Through the magic of Zip.ca, and the lovely art of procrastination, I have managed to watch a few movies. One line reviews:
Star Wars: Clone Wars - Through production values kinda sucked, it was much better than those Episode I-II-III movies.
Slumdog Millionaire - Very interesting storytelling, but not worth all the hype.
Doomsday - The English made a Resident Evil movie, only incredibly gory and visceral and filled with plot "conveniences" - plus Doctor Bashir is the PM.
Space Chimps - Sometimes it takes a non-Pixar movie to remind me why I love them sooo much.
Beverly Hills Chihuahua - A surprisingly decent modernripoff homage of Homeward Bound (which itself was a remake), which I preferred.
I really like the idea of renting movies over the internet (Zip.ca is the Canadian Netflix) because it allows me to make a list of movies I say I want to see, and I'll actually eventually see them! So often I'll see trailers and decide to want to see a movie, just to not see it ever. Or try to remember to rent a movie, except I haven't had a membership anywhere since Videoflicks closed a number of years ago. And the only movies I buy are either sci-fi or Disney re-re-re-re-re-releases. Zip actually ensures that I follow up on my promises.
And as soon as Zip starts streaming its movies, I'll be perfectly set.
Media really needs to get to a point where there's a single format that's hassle-free and crystal clear and you can pay to watch it as many times for 24 or 48 hours, or upgrade to keep it - on your tv, computer, mobile device - anywhere. Extras and all! And it should be cheaper if you bought a movie ticket (ie saw it in theatres). All seamless. As much as I love physical cds and dvds, this system would be far more convenient. As it stands now, we're part way there... but not far enough for it to be de facto.
And it should extend to television. On demand is clunky. PVRs fill up (plus I don't have one). We're still largely tied to time slots. I should choose what I want to watch and be able to watch every episode from the time its available until forever. Not just the last episode for a week, or the whole season until the next season. All of it! On every platform.
Apple's almost got something... they just really need to refine their media stores and fix Apple TV and make it easy for people to link all their Apple accounts across platforms and be able to stream or download content they've paid for. Disney's working in this cloud-y distribution too.
Sure, there are places where I can stream or download all this stuff for free. Torrents are a revolution in media sharing. But I shouldn't really have to resort to such unofficial ways to consume my media. It's like if everyone started growing and sharing good because grocery stores are evil. Actually - that would be kinda cool. Plus, don't get me started on ISP bandwidth caps.
But for now, Zip.ca is my best friend. And these are my top 15 titles that I'm hoping to get next:
1. Sunset Boulevard (1950)
2. Casablanca (Special Edition) (1943)
3. Adventures In Babysitting (1987)
4. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009)
5. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
6. Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
7. Futurama: Bender's Game (2008)
8. Yes Man (2008)
9. The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)
10. Bedtime Stories (2008)
11. Seven Pounds (2008)
12. Battlestar Galactica: Season 1: Disc 1 (2003)
13. Pineapple Express (2008)
14. Adventureland (2009)
15. The Hangover (2009)
It's an eclectic mix. Also this is my 100th post!
Star Wars: Clone Wars - Through production values kinda sucked, it was much better than those Episode I-II-III movies.
Slumdog Millionaire - Very interesting storytelling, but not worth all the hype.
Doomsday - The English made a Resident Evil movie, only incredibly gory and visceral and filled with plot "conveniences" - plus Doctor Bashir is the PM.
Space Chimps - Sometimes it takes a non-Pixar movie to remind me why I love them sooo much.
Beverly Hills Chihuahua - A surprisingly decent modern
I really like the idea of renting movies over the internet (Zip.ca is the Canadian Netflix) because it allows me to make a list of movies I say I want to see, and I'll actually eventually see them! So often I'll see trailers and decide to want to see a movie, just to not see it ever. Or try to remember to rent a movie, except I haven't had a membership anywhere since Videoflicks closed a number of years ago. And the only movies I buy are either sci-fi or Disney re-re-re-re-re-releases. Zip actually ensures that I follow up on my promises.
And as soon as Zip starts streaming its movies, I'll be perfectly set.
Media really needs to get to a point where there's a single format that's hassle-free and crystal clear and you can pay to watch it as many times for 24 or 48 hours, or upgrade to keep it - on your tv, computer, mobile device - anywhere. Extras and all! And it should be cheaper if you bought a movie ticket (ie saw it in theatres). All seamless. As much as I love physical cds and dvds, this system would be far more convenient. As it stands now, we're part way there... but not far enough for it to be de facto.
And it should extend to television. On demand is clunky. PVRs fill up (plus I don't have one). We're still largely tied to time slots. I should choose what I want to watch and be able to watch every episode from the time its available until forever. Not just the last episode for a week, or the whole season until the next season. All of it! On every platform.
Apple's almost got something... they just really need to refine their media stores and fix Apple TV and make it easy for people to link all their Apple accounts across platforms and be able to stream or download content they've paid for. Disney's working in this cloud-y distribution too.
Sure, there are places where I can stream or download all this stuff for free. Torrents are a revolution in media sharing. But I shouldn't really have to resort to such unofficial ways to consume my media. It's like if everyone started growing and sharing good because grocery stores are evil. Actually - that would be kinda cool. Plus, don't get me started on ISP bandwidth caps.
But for now, Zip.ca is my best friend. And these are my top 15 titles that I'm hoping to get next:
1. Sunset Boulevard (1950)
2. Casablanca (Special Edition) (1943)
3. Adventures In Babysitting (1987)
4. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009)
5. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
6. Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
7. Futurama: Bender's Game (2008)
8. Yes Man (2008)
9. The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)
10. Bedtime Stories (2008)
11. Seven Pounds (2008)
12. Battlestar Galactica: Season 1: Disc 1 (2003)
13. Pineapple Express (2008)
14. Adventureland (2009)
15. The Hangover (2009)
It's an eclectic mix. Also this is my 100th post!
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