For a while now Pioneer plasma televisions have been the best direct view displays on the market. They have always been the most accurate and feature laden televisions around. But, it's final, Pioneer is officially calling it quits. Apparently they're doing something in the regarding the DVD biz in association with Sharp. I'm sad to see them go, not that I could afford one anyway, they were just nice to look at in-store.
VIA[engadget]
Okay, so maybe that's not so surprising considering both Ratatouille and the Incredibles both used this convention. I'm starting to notice a trend. Also, the fanboys from Comic-Con report that the Michael Giacchino's temp score is simply amazing. I can't wait. By now descriptions are starting to flood the Internet from the 50+ minute screening from Comic-Con. It's been described as a tear-jerker and the first half of this film sounds absolutely amazing.
While the footage of Carl's house taking off from the ground in the trailer looks great, the entire unedited scene just looks amazing as thousands of balloons float from behind the house and pull it out of its foundation. Even so, scenes of this house flying over the town and fields is just gorgeous to behold, the type of inspiring image that was probably key in getting the movie off the ground, so to speak. We actually get to see Carl meet Russell earlier in the footage as the young Wilderness Explorer shows up to try to earn his one missing badge, "Aiding the Elderly" and gets sent off on a Wild Snipe Chase by Fredrickson. Unfortunately, Russell returns just as the house is taking off and Carl finds that he's stuck with the talkative kid. There's a funny sequence where Carl imagines one way of getting Russell down from the flying house, but before he can get the boy off his hands, the house flies into a thunderstorm, and they have to work together to get the house through it safely before it eventually lands.
I absolutely cannot wait. Read some impressions here.
Yup, I'm still at it. But not without stumbling fumbling and falling flat on my face. Find out what perturbed me about my latest play session and some suggestions I have for the designers in my latest diary installment. You can read about it here.
P.S. The music sounds eerily similar to the Traffic soundtrack. Listen here.
P.P.S. Bai Ling should totally play Faith in the film adaptation.
Looking forward to seeing this. Apparently it's going to be directed by Emile. Hopefully it's about talking clouds.
I'll just leave this here.
This is a really awesome article with Coraline director Henry Selick. He discusses his reservations about CGI, though he uses it sparingly his new movie, and the differences, technique wise, between Coraline and the Nightmare Before Christmas.
Via[The A.V. Club]
I could really use this on my bike rides to school during the winter months.
Via[BoingBoing]
Fanboys comes out today!! Will I be able to see it??? NO! But if you're in one of those amazing cities which actually get every movie that comes out, first count your blessings, then go see it. Here's the trailer for those of us that can't make it. :(
Maybe I'll just go see Coraline instead.
Yes, I'll admit I was an HDDVD fan-boy. I wasn't exactly thrilled when Blu-Ray won. Who wants a movie studio exlcusively distributing content anyway? But, I was glad that war was over, and that consumers everywhere had decided on the successor to the middle-aged DVD format. But this was before Hulu was big, and before I-Tunes Video and Netflix gained any sort of footing. And now with success of the 'watch instantly' Xbox 360 exclusive Netflix service, I'm forced to ask the question is an optical drive really all that necessary?
Let's look at the numbers.
1.5 billion minutes of video have been watched in three months time, essentially making the XBOX 360 Netfilx's most important set-top box for it's digital distribution. Obviously, this pales in comparison to DVD, but it's a start. And I doubt digital distribution will disappear anytime soon.
And then there's HULU. Since it's creation in 2007 (btw, it was considered a big joke by youtube back then) it's gained considerable momentum (22 million unique viewers in November 2008). And let's not forget Youtube. The king of on-line video, though it's expected to loose some viewership to website produced content, youtube is still on top. Of the 14.3 billion online videos watched in December, 41 percent were on youtube.
The internet and the computer monitor are increasingly becoming more of a destination for viewing video content. Think about it: How many times a day do you watch videos online? And though internet content might not pacify those with big screen televisions or audiophiles, just remember, they are in the minority. And the extraordinary video quality on Hulu and youtube HD, is just a glimpse of the possible future. It's important to remember that digital distribution is in its infancy, and of course there are hiccups, but it seems like its immediate future is looking mighty bright.
I know, I know. But it might be worth checking out for the mysterious Ready to Rumble scene alone.
In between actually jumping off buildings and scaling my neighbor's fence, I found time to finish my second play session with Mirror's Edge.
Read all about it here.
Also, check out this cool Mirror's Edge music video.
In is article Curious Cases David Denby reexamines the movie drought that was the year 2008. I've thought about this before, and I think we were spoiled by 2006 and 2007 movies like There We Be Blood, Children of Men, No Country For Old Men and Juno. These are movies that as Denby puts it, were simply hair raising. Anyway it's a good read, check it out here.
If you happen to be in the New York (why do they get all the good stuff?) area this weekend and are a Pixar fan, be sure and stop by the NY comic Con to check out the first 50 minutes of UP. According to Toon Zone:
New York Comic Con is proud to announce that the first 50 minutes of Disney•Pixar’s 10th film, UP, will screen for the first time at New York Comic Con in the IGN Theater. UP is a comedy adventure about 78-year-old balloon salesman Carl Fredricksen, who finally fulfills his lifelong dream of a great adventure when he ties thousands of balloons to his house and flies away to the wilds of South America. But he discovers all too late that his biggest nightmare has stowed away on the trip: an overly optimistic 9-year-old Wilderness Explorer named Russell. From the Academy Award-nominated director Pete Docter (Monsters, Inc.), Disney*Pixar's UP invites you on a hilarious journey into a lost world, with the least likely duo on Earth.
Disney•Pixar’s UP screening will be introduced by director Pete Docter and producer Jonas Rivera on Saturday, February 7 at 6:30pm in the IGN Theater at New York Comic Con. Please note seating is EXTREMELY limited and interested attendees are recommended to arrive at 5:30 PM for a security check-in. No cameras, phones, or recording devices will be allowed at the screening, and all must be checked at the door.
If you can't make it watch the Super Bowl trailer instead.
Or watch
From apple trailers:
A man wakes up deep inside a cave. Suffering amnesia, he has no recollection of how he came to be here or of what happened to the man whose body he finds beside him. Tailed by a mysterious creature, he must continue through this strange and fantastic world. Enclosed, Tolbiac has no other option to reach the surface than to use REZO ZERO, secret observing cells in this cemetery-like abandoned mine. He embarks upon this journey guided by the roots of a plant, leading the way and the main subject of attention of the REZO.
Looks neat.
Like what you see? You should, because this is a photo of the legendary Jude Law in a movie called Rave directed by Sally Potter. Thanks to the guys at Filmonic.
From her site:
Part of the subject matter of RAGE is the ugly use of beauty in the pursuit of profit. Drugged by Marketing, sapped by fear of aging, conned by the cult of celebrity... image becomes all.
Jude Law, whose beauty has sometimes been held against him as an actor, made the courageous decision to accept the role of Minx - a “celebrity super-model” and took on a kind of hyper-beauty for this persona... a ‘female’ beauty which gradually unravels as the story unfolds.
Strangely, the more he became a ‘she’, coiffed and made-up - the more naked was his performance. There was great strength in his willingness to make himself vulnerable. It was an extraordinarily intense part of the shoot.
As it stands, I'm always the last to know, so when I heard about this movie I figured everyone must be talking about it already. Not true. It's gotten very little hype, which to me is outrageous. Synopsis is as follows:
In TOKYO!, three visionary directors come together for an omnibus triptych examining the nature of one unforgettable city as it’s shaped by the disparate people who live, work (and run amok) inside an enormous, constantly evolving, densely populated Japanese megalopolis — the ravishing and inimitable Tokyo. In the tradition of such films as NEW YORK STORIES, NIGHT ON EARTH, PARIS JE T’AIME and its forthcoming sequel NEW YORK I LOVE YOU, TOKYO! addresses the timeless question of whether we shape cities, or if cities shape us — in the process revealing the rich humanity at the heart of modern urban life.
release date: March 6 2009
Link to Subtitled Trailer
For some reason this movie never got a proper DVD release. But I've seen listings online that show a March 10 street date. If you can't wait that long watch it for free on hulu.com
Here's the trailer for the self proclaimed Greatest Mafia Movie Ever Made. This movie opened in Italy May of 08 and will be released Feb. 13 in the U.S. and has garnered much critical praise.
I had a little chuckle while browsing through some of these movie posters from abroad on Cracked. Some of them don't make a lick of sense.
For instance Star Wars: 
Now Playing is a new section in which I chronicle my progress through a video game diary style. This week it's Mirror's Edge.
Installment 1 after the jump.
Addicted to Media 2008,2009,2010
