MovieMerchandise Tagged Articles at Cinematical

As you've undoubtedly heard, Blockbuster is in serious financial trouble ... I don't know that a lot of us cinephiles care since we were all driven to Netflix , Hulu and The Autuers for very specific reasons. But hey, people do rely on Blockbuster, and I'd rather people rent movies through them than never see them at all, and it's kind of handy to have it nearby so that you can finally rent Quantum of Solace after months of a Very Long Wait. It would be nice if they hung in there.

But now that they've unveiled their master plan of salvation, you probably shouldn't hold your breath. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Blockbuster plans to rescue themselves by selling movie merchandise. Some of their plans include stocking replicas of Men in Black and Top Gun sunglasses along with "a slew of other items," which hopefully include equally hot pieces of movie swag like Field of Dreams cracker jack and Jurassic Park baseball hats.

How this differs from their current business plan is perplexing since Blockbuster has always sold movie merchandise in their stores. Or at least they've always hoped to sell it, as it's usually too broken and greasy to interest discerning buyers. (In fact, that's how I came to own a little stuffed Hidalgo -- he was too cute and clean to leave to the ravages of their shelves.) And in these tough economic times, your business plan shouldn't rely on hoping people buy a t-shirt or poster from you, it should be on providing the home entertainment people are relying on. Unfortunately, Blockbuster lost sight of that a long time ago.

First off, I love free movie products. I have no problem pimping a t-shirt or a hat or a pair of socks because, frankly, it saves me the money from having to go out and buy a wardrobe. Yup, I'm that cheap. And I get this stuff all the time -- in the mail, at junkets, at preview screenings -- wherever. And I smile. Because it's one less shirt I need to purchase for myself. So, this morning I get a package in the mail promoting Good Luck Chuck, that Dane Cook/Jessica Alba comedy opening up this weekend. I'm thinking it will be a hat or a t-shirt, but no -- it was a pair of girl's underwear. I'll say that again -- a pair of girl's underwear. Small. Like the kind Alba wears.

I immediately looked around my apartment to make sure no one was watching me hold up this pair of girl's underwear; I'm sure folks like Perverted Justice would have a field day snapping photos of this dude with a beard checking out his brand new pair of small girly underwear. Needless to say, an email went right out to my wife explaining why a pair of girl's underwear was on my desk. I can see that convo now: "Girl's underwear? And who the f*ck is Chuck? You're on the couch tonight!" I must say though, the underwear is rather cute -- it features a cartoon-ish penguin on the front, and the words 'Good Luck Chuck' on the back. Nice. If you're a girl. Which I'm not. And the folks who sent this to me know who I am -- which kind of freaks me out a little -- but then again, they're just trying to promote their film. Which I completely understand. Anyway, that's how my day started -- now I have to run into the city to start seeing New York Film Festival flicks. Traveling sucks, but more about that later this week. In the meantime, what's the strangest piece of movie merchandise you ever received?

It seems that the interests of kids are changing just a little bit. This new, media-saturated age group (2-12) is no longer interested in the kiddie mainstays that we grew up with. The love for toys and all types of movie merchandise has been falling secondary to the digital realm of Internet websites, digital cameras and cell phones. This new generation has been named by marketers as KGOY -- "kids getting older younger." Perhaps it would better be defined as KAATA -- "kids actually acting their age." We seem to forget that Romeo and Juliet weren't old enough to drive, so maybe we're now hitting an era that isn't fast-tracking or stunting the maturity process.

Whatever the case, movie companies have a lot of merchandise re-jigging to do. According to Variety, things are very different now than a decade ago, when films like The Lion King could rake in huge merchandising bucks. These days, it seems that all of those fun toys that once appealed to the 8-10 year-old demographic -- action figures, dolls and stuffed animals -- are now getting bought by kids under 6. While the little folk head towards digital entertainment, sales on action figures went down a whopping 9%. According to an executive at Disney, it will come down to guessing future play patterns. So sure, there's some re-imagining to do on the toy front, but at the very least, it will mean less junk to be manufactured and then ripped apart through years of savage play. Besides, there's that whole adult, money-to-burn, toy-collecting demographic for manufacturers to focus on.