I just received an email from Cineplex informing me that they’ve just sold their online store to Cosmoblue:
Burlington Pop-Up Show
There will be one event this weekend, the Burlington Pop-Up Record Show at the Halton Naval Veteran Association on Sunday, the 16th of February 2025, from 10am to 3pm.
Admission is a cash donation to the association. And the nearest bus stops are #204 and #207, which is serviced by Routes 3 and 6 on Burlington Transit.
Netflix Canada – Meh!
As readers of this blog know I wanted to give Netflix a try for three months during the holiday period and had hoped that I could get a bonus offer from PC Optimum, Scene, Air Miles or Rakuten on a Netflix Gift Card. But there wasn’t even an offer from Shell for bonus Air Miles or a discount via Amazon.ca from September 2024 to now, which was quite disappointing.
This is why I just bit the bullet and joined in December, thinking I’d binge watch all of the brand new films and television programs. But not only were the offerings sparse but a price hike was scheduled shortly after I joined. And this is why I chose to end my subscription after less than one month.
Former subscribers can attest that Netflix is far from generous with their discounts now.
There were no discounted appeals to re-join before and none when I was going through the process to end my subscription; Only an offer to pause my subscription for up to 8 weeks. But both Paramount+ and Disney+ offer big discounts to subscribers who have been with them for more than a year, the offers I got being a rate of $9.99 per month for three months for Disney+ and 50% discount on a year’s subscription on Paramount+.
Even Apple TV fans can wait until a season of their favourite show ends before resubscribing to binge watch it it’s entirety, with either 14,000 PC Optimum Points per month or with an Apple Gift Card that’s been discounted or obtained with bonus loyalty points. But where are the incentives?
Yes, I can subscribe to Netflix via Apple TV but I don’t own an Apple TV device, iPad or iPhone. And I would prefer being able to use the Netflix button on my Smart TV or cable box remote, like I had for years.
I think I could set it up to work anyway but this is all moot now – The subscription is canceled and I’m only going to rejoin after the fifth season of Stranger Things is up, for a short period.
I just hope that Wallace & Gromit‘s latest film will be released on blu-ray and not be a Netflix exclusive. I’ve put off buying the previous complications on blu-ray to buy a boxed set and not having “Vengeance Most Foul” on disc would be annoying.
Anyhow, I was once happy with Netflix Canada, for years, but now it’s overpriced and bland, mainly because Hollywood is quite satisfied regurgitating trope collections in lieu of films with imaginary plots and three dimensional characters. And innovation in foreign language television like Dark, Rita, Trapped and Bonus Family has dried up.
They’ll need more than a few documentaries to keep me as a subscriber for more than three months.
Last Minute Entry & More
I completely missed CompassCon:Oakville and thought there were no events this weekend.
This event will be held at Galaxy 707 Club on Saturday, February 8th, 2025 from 10:30am to 4:00pm, with early access from 9:30am for $10.
Regular admission with be $5 whilst 12 and under will be admitted free with a parent. The nearest bus stops to the venue are 2616 and 2937, which are located behind the venue and next to its parking lot, and these are serviced by Route 20 on Saturdays on Oakville Transit. And yes, this route does operate from the Oakville Go Station.
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X-Box users should note that a $100 Game & Grub Gift Card purchase at participating Rexall stores from the 7th to the 13th of February, 2025 may make you eligible for a $10 Rexall Gift Card. Consult your local flyer for detail by clicking here.
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Now for some unfortunate news for cinema fans in Quebec – Cinema Guzzo has closed all of their theatres in the province, immediately offering them for sale to cover their 39 Million dollar debts.
Cinestarz has secured their Dollard-Des-Ormeaux location and will be converting it shortly to their brand. But seven theatres remain unsold in the Montreal/Laval area.
Sony Blu-Ray Production To End?
I thought I’d confirm that Sony Entertainment is NOT ending the production of blu-rays.
Sony Storage Media Solutions Inc is ending “the production of all models of Blu-ray disc media, mini discs for recording, MD data for recording, and mini DV cassettes” in February 2025 according to their January 23rd, 2025 press release.
They had ended production of blank recordable CD-R and DVD-R on July 1st, 2024 in response to the drop in demand for optical discs, ending some of their BD-R production at their Tagaze, Japan manufacturing plant. And consumers now mostly backup their music and film on Cloud Storage services, external hard drives and solid state drives, because these offer more storage and have dropped in price in some countries.
Yes, LG had decided to no longer manufacture blu-ray players last month so people had believed Sony Entertainment had ended manufacturing Blu-rays in response to the popularity of streaming. But physical media remains popular in areas with little to no high speed access to the streaming services, which are getting more and more expensive and fail to provide access to all music and films.
I’m cancelling my Netflix subscription soon because of their price hike and I’m sure I wont be alone in looking for better options.
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Speaking of streaming services, you should note that a 5,000 PC Optimum point offer is available to individuals purchasing $50 Apple Gift Cards from participating Shoppers Drug Mart and Pharmaprix stores until January 31st, 2025. And Apple Music & Apple TV offers are available from PC Optimum.