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Good Picks on Amazon Weekend Movie Specials

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Each weekend Amazon has a sale on select online movie rentals. This Memorial Day weekend features some solid movie picks, each at $1.99 and streamed to your compatible Amazon Video on Demand device (yay Tivo!).

  • Sherlock Holmes (2010)
  • The Blind Side
  • 2012
  • Inglourious Basterds
  • Twilight’s New Moon
  • Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel

Even cheaper at $0.99 are:

  • The Incredible Hulk
  • Wall Street
  • 300
  • Mad Max
  • Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring
  • The Terminator

Check out all the Amazon Memorial Day Weekend Movie Specials!

iTunes Movie Rentals to AppleTV

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For all the things Apple has done right regarding ease of use, this one ain’t one of them. I rented a movie from iTunes and the huge HD file eventually downloaded. That part was easy. Now, how do I view this movie on my synchronized AppleTV?

I checked the movie section on the AppleTV, but it didn’t show the rented movie. Maybe if I select the movie rental from the just released section, the device would know I already purchased a rental. No go, it asks if I want to rent the movie. So where the heck is the movie?

Stuck in iTunes on my Mac. I found this Apple Support article that says you have to move the movie to a device (iPod, iPad, iPhone, AppleTV, etc). Now that’s confusing. You would think that a simple sync would be good enough. Not so, dear AppleTV user.

Apple, how about fixing this in the next versions of iTunes?

Playing Around with Animoto

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I had heard about the movie making magic of Animoto.com but never really checked it out until now. Very cool and easy to use. For an automated system, the end product is very good. There’s not much you can do to edit the movie but really, you don’t have to. Here’s a movie I “made” from a few still pictures.

Warning: the default audio is very loud. Turn down the volume before you start playing.

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Only bummer is that the free version of Animoto limits movies to 30 seconds. Otherwise, you have to pay per movie or an annual fee. Animoto is a well thought out service, covering the basics of movie making to easily sharing the great results.

Wal-Mart Gots the Vudu!

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Not sure what to make of Wal-Mart’s acquisition of Vudu.  At first glance, the pairing seems like an odd combination.  Sure Wal-Mart wants in on the streaming business but is it a right fit for both companies or should I kiss my useful Vudu box good bye?

Speaking of Vudu, did you catch my five-part initial review back in 2008?  No?  Here’s the links if you’re interested in Vudu.

10 Best Movies of the Decade, I’ve Seen Half

Entertainment Weekly has their Best of the Decade series going, and here’s their 10 Best Movies of the Decade.

10. Almost Famous
9. Lost in Translation
8. The 40 Year-Old Virgin
7. Children of Men
6. Moulin Rouge
5. WALL-E
4. The Dark Knight
3. Gladiator
2. Brokeback Mountain
1. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Out of the top ten, I’ve surprisingly seen half of them (the bolded ones). How about you? And what do you think of this list?

New Moon in 4 Minutes

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Haven’t had time to watch the latest Twilight saga, New Moon, in the theaters yet? Here’s a four minute video synopsis including the surprising ending. Of course, spoilers are evident.

This video is so going to be taken down, so watch it while it’s available.

New Moon, Better than Twilight

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One year ago, the launch of the Twilight movie series got me and the missus back in the movie theater. One year later, it’s New Moon that brought us back to the big screen. So how was New Moon through a pair of even older eyes? Better than Twilight is my to-the-point review.

But first, some notes and observations.

The Non-crowd

Setting records with $140M made on its opening weekend, you know the theaters had to be packed like Ward Theaters during the premiere showing.

From the Red Band Project

We didn’t dare the crowds then, but instead went on a weekday where there were like a dozen people in the theater (and two baby strollers).

Summit Entertainment’s Been Busy

remember-me-stillBefore the movie started, there was a bombardment of movie trailers, many from Summit Entertainment. This studio has been busy… and efficient. Lots of multi-purposed (euphemism for reused) themes, locales, and actors in the previewed trailers. Pierce Brosnan and Robert Pattinson in Remember Me. Pierce Brosnan in The Lightning Thief. Amanda Seyfried in Dear John and Letters to Juliet (was that filmed in Italy, same as New Moon?).

Youthful Elders

I had this complaint in Twilight with the elders looking a little too youthful and that trend continues in New Moon.

Aro and the Volturi

The ancient though immortal Volturi look too young to be the feared vampire royalty. Hard to be scared of pale looking pansies if you know what I mean?

A Well Matched Soundtrack

While there’s no breakout song like Paramore’s Decode from Twilight, the New Moon soundtrack is well matched to the mood of the film. Dark, somber, and depressing. Don’t try to work out or run to this downer of a soundtrack.  Each song was well placed in the movie and really accentuated the emotions of Bella, Edward, and Jacob. And there’s more variety to the music than the countless variations of Bella’s Lullaby in Twilight.

Bella Line of Sleepwear

Victoria’s Secret or GAP Body take note. How about the Bella line of sleepwear?

new-moon-movie-still-bella-and-edward-bedroom-2

bella_inbed

Taylor Launter Needs to Thank his Personal Fitness Trainers

When Bella hits her head after falling from her motorcycle, platonic pal Jacob Black is there to mend her bleeding wound. He peels off his shirt at which point the audience gasps admiring Taylor’s now chiseled body.

New-Moon-new-moon-movie-9153424-500-333

Taylor really needs to reward his personal fitness trainers for his new found success. How about a stay at the Grand Wailea Resort in Maui?

“Loose Change”

New Moon centered around the love triangle between Bella, Jacob, and Edward, and these characters expectedly had the most lines. Most of the other major characters in the story had such minor roles, almost like loose change compared with the benjamins of Swan, Black, and Cullen. Which of the significant characters had the least amount of lines? My guess is Billy Black who had one scene failing to stop Bella from seeing a sleeping werewolf boy.

My Favorite Character

My favorite Twilight/New Moon movie character has to be Jasper. The young vamp has to stand there looking dazed all the time with his unkempt hair. He did have his one defining part in New Moon wanting to eat Bella but other than that, dazed.

new-moon-movie-still-jasper

Yup, yup, New Moon the movie as with the Twilight books aren’t award winning or even masterpieces, but they sure have an allure about them. Can’t deny the appeal and box office success. So how was the movie? Better than Twilight. I’ll say 3.5 stars with more action than Twilight and flaws fixed from the first flick. Worth a watch, at least once especially now that the theaters aren’t packed with howling Twihards and wanton Twimoms. With the improvements in New Moon, there is definitely momentum going into Eclipse scheduled just seven months away on June 30, 2010.

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