WHAT'S NEW for September 20th

Currently renting this week we have new titles World War Z, The East, Arthur Newman, The Bling Ring, Erased, Drift, and many more.

World War Z, starring Brad Pitt, is a zombie thriller. It is reminiscent of I Am Legend, with heartpounding action and plenty of jump moments. Drift is a surfing movie based on real life during the origins of the surfing sport in Australia in the 70’s. The Bling Ring is also based on the true story of a group of fame obsessed teenagers living in the L.A. suburbs who track celebrities and rob their empty homes for the purpose of obtaining "bling". Sofia Coppola writes and directs and Emma Watson shines.

Next week we feature the Blockbuster (pun intended) Iron Man 3, featuring Robert Downey Jr. reprising brash portrayal of playboy Tony Stark and his alter ego. Supporting cast includes Gweneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle and Sir Ben Kingsley.

An interesting fact regarding Iron Man 3 is that almost 4 minutes of extra footage was filmed exclusively for the Chinese market. China only allows 34 foreign films in the market annually, and the Marvel (now Disney owned) deferred to the Chinese government to gain access to the almost 1.4 billion potential viewers the Chinese market represents. This, in my humble opinion, is the start of a disturbing trend. The four minutes consist of throwaway dialogue and revolve around gratuitous product placement dictated, indirectly, by the Chinese government. The bright side is that we, in North America, aren't subjected to this extra footage. Furthermore, the extra income the huge market represents can be reinvested in making more great movies.

Other new releases this coming week include Redemption, starring Jason Stratham; Lethal Justice, featuring Steven Seagal; Unfinished Song, with an ensemble cast led by Terrance Stamp and Vanessa Redgrave; Blood Of Redemption, with the trio of Dolph Lungren, Vinnie Jones and Billy Zane; and, for Horror fans, I Spit on Your Grave 2.

ABOUT THE RATINGS SYSTEMS

Last week I mentioned I was going to delve into the Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB ratings for the uninitiated.

Rotten Tomatoes is a film review aggregator. It compiles reviews from authors that are certified members of various writing guilds or film critic associations. These reviews are reflected as positive or negative by RT staff. If 60% or more reviews are favourable, the movie gets a tomato. If a movie rates below that it gets a green splotch--a rotten tomato. Major film critics such as Roger Ebert, Stephen Hunter, Lisa Schwartzbaum, and Peter Travers are considered Top Critics. A film with 75% or better from at least 40 reviewers, including at least 5 top critics, is considered "certified fresh".

Rotten Tomatoes also compiles audience ratings and creates an aggregate score. There is sometimes a very large discrepancy between critic and audience ratings. For example, We're The Millers, currently on the big screen, got a 47% rotten tomato from critics while audiences rated it at 76%, enough to get a tomato, by critic's standards. On our website you will usually see the tomato rating on the right side of the screen when you click on a movie to get the synopsis or to rent it. If you click on the tomato, it diverts you to the www.rottentomatoes.com website. The rating on our website shows the critic rating but when you click on the tomato you see the critic rating side-by-side with the audience rating (accompanied by a spilled popcorn bucket). If you take more credence in your peers' opinion, this is a worthwhile detour. When you are done, click the left, or back, arrow in the top left of the screen where you can return to our website and rent the movie, if you wish.

The IMDB (Internet Movie Database) is a similar rating scale. It is the score, out of 10, that is usually beside the Rotten Tomato score on our website. This rating is derived by viewer submissions that are run through a complicated formula to provide a weighted mean that is supposed to prevent "ballot stuffing". The system has been recognized as somewhat flawed but, similar to a political poll, has some accuracy within a parameter of error.

In the end, you are the only critic that matters. As I discuss movies with customers as they are returned, there are always diverse opinions about every movie. Some love one while others hate it. The value of Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB ratings is you can keep track of how similar they are to your own opinions. This will allow you some guidance when making movie choices in the future.

MY PICKS THIS WEEK

Movies I personally enjoyed and would recommend to movie lovers--ones who love good movies from any genre:

MUD: Starring Matthew McConaughey, Tye Sheridan, Sam Shepard, and Reese Witherspoon. This one gets my early pick for Best Picture and Best Actor nominees. Original, gripping and genuine acting, supported by a strong, authentic script.

THE SAPPHIRES: Another one, like Mud, that flew under the radar at the box office but presents a fabulous, based on true, story. The Sapphires uses humour as a vehicle to keep things light in a racial climate reminiscent of 42.

BEHIND THE CANDELABRA: The story of Liberace, portrayed by none other than Michael Douglas. Worth the price of a rental just to see that, add Matt Damon as his naive young lover and you witness veteran Actors at their best--far out of their comfort zones. This story is character driven and both Douglas and Damon outdo themselves.

COLLINGWOOD CINEMA CLUB featured Love Is All You Need, starring Pierce Brosnan and Trine Dyrholm, September 9th. If you missed it or want a second viewing with friends or family we have it in stock for rent.

JUST FOR KIDS

Recent recommended releases for kids include:

Epic, a great family animated movie from the creators of the Ice Age series
Scooby-Doo! Stage Fright--an new original movie
Wiener Dog Nationals, a funny family movie featuring racing dachshunds! and, just in time for Halloween,
Daddy, I'm a Zombie, a claymation in the spirit of Nightmare Before Christmas

KIDS CONTEST: Come in and tell us the name of the character Miss Piggy loves in the Muppets and get a free kid's 7 day rental!

OUR ONLINE SYSTEM

Our online rental system uses cutting-edge technology that allows you to search out and reserve your movies from home or you can pick out your movies at our store.  We have had a few compatibility issues that should be fixed soon.  In the meantime,  if you experience any problems you can call us and we will hold your movie choices for you.   You can also visit us in the store and reserve and pick up your movie rentals.

If you are enjoying our system’s convenience, LET US KNOW! We will be randomly awarding free rentals for feedback--positive or negative. Your comments may even be featured in this blog!

Call us: Collingwood (705) 293-4448. e-mail: collingwoodGHV@gmail.com
          Wasaga Beach (705) 429-1234 e-mail gonehollywoodvideo@rogers.com

...or tell us when you come in. We're here to serve you and make your rental experience the best it can be.

NEXT WEEK will be my first full movie review--don't miss it!

Lights, Camera, Action!

I'm Richard Gillman, from Gone Hollywood Video, Collingwood.

I will be blogging on all things Hollywood. Whether you consider yourself a cinephile, movie buff, armchair critic, or couch potato--you are here because you love movies, and so do we.

Each week I will be blogging about the latest releases and upcoming hits on DVD and Blu-Ray. I will also do a more detailed review of one of our recently released movies. There will be staff picks from myself and my colleague and movie maven, Ed Gimpelj. Ed is a veteran of the movie rental business starting with a store in Wasaga Beach in 2001 and expanding into Collingwood last year.   Ed will also be contributing to this blog and one of us will respond to any questions you have about movies.

The blog will include weekly recommendations from our vast library of movies, both new and classic.  We will recommend favourite titles from a number of categories including family, comedy, romance, horror, drama, and action.

There will be Hollywood gossip, anecdotes, and continuity errors from popular films--ever notice the custom license plate that suddenly appears on the front of Tony Stark's car as he is driving, in Iron Man 1?

We will have fun with trivia, prizes, kid stuff and great contest giveaways for faithful readers. To get us started come into either store with the answer to this two part trivia question and get a FREE 7 Day Movie Rental:  What is the name of the first movie that John Travolta and Robert De Niro starred in together and where does most of it take place?

This week we have some great new releases, led by Star Trek: Into Darkness. This sequel to the reimagined version of the franchise has garnered high ratings on Rotten Tomatoes with 87% and IMDB with 8.1/10. For those of you unfamiliar with these rating systems, I will be explaining them in my next blog, and how to use them as tools to assist with your movie rental choices. We include both ratings for most movies on our website.

Other recent featured releases include, Homeland Season 2, Sons of Anarchy Season 5, The Walking Dead Season 3, Now You See Me, The Iceman, The Great Gatsby, Mud, Pain & Gain, The Lords of Salem, Olympus Has Fallen and many more.

We are always here, at both locations, to "talk movies" and enhance your movie rental experience. I urge you to visit our website at www.gonehollywoodvideo.com to discover our revolutionary new rental system that allows you to browse our library from any computer, tablet, or Smartphone--24/7, reserve your movie picks, and pick them up at your convenience at either location--where they will be waiting for you--guaranteed.

New members who mention "mycollingwood.ca", welcome to the family, your first movie is on us...

For those of you who are already members--make some popcorn, put up your feet, and enjoy the ride...

We're just getting started...