I am a Netflix customer, and a happy one at that.  I love getting my movies in the mail, and only having to wait about one or two business days to get my movies after they’ve recieved my returned movies in the mail.  I think the membership prices they charge are more than reasonable, so I was surprised when I got an email saying that they were lowering the cost of several membership prices.  I already thought what I was paying for the two at a time price was great, so I thought wow, that’s even better.

Then I read today that the reason Netflix lowered it’s prices are because they have recently suffered a lot of customer loss, and are attempting to regain patronage by broadcasting lower membership fees.  I honestly wonder how they turn a healthy profit even on what they charge now, but relegated to the fact that they probably rely more on quantity of people than anything else to turn a profit, and don’t worry so much about the individual membership prices because they did have the corner on the market, so to speak, for a while. 

Blockbuster has edged in a bit on Netflix, taking some customers away with an online mail DVD rental offering where the customer can order movies online just like they can with Netflix, but with the added benefit that they can take their movies back and exchange them for a new one at any local Blockbuster store as well. This is a good benefit, and I must admit, I thought about switching, but the service I get from Netflix is so fast, and the rate at which I watch the movies is just right for the service right now.  Besides, I hate going to the stores, so that’s why Netflix is perfect for people like me! 

I liked the first season of the HBO original series “Entourage”, which is basically a guy version of Sex and the City, but I have to say, the second and third season are becoming a bit cumbersome, even for a thirty minute show. 

Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy the flashiness of the show, the visually appealing people (there’s something for men and women in this show of gorgeous people), but at some point it’s all become tiring and totally shallow.  So, I figure either I’m outgrowing watching ridiculously over the top, non-reality based tv, or others might be feeling the same as me. 

The show just doesn’t really go anywhere, and you don’t feel any sense of loss or connection for the characters, because everything in their life is so temporary and not meaningful in any way.  If I have to watch the main character, Vincent Chase, who yes is a good looking guy, bed one more overly eager Hollywood idiot who chases stardom, I think I’m gonna vomit. 

I have noticed they’ve curbed the chick magnet angel a bit with Vincent lately, but man was it getting ridiculous. It makes every woman in Hollywood look like a celebrity whore, to say the least.  Maybe parts of Entourage are true, and this really is how Hollywood is. Then, all I can say is thank God I never chose to be an actor or anywhere near this industry of shallowness, temporariness, and general meaninglessness! 

I still like Jeremy Piven in the show, but even he can’t save the lack of enthusiasm in the show.  I’m wondering if they’ve changed up writing or if this type of show just has so long of a shelf life because it is so empty.  I  mean, there’s Seinfeld, which can carry on without having a meaning, but there’s not enough talent involved in this show to carry it off much longer, and the characters haven’t made themselves beloved, memorable characters. 

Oh God, I sound like an old lady. 

I liked this  movie - a lot.  I’m not even a huge James Bond movie fan, and with the last Pierce Brosnan installment of the franchise, I had all but given up on the cheesiness of the movie, such as the part where James surfs on a car door or some other piece of a car.  Yeah, I was pretty much done with all that, but then came along the newest, Casino Royale, with a brilliant actor playing the hardened, womanizing agent, Daniel Craig, and a very good actress playing his actual love interest and reason he remains a heartless womanizer, Eva Green.

Eva’s classic beauty and excellent acting only lended more to the movie, that had a solid script, and mind-numbing action sequences.  Not only can Craig act, but he can really do some great action sequences.  He just seems very “fast” and agile, and he added so much more to already well-coreographed action sequences by being present.  The story is also a love story, which shows James falling in love with Green’s character, then being heart broken by a series of events (I don’t want to spoil it for you if you haven’t seen it yet), and we see how he becomes cemented in his loner character who seems to float from woman to woman.

We also see James in vulnerable moments, almost dying several times, and also being tortured to the point of almost crying, and this is not something we ever saw in any of the other installments.  The movie is beautifully filmed, with vibrant scenery and excellent location choices that border on exotic.  It actually almost takes you out of the movie, because you fantasize about vacationing in these unbelievably picturesque places.

I hope the next few movies in this series will be as good.  With Craig in the driver’s seat as far as acting, I think we will not be disappointed. He not only has the acting chops, but he also has a penchant for making action scenes look heart stoppingly real, even when fighting with a guy hundreds of feet up.  Nothing looked phony, and I’ll bet the actor took a real beating filming this movie because it looks like he was involved in a lot of the action stunts. 

Oh, Sony obviously paid for a lot of this movie.  You’ll see what I mean when you see it if you haven’t already.  The product placement is obscenely obvious.