Romantic dramas is the one genre I very rarely watch from. I have watched a lot of romantic movies, but they were all basically in the comedy section, an example is "Hitch". But today I decided to watch a film from that genre, I decided to watch "The Notebook". I actually did not know too much of the movie except for the fact that it was full of romance. To my surprise, it was actually better than I expected. It had a story you cared about, and left you guessing a little bit. I would recommend it for any fans of romantic movies and drama movies. And for anyone that is thinking of exploring the romantic drama genre, give this movie a shot. You may be surprised on how good it is.
A little note on the side, but President Hinckley, the prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints passed away Sunday night, it was sad news. He was a great man, and did so much for the church.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
iTunes Rentals
Last night, I watched the movie that I got off the iTunes movie rental service, the movie was "Live Free or Die Hard", and I am here to report that it is a good service. You will want to make sure you have a fast connection to download the content, but I was very pleased with the quality. I could not give any complaints on how the movie was viewed, and that it was a very good movie. I recommend anyone to give the service at least a try. I think the one that would be amazing would have to be watching an HD version of the movie on an AppleTV, I have watched HD trailers on Apple.com and they look awesome, so I would have to say that an HD version of the movie to download would be amazing. But still, what I got was very good. Just remember, once you download it, you have 30 days to watch it, once you start viewing it, you have 24 hours to finish it.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
In Memory of Heath Ledger
This is yesterday's news, but was still a complete shocker to everyone. Heath Ledger passed away at the age of 28 yesterday afternoon in New York City. I discovered the news shortly after it happened and was in complete shock as I never thought he would die so young. Reasons for death are still unknown, except for the bottle of pills next to him when he was found, they say he may have overdosed but is still speculation until proven. Anyway, sad to see a decent actor gone. His last role will be in "The Dark Knight" which should be great. I really enjoyed "Batman Begins" and this sequel should be an excellent follow-up.
As far as anything else to report. I still haven't had time to view the iTunes rental yet, but I will try to view it before the week is over. The hard part is that I really want to just open it right now to see how the quality is compared to a DVD, but once I do, I only have 24 hours from that point to view it, so I will wait until I can view the movie. Once I do, I will give you my review on how the quality is.
As far as anything else to report. I still haven't had time to view the iTunes rental yet, but I will try to view it before the week is over. The hard part is that I really want to just open it right now to see how the quality is compared to a DVD, but once I do, I only have 24 hours from that point to view it, so I will wait until I can view the movie. Once I do, I will give you my review on how the quality is.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Random things
Well, as all of you have probably heard, "Cloverfield" was number one at the box office this weekend with a total of $46 million including the holiday today. This has shattered box office records for the month of January as usually movies don't do heavily well at the box office in January since all the good movies would have come out during the Christmas season. As I said earlier, they did a good job with the movie. If you don't mind terrifying parts in a movie and if you don't mind a shaky camera for about an hour and 20 minutes, you should enjoy it, I certainly did.
I want to share with all of you something that I have learned in a book that I am reading for my class called "Intro. to IS Management". It has to do with a program called "Customer Relationship Management". It is a way for companies to better serve their customers, they use information about their customers to learn about their needs and wants to help them. I looked into this one assignment that puts me in the shoes of a husband and father that has two kids, a home mortgage, two car loans, I am also building my retirement account and putting away money for college education for my kids. This is all done with one bank that has a CRM system. Now I am suppose to imagine these six different scenarios and describe what the bank would do with the CRM information it receives, what actions the bank would take, and I also need to ask myself if any of the actions taken are an invasion of my privacy. So here it goes.
1. You and your spouse decide to have another baby: Well, I would assume that they would provide me with information on starting another loan to help pay for the costs of the new baby. I don't think it would be an invasion of privacy if they just send you information about starting a loan and the benefits of it.
2. You lose your job: I could see them informing me of trying to place a certain amount of money in the bank so I could a certain amount extra to what I have until I start a new job. Once again, they could just send info. to me about savings, so it wouldn't be an invasion to privacy.
3. One of your parents is stricken with a severe and long-term illness and has no medical insurance, leaving you to pay the bill: The bank would tell me about savings or loans, or buying insurance. Maybe just telling me how this could benefit me in times when my family is burdened with bills. I probably wouldn't see this as invasion to my privacy, but I am sure that some would.
4. You consistently incur transaction fees for using an ATM not in your bank's ATM network: They would probably inform me that they have records that I have been pulling money from my account from ATMs that they have no control over and that I am being charged more than is necessary, and would advise me to pull money from their controlled ATM machines. I would not see this as interference to privacy as I would expect banks to know this information right away.
5. Your identity is stolen: The bank would immediately inform me that my identity has been stolen and that I should change my account and transfer all of my money and funds to that new account so whoever stole my identity can't steal my money. I would not see this as invading my privacy but protecting me.
6. You decide to build an addition on your home: The bank would give you information on pulling out a loan or placing a certain amount of money in the bank for savings. This would not be an invasion of privacy since they probably see a lot of people start projects for their home like a swimming pool or home theater or whatever, so it is sent as basic information to help you.
That was my assignment, if any of my responses were way off, I am still learning about banks and I am open to any ideas on what you think the bank would do in those situations that I listed.
One more thing, I have downloaded a rental from the iTunes store, I will inform you next time on the quality of an iTunes video as this will be the first time watching something for download at the iTunes store.
I want to share with all of you something that I have learned in a book that I am reading for my class called "Intro. to IS Management". It has to do with a program called "Customer Relationship Management". It is a way for companies to better serve their customers, they use information about their customers to learn about their needs and wants to help them. I looked into this one assignment that puts me in the shoes of a husband and father that has two kids, a home mortgage, two car loans, I am also building my retirement account and putting away money for college education for my kids. This is all done with one bank that has a CRM system. Now I am suppose to imagine these six different scenarios and describe what the bank would do with the CRM information it receives, what actions the bank would take, and I also need to ask myself if any of the actions taken are an invasion of my privacy. So here it goes.
1. You and your spouse decide to have another baby: Well, I would assume that they would provide me with information on starting another loan to help pay for the costs of the new baby. I don't think it would be an invasion of privacy if they just send you information about starting a loan and the benefits of it.
2. You lose your job: I could see them informing me of trying to place a certain amount of money in the bank so I could a certain amount extra to what I have until I start a new job. Once again, they could just send info. to me about savings, so it wouldn't be an invasion to privacy.
3. One of your parents is stricken with a severe and long-term illness and has no medical insurance, leaving you to pay the bill: The bank would tell me about savings or loans, or buying insurance. Maybe just telling me how this could benefit me in times when my family is burdened with bills. I probably wouldn't see this as invasion to my privacy, but I am sure that some would.
4. You consistently incur transaction fees for using an ATM not in your bank's ATM network: They would probably inform me that they have records that I have been pulling money from my account from ATMs that they have no control over and that I am being charged more than is necessary, and would advise me to pull money from their controlled ATM machines. I would not see this as interference to privacy as I would expect banks to know this information right away.
5. Your identity is stolen: The bank would immediately inform me that my identity has been stolen and that I should change my account and transfer all of my money and funds to that new account so whoever stole my identity can't steal my money. I would not see this as invading my privacy but protecting me.
6. You decide to build an addition on your home: The bank would give you information on pulling out a loan or placing a certain amount of money in the bank for savings. This would not be an invasion of privacy since they probably see a lot of people start projects for their home like a swimming pool or home theater or whatever, so it is sent as basic information to help you.
That was my assignment, if any of my responses were way off, I am still learning about banks and I am open to any ideas on what you think the bank would do in those situations that I listed.
One more thing, I have downloaded a rental from the iTunes store, I will inform you next time on the quality of an iTunes video as this will be the first time watching something for download at the iTunes store.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Cloverfield!
Okay, I just got back from seeing the movie "Cloverfield" and I have to say that they have done a good job with the movie. As all of you are probably aware, the movie was shot in camcorder style. Doing it that way has it's pluses and minuses. I think it is a plus because it is something that we don't see hardly at the movie theaters, but the minus is that you get the jerking around that you don't get when watching it the traditional way, and that can cause a little motion sickness. I won't say too much of the film as everyone involved has kept it a secret for a while. It is about a monster that attacks New York City. As for my recommendation, it depends on what kind of a film goer you are. If you like movies about monster invasion, don't mind terrifying moments or a few disturbing images, then you should enjoy this movie. As far as anyone else, I would say that you are fine to just skip it. Anyone that is bugged by a shaky camcorder, I am sure it won't be a big deal when it hits DVD, unless you are watching it on your big screen at home. It was a good movie though.
Now there are a few trailers that I saw of movies that I think should be very good this year. Next month, "Jumper" opens in theaters, and it looks very good. It is directed by the same director of "The Bourne Identity" and "Mr and Mrs Smith". We also got a preview for the movie "Iron Man" that debuts on May 2 of this year. I saw the preview online when it arrived on the net, and it looks like it will be a pretty good movie. I do have to say that this will be a very good year for movies, sequels to "Batman Begins", "Indiana Jones", "Chronicles of Narnia", and so many other movies that have excellent potential.
Well, have a good weekend.
Now there are a few trailers that I saw of movies that I think should be very good this year. Next month, "Jumper" opens in theaters, and it looks very good. It is directed by the same director of "The Bourne Identity" and "Mr and Mrs Smith". We also got a preview for the movie "Iron Man" that debuts on May 2 of this year. I saw the preview online when it arrived on the net, and it looks like it will be a pretty good movie. I do have to say that this will be a very good year for movies, sequels to "Batman Begins", "Indiana Jones", "Chronicles of Narnia", and so many other movies that have excellent potential.
Well, have a good weekend.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
iTunes Rental Service
Well, just yesterday the iTunes store started to provide new movies that are available to rent. It may sound weird to download something to rent, but it simply means that once you have downloaded it and started it, you have 24 hours to watch it before it disappears from your hard-drive. It will be interesting to see how this plays off. I, myself, have not attempted to buy a movie off iTunes yet, I mainly just buy the DVD instead. With the new rental service, I may try to "rent" one of their movies and see how the quality is. I hear that downloading movies is suppose to be the future instead of movies on discs like DVD or Blu Ray. We will see how it all plays off.
Speaking of movie rentals, I was reading in my textbook and found a few questions about the movie rental industry. They ask questions that I will attempt to answer:
1. Is the buyer power low or high? I believe it to be high. We see so many movie rental businesses, there are so many in the city that I live in, and plus there are other options like Netflix where you can rent the movie from their website and they send it to you directly by mail.
2. Is the supplier power low or high? I think the supplier power is high. A lot of the rental stores create a limit of what will be available at their stores or the amount of new rentals available. I really like Netflix, they have so much to choose from, but yet it is a little more difficult because I don't think they have many copies of new rentals available, so if I want to rent a new release, my chances of getting it may not be so great.
3. Which substitute products and services are perceived as threats? As I discussed earlier, downloads or the ability to watch a movie immediately on your computer is growing. It could easily hurt the businesses that only have the movies at their store. As well, having the movies delivered right to your mailbox is becoming increasingly popular.
4. What is the level of threat of new entrants? That is, are the barriers to entry high or low? What are the barriers to entry? The barriers to entry are pretty high, as we see the movie rental business trend shift from picking up your movies at your local video store to having them delivered to your home or watching them immediately on your computer. In order to start a movie rental business, you need a ton of movies available to offer in order to compete with other high profile businesses like Netflix or Blockbuster, and these new trends will make it harder for new businesses to enter into the movie rental industry.
5. What is the level of rivalry among existing competitors? Create a list of the top five competitors in the business. a)Blockbuster b)Netflix c)Hollywood Video d)Movie Gallery e)iTunes. Some may be a little off and the last one just entered into the industry, so we will see how it does. The main competitors are Blockbuster and Netflix. The other ones are seen as alternatives that probably don't stand too much of a great shot due to the new technology coming for. Blockbuster and Netflix are moving forward in areas that are growing. Netflix increased it's availability to let their subscribers immediately watch movies on their PCs in wake of the announcement of iTunes having rentals available.
I do think that the movie rental business is a very good one. I have gone to the video store a lot when I was a kid. There is indeed a lot of money made in this business. As far as entering into the business, it is a good one due to the money made, but not an easy one to survive in now due to the new technology and trends of the 21 century. If I were to start my own movie rental business, I would make sure that I would have a decent selection of movies that are available to rent and make sure that I stay current to new releases, I would also be aware of the new technologies coming forth and try to use them to my business, like Blockbuster now allowing rentals to be delivered to customer's doorsteps like Netflix does when they realized what customers wanted. It would be a hard business, but would be fun to have a video store of my own.
By the way, today for the first time I saw the movie "Singin in the Rain" which was made back in the 1950s, I actually have to say that it was a very good film. The actress with the really high pitched voice reminded me of George Constanza's mom in the TV show "Seinfeld". We watched in one of my classes.
Speaking of movie rentals, I was reading in my textbook and found a few questions about the movie rental industry. They ask questions that I will attempt to answer:
1. Is the buyer power low or high? I believe it to be high. We see so many movie rental businesses, there are so many in the city that I live in, and plus there are other options like Netflix where you can rent the movie from their website and they send it to you directly by mail.
2. Is the supplier power low or high? I think the supplier power is high. A lot of the rental stores create a limit of what will be available at their stores or the amount of new rentals available. I really like Netflix, they have so much to choose from, but yet it is a little more difficult because I don't think they have many copies of new rentals available, so if I want to rent a new release, my chances of getting it may not be so great.
3. Which substitute products and services are perceived as threats? As I discussed earlier, downloads or the ability to watch a movie immediately on your computer is growing. It could easily hurt the businesses that only have the movies at their store. As well, having the movies delivered right to your mailbox is becoming increasingly popular.
4. What is the level of threat of new entrants? That is, are the barriers to entry high or low? What are the barriers to entry? The barriers to entry are pretty high, as we see the movie rental business trend shift from picking up your movies at your local video store to having them delivered to your home or watching them immediately on your computer. In order to start a movie rental business, you need a ton of movies available to offer in order to compete with other high profile businesses like Netflix or Blockbuster, and these new trends will make it harder for new businesses to enter into the movie rental industry.
5. What is the level of rivalry among existing competitors? Create a list of the top five competitors in the business. a)Blockbuster b)Netflix c)Hollywood Video d)Movie Gallery e)iTunes. Some may be a little off and the last one just entered into the industry, so we will see how it does. The main competitors are Blockbuster and Netflix. The other ones are seen as alternatives that probably don't stand too much of a great shot due to the new technology coming for. Blockbuster and Netflix are moving forward in areas that are growing. Netflix increased it's availability to let their subscribers immediately watch movies on their PCs in wake of the announcement of iTunes having rentals available.
I do think that the movie rental business is a very good one. I have gone to the video store a lot when I was a kid. There is indeed a lot of money made in this business. As far as entering into the business, it is a good one due to the money made, but not an easy one to survive in now due to the new technology and trends of the 21 century. If I were to start my own movie rental business, I would make sure that I would have a decent selection of movies that are available to rent and make sure that I stay current to new releases, I would also be aware of the new technologies coming forth and try to use them to my business, like Blockbuster now allowing rentals to be delivered to customer's doorsteps like Netflix does when they realized what customers wanted. It would be a hard business, but would be fun to have a video store of my own.
By the way, today for the first time I saw the movie "Singin in the Rain" which was made back in the 1950s, I actually have to say that it was a very good film. The actress with the really high pitched voice reminded me of George Constanza's mom in the TV show "Seinfeld". We watched in one of my classes.
Monday, January 14, 2008
School!!
Well, I am starting my second week of school this semester. I am enjoying all of my classes so far. But here I will be reflecting on an assignment that I was given in one of my classes. I was to read a document called "Careers in Business" and I have gained many aspects on how technology and computers are very important in each occupation that we would choose in business. I was looking up jobs for Marketing and I saw that each job requires computer skills or IT skills. One of the IT skills I saw was Desktop Publishing Software. IT skills are very important in the business world, and they have definitely made our lives easier. This also links how computers have changed the way movies are made. They have improved film making.
Speaking of movies, as many are aware, "Cloverfield" opens up this weekend. It should be very interesting to see how it does at the box office. I remember when I first saw the teaser trailer before the movie "Transformers" and there was no title attached to it, and I thought "that's weird," not thinking it had to do with their marketing campaign. Not revealing too much of a movie before it is released can go either way, so it should be interesting to see how this movie does.
Speaking of movies, as many are aware, "Cloverfield" opens up this weekend. It should be very interesting to see how it does at the box office. I remember when I first saw the teaser trailer before the movie "Transformers" and there was no title attached to it, and I thought "that's weird," not thinking it had to do with their marketing campaign. Not revealing too much of a movie before it is released can go either way, so it should be interesting to see how this movie does.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Welcome
I just want to welcome you to my blog. I have never done blogging before so here it goes. My favorite hobby is to watch movies or to make movies. I like watching many different kinds of movies. I don't have much to say here yet, but I will write more later.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)