January 16, 2008
http://netflix.com sent out emails to their customers who are subscribed to any plan greater than the 2 at a time for $4.99 deal, to let them know they now have unlimited on line pc viewing.
The pc viewing used to be based on what you paid, so if your plan was $16.99 a month, you had 17 hours of instant watch movie time available to you.
This new plan means you get unlimited hours of movie watching on your computer, and that is so awesome for people like me who can go through my mailed movies very quickly, and then have to wait for my next shipment.
This was done after the news that Apple iTunes movie rentals would start in February.
Steve Jobs says they currently have about 1,000 movie titles for users to buy and download.
iTunes store is a very direct competitor to Amazon Unbox, while iTunes and Netflix Watch It Now play to very different segments of the audience. Apple offers up mostly new releases, available 30 days after the DVD release, and you have to pay up before you can play. There's no subscription fee, though.
Netflix currently has over 6,000 watch it now titles available for instant viewing, and are adding more every day.
Surprisingly, Netflix and Blockbuster stock shares fell after the announcement from Apple.
Blockbuster shares tumbled 14% to $2.79 on volume of over 9 million. The issue's 30-day average volume is about 4.4 million shares. The stock hit a new 52-week low of $2.74 intraday.
Shares of Netflix fell 5.4% to $21.55 on volume of over 4 million. The issue's 30-day average volume is about 1.5 million.
But analysts say it's nothing to worry about as Apples iTunes movies will be more for people on the go, using their ipods to watch movies on their commute, and not watching them at home.
January 13, 2008
Due to the writers strike and not being able to reach an agreement, the Golden Globes were canceled, but the winners were still announced in a press conference.
Here they are:
Best Motion Picture - Drama
Atonement
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
Julie Christie – Away From Her
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
Daniel Day-Lewis – There Will Be Blood
Best Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Marion Cotillard – La Vie En Rose
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy
Johnny Depp – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Best Performance by an Actress In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Cate Blanchett – I'm Not There
Best Performance by an Actor In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Javier Bardem – No Country For Old Men
Best Animated Feature Film
Ratatouille
Best Foreign Language Film
The Diving Bell And The Butterfly (France, United States)
Best Director - Motion Picture
Julian Schnabel – The Diving Bell And The Butterfly
Best Screenplay - Motion Picture
No Country For Old Men
Best Original Score - Motion Picture
Atonement
Composed by Dario Marianelli
Best Original Song - Motion Picture
"Guaranteed" – Into The Wild
Music & Lyrics By: Eddie Vedder
Best Television Series - Drama
Mad Men (AMC)
Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series - Drama
Glenn Close – Damages (FX NETWORK)
Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Drama
Jon Hamm – Mad Men (AMC)
Best Television Series - Musical Or Comedy
Extras (HBO)
Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy
Tina Fey – 30 Rock (NBC)
Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy
David Duchovny – Californication (SHOWTIME)
Best Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made for Television
Longford (HBO)
Best Performance by an Actress In A Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Queen Latifah – Life Support (HBO)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Jim Broadbent – Longford (HBO)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Samantha Morton – Longford (HBO)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Jeremy Piven – Entourage (HBO)
January 13, 2008
In very cool video game news, I just saw the Xbox 360 Text Messaging Kit
It plugs into the headset port, and allows you to text message people in game, or with people using Windows based pc messenger systems. One review I read said it can be used to send text messages back and forth to cell phones as well.
If you watch the demo video on Circuit City's website, you can see it works with cell phones. Not sure how that works because I don't have this text pad yet, but if it can do all that stuff, and even comes with a special headset that works with it, it might be a kick ass add-on for the xbox360.
A lot of the video games make heavy use of texting like Phantasy Star Universe
I may have to check one of these out.
January 5, 2008
I've done quite a bit of Netflix renting, and have to get some time to sit down and write up the reviews of the movies we've been watching.
We've watched Pirates of the Caribbean, at World's End, The Bourne Ultimatum, The Simpsons Movie, Rob Zombie's Halloween 2007, Live Free or Die Hard, and Fast Food Nation is sitting ready to be watched tonight.
Yup, that's quite a few movies I have some thoughts on, and I will get to these as quickly as possible.
Not that my opinion really counts for much, I don't promote this blog much at all, it's just like a hobby log of mine to discuss entertainment stuff.
I love music and movies, I'm really starting to get into celeb gossip lately, and we've gotten quite a few new video games I also need to get written up.
You would think with my wicked insomnia last night, (still haven't slept) that I could have pumped a few of these out.
I didn't, but I will, and very soon.
