Movies
DVD Jon strikes again
Fed up with DRM and file format compatibility hassles? The entertainment industry’s favourite chap, DVD Jon, may have the answer: DoubleTwist.
As CNet reports, DoubleTwist is “a free desktop client that essentially allows any kind of music, photo, or video file to be shared between a long list of portable media players, and through Web-based social networks.”
The idea, according to DoubleTwist founder and CEO Monique Farantzos, is that media files should be more like e-mail. It shouldn’t matter what service you create the file in, or on what type of hardware, it all should work together seamlessly, she says.
The PC version is available now, and a Mac version’s in development.
R.E.M. have a live DVD coming out
Woo-hoo! It comes out on the 16th October, making it a particularly fine choice of birthday present for an ageing hack whose 35th birthday is just a few weeks afterwards. Ahem.
There’s a trailer here.
The Bourne Ultimatum
…is superb. I’m trying to think of any other trilogy where all three movies were great, and I’m coming up with nowt. LOTR doesn’t count - it’s disqualified on grounds of (a) numb arse syndrome and (b) the final film going on and on and on and on and…
The Simpsons Movie: disappointing
I wish I’d read Biffo’s blog before going to the cinema:
Ignore all these 4/5 reviews telling us not to worry that they might’ve ballsed it up - they have ballsed it up. It’s really, really, really average. And it feels hollow - unlike the series, you can almost hear the air whistling between the gags; it’s not four episodes rolled into one. It’s two, maybe two and a half episodes, stretched out to the length of four.
That’s it exactly. I think it’s maybe the Cartoon Curse: what works in quickfire episodes doesn’t stretch to an hour-plus. Same way some acts are singles bands who can’t stretch their talents to an entire album.
Mind you, I’m still in a “don’t make me think, entertain me dammit!” frame of mind, and I quite fancy seeing Transformers as a result. Is it the big, dumb, fast, noisy pile of crap it seems to be? And if so, is it a big, dumb, fast, noisy pile of crap *in a good way*?
Video nasties: when publicity stunts go wrong
I’m sure you all know this already, but I’m indebted to Total Film’s Jamie Graham for adding to the sum of useless but mildly interesting stuff that floats around my head. I always thought that the 1980s video-nasty panic originated in the tabloids, but Graham’s piece in the current TF points out that it was largely due to a publicity stunt that backfired.
It all started with Driller Killer and Cannibal Holocaust. The lurid ads for the former caused a lot of complaints, but the distributor for Cannibal Holocaust decided to kick things up a notch. Posing as an outraged member of the public, the distributor wrote to Mary Whitehouse expressing shock and horror that such filth was available for purchase. The distributor helpfully included a copy of the video so Whitehouse could be shocked too.
Whitehouse did exactly what the distributor hoped and went ballistic, but the issue gathered momentum, the tabloids seized on it and inevitably, there were demands that Something Should Be Done. That resulted in the Video Recordings Act, the expanded role of the film censors and notoriety for the 30-odd titles dubbed Video Nasties, but it also created the system that recently banned the computer game Manhunt 2.
The moral of the story? While it’s fun to wind up the self-appointed guardians of public morality in an attempt to boost sales, once you’ve wound them up you can’t always stop ‘em. Headline-chasing games developers might want to bear that in mind.
Die Hard 4.0
Is brilliant. Particularly the bit where the baddies attempt to download the contents of every single database in the whole wide world onto a laptop. You fools! You’d need two laptops for that!
It is good, though, in a big dumb fun kind of way. Although as soon as you notice the product placement (Alienware, BMW, Gears of War…) you end up playing the “which product’s going to recur next?” game.
[insert usual rant about "30 mins of ads and trailers before a two hour movie being particularly annoying when you've got a slipped disc and can't sit still for long" here]
Another ultra-quick film review: Sunshine
Eye-poppingly beautiful, extremely tense and genuinely gripping. The last 20 minutes are rubbish, though.
Dreamgirls. Aieeeee!
I’m on various mailing list free ticket things, so I went to see Dreamgirls at the cinema tonight. Not the smartest thing I’ve ever done.
It’s particularly disappointing because the first fifteen minutes are brilliant. The music in the early bit of the film is fantastic and really nails the sheer grunt of R&B, and Eddie Murphy is a revelation. After a few songs I really started to think “wow, this could be a musical that doesn’t suck!” - at which point it went all Andrew Lloyd Webber and started to suck so much that I’m amazed it didn’t pull planes from their flight paths and through the roof of the cinema. Put it this way: Mrs Bigmouth won’t hear a bad word against Beyonce Knowles, but post-movie she was using words I didn’t realise she even knew.
Blu-ray player is a “piece of shit” but gets a good review anyway
Idiot Toys have cut the fat from a Blu-Ray player review to point out a few fairly major flaws:
“Pushing the power button, the BDP-S1 requires 12 seconds to display ‘Power On’”
“Another 35 seconds elapsed for the player’s alphanumeric display to read ‘no disc’ allowing the drawer to be opened and a movie BD ROM disc inserted”
“After the drawer closes, wait another 36 seconds for the movie studio’s logo to appear on-screen”
iPods on a plane
Update, 16 Nov: as David points out, some of the airlines named in the Think Secret story are denying everything…
I mentioned this story - Apple signs a deal to put iPods in planes - in the Zune comments thread, but I reckon it deserves a post in its own right. It’s a vivid illustration of why Apple’s such a fascinating firm to watch, because the story made my jaw drop.
According to Think Secret, Apple is working with six major airlines to put iPod connectivity in their planes. It sounds like they’ll be using iPod docks, and the result is that you’ll not only be able to keep your iPod powered on long flights, but you’ll also be able to display clips from your iPod Video on the seat-back screen. As Squander Two put it: “In one fell swoop, the Video iPod is transformed from pointless gimmick into rather useful thing.”
He’s not wrong. It also turns iTunes movie downloads into something considerably more attractive. If you’ve ever been stuck with the in-flight entertainment on a long haul flight you’ll know just how bad it can be, and the iPod alternative - choose what you want to watch before you fly, stick it on your iPod and watch it on a decent sized screen - is a great idea. Mobile video is a fairly niche product, because unlike music you need to be able to give it your full attention. And when you’re stuck on a plane, you’ve plenty of attention to give.
Let’s imagine the war of the MP3 players as a game of chess. Apple’s made some moves, Microsoft’s made some moves, then Apple’s made a minor move - redesigned Nanos, etc - before Microsoft plays the Zune. Apple doesn’t react, and while Microsoft keeps a poker face, inside it’s going “woo-hoo! The game is mine!” - but then Apple makes its airplane move. It’s not so much a case of taking one of Microsoft’s pieces off the board; rather, it’s akin to attacking the entire board with a rocket launcher and then dancing on Microsoft’s head in football boots.
Hmmm. Maybe the chess analogy isn’t the best one.
Anyway. If, as seems to be the case, the airline deal means iPod docks rather than a couple of bog standard connectors, Apple’s completely outflanked Microsoft (and Creative, and Sony, and…) on this one. Sure, you can take a Zune on a plane, or a network walkman (or whatever Sony’s calling their MP3 players these days). But only the iPod is actually integrated. It’s the same with cars: sure, some systems have an aux plug that lets you plug anything in. But the nice stuff, the control-your-player-from-the-steering-wheel stuff, that’s iPod-only. How long before Apple announces a similar deal to integrate iPods with in-car video systems? With Zune, Microsoft’s going after the player in your pocket. But Apple’s already thinking of bigger things.
Incidentally, how long do you think it’ll be between the launch of in-flight iPods and the first newspaper story featuring appalled passengers who’ve been subjected to some idiot’s porn collection? I reckon a few weeks, tops.