Movies

Sony Streaming Player

Posted on by GumballsPlaysGames

Last week I picked up a Sony Streaming Player (the n200) for $79.99 at the Bx (you can find it cheaper on the internet). 

The box is pretty small and lightweight but it can do so much. When you turn it on (after initial setup) you’re greeted with a clean and simple menu with a variety of content providers available including Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, Crackle, Vudu and Pandora radio (there are many more but these are the ones I use). I previously used my Xbox as a media player and it worked, but one problem I had is that if I wanted to go from Netflix to Hulu it was time consuming to switch apps. The Sony streaming player loads pretty quickly and if you leave it in standby mode it powers on quite quickly as well.

The video quality is great (via HDMI) and I haven’t had any hiccups at all. Nothing ever gets blurry or slows down to load (this probably depends on your internet connection, but when I use Netflix on my Xbox at times it seems to be loading and will go blurry. It doesn’t do this on the Sony player).

Since purchasing this box I’ve discovered Vudu which was a service I hadn’t previously used. It allows you to rent and purchase movies, just like Amazon’s store, however Vudu claims to have the most HD options of any service and so far this seems true. It also has an HDX option which is even closer to blu ray quality than standard HD (and in some cases HDX and HD are the same price, so it’s really up to how much bandwidth you want to use). HDX looks awesome, I’m not a huge video or audio buff so I can’t really tell the difference between HDX and blu ray.

What’s also cool about Vudu is that it has some movies from independent studios available to rent BEFORE the movies are even in theaters (for example I rented Take This Waltz which hits theaters later this month for about $11 in HD for a 48 hour rental. The movie stars Seth Rogen and was very good, one of my favorite movies of the year already). It also has some movies that are currently in theaters (again usually from independent studios).

You can buy movies and stream them at any time which I enjoy. I’ll probably make a separate post about it, but I hate physical media, I’m in love with digital and cloud storage media.

In the end I’m very happy with my purchase. Sure my Xbox could already do most of what the Sony player does, but I find the Sony streaming player to be faster and more convenient.

 

Valentine’s Day movies

Posted on by GumballsPlaysGames

So tomorrow is Valentine’s Day and if you’re looking for a movie to watch to get in the romantic mood I thought I’d share two of my favorites.

First is (500) Days of Summer. This film is one of my favorites in any genre, but it tells a really good love story…sort of. In reality (500) Days of Summer is about two people falling in love and then out of love and the period after this relationship, all taking place within 500 days. The story is sad, but ultimately the film ends on a happy and uplifting note.

Second is Happy Thank You More Please. This movie has a great indie fill with a soundtrack of “hip” indie sounding music that is hard not to love. The film, in my opinion, is simply about life with an emphasis on love and happiness. It tells the stories of several different people and focuses on love, friendship and the importance of a positive attitude.

I’d also like to add Juno and Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist for good measure. That is all 🙂 Happy Valentine’s Day eve.

How it Should have Ended

Posted on by GumballsPlaysGames

I discovered another awesome YouTube series this weekend called ‘How it Should have Ended’ or HISHE for short. The channel, HISHEdotcom, makes animated comedic vidoes that depict how various movies and video games ‘should have’ ended. Some of my favorites include:

Harry Potter:

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi

Mortal Kombat

 

There are a ton of these videos available for your viewing pleasure. I still have yet to watch them all and am sure to discover some new favorites. I hope you’ll give these videos a shot, and I hope you enjoy the series as much as I have.

Phantom Menace 3D follow up

Posted on by GumballsPlaysGames

So I got back from seeing Star Wars: The Phantom Menace 3D and thought I’d share my thoughts. The 3D adds a little bit of depth to the movie, but the movie wasn’t designed specifically for 3D so there’s not a whole lot to it. Nothing really pops out at you, and even the pod racing scene doesn’t feel all that different in 3D.

That said, I still enjoyed the movie and liked watching it with an audience. There were a lot of young kids in the audience and it was cool because maybe it was their first experience with Star Wars. They laughed at Jar Jar Binks, and I even found myself not minding him as much and laughing along. I enjoyed the movie and am glad I went.

I also got to see the new Spider-Man trailer in 3D which was pretty cool, but it seems weird seeing Eduardo Saverin as Spider-Man. I also saw the trailer for Paranorman the new movie by the people who made Coraline which looks pretty awesome.

 

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace 3D

Posted on by GumballsPlaysGames

The first of the planned six 3D re-releases of Star Wars films hit theaters yesterday. Star Wars fans and moviegoers in general are pretty split on what they think of the re-releases. There are those who hate The Phantom Menace outright and claim they wouldn’t see the movie again if you paid them, there are those who think 3D re-release are pointless in general (several more are on the way including Titantic 3D and The Lion King 3D) and then there are those who are actually excited for them.

I’d have to say I’m excited for the re-releases, even the prequels. I haven’t watched the prequel trilogy since episode III came out on DVD so I’ve been wanting to watch them again anyway, and what better way than a movie theater with the added bonus of 3D? (Of course this added bonus comes with a $3 surcharge).

I’ll be sure to report in with whether I think it was worth it or not. I think it will be. As you can see below, I’m dressed for the occasion.

 

Confessions of a Superhero

Posted on by GumballsPlaysGames

I happened to stumble across this documentary and it was wonderful, so I just wanted to share. Confessions of a Superhero is a 2007 documentary that tells the story of four people who play (as street performers) superheroes on the street in Hollywood for money (by means of tips). The documentary has great photography, a nice soundtrack and it tells wonderful and interesting stories. Definitely recommend you watch it. It is available on Netflix and Hulu Plus. Check it out!

Does product placement bother you?

Posted on by GumballsPlaysGames

Last weekend I went to see Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and the product placement in the movie made itself evident rather quickly. Tom Cruise’s character uses an iPad as a gadget and the iPad gets plenty of focus in the scenes it’s involved in. Carrying around an iPad didn’t even seem practical in the situation, but there it is. Furthermore all of the characters in the movie use iPhones and Macbooks. You’d have to look pretty hard to see an electronic device without an Apple logo on it in the movie.

What’s interesting is if you go back and watch the original Mission Impossible, released in the 90’s, you can’t find any obvious product placement. All of the electronic devices are just there, they’re not particularly branded and if they are they don’t pop out of the screen at you and scream in your face like they do in Ghost Protocol.

I love Apple products myself, but the movie just seemed to take it overboard. If I’m out on some dangerous mission, I’m not going to be running around with an iPad, I’d be using a smaller, more efficient high tech device. But hey, I’m sure Apple paid good money to make you aware you can run around doing spy stuff with an iPad.

Product placement is here to stay, that’s for sure. Morgan Spurlock created a documentary funded entirely by product placement called The Greatest Movie Ever Sold. I haven’t watched it yet, but it seems like an interesting idea and it could possibly shed some light on just how product placement can effect a movie.

Thinks of this, if Apple is paying to get the iPad into Ghost Protocol, could they write in a scene where the iPad gets dropped and broken? Probably not. You have to keep it shiny and new, even with bullets flying.

So what’s your take on it all?

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