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Tag Archives: movies

The March of The Penguin: No Worm For You!

If Apple gets their way, they’ll soon control the book business in much the same way they’ve taken over the music business. And Apple is pretty good at controlling businesses; they’ve just sued Samsung to stop distribution of the Google Galaxy Nexus, using this ridiculous patent.

I guess that’s why Penguin Books is making it harder to borrow their titles electronically.

Ostensibly, Penguin makes a good point: if they don’t have the rights to distribute books in a certain way, they’d best not do it. And assuming Penguin is telling the truth … well, the conversation and any criticism of Penguin over the move can stop right there. Penguin’s made a business decision. Got it.

Renegotiation Can Happen Any Time (Netflix/Redbox/Movies)

Every now and then, I talk about coopetition. It’s one of those words you might have to double-take, not sure if it’s a misspelling, and when you’re sure you’re read it right it can become a word that you think I’ve made up.

It’s not. Or at least there are a whole bunch of other people talking about coopetition. As you can see, we’ve just barely cracked the top 50 sites for “coopetition” in Search Engine Optimization results at Google:

Coopetion at Google

Netflix, The Video Game

As business change continues to swirl around video games and other media properties, Redbox prepares a 20% price increase (albeit one that shouldn’t have a bad impact on or create fallout from their customers), and Netflix keeps making stupid mistakes, you might be wondering where you’re going to get your next movie rental.

There’s a big problem building.

The PressPausePlay Business Model: GIVE IT AWAY. Or Not.

The guys who made PressPausePlay have a problem: as they make abundantly clear in the film, anyone can make music or movies using inexpensive equipment that they might well already own. But whether that’s a good thing or bad is up in the air.

When I’ve written about the music business and the movie business before, my focus has generally been on the business change that big companies with lots of money are making or trying to stave off. The Redbox/Blockbuster debacle is one example, and Pink Floyd slapping their record label around in court is another. In PressPausePlay we have a discussion of the issue from the other side; anyone can create art and distribute it. Music labels have become all but passé, and movie studios are headed in the same direction.

Netflix: New Media Business Acts Like Old Media Company

Reed Hastings is lucky he’s rich, because if he’s behind a move Netflix made yesterday he may be the stupidest CEO of a multi-billion dollar company, ever.

We’re taking a break from analyzing Google+ today, because yesterday Mr. Hastings’ Netflix initiated a business change that was so large and so misguided I just had to comment.

Netflix, a company that pretty much put the video store business out of business by offering DVDs in the mail for a better price and then deftly transitioned to an Internet video delivery service, has announced what amounts to a 60% price hike. You, the Netflix customer, get nothing in return.

What If A Studio WANTED You To Pirate Their Movies?

Hey! I Got Something For You. Come Over Here … Just a Little Closer …

Here’s where the GOTCHA! usually comes in, right? Bogie man jumps out and grabs you. You’re thrown into the back of a panel truck, never to be seen again. A movie studio sues you into oblivion.

You may still want to stay away from shady characters in trench coats offering candy, but last week the specter of the big bad litigious movie studio got a little bit less scary. Paramount has decided to give away The Tunnel, for free, over the Internet, using BitTorrent file sharing software.

FAIL!: Games, Movies, Business Change, & Disney Epic Mickey

Christmas is almost here. If your kids are asking for new video games and you don’t have a clue where to start, I have a tip for you:  stay away from Epic Mickey.

Epic Mickey

It’s not that Epic Mickey isn’t great to look at. Very much the opposite. As even The New York Times pointed out, Epic Mickey is an absolutely gorgeous implementation of the world’s most famous mouse.

But as games go, Epic Mickey stinks worse than last year’s cheese.

More On Video Rental: Blockbuster, Redbox, Netflix…All Bad

MOVIES! FUN! BLOCKBUSTER (s)!

Last week, I told you that Netflix has expanded its movies-on-demand-over-the-internet offering by signing deals with three big Hollywood studios. It’s <ahem> a Blockbuster of a business change, but one that goes not nearly far enough. Presumably, time will improve this.

As I’ve mentioned before, my local Blockbuster Video Store recently shut down. I pointed out that the unavailability of movies made me understand why people would feel all the more justified downloading their “wanna see tonights” over the Internet. I’ve just re-discovered another business change in progress for movie rentals, and I started out really excited . . . but realized it’s a change that needs to be re-thought.

Netflix Streams More Movies (A Blockbuster Business Change)

When the United States Library of Congress created a policy that amounted to law, I made a passing remark about downloading movies in the aftermath of my local video store shutting down.

While Blockbuster Video isn’t responsible for the way people watch movies, Netflix may be. Yesterday, the movies-through-the-mail-and-over-the-Internet company announced a deal with three major movie studios to stream their media to subscribers over the Internet.

Before you get too excited (as I did for a moment) read the fine print.

3D Movies and Television as Business Change: Who Cares?

This weekend I had the great displeasure of seeing the latest installment of the Shrek movie series. That statement is in no way a movie review; unlike my opinions about Green Day’s American Idiot on Broadway I’m going to refrain from saying anything about the new Shrek movie itself.

But I have plenty to say about 3D. And yes, this was my first experience with the becoming-hard-to-avoid trend.

Forget that the price of a 3D movie is high to the point of becoming ridiculous. Someone has to pay for those glasses and of course that someone is the consumer (although since they get recycled and reused the premium being charged seems like a bit much).

Your Web Site Doesn’t Belong To You

A few days ago, and with no notice at all, Google deleted a handful of blogs. <POOF!> Gone. Just like that.

Most of the attention to this has focused on what those blogs did; they were repositories for music, and while there were reviews attached (for example) to legitimize the blogs’ purpose, they were in fact making copyrighted materials available without the permission of the copyright holders.

And that, as you know, is generally not legal.

In Australia, Movie Piracy is now A Bit More Legal

Ah, to be Australian. Lower population density, plenty of beautiful places, great weather much of the year, and now a little bit more freedom to use the Internet to download movies illegally.

Hey! And Nicole Kidman is in Moulin Rougue!

OK, so that wasn’t her finest work, and not a great film, but many people disagree with me and at this very moment are trading little pieces of the film across the Internet. Which is illegal. But the Internet is such a wild and flexible place that the question of what exactly is illegal and who’s responsible has gone almost nowhere despite repeated efforts to create an answer. Today, a court ruling in Australia made things a little more clear. Or less. Or, if you don’t live there, had no impact at all.

Video Business Change: Paying for TV and Movies on the Internet

The world loves video. Nothing gets more traffic. Whether you’re into TV sitcoms, action movies, or pornography, the Internet has something you could be watching for free, right now, instead of doing your job.

How much longer will it all remain free?

iTunes, the only place where paid video content has reached critical mass, may actually be standing in the way of content providers getting paid. Having created a model where people who are willing to use their bloated software to see videos on tiny screens, Apple‘s “buy, don’t rent” policies are now becoming a problem.





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