For years, visiting the neighborhood Blockbuster to rent a movie was a bit like watching Geraldo Rivera open Al Capone's vault. Great expectations gave way to dejection as you learned that any valuables inside were long gone.
No more: these days Blockbuster is stocking its shelves with three times as many copies of new releases and guaranteeing that such hits as Good Will Hunting will be in stock, or next time they're free. It is making other customer-friendly changes too, like lowering the price on older movies. The company is backing it all with a $160 million advertising blitz that features...