Ed's Review Dot Com

Last year I did a special project over the holidays where I reviewed 122 Holiday Movies that are often repeated year after year.  This year I want to continue the process, but without repeating those I already completed.   You can tell the special Christmas film reviews with a
** Movie Title, rather than the “Movie Review – Title” format you’re used to. (The two little stars represent snowflakes.) 🙂  I also put the text in a holiday green!   

Be sure to watch for the special holiday reviews and enjoy yourself over the holidays.  Take a few moments to slow down and watch Hallmark and Fa-La-La-La-Lifetime a bit and enjoy a few hours of hope and faith in the principle of peace on Earth and goodwill towards men. I will also be adding a special page on the main menu that will show a list of the hundred or so Holiday films that I’ve already reviewed. When looking at the TV schedule, you can refer to my reviews to help choose the one’s I think are the good ones and avoid the clinkers!!!

Also there are a few Thanksgiving films too on the list! They might be in Autumn Brown!!

And remember what our good buddy “Buddy” says:  “The best way to spread Christmas cheer is to sing loud for all to hear!”

Well, if you’re a NetFlix subscriber as I have been since 2003, you got the email. Netflix is changing the rules. The are separating DVD’s from Streaming.

Now I have to admit, I’ve seen this coming for a long time. If you remember a few years ago, they raised rates rather steeply to keep up with the cost of mailing DVDs. That has to be a pain, postage, packaging, not to mention the lost and stolen DVD’s. They’ve complained for a long time about the costs of mailing DVD’s and have been looking for a device to attach to your TV set or an app to send to your iPad to allow you to download from them which I am sure is lower cost. However, the DVD plan, even though they’ve complained bitterly about losing money on the system, must have had something going for it, as it sure played havoc with all the brick and mortar rental stores. How many times do I remember fast forwarding through VHS tapes to try to get it done by 10:40 so I could run to Wherehouse and turn in the tape before they locked the door at 11:00 only to get there and find three guys inside the window laughing at me for the $4.00 late fee I was about to get.

But if you recall, after the big price increase, Blockbuster got into the DVD mailing mode with a plus over Netflix. They still had a few brick and mortar stores, so you could finish the DVD, run to the store instead of to the mailbox, and get a new one for free from your mail DVD program at the Blockbuster store. Then Redbox and a number of competitors came around and brought the game to another level. The price increase didn’t last very long, and not only was reversed, but actually they were forced to drop the price.

So why didn’t Blockbuster’s program kick NetFlix out of the game? One reason, and the reason why NetFlix Watch Instantly is not acceptable as well; Content!!!

NetFlix had EVERYTHING under the sun! Foreign films from all over the world. Obscure films from 15 years ago. Classic’s from the Black and White and Silent Movie eras. Everything.

My favorite thing from NetFlix is the new releases. Those who read this blog know that every Tuesday I’m looking at the new releases out on DVD. I hate the delays on some features that are released as Blockbuster Exclusives and such, but I can live with that. But that content that makes NetFlix DVD service so extremely awesome just isn’t there on Watch Instantly yet. They are adding some newer films (not all 1980’s TV Movies like it used to be), especially with the Starz connection, but it’s just not got near the content that the DVD collection has. Maybe some day it will.

Now there is a new fad of watching the previous seasons of that TV show that you love, where you missed the previous years. I personally watched every office episode for the 2 or 3 years I didn’t know about it. Some people are into this big time, and that’s a good use for a streaming account at a low cost. But if you want to watch new release movies, you have to keep both accounts and it’s simply a way to increase the cost.

So it is a good idea for NetFlix or a rip off for the loyal customers that have had the service for years and years and years. I guess that remains to be seen. I know many people are cancelling their accounts right and left, but many more a signing up at the same time due to all the publicity (Bad press is still press, and all press is good).

Will I keep both accounts? Well for now I have to, but I’ll be looking closely at dumping the DVD service and switching to Redbox. I have setup a Redbox account, and I like the idea that they are all around me. I can login on-line and reserve a particular movie at one of the grocery stores close by, pick it up, and return it anywhere. It also shows me other locations that have the one I want when the usual grocery store is out of it. That’s pretty hot! So I’m definitely going to try that out, and see how it works. It may allow me to dump the DVD service from NetFlix altogether. I’ll definitely have to give it a lot of thought.

As to whether it will work out for NetFlix or not, I am not sure the whole TV appliance thing is going to work out. There is going to be fierce competition in that field, and the content owners and cable and satellite providers may win that out on that one. I don’t see why I need a third party in the middle. So NetFlix may be shooting themselves in the foot here, as the DVD mailing service is what made them, and they’re dissing their best customers. We shall have to wait and see.

If you have any opinion on NetFlix and the new pricing schedule, or Redbox, or anything else in the market, be sure to let me know. I’ve seen other brands besides RedBox (Blockbuster and AM-PM have them too and more). I wonder if Redbox is the leader or if one of the others is better. Let me know your $.02 and what works best for you.

Hope you’re enjoying the great summer of movies!

–Ed of EdsReview

Happy July 4th to all the U.S. readers. No post today, but we’ll be back tomorrow with some more new reviews.

Meanwhile, Enjoy the barbecue and the fireworks and relax and maybe watch a good movie!

–Ed of Ed’s Review

Movie Rentals Releasing Tuesday June 29, 2011

• Sucker Punch
• Beastly
• Season of the Witch
• The Warrior’s Way
• Barney’s Version
• 3 Backyards

Greetings readers,

Last week I rambled on about Traffic Exchanges. In the last week it’s been buzzing over there. I found a lot of people who were fans of EdsReview and know me from this blog. A common question is “What’s a good movie out in the theater now.” That’s a lot like asking, “What flavor of ice cream is the best?” Everyone has a different answer. But I can only warn them that it’s my opinion, and what I like is only what I like. If you don’t believe me, ask the folks at film school who were huge fans of The Fantastic Mr. Fox what they think of my negative review of the film. I made a lot of enemies that day!

But it’s fine to disagree. I love to chat, and am happy when anyone wants to drop a comment or two whether you agree with the review, or not. Especially if you disagree! Also, I often want to know what other people think of other films. I’ve watched more than 5000 movies in the last 10 years, so I’m always happy for someone who wants to ask, “What did you think about such and such?”

Well, I had quite a few referrals on the new traffic exchange [Shockwave-Traffic.com], and even a couple on [TopHits4U.com] which was my first membership. That and [HorrorMovieHits.com] which is a monster movie themed traffic exchange. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you can read the post from last Tuesday, 6/21/2011 which explains the concept in detail.

We’re going through a few more weeks of slim DVD releases, then it’s going to break loose, it looks like, in mid-July. It’ll be nice in the warm summer evenings to have some cool new DVD’s to see. Can’t wait.

–Ed of EdsReview.com

http://www.edsreview.com/wp-admin/edit.php

I have visitors here in Southern California from back on the East Coast. They arrived from a cruise to the Mexican Riviera yesterday early in the morning. I was going to spend the morning showing them some of the sights and sounds of SoCal while driving them up to Burbank. We saw some of the sites around the port, the Colosseum, USC, Downtown, Staples Center, and so on, and the plan was to drop them off quickly at the Kodak Theater (They are big American Idol Fans) and let them walk up a half a block to see the Chinese Theater and admire the hand prints and foot prints in the cement that every tourist wants to see. Imagine my dismay when Hollywood Blvd. was blocked off right before the Kodak. There was a bunch of stuff in the street and a lot of people standing around. Sunday morning around 11AM?

I pulled into the underground garage under the Kodak and we went up to see what was going on. First thing we saw was a giant suited panda rollicking on a red carpet and a lot of signs about Kung Fu Panda 2 which is coming out next weekend. Hmmm. The crowd was not too deep, so we crept closer and a line of limo’s pulled up one by one and dropped off their load at the end of the red carpet.

First out was Dustin Hoffman, and he was really friendly stopping for a long time to sign autographs, take pictures, and talk to the fans. Then we saw Jean Claude Van Damme who absolutely the most excited one of the group. He ran back and forth across the street meeting and greeting everybody. What a really nice guy. Lucy Liu came out and looked cute in a little white frilly dress, but she disappeared inside really fast.

Then the crowd roared when Brad and Angelina got out. Angelina looking absolutely regal in a long slinkly black gown, and Brad looking cool and comfortable in a brown outfit. They also stopped and signed a bunch of autographs of photos and posters the crowd had.

Seth Rogan and Danny McBride were also there and happy to meet as many fans as they could.

We worked our way across the street and saw the Disney Soda Fountain and the El Capitan, then realized that there was a stage and a line of reporters from Entertainment Tonight, Extra, Inside Edition, and others inteviewing the stars. We found that we arrived a little late to see Jack Black get out of his Limo, but he was there up on the stage being interviewed a few feet away and we got lots of pictures. I understand James Hong was also there, but somehow missed him.

I was really impressed how friendly everyone was, and how kind of them to stop and talk to fans, sign autographs, and take lots of pictures. I would never have the guts to sit outside 72 hours to find a spot in the stands to watch the academy awards, but this event was not that crowded, and there was room right up front to stand and visit with the stars. What a serendipitous event.

The total cost of parking was a mere $6.00 and it was an experience of a lifetime. Something us locals and those visiting from far away will never forget stumbling into quite by accident. Best wishes to the gang on the KFP Sequel and I hope it does well at the box office. But more than that, I want to thank the voice stars for coming out and spending the time to meet the fans and I’m sure it was much appreciated by ALL. It was a special experience.

Here is the Official Website for Kung Fu Panda 2!

Here is cool media coverage of the event

Lots more pictures from the LA Times

Below is some YouTube coverage of the event