Or just this last weekend, the incredibly safe A Nightmare on Elm Street opened to $32.2 million, $22 million away from second place’s How to Train Your Dragon. Where did one of my favorite movies so far in 2010, Kick-Ass, rank? At #8 with $4.5 million, after a studded spree of bombs weekend after weekend. Co-writer/director Matthew Vaughn used up $40 million out of his own pocket just to give Kick-Ass an R-rating instead of an egotistical screw-up label of PG-13. Sure, that decision would have gave Vaughn a bigger paycheck, but the quality would have suffered so. This is how his great movie is treated, kicked to the bottom of top ten lists after only three weeks in release. While Elm Street remakes and Titans clash, Kick-Ass wades in the dust the two have invited it to bite. I say no more.

I’m not specifically targeting you, dear reader; for I am also guilty of the crimes I’m accusing you of committing. I too dished $11 to see Clash of the Titans as well as Nightmare its opening day. This is a learning experience. Years past I’ve been increasingly pissed. Adventureland killed by Fast & Furious. The Fountain made irrelevant by Deck the Halls and The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause. Never more than this current day and age am I foaming at the mouth due to lack of originality and credited bullsh*tters taking their pay and cutting loose. Alice in Wonderland in its third weekend majored Greenberg, The Runaways and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Someone, somewhere, is offering but we’re not taking. Well, we need to start. See the aforementioned three films on DVD and recommend them to your friends, even if you didn’t like them. Most probably didn’t like Watchmen (neither did I) but look at the ambition director Zack Snyder brought to that movie. When the screenplay was thrown onto Warner Bros. table they should have passed the ball in someone else’s court, but they didn’t. They took a chance, gave Snyder $130 million and he made a flick that doesn’t come around too often. In turn how is he rewarded? A $107 million total domestic gross. In the States, it didn’t even make back its own budget.

These flops could also be due to poor advertising. I was watching a music video on New York Magazine’s Vulture Blog before I knew what Please Give was about. Meanwhile A Nightmare on Elm Street continued to slut it up between The Office and 30 Rock. Nowadays it’s whether you’re into film or not that determines if you see something like Antichrist over MacGruber. A movie I’m still dying to see, My Son My Son What Have Ye Done? has next to disappeared entirely. My local movie theater most times doesn’t pick up new releases before determining debut weekend box office. The magic phrase here is “profit increase”. As soon as something doesn’t perform as well as it could had it been pulled and replaced by Iron Man 2, it becomes harder and harder for decent filmmakers to continue to put stuff out. I recently attended a Q&A with Up in the Air and Juno director Jason Reitman who said that it’s harder to make your second movie than it is your first, as studios are always looking for the next, new great thing they can later exploit. Never has that been more true than today.

Film critics as well are becoming completely irrelevant if you weren’t a part of their fan base. Much as I love the guy, famed reviewer Roger Ebert has been giving flicks such as Death at a Funeral and The Losers 3 ½ star ratings and Cop Out and The Bounty Hunter critiques in the one-star range, yet people simply give him a laugh and see any of these without a care. If you’re a one-time or consistent reader of any of the reviews we put up on The Movie Banter I salute you, as you are part of an elite few. It pains us so to see Clash of the Titans succumb to a multi-million dollar total gross, week in and week out. People such as Peter Travers of Rolling Stone or Josh Tyler of Cinema Blend are only looking out for how you spend your money, and we as a nation gave Transformers five weeks in the top ten at the box office.

All is not lost, for we can still do much to save the dying independent brand. One of the things I love so of social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook is the positive word-of-mouth a film can receive because of it. The Blair Witch Project, on a budget of $60,000 scraped up $140.5 million domestically alone. Paranormal Activity followed the same structure last year on a budget of $15,000, going beyond $190 million worldwide (though writer/director Oren Peli has fallen for Hollywood tricks, as a sequel is already planned for release later this year.) Precious, on a budget of $10 million, is circling $60 million around the globe; Up in the Air around twice that haul. Of course there’s always the Hurt Lockers of this race, though due to its best picture win at the Oscars this winter I know a numerous amount of people who now plan to check it out on DVD.

Miramax Studio’s demise hit me harder than Wall Street’s did. The foster home of Tarantino, the Coen brothers and quite often Scorsese was finally shut down by Disney last year after their two ’09 films Extract and Adventureland failed to ring up big bucks. It’s not the quality that’s been diminished of movies such as these, as many have begun to claim, it’s the risk. Put out a movie by Mike Judge or make durable bank on something starring Miley Cyrus? What also kills me is that Judge is likely circling another Beavis & Butt-Head movie just to make ends meet. Either buy into the Hollywood game or have a harder time finding someone to make your movie. Go big or go home. Indies like Extract are big in their own unique ways. They’re not given a chance to go big. Even after the wondrous success of the cheap, surprisingly witty Hangover last year director Todd Phillips is just starting production on a Hangover 2. Hollywood watches these numbers 24/7. I do like Phillips as a director, but I cannot in good judgment predict this pans out well in the long run.

Judd Apatow has constructed a beautiful model of no sequels or remakes, everything entirely original. The 40-Year-Old Virgin ballooned to triple-digit profits in 2005, and has since then been responsible for some of the most influential comedies to date. Step Brothers. Pineapple Express. The TV Set. Yet this past year his beautifully tragic Funny People was almost completely written off because word-of-mouth had it marked as “depressing” and “not funny”. It had the lowest opening weekend of anything that debuted at #1 that summer. You see, Funny People was way too far out of the norm for the mainstream to dig. Hollywood has them scared. The emotional realism of Apatow’s comedy was washed away with the like of G-Force and rival The Ugly Truth. Hollywood gave them a pacifier to suck on and told them to keep quiet.

I guess in the end the movie biz is all politics. Miramax tried hard enough and was taken to the alley by Disney to be put out of its misery. I still hold a good amount of hope. There’s such a big difference between people who want to make something and those who want to get credit for making something. Film critics, award ceremonies or epic movie studios don’t mean bullcrap. Everything concludes with your choice of what to see on a weekend evening: Hollywood’s latest IMAX 3D abortion your friends will probably be discussing or a small flick on the top floor of an AMC marquee? Get your heads out of your asses and grow a pair. Unless we take a stand now we’ll soon be seeing more Iron men and titans Clash than our wallets will be able to handle. Even in the off chance one of these blockbusters happens to be watchable, the quiet independents are quite often the ones that shriek the loudest. No matter how much extra you paid for those cinema speakers lined up against the theater wall.

I’ve spoken a lot about my favorite movie rental service Netflix recently, and that’s because I am a huge groupie of it, and right before I wrote this post I picked up my newest blu-ray title from my mailbox.  I like them more than 13 year old girls like Justin Beiber right now, and that’s saying a lot.  I make my selections online, have seen so many older movies,  documentaries I never would have, or the recent ones I just happened to have missed in theater.  Their huge selection of DVD’s and blu-ray titles both for movies and TV shows means an endless supply of rentals.  The recent addition of streaming video doesn’t hurt either and is a direction the company is moving more into both in the home on Xbox, PS3, and Wii and also on new platforms like the ipad and the upcoming new iphone.

Now Netflix is preparing to for international release.

A recent job posting on the Netflix job board suggests that this is true and this would be the perfect time for expansion.  The company has the right formula here in the US and has a huge market share.  Blockbuster is failing and closing stores throughout the country and Red Box is still a small player in the niche.  Netflix is on board to take over the world and with its formula for success will have the same success internationally as it does in the US.  I don’t see why success wouldn’t come easy and expect to hear the announcement as soon as all the details are finalized.  They have the capital for international expansion, a great reputation, and a great service, all things which will lead this move.  Look for this to happen soon, and I’m glad to hear that Netflix is continuing to expand.

Do you think Netflix is ready for International expansion?

Bailouts are taking over the country as a way to help out the big boys stay in business and rework themselves with the competition.  We saw the US government bail out the banks, now we are seeing the same thing happen with the movie industry.  I have spoken a lot recently about Blockbuster’s bankruptcy problems and how the one time mega movie rental company is struggling to make ends meat.  But Hollywood flew in to the rescue to help the big dawg stay afloat.

Warner Brothers recently pressured companies like Netflix and Red Box into delaying sending the companies their latest DVD releases for 4 weeks to hopefully persuade customers to buy DVD’s instead of rent them.  Now Warner Brothers went ahead and made a deal with Blockbuster allowing the company to rent out new DVD’s and Blu Ray movies to customers four weeks before Netflix and Red Box.  They will just be getting the new DVD releases the day the movie comes out, which could persuade customers to flock to Blockbuster to rent a new release.

Here’s BB CEO James Keyes in an interview on this deal with Bloomberg: “The studios appreciate that we are the only business that has the ability to offer cross channels…That enables us to give consumers access to movies when they want it and where they want it.”

I don’t know the specific outlines to the deal, but am unclear of why Warner Brothers would make this deal.  Unless Blockbuster is paying them some ridiculous amount of money (which there is no way the company could afford it) what is the benefit to Warner Brothers?  Blockbuster going out of business doesn’t hurt the movie rental business, it just is adapting in new directions.  For Blockbuster, this will help in the short run, but inevitably the company will be hitting the tanks sooner than later.  This may delay it a few months, but customers of Netflix and Red Box are not going to be going to Blockbuster in the masses just to rent a new release a few weeks earlier.

What are your thoughts on Warner Brothers making this deal with Blockbuster?

Blockbuster has been a hot button issue lately with their newly reinstated policy of late fees, something that many loyal Blockbuster fans are upset over.  This is one reason why many customers left in the first place.  Blockbuster brought the fees back in a last effort attempt to sneak extra money out of those loyal customers because the company is in debt.  Because of this, they have closed hundreds of stores down across the country.  Now I have witnessed this first hand, because the Blockbuster in my hometown has been officially closed down.

I am a fan of the shopping experience and always enjoyed walking into Blockbuster to look through the newest rentals and ultimately selecting some half ass movie to watch for the night.  I even managed to steal a few movies in my bad ass 2 week rebel stage where a few friends and I realized that with the second hand movies that were for sale, they never went off when walking through the detector.  We figured out how to stick some movies in our shirts and took a few.

It’s always hard to realize how the economy directly affects you until you or someone you know gets laid off or suffers somehow.  Same can be said with Blockbuster.  Even with the failing reports always sprouting up, it never hit me that the company was doing so bad because I saw stores everywhere.  When I saw the massive store that was in a strip mall closed down last week, it really hit me how bad the company is actually doing and how they can’t afford the high rent prices of the stores anymore.  This really is the beginning of the end of Blockbuster stores in suburbia strip malls across the US.

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I lived at home for a year after graduating college and commuted to the city everyday by train.  I enjoyed growing up and had such a great college experience, culminating it to backpacking the middle east for almost a month right after.  Then I entered the working world, began living in the same baby room I did when I was 15, did the daily grind with the rest of the zombies, and had no life.  Due to the fact that I lived at home, didn’t have that many friends in the area at the time, and because of this new working lifestyle was just downright miserable, I found myself heading straight to Blockbuster many a Friday nights after work to get a movie, and waste my night away by myself.  It costs $5 to rent a movie, am I didn’t even mind cause if I got lazy and didn’t return the movie within the week, I never had to worry about late fees anymore.

Well times have changed, so have my movie rental preferences, and so has Blockbuster’s late fee policies.

Much like myself, many users switched to Netflix, the leading movie rental service where you could be as lazy as you like, simply click a few buttons, and the movie of your choice came to your mailbox.  I love this option, said see you later Blockbuster and have never looked back.  Well because so many people have done this, Blockbuster, was forced to bring back their late fees to try to make up for some lost revenue.

Blockbuster already is in deep financial trouble and is closing down stores left and right throughout the country.  The problem with Blockbuster is ironically that in order for the store to thrive, it needs users to rent older movies, which in store Blockbusters lack the selection.  There are many reasons why Netflix is dominating, mainly because there are no brick and mortar building, because the cost of them is way too high, so they rather get a couple of warehouses in the middle of bumblefuck and ship everything out.  Blockbuster hasn’t realized this yet for reasons I have no idea.  Now they have their own mail in service but are still behind Netflix, especially since they recently made deals with all the gaming systems to stream movies online.

Blockbuster is in the dumps, and not only Netflix, they have to compete with itunes, on-demand, PPV, and of course illegal downloads.  Bringing back the late fees is a desperate attempt at the company to try to squeeze a little more money out of its customers.  This will backfire.  The ones who are loyal, will be pissed that Blockbuster now is bringing back late fees, and this will most likely cause customers to leave.

Either two things are going to happen in the near future with my predictions.

1. Blockbuster is going to file chapter 11, go completely bankrupt and just shut their doors.

2. Completely shut down all brick and mortar stores and only be a online movie rental service or some sort of downloadeable service to compete with Netflix and itunes.

Circuit City recently had tons of financial problems, shut down, and rumors are they are going to sprout back up but strictly be an online electronics store.  If Blockbuster ever wants to continue in business, they will have to use this business strategy, otherwise they will be another company we will forget ever existed.

What do you think about Blockbuster bringing back late fees?

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Twilight Zone: The Movie film How many people out there in the past say 6 months have signed up for Netflix? In that same period, how many people either stopped going to Blockbuster or have cut back on buying DVD’s? I am in both of those groups.  Over the past 6 months, Netflix has completely taken over the movie renting industry.  Let’s just look at this, On Dec 1 Netflix stock price was just above 22. Now its at over 37.5, an increase of over 68%.  In that same time period, Blockbuster issued rumors of bankruptcy, and the market has completely tanked.

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Melody trailer Netflix itself may have revoluntionized movie rentals. For $7 a month you can have 2 movies come straight to your mailbox.  For just a couple more dollars than that, you can have up 3 or even unlimited monthly rentals.  In times like these, people are cutting as much frivolous spending as possible but still need to be amused. 2 Movie tickets, popcorn, soda and candy can run you about $40 depending on where you live.  New release DVD’s can run you about $15.  So if we take an additional look, people still need entertainment but just cheaper forms of it. That is where Netflix comes in.

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Netflix has been great to me thus far for me.  I rented Rescue Dawn a couple months back. My job requires me to be here long hours so I don’t get a lot of free time at the moment. That movie has been sitting on my Blu Ray for about 2 months now. No late charges, no complaints, no problems.  I’ll get around to the movie but the point is Netflix doesn’t have late fees or bother their customers.  In fact, I watched half the movie and must say its pretty good. When I finish it, I’ll write a review

And, just over the last couple weeks there has been a new feature added to Netflix that you can streamline movies right off the internet to your Television. You do need a Samsung Blu Ray (hooked up to the internet).  Soon this will be the norm. The new era of Netflix is upon us.

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Let us know if you have recently signed up for Netflix. Let us know your thoughts?

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by the close of the day yesterday, the future of the company looks gleam.  And to be honest, I’m not surprised and could care less.

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I am a perfect example of why this company will go south, and fast.  I rent movies on the regular and had no problem forking over the $5 for a good rental.  To be honest, I enjoy the experience of walking into the store, browsing the selection, and eventually picking my rental for the night.  The shopping experience of deciding on a movie night and making it happen kept me a fan for years.  But I have recently been converted to Netflix, and I won’t be the last person.

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Netflix offers multiple pricing plans and basically an unlimited selection of movie selections.  I have the 1 DVD rental per month and also have the upgraded version that includes Blu-Ray because I can watch Blu-Ray through my PS3.  I have a long list of movies in my queue and the social interaction of getting recommendations from others is great.  Blockbuster has tried to match the success of Netflix with their own online subscription based programs, but it has not has nearly the success they would have liked.

Other reasons they will fail…

1. Video On-Demand

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People want their movies when they want their movies and it’s NOW.

2. Streaming movies

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Netflix/Amazon/Tivo steaming along with sites like Hulu and youtube possibly making waves into streaming over the internet make it difficult

3. Redbox

$1 rentals through kiosks in supermarkets and other areas make it difficult.

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4. Brick and mortar stores

The fact that Blockbuster still has so many large stores with high rents are driving the costs up.

Blockbuster has invested millions of dollars to re-adjust their business model to compete with the top competitors, but will they thin themselves out too much?  It certainly looks like they will.

What can they do to help themselves out?  I like how they are focusing more on renting games and will be starting an online service like gamefly.  The gaming business is booming and combining games with movie rentals can add to profits.  I think they should take away from some of their stores.  Mainly they need to reconnect with users, give them a reason to stay loyal to Blockbuster.  In today’s world customers can easily be swayed and Blockbuster needs to show their personal side and get in touch with their customers if they even want a chance to stay alive.  Otherwise the grim reaper will be knocking on their door very soon.  Do you think Blockbuster will survive in the future?