Given the opportunity, I'd spend all day doing nothing but watching DVDs and writing about them. I couldn't tell you where this year's Survivor is taking place (or if there is a Survivor this year), but the chances that I watched a movie released on DVD in the last week are very high. I'm always watching the new release listings on Web sites and directly from the various studios, hoping to find obscure stuff that tells a good story. digitally OBSESSED covers a wide range of genres, offering reviews and news, not to mentioning offering some downloads that are useful in improving the DVD experience for both Mac and PC movie fanatics.
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Run Time: 131 minutes
Director: Chris Columbus
Starring: Robin Williams
DVD Release: May 6, 2003
Rating: PG
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Possibly one of Robin Williams more underrated performances, Bicentennial Man is a story of human understanding, as told through the eyes of an android. Based on the Isaac Asimov story of the same name, Bicentennial Man tracks the 200 years that make up the "life" of Andrew, a robot put into service to assist the Martin family. The Martins discover Andrew is "flawed," in that he exhibits characteristics that border on human. The movie traces Andrew's quest to foster his human qualities and search for other android beings like him. Through Andrew's own search for humanity, we are reminded what it means to be human. If you're a fan of Asimov's stories, or a looking for a more cerebral sci-fi story, compared to most of the genre, this is a definite must view movie.
Continue reading Bicentennial Man.
Run Time: 229 minutes
Director: Sergio Leone
Starring: Robert De Niro, James Woods, Joe Pesci, Jennifer Connelly, Elizabeth McGovern
DVD Release: September 23, 2003
Rating: R
Compare Prices on Once Upon A Time In America
You will either love this movie as a masterpiece of cinema, or hate it for the sheer length of the story. Originally released in US theaters at a mere 139 minutes, this epic 229 minute story of Jewish immigration to the United States, as told by an aging Jewish gangster, will test the water retention limits of even the most determined camel. All jokes about length aside, if you enjoy gangster movies, this uncut version of Once Upon a Time in America should be part of your home collection. The story (especially the flashbacks) is compelling, painting a different picture of New York than we've seen in other Hollywood epics. Commentary by Richard Schickel is also quite enlightening, but should definitely not be engaged the same day you watch the DVD for the first time.
Continue reading Once Upon a Time in America.
At the risk of alienating all the Charlie Hunter fans out there, I have to ask, what's the big deal? Sure he plays a custom eight-string guitar, noodling both the bass and lead lines simultaneously, which is a superhuman feat for certain. Every time I listen to the Charlie Hunter Quintet, I can't help thinking that those bass lines would be more interesting (and maybe his leads would be too) if there were two players instead of just one. I like Hunter's musical style, as much as I like any other Jazz guitarist, I just don't think anyone would find the music remarkable if a six-piece outfit played it instead. For anyone enamored with Charlie Hunter's mad dexterity, his site offers some free MP3s and an album cover specifically designed for creating your own album of the audio.
Comedy/Drama - 125min
Rating - (PG)
Release Date - 1970
Compare Prices on The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
Where has the Hollywood of the 1970's gone? You know, the Hollywood that used dialogue and plot to sell tickets, instead of explosions and alien creatures. Billy Wilder directed many of my favorite movies from cinema past, including Double Indemnity, Sabrina, the Apartment, and Some Like it Hot. The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes was done late in Wilder's career, offering a less-than-serious look at Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famed sleuth. Robert Stephens as Holmes and Colin Blakely's portrayal of Watson are quite possibly the best cinematic recreation of the detective duo, despite this being an unofficial account. The story has all the beauty of a film noir, with Wilder's touch guiding the story to almost perfection as Holmes assists Madame Valladon in the search for her husband.
Region 1 Encoding (US and Canada only)
Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Theatrical trailer
Christopher Lee: Mr. Holmes, Mr. Wilder
Interview with the editor
Deleted sequences
Photo gallery
http://www.campervanbeethoven.com
I can't remember who introduced me to Camper Van Beethoven back in high school. At the time, I had aspirations of being a metal drummer, but their first album, Telephone Free Landslide Victory grabbed my attention in a way that nothing in the metal world ever has. With the raw ambition of a garage band, coupled with a strange blend of ska and Eastern European folk music, CVB were most definitely in a class by themselves. The defining instrument of their sound being the disturbing violin tones of Jonathan Segel. Despite a strong following on the college radio circuit, the closest CVB ever came to mass acceptance was a remake of the Status Quo song, Pictures of Matchstick Men (although, I firmly believe that Take The Skinheads Bowling should have been a Top 40 smash). As the band evolved, David Lowrey, emerged as the frontman figure, which ultimately killed CVB at first, and Lowrey went on to succeed with Cracker. Around that time, I forgot about the existence of CVB, aside from occasionally playing old albums. Apparently they've been busy since I last checked in on the band; releasing some old material, recording some new material, going on tour, and generally doing all the things a working band does. Check out the old stuff to get a feel for what this band is about and then grow with them through their evolution.
Composer Philip Glass is best know for reviving opera, contributing works to the minimalist movement, and composing some of the more haunting works in this century. Through dedicated research, IBM has developed an engine designed to analyze and play sixty compositions from the huge body of Glass's work, with a unique playback engine that categorizes music through a series of relationships and emotions in groups of sliding bars. By moving the bars on the page, you can find types of selections you'd like to hear. Currently the plugin only works with IE.
Run Time: 146min
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Tom Cruise, Samantha Morton, Max Von Sydow, Collen Farrell
DVD Release Date: August 24, 2004
Rating: PG-13
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Raising some disturbing questions about the future of technology, Minority Report takes us to the not-too-distant future, where crimes may be predicted before they happen. Based on a sci-fi detective novel by Philip K Dick, the author responsible for the story behind Blade Runner, Minority Report is one of the more cerebral science fiction stories to hit DVD markets, possibly since the release of Blade Runner (unless you count the sci-fi Pinocchio that was A.I.). Both thought provoking and socially relevant, Minority Report sucks you in the way any good murder mystery should, with the interesting spin that the detectives know whodunit before it happens. This is probably one of my personal favorite Tom Cruise performances. The DVD extras are about as Hollywood glossy as you can get, with each special segment over-produced, losing the conversational intimacy present in some behind-the-scenes work. Speilberg continues to make his mark on the sci-fi genre and we are privy to his assembly of a "League of Superheros" from the motion picture world in the construction of this film.
You can hear the original story as part of the audio book Minority Report & Other Stories.
Continue reading Minority Report.
When you're looking for intelligent rock radio (is that an oxymoron?) radioio proclaims itself your answer. Intelligent or not, the diverse playlist is sure to keep you from getting bored, blending the music of provocative songwriters from the Sixties through today into an enjoyable listening experience. This is college rock radio for those of who don't need the college to be part of the listening experience - including many of the Indie bands missing from corporate (and most Web radio) playlists. Registration ranges in price from $2.99-9.99 per month depending on your preferred sound quality.
http://mindoverpixels.com/anim_monkeystomo.html
Sick of Apple's "Switch" campaign yet? This is probably the most sensible parody I've seen yet - possibly a commentary on the people appearing in the real commercials? I'll let you decide for yourself. I've always loved claymation stuff, so maybe I'm biased. Produced entirely with Mac gear, this Quicktime short would be an excellent demonstration of what you can do with a G4 and Final Cut Pro, even if it weren't mocking Apple in the process. A brief synopsis of the creative process is also provided.
With an upcoming trip to San Francisco almost upon me, I figured an exploration of the local music climate was distinctly in order. I'm a huge fan of a wide variety of genres and would love the opportunity to experience several local flavors while I'm there. I hate comparing one band to another, but I would tend to agree with a review posted to the sinombre site suggesting they sound similar to My Bloody Valentine, complete with the sensually melancholy vocals hovering above some seriously distorted pop guitar tracks. If you're a fan of the loosely defined genre of "noise rock" you'll probably dig this band (yes, I'm sure there are some who might term all rock to be "noise") If you live in the Bay area, sinombre seem to be regulars on the club scene.
http://www.justwilliammusic.com
Always on the lookout for good bands, especially ones from Iowa, Just William is a refreshing breath of air in a state dominated by blues, alt-country, and metal (I'm a fan of all three, but variety is refreshing). Based on the bio section that has each member giving their personal take on Christian music, I'm assuming that's what they consider themselves. Musically, they're a sometimes poppy, sometimes crunchy blend of genres, falling somewhere between BNL and Creed. Most of the songs seem to be about love, both lost and found. Regardless, it's refreshing to hear something from Iowa that isn't flirting with the cookie monster metal spawned in the wake of Slipknot's success.
Listen to KPIG
Somehow, we've successful avoided ever featuring KPIG in the Digital Media newsletter, despite it's being the first commercial radio station to broadcast on the Internet. Unfortunately, their free live stream is no more, although they do have a pre-recorded show that's pretty awesome. Broadcasting live from the Santa Cruz area, KPIG serves up radio the way it's meant to be done, with real people choosing cool music, instead of letting trends and statistics dictate what will be aired like so much of corporate radio today. I'm now torn between KPIG and RadioParadise.com for my online listening attention. In an effort to survive, they've joined the RealOne RadioPass network of stations, ( I can only hope a competing service emerges so that Real doesn't control the online radio market) which offers about 50 stations for $5.95/month.
Anyone questioning the validity of turntables as instruments needs to visit this site immediately. DJ Logic has worked with some of the most talented players in the modern jazz scene, including Medeski, Martin, & Wood, John Scofield, and Joshua Redman. Additional work with saxman Karl Denson hasn't hurt the DJ Logic evolution either. His latest project, with Vernon Reid, of Living Color fame, the Yohimbe Brothers, pairs his DJ styling with Reid's unique guitar sound for the first time since 1996. While the flash cartoon related to the Yohimbe Brothers is quite sophomoric (don't watch it at work), the music is quite out of the ordinary. You'll need RealPlayer for some of the content, but there's also some great Flash and MP3 stuff as well.
