movies

Off-topic: The Dark Knight is...very, very dark

I took my team to see The Dark Knight today to celebrate the good work they've done. I might have chosen a better reward.

The movie is exceptionally well done. It is also relentless. Everyone is smeared. Everyone is corrupt (or corruptible). Except, frustratingly, Batman. What I would have given for him to end the movie early by listening to the Joker: "Hit me!" It would have been soooo easy.

Anyway, I only blog it here because I know many of you will want to see it. I don't suggest that you not see it, but … Read more

Wall-E accused of Fascism. Um, I mean Fattism.

Wall-E, the hero of Pixar's latest huge success, has waddled into an unexpected spat.

About fat.

If you have not yet seen the movie, I won't spoil the story.

However, I can tell you that the second half depicts human beings as obese, lazy, mindless slobs who glide around on lounge chairs, slurping humoungously-proportioned cupcake drinks as their flab flaps in the slipstream.

This vision of the future is, naturally, a vast stretch.

However, the National Association To Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA) is largely unamused.

At its conference in LA, which ends today, the organization enjoyed entertainment from … Read more

Find a silver screen from your iPhone screen

My favorite thing about open platforms that allow third-party developers to run wild is when those independent programmers actually do. Jeffrey Grossman wrote a free native application called Movies.app that revolves around movie listings and offers everything from from a straightforward, yet sophisticated lookup by movie or theater to a crisp, clear preview on the phone.

Grossman wisely included the other essential information that every moviegoer may want or need, including supporting information on IMDB, a lists of popular movies currently in theaters, and another list of shows coming to theaters soon (first up is Dark Knight). There's … Read more

FixMyMovie launches premium service for big (ugly) videos

FixMyMovie, the company that does just what it says, has finally gotten around to launching its premium service. I first blogged about it coming back in April, and it's gone live for everyone this afternoon.

For $2 you can get the enhanced version of your video sent back to you watermark-free, double the bit rate, and 4x the original resolution with the company's scaling technology. You'll also get download links in various portable device formats that you can pass along to friends to download.

Paying members are not the only ones to get the improvements. Users of … Read more

One-third of us copy DVDs

Yeah, I know, it hit me as a surprise too. However, that's one of the findings found in a recent Consumer Home Piracy market research study carried out by Futuresource Consulting and sponsored by Macrovision.

The study was done in May 2008 in the U.S. and the U.K. with the sample size of more than 5,000 people. As it turns out, one-third of all the respondents in both countries admit to having made copies of prerecorded DVDs, on average about 13 titles each, in the last six months, up from just over a quarter of respondents … Read more

Intel and DreamWorks go to the movies

Intel and DreamWorks Animation on Tuesday announced a strategic alliance designed to power up the movie studio's 3D authoring tools.

Faced with increasing demand for 3D animated feature films, DreamWorks will receive access to Intel's latest and future high-performance chips, including those with multiple processing cores. Intel's software engineers will also work with DreamWorks to tweak the studio's applications to run on an Intel-based computing infrastructure.

"Technology plays a significant role in enabling our artists to tell great stories. By utilizing Intel's industry-leading computing products, we will create a new and innovative way for … Read more

The 404 135: Where that "Umbrella" song sucks

We're back from vacation and better than ever! Now you can check out a YouTube videostream of our daily show as well as download the podcast. Oh, yeah...big things happening at The 404. On today's show, we bring you the heat from the Interwaves: weekend movie roundups (Surprise! Hancock still sucks), a heartwarming story about a decapitated Chihuahua, advancements in genetically modified human beings, smog safety concerns at the Olympics in Beijing, and one mysterious alien aircraft in yonder atmosphere. Episode 135 Download today's podcast

Rip, copy, and convert DVDs with free A-one DVD Tools (today only)

Freebie-software site Giveaway of the Day serves up another gem today in the form of A-one DVD Tools, which includes separate utilities for copying and ripping DVDs. It normally sells for $51.95, but if you download and install it before midnight today (June 7), it's free and clear.

A-one DVD Copy promises to duplicate even protected DVDs in as little as 30 minutes. A-one DVD Ripper will convert your DVDs to just about any format, including Divx, AVI, iPod, PSP, Zune, and 3GP. You can learn more about the two programs at developer Yaoming's site, but remember … Read more

The 404 134: Where the interns broke the studio

CNET interns Jeff and Jeremy give the Webcam a premature Fourth of July fireworks show and fuzzify the viewers, but we'll forgive them this time. In other news, we also take apart the Great Firewall of China, beg for Rush Limbaugh's scraps, voraciously consume watermelon with a vengeance, hack a few ATMs across the country, and question Wilson's stubborn refusal to see GOOD MOVIES.

EPISODE 134 Download today's podcast