Tips from the girl who used to work at Blockbuster

I posted a little while back about my incredulity that people could be kept waiting on movies from Netflix. Today, scanning Hacking Netflix, I see that someone did a side-by-side comparison of their Netflix/Blockbuster Online queues to compare wait times for new releases between the two. And Blockbuster promised shorter wait times overall for all the same titles.

The agitation about new releases in that post left me rather self-satisfied, I must say. It must be very hard to be so goddamned picky about movies. You may mock me for my unquestionably terrible taste in film (and television--have I mentioned I am still watching Heroes?). Heck, I mock me. But I must be doing something right because aside from having to pace back and forth and wiggle about like I'm a three-year-old who has to pee over the delay between sending back a disc and getting the next one of a highly anticipated series...I have it easy when it comes to being satisfied by DVD delivery via Netflix. Hell, Netflix keeps improving without me asking for anything! Can't get a movie on the spot? Have Watch It Now! Watch It Now too limited? We'll add 20,000 titles inside of a year and a half! Don't want to watch on your computer? Have box or an XBOX or a PS3! (Or, as rumor has it, possibly even the Wii.)

How hard it must be to be those people who have to have the movie now now now now. For whom Blu-Ray is such a BURDEN to have to pay extra for. I never have a problem with new releases because by the time they climb their way up the 400+ title list of my queue, they're no longer remotely new. It's easy being me with the way I watch movies. (Speaking of, I have three that need taking care of that I've had for weeks...)

Anyway, the title of my post refers to a trick I learned when I worked at Blockbuster. For those who might NEED movies on the Tuesdays they are released, you can get same-day delivery. Put the new release at the top of your queue, return a disc on Friday/Saturday before, and you should get it Tuesday. At Blockbuster, we got all new releases the Friday before. Employees could take 'em out, and it gave time for them to be wired up for security/scanning purposes. (I think that's why there was a delay. I have no idea, really.) Netflix will send it to you Monday because you won't get it before Tuesday. It works, I've done it. (This is also how Amazon does it with same-day releases.) Just FYI for those who might have the same-day new release fixation as the people at that post.

I need a "KILL KILL KILL" icon

I popped into a GameStop over Christmas break to browse, saw a copy of The Darkness XBOX 360 game for $8 and I couldn't pass it up. It's funny: feiran downloaded the demo back when it first came out, we were both unimpressed, but still I was always tempted when I'd see it in the store. When it was $18, I still couldn't bring myself to buy it. But at $8? Hell, I bought The Powerpuff Girls: Relish Revenge for that much!

Was it a great game? No. Decidedly not. Was it a good enough game? Absolutely. Part of the fun, obviously, is getting to be The Darkness. Like getting to be a Jedi (more on that in a minute), it's far too much fun to pass up. feiran actually introduced me to the comic, and I confess I loved it better than the Witchblade stuff I'd been enjoying at the time. It's just more fun in general (and more funny). The Darkness is so powerful, Jackie Estacado is a bastard but good, and did I mention the Darkness is AWESOME? The ability to make anything you wish out of nothing? How can you pass that up?

The game did have that going for it. I got to use my Darklings to rip, shoot, explode, and electrocute bad guys, and my Darkness aura had like snake monsters (okay, maybe they were tentacles) that could shoot out and kill people and also eat their hearts to make me more powerful. Gameplay was a mother, though. I had better control over creatures that scaled walls and such when I played the PC Aliens vs Predator back in, like, 1997. The ending was almost the worst non-ending, non-boss fight I'd ever played. (The winner of that category is still Mysteries of the Sith.) Still, it was fun while it lasted. (I GOT TO BE THE DARKNESS. NO SERIOUSLY YOU GUYS.)

One thing about the story: It wasn't the one of the original comic. ( Would have been fun to have a Jackie that had a sense of humor. )

And now I'm finally onto Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, which I've only had since FOREVER. It appeals to me immensely. For one thing, it's not too terribly hard at the level I'm at, which is good because I suck at video games. For another, I enjoy the throwback to the original idea for Luke by calling the main character Starkiller. (Very nice touch, LucasArts.) There's also the part where I GET TO BE A JEDI. Well, sorta. I mean, I am evil. But before Lucas made up the Sith out of nowhere, back in the good old Dark Forces/Jedi Knight days, evil Jedi were...Dark Jedi, end of story. (They were also bad mother-fuckers. Look at their fucking leader!)

So yeah, I've gone from being a murderous, vengeance-driven force of Hell to being a murderous, Sith-driven force of Darth Vader. Me likey. As I told moonlightalice, there's nothing about this I don't like. I killed Wookies. MERCILESSLY. I threw things into Stormtroopers and Rebels alike. I may or may not have just choked random dudes who were the last survivors in a given area just to watch them struggle and die. I even like the sexed-out lady pilot who drives my ship, although I all but fell out when she opened her mouth and was not voiced by Tricia Helfer. (I mean, look at her. Tell me there's not a strong resemblance!) But hoo-hoo aaaalllright. Sexy lady pilot!