YouTube adds Movie Rentals, Average Price of $3.99

     YouTube, Google's extremely popular video upload and sharing service, has recently added full length movies to it's millions of videos already on the site. However, unlike the other millions of videos, these movies will not be given out for free.
     The average movie costs $3.99 for a 24 hour rental. However, some movies cost $2.99, and a sprinkle of the 3000 new movies are actually free, but contain some ads.
     This puts YouTube in the same movie-streaming boat as iTunes, Netflix, and even the Gadgetator reviewed Alphaline Entertainment. All of these services stream movies on-demand.
     YouTube is different from iTunes, Netflix, and others because, unlike anyone else, YouTube has many free movies. Netflix does not rent movies, but rather uses a subscription model. YouTube also stands out from iTunes, as it doesn't offer downloads of movies, however, rental prices are similar.
     Overall, YouTube seems like a great way to view movies, at 3000 movies, the library is nice sized, but you probably won't find everything you're looking for. However, if you do find what you are looking for, especially if it's an older movie, there's a slight chance that it'll be free. Another plus is that, since the movies are saved on your YouTube account, you can watch a rented movie almost anywhere you go, and switch off between devices during the movie. Check it out. as the chances are likely that you'll at least find one free movie you'll enjoy.

View the YouTube movie library here.

A Revolution in 3D gaming: The Nintendo 3DS

     In 2004, Nintendo brought us the first portable gaming device with a touchscreen with the Nintendo DS. The DS was a dual screen gaming device that opens like a clamshell laptop. The upper screen was an ordinary LCD. The bottom screen, on the other hand, had a resistive touchscreen, which brought a more personal gaming experience. throughout the years the DS evolved to include the DS Lite, DSi, DSi, and finally, the Nintendo 3DS.
    The 3DS is avalable for preorder at the nintendo website, and will be available on the 27th of March. At $249.99, the 3DS is about $100 more than any of it's predecessors. At that price, Nintendo had better be giving us something high quality.
    The 3DS had the regular resistive touchscreen of its predecessors, but the top screen uses a special stereoscopic display to deliver 3d quality images without any bulky glasses. The idea of 3D media is extremely popular currently, and Nintendo getting 3D mobile gaming out to the public as soon as possible is a very smart business move.
    The  device is 5.3 inches wide, and 2.9 inches in length, and with a weight of 8 ounces, the device is okay for bringing with you on the go.
     Besides for the ability to flay 3D games, the 3DS gives you two cameras on the back for 3D photos, and also introduces StreetPass, which connects you wirelessly to other 3DS owners and swaps information.
     Another cool feature of the 3DS is the newly added gyroscope and motion sensor, which adds a whole new way to play. Normally you would have to control the device solely with the physical buttons, now you can just move the device and, viola, the image on the screen changes. (Okay, it's not as cool as I make it sound. But still, that's awesome.)
     The hardware isn't the only thing that has changed. With it's 3DS, Nintendo introduces it's new preloaded system. The 3DS now comes with a web browser, an activity log that tracks what games you've been playing and for how long, as well as physical movements, and some games will even reward you for how much you walk. The device will also allow you to play music and even 3D video, but Nintendo has yet to announce the exact specifications of 3D video playback.
    Nintendo also brings it's Mii system from the Wii to the 3DS, allowing you to create an avatar for use in games, and will also be used with the StreetPass system mentioned above.
    The 3DS will also integrate some interesting augmented reality games, letting you smash monsters on your kitchen table.
    For $249.99, the 3DS is pretty pricey, but it introduces many more features, and is pretty much a completely different and improved device. With added 3D, a web browser, and a lot more, the 3DS might just be worth the almost $100 difference between earlier DS models. Is this device worth the $250? Maybe. Is it a very cool and compelling looking device? Definitely.

Netflix, iTunes, K Mart?

     Most are aware of the popular video streaming and downloading services. These include Netflix, iTunes, Amazon's Video on Demand, and more. These are all services that let you either buy individual movies or TV shows, or, in Netflix's case, stream an unlimited number of movies and TV shows for a monthly fee.
     Apparently the idea of getting content online as opposed to walking into a shop such as the slowly falling Blockbuster, which has also started getting into the on demand market, became very popular. Popular enough that Sears and K Mart partnered up with a digital media software company called Sonic to create an online movie and TV show download site called Alphaline Entertainment.

Alphaline Entertainment Homepage

     Alphaline Entertainment may have some catch-up to do, because, although this is not a giant difference, movie buying prices are a few dollars more on Alphaline. The rental prices are the same at $2.99, but iTunes has TV rentals for 99 cents, while Alphaline only has TV purchasing.
     When watching a trailer on Alphaline vs. Amazon, Alphaline's video quality was noticeably better, but took longer to load. On Amazon, the trailer played fine in my Google Chrome browser, but on Alphaline, I had to open Internet Explorer (Which crashed on me. Again). Also, to log in, and pretty much to do anything else on Alphaline, you must be using Internet Explorer or Firefox.
      I then purchased an episode of the 1962 show The Jetsons. When I tried downloading it, the Alphaline Website told me to download the RoxioNow Media Player, which is free. After I got the RoxioNow software, I tried to find a way to download the TV episode. I still have not been able to find a way to download the media.
     Until I can get either 1. My download, or 2. My $1.99 back, I don't plan on using Alphaline again, and I don't recommend it for you. Also, how much do you trust Sears and K Mart to know about downloads, web sites, and software programs?
     For now, Alphaline Entertainment seems like a big red flag. Unless you want to watch high quality movie trailers online.

UPDATE: The problem I had with downloading the video was something with Google Chrome. To download the episode, I needed to be using Firefox, not Internet Explorer or Google Chrome. To watch a trailer on the site, I needed to be using Internet Explorer. Strange, huh?

Well, I did get my $1.99 worth of video, but iTunes: better, cheaper, and easier.

Read the Original Script for New Robin Hood Movie Online

Recently, I came across an article on Cinematical.com about the original script for the new Robin Hood movie, and how it was changed and manipulated over the years into becoming the movie that hit the theaters.

The original script for the movie painted a much different picture then what was released. The script, Nottingham, tells the story from the Sheriff of Nottingham's point of view. This obviously makes for a huge shift from the movie, and is also a very interesting take on the classic tale. Read the original here.

The article on Cinematical is interesting as it recounts how plot lines changed as the movie changed hands while being created. The full story of the script and its numerous changes can be found on the original script writer's blog.

It truly is an interesting tale, and a great read for movie buffs and all readers.

Blu-ray Comes to Troy Public Library

You asked for it. We listened:

The Troy Public Library is happy to announce that we now offer Blu-ray format movies available for check out.

Like our DVD offerings, the latest Blu-ray titles marked "Feature" will cost $2 for a week. Older titles are free for the same period of time. Some current titles available include Batman Begins, Slumdog Millionaire, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Looking for reviews of Blu-rays? Look here.

Stop by the Library and take a look at the collection. And don't forget to put in a request if you don't see it on the shelves.

Danny Glover to Star in Movie about Struggle to Save Library

Actor Danny Glover will star in a movie, titled Highland Park, that could help revive the shuttered McGregor Library in that city. The story line will mirror the ongoing struggle to reopen the Library, which closed in March 2002 because the city could not afford to keep it open. Highland Park Mayor Hubert Yopp told the Detroit Free Press the library will undergo significant restoration and the movie will be a "steppingstone" to its reopening.

[via PositiveDetroit]

RIP John Hughes, 1950-2009

"NEW YORK — Writer-director John Hughes, Hollywood's youth impresario of the 1980s and '90s who captured the teen and preteen market with such favorites as "The Breakfast Club," "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and "Home Alone" died Thursday, a spokeswoman said. He was 59."



[via The Associated Press]

AMC Features BMC: B-Movie Classics

How many times has this happened to you: You come home, and all you are able to find on TV is quality programs? You are disappointed because want you really wanted to watch is a B-movie from the 1950s. Have no fear: AMC has come to your rescue!

The American Movie Classics website now has a section called "BMC: B-Movie Classics." Here, you can watch several complete classic B-movies, including Invasion of the Neptune Men, Planet on the Prowl, Teenage Caveman, and The Crawling Eye. Those interested in B-movies may be familiar with some of these titles already; several of them were used in episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Time for me to get back to watching Shake, Rattle, & Rock. To access the rest of BMC, click here.

[via Pop Candy]

VideoHound Offers Movie Lovers New Interactive Website

Do you like movies? If so, you are probably familiar with the VideoHound’s Gold Movie Retriever. This single volume reference book, a standard among movie lovers, has one paragraph reviews of tens of thousands of movies on VHS and DVD, along with a zero to four bones rating for each film.

Now, VideoHound has launched a social site, www.movieretriever.com, which allows you to create a free online account and interact with movie lovers around the world. You will be able to read one of 30,000 movie reviews; add your own ratings of movies and cast members; save movies to your Wag (most favorite) and Woof (least favorite) Lists; mark movies you want to watch; create and share custom lists, and respond to blog posts. You can even purchase movies directly from the site.

Plus, if you sign up for a free account by August 31, you could win a Sony Home Theater System with Blu-ray Disc Player and Bravia 40” Flat-Panel LCD HDTV.

Once you have logged on and found some movies you cannot wait to see, come by the Library and check them out. We have over 25,000 VHS and DVDs waiting for you to take home.

National Film Board of Canada Archives Now Online

Here is one for movie fans:

The National Film Board of Canada has put more than 700 films, clips and trailers on the Board's new website launched in January. From shorts and cartoons, to deeply moving or disturbing documentaries, all are there for free. Take a look -- there is sure to be one of interest.

[via boingboing]

R.I.P. VHS

The VHS tape – the format that popularized the copying, replaying, sharing and storing of media and ushered in the era of the home theatre – is no more.

According to Geoff Boucher, writing in the Los Angeles Times:

Pop culture is finally hitting the eject button on the VHS tape, the once-ubiquitous home-video format that will finish this month as a creaky ghost of Christmas past.

After three decades of steady if unspectacular service, the spinning wheels of the home-entertainment stalwart are slowing to a halt at retail outlets. On a crisp Friday morning in October, the final truckload of VHS tapes rolled out of a Palm Harbor, Fla., warehouse run by Ryan J. Kugler, the last major supplier of the tapes.

"It's dead, this is it, this is the last Christmas, without a doubt," said Kugler, 34, a Burbank businessman. "I was the last one buying VHS and the last one selling it, and I'm done. Anything left in warehouse we'll just give away or throw away."

Read VHS Era is Winding Down.

[via gizmodo.com]

Watch Videos on Your Computer with MyLibraryDV

Is the high cost of movie rentals keeping you out of Blockbusters? Are you bored with reruns on TV? Well, first-rate entertainment is as close as your computer screen with MyLibraryDV!

MyLibraryDV is a unique video-on-demand service, available to you with your Troy Public Library card. You can download from a collection of over 1,000 movies, TV shows and lifestyle programs, 24/7, anywhere you have a broadband internet connection.

You have to first install the download manager, which is a one-time process. Once the manager is installed, you launch the video player by clicking on the MyLibraryDV icon on your desktop. Then it’s just a matter of choosing the video in which you are interested. Movies from Tootsie to The Count of Monte Cristo are just a mouse click away!

To get started, visit the Troy Public Library homepage and click on the MyLibraryDV icon.