Blockbuster Video killed the mom and pop video store, and now technology has finally killed Blockbuster Video. After slowly but steadily closing down locations for the better part of a decade, the company announced Wednesday it is finally going to close the final 300 locations by early 2014, and discontinue its rental-by-mail system by the end of 2013. The brand will remain, however, offering movies digitally.

While a few indie stores will always endure, this more or less marks the official end of the video store era.

And progress marches ever on. But this is certainly making me feel kind…

I’m on a Star Wars roll today…

Of course, with “Brooklyn” now on her schedule, what does that mean for J.J. Abrams’ “Star Wars: Episode VII,” which she auditioned for, and is expected to be in front cameras next year? Sadly, it seems like she doesn’t have the gig. “I don’t have ‘Star Wars.’ I don’t have the role,” Ronan said, sounding kind of defeated. “I just shouldn’t have said anything. I just auditioned for it, like everyone else did.” When we asked about the audition process, she said, “To pretend that you have a lightsaber in a scene is always very exciting. It would be great. But…

I sure do love a good fantasy story and I’m a real sucker for any thing coming up that looks like it could even be remotely interesting. I say that to say you’ll have to judge for yourself whether this will be any good because I honestly have no idea and do not trust myself. But I sure did love the look of this trailer, even though I have no idea what the film or the story it’s based on is ultimately about. Here’s the only official synopsis I can find:

Set in a mythic New York City and spanning more than a century, “Winter’s Tale” is a story of miracles, crossed destinies, and the age-old…

This is an interesting deleted scene that I’ve never seen before and it’s too bad that it got cut. As it stands, Return of the Jedi is my least favorite film in the original trilogy. While it’s still good, and still watchable, there are signs of where Lucas would ultimately head. Silliness and simplicity were the name of the game with this film. And cutting meaty scenes like this didn’t help. Had this and probably many other more heave and weighty scene remained in the film, I think it would have been far better of for it.

You see in this deleted scene, Yoda tells Luke about how he and…

Alright, lets establish something right up front before I share this video with you: There are only three Star Wars films. Three!

Ahh, but that said, George Lucas did make some other films that masquerade as Star Wars films. While I consider Episodes II and III to be at least watchable, Episode I is a real complete and total mess. Much of that can be blamed on Jar Jar. I’d say maybe even a good 50% of the badness of that first prequel can be blamed on Jar Jar actually now that I think of it — or at least the thinking and filmmaking behind the film that led to the inclusion and stupidity of…

J.J. Abrams insists that he wants to maintain a strong sense of mystery regarding his Star Wars: Episode VII … proving he learned very little about the frustrations whipped up by the vagaries and misdirections that swirled around his Star Trek Into Darkness.

Oh please, people! “Learned very little”. What does that even mean? This is part of the game and part of the fun. He tries to keep it secret and we try to ferret out any little bits of information we can. It’s part of the fun. And from the filmmaker’s point of view I totally get the secrecy and trying to maintain surprise and mystery…

I know we’re all about movies and stuff here at MovieByte, but I’m really enjoying Agents of SHIELD. And while this trailer for next week’s epside doesn’t tell us much, it’s always fun to try to dicipher some little tidbit or other.

I don’t know what’s up with the trailer playing twice in this YouTube version, but check it out:

If true, the latest Star Wars Episode VII rumor blows the lid off everything we expected the sequels to be. Though co-writer and producer Lawrence Kasdan has long said the new films won’t follow any stories from the Extended Universe, almost everyone assumed the main characters — all believed to be young adults — would somehow be related to the Skywalker and Solo families. They’d have to be, considering Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia, who finished the series dating Han Solo, were the last two Jedi in the universe. Any future Jedi would surely be directly related.

That might not be the…

Jon Favreau is in talks to finally make that big budget Disney family movie we’re been waiting for. No, not Magic Kingdom. Instead, the director of Iron Man and Iron Man 2 is in negotiations to direct a new version of Rudyard Kipling‘s classic tale The Jungle Book.

Deadline broke the news of the film, which will be based on a new adaptation written by Justin Marks (Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li). Here’s what Favreau said to Deadline:

I can’t say that much, but there is an interesting take that could be very cool and the hope is to relaunch a family brand with certain mythic…