cinematical
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2014 was the worst year for movie attendance since 1995
If you noticed a little more elbow room while you were at the movies last year, it probably wasn't the result of recliner chairs at your cineplex. As The Hollywood Reporter tells it, only about 1.26 billion folks bought movie tickets between New Year's Day and New Year's Eve in 2014 -- the lowest ticket sales figures have been since 1995 (1.21 billion sold). It's a six percent decrease compared to 2013, as well, when the number of tickets sold amounted to 1.34 billion butts in seats. THR also reports that in terms of dollars, sales dropped compared to last year too, seeing a five percent decline, which apparently is the biggest year-to-year fall in almost a decade.
Switched On: Techonciliation
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. "Don't throw the past away. You might need it some rainy day." -Peter Allen, from the song "Everything Old Is New Again" During the late '90s and early '00s, the hype bubble grew large about a number of ideas that never reached critical mass. WebTV was going to democratize the Internet, but it devolved into a market niche after being acquired by Microsoft. WiFi providers such as MobileStar and later Cometa Networks hoped to build vast WiFi networks that would compete with cellular plans. Those bubbles popped back in the day, but curiously, companies are now willing to pump some energy back into them. The question is whether they are in any better position to float this time around.
Games that shouldn't be MMOs
Here's a corollary post to an earlier story. Our cousin site, Cinematical, has brought teh funneh with a post about which board games would make awful movies. In that spirit, we now present to you a list of games that would make terrible MMOs, in no particular order.Please note that these are merely our particular opinions, and we're not saying that a cleverer-than-thou developer couldn't make a great MMO out of these games ... but for reasons we'll state here, it's highly unlikely. Then again, sometimes the best-sounding ideas turn out some awful games themselves (*cough* Fury *cough*), so it all evens out. Excelsior!
New J.J. Abrams flick promoted with ARG
Don't ever say we never gave you a good way to waste a few hours on a Saturday morning. From our friends at Cinematical comes the story of this strange ARG, one that is apparently promoting new J.J. Abrams movie currently codenamed Cloverfield. If you're into surprises, just click this link to a blog called "Ethan Haas Was Wrong" and you're off to the races. For those who prefer a more direct approach, the meatiest part begins here, at EthanHaasWasRight.com. What you'll find is a series of games (within a game?) leading up to an even bigger mystery that will begin to unravel itself on August 1, so now's your chance to get in on the ground floor. If you need a little more help, try clicking on the blue star and asking for it. If you really need it, you can track down a few walkthroughs on the internets, but you didn't hear it from us.[Update: Apparently, our friends at Cinematical were a bit off-base, as they're now saying that the site isn't related to Abrams' movie. But hey, it's still a game and still weird.][Via Cinematical]
Ving Rhames to be lead voice for Vice City Stories
According to IMDb, Ving Rhames will be voicing the lead character of the upcoming Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories. The actor is noted for roles in Kojak, Mission: Impossible, Con Air and Pulp Fiction, to name a few. With his a commanding authority in his voice, Ving Rhames seems to be appropraitely cast. The 47 year old actor is no stranger to video games, having done voice roles for Driver and Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories will release exclusively for the PSP in October.[Via QJ]
Mix Master Mac
If you've been following all the good news about Sundance Film Festival over at Blogging Sundance and Cinematical, then you've probably already spotted the news that Mix Master Mike was ripping up some cool tunes at last night's party for The Beastie Boys' film that James Rocchi reviewed for Cinematical.James went to the party last night, and shot the picture accompanying this post with his camera. Check it out: Mix Master Mike, cutting with a PowerBook. Nice. James said the cuts were off the hook, and I was very jealous that he got the pass to go to the party, but didn't get a plus one for yours truly. Fortunately, James is an awesome guy and hooked me up with some nice Beastie Boys schwag that he scored at the party, as well as the picture and title for this post.ps—Beasties rule!
Sundance HD Videoblog courtesy of DivX
More Sundance, more HD. We already know many of the films being shown at the festival were shot in HD, so of course even people who aren't there shouldn't watch them any other way. To that end, the Flavorpill lifestyle blog has teamed up with DivX to provide high definition videoclips direct from Utah. This is a good example of the high quality independent content we can expect to see more of as HD camcorders drop in price. I couldn't find any clips on the page right now, but we should see some 720p goodness before long.
Half of Sundance Festival is high-def
We didn't make it out to Sundance like some of the WIN crew; after all, who wants to see movie screenings when we can relax in our home theaters with high-def televisions, right? What's that you say....over half of the 193 films at the Sundance Festival are in high-definition? No, say it ain't so. Yes it's true, so now we feel totally duped by our obviously much smarter peers over at Cinematical. We should have known we were missing something when our very own CEO headed out West for Sundance. Sorta makes sense why he's the CEO and we're the bloggers, now doesn't it?In all seriousness, we're thrilled to see the number of high-def screenings increase by leaps and bounds. Eventually, whatever happens during the screenings makes it's way to the screens in the theaters, so you go Sundance!
Going to Sundance? Check out the HD House
Now of course we would say DVGuru is the best place to go learn about high definition tools for producing independent films, but if you like to get more hands on and happen to be in Utah starting tomorrow, visit the HD House. They've got panel discussions, product demonstrations and more planned. The tech sponsor for the house is Grass Valley, who will be spotlighting their HD camcorder and media. Any of you prosumers hitting up Sundance want to tell us how it is?
HD movies two months after theaters
You can't fight it Hollywood: folks want their first run high-def movies and they want to view them in the comfort of their own theater. We chatted with Mark Cuban last year on the whole "release in theaters and DVD and TV" concept; looks like Fox was listening. The COO of News. Corp, Peter Chernin, indicates that Fox is working on a 60-day plan: 20th Century Fox movies hit HD releases within 60 days of the theater release. Oh, how 21st century of them!We haven't seen a movie in the theater since "E.T." (the original, mind you), so after spending mucho dollars on high-def equipment for the home, we're all over this. Granted, we need some HD-DVD or Blu-Ray love as the final piece to this puzzle, but for now we're hoping that the high-def releases become available over cable or satellite. It's possible that local Fox affiliates could pick these up, but that's not likely based on the financial impacts.Read [via HDBlog.net]
Create an intro for Cinematical
Attention movie loving Motion mavens! Our sister blog, Cinematical, is looking for a 30 second (or less) intro for their Sundance vodcast and they want you to make it. You know the sort of thing they are looking for, much like what our fantastic reader C. Robin Osborn did for us.Here's the deal, you use your finely honed skills and exquisite taste to design the ultimate Cinematical intro and you will win the one prize that no one can take from you: fleeting fame. Additionally, your work will get exposure to thousands of film fanatics and if you are in the film industry this could be the break you're looking for.Head on over to Cinematical for all the details.
HD Trailer Tuesday
Got broadband and a monitor capable of 720p or better? Then warm 'em both up because it's time for some high-definition trailers courtesy of Apple's QuickTime site! There are six new trailers available in HD, so start downloading and watching. Hey, if you're feeling like an overachiever, don't let us stop you from posting an "HD Trailer Review" in the comments. Who knows? You could be the next guest movie reviewer over at Cinematical! Apocalypto - Trailer 1 - A Mayan movie without the cast of "Survivor" The Hills Have Eyes - Road trip goes atomically bad The Ant Bully - Think twice before stomping on an ant Thank You For Smoking - Which is more imporantant: your PR job or your family? The Benchwarmers -Three men against the entire Little League Bubble - Soderbergh directs a small town drama. Will this be in theaters, on DVD and TV at the same time? There you go, have at it and may the fastest broadband pipe win!
