movies

Apple drew a lot of attention when it announced that it will offer movie downloads the same day they come out on DVD, but the deal won't mean a windfall for Apple--at least initially.

The reason for that is Apple will lose money on every sale, a source said.

Apple announced on Thursday that it had reached an agreement with a group of film studios, including the six largest. Apple said that starting this week, iTunes customers will be able to purchase newly released movies for $14.99, while most catalog titles are $9.99.

The Wall Street Journal reported … Read more

New movie releases from a number of major and independent studios will be available on iTunes the same day they're offered on DVD, Apple announced Thursday.

Starting this week, iTunes customers will be able to purchase movies just now being released on DVD, including American Gangster and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. New releases are priced at $14.99, while most catalog titles are $9.99.

The studios making available the new movie releases and catalog titles are 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Lionsgate, Image Entertainment, … Read more

Have you ever made a screencast? A screencast is when you capture and record all the action that takes place on your desktop so you can view it as a movie. Many people use screencasts for presentations and instructional videos for software, though there are many other uses. Sometimes you probably wish you could make a screen recording for less computer-savvy friends and family so you wouldn't have to have those exhaustive phone calls: "No grandpa, I said Save the file...no...SAVE it."

I found a program for Mac today that makes creating screencasts easy. It'… Read more

You're making a movie, or a TV show. You've got the awesome concept, you've got the heroic lead, and a staunch band of loyal allies. You've got your evil villain, your cool technology, your amazing gadgets. But there's something missing. The final detail that will really seal the deal on your killer concept. What can it be?

You need a kid. And a robot.

When film and television wonks are putting together a project, audience identification is high on their minds--or at least whatever it is they're using instead of minds. If kids are … Read more

FixMyMovie is a service that takes your pixilated digital video clips and does its best to make them look better. The technology stems from MotionDSP's processing technology, which is similar to what's used in government intelligence operations to improve those dark and grainy security films--like you see in movies.

Most recently, FixMyMovie added the ability to create a single high-resolution 1,280x1,024 JPEG image from a 320x240 video. The company also is contemplating use of the technology to stitch together smaller frames into a wide panorama, to improve image tones to retrieve detail in bright highlights and … Read more

As if troubled movie rental company Blockbuster didn't have enough to deal with already: an angry Facebook user has taken issue with its participation in the social network's controversial Beacon advertising program, and is pursuing legal action.

Cathryn Elaine Harris, a Texas resident, filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for eastern Texas on April 9, claiming that it's a violation of a federal statute for Blockbuster to participate in Beacon, which shares rental history on Facebook members' "news feeds" unless they manually opt out. She is seeking class-action status, hoping to eventually … Read more

Remember Giveaway of the Day, the site that offers one commercial software program free of charge every day? They've got a gem today: Aplus DVD Ripper (Windows), which lets you back up your movies to your PC and/or convert them for viewing on your iPod, Zune, cell phone, or other portable device. It normally sells for $39.99.

Remember, there's a catch: You have only until midnight tonight (ET) to download and install the program. After that, it's gone (though GotD does occasionally repeat its giveaways). But that's the one and only catch, so if … Read more

On today's show Phil Ryan and Caroline McCarthy help Jeff get through a lonely Friday. We'll talk about gorilla suit workshops, a California beer tax, and this weekend's disasters at the box office. All that plus an entertainment report from Kamini!

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Audi has recently made big media pushes with a luxury forum at the Super Bowl and rides for celebrities at the Oscars, and now the company touts its involvement with the upcoming superhero movie Iron Man. Audi got director Jon Favreau to include the Audi R8 as Tony Stark's personal car in the movie, citing it as an appropriate car for the most technically knowledgeable superhero. As luck would have it, we have an Audi R8 in our garage for review this week, so of course we had to make our own duplicate of a still from the movie. … Read more