Canadians going online to rent movies
TORONTO (CP) - Trend-spotters have been forecasting for years the imminent extinction of the video store.
With the advent of television pay-per-view channels and digital technology that enables films to be downloaded off the Internet and burned onto DVDs for home viewing, they say, there's really no need for the neighbourhood Blockbuster to exist.
The trouble is, movie studios aren't co-operating with the prognosticators and continue to release their films to video stores because, in short, they make more money that way. Downloading from the Internet, as well, can be a process that takes a couple of hours.
So for now, some Canadians fed up with trudging to the video store every Friday night have found another option: websites that allow movie-lovers, for a monthly fee, to order their flicks online, receive them in the mail, watch them at their leisure without due dates or late fees and then send them back.
There are a handful of such services in Canada, including Zip.ca, Cinemail.ca and Dvdhype.com. While Blockbuster offers an online movie rental service in the United States, it hasn't yet expanded that operation north of the border.
Satisfied customers say it's yet another way that the Internet has simplified their lives.
Brett Tackaberry, 29, is a Zip.ca devotee. The Ottawa-based company, the biggest of its kind in Canada, recently celebrated its 10 millionth shipment with Canada Post and has a library of more than 52,000 movies and TV series, many times larger than what's available at a neighbourhood video store.
"I used to go to Blockbuster and Rogers a lot, but I've just found that it just makes more financial sense and saves me a lot of time to order my movies online, just like I bank online," says Tackaberry, who works at an Ottawa software company. "I haven't been to a bank branch in years, and I doubt I'll be at a video store anytime soon either."
Zip.ca works like this: for a monthly fee - ranging from $10.95 to $49.95, depending on how many movies you want to rent at once - subscribers surf the website and choose what movies they want by creating a DVD wish list. The company mails them the flicks via first-class mail with a postage-paid return envelope, and customers can watch them when they feel like it - either that day, a month later or six months later.
When Zip.ca customers have watched their films, they send them back and order a new batch of movies.
"If you rent five or six movies a month, like I was doing, this makes a lot more financial sense and saves you the time of having to go to a video store and be greeted by a wall of movies in alphabetical order that you have to go sifting through," Tackaberry says.
Rick Anderson, president of Zip.ca, says that when he started the company - similar to Netflix.com in the U.S. - he assumed most customers would be rural Canadians who couldn't easily get to a video store, people who didn't drive or older people who didn't want to venture into the neighbourhood Blockbuster.
"But it hasn't turned out that way at all," Anderson says. "The majority of our members are urbanites in their late 30s, although we have members in every age group. And the No. 1 complaint they make (about video stores) is about having to return a movie that they never ended up watching. Sixty-five per cent of our members have complained that they've had the experience of having to return a movie that they've not watched."
An added benefit, Anderson says, is the company's pledge to find any movie that isn't in the Zip.ca library if a customer asks for it.
"Fifteen thousand of the movies in our library are there because a customer requested it," he says. "That means we have some really obscure and interesting titles in there that aren't easily found at a video store."
But Sarah Good, spokesperson for Rogers, says video stores still offer something that online rental operations cannot - the human touch.
"You want what you want when you want it, not in a few days' time after you order the video online," she says. "As well, we've got movie experts sitting in our stores ready to help you find what you need or give you the kind of hands-on customer service you can't get from a website."
Google buys YouTube for $1.65 billion US
Internet search leader Google Inc. made a giant leap Monday into the burgeoning online video industry by snatching up YouTube Inc. for $1.65 billion US.
The all-stock acquisition unites one of the internet's marquee companies with one of its rapidly rising stars.
The price makes YouTube, a still-unprofitable startup, by far the most expensive purchase by Google during its eight-year history.
"We are natural partners to offer a compelling media entertainment service to users, content owners and advertisers," said Eric Schmidt, Google's chief executive officer.
YouTube will continue to retain its brand, as well as all 67 employees, including co-founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen. The site was launched in February 2005, using Macromedia Flash technology to display video content submitted by a growing community of members.
CBS, Universal, Sony ink separate deals
The deal comes on the same day as YouTube, one of the top video-sharing websites in the world, announced agreements with CBS, Universal Music Group and Sony BMG Music Entertainment to allow video clips and music to be featured on the site.
"YouTube is committed to balancing the needs of the fan community with those of copyright holders," YouTube CEO Chad Hurley said in a statement.
The arrangement with CBS allows for short videos from news, sports, primetime programs as well as Showtime to be shown. CBS said it will also offer brief clips from popular series such as Survivor and mini-previews for some of its new fall shows.
New technology
The network will also test new technology that will help it find copyrighted content on YouTube and remove it. CBS will retain the capability to keep the copyrighted material on the site and share revenue from advertising that appears alongside the content.
Universal Music Group confirmed that YouTube will have access to thousands of music videos, and artists will be compensated for any musical content that users decide to incorporate into their videos.
Sony BMG Music said it will also make video content available on the site and permit YouTube users to include some songs from its catalogue in their amateur videos.
Sony BMG Music will share ad revenue with YouTube for all videos that integrate any audio or video from the Sony library.
YouTube made a similar pact with Warner Music Group a month ago.
New Releases: Rod Stewart, Jimmy Buffett, James Taylor
Rod Stewart "Still the Same ... Great Rock Classics of Our Time"
Rod Stewart closes the Great American Songbook, at least for now, and returns to his roots by covering rock tunes on "Still the Same." The album features the singer performing such well-known songs as Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Who'll Stop the Rain," Bob Seger's "Still the Same," Van Morrison's "Crazy Love" and Elvin Bishop's "Fooled Around and Fell in Love."
"Still the Same" comes at a time when most assumed that Stewart was content to remain in the role of standards crooner, having mined the Great American Songbook for four volumes that have sold millions of copies. It will be intriguing to see if the fans who embraced the "Great American Songbook" series will follow Stewart on his return to rock.
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Jimmy Buffett "Take the Weather With You"
Mr. Margaritaville returns with his first new studio album since 2004's "License to Chill." The album is billed by Buffett's Mailboat Records label as a return to his "country foundation with breezy ballads, interpretations of alt-country songs, a version of Merle Haggard's 'Silver Wings' and mariachi horns in 'Cinco De Mayo in Memphis.'"
The set also includes the ballad "Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On," which addresses the devastation left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, as well as the Mark Knopfler-penned track "Whoop De Doo," on which the former Dire Straits member makes a guest appearance.
Buffett is currently scheduled to make six stops--in California, Florida and Las Vegas--in support of the new album.
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James Taylor "James Taylor at Christmas"
The singer/songwriter kicks off the onslaught of big-name holiday releases with this collection of yuletide classics. The set features guest stars Chris Botti, Natalie Cole and Toots Theilemans.
This is the second time in recent years that Taylor has released a holiday record. The previous seasonal outing, 2003's "James Taylor: A Christmas Album," was sold exclusively at Hallmark stores.
Taylor does have some shows on the horizon. He'll next perform Tuesday (10/10) in Providence, RI, and will spend the following 10 days or so touring in the Northeast and Midwest.
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Bette Midler "Cool Yule"
Joining Taylor as an early entry into the holiday-CD sweepstakes, Bette Midler returns with "Cool Yule." The album features such wintry classics as "I'll Be Home for Christmas" and "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?"
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Sting "Songs from the Labyrinth"
The former chief of Police strays from his pop/rock past to interpret the music of Elizabethan songwriter John Dowland (1563-1626). Joining Sting on the album is lutenist Edin Karamazov.
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Other new releases:
Lloyd Banks, "Rotten Apple" (G-Unit)
The Be Good Tanyas, "Hello Love" (Nettwerk)
Circle II Circle, "Burden of Truth" (Locomotive)
Hybrid, "I Choose Noise" (Distinctive)
Wynonna Judd, "A Classic Christmas" (Curb)
Brad Paisley, "A Brad Paisley Christmas" (Arista)
Robert Randolph, "Colorblind" (Warner Bros.)
Senses Fail, "Still Searching" (Vagrant)
Mindy Smith, "Long Island Shores" (Vanguard)
Micah Stampley, "A Fresh Wind" (Levitical)
Trivium, "The Crusade" (Roadrunner)
Zucchero, "Fly" (Universal)
Soundtracks and scores:
"A Chorus Line (New Cast Recording)" (Sony)
"Flyboys" (Varese)
"Marie Antoinette" (Verve)
Scarlett Johansson: 'I'm not promiscous'
NEW YORK - Scarlett Johansson says that while monogamy might go against instinct, she's happy in her relationship with boyfriend and recent "Black Dahlia" co-star Josh Hartnett.
"Josh is very sweet," the 21-year-old actress says in an interview in Allure magazine's November issue, on newsstands Oct. 24. "He's a good boy. A great person. I'm very lucky and I'm very happy. Contrary to popular belief, I'm not promiscuous.
"There does seem to be a mistaken belief out there that I am sexually available somehow — which is not to say that I'm not open-minded about sex," she continues. "Yet I wouldn't say I'm a serial monogamist, either. I mean, I went through periods of time when I was, ah, single. But when I'm in a relationship, I'm in a relationship."
But Johansson, whose films include "Lost in Translation" and "Match Point," still acknowledges monogamy might not be natural.
"I do think on some basic level we are animals, and by instinct we kind of breed accordingly," she says. "But as much as I believe that, I work really hard when I'm in a relationship to make it work in a monogamous way."
Johansson also encourages testing for sexually transmitted diseases.
"I get tested for HIV twice a year. ... One has to be socially aware," she says. "It's part of being a decent human, to be tested for STDs. It's just disgusting behavior when people don't. It's so irresponsible."
Farrah Fawcett Battling Cancer
Original Charlie's Angel and 1970s bombshell Farrah Fawcett has confirmed that she is battling intestinal cancer.
The 59-year-old actress recently underwent surgery to remove a tumor found in her lower intestine and is expected to have more radiation treatment and complete a course of chemotherapy.
"Throughout the journey of my life, I have maintained a strong faith in the power of the human spirit to overcome adversity," Fawcett said in a statement Friday. "I deeply believe in one’s own positive will to overcome even the most daunting challenges.
"I am resolutely strong and I am determined to bite the bullet and fight the fight while going through the next six weeks of cutting edge, state of the art treatment. I should be able to return to my life as it was before at the end of my treatment.
"I am so grateful for the overwhelming outpouring of concern, love, prayers and compassion from all over the world. You are all a source of enduring strength."
A tanned, glamorous Fawcett made a surprise appearance at the Emmy Awards in August alongside former partners in crime-fighting Jaclyn Smith and Kate Jackson to pay tribute to Charlie's Angels producer Aaron Spelling, who passed away in June.
"I wish her the best and it's just shocking. I'm overwhelmed by the news, I had no idea," Tori Spelling told E! News.
"I've grown up with her--she's been a good friend. We've been costars, we've been neighbors, we've been friends, she's been like a mother to me at times. She's an amazing woman."
It was shortly after the Emmy appearance that Fawcett was diagnosed with the disease.
Strangely enough, both Smith and Jackson have faced down cancer, as well. Smith was treated for breast cancer in 2002, and Jackson battled two occurrences of breast cancer in the late 1980s. Additionally, Fawcett's sister succumbed to lung cancer, prompting the former pinup to do fund-raising appearances for the American Cancer society.
Meanwhile, Fawcett's longtime off-on beau Ryan O'Neal fought his own bout with leukemia in 2001 and is reportedly in remission.
He and Fawcett, who split in 1997 after 15 years together, have apparently reconnected in recent weeks. The couple were spotted earlier this month working out together at an L.A.-area gym.
"After Farrah got the diagnosis...she was devastated," an unnamed friend is quoted in the National Enquirer, which first reported the cancer diagnosis. "Everyone in the family cried for days. Then she snapped out of it and told Ryan, 'I'm going to beat this!'"
Fawcett, whose blonde feathered waves were "the Rachel" of the '70s, starred on Charlie's Angels--and many teenage boys' walls--from 1976 to 1980. She scored an Emmy nomination in 1984 for the acclaimed TV movie The Burning Bed, in which she played a battered wife who sets her husband on fire in his sleep.
More recently she guest-starred on Ally McBeal, Spin City and the CBS legal drama The Guardian, and showed up alongside Ja Rule and Tim Meadows in the film The Cookout. Last year she offered herself up to the reality TV gods, starring in Chasing Farrah on TV Land and, shortly before the Emmys, took a turn poking good-natured vulgar fun at William Shatner during Comedy Central's televised roast of the Star Trek star.