Free Republic

As our calculator shows, the perhaps impulsive addition of just one service to your budget can snowball into a hefty outlay over a hypothetical half-century horizon, particularly when you're looking at that "true" lifetime cost. Take someone paying for Netflix's NFLX, +0.07% standard subscription and Hulu, with no add-ons. That person is looking at a monthly bill of $18.98, and a lifetime aggregate cost of $19,264. Factor in the opportunity cost -- as represented by how much money could have been made investing that same money in the S&P 500 over those years -- and the lifetime cost balloons to...

It's lonely at the top. That's what the Blockbuster in Bend, Oregon, discovered when the only other store in the world -- located in Australia -- announced it was closing. Although Sandi Harding, the general manager of the Oregon Blockbuster, is excited that hers is the last Blockbuster on the planet, she expressed her condolences for friends at the Australia store. "We all have a kinship with the other Blockbusters," Harding told CNN. The Oregon location has been open for more than 20 years. It offers customers the newest movie releases, but Harding says the classic older titles are the...

Police are probing a case of what might be described as "Redbox rage" in which a man allegedly assaulted a woman Saturday night after he apparently grew angry over the length of time she took to select a movie from the rental kiosk inside the foyer of the Super Stop & Shop on North Main Street. Sgt. Denis Sheehan said the woman was not seriously injured in the incident, which was reported shortly after 6 p.m. outside the 470 North Main St. store. Sheehan said the suspect, who was accompanied by a female, had been waiting behind the 26-year-old victim...

The Rebox website says Atlas Shrugged II will be available for rent Tuesday, the 19th! I've already seen it, but I may watch it again. I don't know if I can wait until 2014 to know how it all ends. I think I'm going to have to buy the book. Abridged or Un-abridged? :p

Washington, D.C. (January 9, 2013) -- The Consumer Electronics Show is more than a convention. It's an opportunity for companies to position themselves as leaders in their respective categories. And with the world's media -- and more than 150,000 attendees -- watching, there's a lot at stake. So with the 2013 CES nearing the end of day three, it's a good time to take a first look at which companies have emerged as this show's winners and losers. Winner: Netflix The online home video service doesn't make a single piece of hardware, but it captured the show's attention on Monday...

Redbox will be renting Dinesh D'Souza's 2016 movie! You can see it on the Redbox Coming Soon page in the October 16 releases (http://www.redbox.com/comingsoon).

SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- Redbox is being sued by a group of people with disabilities. The federal civil rights lawsuit says the giant movie rental service discriminates against blind people. Many movies are dialogue driven and can be enjoyed by the visually impaired. "You can enjoy large aspects of the narrative without needing to see the visual aspect of the movie at all," Disability Rights Advocates lawyer Michael Nunez said. Friends and family can also help. "If there's kind of a non-verbal part of the movie happening, you know, they'll describe what's happening to me," lawsuit plaintiff Lisamaria Martinez said....

Redbox is making an announcement about its prices today, and we want to make sure that you hear it from us first. Starting on Monday, October 31, the daily rental charge for DVDs will change to $1.20 a day.* The price change is due to rising operating expenses, including new increases in debit card fees. Daily rental charges for Blu-ray™ Discs and video games won't change.** Additional-day charges for DVDs rented before 10/31 won't be affected, either. In order to make the transition easier, Redbox will discount the first day of all online DVD rentals to $1.00 from 10/31 through...

Despite Monday’s strong rebound, it’s too early for investors to safely venture back into the market after last week’s sharp sell-off. But it’s a good time to window-shop, finding quality stocks to put on a watch list. Retailers, along with consumer stocks in general, were among the leaders in the latest rally. They could be at the forefront of the next uptrend. The top five include a restaurant, apparel chains, a DVD kiosk operator and a closeout goods retailer. 14. Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (CMG) Shares of the fast-growing burrito chain soared 14%

The $1 movie rentals available through DVD kiosks like Redbox could spell "disaster" for the film and video industries—or at least, that's the argument of representatives for video stores and Hollywood unions, who want movie lovers to dump Redbox and return to their corner "mom-and-pop" DVD rental outlets. Video Business reports that the Video Buyers Group, a trade organization for some 1,700 independent brick-and-mortar video stores, is prepping an ad campaign that'll paint Redbox as a threat to the film industry as we know it. Why? Because its $1-a-night rental rate is "generating less revenue" for Hollywood studios than the...