I have seen 1, 2, 4, and 8 and enjoyed all of them. What have you seen?

1. Kung Fu Panda (DreamWorks)
2. Get Smart (Warner)
3. Hellboy II: The Golden Army (Universal)
4. Journey to the Center of the Earth (Warner)
5. Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Furious Five (DreamWorks)
6. This Christmas (Sony)
7. The Incredible Hulk (Universal)
8. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Paramount)
9. The Strangers (Universal)
10. The Perfect Holiday (Sony)

• Redbox Top 10 DVD Rentals - Nov 3-9, 2008
• Redbox Top 10 DVD Rentals - Oct 27 - Nov 2, 2008
• Redbox Top 10 DVD Rentals - September 22-28, 2008

With this change, Netflix is also releasing HD streaming from their service to XBox Live Gold members. You have to be a Netflix member, too, of course.

So, the question is: How does this affect Redbox?

As I have mentioned before, I do believe streaming is the future for movies and tv shows, but that future is not quite here yet. For me, the $1 price tag, the newest releases, and with the small inconvenience of stopping by one of the five Redbox locations within a mile of my house still make Redbox my #1 choice.

Have you used Netflix on the XBox 360? Will you try out their new HD streaming service?

Let us know what you think.

• Motley Fool says: Sell Netflix Now
• Redbox and Netflix… the Perfect combination?
• Should Blockbuster buy Redbox?

100 Million B.C. [R] [watch trailer]

Starring: Michael Gross

Christmas Child [NR] [watch trailer]

Starring: William R. Moses

Jeff Dunham: Very Special Christmas Special [NR] [watch trailer]

Starring: Jeff Dunham

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 [PG-13] [watch trailer]

Starring: America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn

The Devil’s Curse [R] [watch trailer]

Starring: Colin Salmon, Clayton Watson

The Legend of Zelda: Havoc in Hyrule [NR] [watch trailer]

Starring:

Tropic Thunder [R] [watch trailer]

Starring: Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr.

Wall-E [G] [watch trailer]

Starring: Jeff Garlin (V), Sigourney Weaver (V)

War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave [R] [watch trailer]

Starring: C. Thomas Howell

• Redbox New Releases for August 19, 2008
• Special: Redbox New Releases for November 8, 2008
• Redbox New Releases for October 28, 2008

57DRW3

Expires tonight (Mon, Nov 17) at midnight.

Get more Redbox Codes here.

• Monday Promo Code - May 12, 2008
• Monday Promo Code - August 25, 2008
• Monday Promo Code - August 11, 2008

Can you guess what one of those reasons are? Yea, competition from Redbox…

Heavy competition : Netflix faces threats from not only Blockbuster’s (NYSE: BBI) Total Access, but also McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) and CoinStar-owned RedBox DVD rental kiosks. Many investors see this competition, as well as online movie rentals from Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) and Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), posing a significant threat to future revenue.

Now, there are many saying Netflix is doing great and you should hold or buy, but these are just some counterpoints coming from an investment club over at Motley Fool.

I am not sure what I think yet. Netflix does seem to be doing well, especially with their recent addition of streaming movies to their new Roku box, the XBox 360, as well as some other players. Since I think streaming is the future, they look to be in a good position.

However, with Redbox’s disruptive pricing model, I do see the price consumers are willing to pay for movie rentals coming down, so time will tell who comes out on top.

• Netflix HD Streaming on the XBox 360 Goes Live
• More Redbox expansion.. and a little history
• Redbox - changing the dvd rental marketplace and more

1. Get Smart (Warner)
2. Journey to the Center of the Earth (Warner)
3. The Incredible Hulk (Universal)
4. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Paramount)
5. The Strangers (Universal)
6. Kung Fu Panda (DreamWorks)
7. Transsiberian (First Look)
8. The Happening (Fox)
9. Tinker Bell
10. You Don’t Mess With the Zohan (Sony)

Source: McClatchy-Tribune News Service

• Redbox Top 10 DVD Rentals - Oct 27 - Nov 2, 2008
• Redbox Top 10 DVD Rentals - Nov 10-16, 2008
• Redbox Top 10 DVD Rentals - September 29-October 5, 2008

The post is quite comprehensive, but David’s main conclusion is similar to mine:

Everything that Universal is pushing not only hurts Redbox, but hurts consumers as well, forcing them to pay higher prices either for other rental options or for retail purchases. Most other rental options, physical and downloadable, cost at least three to four dollars. Redbox renting at $1 a night provides significantly more incentive for consumer to rent verses the $15-$20 retail sell through of DVDs. Then, with all of those rental discs released into the market as used it further redirects consumers from purchasing new DVDs; damn competition.

Read the full post here.

I will add one thing here that no one else is really saying. $1 DVD rentals are nothing new. They did not start with Redbox or even kiosk operators at all. Do you know where they started?

The answer: grocery stores.

Before Redbox, I rented most of my new releases from my local Albertsons. How much did I pay? $1/night for new releases, and like $1 for 5 days for older movies.

The way media is being viewed and purchased is changing. It’s time for movie studios to change, too, or be left in the dust of the future: innovation.

• Universal stifling competition to launch their own kiosks?
• Redbox strikes DVD deal with Smith’s Food and Drug
• TNR also hiring lawyers, fighting Universal

It definitely looks a lot nicer, and has more useful links and information.

Awhile back Redbox launched their own blog (not nearly as nice as this one!), and it is now getting more love in their emails.

The blog mostly has commentary on movies and such. Currently there is nothing actually from the Redbox people about their business, so I think it is of limited usefulness, but to each their own! You can check it out at: blog.redbox.com

If you aren’t on the Redbox email list, you can signup here.

What do you think of the new format?

• Redbox Update - More people = more free movies
• Tuesday Update - April 25, 2006
• Redbox Update - Redbox Codes coming to an end?

Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes made the announcement on the call, but offered no further details. You can read more at Home Media Magazine.

This is interesting news, because it may mean they are scrapping the idea of releasing kiosks to compete with Redbox. If so, this may be good news (at least short-term) for Redbox.

It does seem that long-term being able to stream movies to your TV will replace DVD rentals, but how soon is anyone’s guess.

The question is, will Redbox release something like this, too? An interesting thought…

• MovieCube to get kiosk boost from NCR
• Redbox Update - More people = more free movies
• Redbox Update - Answers in the house

LK43CE

Expires tonight (Mon, Nov 10) at midnight.

• Monday Promo Code - August 4, 2008
• Monday Promo Code - August 25, 2008
• Monday Promo Code - July 7, 2008