A new kind of TV guide

An article just appeared in PC World announcing an exciting new website called Clicker, which will change the way people watch TV, movies, and other shows on the Internet. Company CEO, Jim Lanzone describes Clicker as “a hybrid of many other kinds of information and entertainment sites: one part directory, one part search engine, one part Wiki, one part entertainment guide, and one part DVR.”

Clicker.com homepage (image from TheOnlineReporter website)

Clicker aggregates all the TV shows, movies, and other videos that are available for free viewing online.  You can search by title, most popular, category, topic, or even TV network. There is also a section for “trending” much like is used on Twitter.

When you find something you want to watch, Clicker will give you a synopsis of the show/movie and then tell you the different networks where the show is available online, such as Hulu, Crackle, FOX, ABC, ect. Then you can just click, and begin watching it right there in your browser window.

The PC World article also mentions how s Clicker makes it easy to find TV shows and movies on pay sites such as Amazon and Netflix. Clicker will direct the user to the pay site where you can preview, buy, or rent the video you are looking for.

Clicker also has a really cool playlist feature that works like a DVR where you can keep track of the shows you like to watch and quickly find missed/recent episodes.

This looks like a great new website for people who watch a lot of movies and things online but do not download them.  It looks like a great way to quickly find out what is out there in the webspace to watch for free without having to hunt something down specifically. In browsing Clicker, I quickly able to find the movie, A Few Good Men (for example) available to watch online, in its entirety, completely for free without having to browse around on Google, Hulu, or other video websites for it.

Clever marketing increases Blu-ray sales

Disney-Pixar’s UP will probably end up being one of the most successful and acclaimed movies to come out this year. I personally wasn’t crazy about it when you compare it to the likes of fantastic animation films like Finding Nemo and Wall-E but if you haven’t seen it yet, UP will be released on DVD this Tuesday, November 10th.

Interesting thing about this release is the creative way they are marketing the DVD and Blu-ray sales by including BOTH in the same package. They are calling it a Disc Combo Pack which includes the DVD, Blu-ray disc, digital copy of the movie. The regular DVD is available to purchase on its own in a single-disc version, but the advertising for it is so minimal that I didn’t initially think it was even being offered.

Now, while they are marketing this as a cool bonus item for Blu-ray buyers, what I really think they are doing is hoping for a bump in sales of Blu-ray to further encourage the switch over to this new technology. By including both formats in the same package, people will inadvertently build up their Blu-ray collection, eventually figuring that it might finally be worth it to drop the $200+ for a Blu-ray player. It’s a pretty clever way for studios to force Blu-Ray penetration into the market. I wouldn’t be surprised if the single-disc DVD versions soon stop being offered all together, forcing only combo packs to be sold.

This article from Video Business explains that though Disney pioneered the practice a year ago, they aren’t the only studio that’s doing it. 20th Century Fox, MGM, and Lionsgate have all jumped on board too. Fox’s VP of marketing, Mary Daily was quoted saying “Standard DVD or Blu-ray represents amazing value and amazing quality, but how do we make it more flexible to adapt to the changing lifestyle?” AKA: how do we sell more Blu-ray?

Check out this marketing ad featured on various Amazon pages that tries to stimulate appeal of DVD/Blu-ray combos.

A Heart Will Go On

My friends and I were tossing around the idea of going on a cruise during winter break. In getting all excited about the crazy things they have managed to get onto cruise ships these days (water slides, golf courses, theatre shows) we somehow started talking about Titanic. A slightly morbid ship of choice to bring into the conversation of a vacation cruise but it got us talking about what a great movie that was and how it has become such a cultural classic.

I had heard some rumors that James Cameron was in the process of converting Titanic to 3D and re-releasing it, similar to the way Disney is converting/re-releaseing Toy Story and Toy Story 2. I did some research as to what was going on with this process and if it was still happening.

Turns out, the re-release looks like it’s still on the table. A few months ago at the Comic Con convention, James Cameron and Lord of the Rings director, Peter Jackson discussed the prospect of re-releasing major films again in the newly popular format. Both directors seem interested and agreed the films would get a whole new breath of life from such a conversion.

James Cameron, at Comic Con, discusses releasing Titanic in 3D

Converting Titanic could take as much as a year and half to complete, not to mention the cost and the expense of a new marketing campaign. For now, it looks like it’s still in the works but directors are all still waiting to see how the new 3D fad will develop first. Ideally, more theatres would want get 3D capabilities before studios made such a big undertaking.

It’s just a matter of when all the stars will align before fans will get to see all three-plus hours of Titanic in three glorious dimensions.

21st Century Media

The internet has changed nearly every aspect of our lives, and the film industry is no different.  Movies in the 21^st century are moving more to a web based medium, as we have seen with big market ventures such as Netflix, Blockbuster Online, and even streaming services such as YouTube and Google Video.  Netflix now offers streaming services for millions of movies in their archive – so anyone can stream them onto their television or computer with the click of a button.  As internet connections improve to allow the transfer of larger files at faster speeds, high definition video streaming and downloading is becoming more and more a reality.

Some people theorize that soon disc based media will be a thing of the past altogether – with downloading movies being the biggest way to watch your favorite flicks.  Most Blu-Ray players sold recently come with an internet connection built into the unit, and a hard disk drive on which to store downloaded movies, trailers, games, and other content.  It could almost make the user forget why they even have the disc drive in the blu-ray player – the internet connectivity offers enough for the user to watch HD movies on demand – and more.  Blu-ray movies themselves are actually struggling in the marketplace. Some people are refusing to switch to a high definition medium, while other prefer downloading their media.

It’s an interesting time, and we’ll see soon enough which media form takes control of the movie industry.

Not in Kansas Anymore

A very special birthday was celebrated this year. It’s been 70 years since The Wizard of Oz made its theatrical premier on August 25, 1939 and it has remained a classic through all the technological advances that have affected the silver screen since that time. The coming of television, cable, VCR’s, and DVD’s have only further promoted the widespread popularity of this film. Last week, on September 23, Oz embraced another technological first. It was re-released in theatres nationwide for a one-day extravaganza event, for the first time in high def!

The Wizard of Oz will forever be my favorite movie and I almost find it hard to know where to cut myself off in talking about it (stolen ruby slippers, behind the scenes stories, special effects, and the infamous but non-existent suicide rumor). Maybe those things will get their own blog topic someday but for now, I’ll stick to talk of birthday celebrations.

Last Wednesday, in celebration of the re-release, there was a party held at the famous Tavern on the Green restaurant in New York City attended by five original munchkins and Judy Garland’s daughter Lorna Luft. Also in the plans, was for the Empire State Building to be lit green that night in Oz honor. Coincidentally, that lighting worked out to the benefit of anti-Iran protestors who were asking the city to light the building green in protest of Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who was visiting the city for the United Nations conference. When the lights finally turned on, they were red, instead to celebrate Dorothy’s ruby slippers. Sadly, I wasn’t able to make it to the theatre to see the movie in HD but Oz-political connection that were stirred up makes Oz fans like me very interested to hear about.

Happy Birthday Oz!

The Empire State Building lit up red for Oz

Disney Renaissance

Disney is about to make one giant (frog) leap of faith at reviving the formula that created such classics as Beauty and the Beast, Snow White, and The Lion King. The Princess and the Frog will be Disney’s first 2D animation movie since Home on the Range came out in 2004. Since then, the hand-drawn animation studio, which made Disney into a powerhouse company, has been shut down allowing the computer animated films of Disney-Pixar to be very successful at taking their place.

The Princess and the Frog tells the story of Tiana, a young girl who lives in the French Quarter of New Orleans. A young prince, who has been turned into a frog by a voodoo magician, mistakes Tiana for a princess and asks her to kiss him to break the spell. However, the kiss turns Tiana into a frog herself, leaving them both to try and break the spell together.

Tiana looks to be the first African-American in line of Disney Princesses, but that opens a whole new discussion having nothing to do with animation.

-Check out this trailer, which showcases the return of this animation form.-

This film will be released this December as is directed by John Musker and Ron Clements who headed The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Hercules. Well-known composer Randy Newman will writing the songs and the musical score and talents such as Oprah Winfrey, Terrance Howard, and John Goodman will provide the character voices.

I don’t know about anyone else but I’m excited to see how what comes of this film. Disney has a big task on their hands if they think they can revive this now seemingly dead art form of animation. If anyone can do it, Disney can. It’s sad to think that this might be the end of a glorious era and that I might be among the last generations to know the excitement felt when watching a new Disney animated film.