MICROSOFT BRINGS FOX NEWS, SESAME STREET, COMCAST TO XBOX
Can someone please tell me how this works? Is this a subscription service like Netflix Streaming?
Corp. content from Twentieth Century Fox Films, Fox Television, Fox News and The Wall Street Journal will be available on the Xbox device starting in February, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced at the opening of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Monday.
The initiative continues to transform the popular gaming console into an entertainment and news hub, with Ballmer counting Xbox Live subscribers at 40 million.
The reason I want to know is because I smell the death of cable with Fox News now being available in another format. Most Fox News viewers like myself could live without the non-stop garbage that clogs up most of cable and resent paying subscription fees that prop up networks we hate, such as OWN and MSNBC — networks that likely couldn’t survive without this revenue sharing racket.
More on this below…
DISH TO OFFER ANY SHOW AT ANY TIME
This is cable/ satellite, attempting to compete with Hulu and other streaming services:
Satellite operator DISH Network has unveiled a new DVR at the CES convention in Las Vegas that will automatically record every primetime show on the four major television networks and hold them for later viewing for as long as eight days. The DVR, called Hopper, will sport 2 TBs (terabytes) of storage, half of which will be used to record programs on ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC airing between 8:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. nightly. Programs on the Hopper can also be accessed via up to three boxes called Joeys in other rooms of the home. Moreover, the DVRs will operate in conjunction with DISH’s Sling box, making the programs available for remote viewing on laptops, smartphones, and tablets.
Beyond revolutionary. I still think that, with the prices they charge compared to Netflix and Hulu, cable/satellite can’t survive. And the reason the prices are so absurd is to prop up a lot of specialty channels fewer than a million people watch.
Something’s got to give, and when it does, we customers will be declared the winners.
This is more than just a technological revolution, it’s a cultural one. Right now, we’re forced in many ways not only to support these dreadful channels but to view what only a very few create. Sure, there might be 500 channels, but they’re all owned by the same 10 companies. Once everything is a la carte, everything will have to stand on its own merit and it will also have to stand up against the past because older, more traditional programs will be just as accessible as the new ones.
Oh, and please, Lord, let me live to see the day when Oprah’s OWN Network goes dOWN.
SPIELBERG AND ‘WAR HORSE’ FAIL TO GET DGA NOD
Wow.
“The biggest snub on today’s list has to be Steven Spielberg who was overlooked for Dreamworks’ War Horse, an expected Oscar power player that may be slipping back in the pack a bit during the crucial stretch run,” Deadline’s Pete Hammond wrote a few minutes ago. “Spielberg’s omission is a crushing blow.”
At the same time there’s something seriously corroded and rotten in the minds of DGA members when they decide to nominate The Artist’s Michel Hazanavicius for delivering an emotionally simplistic and second-hand silver bauble, and at the same time deny a Best Director nomination to Moneyball’s Bennett Miller and The Tree of Life’s Terrence Malick. Ludicrous!
I’m hoping to see “Moneyball” this week and absolutely hated “Tree of Life,” but the Spielberg snub is a surprise. “War Horse” is a beautifully directed picture, equal parts “How Green Was My Valley” and “All Quiet On the Western Front,” and very much a return to form for the Oscar-winner after a middling stretch from 2004’s “The Terminal” straight through to the unforgivable “Indy 4” — one of the most poorly directed films of the decade.
“War Horse” probably turns off a lot of Hollywood types because it is unapologetically sentimental in a way John Ford might have appreciated. With a run-time that exceeds 150 minutes, the story of a horse that touches too many lives to count in the days leading up to and immediately preceding World War I held my attention and was ultimately quite moving. But I do have to say that the movie didn’t stay with me. As soon as the lights came up, I forgot all about it.
I can watch “How Green Was My Valley” for the 45th time tonight, and for days afterward, my movie soul will carry it around. I’ll feel the film, think about the characters, and miss that world Ford so lovingly crafted and photographed. “War Horse” didn’t even melt away. It vanished before the credits did.
UPCOMING BLU-RAY/DVD RELEASES: ‘Chinatown,’ ‘Hop,’ ‘Wallace & Gromit’
–Director Roman Polanski’s Seminal Neo-Noir Classic, Chinatown, Debuts In High Definition. Renowned de Force Arrives on Blu-ray™ April 3, 2012 Overflowing with Special Features Including Commentary by Screenwriter Robert Towne and Director David Fincher, a Three-Part Documentary, Personal Reflections from Leading Filmmakers and More.
–Lionsgate is proud to present the Blu-ray Disc and DVD release of Wallace & Gromit’s World of Invention, and the DVD, Digital Download and On Demand release of Stuck Between Stations, both available on March 13th, 2012.
–Lionsgate also announces the DVD, Digital Download and On Demand release of Snow White: A Deadly Summer, available on March 20th, 2012.
–Finally, Lionsgate also presents the DVD, Digital Download and On Demand debut of Breaking Wind: Unrated Director’s Cut on March 27th, 2012.
–Universal City, CA January 9, 2012 – The Easter Bunny’s hare apparent leaves his ancestral home on Easter Island to pursue pop superstardom in the hilarious comedy HOP, coming to Blu-ray™ and DVD on March 23, 2012, from Universal Studios Home Entertainment. Blending state-of-the-art CGI animation with live action, HOP is a non-stop, rockin’ adventure packed with humor and hijinks as rebellious young rabbit E.B. (voiced by Russell Brand), strikes up an unlikely friendship with Los Angeles underachiever Fred (James Marsden) en route to becoming a rock star drummer. Trailer is here.
VAN HALEN TEACHES US ALL A VALUABLE LESSON: WASTED YEARS CANNOT BE RETRIEVED
Absolutely heartbreaking. What bothers me about the video isn’t that Van Halen lost their mojo. That happens to the best of us. It’s that Van Halen is unaware they’ve lost their mojo.
STATHAM AND DENIRO’S ‘KILLER ELITE’ HITS BLU-RAY/DVD TODAY
Based on a shocking true story, Killer Elite is a gritty battle between guns-for-hire that has been hailed as “one of the best action thrillers of the year!” by Richard Roeper, ReelzChannel. Pitting two of the world’s most elite operatives against the cunning leader of a secret military society, Killer Elite stars Jason Statham (The Transporter, Death Race),
Academy Award winner Robert De Niro (The Godfather Part II, Raging Bull) and Academy Award -nominee Clive Owen (Children of Men, Closer). Directed by Academy Award -nominee Gary McKendry (Everything in this Country Must), Killer Elite is available on Blu-ray™Combo Pack with UltraViolet™, DVD, On Demand and Digital Download January 10, 2012 from Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Open Road Films.
UNIVERSAL CELEBRATES 100TH BIRTHDAY WITH NEW LOGO AND 13 FILM RESTORATIONS
I love that Universal included Abbott and Costello’s immortal “Buck Privates” in this list of restorations. The Boys deserve respect — they were every bit as brilliant as the Marx Brothers and Chaplin.
On Jan. 10, Universal Pictures celebrated its 100th anniversary (which is on Apr. 30) by unveiling a new logo and announcing a restoration of 13 of its iconic films: All Quiet on the Western Front, The Birds, Abbott and Costello’s Buck Privates, Dracula (1931), the Spanish-language Dracula filmed on the same set at night, Frankenstein, Jaws, Schindler’s List, Out of Africa, Pillow Talk, Bride of Frankenstein, The Sting and To Kill a Mockingbird (available Jan. 31 in a 50th-anniversary Blu-ray edition). …
The restorations, which will be released throughout the studio’s year-long centennial celebration, took three to six months each and cost $250,000 to $600,000 per title, Universal SVP, Technical Operations Michael Daruty told The Hollywood Reporter and others at a sneak preview of the extraordinarily impressive results on the studio lot on Dec. 1. “This restoration effort was not about marketability and whether we’re gonna sell enough DVDs,” said Daruty. “That is what we do on a daily basis, but this was a commitment by the company to say, ‘We’re gonna devote funding and most probably continue that effort year over year, to try and preserve and restore the legacy of the company. We’re here to spend the money on these 13 titles and some others, whether we’re gonna get our money back in that first year or not.’ It’s really refreshing.”
“Pillow Talk” is another unexpected surprise, as well.
Happy birthday Universal, and thanks for a century of joy and escape!
39 THINGS WE LEARNED FROM ‘THE BOONDOCK SAINTS’ COMMENTARY
“Boondock Saints” was so bad I couldn’t even finish it. Something good that did come from it, though, was the 2003 documentary “Overnight,” which examines how “Boondock” director Troy Duffy was so overtaken by his own insecurities and ego, you actually take the side of and sympathize with Harvey Weinsten.
AMC IS DEVELOPING ‘GOODFELLAS’ AS A TV SERIES
Deadline reports that AMC will develop Martin Scorsese’s classic 1990 mob movie as a potential weekly series, and though Scorsese (who directed the pilot of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire) isn’t involved with the project, the network did manage to secure returning player Nicholas Pileggi to script the show and Irwin Winkler to produce.
ALICE HAS MIND-BLOWING REVELATION IN ‘RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION’
Can’t wait for September 14:
The Umbrella Corporation’s deadly T-virus continues to ravage the Earth, transforming the global population into legions of the flesh eating Undead. The human race’s last and only hope, Alice (Milla Jovovich), awakens in the heart of Umbrella’s most clandestine operations facility and unveils more of her mysterious past as she delves further into the complex. Without a safe haven, Alice continues to hunt those responsible for the outbreak; a chase that takes her from Tokyo to New York, Washington, D.C. and Moscow, culminating in a mind-blowing revelation that will force her to rethink everything that she once thought to be true. Aided by newfound allies and familiar friends, Alice must fight to survive long enough to escape a hostile world on the brink of oblivion. The countdown has begun.”
Oh baby!
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LAST NIGHT’S SCREENING
Sorry. Nothing. Had to work late.
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SCOTTDS’ EPIC LINKTACULAR
‘MAD MEN’ FINALLY RETURNS MARCH 25
TNT ORDERS NOIR DRAMA PILOT FROM FRANK DARABONT
JOE CARNAHAN SAYS ‘A-TEAM 2’ WON’T HAPPEN
WHY CAN’T THE FILM INDUSTRY INNOVATE LIKE SILICON VALLEY?
THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS ON ‘KICK ASS 2‘
PARAMOUNT PUSHES ‘HANSEL AND GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS’ TO 2013 FOR GOOD REASON
OSCAR-WINNING ART DIRECTOR ROBERT STROMBERG TO DIRECT DISNEY’S ‘MALEFICENT‘
DISNEY’S $250M ‘JOHN CARTER’ GAMBLE: OTHERWORLDLY HIT OR COSMIC BOMB?
KEVIN SMITH’S REALITY SHOW ‘COMIC BOOK MEN’ TO PREMIERE ON AMC FEBRUARY 12
DVD SETS HIGHLIGHT OBSCURE ‘G.I. JOE,’ ‘TRANSFORMERS’ ‘TOONS
30 YEARS LATER: WHO REALLY DIRECTED ‘POLTERGEIST?‘
‘BRUCE ALMIGHTY’ SEQUEL IN THE WORKS
10 OF THE FUNNIEST UNAIRED ‘SNL’ SKETCHES
SEASON FOUR OF HISTORY’S ‘TOP SHOT’ RETURNS ON VALENTINE’S DAY
THE SOUND AND MUSIC OF ‘THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO‘
KATEE SACKHOFF & JORDI MOLLA JOIN ‘RIDDICK 3′ AS MERCENARIES
50 TRAILERS THAT RUINED THE MOVIE (SPOILERS)
THE BEST MOVIES ABOUT WORLD WAR I
A LOOK BACK AT DON JOHNSON IN ‘A BOY AND HIS DOG‘
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CLASSIC PICK FOR WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11
TCM:
2:45 AM ET: Till The Clouds Roll By (1946) — True story of composer Jerome Kern’s rise to the top on Broadway and in Hollywood. Dir: Richard Whorf Cast: June Allyson, Lucille Bremer, Judy Garland. C-136 mins, TV-G.
Not much of a story but the music is timeless and the individual numbers beautifully realized. Well worth a look. Imagine MTV in 1946 if it didn’t suck … and played music.
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