Exploring Stuff That Makes Life Great
I am a huge fan of Futurama- both in that I love the series, and I am a physically large fanboy. Bender’s Game is getting fantastic reviews, and is considered by most to be the best of the Futurama films released thus far.
However, I disagree. Continue reading “DVD REVIEW: Futurama – Bender’s Game”
[UPDATE 12/4/08: YouTube has now enabled Widescreen embeds.]
YouTube has officially switched from the default 4:3 ratio to a 16:9 ratio for videos playing on their website. This is definitely great for future web video content. Now there’s a reason to upload videos in 16:9 ratio. Obviously there’s a difference between 16:9 and true high definition, but YouTube is taking it one step at a time.
In the past, YouTube’s user generated videos and professionally produced videos looked practically identical. We’re finally getting to the point where we may see a rift occur between these user generated content and professional content. When YouTube began, it didn’t matter what quality you uploaded the video at because it looked like crap. Earlier in the year, YouTube enabled high quality video streams and now that it has defaulted to a widescreen display, there is a reason for content producers to actually care about the visual quality of their footage!
This will only help the internet web video industry as a whole. If there has been one reason why advertisers have been hesitant to step into the web video market, it has been because a lot of web video shows don’t look and feel like a traditional TV show. By having YouTube, the king website for web videos, shift their focus from low resolution videos to high resolution videos, the web video industry will grow and evolve.
This is a big day for not only web video content producers, but consumers as well. We’re finally getting to the point where quality matters.
The Polar Express: Presented in 3-D
Warner Bros./ Castle Rock/ Play Tone
Starring Tom Hanks
Directed by Robert Zemeckis
Rated G
Running Time = 100 minutes (Two DVDs; one with 3-D version, the other with theatrical version)
I love Christmas movies. There’s something about the really good ones like Miracle of 34th Street and It’s a Wonderful Life that really resonate with me. Holiday films of recent have held less interest for me, especially “holiday” movies like Deck the Halls and Christmas with the Kranks. The Polar Express, however, Continue reading “All Aboard the Polar Express in 3-D!!!!”
The New World: The Extended Cut
New Line Cinema
Starring Colin Farrell, Q’orianka Kilcher, Christopher Plummer, and Christian Bale
Written and Directed by Terrence Malick
Rated PG-13 for some intense battle sequences.
Running Time = 135 minutes
As I watched this extended version of The New World, which was my first time viewing the film, several thoughts came to mind. I wish to share five of them with you now. Continue reading “5 Things I Learned While Watching The New World”
Primeval – Volume One
BBC Video
Starring Douglas Henshall, James Murray, Andrew Lee Potts, Lucy Brown, Hannah Spearitt
Not Rated
Running Time = 585 minutes (on 4 DVDs)
Dinosaurs! Interdimensional portals! English accents! Yes, all that and more add to the fun and excitement of Primeval. Seen in the U.S. on BBC America, the show’s a Continue reading “TV on DVD Review: Primeval – Volume One”
Shrek being an ogre… knows nothing about Christmas. Welcome to “Shrek the Halls”, a short half hour X-mas special about learning the ways of the holidays. Shrek takes quick lessons about Christmas to try and give his family the holiday they deserve. Donkey and Puss in Boots show up to add to the fun and screw things up a bit. Its exactly what you’d expect when you think of Shrek + holidays.
This is the same holiday special that ran on TV a year ago, it runs a little over 23 minutes, but this time no commercials! The original cast from the films is back to reprise their character roles which is nice, since typically this sort of thing would feature a bunch of horrible sound-a-likes. The animation is pretty solid quality as well, almost on par with the films themselves.
Surprisingly, the DVD has a variety of features considering it is just a TV holiday special. There are several sing a longs, a couple interactive games, and a video jukebox. The DVD also features widescreen and fullscreen formats which is nice and 5.1 surround.
It’s worth a watch to get into the holiday spirit. However, being a holiday movie it’s really only good for about 2 months out of the year. Overall worth picking up for the Shrek fans in your family or just renting to have some Christmas cheer to pass the time.