1. Where is the power button on the remote?  I know they use the same remote for every other computer, but it would be nice to turn if off with a button and not have to navigate a menu.
2. Great Quality!!!  I had some Digital Downloads from Blu-Ray disks and they look great!  I am thinking I will keep it and not send it back :)
3. Unable to Multitask?  It appears that while I was watching a movie from iTunes, Apple TV was unable to download my rental.  I figured I would do something else while I waited for my slow DSL connection to grab the HD rental.  The progress bar on the Download did not move at all.
4. Unable to Buffer Rental.  I was a little bummed to find out that I needed to download the entire rental before I was able to play it.  Amazon UnBox lets you download movies locally, but also lets you start playing them about 10 seconds after you start.  That would be nice.  Apple TV told me:  Ready to watch in 10 hours.  Granted if I had a faster connection this would not be a big deal, but until now, I did not see a need to have the $100 /month Internet Speed.
5. Shady HD Rentals – I should not have to pay an extra $1 for and HD rental.

So…my initial reaction so far….I like it and it will do what I ultimately wanted it to do, play video files at a DVD quality level.  I don’t think I will dump my Blu-Ray anytime soon, but I may start picking up old movies from Apple for $4.99 if I don’t see the need for the Blu-Ray edition.

Why pay the same money for a digital movie as a DVD?

If the price were cheaper I could see possibly switching.  While I am good about recycling and do bike to work, I still do get my bank statements via mail and magazines.  There is just something about getting “less” for the same price that did not appeal to me.

Sharing Movies

I have let others borrow my movies for a while now.  Having the hard media has made that possible.  If I get a digital download, I won’t be able to let others borrow them.  This is something that apparently the Barnes and Noble “Nook” can do with books that the Amazon “Kindle” cannot.  I have yet to hear of any online movie sellers / renters offering this service and really doubt we will see it any time soon.  In fact, it is probably bad that I let friends borrow my movies now.

Move toward HD

As new movies come out, I have been picking them up on Blu-Ray.  Those that I don’t think are worth the premium price, I wait until they come to the local “Red Box” for $5 previewed on standard DVD.

I do own more than 400 standard DVDs and do watch them on occasion. There are some I enjoy so much that I needed to pick them up on Blu-Ray if the price was right to experience them in High Definition.  My goal now is to reduce the number of DVDs I own, and get that smaller collection onto my computer so I can put away the obsolete DVDs.

Digital Media Receiver

So….here we go.  I really have no idea how to setup a digital library other than iTunes.  I know some people have servers where they store all of their music and movies, but I am just getting started and wanted to keep the cost relatively low.  After looking at my options, it seemed like iTunes and the Apple TV were the answer.  I have some movies already loaded into iTunes and since I am a Mac user, seemed the easiest.

Apple TV not only allows you to stream movies purchased / rented from iTunes, but allows you to access your music and movies as well.  I was originally going to just get a HDMI adapter and cable to connect my iMac to my TV, but the idea of a wireless device that can work virtually anywhere the network, ultimately made up my mind.

10% Restocking Fee

I am skeptical about the quality of digital media, and since I don’t have HD Cable, have not even considered replacing my Blu-Ray collection.  I was once told that current, and likely future, delivery systems will NOT be able to provide end users with 1080p quality video and sound due to the extremely high bandwidth required.

Apple has a 10% restocking fee, and that likely means I will need to pay for the return shipping, but buying the unit from Apple online as “refurbished.” it was still cheaper than going to my local store and picking on up.  The only downside..it just left Sacramento, CA, when I could have one right now!!

More to follow…

I will let you know more after it arrives and I have a chance to test it out to see if it is a keeper or just not enough for the discerning audio/video phile.  Well, I don’t listen to LPs, so I am not that much of an audiophile :)

There are some that watch shows on Hulu and other free sites and no longer turn on their TV, but I don’t think the quality is there.  This is probably because I have the slowest DSL available because I am cheap.  LOL.  Perhaps If I enjoy digital media I will upgrade my DSL, but with my roommates in love with TV, will likely not be able to dump cable just yet.

$1 for a day….well almost.

After looking through the available titles, I selected “The Box.”  This was a movie that I had wanted to see in the theatre, but never did get around to it.   While I am not about to review it, I was happy I decided to rent it for $1 as I was relatively confused.  Granted it was 1 AM when I finally turned it off as my roommates were sleeping and I undoubtedly was dozing off, but I did not really get it.  It had a “2010: A Space Odyssey” eeriness to it.

I left it for my roommates to watch / return before the 9 PM deadline (Almost 24 hours) since I am working from 9 AM – 10 PM today.  Hopefully they will remember to take it back and perhaps even take another stab at it, but in the worst case, my credit card will be charged another dollar for the extra day.

Why go to Blockbuster?

As I mentioned earlier, if you like someone to talk to and the feel of a real DVD case, or want to rent the Blu-Ray version, you do need to go to your local video rental store.  But, if you are planning on watching the movie right away, and you live on the same block at the “Red Box” then you might as well save $4 (If you return the next day).

I was somehow under the “Horror Movie” impression going in and came out with a “Psychological.”  I thought it would fit under “Psychological Thriller,” but I cannot say it was that thrilling or edge of seat gripping.

I had a hard time discerning what was “real” and what was “created.”  Perhaps it all was created.

All in all it was a decent movie graphically, but I was not so into the plot. I enjoy true stories, and unless I missed the “Based on a true story” comment at the beginning, this one was not.

I was at my local Blockbuster Video and saw some pretty yellow signs posted all over the store.  Here are the key points of the changes…

1. As of 3/1/10, Blockbuster has basically ended “the end of late fees.”
2. Movie rentals are now all for 5 days, regardless of newness.
3. Movies kept past the due date are charged $1/day.
4. Movies kept past a certain time will be charges to your credit / debit card on file.
5. If any fees such as over draft or over limit are incurred, it is your fault.

While not officially stated, the $1/day after 5 days could be looked at as late fees, but then again they could just be automatic renewal rates.  Blockbuster spent quite a bit of money on their “end of late fees” campaign to toss it out the window.

5 Day Renter or Same Day Watcher?

For those that keep movies 5 days or like to interact with other human beings, Blockbuster seems to be a viable option.  If you are the kind of person who rents at 5 PM and watches at 7 PM the same day, check to see if there is a “Red Box” in your area.  A self-service kiosk which charge around $1/day to rent.  If you keep it for 5 days, then essentially you could have gotten the same deal at Blockbuster.

Flaws in Blockbuster’s “end of late fees.”

According to unconfirmed reports, people kept movies for a very long time and never returned them.  I personally would not be in any rush to return movies, especially when in the worst case, I would be charged a$1.25 restocking fee.  Had I been smarter, I should have gone to rent a new release, kept it for a few months until I decided if I really wanted to buy it, and if not, simply return and just pay $1.25.  It would have saved my $20 for a Blu-Ray movie that tends to sit in my library and not get watched again. :(  Alas, I am too late.  Never mind it would be bad of me to take advantage of a company already struggling.

Next Step?  Death of Media?

It will likely take a while, I bet there are still people renting VHS tapes, but as homes become more connected with broadband and network connected media players, the number of  DVDs sold and rented will fall, until perhaps someday when there will be no physical media, and a portable device to carry around movies when on the go!

Firstly I was a not so interested in the movie from the previews I saw. Who are these blue people? Are they like hobbits or wizards? I kept hearing about the movie and finally had the opportunity to catch a mid Saturday afternoon showing in 3D. I am sure you all know that Regal sells discount tickets and many campanies buy these “super saver” ticket vouchers. I happen to get them from Costco. These particular ones are not restricted as some prevent you from using them the first 2 weeks and cost a little more. Of course matinees are less so I ended up paying $7 for two tickets on top if the $16 at Costo. In short, it really is not a good value if you use the vouchers to see a 3D movie in the afternoon! Tickets cost $13.50 at night and I think $11.50 for a 3D matinee. I did not save any money with the 3D upcharge added in. So, no food or beverage. I usually save enough to get a drink :)

The movie basically has 3 groups of individuals. First you have these really tall blue colored locals. Next you have the scientists that are trying to study and interact with them. Finally you have the “muscle” of the operation. The military forces.

Avatars are basically grown to connect mentally and controlled physically by a specific scientist. When one of the humans is killed shortly before the mission, the investors, not wanting to waste the resources expended to make a now useless avatar, hire his twin brother to go on the mission. Being paralysed from the waist down, the ex military brother does not seem to be the best suited for the job, but manages nonetheless.

After getting connected to his avatar he is able to effectively use his legs and enjoys his new body. He is welcomed into the inner circle and begins to learn the culture. I don’t know if the locals know he is really human controlled, but they start to trust him.

The military commander notices this and capitalizes by asking him to do military reconissance for him.

The goal of the comporation is to harvest natural resources to sell on earth. The scientists are trying to peacefully relocate the locals who seen to live directly above the largest concentration of the resource by persuading them to move.

The military are there in the event the scientists fail, to force them to move and kill them if resistant. The leader if the science team notices he is reporting to the military wing and moves there operation to a remote location to prevent the communication between.

The “princess” falls into love with him and he lives by the rules of their culture and goes through their rights of passage to become a man. One very interesting thing about the locals is that they physically connect with the horses, dragons, and trees through what looks like long braided hair. This in a way is the same type of connection the humans have with their avatar and they become one with the animal.

The military wing realizes that he is eventually against them when he is unsuccessful getting them to move despite admitting he is not really one of them and telling the intentions of the corporation. The locals are going to fight for their home. During the ensuing battle, their tree home is destroyed. The people live with nature and don’t profit or damage it in any way. The destruction was a sad time for all.

They are able to defeat the military wing with help from some local sympathizers. The program is ended and as they pack up, the main character that is paralysed and in live with a local, decides to stay on the planet. With no way to continue controlling the avatar, he turns to local spiritual leaders to effectively transfer the lifeforce from his human body to his avatar.

In the end his soul is transferred and he becomes one of them. Not sure there will be a sequel, but after the amazing success of the movie, which now threatens “Titanic,” there will surely be more of this movie style in the near future. I heard it cost 500 million to make and current has made over 1.5 billion!

The movie was close to 3 hours long, but unlike “Titanic” where I checkedy watch every 10 minutes to see if it was over, never looked. As far as the 3D…. Did not bother my eyes and was really good. If only it was at an IMAX in 3D, that would really be superb!!

For a sci fi or fantasy fan, this is a must go. If you disliked the smurfs, then skip these tall blue people and rent it for $1 at your local video rental machine or queue it up on Netflix. Just kidding. The cinematography was great, even if the story line itself was about deception and military might.

What are your thoughts on the movie?

BF 2009

This  year I was looking to get several Blu-Ray movies, a second Blu-Ray DVD player for by bedroom, and potentially a 500 GB portable external hard drive.  In years past I have picked up external hard drives, but mine are only 120 GB and it is much cheaper to buy a whole new setup than to attempt to open up an old enclosure and replace the internal hard drive.

As in years past, I have attempted to find deals online in order to avoid the long lines, and getting offered a blanket by the mobile homeless shelter vans waiting outside late Thanksgiving evening.

Two years ago, Best Buy had the same prices online as in the store.  I was able to order them very early in the AM…Best Buy would pull the items before opening, and at my convenience, stroll in with my ID and in less than 10 minutes be out with my loot!!!  Last year they decided to have “in store only” specials so many of the items I wanted could not be ordered online.  I guess this is only fair for those poor souls who waited all night for something I ordered from my couch just after midnight and got a good nights sleep.

Online Specials / Cyber Monday (Week)

This year stores had specials online Thanksgiving day and Black Friday.  Smart move since the retail stores were closed on Thanksgiving..making extra money!  Many “Cyber Monday” specials went on for a week this year.  Amidst the recession, a few extra days likely helped retailers.

Amazon.com (Retail Empire)

After this year I could have probably benefited from $79 prime shipping, but I am still okay waiting for Free Super Saver shipping from Amazon.com

To my surprise, prices on Amazon.com were the same or very close to that of the local retail store Black Friday in-store only offers.  Great news for me!  Not only did I not have to get up early, I did not have to pay for shipping and there is still no tax being charged.  Granted, at the time of this post, I am still waiting for some items I ordered, most have already been delivered with the others scheduled for delivery before Christmas.

5 AM Friday Morning

I did get up at 5 AM on Friday morning to see if I could get “The Wizard of Oz” on Blu-Ray for $12.99 and a 500 GB External Portable Hard drive for $59.99.  I am happy to say I got 2 copies of the movie, but due to the incompetent staff at Target, was not directed to the location of the hard drives until after they were all gone.   I asked 3 employees and each directed me to the wrong place.  I discovered the location only after asking a shopper who happened to have some in her hand!!!

I gave the second copy of the movie away as a gift to a fellow Blu-Ray watching friend.  I could not pass up the deal…$12.99 for a movie that retails for $43.99!!!

Blu-Ray Prices Dropping?

I was able to pick up a current model 1080 p Sony 2.0 BDLive player for $118 from Amazon.  Currently it is $170 on Amazon.com.  Movie prices also seem to be dropping.  New Releases seem to be cheaper.  The last 2 I bought I was able to get for $19.99, though today, $25.99 for Julie and Julia.

While DVD will not be replaced by Blu-Ray, I believe that all media will go away before that happens, I do notice and appreciate the better audio quality.  I use an HD-Projector, so cannot really discern a difference in Video Quality.

After the usual commercials and previews the movie got started.  After learning that the focal couple lost their third child near the end of pregnancy, we find out that the wife is a recovering alcoholic who would have lost her daughter in their pond had her husband not been around.  This was a very sobering experience for her and she has not had a drink in a month, though temptations have existed and show up whenever she is being stressed.

The Family

Husband: Works in the construction industry if memory serves designing buildings.

Son: Daniel does the usual things boys do.  He plays Guitar Hero with friends and has a tree house.

Daughter: Max was born hearing impaired.  She apparently can hear a little, but relies on her hearing aids to read lips.  Apparently she is unable to do so without them.  This seems a little odd to me, but when they disappear near the end of the movie…don’t seem to hinder her.

Love

The parents decide to adopt another child.  They seem to be leaning toward a girl so Max has someone to play with.  Their third child was a girl and was named by them.  They have a memorial where the ashes were spread of the still born child and have planted white roses there.  The mother believes that as long as the rose bush grows, memories of her unborn child will exist and the love will help her stay sane.

Adoption

It is no surprise that they are looking to adopt and not have another child naturally.  In fact, it appears that the couple has not engaged in sexual activity since that time which leads the husband to cheat on his wife and is ultimately a touchy subject when that is brought up.  Thankfully she has come around to the idea again which makes the husband happier.

They head to a Church run school for girls to search for a child to adopt.  The husband finds a very talented girl singing in a room by herself painting while looking for the bathroom.  The rest of the girls are enjoying an annual party, perhaps an adoption event.  He is very impressed by her abilities as an artist and her manners.  While she needs a new wardrobe and looks like “Little Bo Peep,” she is well mannered and articulate.

The wife and head nun find them together and while the nun seems a bit concerned, the wife also indentifies with the talents of the girl and they ultimately adopt her.

Family

Max gets along very well with her new sister, but Daniel finds that his friends make fun of him for how she dresses and he announces to the family at dinner that “She is not my sister.”  In the end Daniel is amost killed by her for knowing too much.

While she bonds with her new sister and favors the husband, she looks to her mother for piano lessons and seems to get along…this is all a facade and ploy to drive the wife away from the family, or in this case, make the family believe that the mother is hurting her and needs to be committed.  The husband ultimately decides with the help of the family therapist that she needs to be sent away to rehab after injuries appear on the adopted girl and a bottle of wine is located hidden in the house.

The Orphan

The orphan appears to be from Russia, but when they get in contact with the orphanage there, no records are found.  After the mother sneaks around a locates an old Bible / diary in her dresser stamped with the name of an institute and investigates, it turns out she was actually a patient at a mental institution and not an orphanage.

The nun from the girls school comes to talk to the family about odd coincidences that happen around the orphan once the mother has been noticing some strange things going on.  “Something is wrong with her…”  She  mentions a number of instances where fights start or people get injured and notes that the orphan is always around.  The orphan over hears the conversation with the nun and parents and believes that she is going to be taken away from the family. 

She tells her sister that they are planning on taking her away and seeks her assistance.  It appears that they are running away but they actually plan to scare the nun to make sure she never comes back again.  After tossing Max into the snow covered road and the nun barely swerving to miss her, ending up in a snow bank off the road, the orphan proceeds to jump from the bushes and bash the nuns head with a hammer until she is dead.  They hide her and the orphan scares Max into secrecy by saying that she would be in trouble too for helping hide the nun.

Daniel

More strange things happen.  Starting with the orphan killing a pigeon with a rock and climaxing with a late night pajama wetting visit from the orphan with a razer blade held to his throat asking about what he saw her and Max doing in the tree house, Daniel along with his mother believe something is very wrong with the girl.

Daniel checks with Max to see if she notices anything strange happening after his late night visit from the Orphan to find out that Max is drawing all of the bad things that she has been keeping from her mom that the orphan has made her do and scared her to be quiet.  He knows that the bloody hammer has been hidden in the tree house.  Unfortunately the orphan is outside listening to the entire conversation.

Daniel decides to locate the murder weapon and finds the tree house unlocked.  After the negative comments he made at the dinner table, his father locked him out of the tree house until an apology was made.  This had yet to occur.  He slides the panel back in the floor where he hides his dirty magazines to find nothing.  Behind him to see the orphan who has the bag and dumps out the bloody hammer, gloves, dress, and drawings from Max.  She proceeds to cover the evidence with ligher fluid and sets the pile ablaze.  She locks Daniel in the tree house and watches as it burns and he tries to escape.  He does avoid the blaze, but falls to the ground seriously injured.  Just as the orphan is about to smash him in the head with a rock, Max pushes her over and the mother comes rushing out of the house after noticing the blaze. 

Mom of course is even more suspicious now, but the husband is not so convinced.  There are many reasons for this starting with the cutting of all the memorial roses by the orphan which was believed to be something nice done for her mother at the encouragement of the father.  The mother is very upset and grabs her by the arm shaking her.  The orphan goes into the basement and using a counter mounted vise, bruises and ultimately breaks her forearm.  She calls for “daddy” which makes him even more suspicious of his wife and closer to the orphan.

Dad

When visiting their son in the hospital after his fall from the tree house, the orphan asks to get a drink and instead goes into Daniel’s room and suffocates him.  The doctors are able to ressusitate him, but the mother gets enraged and has to be sedated.  She blames the orphan for what just happened.  Dad sees this and again takes the side of the orphan.

That night while the mother is in the hospital for overnight observation, the usband gets drunk and the orphan gets dressed up in his wifes dress and puts on makeup.  She comes down to be with “daddy” and tries to seduce him.  She reaches for something that she should not as her father is explaining the difference between adult “LOVE” and the love of a daughter.  She gets very upset at this rejection and ends up stabbing the husband to death.

Max sees this and hides in her closet hamper, but knows that she is likely next.  While this is going on the mother is racing home.  She has just heard from the mental hospital that the orphan is really a dwarf that is 33 years old has basically wants the man of the family to herself.  When she gets rejected the entire family is killed.  All of the photos of men in her Bible are likely the men that rejected her and families killed.

Mom makes it home before Max is killed and ends up crashing through the greenhouse roof landing on her.  She scoops up Max and they leave the house with the gun.  The police come and the orphan is no longer on the floor of the greenhouse.  The Orphan surprises them and knocks the gun loose.  While cutting the mother with a knife, as they struggle, Max shoots the gun and cracks the ice on the pond where they are struggling.  They fall into the water and after one more appearance from the Orphan, kicks her in the head and breaks her neck.  Mother and Max are reunited and likely survive with Daniel. 

Summary

Wow did I write a lot.  I could write a novel at this point! LOL.  Very good movie with an interesting twist that being her age.  While it was over 2 hours, I did not find myself falling asleep or bored which says a lot!  There are some movies where an hour and a half is too much.

Now that I have totally spoiled the movie, I hope you will still check it out if interested.  While I am not sure I will buy this when it comes out on DVD.  I would recommend renting it if you don’t see it in the theatre.

After looking for the “Pure Cane Sugar” Coke tonight at the local Harris Teeter, I decided to check out the Redbox by the exit which boasted $1 rentals.  I was thinking with todays marketing schemes like “up to 50% OFF,” or the Mega Bus $1 fares (If you book 3 years in advance.), that the $1 rental would be reserved for “The Breakfast Club” and other old classic movies.  I decided to research these mysterious “Red Boxes” when I got home.  I discovered that the machines are loaded weekly and DVDs are reserved online.

$7 Previewed DVDs

For those of you that don’t know, I tend to buy great movies the day they come out to get the best price, and for other movies that I like….wait until they go to the “3 for $20″ or “4 for $20″ at Blockbuster.  So when I saw $7 for a relatively new movie “Bolt,” I swiped my debit card….and in a few moments, out popped by DVD.  While it came in a rental box with no cover art or inserts, I did get a genuine DVD!  

My Idea…..

I was thinking that the machine would burn DVDs on the spot which would simply require a network connection or a server of digital movies inside with a high speed DVD burner.  This way there would be no need to reserve movies online, and the kiosk would never be out of a title and have every title!  I would rely on Light Scribe to provide the DVD label and not sure about the sales.  

Perhaps I would make DVDs that would work for a few days and expire like current rentals available at some truck stops across the country..I actually bought one for $4.99 to see if it indeed become unreadable after 72 hours…and it did!  If this was the case, I would put a deposit on the DVDs….once they were returned, and recycled, the deposit, probably $3 would be refunded to you.

Another option, sell the DVDs as the Redbox does.

Perhaps DVD burning is not fast enough yet, or the industry would not allow such media to be created, but my idea really is very easy and low maintenance!  All that you would need to do is stock blank DVDs and sleeves, probably paper or cardboard which is very recyclable, and update the machine with new movies if not directly connected to a high speed network connection.  The high speed connection would be the best actually.  I would have the new titles downloaded in the early morning to be cached on the server for instant burning.

So..not sure that I will subscribe, though it seems very nice at this point if there is no monthly charge, I may be stopping by to check out the “previewed” collection as they all cost $7.

Let me start with that.  When you have seen Star Wars, and likely Star Trek FAIL at making prequels, you get a little skeptical.  I have to say I was pleasantly proven wrong!  The movie has the same characters as the others and at the very end……. leads right into the opening of the “first” Underworld movie.  Well done!

Victor is back as the head of the coven and does an excellent job in the movie.  Not sure it was the actor, but the part was great.  The love of a disobedient daughter to eventually having her executed following the protocol of the coven and leading the vampires.  This is definitely a hard task and he remains strong by following through with the execution.

I am not sure how long the movie was and even my partner was awake through the whole movie which is  a first.  So with that said, definitely a good movie to see.  

You learn about the start of the Lycans and that there are 2 breeds. One that can sustain human form and another that is in animal form all of the time.  It was also interesting to learn that they Lycans were created in order to protect the Vampires while they were sleeping during the daylight.

As with most prequels, there is no need to watch the other ones before seeing this movie.  Let me know what you think.  This is definitely the best movie I have seen this year.  Last week I saw “The Unborn.”  I won’t even waste time talking about that horrible movie.