WE know you want to make the most of your new HD-ready flat screen TV and spanking new home cinema system, but there is no point in shelling out for a new Blu Ray movie, when you can just rent them instead.

The leading online DVD rental services already have large selections of Blu-ray Discs in stock. Some UK DVD rental comparison sites will even list the number of Blu Ray titles you can rent from the various DVD rental sites.

A Blu-ray Disc is expensive to buy, roughly four times what you would pay for a standard DVD, but if you rent online you will pay nothing extra for the considerable benefits the Blu-ray Disc offers, including extraordinarily detailed images, amazing colour and crisper sound than ever before.

Five times the detail

To play Blu-ray Discs you need a Blu-ray compatible DVD player or Playstation 3, and a HDTV to give you the most effective quality.

Blue laser technology porvides up to 50 GB of storage space, five times the capacity of a normal DVD giving 9 hours of HD (high definition) video or 23 hours of SD (standard definition).

HD gives five times the clarity of standard definition and allows you to watch your favourite blockbusters at home with the same dynamic effect and explosive sound you would get in a cinema.

It seems that, in future, exciting features will include the ability to watch live broadcasts of special events, the ability to update content via an internet connection and also download extras.

The major film studios - Disney, Warner, MGM and Fox - are starting to launch Blu-ray Discs simultaneously with Standard Definition DVDs but generally the Blu-ray films fall in the category of popular thrillers, adventure or action.

A good example is Daniel Craig's first outing as 007 in 'Casino Royale', which recently broke high-tech records in North America with sales of 100,000 during its first release as a Blue-ray Disc.

New comedy is proving popular and in addition some old favourites have been converted to the Blu-ray system. We tracked down Steve McQueen's classic 'The Great Escape' for example.

Rent Blu-Ray, don't buy it

In due course Blu-ray is likely to replace standard DVDs altogether, but it doesn't make sense at this stage to get rid of your standard DVDs.

Since Blu-ray is still a lot more expensive to buy and probably will be for a while yet, the smart choice for avid movie fans then is to rent for the time being.

A spokesman for Blockbuster DVD rental, one of the larger and more popular rental sites, has indicated that it intends to buy every Blu-ray DVD that is released.

He also emphasised that they will still buy and supply back catalogue DVDs to members and when Blu-ray versions of those films are released, they'll buy and supply them as well.

You'll need to find a DVD rental site that offers Blu Ray rental (not all of them do).

Shirley Stevens is a movie lover, avid DVD renter and popular entertainment journalist. You'll see many of her pieces on UK DVD rental sites, which let you compare DVD rental services and also includes a useful guide to UK Blu Ray rental.

Online DVD rental business started its journey only in the last part of the twentieth century. But it has never looked back since then. The online disk rental trade became a huge success and attained unimaginable popularity among the viewers. The popularity was first attained in the USA and UK where the viewers were overwhelmed by the exclusive and convenient way of watching a movie. The Internet DVD rental trade did not restrict itself in these countries but spread to all other major countries of Europe and Asia.

The online DVD rentals offer an easy and convenient way of ordering for a movie. The viewer needs to go to the website of the rental company. He will need to register himself at the site. Then he can choose DVDs from the list of films provided in the website. After choosing the desired DVD he will need to sit back and relax. The ordered DVDs will be sent through post practically in no time at all.

There are no hidden charges or any kind of late fees applicable on these orders. There is no due date either and so the customer does not need to worry about sending the DVDs back. They can be sent back free of charges. The customers can return the DVDs at their own will. But he will get another DVD only after returning the previous one.

The membership fee is quite small in the online rental services. The both ways postal charges are included in the membership fees. So, after paying the membership fees the customer can stop worrying about extra charges.

Before the online DVDs rental trade started viewers had to go to a shop to get a DVD and had to keep the due date of retuning the DVD failing which extra charges would have to be paid for late returns. But with the advent of Internet DVD rental trade things changed dramatically. And people all around the world have understood the benefits of ordering online for a DVD.

The most famous name in the field of web DVD rental trade happens to be that of Netflix that introduced web DVD rental trade. Another big name is Blockbuster. Blockbuster had already created a name for itself as a very popular DVD rental shop. Blockbuster went online and took a very large share in the market. Blockbuster controls over a quarter of the market and has increased emphasis on its online division. Another giant named Lovefilm also has a prominent presence in the online DVD rental business. Lovefilm mails out over two million DVDs per month.

The DVD rental market will probably continue its explosive growth for at least several more years as it is becoming increasingly powerful, driving many street video shops out of business in the process. It is a huge market and the fabulous consumer friendly offers of this business make the online DVD rental business a complete success story.

Victor Epand is an expert consultant for used DVDs, used movies, and used car stereos. You can find the best marketplace for used DVDs, used movies, and used car stereos at these sites for Online DVD rental business, Netflix, Blockbuster, Lovefilm, used movies, and used car stereos.

DVD rental industry came into being in the last decades of the 20th century. Around 1999, companies began to come up with the idea of online DVD rental system. The system soon became a great success as it offered convenience with no extra charges.

The convenience of ordering for a movie from home became hugely popular. And with the additional facilities like cheap rentals, no late fees, and no due dates, it really caught up with the market. Even postal charges were not included and the viewers could order online 24 hours a day from a huge collection of movies.

From the very beginning the DVD rental industry became quite fashionable and it outdated the general DVD rental shop, which had all kinds of extra charges. The online system became immediately popular as the viewer did not have to go anywhere to watch his favorite movies.

The process of ordering the DVD became simple like never before. The viewer just had to visit the DVD rental company's website, get a membership and choose from the list of movies available on the site. He can then order for the movies and the movies will get delivered by first class post to him in no time at all. In some ways DVD rental industry has given a big boost to the postal system also of every country.

The DVD rental by mail idea was pioneered by the US film Netflix, launched in 1999, to take advantage of the power of the internet and cheap and easy delivery of DVDs by post, while eliminating late fees or any kind of hidden charges. Netflix was the first one to introduce online DVD rentals and was able to get a patent on this business idea. They are the pioneers in the online DVD rental industry. Netflix is the ideal model for the entire industry and is still the dominant company in the U.S.

Another DVD rental industry giant, Lovefilm, alone controls 23 percent of all DVD rentals from all over the world. Lovefilm delivers out over 2 million discs per month. It is a UK based company that offers various types of membership plans and facilities as well.

The other big player in the DVD rental industry is Blockbuster which controls over a quarter of the market and has increased emphasis on its online division, with quality probably just as good as its brick and mortar store. Blockbuster claimed one million online customers in August 2005, two million by March 2006, and finished the first quarter of 2007 with three million.

DVD rental industry had an explosive growth in 2005 and 2006 and is expected to continue for at least several more years. And the DVD rental industry will probably continue this excessive growth for at least several more years as it goes for the big picture, driving many street video shops out of the way in the process.

Victor Epand is an expert consultant for used DVDs, used movies, and used car stereos. You can find the best marketplace for used DVDs, used movies, and used car stereos at these sites for Netflix, Blockbuster, Lovefilm, used movies, and used car stereos.

The DVD rental industry came into being in the last part of the previous century. Around 1999, some companies came up with the idea of an online DVD rental system. The system, when introduced, became quite a success as it offered convenience with no extra charges.

The convenience of ordering a movie from home became hugely popular. And with the additional facilities like cheap rentals, no late fees and no due dates it really caught the fancy of the market. Even postal charges were not included and viewers could order online, 24 hours a day, from a huge collection of movies.

From the very beginning, the DVD rental industry became quite fashionable and it outdated the general DVD rental shop, which had all kinds of extra charges tagged with a DVD. The online availability of DVDs made it more popular as the viewer did not have to go anywhere to watch his favorite movie.

The process of ordering the DVD became simple like never before. The viewer just had to visit the DVD rental company's website, get a membership and choose from the list of movies available on the site. He could then order for the movies and the movies would get delivered by first class post to him in no time at all. In some ways, the DVD rental industry has also given a big boost to the postal system of every country.

The big players

The DVD rental by mail industry was pioneered by the US firm Netflix, launched in 1999 to take advantage of the power of the internet and cheap and easy delivery of DVDs by post, while eliminating late fees or any kind of hidden charges. Netflix was the first one to introduce online DVD rentals and was able to get a patent on this business idea. They are the pioneers in the online DVD rental industry. Netflix is the ideal model for the entire industry and is still the dominant company in the U.S.

Another DVD rental industry giant, Lovefilm, alone controls 23 percent of all DVD rentals from all over the world. Lovefilm delivers out over 2 million discs per month. It is a UK based company that offers various types of membership plans and facilities as well.

Another big player in the DVD rental industry, Blockbuster controls over a quarter of the market and has increased emphasis on its online division, with quality probably just as good as its brick and mortar store. Blockbuster claimed one million online customers in August 2005, two million by March 2006, and finished the first quarter of 2007 with three million.

Conclusion

The DVD rental industry had an explosive growth in 2005 and 2006 and it is expected to continue through for at least several more years. Though the boom in this industry is yet to create history in the world of cinema, the DVD rental industry will probably continue this excessive growth for at least several more years as it goes for the big picture, driving many street video shops out of date in the process.

Victor Epand is an expert consultant for used DVDs, used movies, and used car stereos. You can find the best marketplace for used DVDs, used movies, and used car stereos at these sites for used DVDs, used movies, and DVD rental industry, Netflix, Blockbuster, Lovefilm.

Why Bother With the Box Office?

Every once in a while I read the box office stats. Why? To see if any movie has come close to topping Star Wars as the highest grossing movie off all time. My trust in the box office was firm adn secure until 1997 when Titanic blew everything away and became (and still is) the highest grossing box office movie of all time. What did this mean? Was my world shattered because Star Wars was defeated according to Box Office Mojo? Hardly. All it meant was that people went in huge numbers to see Leonardo DiCaprio while Star Wars continues to be the greatest cinematic experience of all time. The box office make no judgement on movies, it just tells us which movies people are going to see.

But it does affect what people see. That's the catch. If a movie has a high gross at the box office people will perceive it as being good and more will go and see the movie. There are plenty of examples where this is true. the opening weekend for Spiderman 3 was huge and people continued to go see it. The film had more of a run than it should have had because the box office (although not a person) compelled people to go see it. "It must be good because it's a blockbuster!" people would say. Sadly, the movie was poor and if the box office had accurately reflected the picture's quality, the franchise would be in trouble. But the people came, so another movie is sure to follow

What Can We Really Learn from the Box Office?

Movies and the Hollywood industry continue to fascinate us (mostly North Americans but people around the world are being sucked into it's vortex) and the box office is a fun way to track what trends in film are popular. So you can see how reading the box office gross numbers could benefit enyone related to the film industry. Writers, merchandisers, set designers, for example, should keep a close eye on the box office and see what types of movies are doing well at present and what have done well in the past. So the box office can be a valuable research tool for people interested in gaging popular viewing opinions.

The website below contains more articles to help you learn a bit more about the box office. If you love movies new or old, it's always fun to go through the box office stats and see just how much money was spent at the movie theater. Sometimes it's reassuring that good movies are being seen by lots of people. Sometimes you'll be left scratching your head and wondering, "Why'd they go see that?"

There's a certain breed amongst us that salivates at the thought of seeing a movie. Watching flicks from the treasured classics to the newest crop of screen entertainment is their cherished pastime. Know at least one guy or gal who fits this description?

Well, there's a way to cater exactly to their passion when it's gift-giving time. There's also a strategy to accomplish this challenge in as little as 10 minutes. What's the secret of meeting both of these daunting challenges? What's a win-win situation for all concerned?

Glad you asked! There's a proven remedy available to anyone who wishes to get the deed done in the most time-efficient way. The answer is buying Movie Gift Baskets online. This strategy will guarantee that the recipient will be able to get the movie that he or she desires in addition to a bevy of delectable treats. It will also save you a whole lot of time that you could use for other matters in your life.

So what do Movie Gift Baskets contain that are so special? First off, they can have within a $10 or $15 Blockbuster gift card. That means that the precise movie desired can be obtained by the one that you wish to make happy. Imagine the look in their eyes while being captured by the action thriller, comedy, "chick flick", or whatever type of film makes them come alive.

What else makes Movie Gift Baskets an exceptional choice? This gift idea also can be packed with treats such as popcorn, cookies, Cracker Jacks, peanuts, and candy - plus even a bottle of soda pop! Nothing is better than munching on these delightful goodies while being captivated by a good flick - Especially for those that are Hollywood fanatics that you know of!

OK, so far so good. You now know that there is a way to provide custom entertainment for anybody within their own comfy home. There's also a known way to include yummy snacks with the Blockbuster gift to complement the movie theatre feeling. And everything is packaged in a movie-themed container that will add to the splendor of it all. But the big question is – How do you get one into the hands of the beneficiary?

Piece of cake, my friends. Just use technology, as in the internet, to complete the mission for you. Go to your favorite search engine of Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc and type in keywords or keyword phrases that fit the product desired. Examples could be "Movie Gift Baskets", "Movie Lover Gift Baskets" and so on.

Review the choices that are given on the search engines and pick the one that is within your price range. Next you would fill out the shipping, billing and safe credit card info. Finally, you have the option to type in a personal message to the recipient. This could raise the gift experience to a whole new level if you put your mind to it. Might be the perfect opportunity to creatively express some of your keen wit!

The whole shebang could easily take a mere 10 minutes - or less! You can now forget about the hassles of mall shopping and wasted time and gas money.

So, you now are armed and ready to get the job done in the most effective and efficient way. Go forth now and win yourself an Oscar in the eyes of someone else by the giving of a Movie Gift Basket today!

Brian is the owner of Gift Basket Paradise and offers an awesome gift idea for anyone who enjoys watching movies and munching on delectable snacks at the same time. He invites you to visit his Movie Gift Baskets webpage at http://www.agiftbasketparadise.com/movie_gift_baskets.html for some very entertaining ideas!

I am finding that creators, to this day, often still think inside the box. Unfortunately for those who are, thinking outside the box is the only way our projects will ever happen. Many acclaimed black directors still complain of problems in Hollywood, even trying to get a low budget drama financed. The creators of the very inspirational Hustle & Flow ended up going "out of pocket" to make what they knew was an amazing film, because no one at the studios believed in it. This is with name talent attached. The idea of a studio backing an unknown artist's first picture as a $100 million+ blockbuster movie is absurd. The truth of the matter is that the studios and their money are not necessary.

I like puzzles. There are puzzles all over the internet. One only needs to fid the pieces and start putting them together. One of those puzzles shows us what can really be done without millions of dollars or major studio backing. The day is soon coming, or already is, when full 3D animation is accessible to all at a quality that will astound. I have seen the puzzle pieces. Someone simply needs to put them together.

A quick look at the galleries on websites like Daz3D or E-On Software will show some amazing things people are doing with very cheap, or even free, of-the-shelf software. Although one may not be able to hire a large crew to model assets, there's so much content out there, for free or low prices, that an artist can have an incredible head start to getting their creation off the ground. The thing is that it takes a little imagination.

Too often when I mention the wealth of content out there, the 3D models at places like Daz, Renderosity or Content Paradise, people immediately ask, "Well, what if they don't have what I want?" That, to me, is a severe lack of imagination. They have everything an artist thinking outside the box could want. How you use it is what determines whether or not you get what you want. How you think about it is important too.

I have, in the past, bought a 3D costume model because it had a belt that I wanted, then another because it had a shoulder pad I wanted, and on it goes. The reason is because I think about it in terms of creating my own backlot with a wardrobe department and pieces from which to construct sets and environments. I would say this mode of thought has eliminated as much as 90% of the work involved building original content from scratch for my 3D animation projects.

Now some will say, "Certain things have to be exact to my design." Sometimes this is definitely true, but taking advantage of the wealth of available content out there can mean the difference between getting the project off the ground or never seeing it happen at all. An artist can wait for years for a studio to give them millions to make their dream script. I know some who have done that and they give up on a broken dream. Robert Rodriguez, on the other hand, looked at what he had and went out and got his first movie done. It's just a matter of how an artist approaches the project.

Terrence Walker is a published manga author, independent animator and online entrepreneur who helps other creatives realize their visions of digital content creation and distribution. To find out more information, visit: