W♥M

It's Greek to Me

In celebration of the news that film director Christopher Nolan (the guy who directed Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises), will be set to adapt Homer’s The Odyssey, for Universal Studios… I have watch two recent swords & sandals films. The Odyssey will be out in 2026, according to Deadline.

The Return (2024) Read More The Returned The Returned, originally French title Les Revenants, was described as "The Walking Dead with Brains". This is clearly an inaccurate description, despite the clever zombie/brains analogy. The Returned is … Ulysses 31 It’s such a great concept. It’s about Ulysses in the 31st century. He offended the gods, and was banished to unknown space… and the entire series is Ulysses trying to find his way home from his long odyssey. …

The Return
tiff.net

Not related to the horror French show “The Returned” (or the English re-make), this 2024 film The Return is a retelling of Homer’s Odyssey. Rather, The Return is closer to Ulysses 31, which was based on Odysseus’ story (using the Latin spelling of “Ulysses”).

Anyway, the film is only adapt the last section of Odyssey, which finds our hero Odysseus, king of Ithaca, finding his way home after the Trojan War. The island, since he left, is lawless, and a group of murderous men are all competing for his wife’s hand in marriage.

Maybe I wasn’t paying attention, but after watching the film, I read that Odysseus was missing for ten years, now it made sense why no one recognized the old king or that everyone assumed he died in the war. Still, to me, it seems silly that no one would recognize Odysseus, but I suppose in those days, they didn’t exactly have Facebook or photographs…

Anyway, this is an excellent film directed by Uberto Pasolini, starring Ralph Fiennes, as Odysseus, Juliette Binoche, as Penelope, and Charlie Plummer, as Telemachus.

What sets this film apart is the wardrobe. Everyone is in Greek togas, just so weird to see with a modern eye. Once the stage is set, you find Odysseus washed on shores. He’s taken in by a stranger, who tells the old man what is going on. He brings the old man to the castle, and Odysseus asking for food. Everyone treats him as a beggar, and their cruelty turns to beating him.

Once the soldiers looking to murder Odysseus’ son, Telemachus, the old man had to fight them to save his child.

To try and save her son’s life, Penelope was forced to make a decision on her suitor. She tells everyone that if they can string Odysseus’ old bow and shoot an arrow through 24 axe-heads, then she will marry that person. The suitors all tried and failed, until the old man steps out and, indeed, stroot straight through, winning her hand in marriage.

What is crazy is this ending. Odysseus just starts shooting and killing all the suitors in the room. It was pure bloodbath, as Telemachus stepped in to help with the slaughter.

Shortly after everything is settled, Telemachus insists on sailing away to find himself and his destiny.

The Return is a little different from the books. In the original story, Telemachus went sailing in search of his wandering father, and when he returned to Ithaca, he found that Odysseus had reached home before him. The two, father and son, then slew the suitors who had gathered around Penelope.

I do like the movie a little better, only because it focuses solely on Ody, rather than his son.

Gladiator II (2024) Read More Ridley Scott What made the film interesting, at least to me, is that the soundtrack is by Dead Can Dance's Lisa Gerrard! So throughout the movie, you do hear that ethereal vocals, similar to her efforts on Ridley Scott's Gladiator. …

Gladiator II
gladiator.movie

Guys, I love, love, love the original Ridley Scott’s Gladiator (2000). I never wanted or needed a sequel. Why are we getting a second film, twenty-four years later?

Gladiator II has a brand-new cast of characters. I suppose bringing back Russell Crowe was impossible, given the long-time frame and, also, I think he died in the first film. Sorry, it’s been a long time since I saw the first film.

Gladiator II stars Paul Mescal as an exiled Prince of Rome. He’s taken prisoner after a war and becomes a slave-turned-gladiator. The rest plot sees various fights in the Colosseum … I can believe various animals like baboons and rhinos, but sharks in the arena defies all logic. I love Ridley Scott, man, but bringing in ocean water and sharks - that is the worst thing I’ve ever seen. It’s so dumb, that I threw my hands in the air and gave up on following the plot.

Anyway, I don’t want to give anything away, but this film does relate to Maximus from the first film… otherwise, this Gladiator II film should be its own thing.

The new film was made available to rent and stream on Christmas Eve (Dec 24), through your favorite video-on-demand platforms such as Prime Video, Apple TV and Vudu.

Read more Movies.

vu ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Vizio 65" 4K Smart TV

Vizio 65" 4K Smart TV 65" 4K Smart TV Details With vivid 4K picture quality complemented by Dolby Vision HDR, 4K models offer versatility and value with streaming-centric features like WiFi 6 and instant access to built-in apps. WiFi 6 Dual-Band 4K UHD Resolution Auto Low Latency Mode & VRR Dolby Vision HDR/HDR10+ Bluetooth Compatible DTS Virtual:X QuickFit™ Compatible Read More Technology I think I have my heart set on the Alienware AW3423DW 34" 2K WQHD Curved OLED Gaming Monitor. It is an ultrawide curved 2K screen (3440 x 1440), and has support for NVIDIA G-Synch at 175Hz …

We recently upgraded to a new Vizio 65” 4K Smart TV, as part of leftovers from a Black Friday campaign from Walmart. I’m very happy with the display for the price (less than $400).

It’s not a V-Series or an M-Series, this is just the base 65” Smart TV. I know Vizio strips out certain features in those other television line to bring the cost down, but whatever they took out (such as Freesync), I don’t really mind if I’m saving money. If you really need those features, you’ll have to pay more.

I haven’t purchased a new television in a long time. The last time I got a TV was when 2K was all the rage, and I got a 40-inch no-name brand. Of course, I never watch TV, so it was somewhat of a useless purchase for me. To be perfectly honest, the so-called 2K resolution of the television didn’t look good to me. Images looks too bright, and the blacks were terrible, and the details weren’t there.

Size and Resolution
The first thing about the Vizio television is the big size: 65 inches! It’s much better than the old 40-inch TV. Despite the large size, like all LCD screens, it’s not as heavy as you might think. I believe the whole thing is about 40 pounds.

While the resolution (3840 x 2160) looks great with no signs of uneven brightness that you find on very cheap displays. Image quality looks very good, sitting at a couch about 3 feet away, but when you look at the image very close up, you can see jaggedness. That’s because the DPI (dot per inch) is only 68 DPI at the large dimension.

Currently, the highest resolution consumers can buy are UHD discs, which I have been very slow on converting, simply because I didn’t really have a 4K television. You can also stream in 4K, but that requires very fast internet. The WiFi6 helps, but for the best steaming options, you need to use Ethernet, which the TV does not include (that is on the more expensive models).

Smart TV
With this Vizio “Smart TV”, it comes with its own computer built inside the television, running its own SmartCast OS. SmartCast offers all the streaming services, such as Netflix, Vudu (now Fandango), Amazon Prime, Apple TV, I Heart Radio, and, most importantly, YouTube. This has it all, and it’s not a bad interface. It’s not slow or ugly. This is amazing, if you do not own a Roku, an Apple TV, an Amazon Firestick, or Google TV… and even if you do own them, like I do, you might not want to even hook them up because it’s easier to just use Vizio’s system.

Signing into each streaming service you subscribe to was very easy. When you launch the app, like the Apple TV, you’re given a QR Code. When you scan it using your phone’s camera, you’re immediately logged in. I was streaming all my Apple television shows in no time.

My only complaint is that it took a long time to update all the apps, even using the fastest WiFi6, it felt like the Vizio television took over 15 minutes to update, restart, update, restart, etc.

Audio
The two 10-watt speakers, certified as DTS Virtual X, sounds fine to me, but if you’re an audio enthusiast, you’ll want to add in your own soundbar or custom audio setup. I think Vizio knows their shortcomings on audio, so the TV is “QuickFit” compatible. The QuickFit are standards with soundbars, designed to integrate with your TV. Eventually, I would like to upgrade the television’s audio, so I will sure to be looking for the QuickFit feature. If you prefer to use headphones, the television does offer built-in Bluetooth connectivity.

Remote
The remote control doesn’t have a numpad, instead it works like a directional d-pad, with some dedicated buttons. Like the convenient “Free TV” button, which brings up Vizio’s free tv service (it looks like Pluto TV). I do not think you can bind or change the buttons on the remote, so if you don’t use Sling, too bad that button isn’t going to change.

Anyway, Vizio prefers you to use your voice to direct the TV, but I find that it’s not good at interpreting what I want. For example, I wanted to watch the film DREDD, but all it gave me were films called “Dread”, not fuzzy search misspellings. When I asked for “Judge Dredd”, it gave me only the Sylvester Stallone film (which I did not want), and nothing else. So, the best way to get what I want is to just to type in a search bar.

Typing on the remote is unbearable, so you need to use the Vizio app… which also sometime sucks, because it sometimes just disconnects from the TV.

Summary
For the price, for the 4k resolution, for the large 65-inch display, for everything that the television offers (free programming), I am actually very happy with the Vizio television.

P.S. For whatever reason, my iTunes can’t connect to the Vizio TV’s Airdrop. So, it seems the best way is to sneakernet (by putting the movies on a USB thumbstick and using Vizio’s USB player).

Yours,

Weekend Gamer
[email protected]

Read more Weekend Gamer and Technology.

vu ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

How to unblock Vudu on Verizon Wireless

Read More Vestron The latest Vestron Video release is Silent Night, Deadly Night (3-Film Collection), which came out December 13th. I found it at Walmart for $17, which is a great price for three remastered films. ....

I recently purchased The Dentist Collection, the latest Vestron Video Collection, and I tried to redeem the digital code on Vudu.

When I went to Vudu’s website on my desktop, I couldn’t use it. At first, I thought Vudu’s website was down… maybe I can check it on my iPad. Nope, it wasn’t working on my iPad or iPad’s app. In fact, no devices on my network could reach Vudu.

After a little research, I found out that Vudu was blocking or banning Verizon Wireless because of their usage of proxies. Apparently this was a problem since 2013, but I only know about it because it’s affecting me. You see, I had switched over to Straight Talk Home Internet in October 2022 and Straight Talk is own and operated through Verizon.

You can get around the Vudu problem:

1. Use a different ISP… you can always leave Verizon.

2. Use your cellular data on your phone, share it with your computer via hotspot or tethering.

3. Use a VPN. Make sure to use USA location on the VPN. I’m using Atlas VPN (New York location), which worked for me.

If none of that works for you - I am truly sorry! I hope that this Vudu vs Verizon thing is only temporary, I will check back in a few weeks to see if Vudu resolve this. Otherwise, I think I’m moving away from Vudu as for my digital video choice, going forward. It’s really a shame, because every since Walmart sold Vudu to Fandango, I’ve had my worries.

You can say that the whole process of trying to redeem a digital copy of The Dentist was like pulling teeth.

As for the movie, The Dentist and The Dentist 2: don’t watch these movies if you’re planning on going to the dentist in the future. It’s truly horrifying…. Scarier than any zombies and vampires movies!

How to unblock Vudu on Straight Talk Internet (or any ISP that Vudu blocks)

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Violent Night, Deadly Night

Read More Stranger Things I’ve been enjoying Stranger Things since it debut in 2016, and, personally speaking, I think Season 4 is one of their strongest season yet. The show’s really matured, and that’s not to mention how all the child actors have all …

Read more Movies and Television.

Violent Night (2022)
universalpictures.com

Violent Night is a super violent comedy movie, starring David Harbour (Hellboy and Stranger Things) as Santa Claus. To best describe it, it’s a Die Hard meets Home Alone, in the holiday traditional movie.

The violence is over-the-top, so you cannot take it too seriously. I found it funny, but for the faint of heart, it is sometime a bit gruesome. Personally speaking, I found it funny, but that’s my sense of humor.

It turns out that Santa Claus used to be a Viking marauder who worked miracles with his trusty bloody hammer… somehow became Santa Claus. He has a magic bag that delivers wrapped gifts to good boys and girls. For the naughty, he leaves them a lump of coal.

Anyway, during his delivery to a wealthy family, Santa Claus found himself caught in a home invasion/hostage situation. He must fight the mercenaries to save a little girl.

Like I said, I found the movie funny, in some parts. I love that sleight diss to Halloween by citing that line, “Christmas dies tonight!”. I laughed so hard at that line. If you’ve seen the new Halloween film, you know how dumb that “Evil Dies Tonight” line was.

I don’t think the film was critically acclaimed. In fact, I’m pretty sure the critics hated it. It’s not really the type of film that would appeal to critics… I think this holiday/comedy film appeals to a very small group of people, like myself, that enjoys these super cheesy violent deaths and equally cheesy lines (delivered in a serious tone).

Read More Vestron Video One of the Bluray that I recently purchased during my Black Friday purchases was Earth Girls Are Easy, number 27 in the latest Vestron Video Collection. …

Silent Night, Deadly Night (3-Film Collection)
lionsgate.com

The latest Vestron Video release is Silent Night, Deadly Night (3-Film Collection), which came out December 13th. I found it at Walmart for $17, which is a great price for three remastered films.

As usual with these newer Vestron releases, they all came with a digital code, which you can redeemed at Vudu or iTunes (I usually choose Vudu as that service is available everywhere).

Before you complain, yes, this “collection” does not include the first two films or the last film (which came out in 2012). This collection is strictly Vestron Video-released films: which is Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5.

You see, what happened was when the filmmakers were shopping for a distribution for their third film, they decided to sign with Vestron (International Video Entertainment). When the people at Vestron saw that they were making a third film, they made the creators an offer take over creating the film (from writing to filming to distribution). Negotiations led Vestron doing a three-film deal.

Based on the 4:3 aspect ratio for all three films, I believe these were “direct to video” (or direct to television) films.

In Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out!, this brought back the killer who died in Part 2 with a weird see-through brain cap. The protagonist is a blind girl with psychic powers.

In the fourth film, Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation, this is where the series goes off the rail. Instead of Santa-turned-serial-killer theme, it’s actually about witches. While it’s the strangest of the series, I also think it’s one of the better films, thanks to Brian Yuzna (who is famous for Re-Animator, From Beyond, and Warlock).

The last of the Vestron films, Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker continues the none-serial killer theme. You do not need to watch the previous films, but some of the same characters (such as Clint Howard’s character) returns in this film.

All three films includes audio commentaries, so it’s worth checking out if you want to learn more about each of the film.

Most fans have never seen these films (including myself) or have forgotten them… so it’s nice to see that these films are available in glorious high definition. Even though some people think they’re trash cinema, I am happy to see that Lionsgate have treated these films with the respect they deserved.

I will be buying all the Vestron releases and was very happy to add this to my collection.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Vestron Video Collector's Series

Read More Movies While U.S. companies have long abandoned re-releasing classic Shaw Brothers films in America (nobody will buy these Chinese films here), other countries, such as Hong Kong or the United Kingdom, they are still …

Here is a Bluray series that I love: Vestron Video Collector's Series. When they first came out in 2016, the retail prices were very, very expensive. Normal prices were $40 (and that didn’t even include digital copies!), so I waited for sales or never bought them when they originally came out. That meant that when it went out of print, I probably won’t own it for my collection. So there are gaps in my collection, particularly the early releases.

Then, in 2018, Lionsgate Home Entertainment changed their strategy for Vestron. Instead of charging a high price for few collectors, they decide to sell the releases at a reduced price ($12.99). This meant that they were going to double or triple sales of their titles… instead of catering to the very limited collectors who were willing to pay a higher price. I think it was the right decision, as I’ve been happily buying every title on the Vestron label… even titles that I wouldn’t care for, such as Little Monsters. I would never consider paying $34 for that title… but at $12.99, I’ll take it!

All the releases (at least the first pressing), comes with a nice slipcase. New-ish artwork (if available), remastered video, and usually have special features and audio commentary. The newer Vestron releases also includes a digital copy, via Vudu or Google Video… which is such a nice added value.

I recently picked up the latest release, Dream a Little Dream (1989), a film starring the two Coreys. I’ve never heard of it, but apparently it did get a theatrical release, as well as a sequel! I just watched it for the first time this weekend, and it’s not a great film… but I’m glad to have it in my collection.

The next film, Extreme Prejudice (1987), will be available in May 2022. This film looks amazing, it’s yet another film that I’ve never heard of.

Hopefully, down the line, I am hoping Vestron finally release Paperhouse (1988). We had own this film on VHS, and I do not believe it has made the digital transition. Vestron distributed the film, so I’m patiently waiting for its Bluray debut.

Cover	Details	Cover	Details
	01 Chopping Mall (1986) Concorde Pictures September 27, 2016		02 Blood Diner (1987) Lightning Pictures September 27, 2016
	03 Waxwork (1988) Waxwork II: Lost in Time (1992) Vestron Pictures/ Electric Pictures September 27, 2016		04 Return of the Living Dead 3 (1993) Trimark Pictures November 22, 2016
	05 C.H.U.D. II: Bud the C.H.U.D. (1989) Vestron Pictures November 22, 2016		06 The Lair of the White Worm (1988) Vestron Pictures January 31, 2017
	07 Parents (1989) Vestron Pictures January 31, 2017		08 The Gate (1987) New Century Vista Film February 28, 2017
	09 Wishmaster (1997) Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies (1999) Wishmaster 3: Beyond the Gates of Hell (2001) Wishmaster: The Prophecy Fulfilled (2002) LIVE Entertainment Artisan Entertainment March 28, 2017		10 The Unholy (1988) Vestron Pictures June 27, 2017
	11 Warlock (1991) Warlock: The Armageddon (1993) Warlock III: The End of Innocence (1999 ) New World Pictures / Trimark Pictures / Tapestry Films July 25, 2017		12 Slaughter High (1986) Vestron Pictures October 31, 2017
	13 Gothic (1987) Vestron Pictures January 30, 2018		14 Class of 1999 (1990) Lightning Pictures January 30, 2018
	15 Beyond Re-Animator (2003) Lions Gate Entertainment July 24, 2018		16 Dagon (2001) Lions Gate Entertainment July 24, 2018
	17 Maximum Overdrive (1986) De Laurentiis Entertainment Group October 23, 2018		18 Shivers (1975) Cinepix September 15, 2020
	19 Little Monsters (1989) Vestron Pictures September 15, 2020		20 The Wraith (1986) New Century Vista Film July 20, 2021
	21 Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat (1991) Vestron Pictures August 17, 2021		22 Dementia 13 (1963) American International Pictures September 21, 2021
	23 Steel Dawn (1987) Vestron Pictures October 26, 2021		24 Candyman: Day of the Dead (1999 ) Artisan Entertainment January 18, 2022
	25 Dream a Little Dream (1989) Vestron Pictures March 15, 2022		26 Extreme Prejudice (1987) Carolco Pictures May 17, 2022

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Weekend Gamer: Free Edition

Read More Games Pathfinder: Kingmaker is not out yet, but I was so excited about this game coming out on GOG that I pre-ordered it. This game is based on the Pathfinder tabletop game, which was and offspring of Dungeon and Dragons… Blizzard Internet connection required: For piracy issues, Blizzard requires you to log into their server (battle.net) to authenticate the game that you bought. If you're not online, you can't play your single-player ..… Xbox One As a weekend gamer, I’ve been following the Xbox One X (formerly known as Xbox Scorpio) for a while. Over the E3 gaming expo weekend, Microsoft … GOG At least there’s still GOG (Good Old Games)... which will likely be my #1 PC gaming solution now. This company doesn’t require you to be online to play games you own. . … Vudu Tip: If you want to grow your iTunes library on the cheap, you can do the Vudu to Go conversation with 10 Blu-Ray Discs for $10 ($1 per film). Once you have the HD Digital Copy . …

With China’s Singles’ Day (or 光棍节 / Guanggun Jie) (11/11) here and United States’ Black Friday (11/22) coming up, we’re seeing huge savings on products across the board. While most of these items won't be on sale until the set dates, some retailers are already slashing prices this week in celebration.

Clearly you don’t have to spend any money, as some companies are just giving away stuff…. If you’re a Weekend Gamer like me, you’ll appreciate the free games. Even if you have no intention of playing these games, it’ll be good to have access to them if you decide to give it a go.



DESTINY 2
blizzard.com

Activision Blizzard is giving away Destiny 2 for free for two weeks (ends November 18), as part of their celebration at BlizzCon annual convention. The game was originally priced at $59.99 at launch.

The company mentioned that they're making money from core players, who purchase in-game purchases, like cosmetic skins and upgrade packages.

I actually have played a bit of this game via PS4, and I can confirm you can play the single player campaign without the need of PlayStation Plus.

To get the game for free on your PC, download the Blizzard Application from their website and login. You'll find a Destiny 2 key in your inbox.



XBOX
xbox.com

Microsoft's XBox is giving away a couple of free games. The first is part of their free multiplayer celebration this weekend (November 8-11), you can grab PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (aka PUBG) and Pro Evolution Soccer 2019 (aka PES 2019) for free to all XBox Live members (not just Gold members).

Although you do own the game, it may be useless if you don't actually have Xbox Gold, since those games requires the subscription to play.

Also, Crackdown is free. The 2007 game can be played on both Xbox One (via backward compatibility) and Xbox 360, you can get it here microsoft.com.

With the free games from MicroSoft, I’d say they are winning. Sony is too cheap to give away any games on their popular PS4 (unless you pay for PlayStation Plus, of course).



THE WITCHER
thewitcher.com

Normally $10, this full concert movie Video Game Show — The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is currently free for a limited time. If you love the Witcher, as much as I do, you need to get this, especially for free.

The 90-min orchestra concert was filmed live during the Film Music Festival 2016 in Kraków, Poland.

Head over to gog.com and click on "giveaway".



VUDU
vudu.com

Fairy Tail Season 1, Part 1 and Attack on Titan Season 1, Part 1, are both free on Vudu for a limited time. Obviously, they want you to buy Part 2 after you get hooked. You know what they say, the first taste is free…

Attack On Titan is actually a very popular anime and manga, so it’s actually worth checking out if you’re into anime.



FREE MUSIC ARCHIVE
freemusicarchive.org

Due to lack of funding, the Free Music Archive is going offline, its end date is currently November 16th. You can grab all the free music on the website before they migrate the content over to archive.org (where we store all our old W♥M podcasts).

Although FMA have been around since 2009, I’ve actually never heard of it until they announced they were going away.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Movies Anywhere

Five Free Movies Big Hero 6 (Disney) Ghostbusters (Sony) Ice Age (20th Century Fox) Jason Bourne (Universal) The Lego Movie (WB) Read More UltraViolet So enter UltraViolet, their latest scheme. Movies comes with an online locker, I have about six movies on UV and I can tell you: it sucks. You can't play it ANYWHERE. . …

As a DVD, and now Blu-Ray, collector, I’ve been following the movie studio’s Digital Copy since its introduction as either iTunes or Windows files, via a bonus Digital Disc on retail DVD releases. The Digital Files required the user to unlock the disc and the copy-protected file can only be played with certain video software.

The Digital Disc was eventually replaced with a simple iTunes code, which you can redeem (and if you want, you can download the digital copy on your harddrive or iOS device).

When UltraViolet came out in 2012, I wasn’t quite happy with it, but it was a start. Now most new titles will come with an UV video code, but no Apple iTunes codes.

In 2014, Disney introduced their Disney Anywhere program. With just one code, you can view your movies on anywhere Disney is available: Google Play, Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, etc. This was such a great idea, that on October 12, 2017, they’ve added other studios (Sony Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal, and Warner Bros.) and changed their name to Movies Anywhere.

Once you connect your iTunes, Disney, Google, and Amazon’s account, you will start seeing the films you own everywhere! Plus, as an incentive, Movie Anywhere will give you five digital film.

My Google’s purchased library have grown exponentially, from 3 films to over 500 titles. If you spend a lot of time using your YouTube app, you’ll appreciate seeing your purchased films in your account. Same if you only have an Apple TV, you’ll see all your UV titles now. The best part is that some iTunes titles have exclusive bonus iTunes Exclusives (special features), that aren’t available on other platforms.

Tip: If you want to grow your iTunes library on the cheap, you can do the Vudu to Go conversation with 10 Blu-Ray Discs for $10 ($1 per film). Once you have the HD Digital Copy in your account, the new 4K Apple TV will upgrade your titles to 4K for free.

You can connect your films at moviesanywhere.com

Teen Titans: The Judas Contract Special Features on Apple’s iPad

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

UltraViolet and DLNA

Do you remember the first time you had to just sit down and rip all your CDs to MP3s? I know, it was a long and tedious and tiresome task. But it was worth it in the end. I started ripping my CDs when you had to get special software just to do this, nowadays every computer you buy comes with built-in tools.

Anyway, I would love to see a future when your computer will come with DVD-ripping software, but this won't happen because the movie industry is "Standing in the Way of Technological Innovation". I know that SOPA and PIPA's been in the news a lot lately, so I'll just make this quick: to me, what this whole thing boils down to is that it's censorship and it won't stop piracy. The pirates know how to get around this stuff, it's regular people that it will hurt.

I'm convinced that piracy isn't all that bad, and doesn't really hurt sales. People who love movies or music will continue to support their favorite movies and music.

Neil Gaiman sums it up pretty well in this video:

Places where I was being pirated, particularly Russia, where people were translating my stuff into Russian and spreading it out into the world. I was selling more and more books. People were discovering me through being pirated. And then they were going out and buying the real books and when a new book would come out in Russia, it would sell more and more copies.

...

What you're actually doing is advertising. You're reaching more people. You're raising awareness. Understanding that gave me a whole new idea of the shape of copyright and what the web is doing. Because the biggest thing the web is doing is allowing people to hear things. Allowing people to read things, allowing people to see things that they might have never seen. And basically it's an incredibly good thing.

So, Hollywood's answer, up to this point has been no good. Some movies you purchase comes with a digital copy, usually iTunes or a Windows Media, both have "Digital Rights Management" (DRM). What if you don't use iTunes? And let's face it: who uses Windows Media because there is a lack of mobile devices that uses this format. Even their own product, the Xbox won't play it.

ULTRAVIOLET
uvvu.com

So enter UltraViolet, their latest scheme. Movies comes with an online locker, I have about six movies on UV and I can tell you: it sucks. You can't play it ANYWHERE. No PS3 or Xbox support.* The iPad app is actually Flixster, and there is no way of adding movies on Flixster (you need to have a Flash-enable PC to enter in codes). On top of that, you're required to register with both Universal and Flixster if you want to watch the movies you own. Needless to say, it's a massive nightmare.

The biggest problem with these digital version is that there are too many different services. Off the top of my head here are all the movies I've bought that came with digital version: Apple iTunes, Windows Media, Vudu, UltraViolet, Disney Digital, and Best Buy's CinemaNow. If you don't have the DVD or Blu-Ray handy (read: too lazy to get up and find the disc), you have to remember what movies came on what format.

The best and what works for me is Apple. I know, it only works on Apple product, but hey I can move the file around and I do own and iPad that works well. The pro is that the compression looks great and there are closed caption, so you can turn on the subtitles - but not every movie will come with CC.

I also like Vudu because I can access my six or seven movies that I own on a variety of devices: PS3, iPad, and PC. Unfortunately, if you own HD content, you can only see standard def on your iPad. I don't think this is Vudu's fault, it's the movie industry that is preventing them from offering HD to non-TV devices.

The worst? It is Best Buy's CinemaNow. The interface is ugly (this is based on the PS3 interface). I own one movie on this thing, which I have NEVER watched because I refuse to give them my credit card information. I can't even watch movies I own on this service! That's fine, because now I just avoid CinemaNow-content altogether (and you should too).

Since none of these digital files will work with streaming locally to your TV, and we're not talking about the limited solutions of owning an Apple TV or a PS3 (for Vudu). Most Blu-Ray player on the market at the moment is UltraViolet (the future of where digital version is going) compatiable.

What I would like to see is Amazon Prime movies to get on more devices like the PS3 and iPad. I know as a strategy, Amazon won't do this, so I can't really support them in their decision. I'm not going to invest in Amazon digital movies unless I can get access to my content.

DLNA
dlna.org

It's a dumb name, that's a given. It stands for "Digital Living Network Alliance", and I believe it's the future way that people will consume their digital media - if they own a massive movie library.

I have two DLNA-enabled network harddrive: a Verbatim 1TB and Seagate GoFlex 3TB. Both uses open source software, so user interface and understanding how to use DLNA kind of sucks. The main thing you need to know is to you need to click on a folder and click on "Share with Devices". If your receiver is on a local network, it will have permission to view your movies.

While I use my network drives for movies - you can easily just put your music library on sharing and have access to all your music on your personal cloud. Your iPad and iPhone, look for DLNA applications. I have tried them all and I like these two: 8 Player ($5, which I purchased right away after enjoying their "lite" version) and Woon (free).

Depending on your receiver, you need to rip your movie to their prefered format. Xbox likes WAV movies (which doesn't work on anything else), PS3 likes MP4 (but they support a lot of codecs, unlike Xbox which can't handle complex audio), Apple TV likes .H264.

Personally, I use .H264 because it supports HD resolutions and it works across my devices: PS3, iPad (up to 720p) and Xbox (limited support, won't stream complex audio, but I hate my Xbox so I never use it to watch movies). My standard rips consists of .H264 with 854x480 resolution and 2500 bitrate.

Software I use is DVD Fab, I recommend just buying a lifetime license, it's worth it in my opinion because their prices goes up every other year. There is a one month free trial, you can download and test it to see if it works with your computer. As for tagging, I use MetaX to add artwork to my files, but there are a lot free alternative you can use - iTunes, for example, will tag your movie files for free. I also use Handbrake sometime, to add subtitle captions and chapter breaks, but this takes forever to encode, I don't recommend it.

If you have recommendations on free (or even paid software if it's good), please let me know. I know MKV files offers selectable subtitles and audio tracks, but MKV aren't really supported by any of my TV devices, so I won't be using MKV. Is it possible to have selectable audio/subtitles for MP4 files?

UPDATE 03/20/2013: This article was written a year ago, things have changed since then. The biggest thing is that you can watch UV movies on your PlayStation 3, but you need to "LINK" your Vudu account to your Flixster or UV account. Note: not all movies available on Flixster is available on Vudu (and vice-versa), so you still might not have access to your UV... but I have to say that the majority of my films are available on both services.

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic ♥ +W♥M