Summer Movie Update - 2009 Edition

It has started to become a tradition for me to chronicle what movies i'm particularly excited about seeing, or plan on seeing during the summer movie rush. (2007, 2007 update 1, 2007 update 2, 2008, 2008 update 1, 2008 update 2)

This year's slate is a bit lighter than the past few years, due mostly to me being crazy busy and just knowing that i'll get around to seeing fewer movies (especially since babysitting is now an issue). Here's what we have so far:

Planning/Hoping to See:
May 1 - Battle For Terra
Looks very cool, little buzz about it though

May 1 - X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Looks awesome!

May 8 - Star Trek
I'm still nervous of what they'll do to my Trek...

May 22 - Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
First flick was great fun

May 29 - Up
Pixar movie. Will be awesome. Period.

July 15 - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Looks great, and loved this book

August 28 - The Boat The Rocked
Very cool subject matter and great cast. Music history!

October 16 - Where The Wild Things Are
Kinda on the fence, but i want to be excited about this one


Interested In Seeing: (Probably waiting for video)
April 24 - The Soloist
Obvious Oscar bait, but looks good

May 21 - Terminator Salvation
I hated the first 3 so much, but no James Cameron gives me hope

June 24 - Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen
I will see this movie eventually. Can't avoid it. Michael Bay stinks though.

July 1 - Public Enemies
Great cast, great subject matter

July 1 - Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
Liked the first movies

September 3 - Moon
Sam Rockwell + trippy sci-fi = cool

August 7 - GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra
Gonna be cheesy fun

August 14 - The Time Traveler's Wife
Romance + sci fi = cool?

October 9 - The Informant
Cast, director, curious...

October 23 - Astro Boy
Good buzz around it

December 11 - The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson + great cast

Radio Stars

Real quick post here...

A while back the Predators asked a bunch of season ticket holders to come in and participate in recording clips for some new radio ads. They said they would post them online, but i haven't seen them yet...

Well, i finally caught a few fast enough to record (though only one from start to finish).

Christy and I are featured pretty prominently in a few of them, so i decided to take what clips i'd been able to grab so far, chop them up, and make a version with just Christy and I :-)


Oh, and here's the one complete original i've been able to grab so far for anyone else that wanted to hear the commercials.

The most inspirational movie ever

Well, it isn't the most inspirational movie ever, but rather a series of clips cut together from ALL OF THEM.

Watch the clip, then see if you can help me fill in the missing movies that i couldn't identify.

• Braveheart
• The Muppet Movie The Great Muppet Caper
• Animal House
• Rudy
• Street Fighter
• Old School
• Mr Smith Goes to Washington
• Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
• Star Trek: First Contact
• [Kirsten Dundst, not sure] Bring It On
• Stand and Deliver
• Newsies
• Charlie Brown
• Apollo 13
• Rocky Balboa
• Matrix Revolutions The Matrix Reloaded
• [unknown Orlando Bloom] Kingdom of Heaven
• Knute Rockne: All American
• Alexander
• Broadcast News Network
• [unknown Clint Eastwood] The Outlaw Josey Wales
• Robin Hood
• The Little Great Dictator
• Patton
• [Al Pacino, not sure] Any Given Sunday
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
• 300
• Troy
• [not sure] Swingers
• Miracle
• Dead Poet’s Society
• Galaxyquest
• TRON The Last Starfighter
• [Sean Connery, not sure] The Untouchables
• [not sure] Army of Darkness
• Mary Martin’s Peter pan
• Hoosiers
• The Mighty Ducks
• Henry V
• Pulp Fiction
• Braveheart
• Independence Day
• Free Willy
• Angels in the Outfield
• Cool Runnings
• Dead Poet Society (again)
• [not sure] Meatballs
• Spartacus
• Goonies
• Superman Superman II
• The Neverending Story
• Rudy (again)
• Shawshank Redemption
• The Grinch Who Stole Christmas
• Ferris Beuller’s Day Off
• Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure
• Rocky 2

(Thanks to my friend Brett who filled in a few missing movies, and corrected where i originally listed "The Last Starfighter" as being "TRON". I am so embarrassed.)

Just found a link to the original maker of the video and his post. He talks about the process of making it, etc.

Upcoming Movie Update

It's been a while since i've updated everyone on my "want to see" movie list. With about 5 movies releasing new trailers this weekend, i figured now is a good time.

MOVIES I REALLY WANT TO SEE:
Nov 21 2008 - Bolt - trailer
   I know, it isn't Pixar
   I have hope that Disney is capable of making good kids movies.

Dec 5th 2008 - J.C.V.D. - trailer
   Jean-Claude Van Damme plays "himself"
   Its a parodyish, action, introspective, real, fake...just watch the teaser


Dec 12 2008 - The Day The Earth Stood Still - trailer
   The original is one of my top 5 movies of all time
   Klatuu may be the one role Keanu Reeves was meant to play

Dec 25th 2008 - Marley & Me - trailer
   Rom Com of the holiday season.

Dec 25th 2008 - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - trailer
   SciFi-ish adaptation of a short story

Jan 23rd 2009 - Inkheart - trailer
   I like Brended Frasier when he has fun with good material

Feb 6th 2009 - Fanboys - trailer
   Changed and re-shot from the original pitch, but still could be ok.
   Looks too much like a teen sex comedy now though. We'll see...

Mar 6th 2009 - Watchmen
   Comic book Graphic novel fans are going nuts.
   I'm new to it, but very curious.


Mar 13th 2009 - Race to Witch Mountain
   A remake of sorts starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson

May 1st 2009 - X-Men Origins: Wolverine
   The first of a few "origin" X-Men movies planned.

May 8th 2009 - Star Trek - trailer
   'Reimaging' prequel by "Lost" creator JJ Abrams

May 22nd 2009 - Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian
   Who wouldn't want to see this cast: Ben Stiller, Amy Adams, Robin Williams
   Rickey Gervais, Owen Wilson, Hank Azaria, Steve Coogan,
   Dick Van Dyke, Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy...

May 29th 2009 - Up
   New Pixar movie with Ed Asner, Christopher Plummer, etc

Jul 17th 2009 - Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince
   Delayed almost a year from the original date


Nov 20th 2009 - Sherlock Holmes
   Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law

INTERESTING AND/OR OSCAR BAIT:
Dec 19th 2009 - Seven Pounds - trailer
   Will Smith, Woody Harrelson, etc
April 24th 2009 - The Soloist - trailer
   Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr

2009 - Crossing Over - trailer
   Harrison Ford, Sean Penn, Ray Liotta, Ashley Judd

Random Updates

Two quick random updates on previous posts:

1) Back in May i posted about Fox Sports' announcement that they would be increasing their ability to handle HD signals and that in 2009 they would be 100%, 24/7 HD. Of course there was no promise as to when in 2009 they would be 100% HD... Today we got the confirmation that out of the 55 Predators games that will be airing on FSN South (or is it FS South now?), 22 will be in HD. They are pretty widely spaced through the season, and don't seem to pickup later into 2009...so we'll see if that improves or how that is connected to this great new HD signal processing center.

2) The KeepOn that i raved about back in September of '07 (you remember that right?) is finally going on sale...for $30k each. A company (BeatBots) has been formed to sell the cute little interactive robots, and for now they are primarily targeting the technology to research firms and universities. So i guess that goes on my "If i had a million dollars" wish list, not the "General Wishlist". Check.

As a reminder of how awesome this thing is, here's its appearance in Spoon's video for "Don't you Evah"

How WALL-E was not an environmental movie

Ok, i mentioned this briefly in my last post (recapping all the summer movies i've seen), but this apparently needs to be addressed again.

My cousin-in-law just made a post about the movie and he has comments disabled, so you get to hear my rebuttal here. Be warned that this post will be as spoiler free as possible, but if you haven't seen the movie, just know that both Brian and I liked it and you should go see it. Then come back and read the article and participate in the discussion.

Brian starts off by taking issue with "the crystal clear liberal environmental objective."

Just gotta take that first and ask: Why does anything environmental have to be liberal? Christy and i are very environmentally conscious. Letting the left-win-liberal-politicos co-opt environmental responsibility is just as bad as letting the right-wing-conservatives co-opt Christianity. But then again...that gets us down the broken two-party system rat hole (see here for another example)... Moving on...

"The entire premise of the movie is that the earth has become overrun with garbage and taken over my big business."

Nope. Those are important facts, but that is not the premise of the movie - that would be the setting and set-up for the movie. The premise and plot of the movie... well...he actually gets close to it here in a second...

"...this is a really good illustration of how we have to be very sensitive to what messages our families - especially our children - are bombarded with...It is our responsibility to protect our children and shape a biblical worldview in their hearts"

Now we're getting closer to what the movie was actually about. The fact that the Earth was grungy and people had to move off of it wasn't the point at all. As Brian said "The hero of the movie is of course Wall-E [sic], a garbage compactor." And what is WALL-E's story about? A relationship. He is lonely and wants a relationship. Brian describes what he finds on the spaceship: "people are on a space ship, where they have been for hundreds of years, and are now all overweight and lazy." ...and...haven't seen each other face to face and interacted as people in generations.

The point of this movie was not that we trash the planet then move off, become even fatter and more lazy (and more commercial), and then WALL-E convinces them to go fix the Earth. The whole fixing the Earth bit at the end thing is what the industry calls a "subplot". It was EVE's motivation through the movie and helped provide conflict for the antagonist to give the movie some action. The point of this movie - the real message, is summed up very well by something i heard writer/director Andrew Stanton say in an interview after i saw the flick: "What would happen if the most human thing left in the galaxy was a robot". You could call this an anti-technology movie. A pro-social/relationship movie. A love story. But environmental movie it was not.

WALL-E reminded the people on board how to be human. He pushed through barriers and loves EVE. That message, together with a subplot reminding us that we were put on this planet with a specitic instruction from God: GEN 2:15 "The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it."

Both of those are messages i'd be glad for my kids to internalize one day.

Summer movie update

Way back on Valentines Day i listed all the summer blockbuster movies i was amped about seeing. Now that we're most of the way through the movie season, i thought i'd give a bit of a recap/update with mini reviews since i didn't make posts after seeing most of them. Don't worry, i'll warn and censor any possible spoilers.

First, i'd like to point out that unlike the summer before, this summer wasn't all sequels and remakes. There were several, but they were not nearly as dominant as last year. I'm not saying every movie was terribly original, but it was nice to be treated to more of the unexpected, and get introduced to new characters for a change.


Feb 14th - Jumper

Didn't see it. Heard it sucked. Will probably grab it on Netflix eventually.

April 18 - The Forbidden Kingdom

Didn't see it, though i heard it was decent. Still want to see, but is on my Netflix queue now.

May 2 - Iron Man

Great movie. Started the summer off right. Just the right balance of substance and just having a ton of fun. Special effects were awesome, acting was solid, script was tight. Not fine art cinema - no Oscars here - but really good movie that should be very rewatchable.

May 9 - Speed Racer

This one was ok. I was fairly disappointing that there was much more language and violence in this than i think should have been allowed as a PG movie. Having said that, if it had been rated PG-13 i would have enjoyed it more. I also think the acid-trip visuals worked for me after a while. It was much more of an art film in that regard than i expected - almost to the point of being avant-garde or experimental really. Once i got used to that, i think it was a good film. Middle of the road, but good.

May 16 - Chronicles of Narnia: Price Caspian

Excellent, but like Speed Racer this one should have been PG-13. It was pretty much in line with the first Lord of the Rings movie, but without blood. Literally. Same number of bodies falling. Same number of swords stabbing, etc...just no blood squirting when it happens. But like i said, very good. True to the book (almost too much - those who haven't read it might be confused) and well acted and written. I hope they keep moving through the books - at least make it a trilogy. These Narnia movies could have been drivel, but so far so good.

May 22 - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

I went in with mid-level expectations and didn't bury myself in spoiler-filled coverage before it came out and i think it paid off. I really liked this one. I think what i liked best was that it assumed that Indy kept doing things for the last 20 years. [SPOILER ALERT - HIGHLIGHT TEXT TO READ IT] It referenced Young Indiana Jones Chronicles events, assumed that Indy was in the service during WWII (which of course he would be), etc. He wasn't just old, he had a life. The only gripe i had on this one was the scene with Mutt swinging from the vines with monkeys...and the truck/cliff/tree moment that was straight out of a Wiley Coyote cartoon. Otherwise the suspension of disbelief was within what i was willing to deal with, and loads of fun. I also think this one worked better because it tapped into a mythos that i was familiar with. Indy 1 and 3 were great because i grew up hearing about what they were after. Temple of Doom didn't reach me as well because i didn't care about the MacGuffin. In this one, it worked because i've heard about Rosewell aliens for years and mysterious temples in South America, so i was ready to see those fantasies played out on screen. [END SPOILERS] Wish i could see this one again, but i guess i'll have to wait for the blu-ray for a second go-round.

June 20 - Get Smart

Didn't see it. Might get around to this one eventually, but the closer it got and the more i saw about it, the more it looked like it wasn't my kinda movie.

June 27 - WALL-E

Great movie. I can see where most people are coming from with the reviews that the first act was great, but the later parts of the movie dropped off. While yes, the first part was fun and light and enjoyable, a whole 2-hour feature of that would have gotten boring after a while. I enjoyed this one thoroughly, though it still ranks behind A Bug's Life, Cars, and Finding Nemo for me in the Pixar pantheon. [MINOR SPOILER ALERT - highlight text to read] I also didn't take issue at all with the concerns some had with the message of the movie. Firstly i don't think it was that much of a message movie. On first viewing i definitely got a message, but on further examination, really this was a love story set on the backdrop of a humorously exaggerated extreme future. [ END SPOILERS]

July 2 - Hancock

Awesome. I really think people that didn't like this movie went in with too many expectations. This wasn't Pursuit of Happiness or Independence Day, but a wonderful balance between the two. [MINOR SPOILER ALERT - Highlight text to read] I also love that though this movie had a major 'twist' (which was by some miracle not spoiled in the trailers), the movie wasn't about the twist. It had a twist, then moved on to what the movie was really about. Kudos to the writers and i think they also thankfully avoided dealing the the alcoholic/tortured super-hero issue too much, which leaves room for those stories in Ironman sequels [SPOILER END]. Highly recommended.

July 11 - Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Haven't seen yet, but still hope to see before it leaves theaters. If i have to wait for blu-ray though, i can.

July 18 - The Dark Knight
Great movie but... It was a little too dark and a little too long for me. Good movie, but it needed to be tightened up. Many subplots that could have been cut (one in particular) and well...gonna have to go into spoiler mode: [SPOILER ALERT - Highlight text to read] All of the acting was spectacular, and the overall direction was good, but the script needed work. The entire Hong Kong sequence should have been cut, and overall it just needed a few nips and tucks. My only other major gripe was Two-Face. One that he didn't get enough time, and two that he looked ridiculous. He looked like Imhotep from The Mummy. He just had gas on his face which caught on fire. Batman was right there and put the fire out. Unless Batman put it out with a brick, Dent's jaw shouldn't have been broken and his face should have been burned, not missing! Then even at that...if his face was missing...he wouldn't be walking around and talking the same. His voice would sound different, etc. Normally i wouldn't nit-pick something like this, but Christopher Nolan has gone out of his way to make a very realistic world here. We can believe that what we are watching could actually happen - but not Two-Face. Overall though, the Joker was great, the increased role of Lt/Commissioner Gordon was great, and it was a very good movie. Just not as good as it could have been (read: over-hyped and not as good as the amazing movie it followed) [END SPOILERS]

NOT OUT YET:
Aug 1 - The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
Nov 21 - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince


Might checking out (or wait for video):

March 14 - Horton Hears a Who!

Saw the last 15 minutes of the movie at a showing in the park. Looked cute. Might get around to seeing more eventually.

June 6 - Kung Fu Panda

Haven't seen, but plan on it. A friend of mine said he liked it more than Ironman at the time, which says a lot.

June 13 - The Incredible Hulk

Didn't see. Not planning on it anytime soon. Just looked poor. Never been a big Hulk fan anyway.

June 13 - The Happening

Didn't see, but looked like it would be good. Still plan on catching on Netflix.

July 11 - Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D

Haven't seen yet, but would like to. Plan on seeing it before it leaves theaters just so i can see the 3D experience.

Thoughts from a show

Feeling especially contemplative at the Sixpence None The Richer show at 3rd and Lindsley, so rather than continue to clutter Twitter, just gonna run a bit of a random thoughts blog. Enjoy.

• Many indie/rock musicians are still following the fashion (hair and clothes) example set by Nirvana (and to a lesser extent some punk bands from the earlier) nearly 18 years ago. i find that remarkable.

• I know from experience, the stage at 3rd and Lindsley looks and feels small from the audience but is deceptively big. The whole venue feels like a tiny club, but the stage accommodates a 5-6 piece band with ease and the place must have 300-500 people in it right now. Good balance. Very good sound guys too. Unlike some venues in town (*cough*Exit/In*cough*).

• Of course, the 8 person band (yes - eight people!) that Sixpence has on stage is a little cramped. Sheesh!

• Apparently Sixpence None The Richer is still drawing pretty much the same people they used to. Not the same crowd - actually the same people. In the last 6-8 years they've gone from drawing 20-somethings (and a mixed crowd) to drawing 30-something women - almost exclusively. At least at this show. Not that that's a bad thing. Though this does feel just a little like the shows that the Hugh Grant character in 'Music and Lyrics' was doing, but less pathetic.

• Really random thought: Blogger's examples for the types of words to use for tags have been "scooters, vacation, fall". One day I'm going to take a vacation in the fall and ride a scooter just so i can write a blog post about it. :-)

• The electric guitar player for Sixpence (not Matt Slocum or the all acoustic all the time guy or the bass player - the other one) has dreads, a black shirt, s bandanna hanging out of his back pocket, and his guitar is slung low (resting on his knee from a standing position). He's very good, but looks like they found him behind the punk/metal stage at a festival and decided to keep him. He's now playing an electric mandolin. Image/sound conflict, but it works.

• The keyboard player (edit: whoa, that's Sam Ashworth) on the other hand looks like he should be in a lounge on a cruise ship. A cool lounge, but still there's a big shift from stage right to stage left.

• While we're on the topic of band dress: Christy and i used to comment how Leigh Nash was always really good at dressing very stylish, but very modestly. Tonight...let's just say i could describe an undergarment to you in detail. Distracting much?

• The percussionist (not the drummer, the other one)(edit: whoa, that's Steve Hindalong!) is using two tambourines simultaneously throughout the evening. When one tambourine just isn't enough...

• Aside from being an amazing songwriter, Matt Slocum is a deceptively good guitarist. Wow.

• Seeing live music always makes me want to play more, and get a chance to play out. i got only a very small taste of it, and was never a good enough drummer (or took the time/money to do the gear like a pro) to do it in the past. Sometimes I think about selling my drum kit for the nice cash it would bring, but i still want to play sometime. As long as i have it there is a hope that I'll either play with Nick and/or Jamie sometime again. Someday it may be like my dad's old saxophone in the closet.

• Before the show, the house mix played a pop cover of "Sit Down You're Rockin' The Boat". Love the song, but that one i wouldn't have called as cover-worthy. It worked though. (Looked it up after i got home and apparently Don Henley covered it. Eeww. I don't think that's what we were hearing tonight though.
  

• Matt Slocum must know his pedal board and the floor of every venue he's ever played very well. He never looks up through the whole show. Not looking at his guitar or feet board most of the time. Just studying the floor.

• 3rd and Lindsley's chicken tenders are surprisingly good. Their bathroom is also too nice for a bar/club like this. They need to take out the nice vinyl floor and stucco walls and replace them all with thinly painted plywood. That would fit much better. Thanks.

Ok, the show is wrapping up, so i guess i will too. Thanks for letting me spew random thoughts at ya for a while.

PS: i could see the set list- they planned an encore ("Eyes Wide Open") but the audience didn't ask for one, probably because it was broadcast on the radio and the announcer 'signed off' the air. Oh well. It was a great show.

best selling the future

I've talked about killer apps here before. Games or movies or whatever that cause someone to adopt a new technology. Good example was "The Matrix" DVD. People bought $200 DVD players (back then) just to watch a $25 movie on the new killer format. Well, apparently we have two killer apps about to hit...or something like that anyway.


The top two best-selling Blu-Ray movies on Amazon.com right now, aren't even out yet. Amazon is taking pre-orders for Ironman and Batman Begins (which by the way, has been available on HD-DVD for months).
In fact, 9 of the top 20 Blu-Ray's haven't come out yet as of today.

I just think that is pretty funny.

The Faux Brummles

A few friends of ours dropped us an email a saying "A friend of Allison's (from work) husband is playing as part of a band on Friday night, do you want to go see them. The band is: Phil Keaggy, Dave Perkins, Lynn Nichols, Rick Cua, Mark Williamson, Mike Radovsky, Tom Howard, and several other players. Playing nothing but covers. Small cafe venue. $5 cover. Do you want to go see them?"

My response was essentially: "ARE YOU KIDDING?!"

And apparently i was so excited i completely neglected to invite Jamie, my dad, or anyone else who would appreciate seeing Phil Keaggy play with half of Chagall Guevera (and half the band that played on his amazing "Crimson and Blue" album) with some of the other best musicians in Nashville.

So, i'm a jerk.

Not only that, but i neglected to adequately test my Canon S3IS's ability to record REALLY LOUD music. It handled it better than my Sansa, but not quite as good as the old tape recorder in my pocket used to when i bootlegged every show i saw. Oh - and i also didn't think to take two SD cards, just a single 2GB job that could hold about 70min of video tops.

But at any rate, i recorded what i could. But i missed the last 3 tunes (including Rick Cua's one and only amazing bass solo) and the audio quality is poor.

However, even though the audio is fairly trashy, it unfortunately gives you an accurate feel for the sound that evening. REALLY LOUD and unbalanced. The drums and organ were way too loud, and you could barely hear Phil Keaggy's or Dave Perkins' guitars, or Phil Keaggy's and Mark Williamson's vocals. But all-in-all it was still pretty amazing.

I recorded video when i felt like i could. I didn't have a tri-pod and i wasn't sure they really wanted the whole thing video taped, so i just left it sitting on the table recording the lens cap and sound most of the show, and occasionally would pick it up and pretend to take still photos and shoot video of the band. I realized after the fact that they probably would have been fine with me setting up a tripod in the corner and recording the whole thing... lessons learned.

Anyway - here's a rough version of them covering the Beatles' "Get Back". I'll try to clean up the audio and post the whole show later.


The Faux Brummles from Paul Nicholson on Vimeo.

Note about the band name: They were the Faux Brummles...named after the Beau Brummels, a 'fake' British Invasion band that was really from the 'States. Since these guys weren't really a band, they figured they'd be a fake-fake-band. I took the misspelling of "Brummles" from the marquee out front, but who knows if that was a typo or intentional. They said if they ever play again it'll be under a different name, so don't look for them too hard in the future.

We're getting our U-verse!

I don't know yet if Christy and i will actually sign up for it, but sooner rather than later we will finally have the option of subscribing to AT&T's U-verse.

Bredesen just signed the bill that allows for state-wide cable franchising, which basically means AT&T can skip all that tedious mucking about in hyperspace with regional franchising in every county.

So now AT&T can offer U-Verse state-wide with the (theoretical) flip of a switch. Why is that so cool? Right now they offer a package for $92 a month that includes local phone service, high-speed internet, 200 channels of digital TV including HD, and an HD DVR. Wow.

Best of all, they have a build-your-own package that lets you pick and choose the channels you want, which would probably be what we do since we only want about 15 channels and would rather the rest not even be available (too much time-suck already). Those packages start at $77 per month including TV, internet, and phone.

That i have seen, AT&T has not yet announced when they sill start offering U-verse services in Tennessee, or in what markets it will be offered first.

All Predators games in HD "soon"

Good news Preds fans - more HD is on the way!

I had the "HD will do more for hockey than any other sport" discussion again last week. Between the ability to see the puck (sans glowing) and the ability to see more of the play developing on the ice (much of hockey actually happens away from the puck), the benefits of getting as much hockey in HD as possible are evident.

Last year, we Preds fans groused about not having more games in HD repeatedly. Center Ice didn't show the games in HD (even if they were available) and Fox Sports Net: South, which carried most games locally) only provided a relative few games in HD. The worst came in the playoffs, where Preds fans only got one game (on NBC) out of 6 in HD. Out of 94 Predators games played in the 07-08 season, only 23 were available in HD in Nashville (1 NBC, 1 Versus, 21 FSN-S).

We were told that most of the games weren't available in HD because there was 1) a limited number HD production trucks at FSN's disposal and 2) a limited amount of bandwidth and signal processing ability to simply handle that many HD feeds.

So, back to the "good news": FSN just announced that they will soon be opening a new signal processing facility in Houston that will allow them to "handle up to 40 live [HD] games per day". More importantly, they promise that "in 2009", they will be 100%, 24/7 High Definition.

Of course, that could take until December of 2009...or they could miss their target entirely. But the fact that they are making a concerted effort to get as much HD out there as possible is a good sign. And 24/7 means that even if the NHL is the last thing they support, it will be here eventually!

Side Note: If they can get all Preds games in HD sooner rather than later, and the NFL does indeed go into a lockout*, this could be a very good year for hockey in Nashville indeed.

*I like the Titans just fine, and wouldn't wish a lockout on other fans for anything. But from a strictly business point of view, you know having the NFL go into even a short lockout would be a boon to the Predators business. UPDATE: If the NFL does go into lockout, it won't be until the 2011 season.

put in your pre-orders now

Just had to take two seconds out to make sure everyone knew that Firefly on Blu-Ray is now available for pre-order on Amazon. No release date yet, but you can bet it will be out before Christmas '08.

FYI: I hope to continue blogs about the Predators' past season and make my wish, to-do, and hope-to-see lists - but those may be delayed somewhat since i just picked up Echochrome (amazing), Burnout Paradise (think Tony Hawk Pro Skater with cars), and am playing through Star Wars Lego: The Complete Saga with Christy (again)...besides doing lots of other things in the real world.

basic building blocks

Thanks to Brittney for posting a pic of this great new Lego ad:

click to en-biggen

Fabulous ad that shows Lego as they are meant to be used.

Too bad that the company's product group has forgotten what their ad agency knows so well.

It is getting harder and harder to find buckets of raw pieces in stores. Only Lego fanatics, willing to go online and take time to custom order parts, can find them anymore. If you hit Wal-mart looking for a quick Lego fix, you're only going to find these ridiculous sets that border on basic modeling kits.
I always ignored the directions showing all the different houses and things you could make with the generic kits anyway. That is the fun. Gimme a buck-o-pieces and make me use my mind. But when half the pieces have decals and designs on them and are custom molded nose-cones, it just ruins the fun.

Having said that...the more custom character pieces can be fun...especially when i can have my favorite character from the Star Wars Lego video game on my desk at work.

LAN Party!!!!

It's that time of year again: My good friend Matt and I are celebrating another trip around the sun (my birthday is March 7th, his is March 1st). So, we're going shoot each other. :-)

Yes, we are throwing another LAN party!

dark picture from last year's party

This year we're going to try to make things a little more coordinated. For the sake of simplicity, we're going to base the day's gaming around the Valve Orange Box and games distributed through Steam. Specifically, mods for Half-Life 2, but we'll probably throw some Team Fortress 2 in there, and may break out Quake 3 Team Arena, Battlestations: Midway, or any of the other free demo games on Steam.

Depending on who is there, we may end up playing some Tribes 2 (now free online), or some RTS or other (Battle for Middle Earth?) and we may even devolve into playing some console games (like 8-player NHL 08 on my shiny new PS3). But we'll mostly stick to stuff on Steam.

The party will be March 8th at my place in East Nashville, from 1:00pm to... late (probably around 10:00pm or 11:00pm...)

Here's the fun part - you're all invited!

What you have to bring:

* Your own PC (with monitor, keyboard, mouse, and headphones!)
* A running copy of Steam and Half-Life 2 installed - before you arrive if possible
(the full Orange Box package is a plus, but not needed)
* $5 for pizza

We'll provide snacks and drinks, as well as seating, tables, power, and network connections.

If you are interested in attending, then let me know by either commenting on this post or direct message me on twitter (just post to Twitter "d pwnicholson: i want to come to your cool LAN party") and i will get you directions. If you are some really random person i've never heard of before, i may want to at least...ya know...talk to you first. But all my rad blogger buddies are certainly invited, male and female alike (of course, be warned: to have fun at this party there is something of a requirement to be a gaming geek at some level).

If you can only come to part of the party, that's certainly fine. Several people are already planning on being there for "only" 4-5 hours. It's cool.

more bad news for HD-DVD

When Wal-Mart drops you, you are pretty much done.

Summer Movie goodness (and the new Indiana Jones Trailer)

Ok, first things first: If you haven't seen the new trailer for the fourth Indiana Jones movie, watch it now. Here. Immediately.

(if the embed isn't working - try here)

Ok, now that we have that out of the way...

My thoughts: I don't like that they open with a re-hashing of the original movies. For those of us who have seen the first movies, i think we know who Indiana Jones is. If they had just shown the clip of the fedora on the ground and the silhouette...that would have been more than enough and a great intro. For those that haven't seen the previous movies (all two of you) you just had them all spoiled for you.

Anyway...once the trailer gets going, it looks good. It looks like they'll use a bit of a comedy (i just hope not too much) to address the fact that he's old.

One thing that i am very disappointed by though: from numerous shots in the trailer, Spielberg and Lucas have obviously recanted their promise to keep computer generated effects to a minimum. I know this is a very short trailer, and those shots could be the extent of the CG in the whole movie - that would certainly be minimal - but i don't have my hopes up. I guess i'd rather be disappointed now than while watching the movie though.

I am definitely pumped about the movie though. The trailer had a good feel and in terms of cinematography, it looked very similar to Last Crusade. Good stuff.

In other movie news...
It is time for an updated list of movies i'm interested in seeing:

Planning on seeing:
Feb 14th - Jumper (scratch...heard it sucked)
April 18 - The Forbidden Kingdom
May 2 - Iron Man
May 9 - Speed Racer
May 16 - Chronicles of Narnia: Price Caspian
May 22 - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
June 20 - Get Smart
June 27 - WALL-E
July 2 - Hancock
July 11 - Hellboy II: The Golden Army
July 18 - The Dark Knight
Aug 1 - The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
Nov 21 - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Dec 25 May 8, 2009 - Star Trek XI - just got bumped :-(

Might checking out (or wait for video):
March 14 - Horton Hears a Who!
June 6 - Kung Fu Panda
June 13 - The Incredible Hulk
June 13 - The Happening
July 11 - Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D
Oct 3 - Valkyrie
Dec 10 - X-Files 2

So...looks like i'll be dropping somewhere in the area of $300 in movie tickets this year. Could be worse i guess. Maybe i'll hit some matinées.

More Blu-Ray goodness

If all of this wasn't reason enough to consider the HD-format war over, Netflix just announced that "Netflix, Citing a Clear Signal From the Industry, Will Carry High-Def DVDs Only in Blu-ray Format". As for its current HD DVD inventory, they said the company "would continue to rent until the discs' natural life cycle takes them out of circulation in the coming months". So it sounds like HD-DVD will be going sooner rather than later. (This makes me wonder though - do Netflix discs get abused that badly? Each disc only lasts a few months? Ouch.)

Between Netflix and Blockbuster going Blu-Ray only, Engadget is right - it is going to be darn hard to find HD-DVD to rent, even if they don't truly go away.

In related HD-format war news:
Here's the list of movies being released in each format this week. Still have any questions?

Blu-Ray: The Amateurs, Becoming Jane, Gone Baby Gone, No Reservations, Over America In High Definition, Over California In High Definition, We Own the Night

HD DVD: The Amateurs, (and a 'mature audiences' movie that will remain nameless)

Total count is now HD-DVD: 333, Blu-Ray: 476

In related Netflix news:
Someone just posted a new plug-in for Windows Media Center that allows you to integrate the Netflix online streaming "Watch Instantly" content. Sweet. This will go perfect with my new MCE setup upstairs :-)

And in other related Netflix news:
Netflix has apparently started a contest (no idea how long ago) for someone to develop a better way to predict what type of movies people will like. The "Recommended For You" section of their site, along with Amazon and other sites is based on algorithms that factor your past viewing habits and ratings. $1mil to a great idea. Anyone have any thoughts?

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UPDATE:
More bad news for HD-DVD. Best Buy just announced that they will switch from a neutral stance to recommending Blu-Ray. They will promote Blu-Ray hardware and titles on their website and in their store. They will still carry HD-DVD, but will give preference to Blu-Ray.

is the format war over?

Personally, i think it is fairly safe to call it. At 'worst' we might end up with a truce and both formats will survive in some capacity, but i don't think it'll even come to that. Sony finally beat the Betamax (and mini-disc, ATRAC, memory sticks, Super Audio, and UMD among many others...) curse and won a format war.

Blu-Ray is here to stay.

Blu-Ray had a huge boost in market share after Christmas, and still routinely controls 60%-plus of the high-def movie market week after week. Since the inception of both formats, Blu-Ray controls 64% of the market, and has controlled all 10 spots on the Nielsen VideoScan list of top titles every week since Christmas. It is also worth noting that many HD-DVD movies come bundled with the standard DVD as well, so the HD-DVD numbers may be given a boost by customers buying those copies for the standard DVD's, not the high-def format.

I even did a little research for ya. Here are a few interesting fact nuggets that lead me to believe in HD-DVD demise:

• Blockbuster has decided to go Blu-Ray exclusive in over 1,700 stores.
• You can get a Blu-Ray drive for your PC for under $200 now.
• Sony just announced a smaller and cheaper Blu-Ray laser system. Cheaper and smaller players should follow.
• Sonic (makers of MyDVD personal DVD making software) are halting production of Scenarist for HD-DVD. This is the professional-level application used to author (make menus, features, etc) many hollywood retail discs.
• Microsoft VP of global marketing recently said that the XBox 360, which has an optional HD-DVD add-on, may one day have a Blu-Ray add-on instead/as well.
• A german retail recently began offering a rebate/discount on the purchase of Blu-Ray players for people that exchanged (brought back) "old" HD-DVD players.
• Many retailers are shifting shelf space away from HD-DVD and toward Blu-Ray, making HD-DVD's available "for special order". Ouch.
• Woolworth's is making HD-DVD online only. Blu-Ray exclusive in stores.
• Warner Brothers elected to cease HD-DVD exclusivity, and is switching to Blu-Ray, and is taking New Line Studios (read: Lord of the Rings) with it. Many (including the New York Times) feel this is the death knell for HD-DVD.
• The only studio to switch from Blu-Ray to HD-DVD was Paramount Pictures (along with Dreamworks) back in August of '07. This switch prompted director Michael Bay to say that he wouldn't make Transformers 2 if Paramount didn't release it on Blu-Ray. Of course he later backed-off, but still...

Getting a handle on which studios are lined up fully in which camp would be tough, especially given the distribution rights for different territories, etc. However, I think one of the more important aspects of a format war is the ever-important Killer App.

Killer Apps for a movie format would of course, be movies. So, let's make a short list of movies or series with a major cult following that might compel someone to purchase a player for either format (in no particular order):

HD-DVD:

Bourne Trilogy
Serentiy
Dune
The Mummy
Shrek
Star Trek (movies and TV shows)
Battlestar Gallactica (TV show)
Heros (TV show)
Braveheart

Blu-Ray:

Pixar Movies (Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Cars, etc)
Stargate (movie and TV shows)
Pirates of the Caribbean
X-Men
Lost (TV show)
James Bond (many not yet released)
Disney Animated Features (many not yet released)
Lord of the Rings (not yet released)

Both:

Monty Python
The Matrix Trilogy
Harry Potter
Bladerunner
Terminator
Superman Returns

Still undecided:

Star Wars
Indiana Jones
Firefly

So...spot anything you can't live without?

One of the other early deciding factors has been who is buying these players. It would be all well and good if all ABC sitcoms from the 1990's were released on one format or another, but if those people don't drive early adopter sales, then it won't matter.

Which brings us to another point: HD-DVD has been pushing massive price cuts for players and media. However, mass-consumer demand is still for normal DVDs. The only customers buying high-def format movies are early adopters and videophiles. Not the types that generally react well to red-tag sales and feature stripped players for low prices.

As of Jan 28th, there were 381 HD-DVD titles compared to 459 Blu-Ray titles available. Blu-Ray also adds more each week on average, and they tend to be more popular and "a-list" titles. Here's the "new release" list for the month of January as an example:

Blu-Ray:

• Shoot 'Em Up (New Line)
• War (Lionsgate)
• Resident Evil (Sony)
• Resident Evil Trilogy (Sony)
• Resident Evil: Extinction (Sony)
• 3:10 to Yuma (2007) (Lionsgate)
• Con Air (Buena Vista)
• Dragon Wars (Sony)
• Killing Machine/Shogun's Ninja (BCI)
• Man on Fire (Fox)
• Night of the Werewolf/Vengeance of the Zombies (BCI)
• The Rock (Buena Vista)
• Sister Street Fighter/Sister Street Fighter 2 (BCI)
• Sunshine (Fox)
• Breaker Morant (Image)
• Good Luck Chuck (Lionsgate)
• Mr. Woodcock (New Line)
• Suburban Girl (Image)
• Went To Coney Island On A Mission From God...(Starz)
• The Game Plan (Walt Disney)
• Saw IV (Lionsgate)
• Daddy Day Camp (Sony)
• Damages: The Complete First Season (Sony)
• The Invasion (Warner)
• Justin Timberlake: Live at Madison Square Garden (Sony BMG)
• Monty Python's Life of Brian (Sony)

HD-DVD:

• Mobsters (Universal)
• The Pianist (Universal)
• White Noise (Universal)
• White Noise 2: The Light (Universal)
• Zodiac: Director's Cut (Paramount)
• The Ten (City Lights)
• Channels (Vanguard Cinema)
• Method Man: Live from the Sunset Strip (Music Distribution)
• Strauss: Die Fledermaus (Opus Arte)

Both:

• Dispatch: Zimbabwe - Live at Madison Square Garden (WMG)
• King of California (First Look)

So. I've got my PS3 and am firmly in the Blu-Ray camp now. Pixar was my killer app, but Stargate, the 5th Element, Pirates of the Caribbean and Harry Potter sure didn't hurt. Cars alone is worth the investment for me. If you haven't seen it in HD yet, let me know and i'll arrange a time for you to come over and watch it. It will blow. your. mind. Just make sure you put in a fresh set of contacts or clean your glasses well before you come over.

Predators Viewing Party!!

As i mentioned earlier, there is another Predators Viewing Party at Beyond the Edge at 6:00pm in the 5-points area of East Nashville(directions, map) tomorrow, Tues, Jan 29th. If you're looking for a place to watch the game, it promises to be a good one.

The game tomorrow night starts at 6:00pm, and is against the rarely seen (eastern conference) Boston Bruins. For those that don't know, Beyond the Edge is owned by the same Matt that owns Batter'd n Fried...the Boston-style seafood place down the street...yeah, he's from Boston. So, everyone has to go to cheer against Matt's other team :-)

There will be prizes (t-shirts, hats, tickets!) given away during each intermission, so come out and join Christy and i. I'll be ordering the philly cheesesteak and i guarantee we'll finish it off with the awesome new chocolate dessert they have now.

Oh - and for those that can't come out to Beyond the Edge, do at least check out the game. Fox Sports South is going to make this whole game a Hockey 101 special: FSN South Goes to Hockey School. So if you've never seen a game, or still don't understand what "off-sides" or "icing" means, then make sure to watch. Pete and Terry always make the game fun, and this promises to make things very interesting :-)