can’t have kids, then decides to steal one from a family of quintuplets (since they have so many and all). It’s arguably the funniest movie in the Coen Brothers’ canon.
Best line: “…This whole dream, was it wishful thinking? Was I just fleeing reality like I know I’m liable to do? But me and Ed, we can be good too. And it seemed real. It seemed like us and it seemed like, well, our home. If not Arizona, then a land not too far away. Where all parents are strong and wise and capable and all children are happy and beloved. I don’t know. Maybe it was Utah.”

Movie: Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
Role: Ben Sanderson
Why it rocked: Cage plays Ben Sanderson, a depressed alcoholic who has decided to cash in his chips, head to Las Vegas and drink himself to death. Along they way, he falls in love with a hard-hearted prostitute (Elisabeth Shue). It’s not exactly a feel-good movie, but this plummeting descent into an existential tragedy is Cage at his best: ugly, deranged and frenetic.
Best line: “We both know that I’m a drunk. And I know you are a hooker. I hope you understand that I am a person who is totally at ease with that. Which is not to say that I’m indifferent or I don’t care, I do. It simply means that I trust and accept your judgment. “

Movie: Wild at Heart (1990)
Role: Sailor Ripley
Why it rocked: Director David Lynch’s twisted homage to the Wizard of Oz centers on star-crossed lovers Sailor Ripley (Cage) and Lula (Laura Dern), on the run from a succession of hit men hired to kill Ripley. It’s Lynch at his theatre-of-the-absurd finest.
Best line: “This jacket represents a symbol of my individuality, and my belief in personal freedom.”

End of the world movies

Thursday, December 20th, 2012 at 4:51 PM | Posted by: Dave
Category: Movies

It’s the end of the world as we know it

Well, if it really is the end of the world, we can’t tell you how humbled we are that you’ve chosen to spend the last few minutes of existence reading this post. So, we’ll try and keep it short and entertaining. It’s the least we can do. And we don’t think you’ll mind if there are spoilers, since there’s no time left to watch these. On the upside, if the world isn’t ending today, add these movies to your queue and think about just how fortunate we are that we didn’t have to face one of these grisly ends.

COMPLETE ANNIHILATION

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
It’s the only movie on this list where the world really does end. The alien Vogon race needs to clear way the construction of an intergalactic highway. Hey, the requisition was on file for years and nobody here seemed to care enough to file an appeal, so stop yer blubberin’ already. Oh, also: Mos Def.

Honorable mention: Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

TECHNOLOGY IS THE DEVIL

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
After two prequels trying to stop Judgment Day, the inevitable happens and Skynet does finally launch the attack to wipe out mankind. Meanwhile, Clare Danes makes does a whole lot of screaming.

The Matrix (1999)
To be fair, we’re still not entirely sure when everything went belly-up, but the end result is a race of sentient machines who use all mankind as fuel for their existence, which means a lot of pasty people in pods. A small band of rebels led by Laurence Fishburne finds Keanu Reeves and frees him because, duh, he’s the messiah. Yup. Keanu Reeves is going to save mankind.

Honorable mentions: The other Terminator movies, the other Matrix movies

AWW CRAP! ZOMBIES!

Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Zombies. ZOMBIES. DEAR GOD NOT THE ZOMBIES. George Romero’s treatise on the evils of the American consumer culture drops a small band of survivors in a mall and leaves them to their devices, not the least of which is launching a cult phenomena that is now a billion-dollar industry.

I Am Legend (2003)
It’s kind of like a zombie movie in that some kind of virus turns mankind into a new race of rage-filled beasts. On the upside, they’re nocturnal, so you’re mostly safe in the daylight. On the downside, they can think. On the other upside, Will Smith is immune to the disease and he’s a scientist working on a cure. On another downside, the monsters turned his dog into a monster. Damn. We loved that dog.

Honorable mentions: Zombieland and Shaun of the Dead

ALIEN INVASIONS?!

War of the Worlds (2005)
Despite the fact that Orson Welles first go-around on the topic was a radio show that actually incited mass hysteria, Steven Spielberg took another crack a few decades later, reminding everyone that Tom Cruise can still helm a blockbuster.

Mars Attacks (1996)
“We come in peace… “ Mars is inhabited by a race of ugly, skull-faced little monsters who have a warped sense of humor, and they’ve decided it’s time to invade Earth. The only thing standing in their way is a cast of A-list Hollywood stars (Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Annette Benning and Natalie Portman) and the music of Slim Whitman. It’s a Tim Burton movie through and through. But in a good way.

Honorable mentions: Independence Day, The Day the Earth Stood Still

MOTHER NATURE: THIS TIME, IT’S PERSONAL

2012 (2009)
Solar flares are like zombie hordes in sunlight form—wreaking havoc on everything in their path. In 2012, said flares heat up the Earth’s core, triggering an apocalyptic event that pretty much hoarks civilization as we know it. All we’re left with is Jon Cusack and Amanda Peete and a couple of really big boats.

Knowing (2009)
You’re led to think aliens are the bad guys in this one… but then, maybe not. Nicholas Cage isn’t stoked to find out his son is hearing voices and being followed by some men-in-blackish weirdos. Turns out, his son is one of the chosen children who are going to be saved by an alien race when an insanely huge solar flare cooks the planet and everyone on it.

Honorable Mention: The Day After Tomorrow

THE APOCALYPSE ALREADY HAPPENED AND NOW EVERYTHING IS ALL DUSTY AND VIOLENT

The Book of Eli
Think Mad Max except better in just about every way (except for the kid with the boomerang blade thingie). Denzel Washington is a sword-wielding loner on a mission to deliver a very special book to a very special place where it can help restart civilization. One snag: Gary Oldman. He wants that book, and he’s willing to do anything to get it. Annoyingly preachy Christian undercurrent aside, it’s the best of this saturated genre.

Planet of the Apes (1968)
Astronaut Charlton Heston crash lands on a planet where man is an enslaved creature. The slave masters? Rubbery-faced apes. But here’s the thing. It’s not just any planet Heston landed on. It’s the EARTH OF THE FUTURE! NOOOOOOOOooooo!

Honorable mentions: Mad Max, Waterworld (mostly just ’cause we can’t figure out why everyone’s dusty in a world filled with water), The Road

IT’S A GIANT SPACE ROCK! EVERYBODY PANIC!

Deep Impact (1998)
What starts as an apparent political scandal erupts into a full-blown Extinction Level Event, uncovered by everyone’s favorite budding investigative broadcast reporter, Tea Leoni. Morgan Freeman also proves Morgan Freeman would make an awesome President.

Honorable mention: Armageddon

3 Cheesy Hallmark Christmas Movies You Should Watch This Christmas

Monday, December 17th, 2012 at 5:04 PM | Posted by: jessewilson
Category: Movies | Tags: A Christmas Wish, Doris Roberts, Hallmark, James Van Der Beek, Mrs. Miracle, The Christmas Choir

If you like cheesy Christmas films…

The holidays are a time for family, friends, love, and of course, plenty of cheesy Christmas movies. I’m not talking about the big-budget Christmas films that hit the theaters with stars like Vince Vaughn and Will Ferrell, I mean the annual parade of holiday movies touted on channels like Hallmark, Lifetime, and ABC Family.

Let’s be honest here, there are a lot of bad films out there under the Christmas banner, and sadly, I’ve probably seen them. But let’s talk for a minute about which movies are actually worth watching if you can stomach all sappiness and cheesiness (warning: there is a lot). And yes, I have actually seen all of these films.