Browsing the archives for the Movies category

An idea - Microsoft Media Pass

Dec 9, 2008
Tim
Games, Movies, Music, Tech

Last week, I went ahead and purchased a trial subscription to two entertainment models.  I’m currently subscribed for 14 days of Microsoft’s Zune Pass subscription, and Netflix 1 at a time plus unlimited streaming subscription.  I like both services a  lot and the integration with the Xbox 360 is nice (although it has room for improvement).  Let me give you a quick run down of both services.

Zune pass is Microsoft’s subscription model for streaming music.  It costs $14.99 a month and as long as you have an active subscription you can play (on up to 3 PCs) any songs from their vast library.  You can also download these songs and load them onto a DRM approved device (like the Zune) for the duration of your subscription.  Along with the monthly access to the entire library, Microsoft added a new element that lets you download and keep forever, 10 songs per month.  The biggest gap in this service which I didn’t realize wouldn’t work until I actually tried it, is that you cannot access the Zune Marketplace via the xbox 360 console.  This means that you can’t browse and stream unlimited music directly from the xbox, a huge oversight in my opinion since most people would love to be able to select and play any music in their main entertainment room instead of just the room they have a PC in.  Other than that, there are a lot of nice features about the Zune pass and Zune marketplace (social playlists and channels) that have me debating moving to a subscription based model for my music needs.

With the newest version of the Xbox 360 UI, Xbox Live Gold members and members of certain Netflix subscription plans can now access a large library of streaming content directly on their Xbox consoles.  I have tried this for a few days and it is implemented very well.  On the netflix website you select which movies you want to show up in your “instant queue” on the xbox, and once you navigate to the Netflix section on your console you get a nice interface that lets you play and watch the content you selected.  The standard streaming quality is very acceptable and some features are available in HD which looks very nice.  The best “instant queue” selections are mostly limited to Documentaries, Indie films and TV shows, but there is a large selection of almost anything you could want, and the most basic plan at $8.99 allows for you to have 1 DVD (or BluRay) out at a time to fill the gap.  A couple of improvements I would like to see are allowing you to browse the entire netflix instant library via the xbox console to add films to your queue, more HD content, and also better sound on the higher quality films.  It seems I am only limited to 2 channel audio, which is unfortunate.

With these two media subscriptions, Microsoft and Netflix really have a nice fulfillment of my music and movie needs.  This got me thinking, with a few of the improvements I listed above (most notably the Zune Marketplace accessible on the Xbox 360 console) Microsoft could easily offer a single subscription model that would compete and go beyond anything other media service providers currently offer.  Imagine if you had following options.

  • Xbox Media Pass Basic - 1 month xbox live gold, netflix streaming, and zune pass streaming  $20/month
  • Xbox Media Pass Mid-range - 1 month xbox live gold, netflix streaming + 1 at a time,  zune pass + 800 MS Points - $30/month
  • Xbox Media Pass Deluxe - 1 month xbox live gold, netflix streaming + 3 at a time, zune pass + 1600 MS Points - $50/month

The price points can be adjusted some, but you see where I’m going.  I would be very VERY interested in purchasing one of these plans, and even possibly a yearly subscription if it was given at a discounted rate.  The other adjustment that would have to be made according to how I have the model laid out, is that Microsoft would have to make their point system universal.  800 MS points would be good on the Xbox console or Marketplace for purchasing game or video content and good on the PC or Zune for purchasing individual tracks or whole albums.  I really think if Microsoft was able to combine these services and integrate them well, they would really start to separate themselves from everyone else in both the console and media offerings marketplace.

No Comments

Awesome Dark Knight Poster

Dec 14, 2007
Tim
Movies

I’m a huge fan of movie posters. There are some that are great pieces of art, and some that are just plain sweet. One film I’m really looking forward to (as well as a lot of other people) is The Dark Knight. Two new international posters were released and both are utterly badass! I’ll be sure to be picking both of these up when I can find them

 tdk-int-poster-batman.jpg     tdk-int-poster-joker.jpg

Tonight we’re going to see the Imax version of I Am Legend. Why the Imax version you ask? Because it will have a 5 minute preview of The Dark Knight, which introduces the Joker. I think I’m more excited about the preview than I am the movie, although I Am Legend should be pretty good.

“I love Will Smith” - Newbs

No Comments

Texting Teens & HP

Jul 27, 2007
Tim
General, Movies

So a while back a group of us went to go see the new Harry Potter movie. I found it enjoyable enough, especially the end fight which was very fulfilling effects wise. Unfortunately, the beginning hour or so of the movie was not a pleasant experience due to one specific event. About 15 minutes into the movie, some girls down in the first row of the theater began texting to their friends. Normally I wouldn’t find this too troublesome, but the combination that they were treating texting like IM, continued this practice for at least 20 minutes, and were doing it in the front row in a perfectly dark theater, it really started to frustrate me. I began debating if I should go talk to the courtesy desk, walk down and confront them, or just yell at them. Eventually I just yelled down “SHUT YOUR PHONE!” which was immediately proceeded by someone higher up in the theater yelling “Yea, shut your f***ing phone!!” (I decided not to curse at them as this was technically a kids movie). The girls quickly and embarrassingly closed their phones which was followed by applause from multiple audience members. I was very satisfied with myself. I’m hoping that texting in theaters doesn’t become more common since most people think when told to silence you cell phones that just means your ring tone, but they fail to realize that having a small bright light in a pitch black theater is just as annoying. Interestingly enough, for this particular movie, after the trailers, the movie started right up with no AMC intro or Cell Phone PSA, which maybe the girls were too stupid to realize that if they’re not told to do so they don’t need to.

On a plus note, I have now become addicted to seeing moives via a DLP projector. We first saw Pirates 3 via DLP, and now HP5. I can really notice a quality difference which adds tremendously to my enjoyment of paying 8 bucks to see a movie in a theater environment.

I have finished the last of the Harry Potter books as of last night. While I find the conclusion satisfying, there are a few things in this book and the series itself, that will prevent me from calling it Great. I won’t go into them in detail now, since there are still a lot of people left who still need to read the 7th book. I will just conclude with a quote from Tycho @ Penny-Arcade which pretty much expresses how I feel and have felt about the Harry Potter series.

I finished the last Harry Potter yesterday, but I couldn’t actually tell you what happened in it. It’s been like that for several books now, starting with The Order of the Phoenix, where I grip the book with hunger and aggression and consume it without ever tasting the meal. I have a sense of being satisfied, but it is murky, and distant, the way an anaconda must feel one week after eating a jaguar. What is most important is that the wait, that long famine, has come to a close.

1 Comment

New Puppy, and general updates

May 3, 2007
Tim
Flickr/Pics, General, Movies, TV

So I realize its been over a month since I’ve made a post of any substantial content. Last week’s was some very good info, but doesn’t really count as a post of substance on a personal blog. I’ve always “got onto” other bloggers for letting a month go by without any updates, so to make an attempt and not being hypocritical, here is your update.

About 2 weeks ago, I went with my brother and parents to pick up a new puppy for them. They drove down all the way to Washington Courthouse to get a 1 month old Golden Retriever pup. You can find some pictures of him by clicking on the picture below.

New Puppy thumb

We debated for a while on what his name should be and decided on Cody. My parents wanted something that reminded them of the West (Cody, Wyoming) and also might be related to a soda beverage (our dog before Zac was Fresca - like the drink). So Cody can also be considered Code Red (Mt. Dew). All very vaugue and weakly linked in my opinion, but Cody works. We thought of one name that all of us except my Mom loved. Bauer (or Bower in dog language). I’m considering getting my own dog this fall (if our housing arrangement allows it) and am pretty sure that I will name him Bauer. I’d really like to have my own dog, the only problem being if I got a puppy then I’d have to train him, and that could be difficult since I work all day. If I didn’t get a puppy, I’d be somewhat limited on his/her name. But we’ll see. My Mom is currently remembering how much work raising a puppy (do you raise a puppy?) is, especially when you’re home by yourself all day.

You may have noticed if you clicked on the picture, that it didn’t go to the normal spot. In fact it went to a entirely new area and layout. You may have also noticed, if you’d looked in the past 24 hours, that all my pictures in the photo section are someone limited. This is because my “pro” Flickr account has expired after 1 year and I’m debating still if I want to renew it. The puppy gallery is currently being hosted by google’s picture service. Its a great service especially since it integrates well with Picasa, my windows picture organizer of choice. The only hold back is integration with my site ( I really liked hosting a plugin on my site that connected with Flickr) and the amount of storage. With Flickr, I paid $25 for a years worth of infinite storage and bandwidth. So I’ll be debating over the next few days/week if I want to move or just renew with Flickr. I’ll be sure to post, once I’ve made a decision.

Going to see Spiderman 3 tonight at midnight. I think I’m going more just to keep the inner geek inside me fed more than I am excited for it. Its not that I don’t expect to enjoy it. Thats not it at all. How can I not enjoy the most expensive movie ever made that’s based on comics and guaranteed to feature some badass fight scenes. I just feel like I know what to expect. Plus I hear there is a lot of Peter crying and Kirstin Dunst singing. Not sure what to think about that. It should still be good, but I’m not nearly as excited for this as I am say The Dark Knight (Batman Begins 2).

And while we’re on a superhero kick, Heroes is by far the best show on TV right now. Yes, better than Lost, 24, and Entourage. Every episode for this opening season has been amazing, and there are only 3 left! Even though I’ve been dealing with Heroes and 24 being on at the same time (watching 24 live and DVRing Heroes to watch immediately after), both shows have their season finale on the same day at the same time. UGGG!

No Comments

The Cover

Mar 28, 2007
Tim
General, Movies

So I, along with what seems the rest of the known global population, have read and enjoyed a fair amount all the Harry Potter books. Unless you live under a rock, or are a caveman, you should know that the 7th and final book is coming out this summer. The cover image for the book was recently released, and I must say, it’s pretty crappy. The title came out a few months ago and sounded pretty cool (for a children’s novel). Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows. But the cover image is just lame. Nothing in the picture screams deathly or cool.

In other news here is a preview of a new movie poster I just bought. Recently I’ve gotten into buying movie poster that I find cool. I’ve got two frames out in our living room that I rotate new one sheets in and out of. The ATHF movie should be pretty sweet, but their teaser poster just ooozes awesome. Almost as awesome as some of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s favorite posters.

And finally, while I’m on an image posting craze, here are the two new teasers for the Transformers movie. Pretty sweet. Optimus Prime looks pretty close to himself with that mouth shield thing, but Megatron still looks like an alien.

OP MEG

No Comments
« Older Posts