Really? How disappointing. It's hard to find anything good on tv these days. Has anyone noticed how reality tv seems to be taking over the regular broadcast channels? Oh, and try NOT finding infomercial on a Sunday morning? Oh, and btw, I have extended cable with HBO and it still sucks at certain times.




TIS

well one expects TRUE BLOOD to suck. Vampires can't help it.

Of course I would argue all the good programs, or the ones I'm currently enjoying, are all on cable. Hell Conan's divorce from NBC and moving to TBS solidifies this opinion.

AMPAS can't reach honorary Oscar recipient

Officials unable to notify Jean-Luc Godard about award

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i7666b0f98579502192c97117724c8c8b

Yea, I watch True Blood and Mad Men regularly.

Btw, did you see the Rolling Stone Magazine cover with the True Blood cast?



TIS

My mother loved those books TRUE BLOOD were based on, but hated the TV program. She thought they were porno.



And they probably thought it was just another day at work.

"My mother loved those books TRUE BLOOD were based on, but hated the TV program. She thought they were porno. "

Well, I wouldn't say porn, but to me, it does get a bit raw. Although, I still do watch it.

It's funny, cause I kind of felt that way about the Sopranos sexual explicity too. I mean they could swear like a drunken sailor and whack people in all kinds of ways and that didn't bother me. God, I miss that show. NOTHING on HBO has topped it yet IMHO.

TIS

I don't think HBO has yet necessarily filled that empty gap left when SOPRANOS pissed off Gangsterbb.net* with that ending. I mean TRUE BLOOD is something I suppose but its on par with the other major premium cable "hit" programs out there like DEXTER and HUNG or whatever.

SOPRANOS was king.

*=A brilliant ending, btw.

TIS, have you tried watching "Flashpoint" on Friday nights? It's about a Toronto SRU (I believe a Canadian SWAT) team and follows a different case each week. Interesting team, good acting, decent writing and plots. I enjoy it. I also, thanks to my friend SC, have gotten hooked on "What Would You Do".

Mar,

I have seen Flashpoint a couple times and do like it. I think the reason I haven't seen it more is because I usually watch something on the other channel and have caught these on re-runs.

I was in Michigan visiting my parents a week or so again and saw "What Would You Do?" That was interesting as well. It was the episode where a heavyset lady is sitting on a bench and a few other ladies start calling her names and making fun of her. It was very interesting to see passer-bys reactions or non reactions.

TIS

I keep hoping they'll continue the series where they left off and we can see Tony & family finish their meal. All and all, I'd love to see it return. Definitely on the very top of my all time favorite tv series.

TIS

Bilko finally available on dvd. Yay!

I just ordered mine.

Elba was recently on the Mitch Albom radio show promoting his new film. It's a mark of how good an actor is that you're surprised when you hear their natural voice. Elba has a very pronounced English accent and was making light of how relatively easy it is for English actors to pick up American accents.

Idris Elba is in a hotel suite at the MGM Detroit Grand talking up his new movie "Takers" as part of his first extensive movie publicity tour.

And if the 37-year-old British actor has his way, it will be his last, too.

"I'm not good at it," says Elba, who by the time he hit Detroit earlier this month had already visited Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Washington, D.C. and Miami, and still needed to travel to Las Vegas and Atlanta.

"I'm honest and I speak openly about my films, but I'm tedious to the process, y'know. It really wears me out, because it's not what I do. I'm just an actor. I'm not the best sales engine."

But he was convinced to go on the road and talk up "Takers" by Quentin Tarantino, who relayed to Elba that he spent a year on the road promoting "Pulp Fiction" and created a lot of goodwill in the community as a result.

"It really translates to the audience," says Elba, best known for his role as streetwise businessman Stringer Bell on HBO's "The Wire." "They end up going, 'Hey, he was in Detroit, he told this story, I'm going to spend the time watching his movie.' It makes a difference."

Elba's in a position in his career where the publicity might soon start coming to him. In addition to the slick heist film "Takers," which opens Friday, Elba has been working steadily on television, including roles on NBC's "The Office," Showtime's "The Big C" and the BBC's "Luther."

Next summer, he has a role in the should-be-smash "Thor," which he hopes busts open his career to the big leagues.
For now, Elba is starring in "Takers," which co-stars Paul Walker, Hayden Christensen, T.I. and Chris Brown. They're a tightknit crew of bank robbers who specialize in high-profile jobs, and are recruited into a final big score by a former associate.

"It's a good heist film, man. It just takes it back to that genre," says Elba, the tattoos on his right arm peaking out from under the edge of his long-sleeve shirt. "Without dating itself, it has given us this kind of old-school film. The guys are slick, charismatic, dangerous, and at the same time they get the job done. These guys are robbing banks with guns; no one does that anymore. They hack you. Y'know what I mean?"

The film features several audacious action sequences, but Elba's character is the heart of the film. He's forced to deal with his junkie sister, played by Academy Award nominee Marianne Jean-Baptiste, who bounces in and out of rehab throughout the film.

"I wanted to have some sort of reality, some real story to throw into this man's world while he's robbing banks," says Elba, who splits his time between London and Miami. "These guys are all in their suits, with girls in Jacuzzis, but what's really going on? It was designed to give my character a little more depth."

Full Article

Blockbuster to declare bankruptcy.
September Plans for bankruptcy

After dominating the home video rental business for more than a decade and struggling to survive in recent years against upstarts Netflix and Redbox, Blockbuster Inc. is preparing to file for bankruptcy next month, according to people who have been briefed on the matter.

Blockbuster is hoping to use its time in Chapter 11 to restructure a crippling debt load of nearly $1 billion and escape leases on 500 or more of it 3,425 stores in the U.S. Maintaining the support of Hollywood's film studios during the process will be critical so that Blockbuster can continue to rely upon an uninterrupted supply of new DVDs.

Blockbuster has lost a total of $1.1 billion since the beginning of 2008 and has been severely hamstrung in efforts to grow its business due to interest payments on $920 million in debt. Earlier this month the company announced that most of its debt holders had agreed to a forbearance on interest payments until Sept. 30, during which time it would attempt a recapitalization.

Though its plans are not yet set in stone, people knowledgeable about the discussions said the Blockbuster representatives presented a mid-September bankruptcy as the most likely scenario. It would enter what is known as a “pre-planned bankruptcy,” meaning most but not all creditors would be on board ahead of time, including senior debt holders and content suppliers.

One of the primary goals of the bankruptcy process, which the company said it hopes would last about five months, would be to escape costly leases for some of its worst-performing stores. Though Blockbuster hasn’t decided exactly how many locations it would seek to shutter as part of a bankruptcy, executives told the major studios it is looking at between 500 and 800.

Blockbuster closed nearly 1,000 stores in the last year alone, a reflection of consumers’ rapidly declining interest in renting DVDs from retail locations now that they can rent them from ubiquitous kiosks in grocery stores, in the mail, or via the Internet.
...........

Back in the 80's when I was a single mother with younger kids and not much money, I'd rent videos on the weekend at our local Blockbuster for a family night, or I'd have friends over for movie night.

When a popular movie was due out, it was rented on a first come, first serve basis. I remember waiting literally in a fairly decent crowd for them to put a movie on the shelf and whoever got it first rented it (there were limited number of copies then for some reason).

Back in the early nineties, I remember waiting in line at the local Blockbuster waiting to buy concert tickets for the Eagles "Hell Freezes Over" tour. Line was huge, but weather was great, everyone was excited and it was a mini party there in the parking lot.

Anyway, don't blink, things will change. I heard something about another "gizmo/thingy" to replace the CD. Great, now that I've got many of my favorites on CD. No stopping progress.

TIS

Blockbuster was around in the 1880s?

SC,


It could have been early 90's. The Eagles concert is poke of was 94 and I think Blockbusters had been there a year or two.


TIS

The eyes are the second thing to go, TIS.

The 1880s?

Smart ass!!!! Wait til you're my age.




TIS

I say riddance to Blockbuster. From blacklisting Scorsese's LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST to Troma pictures (like TOXIC AVENGER) to store staffs who in general couldn't help ya dick in recommendations or look-ups. Shitty selection, or for that matter, the steep rental prices and late fees.

Funny thing was, back earlier this decade Netflix was initially struggling and losing alot of money quickly and offered itself for sale to Blockbuster. Who rejected it. Why? Because Cockbuster was working on a video downloading service, investing hundreds of millions with a corporate partner. Who happened to be Enron.

When Enron bellyupped in 2001, so did the planned Service and its entire investment. The rest is history.

TIS - We all suffered that great annoyance where we drive down to the video store, only to find out the movie we wanted was all checked out. Yeah you lucky kids today. We oldtimers had it rough. Our greatest nightmare was finding a video lost under the couch that's been overdue for weeks.

Before Blockbuster we had a Video Vision down the street. I once rented a movie and when I went to view it, I pressed "play" nothing happened. Zip!!!! I ejected the video and bought it back to the store and told them. Turns out the tape was broken and stuffed back into the track to not look ripped. Since I know I didn't do it, it had to have been that way. I took it back to the store and they charged me $13.00. I told them it was like that but I'm sure they thought I was responsible. That pissed me off but I ended up paying the fee. Now, you can buy VHS videos for anywhere from 1 to 10 dollars.

TIS

I'm probably repeating myself here, but Blockbuster had it coming, and it's actually long overdue. They put all the tiny video stores out of business when they moved in. They had a virtual monopoly, and they got arrogant. When Netflix came around, Blockbuster tried to copy them, but it was way too late.

Honestly, I can't say I have had any problems with Blockbuster but haven't been to one in years. As a matter of fact, I haven't been to any video store in a long time. The only one I "did" belong to, Hollywood Video, just closed. Do you guys have Hollywood Video in your areas? I know it's (was) a chain, but don't know if it's just out West. Anyway many of them have closed up out here.


TIS

Because Netflix lets you keep the DVDs as long as you like with no late fees, Blockbuster said they would do the same. If you kept the DVD longer than 30 days (I think that's what it was, but someone correct me if I'm wrong), they would charge the credit card on file. When you returned it, they pledged that they would refund the cost of the DVD. However, most people never got the money back and had to fight for it.

That sucks. That's the bad part of registering at the video stores and having to have/use a credit card. They can add whatever fees/charges they like. If they ran business that way then yea, they deserve what they got. I think all video stores will be obsolete soon anyway. The big boom for video stores has come and gone.



TIS

@TIS, Yup we used to have Hollywood Video around here. The chain went bankrupt back in April. The local store closed. I think all of its stores are closed now.

@SB-BB had modified that no late fee policy (at least my local store had) because people were keeping new releases too long. I think for new releases they had gone back to the original late fee policy-although they still charged your cc a sizable replacement/restocking fee past a certain time.

I won't really miss Blockbuster because they rarely had what I wanted but did have surly inattentive employees. I don't watch as many movies as I used to but when I do I'll just watch on demand.

Spam removed

Lilo, with the advent of On Demand and DVRs, more and more people are going that route rather than renting.

Police: Paris Hilton arrested on cocaine charge Aug. 28, 2010, 7:59 AM EST

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Police arrested Paris Hilton on cocaine possession charges late Friday night after stopping the car she was in on a Las Vegas street, authorities said.

The socialite was booked into the Clark County Detention Center early Saturday on the cocaine charge, Las Vegas police spokesman Marcus Martin said. She was released before dawn on her own recognizance.

The 29-year-old Hilton was in a car driven by a friend when it was stopped about 11:30 p.m. MDT Friday after officers detected what they suspected to be marijuana smoke wafting from it, he told The Associated Press.

"Officers noticed a vehicle leaving smoke trail of a controlled substance (and) made a stop based on that," Martin said.

When I read a story like this, I am reminded of what Robin Williams once said - "Cocaine is God's way of saying that you have too much damn money." Obviously, this fits nobody better than Ms. Hilton.

For some reason that surprise me. Cocaine I mean. I don't know why, but the time she was arrested and went to jail, she seemed scared to death. I actually felt kind of sorry for her. I would have thought she'd be more careful. I just sense she'd have a nervous breakdown if she went to jail again. you know away from all pampering AND money.

Btw, is her ONLY claim to fame her name?????? Or was she a model?


TIS