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The Future is NOW! It’s not the iPhone, it’s Microsoft’s Big Ass Table!

Posted by David C. Fein
June 20th, 2007

(No explanation needed, just watch and enjoy!)

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HD Disc War Update: Blockbuster Chooses BluRay! Corporate Pressure, or Product Availability?

Posted by David C. Fein
June 18th, 2007

It’s the end of the war! BluRay wins! Hands down! Uhh… That’s what I’ve been reading. I don’t agree. If Walmart said they will no longer carry HD-DVD… well, that would be the nail in the coffin, but Blockbuster just made a poor business decision, and people declare the end of the war. This simply is a business decision.

Why did Blockbuster go BluRay? More than any other reason, I’d have to go with Disney’s films. Blockbuster stores have many sections, and right next to new releases would be family when it comes to most rentals. When you consider the studios exclusive to BluRay, Disney, Sony, Fox, etc. While HD-DVD has Universal exclusively, you have to go where the content is.

While Warner is working on a dual disc format that features both versions on one disc, they have been unsuccessful in convincing me that I need to purchase their dual HD/standard DVD discs. I always felt that the secret to winning this battle would be to release dual discs so while someone is buying a new movie, they are receiving a HD-DVD and DVD version at the same time so that by the time they have a player, they already own the movies. Warner Bros. has jumped onto this concept, and released dual version discs, but for $10 more making their HD-DVD releases COST MORE than their BluRay version. What is the use in this?! Now it’s cheaper for HD-DVD buyers to buy the standard DVD of a film instead of the HD-DVD version. This is not acceptable, and is hurting the HD-DVD market. Blockbuster also knows this, and would never want to invest in a disc that is dual format for additional money when they can get the lessor expensive BluRay discs. Thank you Warner for your dedication to the market, yet poor business decision to raise prices above market acceptability.

As for the studios, Fox is willing to do what it takes to move their products. They discount their discs, and continue with unusually high quality releases. When you consider that the successful movies of the summer, Spider-man 3, and Pirates of the Caribbean 3 will be coming to BluRay exclusively you can again understand Blockbuster’s choice.

Am I happy about the choice? No, but given the fact that there is a war going on at the moment, we have to hold steady until the market decides. At least Xbox 360 owners who have purchased the HD-DVD player attachment know that they didn’t have to make the huge investment into one side or another, and if BluRay does win out, you can bet the Microsoft will quickly release a BluRay attachment for the 360 as well. With the Playstation 3, you have no other choices but BluRay, and Blockbuster knows that as well. Every PS3 game renter is a potential BluRay disc renter, whereas they don’t know for sure who has HD-DVD.

After comparing both formats, my enjoyment in presentation says firmly with HD-DVD while my appreciation of which technology is superior falls on BluRay.

The saddest part of this whole war is that to most people, standard DVD is crisp and clean enough, and they really don’t need a HD disc format at all.

Before DVD, low quality, fuzzy, and full-screen VHS ruled the world. People are just not ready to repurchase their collections over again in HD.

BluRay 1, HD-DVD 0 this round. Let’s see what’s in store next. Cheers!

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Boldly Going Where No iPod Has Gone Before…

Posted by David C. Fein
June 14th, 2007

Look closely at this picture… It’s from the current STS-117 Shuttle Mission:

Now, if you look closely in the upper left-hand corner you’ll see (next to the other essential space item, the Bible) an iPod:

For many years its been known that the space shuttle’s computers are extremely outdated to today’s standards. Portable computers have been brought on board for science experiments, etc. This is the first time an iPod has been spotted on board. The funny part about this is that it appears not to be a current generation model, but one of the previous generations, so no television shows or movies for this crew. It’s also remarkable to notice that there is a dock connector plugged into the bottom of the unit. Could it currently be used as a hard drive? or perhaps a space black box? Is it plugged into an amazingly powerful shuttle stereo system??? or… and most likely… it it just being charged by the same batteries keeping the astronauts alive?

Cheers to the iPod! Risking its life in the name of science!

I wonder what’s on it… I wonder if NASA has ever updated the computers on the shuttle….

I wonder what they found on the moon:

Conceived and Created by Daren R. Dochterman.

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Beware Of Hex Offenders! Look Away And Do Not Read This: It’s 2000 All Over Again!

Posted by David C. Fein
May 4th, 2007

The old clichÃ© is that if you don’t learn from history, you’re doomed to repeat it.

Let’s go back to 2000, DVD is fairly new to the market, and it’s a locked down format. AH HA! DeCSS (descrambler code) comes out and defeats the protection on DVDs, and the legal war over the right to access and copy your own DVD ignites a free-speech and free-use blaze that still haunts studios and content creators today!

Flash-forward to 2007, these numbers: 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 have become a new scandal! They can be used to read data from a HD-DVD and BluRay disc! Oh No! We MUST stop these numbers from escaping! They are going to destroy the world! By the way, they add up to 799 (if you know how to add in hexadecimal).

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With Liberty And Joostice For All! Introducing Joost: The Magical TV Application You Were Missing

Posted by BigFool
May 2nd, 2007

Click to See Full Screen Shot

As an official beta tester for Joost, 2 Live Fools figured it was about time to actually let y’all in on what’s happening with this pretty damn cool concept, and company. So, in addition to kicking the tires on this eight-month-old upstart (with bugs still needing fixed), we made a few calls, and put together an introduction to this crazy company that we hope will be the beginning of a new way to think when it comes to watching your favorite TV programming (or even your soon-to-be-favorite TV programming). [But would it be â€˜TVâ€™ programming if itâ€™s on the computer? I wonder. How about â€˜TechVisionâ€™?]

First of all, what is Joost you may ask? Joost is a descendant from a long line of animals that have inherited the Earth. He comes from the species Google-opolis, and the ever popular Amazonian-Yahoo! Actually, its one of the first real Internet television service that is destined to be the next major competitor to cable TV, but with only one slight difference–it’s free. Well, sort of. Nothing is really free as we all know, but these guys at least are getting their advertisers to pay for everything and have just announced this week as having lined up several blue-chip ad-placers, including United Airlines, Coca Cola, Taco Bell, Microsoft, Sony Electronics, Intel, Hewlit Packard, Lions Gate Entertainment, General Motors and Unilever, as it prepares for its debut.

Is Joost the next best thing since the internet? (no, thatâ€™s digital paper) but it is a great beginning…

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Video Podcast: Watch How They Did It! Elvis Presley and Celine Dion Duet Examined with Foolish Commentary

Posted by BigFool
April 28th, 2007

A 2 Live Fools Exclusive and Video Podcast Premiere! By popular demand, the Fools present an on-screen comparison of the American Idol duet with the old ‘68 footage of Elvis’ comeback performance of “If I Could Dream.” Here is a 16:9 widescreen version (download iPod version below) with the Fools’ commentary explaining how American Idol pulled this video trick off. You’ll learn all the secrets. And, by the way, it was NOT blue screen.

Download This Video Podcast Below:

Elvis - Celine Duet Examined [9:56m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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The Right Cut: Why Spider-Man 2.1â€“While Better Than 2â€“Is Really Spider-Man 1.9

Posted by David C. Fein
April 20th, 2007

Spider-Man 2.1 is clearly the movie the way that Sam Raimi wanted it to be. Compared to 2.1, 2 has some continuity problems. Itâ€™s clear from 2.1 that a better assembly of the film existed before the film had to be shortened prior to itâ€™s original release.

Okay, before going any further, who came up with this 2.1 concept?! Does this mean that thereâ€™s going to be a 2.2? 2.3? 2.4?! Will Spider-Man 2 Â½ be a story that takes place between the two films? Honestly, 2.1 is a very poor title for this project.

We’re in a time when the ‘Mighty Dollar’ rules the world. Unfortunately it also can ruin the edit of a movie, for financial gain (i. e. Lost World: Jurassic Park). It can either force a film to be shortened to allow for an additional daily showingâ€“or in its worst caseâ€“the film can be re-edited just to sell another copy of the film on DVD. Rarely, there’s a pure motivation behind the recut of a film… completing it the way it was originally intended. What a unique concept.

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Does Apple Perpetuate Mediocrity? Company Releases New Video Editing Bundle

Posted by Marc Fusco
April 16th, 2007

Yesterday at NAB in Las Vegas, Apple announced its new video editing suite, Final Cut Studio 2. As always, the new package of software is a bundle of upgraded previous software that makes life even easier if you are a professional video editor… or amature video editor with extra cash. On one hand, Apple has been bringing great tools to the entertainment world for years, on the other hand, film festival submissions are up by thousands every year with the same number of submissions accepted (In 2007, Sundace received over 6,000 and accepted only 48 films). Outside of the professional world, this clearly indicates that Apple has instilled confidence in just about every Tom, Dick and Jane who at one point in their lives wanted to “get into movies.” Steve Jobs has enabled our creative souls, and yes, a whole lot of movies are being made that will never see the light of day and shouldn’t. This sparks a new conversation that us career content providers in Hollywood have been kibitzing about for years.

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Podcast: Introducing Digital Paper: Your Future! Showmanship With 3-D Movies - Grindhouse Falls Flat - A Look At DVD Menus

Posted by BigFool
April 10th, 2007

The Fools introduce the future and world-changing potential of Digital Paper. What is it and why should you care? It WILL change your life — the first of many foolish discussions to come. The Fools also debate the future of movie presentation and Hollywood’s loss of showmanship over the years. Is it returning with 3-D? It just might be… Then be prepared for a foolish rant on DVD menus. Hear a quick take on DVD menu design — some stong opinions that you just might agree with. Dave and Marc also talk about Grindhouse and why it fell flat. And of course, we couldn’t do another podcast without touching upon the iPhone again and again and again. Get used to it. We’re just trying to paint the most accurate picture.

Check out Marc’s 3D Movie post.

Check out Dave’s part one of the 2 Live Fools iPhone series.

Audio Engineer: Neil S. Bulk

2LiveFools-podcast-04-10-07 [64:39m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Do 3-D Movies Mean The Death Of Film Projectors In Our Theaters?

Posted by Marc Fusco
April 6th, 2007

Meet The Robinsons just gave us a big clue…

Everyone knows that technology right now is pushing our little personal worlds to change on a daily basis. It’s bringing upon us a new way to look at just about everything connected to our senses, expect maybe smell (unless you count the smell that your overly-abused iPod Nano takes on after the many sweaty places it’s been). So here’s a line of thinking that is pretty clear to follow, yet I’ll be the first to brand it. Hmmm, let’s call it the “magic box theory.” As a filmmaker it makes me sad, but I’ll explain:

In the 1950s, there was this ‘magic box’ that seeped its way into just about every household in America. On it, you would get magical moving pictures, news and advertisments of your favorite kitchen appliances and soap powder. I’m not sure if you’ve ever heard of this ‘magic box’ but trust me when I say, it changed the world. When it did, the movie studios were paranoid as hell and planned a massive counter attack. They created wide screen formats like CinemaScope, VistaVision and Cinerama and launched a primitive 3-D process so as to offer people something they couldn’t get in their living rooms on their brand new 10- and 12-inch black & white screens. And never guess what? It worked. People still kept going to the movies.

So what about now, you ask, when the ‘magic boxes’ turned into ‘magic picture frames’ in the form of 40-60 inch Hi-def plasma screens as the centerpiece of home theater systems fully equiped with digital suround sound? And what about the small screens we can carry in our pockets anywhere and the ability to watch high-quality video on our computers? The answer: digital, theatrical 3-D. And yes, it too is working.

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