It’s your Editor in Chief here, April L. Hamilton, and if you also follow my Digital Media Mom site then you know I’ve been in the process of gradually replacing all my movies and TV on disc with Instant Videos. I scour the Instant Video listings regularly, keeping a sharp eye out for the movies that are on my list and waiting for them to be discounted. Yesterday I was floored to find that six of the films on my list, none of which have EVER been offered at a discount during the past three years I’ve been keeping tabs, are currently on sale for $7.99 or less each to own! Get ’em quick, because these discounted prices aren’t being advertised and could end at any time.
The versions being offered at a discount are mostly Standard Definition (SD), though Troy is being offered at the same price for both HD and SD for some reason, but that’s fine with me. If you want to know why, I’ve blogged about it: HD vs. SD – Is It Worth Paying Extra For HD Digital Videos?
Movie descriptions below are from IMDB.com.
The Last Emperor (PG-13, 4/5 stars, closed captions available, currently priced at $7.99 to own)
A dramatic history of Pu Yi, the last of the Emperors of China, from his lofty birth and brief reign in the Forbidden City, the object of worship by half a billion people; through his abdication, his decline and dissolute lifestyle; his exploitation by the invading Japanese, and finally to his obscure existence as just another peasant worker in the People’s Republic.
– Written by Martin H. Booda
Dangerous Liaisons (R, 4.5/5 stars, closed captions available, currently priced at $7.99 to own)
Set in France around 1760, the Marquise de Merteuil needs a favour from her ex-lover, Vicomte de Valmont. One of the Marquise de Merteuil’s ex-lovers, Gercourt, is betrothed to a young, virtuous woman called Cecile de Volanges. The Marquise would like Valmont to seduce Cecile before her wedding day, thus humiliating Gercourt.
Meanwhile, Valmont has a conquest of his own in mind: Madame de Tourvel, a beautiful, married, and God fearing woman. The Marquise doesn’t think that Valmont can seduce Mme de Tourvel. She tells him that if he can provide written proof of a sexual encounter with Mme de Tourvel, she will offer him a reward: one last night with her.
Valmont, however, will find himself falling in love with Mme de Tourvel, and facing the deadly jealousy of the Marquise de Merteuil. All along, Cecile de Volanges is used as a pawn in this game of sexual conquest and scorned love.
– Written by bennettc
Troy (R, 3.5/5 stars, closed captions available, currently priced at $7.88 to own in SD or HD)
It is the year 1250 B.C. during the late Bronze age. Two emerging nations begin to clash after Paris, the Trojan prince, convinces Helen, Queen of Sparta, to leave her husband, Menelaus, and sail with him back to Troy.
After Menelaus finds out that his wife was taken by the Trojans, he asks his brother Agamemnon to help him get her back. Agamemnon sees this as an opportunity for power. So they set off with 1,000 ships holding 50,000 Greeks to Troy.
With the help of Achilles, the Greeks are able to fight the never before defeated Trojans. But they come to a stop by Hector, Prince of Troy. The whole movie shows their battle struggles and the foreshadowing of fate in this Wolfgang Petersen remake of Homer’s “The Iliad.”
– Written by Mensur Gjonbalaj
Sucker Punch (PG-13, 3.5/5 stars, closed captions available, currently priced at $7.99 to own)
A young girl (Baby Doll) is locked away in a mental asylum by her abusive stepfather where she will undergo a lobotomy in five days’ time.
Faced with unimaginable odds, she retreats to a fantastical world in her imagination where she and four other female inmates at the asylum plot to escape the facility.
The lines between reality and fantasy blur as Baby Doll and her four companions, as well as a mysterious guide, fight to retrieve the five items they need that will allow them to break free from their captors before it’s too late…
– Written by Anonymous
Ultraviolet (PG-13, 3/5 stars, closed captions available, currently priced at $7.99 to own)
Human society has been decimated by a holocaust caused by biological warfare research gone wrong: instead of creating super-soldiers, a genetically-engineered virus turns infected humans into Hemophages, a vampire-like sub-species with enhanced physical abilities.
In the infection-paranoid and technologically advanced society that follows, Violet is a singular Hemophage warrior battling the totalitarian dictator who is determined to wipe out her species at any cost.
– Written by Murray Chapman
Charlie’s Angels (PG-13, 3.5/5 stars, closed captions available, currently priced at $7.99 to own)
The captivating crime-fighting trio who are the masters of disguise, espionage and martial arts.
When a devious mastermind embroils them in a plot to destroy individual privacy the Angels, aided by their loyal sidekick Bosley, set out to bring down the bad guys. But when a terrible secret is revealed it makes the Angels targets for assassination.
– Written by Anthony Pereyra