Blockbuster Canada Blog

Top Weekly Rentals - September 19, 2010

2010-09-21T16:20:00.000-04:00

Here are the Top 10 weekly rentals from Blockbuster Canada stores for the week ending 9/19/10.

1. Prince of Persia: The Sands Of Time

2. Letters To Juliet

3. Killers

4. The Back-Up Plan

5. Date Night

6. Harry Brown

7. Solitary Man

8. MacGruber

9. Just Wright

10. Death at a Funeral

Top Weekly Rentals - September 12, 2010

2010-09-14T10:29:00.000-04:00

Here are the Top 10 weekly rentals from Blockbuster Canada stores for the week ending 9/12/10.

1. Killers

2. The Back-Up Plan

3. Date Night

4. Harry Brown

5. MacGruber

6. Solitary Man

7. Death at a Funeral

8. After Life

9. Marmaduke

10. The Last Song

Top Weekly Rentals - September 5, 2010

2010-09-07T10:23:00.000-04:00

Here are the Top 10 weekly rentals from Blockbuster Canada stores for the week ending 9/05/10.

1. The Back-up Plan

2. Date Night

3. Harry Brown

4. After Life

5. Death at a Funeral

6. The Last Song

7. Marmaduke

8. Repo Men

9. Furry Vengeance

10. The Bounty Hunter

Top Weekly Rentals - August 29, 2010

2010-08-31T09:42:00.000-04:00

Here are the Top 10 weekly rentals from Blockbuster Canada stores for the week ending 8/29/10.

1. The Back-up Plan

2. Date Night

3. After Life

4. The Last Song

5. Death at a Funeral

6. Furry Vengance

7. Repo Men

8. The Bounty Hunter

9. The Ghost Writer

10. Kick-Ass

Top Weekly Rentals - August 22, 2010

2010-08-24T10:53:00.000-04:00

Here are the Top 10 weekly rentals from Blockbuster Canada stores for the week ending 8/22/10.

1. Date Night

2. The Last Song

3. Death at a Funeral

4. Furry Vengeance

5. Repo Men

6. The Bounty Hunter

7. Kick-Ass

8. The Ghost Writer

9. Gunless

10. Cop Out

Top Weekly Rentals - 08/15/10

2010-08-17T12:12:00.000-04:00

Here are the top weekly rentals from Blockbuster stores for the week ending 8/15/10.

1. Date Night

2. Death at a Funeral

3. Kick-Ass

4. The Ghost Writer

5. Repo Men

6. The Bounty Hunter

7. Cop Out

8. Diary of a Wimpy Kid

9. Clash of the Titans (2010)

10. Triage

Top Weekly Rentals 8/08/10

2010-08-10T08:50:00.000-04:00

Here were the top weekly rentals from Blockbuster stores for the week ending 8/08/10

1 The Ghost Writer

2 Kick-Ass

3 Clash of the Titans

4 Cop Out

5 The Bounty Hunter

6 Repo Men

7 Diary of a Wimpy Kid

8 The Losers

9 Hot Tub Time Machine

10 Shutter Island

Top Weekly Rentals 8/01/10

2010-08-03T12:46:00.000-04:00

Here were the Top Ten Rentals from Blockbuster stores for the week ending 8/01/10

1 Clash of the Titans

2 Cop Out

3 The Losers

4 Repo Men

5 The Bounty Hunter

6 Brooklyn’s Finest

7 Shutter Island

8 Hot Tub Time Machine

9 Green Zone

10 Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

Top Weekly Rentals 7/25/10

2010-07-27T08:47:00.000-04:00

Here were the Top Ten Rentals from Blockbuster stores for the week ending 7/25/10

            1 Cop Out


            2 The Bounty Hunter


            3 The Losers

4 Hot Tub Time Machine

5 Brooklyn's Finest

6 Shutter Island

7 Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

8 Chloe

9 Green Zone

10 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Top Weekly Rentals 7/18/10

2010-07-20T08:42:00.000-04:00

Here Were the Top Ten Rentals from Blockbuster Stores for the week ending 7/18/2010

   1 The Bounty Hunter

2 Brooklyn's Finest

3 Hot Tub Time Machine

4 Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

   5 Shutter Island

    6 Green Zone

       7 Chloe

8 The Book Of Eli

9 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

10 Greenberg

Top Weekly Rentals 7/11/10

2010-07-13T07:23:00.004-04:00

Here were the Top Ten Rentals from Blockbuster stores for the week ending 7/11/10

   1 Brooklyn's Finest

     2 Hot Tub Time Machine

      3 Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lighting Thief

   4 Green Zone

7 The Crazies

Top Weekly Rentals: 7/4/2010

2010-07-06T13:06:00.000-04:00

Here were the Top Ten Rentals from Blockbuster Stores for the week ending 7/4/2010.

1 Hot Tub Time Machine

2 Green Zone

3 The Crazies

4 Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lighting Thief

5 The Book of Eli

6 Shutter Island

7 Remember Me

8 When in Rome

9 Youth in Revolt

10 Unthinkable

Living in the Limelight

2010-06-30T09:54:00.000-04:00

“Living in the limelight, the universal dream”, was a phrase coined by the Great Canadian rock band Rush. I wonder, when they wrote this lyric, did they think that by 2010 they would have sold so many albums that they would be bested by only The Beatles and The Rolling Stones or that they are considered by many to be Canada’s number one rock band? Just days after being presented with a star on the “Walk of Fame”, they release “Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage”. This new documentary explores Rush’s 40 year career, from their childhood to there international success. It's filled with never before seen backstage footage and interviews with some of rock music’s biggest stars including Kirk Hammett of Metallica, Les Claypool of Primus, Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins and many more!

Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage is an essential part of any Rush fan's collection and you can purchase the DVD or Blu-ray at your local BLOCKBUSTER store.

Are you a Rush fan? Let us know and tell us about a Rush Experience that you’ve had!

Top Weekly Rentals: 6/27/2010

2010-06-28T16:22:00.000-04:00

Here were the top 10 rentals from Blockbuster stores for the week ending 6/27/2010:

1 Green Zone

2 The Book of Eli

3 Remember Me

                                           4 Shutter Island

                                           5 When in Rome

                                           6 Youth in Revolt

                                           7 Unthinkable

                                           8 From Paris With Love

                                           9 Alice in Wonderland

                                           10 She's Out Of My League

Good Guys not Gilmore Girls

2010-06-22T11:41:00.000-04:00

What makes a good movie are good characters, good acting and good writing; a story that can reach you and allow you to relate to the characters on some kind of level. It is what we get in this small yet clever movie starring Alexis Bledel (Gilmore Girls) and Scott Porter (Friday Night Lights).

Here's the plot:

Beth wants it all: a good job; good friends; and a good guy to share it with. Of course that last one is trickiest of all as Beth discovers when she falls hard for Tommy, a handsome, young Wall Street hotshot. Just as everything seems to be falling into place, Beth meets Tommy's shy, clumsy co-worker Daniel.

Now after reading the plot line, this movie would seem to be a simple love triangle that is surely going to be filled with Hollywood clichés. But first time writer/director Julio DePietro was able to bypass this simplicity by creating a group of characters which somehow represent people we have all known at some point in our lives. The great acting from all the players allowed me to connect to them and the writing, which has a lot of foreshadowing, makes many references to classic tales of love, strife and the life long search of finding out who we are, who we want to be and, most of all, who we want to share it with.

So allow yourself to escape for 90 minutes or so and realize that, in the end , all that really matters is........

I couldn't give away the secret; you will have to see for yourself.

Click on the link below to view the trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtlQjAiR8K8

Live, Shop and Play

2010-06-17T10:04:00.000-04:00

The answer is blowing in the "WIND", or at least at BLOCKBUSTER® it is!

On June 4th we launched WIND Mobile "Take-Out" phones in 133 stores. We've expanded our partnership with WIND to support the ongoing goal of providing a better mobile network option for Canadians.

The "Take-Out" phones are easy to use and easy to set up: you can even do it from the comfort of your own home. There are three phones to choose from:
Huawei U1250 Huawei U7519   Samsung GravityTM2
Huawei U125     awei U1250



Everybody WINDS

Until June 30th all new customers will receive 50% off the first six months of their plan. In addition once you are a WIND customer, you can get one month of plan fees free for every new customer you bring to WIND (max six months free).

So go and talk to your sales managers at local participating BLOCKBUSTER® stores to see what all the hype is about. You've always loved choice and now this is what WIND is giving us! Take out has a whole new meaning with WIND and you can take advantage of it starting this weekend at selected stores across the country.

K-Stew, R-Pattz, and You!

2010-06-11T13:18:00.000-04:00

Twilight Fans rejoice!
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse is set to release theatrically on Wednesday June 30th!

For those of you who can't wait, we've got a special Lunar Eclipse Event to show our appreciation for all Twi-Hard fans!

A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes behind the earth such that the earth blocks the sun’s rays from striking the moon. This can occur only when the Sun, Earth and Moon are aligned exactly. Just like that crazy relationship between Edward, Bella, and Jacob! Crazy, right?

On Saturday June 26th we will be fortunate enough to experience a Lunar Eclipse! What better way to celebrate our highest selling franchise of all time.Eclipse is known as the favourite book amongst fans and the movie looks just as hot. Check out this trailer for a sneak peek at what you can expect:

So what's so special about our event?

1. There will be prizes to be won (full details in store)
2. Rent or buy anything on June 26th and you'll get a free Eclipse mini-poster (while quantities last, of course)
3. We'll be screening the current Twilight saga on all of our screens in store (just to tease you for the release of Eclipse)
4. We have great deals on the previous installments of The Twilight Saga, as well as some new products! Including Water Bottles, Lunch Boxes, and Twilight Socks!

Admittedly I've read all the books. And although I wouldn't shelve these books with the classics (William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Candace Bushnell, etc.) this franchise seems to be taking over. And if the trailer is any indication on what we are to expect from this film, I think the audience will be overjoyed. Two mortal enemies joining forces to take on a new threat of vampires? COUNT ME IN!

So come join us on June 26th, and in the meantime leave us your comments below and give us your thoughts on the release of Eclipse!

Afterthought - these offers aren't available in Quebec, sorry :(

Small Town Saturday Night

2010-05-31T15:14:00.014-04:00

New Release Tuesday always offers a wide variety of Top of the Box office hits and straight to DVD Hidden Gems.

Unless you've been living under a rock, the record-breaking films usually don't need an introduction. So I would like to focus on the underdogs that are definitely worth the rent.

Available June 1, 2010 is Small Town Saturday Night starring Chris Pine from Star Trek!

The Lowdown?

Just days before Rhett (Chris Pine) is leaving for Nashville to pursue a lifelong dream of being a singer/songwriter, his girlfriend Samantha (Bre Blair) realizes that "his" future may not be "their" future. This news comes as a shock to Rhett, and he is faced with having to choose between following his dream and staying in his hometown in order to be with the woman he loves.

Check out this exclusive clip from the movie right here:

Not quite sold yet? Check out the full trailer here:

And check out this 1 minute sneak preview of Chris Pine's performance of Somebody Came Today:

Comment and let us know what you think of the film or the trailer, or start the conversation and let us know what you think of Chris Pine ;-)

Edward, Bella, or Ethan Hawke?

2010-05-11T08:47:00.008-04:00

Have you jumped on the Vampire bandwagon? If the year 2019 is anything like the Spierig brothers' film Daybreakers you might have to.

But Nick, what's this movie about?

Two-time Academy Award nominee® Ethan Hawke plays Edward Dalton, a researcher in the year 2019, in which an unknown plague has transformed the world's population into vampires. As the human population nears extinction, vampires must capture and farm every remaining human, or find a blood substitute before time runs out. However, a covert group of vampires makes a remarkable discovery, one which has the power to save the human race.

As a self-proclaimed vampire film connoisseur, I must say that this film is a must add to my personal collection. The film's visually stunning cinematography does an excellent job dropping you into a world that has drastically changed in the not too distant future. Also, it's got Willem Dafoe and Ethan Hawke in it.

Check out the trailer to see for yourself:

Although highly unrealistic (or is it?) the film left me asking the question: What would I do? Would I succumb to my fate and attempt to live forever as vampire, or would I join the small allegiance and try to affect change in this world. These vampires don't sparkle or have a neighbourhood vampire slayer; although the blood deprived vampires are reminiscent of the Turok-Han (the uber-vamps in Buffy Season 7) so maybe the slayer is around the corner. If Buffy is involved I would totally join the allegiance.

If you've decided to become vampire you can recruit your friends to join you. Check out this awesome site from Maple Pictures to make your own recruitment video: www.vampirerecruiter.com

The film releases May 11th on Blu-ray and DVD so check it out and let me know what you think.

Move Taglines – Best of the Worst

2010-04-29T12:15:00.011-04:00

Everyone judges a book by its cover, or rather everyone judges a movie by its movie poster or cover art. We can’t help it. Unless we’ve gone the distance to watch the full trailer, the box art on a DVD will undoubtedly give us a first impression of what the movie is about.Looking passed the airbrushed celebrities and title treatment my eyes search for the famous “movie tagline.”

Some movies are famous for their tagline alone. It can sell the movie and leave a lasting impression for the viewer.

These classics may come to mind:

Apollo 13 - “Houston, we have a problem”

Forrest Gump - “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get”

Star Wars - “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…”

But movie taglines can sometimes be a little too honest about the content of a film. They can be laughable and completely absurd. I support all films/filmmakers but being a fan of the underdog I’d like to give a special shout out to the best of the worst movie taglines.

I searched my personal collection and found some gems, but I found a much better list from The Huffington Post

The Day Of The Dolphin - "Unwittingly, he trained a dolphin to kill the President of the United States"

The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants - "Laugh. Cry. Share The Pants"

Crank 2 - "He Was Dead... But He Got Better"

Leap Year - "Anna Planned To Propose To Her Boyfriend On February 29th. This Is Not her Boyfriend."

Silent Rage - "Science Created Him. Now Chuck Norris Must Destroy Him"

Die Hard 2 - "Die Harder"

Suspiria - "The Only Thing More Terrifying Than The Last 12 Minutes Of This Film Are The First 92"

Clash Of The Titans - "Titans Will Clash"

Ape - "Not to be confused with King Kong."

Life Is Hot In Cracktown - "Be cool. You're so cool. Life is cool in Cracktown."

Ghost Ship - "Sea Evil"

SpaceCamp – They came to SpaceCamp with the Dream of becoming astronauts. Suddenly… Without warning… Before they were ready… They were launched into space.”

Malone – “Ex-cop, Ex-cia, Ex-plosive”

Frogs – “Today the pond. Tomorrow the world”

Ocean's 12 - "Twelve Is The New 11"

Take a look at your personal collection and help add to this list. Post comments below with your favourite movie taglines!

Oh CANADA, our home and native land!

2010-04-21T09:24:00.015-04:00

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking on what our first official blog post should be about. Our big brothers in the south have a great blog that everyone should check out http://blog.blockbuster.com, but I wanted to talk about something that is unique to us Canadian movie lovers.

I think it’s fair to say that movie lovers around the world tend to appreciate movies that they can relate to. Although I can’t think of any films that focus on poutine or ketchup chips there are plenty of great films that take place in

Canada

It changes the way you interpret a movie when you can say “I’ve been there!” or “I know that place!”

So here are a few films that take place in our home and native land.

One Week

This movie pays great compliment to many of the great landscapes that Canada has to offer. Stopping at various landmarks Joshua Jackson travels from Toronto to Vancouver Island on a vintage motorcycle. As the drama in this movie unfolds and Jackson travels further along his journey, we are offered cinematography that is so visually stunning it will make you realize how beautiful our country is.

Bon Cop, Bad Cop

Hailed as one of Canada’s first truly bilingual films, it was originally filmed in both English and French and was edited afterward to include both languages interchangeably. Rich with Canadian talent and writing that includes Anglophone and Francophone humour, this film is a must-see for all Canadians!

Trailer Park Boys

On the east coast we’ve got Ricky, Julian, and Bubbles as the Trailer Park Boys. With 7 seasons of their comedic mockumentary television series and 2 feature length films under their belts these boys from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia are a force to be reckoned with.

Trailer Park Boys: Countdown to Liquor Day was released in late 2009, now the only question that remains is what’s next for this great Canadian Franchise?

C .R.A.Z.Y
The title derives from the first letter in the names of five brothers: Christian, Raymond, Antoine, Zachary and Yvan. This French-language Canadian film follows the life of Zachary struggling with identity while growing up in Quebec during the 1960’s and 1970’s. Winning 11 of 13 awards at the 2006 Genie Awards this is a truly a great Canadian Film.

Chloe

Atom Egoyan’s erotic thriller stars Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson and Amanda Seyfried and is unmistakably set in Toronto. Several famous Toronto landmarks, hotels, hot spots and restaurants are seen in this film with their actual names, including: Allan Gardens, The Rivoli, and Levack Bloc. It hasn’t been released on DVD or Blu-ray yet, but I’ll keep you posted on the release date once it is announced.

Our beautiful country is often used in movies and credited as another location. It is very exciting when we are able to share our space and proudly call it by its real name. The above list is a small sampling of times that this happens. Help grow the list of films by commenting below!

Welcome to the official Blog of BLOCKBUSTER Canada!

2010-04-21T09:11:00.001-04:00

Welcome to the official Blog of BLOCKBUSTER Canada! We’ve created this blog to offer you exciting news about upcoming movie and game releases, and to share our passion for the entertainment industry.

We’ve got a great group of employees that will be contributing as Guest Bloggers to give you recommendations from across the country. As this Blog grows, share your comments so that we can continue to give you all of the news you want to hear about!

We will be posting weekly so check back for all of the latest news. For more frequent updates, please follow us on Twitter @BlockbusterCAN or visit us at http://www.blockbuster.ca