Tag: Movies

Amazon Prime Subscribers Get Winnie Cooper and Other Fox Shows

First off, this post is totally an excuse to post pictures of Danica McKellar. I totally had a crush on her when she played Winnie Cooper in The Wonder Years. Where was I…oh yeah, Amazon has announced a partnership with Fox. The collaboration will bring several classic Fox shows to Amazon Prime subscribers. In a statement to customers, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos wrote:

I have big news for Amazon Prime members — we’ve just signed a deal with Fox to add a broad selection of movies and TV shows to our unlimited instant streaming service later this fall. The new additions from the Fox library include 24, Arrested Development, The X-Files, Ally McBeal, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and — available on digital video for the first time — The Wonder Years. We now have deals with CBS, NBCUniversal, Sony, and Warner Bros, and adding Fox will bring the total to more than 11,000 movies and TV shows available for unlimited instant streaming.

As an Amazon Prime subscriber, I’m excited by several of these additions. Arrested Development is awesome. There are some Buffy and X-Files episodes that I enjoyed. Of course I’ll be watching The Wonder Years to remember the days when Winnie Cooper was the most beautiful girl in the world.

Any of these programs interest you? Does the Fox partnership make an Amazon Prime subscription more valuable to you? Would you replace Netflix streaming with Prime’s free two-day shipping and streaming programming? Did you have a crush on Winnie Cooper?

Happy Birthday Jim Henson

Jim Henson would have been 75-years old today. He was one of the most extraordinary people that ever lived. He touched the lives of millions of people. He helped people learn. He made people laugh. He made people cry. He created wonderful programming like The Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock, The Dark Crystal, Dinosaurs, and more. He was a huge reason why Sesame Street became so popular and successful. His behind-the-scenes work on The Empire Strikes Back helped make Yoda one of the most beloved characters in the Star Wars universe. He entertained people of all ages, and he did it with heart and soul.

Kindly celebrate the life of Jim Henson with me today. What were your favorite Jim Henson movies and TV shows? Which Jim Henson characters were your favorites?

Dish Network’s Blockbuster Movie Pass Goes After Netflix

Earlier today, Dish Network announced its Blockbuster Movie Pass. This option lets subscribers stream video content to PCs and television sets. An optional mail-in program allows subscribers to rent physical discs, including movies, TV programming, and videogames. Here’s more information on what the service entails from the press release:

  • Mail It! – More than 100,000 DVD movies, TV shows and games available by mail. No additional charge for high definition Blu-ray movies. One, two or three disc plans available. Queue management made conveniently from a link at www.dish.com.
  • Stream it! – Stream more than 3,000 movies to the TV. Stream more than 4,000 movies to the PC. Watch hundreds of on-demand TV shows.
  • Play it! – More than 3,000 video games by mail for Xbox, Xbox 360, Playstation 2, Playstation3, and Nintendo Wii.
  • Exchange it! – Unlimited exchanges of DVDs and video games at participating Blockbuster stores.
  • Watch it! – More than 20 premium entertainment movie channels from studios like MGM, Epix, Sony Movie Channel, PixL and more.

Blockbuster Movie Pass aims to steal customers away from Netflix, Gamefly, and the upcoming Netflix spin-off Qwikster. Starting at $10 per month, the service costs more than Netflix, but Dish promises that the content choices will be superior. Initially, the service will not have apps for mobile operating systems like Android and iOS, but my evil twin brother at Padvance found out that Blockbuster Movie Pass mobile apps are on the way.

Blockbuster Movie Pass should be an interesting Netflix alternative, especially when the mobile apps roll out. As a gamer, I can’t help but wonder how Gamefly is handling all of this. In less than a week two major competitors popped up. Ouchie.

Any Dish Network subscribers out there? Are you tempted to sign up for Blockbuster Movie Pass? What do you think of the game-rental option?

Today’s Poll: Star Wars Blu-ray Box Set Get?

Despite some questionable changes and one change that should have been made but wasn’t, I’m still keen to pick up the Star Wars Blu-ray compilation. I’m a nerd. Of course I love the original trilogy. I’m even enough of a homer that I enjoy bits and pieces of the new trilogy. I’m totally down to watch all six, spot the changes, whine about them, and enjoy the enhanced visual quality in all its glory.

How about you? Do you plan on picking up the Star Wars Blu-ray compilation? Or has George Lucas offended you for the last time? Kindly take today’s poll and discuss!

[poll id=”133″]

Netflix Picks: Bangkok Adrenaline

Before you cancel your Netflix subscription (or not in light of Qwikster game rentals), I highly recommend catching Bangkok Adrenaline. This action movie totally caught me by surprise. It’s a classic martial arts movie that was made in 2009. And when I say “classic martial arts movie”, I mean it has that awesome combination of incredible martial arts and brilliant choreography mixed with laughable acting and chintzy production values. Brilliant stuff.

I was initially drawn to this movie because I missed Thailand, but I was quickly captivated by Daniel O’Neill’s martial arts. He mixes tae kwon do, kung-fu, and capoeira to form a wonderfully telegenic fighting style. Also, I was surprised to see the dude that play Gregor Clegane (The Mountain) in Game of Thrones. Also (x2), Priya Suandokmai is frickin’ hot! If you’re a fan of martial arts movies and gorgeous half-Swiss half-Thai women then stream Bangkok Adrenaline as soon as you’re able to.

Now its your turn to suggest one movie we should all watch. Please make sure it’s available on Netflix streaming.

Qwikster = Netflix Disc Business + Videogame Rentals

Netflix has announced that it will be separating its streaming business from it’s disc-based business. A new spin-off company named Qwikster will handle disc-based rentals, including videogames. Similar to Blu-ray pricing, videogames will be an optional premium service on top of the monthly Netflix Qwikster fee. In a letter to Netflix customers, CEO Reed Hastings wrote:

Qwikster will be the same website and DVD service that everyone is used to. It is just a new name, and DVD members will go to qwikster.com to access their DVD queues and choose movies. One improvement we will make at launch is to add a video games upgrade option, similar to our upgrade option for Blu-ray, for those who want to rent Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360 games. Members have been asking for video games for many years, but now that DVD by mail has its own team, we are finally getting it done. Other improvements will follow. A negative of the renaming and separation is that the Qwikster.com and Netflix.com websites will not be integrated.

A-ha! All of the sudden Netflix’s recent price increase makes a lot more sense! It will be interesting to see how this all pans out. Obviously streaming is where all media is heading, but many consumers still prefer discs due to things like DVD features, multi-language subtitles, and the unmatched quality of Blu-ray. There are also more movies and TV shows to choose from on disc, though the gap is getting smaller all the time.

Then there’s the GameFly factor. It’s very, very smart for Qwikster to get into the games business. GameFly is, by far, the leading rental service in the country. I wonder how many people have both Netflix and GameFly subscriptions. I also wonder how many of those people will cancel their GameFly subscriptions when Qwikster game rentals become available. Since I’m doing a lot of wondering, I’ll just wonder about the number of people that were considering cancelling their Netflix subscriptions, but are giving it second thoughts now that games are part of the mix.

Naturally, I want to know what you make of all this (I can make a brooch or a hat or a pterodactyl!). What do you think of Netflix as a standalone streaming video service? What do you think of Qwikster as a service that lets you rent movies, television shows, and games? Will you subscribe to both, one, or none of these services? You think the peeps at GameFly ought to be worried? Shout it out in the comments section (please)!

Nike Air Mags (Back to the Future Shoes) Revealed Today?

[Update: 4:39 PDT] The word on the street is that Nike will be unveiling the Air Mag, the awesome sneakers worn by Marty McFly in Back to the Future II. A bunch of sneaker journalists (I love that there are sneaker journalists, btw) received late-night calls from Nike yesterday in order to make arrangements to attend an event today. All signs point to it being for the Nike Air Mag.

What do you think of the kicks? Are they a sweet reminder of when Michael J. Fox was the coolest guy in the world? Or are they ugly? Would you buy them?

[Updated 4:39 PDT with official video below.]

Source

Coffee Talk #395: Your Dream Dinner for Four

If you could have dinner with three people from the history of the world, who would be at your table? They can be game developers, actors, musicians, etc. It’s your dream dinner for four and I’d love to hear your…

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, rain ruining my U.S. Open (tennis) background noise, why my coffee beans are late (again), or dinner/drinks with two excellent people, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

If you could have dinner with three people from the history of the world, who would be at your table? The only condition for this game is that the people you choose have to be real (this is mostly to prevent one of you from choosing He-Man or Bugs Bunny). They can be game developers, actors, musicians, etc. It’s your dream dinner for four and I’d love to hear your picks! Here are mine:

Muhammad Ali: “The Greatest” would headline my dream dinner. I’d choose the Ali that was banned from boxing and speaking out against the war in Vietnam. Ali was already an extraordinary athlete with unmatched speed for a heavyweight boxer, but his stance against the Vietnam War made him so much more. He lost three prime years of his career, but inspired so many people while he was away from boxing. He became more than just an athlete. He became an icon.

John Lennon: My feelings about Lennon are similar to my feelings about Ali. He was already a renowned performance artist and songwriter, but his post-Beatles activism made him so much more. I love that he used his fame to spread positive messages and to get people to think. I also love the continued to write great songs when doubters thought he was washed up. I’d love to have ’70s John Lennon at my dream dinner.

Steve Jobs: My last spot was a tough choice. As I mentioned to you last year, I’d love to have a one-on-one dinner with Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto. For some reason, I’m being a stickler with my dinner-for-four scenario and am disqualifying Miyamoto because he would require a translator (sorry Bill!). The final spot goes to Apple’s Steve Jobs. This would be 2005 Jobs, fresh off his Stanford commencement speech. In addition to getting his thoughts on making products people are passionate about, I’d love to hear about how he felt about getting booted from Apple, elevating Pixar, and returning to make Apple better than ever.

So that’s my dream dinner for four. Now let me know who’s sitting at your table (please)!

Netflix Picks: The Wedding Banquet

Isn’t this the month that we’re supposed to cancel our Netflix subscriptions because of the price hike?!? Ha! Before you do that, I urge you to check out The Wedding Banquet. This recent addition to Netflix streaming is one of my favorite films of all time. It covers New York, Asian-American issues, generational-gap issues, cross-cultural issues, and homosexual issues. It’s a fantastic movie that will make you laugh, cry, and think. Please, please, please check it out before you cancel your Netflix sub!

Now its your turn to suggest one movie we should all watch. Please make sure it’s available on Netflix streaming.

Beavis & Butthead in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi

I’ve already watched this Star Wars: Return of the Jedi clip featuring the voices of Beavis and Butthead 12 times. I’m probably going to watch it 12 more times in the next two hours. While it doesn’t quite make up for the changes George Lucas had made in the Star Wars Blu-ray compilation, it makes me feel a little bit better about the situation. Everything is funnier with a little Beavis and Butthead. Ha!