Blockbuster Exclusive Videos

I have the Blockbuster Freedom Pass (i love it) which enables me to rent as many movies (2@time) from my local store for $29.95 a month. I definitely watch more than 6 movies a month so Blockbuster is getting the short end of the stick on this deal. There are a lot of people that ask me why i don't use Netflix (which i once used when it first came out, but eventually canceled). The reasons are as follows:

1. My mailman sucks, he jams everything into my mailbox and my mail is a crumpled up when i pull it out, this is bad for DVD's (after reading this he will probably wipe his boogers on my mail, which I think he already does).

2. I hate waiting for things.

3. I like the people that work at Blockbuster, they always have good movie recommendations and they always want to know how i liked the movies i rented.

4. The movies are accessible within a very short drive. If i want to sit on my ass all weekend and take in 12 movies (you may say that there aren't that many good movies at blockbuster but perhaps you haven't combed the special interest or foreign section, you probably only listen to top 40 music as well).

5. Movies are like currency, if i pick something up one day and don't watch it and something better just hit the shelf i can trade it out and re-rent it later.

A few weeks ago I saw something that disturbed me. DVD's on the shelf that have some really bad Blockbuster cobranded packaging that screamed low budget made for TV movie. In fact these movies are exclusive to me and the other elitist Blockbuster members.

Read the article here.

From a content distribution standpoint it doesn't seem to make sense for a Production company to put all their eggs in one basket. Why would you not want to distribute your films to Netflix and Blockbuster or wherever customers have demand for them? Is this a cry for to have your movies pirated and made available to everyone? And what's with the corny packaging, make the movies look expensive and exclusive if that's what you're aiming at. I didn't even want to pick one up with a pair of BBQ tongs seeing how there were so many of them and they were movies i don't remember being in the theaters. So with all that being said i saw an awesome movie last night that was a Blockbuster exclusive. I wish i could recommend it to everyone but lo siento to my Netflix peeps, not for you. Maybe it's on bit torrent. The movie is appropriately titled "Harsh Times".

Update: After doing some more research on this i came across a story published about a month ago that the NVDA or the National Video Distribution Association was hopping mad about the deal with Blockbuster. Here is an excerpt:

NAVD Takes Sides Against Weinstein-Blockbuster Exclusive
Author: JESSICA WOLF
Posted: February 27, 2007

The National Association of Video Distributors (NAVD) is speaking out against The Weinstein Company and its distributor Genius Products over the Weinstein exclusive-release deal with Blockbuster Video.

In a missive the NAVD board of directors sent to Genius Products president Trevor Drinkwater, Home Media Magazine and Video Business, the trade group calls the exclusive contract “short-sighted, unfair and anticompetitive.”

Continue to the full article...