Tuesday, February 7, 2012

New On DVD.


It was a small week this week. The biggest release of all will be Saturday at midnight when the latest Twilight movie is released. A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas brought in $35,061,031 and is rated as 6.6 on the IMDB.


 
Anonymous is a political thriller about the true author of Shakespeare's plays. It only brought in $4,463,292, but it is rated as 6.9 on the IMDB.



The biggest release came out in 1955, Disney's Lady And the Tramp. It is rated 7.4 on the IMDB. This is only available in combo packs, meaning if you want only the DVD or just the Blu-ray disk, you are out of luck. I haven't checked but if Disney follows form, in four weeks, you will be able to buy just the DVD.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Captain Morgan Freeman.


For the second time in this year I am a little under the weather. The worst of it is that it hits on my days off. I have a fever and a headache so instead of my planned post I hope you enjoy these pictures.





Tuesday, January 31, 2012

New DVD Releases.


The premise of In Time reminds me of Logan's Run. Whereas in Logan's run life ended at age 30, In Time life ends at age 26. The movie brought in $37,508,853 and is rated 6.6 on the IMDB.



I am not overly fond of movies that are basically car chases, so I will pass on this one. the movie brought in $35,038,051 and is rated 8.0 on the IMDB. With that rating the movie is listed at number 220 on the IMDB's top 250 movies.


Dream House brought in $21,302,340 and is rated 5.7 on the IMDB.


This is the third time that The Thing has been made. This one brought in $16,928,670 and is rated 6.3 on the IMDB.


The Big Year has a great comedy team with Steve Martin, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson as birdwatchers. The movie brought in $7,204,138 at the box office and is rated 5.9 on the IMDB.


The movie that I think will sell best this week is the latest in Disney's dog buddies series, a direct to DVD movie called Treasure Buddies. Disney has had a lot of success with these movies, and I don't expect anything different from this one.

Monday, January 30, 2012

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Autographs.


It is amazing how many cards show players signing autographs. This is just a small example of the them.





Friday, January 27, 2012

Creative Marketing.


The last couple of weeks I have not been the person who puts out the new releases. They have had me working in other departments instead of electronics. Had I been the one putting them out I would've mentioned this on Tuesdays post about new releases. Paranormal Activity 3 is available only in a Blu-ray/DVD combo. What they don't tell people is that the DVD by itself will be available on February 10. This is the third time that I have seen that happen. The other two releases were by Disney, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and the re-release of The Lion King. In both of those cases, the DVD was released about a month after the combo.

What they are doing is basically shoving Blu-ray down your throat. It is inevitable that DVD will be gone, my estimation is two years. Right now the hangup is the cost of a Blu-ray player, which continues to drop. Once you have an assortment of models under $50, then DVD will be gone. The same thing happened when the format was switched from VHS to DVD. One of the nice things about Blu-ray is that your regular DVDs will play on them. I do not like this tactic, but I think will be seeing a lot more of it in the future. One of the reasons it is happening is that DVD is no longer the cash cow that it once was, and the movie studios are doing everything they can to increase their revenue. I will be keeping an eye on this and any time that I find it is happening in the future I will be mentioning it. It is not a real hindrance to me personally because I rarely buy anything when it comes out. I would much rather wait until the price goes down to about $10. That is what keeps my inner Jack Benny very happy.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Topps American Pie, Part 2.


My plan for this set has changed dramatically. Originally I figured I would just select five cards or so, post scans of them here, and move on. Instead, this will be an ongoing project and I'm not exactly sure yet how many parts it will contain. I will not be posting on these daily, but there will be at least two posts a week until I cover them all. Right now, I do not have a full set, but hope to correct that shortly. I remember learning about the Doomsday Clock in grade school. The clock was originally set at seven minutes to midnight. I wasn't sure if they still used the clock. It still is being used and the current time is five minutes to midnight. Hopefully, the world leaders can come to some kind of agreement and the clock will no longer be necessary. I'm not holding my breath waiting for that to happen. I really don't look that good in blue.



In 1948 Polaroid introduced the first instant camera. For the first time people could actually take a picture and have it complete in a few minutes. They called it the model 95, named for its price of $95. Polaroid kept improving upon the camera. But, of course, as digital took over the need for instant pictures dramatically dropped. In 2008 Polaroid got out of business altogether. The company has fallen on hard times and has twice filed for bankruptcy in the last 10 years.



The first credit card came into existence because a businessman forgot his wallet. He was at a restaurant, and his wife bailed him out. He came up with Diners Club and the rest as they say, is history.


When pagers first came out they were only available to doctors. They weren't approved for everyone's use until 1958. While no way near as common as they once were, they still are used today.


A professor in Turkey ran a computer program and determine that April 11, 1954 was the most boring day in the 20th century. The conclusion was achieved because there were no major events that happened on that day.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Topps American Pie, Part One.


Topps has issued a new American Pie set. This is the third set that they have done, but the first since 2002. The previous sets were a combination of baseball players and non-sports figures, historical events, and other assorted subjects. This set focuses mainly on history, starting at World War II. I bought a hobby box, which guaranteed me three relic cards. Those cards include autographs, celebrity worn memorabilia, patches, stamps or coins. The first one I got was from Louie Anderson.



Until I read the card, I did not know who Justin Willman was. Until I lost cable a few months ago Food Network was one of my favorite channels and I had never heard of Willman. Then I found out he was on some of the shows that I never cared to watch, Cupcake Wars, Last Cake Standing, and Halloween Wars.


I saved my favorite card for last. What you see is actual dirt from the Lewis and Clark trail. I like offbeat stuff like that. Tomorrow I'll talk about the basic set.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

New DVD Releases.


When the first Paranormal Activity came out in 2007 it was a surprising hit. Made on a budget of $15,000 it grossed over $193 million worldwide. The budgets have gotten bigger, but people still flock to see the movies. The third chapter in the series brought in $104,028,807 in the United States and almost that much overseas. It's not my kind of movie, but it does have its audience. It is rated a 6.2 on the IMDB.


 
When I first heard about the movie Real Steel, I joked that it would turn out to be Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots, the movie. The movie did very well at the box office where it brought in $85,255,428. It was a huge hit overseas, bringing in $210 million. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to watch it, but I have enjoyed most of Hugh Jackman's movies. The IMDB rates the movie a 7.3.



50/50 is a comedy about cancer. It was inspired by a true story about a young man diagnosed with cancer and his subsequent battle with the disease. The young man was screenwriter Will Reiser.  After a six-year struggle he was declared cancer free. The movie brought in $35,014,192 and is rated an 8.0 on the IMDB.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Saturday, January 21, 2012