Here is a nice write up on my mate John.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-30/john-garvin-keeps-james-cameron-alive-underwater/9811520
He has invited me up to LA to check out the set for Avatar, I just need to find the time to drive up and take a tour. Should be pretty interesting (and cool).
Feeling like second class citizens or lab rats of late down south?
https://www.cnet.com/news/netflix-quietly-tests-weekend-price-increases-australia/
Well, you should be.
Netflix has tested upping Australian prices by as much as AU$3 over weekends, increasing its Basic plan from AU$8.99 to AU$9.99 a month.
“We continuously test new things at Netflix and these tests typically vary in length of time,” the company said in a statement. “In this case, we are testing slightly different price points to better understand how consumers value Netflix. Not everyone will see this test and we may not ever offer it generally.”
Bleh. That is kinda lame. Sure, they have to buy the movie and pay to stream the data, and there is some hardware costs, but for the most part, those costs should be pretty stable…. So why might they be testing a price hike?
The federal government is set to extend Australia’s 10 percent goods and services tax to “intangible supplies” (such as digital content, games and software), effecting online streaming companies such as Netflix.
The change — which has been widely dubbed the “Netflix Tax,” including by the Australian government itself — comes into force on July 1. Netflix has not commented on whether it plans to pass the 10 percent tax onto customers.
Unbelievable. The federal government now wants to tax ones and zeros.
They even call it “intangible supplies“… I mean, they themselves say, yeah, we want to tax what you can’t see.
A little bit dumbfounded.
Matt B knows of my love for the Redbox… and I am sure I have mentioned it in the past…. (Just did a search, not so much on the mentions)….
So, its a phone box sized box that you rent movies and computer games from.
We like it for two reasons, firstly, they get the new release movies before they are on streaming.
Second, they are super easy to rent from. You can do it standing in front of the machine, something I have done a total of 1 time… or you can log into their website and reserve a movie at one of their locations.
Thirdly, you can get BlueRay disks.
Forth. I can’t count. (Just checking that you lot are actually reading this stuff).
Why does all this matter. Well, we like movies, we like to see some as soon as they are out (on disk). Also, while I have nice high speed internet, streaming is just not as clear and the sound is just not as good as a BlueRay disk.
Sure, streaming is an option, but I love movies and I want to see and hear it as best as I can, nothing beats a physical disk and nothing beats seeing a new release in my home at the quality that I have invested in my home theater setup.
Why am I even talking about this?
https://www.engadget.com/2017/05/14/redbox-expands-dvd-kiosks-despite-internet/
CEO Galen Smith has revealed that Redbox will add a net total of 1,500 new DVD kiosks across the US, and will add more still in 2018.
The company was a bit touch and go the past few years, but seems to have stabilized, to the point where they are expanding.
This makes my little movie heart sing.
Where I think they are going wrong is their marketing message…. They are saying that no one wants disks in the age of internet. Wrong for the above reason which boils down to one word. Quality.
Long and depressing.
The whole thing is just one long story about killing for revenge.
Not that beautifully shot (some bits are, but it’s so inconsistent that it’s hard to fall in love with the nice bits), but easy to see how ‘horrible’ a shoot it must have been to be part of.
Not a lot more to add other than I can’t recommend it.
2.5 / 5
We are pretty big Quentin Tarantino fans. Pretty sure we have seen everything he has done. We own a few of them as well…. Stands to reason than that as soon as Redbox had this one, we grabbed it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnRbXn4-Yis
What can I say…. It is text book Quentin. Lots of dialog, insanely beautiful shots, loads of blood and brain splatter and more dialog.
The whole thing is basically shot in one room, it just totally relies on Quentin’s amazing camera work and the actors to carry their characters (which, they all do a very clean job).
All that said with gushing praise, we won’t be buying it. At three hours long it drags just a little too much for us.
If you are a fan, you will see it. If you are not a fan, you will know what you are getting yourself into.
3.75 / 5
