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Posts Tagged ‘Movies’

Sony has just informed Euroland that its Qriocity on-demand ecosystem will be showing up in the continent's wealthier regions this fall. France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK will get a chance to savor the Video On Demand option, which will form the vanguard of a wideranging content streaming service, available on Sony networked devices -- yes, that includes the do-it-all PlayStation 3. The heavyweight movie studios behind the venture include 20th Century Fox, Lionsgate, MGM, NBC Universal, Paramount and, of course, Sony's moviemaking arm. But you already knew that, given that the whole enchilada's been available to American gringos since April. All Qriocity participants will get to use a new Music Unlimited service, which is launching by the end of the year with as yet undetermined pricing. Plans are also afoot to offer Qriocity on third party devices, but until then you'll wanna make sure to have one of them newfangled web-connected Bravia TVs or any of the litany of Blu-ray players and home theater setups Sony is busy promoting right this minute.

Continue reading Sony Qriocity on-demand movie service extends into Europe, 'Music Unlimited' coming by year's end

Sony Qriocity on-demand movie service extends into Europe, 'Music Unlimited' coming by year's end originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 12:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Is there any other RTS out there that could as easily be made into a movie as StarCraft? Probably not, no. What’s slightly more pie-in-the-sky? Getting James Cameron to direct it. It’s a nice idea, certainly, and especially considering that the man only directs smash-hits, but do you really see James Cameron taking time out of his post-Avatar world to direct a video game movie? I mean, isn’t he busy planning an Avatar sequel?

That’s the dream, though.

Blizzard told MTV, in a sorta, “wouldn’t it be nice if…”

I think if Jim Cameron came to us tomorrow and said, ‘You want to make a StarCraft movie?’ we’d probably sign that.

More relevant for the integrity of any possible film (or even TV series), Blizzard says that it’s “really important to us that we find creative people that are really talented but also really excited about our properties.”

You don’t want some hotshot director barging in, stamping his sill vision on a film that has nothing to do with the “soul” of the series, so to speak.

At this point we're fairly certain we'll see updated iPods at Apple's event on Wednesday, but we're still in the dark when it comes to that updated iOS-based Apple TV -- we know it's in the works, but we don't know if it's coming this week. But if you're feeling optimistic, a new Apple iTunes customer survey seems to offer a tiny little hint -- it lists "Titles are available to watch instantly" as a reason you might totally love watching video on the iPad. Of course, you can't watch iTunes videos "instantly" right now -- the iPad requires the entire video file to download before playback begins, and the current Apple TV requires a fair bit of buffering -- so this could be a big hint that instant streaming is coming quite soon. On the flipside, this could just be a mistake or oversight and actually mean nothing at all, but honestly, where's the fun in that?

[Thanks, PeteO]

Apple survey hints at iTunes streaming video service coming soon? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Aug 2010 17:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Some things just amaze me. Despite the fact that people are paying more for theater tickets then ever, the MPAA and their ilk are crying about how they aren’t making as much money due to piracy. I suggest that the real pirates here are the theater owners, who are raising ticket prices at the highest year to year rate ever.

Of course, people keep going to the movies because it remains a cheaper form of entertainment (for now). However some analysts are suggesting that theaters have pretty much maxed out what people are willing to pay, and anticipate a backlash. Part of the reason for such record increases has been the latest 3D craze (rather the film should be in 3D or not). In fact, income from 3D films has accounted for 11% of box office income last year. The bad news? There’s nothing stopping the theater owners from continuing to squeeze us for every dime they can get.

[via Ars Technica]

As we noted yesterday, Netflix has just released its long-awaited iPhone app.The app, which is free for Netflix subscribers (subscriptions start at $8.99 per month), works with iPhones or iPod touch devices running iOS 3.1.3 or later. Like its iPad app, Netflix for the iPhone allows users to search for movies and TV shows as well as playing titles already in their Instant Q.The app has not been optimized for iOS 4 or for the iPhone 4, but we expect that some of those updates may come in the future.The app operates very similarly to both its iPad counterpart and the newest Netflix interface on Roku. It makes us curious if an iOS iTV app might not be on the horizon too.The only real downside of the app is that like its iPad counterpart (and like the set-top box Netflix solutions), it isn't possible to manage your DVD or BluBlu-ray queue from the application itself. This means you still have to use a third-party queue manager to add, browse or re-arrange the order of your physical Netflix titles. It would be really, really great to have that ability built into the official application.All in all, we think this first release is a winner. Although I find myself spending more and more time watching video on the iPad, the iPhone experience is solid enough that it will definitely make longer trips or waits in line more enjoyable.What do you think about Netflix for iPhone?Check out our gallery below for a closer look at the app and our thoughts on its features.

Home Screen

This is the home screen on the Netflix app. It shows off various releases in television, movies, genres you like and new arrivals and new additions to your queue.

Home Screen Continued

This is the home screen on the Netflix app. It shows off various releases in television, movies, genres you like and new arrivals and new additions to your queue.

Titles Like View

On the Home Screen, you're treated to a selection of "titles like X" where it shows you films similar to ones you have recently enjoyed.

I'm a big fan of King of the Hill, so the app shows me that Family Guy and Futurama -- two recent Netflix Watch Instantly additions -- are available for me to enjoy.

Genres

The Genres section is just what it sounds like. You can browse titles by genre and then watch titles or add them to your queue.

Search

Search works just as it does on the iPad app or on the recently overhauled Roku interface. This means that only Watch Instantly titles show up, so if you want a title that isn't available to Watch Instantly, you can't even find it to add to your DVD or Blu-ray queue.

Movie View

By browsing through genres or searching through titles, you can find movies or TV shows to watch. You can then start playing that movie or add it to your queue.

Rating

Netflix's rating algorithm will try to come up with a best guess for you. It's usually pretty accurate, but in this case, it underestimated my love of Gary Hustwit.

Post Rating

After you've rated a title, the stars are in yellow, not red.

Instant Q

You can scroll through your own Watch Instantly queue. Tapping on the play icon on the left will resume or start playback, while clicking on the right arrow or on the title itself will take you to a screen that offers more information and the option to select an episode if it's a television show.

Instant Q View - Television

For a TV show, you'll see the description of the series and an option to resume or start playing where you left off in the series, or to start from the beginning.

Scrolling down on this screen will show each episode in the season or seasons and how far along you have watched that episode, with the option to play or resume.

Instant Q View - Movies

Just like the regular movie view, except it's already noted that it is in your Instant Q.

Movie Playback

This is the playback screen. It's just like Netflix for iPad and similar to any other iPhone or iPad video app in how the controls are displayed: volume at the bottom, time scrubber at the top, the option to fill the full screen in the upper right.

Movie Playback Quality Shots

Just some screenshots to show off the video quality. These were taken on an iPhone 4, which the Netflix app has not been optimized to use. The quality is still very, very good.

Movie Playback Quality Shots

Just some screenshots to show off the video quality. These were taken on an iPhone 4, which the Netflix app has not been optimized to use. The quality is still very, very good.

Movie Playback Quality Shots

Just some screenshots to show off the video quality. These were taken on an iPhone 4, which the Netflix app has not been optimized to use. The quality is still very, very good.

Movie Playback Quality Shots

Just some screenshots to show off the video quality. These were taken on an iPhone 4, which the Netflix app has not been optimized to use. The quality is still very, very good.

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Apparently someone is thinking about creating a movie based on Red Dead Redemption, and they want Brad Pitt to play John Marston. Could be neat.

If you’re going to make a movie based on a game, you might as well base it on one with an actual story, right? Considering Red Dead Redemption did, in fact, have a pretty good story—I actually enjoyed watching the story unfold more than I enjoyed running through the same playing mechanics over and over again—then yeah, this has the potential to not be trash.

But that depends on several things, including how closely Rockstar works with the screenwriters and the director.

As for Brad Pitt, ShowbizSpy—a real hit with techies, I’m sure—quotes a source (a source, people!) as saying, “The idea is to make this in the style of an epic Western movie but with a few modern touches*. Brad is perfect for the role and he is being given first refusal.”

That basically means whoever is behind the movie wants Brad Pitt to star, and is giving him the role (if he wants it) without even talking to him. Nice gig he has.

You’ll recall that Brad Pitt has already starred in a western in the movie The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (pictured above). Pitt was quite good in it, and the movie is worth going out of your way to see.

In other Red Dead Redemption news, Rockstar has announced another DLC pack, called Liars and Cheaters. It includes more multi-player shenanigans, and comes out on September 21..

*Instead of trying to find his family, Brad Pitt will be looking for his lost iPad

In a recent interview with PC Gamer, Valve’s own Gabe Newell took some time to talk about the possibility of a Half-Life movie. Apparently after the smash success of the first game, they were inundated with crappy scripts, and directors who didn’t get what the game was about. As a result, Valve started thinking about how they would make a movie. The result is the ever amusing “Meet the Spy” features that Valve has produced at various times. Newell went on to say that the best people to make a movie about a game, would be the people that made that game. I agree to a certain extent, but keep in mind that scripting skills in a game doesn’t necessarily equal scripting skills for a movie. I have to admit though, I love the storyline in Half-Life series, and would love to see more about the adventures of my brother.

We knew this was coming and here it is: the Netflix application, heretofore reserved only for iPad users, has trickled down to iPhone and iPod touch devices. Version 1.1.0 makes the TV show and movie streaming app universal -- so long as your universe is known as iOS -- and looks to massively expand the available audience for Netflix's mobile effort. What are you waiting for, go get it already.

[Thanks, Michael A.]

Continue reading Netflix adds iPhone and iPod touch compatibility in latest app version

Netflix adds iPhone and iPod touch compatibility in latest app version originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Aug 2010 04:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Some Boxee news for you, as we all sit back and watch the Barcelona-Milan friendly. (Good to see Ronaldinho get such a nice reaction from the Camp Nou crowd. I haven’t seen him this happy in years!) The company has decided to add a Movie component to its much celebrated TV-watching interface. The gist is, just as you can watch TV programming with Boxee, you’ll be able to watch movies. Boxee has initially teamed up with EZTakes, Indie Movies Online, MUBI, and Openfilm.

There’s really not much more to the news than that, other than that Boxee acknowledges that the Movie interface is still a little “rough around the edges” and that they’re looking to add more partners in the future. But you probably knew that already!