I HEART REDBOX

NEW IN TOWN Movie Review

2009-06-02T17:57:00.000-07:00

On a scale of 1 to 5 this movie is about a 1.5 This movie wasn't terrible...it was just....well, there was nothing THERE. No chemistry between the characters, strictly formulaic storyline with a typically "convenient" only-in-the-movies plot twist resolution culminating all events into a WAYyyy too predictable HAPPY ENDING.

I'm not a Zellweger fan. I find her plastic surgery (gone wrong) too distracting. When you've had too much collagen or other injections in your lips or the injections were done badly, you end up with permanently disfigured lips like Zellwegers. When your face or forehead doesn't move when you talk...that's NOT normal. The always shiny skin is another dead giveaway.

Harry Connick Jr. is OKAY in this movie. He's not great & he's not terrible. He's just there. No sparkle & no shine...just average.

Overall, this movie was like the commercial for P.J. McBland's "It tastes like cardboard, but there's lots of it."

TAKEN Movie Review - REDBOX

2009-05-19T15:32:00.000-07:00

Rarely do I recommend an action flick, but this movie was exceptional.

At first I thought this was going to be the typical coming-of-age offering from the movie mills of hollyweird.

Instead, I found this to be an action-packed, suspenseful film. Better than 007. More believable too. There were a few travel NO-NO's subtly shown in this film that I will definitely ALWAYS remember.

It's not an entirely "happy ending" in this film, but due to the subject matter I really wouldn't have expected one.

There are a few things that always irk me about action films in general. How come the bad guys are such lousy shots? How come a semi-automatic rifle never hits the good guy yet the good guy, armed with only a pistol is a dead shot every time. And just as the hero runs out of ammo he conveniently disarms another bad guy for his gun....how "convenient"

I know...IT'S ONLY A MOVIE...don't over analyze, right? Even with these glaring gaffes it was a decent film.

There IS no FREE LUNCH!

2009-05-19T15:26:00.000-07:00

MONDAY MOVIE freebie codes are over.
Yes, of course I'm sad.

But ..... the codes did the trick.
FREE got my attention long enough to try it.
Now that I've tried REDBOX, I'm hooked.

I'm certainly not going back to paying $4.29 per rental at LACKLUSTER!
$1.06 (with tax) per night is a STEAL!
I can reserve online at ANY redbox and I can return to ANY redbox.
(How's THAT for convenience?)

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button REVIEW

2009-05-06T20:16:00.000-07:00

This movie seemed 3 hours long.

I realize this movie won awards galore, but I wasn't WOW-ed by this movie at all.

The "special effects" / aging or anti-aging makeup was laughable.

I did like the STORY but they dragged it out so long that it lost any emotional effect it could have had.

Not a single tear shed during this movie...and I was ready for the rain.

My Husband, the "Crier"

2009-04-29T08:09:00.000-07:00

The whole family watched BRIDE WARS last night.

My husband cried ..... AGAIN!
Even 13 year old son was a little teary-eyed.

The MEN in my family were more moved than I was. WHAT GIVES?

I mean, I've cried at movies, but never have the MEN cried while I remained dry-eyed.

Definitely a first.

New Release Tuesday 04-28-09

2009-04-28T05:35:00.000-07:00

A June release of this movie would have been more fitting for the movie Bride Wars.

My husband was the one who requested I rent this as soon as it came out. (I know, right? And yes he's totally hetero.)

We saw this movie in the theater and Ithought it was O-kay. Not great, not hilarious...just a good movie. Hopefully there are some funny outtakes or bloopers in the special features of the DVD.

Has anyone else noticed that DVD's have less special features than they used to? I really believe this is due to the continued resistance of consumers to the BLUE-RAY market. Many people, like myself, see no reason to change from DVD format because they feel it is uneccessary.

DVD's can hold an incredible amount of information. I can get enhanced sound, sometimes even 7.1 sourround and loads of special features on a disc that plays on a standard DVD player. DVD's have become very affordable...Blue Ray discs on the other hand tout enhanced special features and sound as well as an enhanced price and also need an expensive Blue ray Disc player to play them.

I say no thanks. Regular DVD works for me.

The Wrestler - Review

2009-04-25T13:20:00.000-07:00

A better name for this movie might have been BOOBS, BLOOD & BRUISES.

Maybe this is more of a guy flick...I stopped watching this movie about 1/4 of the way in. I might try watching this film again later this week.

This film reminds me of the morbid fascination that drivers on the expressway have as they rubberneck an accident scene. There's always the possibility you might see a crumpled wreck, blood or an ambulance & if you do, then it makes you thankful it's not your life.

Mickey Rourke's performance seemed gritty, desperate and real. Maybe that's why I couldn't bear to watch it. I had a hard time not being distracted by his appearance. (His body by steriods and his face by plastic surgeon.)

While I might not have seen the entire film, I did think Mickey Rourke's acting was outstanding. Marissa Tomei was in incredible physical shape and her character only added to the feeling of seediness and desperation in the beginning of the film.

I usually stick to comedy, drama, documentaries or romance. This movie (what I saw of it) made me feel sad and slightly creeped-out.

Blockbuster vs. REDBOX

2009-04-23T08:23:00.001-07:00

WOW This is a stop the presses moment!

Blockbuster sees more than 10,000 kiosks by end-2010

About a month ago I asked the assistant manager of west Bend WI Blockbuster if he thought the Redbox kiosk across the street at Walgreens was going to hurt their business at all. He said NO! rather emphatically.

Yesterday Blockbuster announced that they will have dvd vending kiosks before the end of the year. The price point for the rentals will be $1.00 per night. Sound familiar?

It's gearing up to be a "Battle Royale" folks. RedBox already has placement in Walgreens, Walmart and McDonalds and they are already well established, BUT...BlockBuster has better name recognition and has access to more studios and movie releases.

Realistically does blockbuster even NEED a storefront anymore? Between the streaming movie rentals online concept they are copying from Netflix & the dvd rental kiosk concept (ALA redbox)

Will Blockbuster be able to stave off bankruptcy by integrating these 2 platforms into their business plan? Is another company going to buy them out?

Things that make you go hmmmmmm.

Gawd I love FREEBIE movies!

2009-04-20T19:39:00.000-07:00

I rented 2 movies today with freebie code M6FR97.

Cake Eaters starring kristin Stewart (Twilight)

and BENJI for the kiddies.

YAY! the new releases come out tomorrow!

I can't wait to see THE WRESTLER.

I've avoided reading any reviews so I can enjoy the movie completely.

CoinStar buys out McDonald's share in REDBOX

2009-04-19T15:20:00.000-07:00

I was thinking about what a great idea RedBox is. The use of vending machines for videos is only going to increase. I rent very rarely at BlockBuster now that I use RedBox.

I was curious if RedBox was a franchise business you could buy into ...so I started google-ing. Redbox is owned solely by Coinstar. Sadly Redbox cannot be franchised but there are other similar DVD rental kiosk businesses that you can buy into. Some of these kiosk franchises I looked into are DVDNOW, VendVision, DVMatic, and DVDPlay.

There was not much info from people who actually owned DVD rental kiosks, but I did find a great blog REALWEBTODAY.COM from a guy who was an owner and sold his kiosks off. He goes into the daily details and the user comments were great.

Overall, I believe that kiosks like REDBOX will become a part of our daily life. A kiosk for magazines & current best seller paperbacks would be great at an airport! Japan has kiosks all over the place so I'm sure we are just catching up.

The Day the Earth Stood Still - Review

2009-04-16T21:54:00.000-07:00

The Day the Earth Stood Still
Starring: Jennifer Connelly,Kathy Bates,Keanu Reeves

A remake of the 1951 classic sci-fi film about an alien visitor and his giant robot counterpart who visit Earth.

Is it just me, or does Keanu's expression NEVER change? Don't get me wrong...I've been a fan since Point Break, but I find it hard to get immersed in the movie when I don't "believe" in a character.

Jennifer Connelly was a solid presence but it was Will Smith's son (Jaden Smith) who stole most of the scenes...not because of his acting, but because his hair was so distracting. Kathy bates had a small role and it was a surprise to see John Cleese with a teeny bit part. James Hong (Kung-Fu) also had a small role.

I always have a hard time watching movies that are remakes. I felt like I was missing half the story with this version...or maybe it was because I found myself comparing the movies as I was watching. The original is still better in my opinion.

This movie had the potential to be so much more. It was a good movie, but not great.

WIN 24 rentals & buckets of popcorn from REDBOX

2009-04-14T13:15:00.000-07:00

REDBOX sweepstakes found in issue #5 (May 22) of ALL YOU magazine. www.allyou.com/giveaways

Win certificates for 24 REDBOX DVD rentals and 24 buckets of Orville Redenbacher's popcorn.

Sweepstakes starts 12:01 a.m. April 17 and ends 11:59 p.m. 5/21/09

(The current giveaway will show up in the link until April 17.)

FREEBIE MONDAY MOVIE

2009-04-13T21:30:00.000-07:00

Today I used code J89LA2 to rent Brideshead Revisited from REDBOX.

"When the charming aristcrat Sebastian invites Charles Ryder to his family's estate, Charles becomes seduced by the opulent lifestyle of the Marchmain family, and by Julia, Sebastian's sister. As their romance deepens, repercussions follow, and Charles discovers that at Brideshead, love, money and power come at a price."

I plan on watching this movie tomorrow while it's cold and rainy outside. Carpy weather is always much nicer if viewed from inside, right?

I really do HEART Redbox!

2009-04-13T21:00:00.000-07:00

In the 1990's I was a BUYER. I bought any cd or dvd as soon as it came out. I didn't think about it, I just did it.

Enter the Y2K era and beyond...I discovered Blockbuster. Instead of buying I was now renting.

When "no more late fees" was introduced I became a power renter. Every new release Tuesday I would be there at open. I would often get my 2 free new releases a month and still rent more. (That meant I would rent over 10 movies a month!)

As we rang in 2009 I noticed the price of rentals increased...to me, dramatically. It is now $4.29 for each rental. They like to tell you the new release is due the next day even though it's really a week rental. You can keep the rental for 29 days if you pay an extra $1.32...I know a lot of people that save the freebie rental for games (games are $8.99 for 5 nights) so, use the freebie for a game rental...pay the extra $1.32 and keep it for a WHOLE MONTH...well, no wonder Blockbuster is filing for bankruptcy, right?

I first noticed these REDBOX kiosks in my area last year. It took me over a year before I actually investigated what these things were.

I was reading a great blog JANE4GIRLS when I came across a mention of REDBOX freebie code. I guess it took the magic word "FREE" for me to finally try REDBOX.

I am officially a convert. I asked the assistant manager of my local Blockbuster if he felt REDBOX would hurt his business. He answered very quickly "NO", but I don't think he understands the gravity of the situation.

REDBOX is at 2 VERY convenient locations in my small town already.
It's open 24 hours, it's $1.06 with tax or FREE with a code
you can reserve online.
REDBOX gets most of the SAME new releases
REDBOX gets new releases the SAME day Blockbuster does.

Actually you can get your REDBOX rentals at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday if you want to...compared to the 10 a.m. open time at Blockbuster.

So, really....what's the advantage to renting at Blockbuster as opposed to REDBOX? Paying $3+ dollars more for your rental?? It certainly can't be the customer service!