They say the best things in life are free, and for once I can say they’re right. We at Filmbalaya are giving away 10 2-month trial subscriptions to a new online streaming service that offers a slew of independent films, ones in which you would be hard pressed to find on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, or any other streaming platform out there.

So what does IndieFlix offer that others cannot? You don’t have to offer up any credit card info in order to start your 2-month trial and you can watch as many movies as you like, knowing that once you join your money will be distributed to the independent filmmakers themselves. So what do you have to lose?

To have your name entered in the giveaway e-mail us at filmbalaya@gmail.com with the word “IndieFlix” as the subject. Winners will be chosen at random from a virtual fedora by a magical entity.

For more info on what IndiFlix is all about check out the video below or follow the following links: Indieflix.com, facebook

I recently was given a Blu-ray copy of Exit Through The Gift Shop which means I have an extra copy of street artist Banksy‘s oscar nominated art documentary.  So what if I don’t own a Blu-ray player yet.  Receiving the Blu-ray version of this film is just one more reason for me to shell out the extra dollars and finally purchase one.  In the meantime though I have an unwrapped version of Exit Through The Gift Shop complete with a bunch of cool added accessories for the taking.  Who wants it?

All you have to do to win is send an e-mail to filmbalayadvd@gmail.com with your name and why you think you should own this film.  Heck, you can even send in a picture of what you think Banksy looks like.  Your answers can be as simple or as complicated as you wish.  The answers have no bearing on who wins.  All the entries names eventually will be tossed into a sweaty A’s or fedora hat and chosen at random.

"Le Video is San Francisco's premiere alternative video rental store, with over 90,000 films, including rare and foreign videos found nowhere else including over 40,000 DVDs. We have FOUR times more movies to choose from than Netflix.com"

In Filmbalaya’s ongoing effort to help support local video stores stay afloat in these Netflix infested waters we’ve hooked up with Le Video (Check out their website here) to give away a free DVD rental every month (until we run out of coupons) to a lucky Filmbalaya reader!

All you have to do is send an email to filmbalayadvd@gmail.com with your name and your favorite movie. Then we write down all of your names and pick a winner out of a sweaty A’s hat or a snazzy fedora. The winner is completely random and has nothing to do with your favorite movie (but we will make fun of you if your movie sucks).

If you win we will email you. Then you get to go to Le Video and claim your free movie rental.  How cool is that? I think it’s pretty awesome.

All entries must have a San Francisco mailing address.

Well, Thanksgiving is here which means while Mr. Bean is stuffing is head in a turkey (as pictured on left) I’ll be stuffing my face with all sorts of holiday goodies before slipping into my tryptophan/wine induced food coma.  While I’m doing that, why don’t you take our Filmbalaya Thanksgiving Day picture puzzle quiz?  All you have to do is correctly name the 3 films pictured after the jump.  What will you win?  How about 5 awesome surprise Christmas themed DVDs to open on Christmas/Chanukah/Kwanzaa/Festivas morning!  Yes, I am fully aware that Chanukah will be over by the time this contest ends, but a silly thing like that shouldn’t get in the way of you winning these cool Christmistery films, should it?

Click on the jump to see the Turkey Day pictures and then send your guesses to filmbalaya@gmail.com.  The winner will be announced on December 25th and will be chosen at random out of either a smelly A’s hat or a stylish fedora.  Good luck! Read More…

To celebrate Halloween Filmbalaya is giving away one copy of Stanley Kubrick‘s Horror masterpiece, The Shining. This is one of my favorite films of all time, and scientist even named it the perfect horror movie. That’s right, scientists.  Anyway I have two copies and I feel bad letting one gather dust when one of our amazing and incredibly loyal Filmbalaya readers could be watching it.

All you have to do to enter is send an email to filmbalaya@gmail.com with your name and  mention The Shining DVD. Creativity in your emails is not required, but it is encouraged. Then we will draw one name out of a sweaty A’s hat or snazzy fedora and someone will win. The deadline is OCTOBER 31ST!!!

Example Email:

To: filmbalaya@gmail.com

Subject: DVD giveaway

Text: My name is (your name here) and I want The Shining DVD because I ran out of coasters!

Also it is important to note that the DVD is a full screen copy of the film. Stanley Kubrick shot the film for both full screen and wide-screen, as he did not want the studio to crop his image for home video release. Once the wide-screen format became popular he still wanted his films only available in full screen, which they were until his death.

That’s right, it’s filmbalaya’s first ever DVD giveaway. Recently I was lucky enough to find Terry Gilliam‘s (12 Monkeys, Brazil, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus)Fear and Loathing on Criterion at a pretty reasonable rate.  Now I have the original widescreen edition and need to get rid of it.  Well, I don’t ‘need’ to, but what the hell.  Who wants it?!  The only catch is, I don’t have a cover for it because I keep all my DVDs in a book (it saves a lot of space) and throw the cover’s away.  But don’t worry, if you win the contest I will give you a specialized case of your very own.  Oh yeah, it will be fancy, you can count on that Mr. Fancypants!

All you have to do is e-mail us at filmbalaya@gmail.com.  Your name will then get tossed into a snazzy fedora or sweaty Oakland Athletic hat and a winner will be picked at random.  You don’t even have to pay for shipping and handling, bonus.  I’ve decided to end the contest on 10/10/10 because of its aesthetically pleasing semetricality (I know semetricality isn’t a real word, but it should be).  Good luck! See the trailer after the jump Read More…