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Blockbuster partially reaches back to the 90s, announces 3-day in store rentals with tiered pricing
Right on the heels of announcing that its on demand service was available on over 100 devices, Blockbuster has officially reduced in-store rentals periods from five to three days and established new pricing tiers. "Just arrived" Blu-rays and DVDs now cost $4.99, making them competitive with Redbox on a cost per day basis, especially when you consider the red vending machines must wait for up to 28 days later in some cases to get newer titles. Recent releases in circulation longer than six weeks cost $2.99 along with frequently rented "Top Picks," while older, and less popular titles -- think Weekend at Bernies -- have bottomed out to $0.99. According to company rep Patty Sullivan, these changes should help Blockbuster "continue to be a competitive force in the media business" and "simplify the rental experience." That sounds a lot like the same stance it took with the now dead no late fee scheme -- but who's keeping track? It also still seems expensive for frequent movie watchers compared to Netflix's basic $10 a month plan, which includes one rotating mailed disc along with unlimited streaming. So call us crazy, but somehow we don't see this move solving the company's bankruptcy woes anytime soon.
Don't forget: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind comes to Blu-ray January 25th
Come January, if your recollections of 2010 leave you wishing for a full brain reformat, unfortunately science -- at least in its legal incarnations -- can't help you. Universal's decision to release Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind on Blu-ray this coming January though will at least let you live vicariously through the trippy shenanigans of Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet. Available for pre-order now from Amazon for just shy of $20, the 1080p version will ship as a single 50GB dual-layered Blu-ray disc and feature a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio soundtrack along with a host of extras, like interviews with the cast and short documentaries on the film's production. Now that you've been alerted, if you try to pull the I don't remember card come January, we'll know Frodo, Kirsten Dunst and Mark Ruffalo stopped by your crib in the middle of the night.
