Weekend at the Movies...

Uncharacteristically, I actually saw two new releases this week (neither of which I paid for). One I would love to go see again, while the other one I would never recommend to anyone.

Wall*e
As always, Pixar did an incredible job with this movie. Beautiful animation, fun story, awesome characters... A few things I noticed:

• Plot at times reminded me of Idiocracy (which is not necessarily a bad thing).
• The startup sound Wall*e makes just happens to be the Mac startup sound
• Eve was designed based on inspiration from Jonathan Ive, the designer of the iMac and iPod.

Overall, an excellent movie, and one I would gladly go see again, if anyone wants to. I'll even buy my own ticket.

Wanted
Supposed to be a fun, action packed movie based on an organization of assassins and their new recruit. I had many problems with this:

• I didn't mind the absurd car chases and stunts which bent the laws of physics just too look cool...
• I could even overlook the superhero-type powers that masquerade as anxiety attacks in people, but in reality cause your heart to beat at 400 beats/minute while slowing down time.
• I would have even been able to overlook the ability to curve bullets in a circle, had they given any explaination for it at all (they didn't).
• But when your entire plot depends on taking orders from a loom (that's right, a giant weaving machine that makes squares of cloth), well, that's when it starts getting bizarre.

In reality, this was the same type of movie as Shoot 'em Up, only instead of killing people with carrots, they used exploding mice. Maybe worth renting after many shots of tequila, but otherwise, I wouldn't waste your money.

Open Letter to Blockbuster

Dear Blockbuster,

If what we have been told is true, we will definitely be canceling our blockbuster policy...

We have been a blockbuster member for over 4 years now. We were members of your all-you-can rent program when you had it up until we switched to your online program. We have kept some movies past due, but always paid either the $1.25 late fee or the full price (assuming we kept it out too late). We have, in short, been good customers.

Tonight we were refused service by the store in Tucker GA.

They claimed that we had to have a credit or debit card on file to rent movies, even though we haven't had that available to you in several years. I remember a time when a utility bill was all you needed on file. This store refused to help us, and we would up going home empty handed, which, let me tell you, is VERY frustrating.

There is a very good reason we do not want you to have a credit card on file. Years ago we tried that, and quite honestly, it was an awful experience. We would have charges made to our accounts only days after renting movies. When we returned them, we supposedly had them credited back, but the amounts were always different, and there was absolutely no way of telling what we were being charged for and why. We actually found times when our account was charged, and when we asked about it, found that the movie we supposedly purchased was sitting on the store shelf! With no way to track charges and credits, there's no way I am allowing you to access my credit or debit accounts.

Unfortunately, after only a little research online, I have seen that this is not a remote occurrence. Consistently I have seen complaints about blockbuster's charging policies, from being unable to track accounts to being charged for services not rendered, to being not refunded when refunds are due. This is a serious thorn in blockbusters reputation, and something that definitely needs to be cleared up if you want to keep your customers.

As for me? I would like to stay a blockbuster customer, but not without all of these issues that come with these billing headaches. If this is your actual policy, I believe it is an awful and legally questionable path to take, and I will not accept it. If there is another way I can remain a blockbuster customer, I would be glad to hear it. Otherwise, you will lose both my business and my recommendation.

Please respond as soon as you can.

Sincerely,
Kevin Kurz

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I submitted this letter to Blockbuster corporate last night... When/If I get a response, I will be sure to post it.

Unfortunately, this is nothing more than a case of a company simply not caring. A fix for this would be simple; yet it has been several years, and there are still issues with this process; just google for blockbuster complaints.