1) Use one of the film sites above to find a free full-length film (you’ll probably have the best luck with Hulu, The Auteurs, or IMDB). Watch a little of it. Would you watch an entire film on your computer or do you still prefer watching DVDs on your TV?
I selected "Ghostbusters", an old classic on Hulu, and had no trouble watching it. I chose it because my son often quotes from it. Since I didn't remember many of the parts I was curious to see it again. I also had forgotten that it starts out in the New York Public Library with the old card catalog.
I didn't mind watching the movie on my computer. In the past, I have often watched DVDs on my computer. A difference is that with "streaming" you often get glitches even with a fast connection. In some locations, like the Barbara Bush Library, it would currently be impossible to watch something that needs to be "streamed." Another difference is that Hulu's version stops periodically and makes you watch a commercial.
This whole post is quite thought-provoking. In the past, we kids had to walk across town to the old movie theater to see a film. The advent of videotapes and video players let us watch them at home. Blockbuster outlets became huge, and crowds hung out there very weekend. Their only real competitor was the public library, where you could actually get videotapes for FREE, although not the latest and greatest. Now the movie theaters are closed, and Blockbuster stores are headed the same way. Surely the video/DVD section of the public library is not far behind. Maybe we should stop putting money into it?
Even many of the library staff subscribe to Netflix, and the mail contains many disks each week going back and forth. Others, like my son, are more sophisticated, and have Netflix tied into their big flat screen HDTV. He can pull up a seemingless endless array of new and old films to watch whenever he wants.
BTW, related to post #79: Ghostbusters must be one of the classic early examples of product placement. Egon eats a big box of CheezIts early in the show, and then a bag of StayPuft marshmallows is unpacked from a grocery bag. [I never noticed this on first watch, but it would have provided a BIG HINT about the movie's eventual villain.] When Sigourney Weaver opens her fridge, it is loaded with Coke and Perrier and Kraft dressing. I wonder how much money the movie earned from this kind of arrangement even before it hit the theaters!
2) Find a trailer for an upcoming film. Would you use these sites to keep up on current film information?
I d
iscussed "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak with two book clubs, and both were very intrigued by the fact that the book was going to be made into a movie. None of us could imagine how a film could do justice to that very poetic and creative book. So I searched for some trailers of the forthcoming movie.
On the Apple site, I found podcasts for the book, but no movie trailer. I didn't find a trailer on the IMDB site either. A general Google search led to several YouTube clips. One seemed like the official trailer. Others were homemade -- one by a bunch of teens, and another by a family of young kids.
IMDB has proven very useful for movie reference in the past (e.g. casts, dates, awards, etc.). The addition of trailers should make it even more useful.
3) Write a blog post about the experience. Would you consider using any of the fee-based services to get the movies you want at home? If so, which one would work better for you and why?
I seldom use anything that is fee-based. I might be tempted to subscribe to NetFlix via the mail. It's interesting that most of these TV and movie services allow you to watch alone in your home. The social experience of going to the theater is lost. Now that I think about it, though, the theater experience makes me think of gum on the seats and floors sticky with spilled drinks or slippery from greasy popcorn. Hard to miss that...
I didn't mind watching the movie on my computer. In the past, I have often watched DVDs on my computer. A difference is that with "streaming" you often get glitches even with a fast connection. In some locations, like the Barbara Bush Library, it would currently be impossible to watch something that needs to be "streamed." Another difference is that Hulu's version stops periodically and makes you watch a commercial.
This whole post is quite thought-provoking. In the past, we kids had to walk across town to the old movie theater to see a film. The advent of videotapes and video players let us watch them at home. Blockbuster outlets became huge, and crowds hung out there very weekend. Their only real competitor was the public library, where you could actually get videotapes for FREE, although not the latest and greatest. Now the movie theaters are closed, and Blockbuster stores are headed the same way. Surely the video/DVD section of the public library is not far behind. Maybe we should stop putting money into it?
Even many of the library staff subscribe to Netflix, and the mail contains many disks each week going back and forth. Others, like my son, are more sophisticated, and have Netflix tied into their big flat screen HDTV. He can pull up a seemingless endless array of new and old films to watch whenever he wants.
BTW, related to post #79: Ghostbusters must be one of the classic early examples of product placement. Egon eats a big box of CheezIts early in the show, and then a bag of StayPuft marshmallows is unpacked from a grocery bag. [I never noticed this on first watch, but it would have provided a BIG HINT about the movie's eventual villain.] When Sigourney Weaver opens her fridge, it is loaded with Coke and Perrier and Kraft dressing. I wonder how much money the movie earned from this kind of arrangement even before it hit the theaters!
2) Find a trailer for an upcoming film. Would you use these sites to keep up on current film information?
I d
iscussed "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak with two book clubs, and both were very intrigued by the fact that the book was going to be made into a movie. None of us could imagine how a film could do justice to that very poetic and creative book. So I searched for some trailers of the forthcoming movie.On the Apple site, I found podcasts for the book, but no movie trailer. I didn't find a trailer on the IMDB site either. A general Google search led to several YouTube clips. One seemed like the official trailer. Others were homemade -- one by a bunch of teens, and another by a family of young kids.
IMDB has proven very useful for movie reference in the past (e.g. casts, dates, awards, etc.). The addition of trailers should make it even more useful.
3) Write a blog post about the experience. Would you consider using any of the fee-based services to get the movies you want at home? If so, which one would work better for you and why?
I seldom use anything that is fee-based. I might be tempted to subscribe to NetFlix via the mail. It's interesting that most of these TV and movie services allow you to watch alone in your home. The social experience of going to the theater is lost. Now that I think about it, though, the theater experience makes me think of gum on the seats and floors sticky with spilled drinks or slippery from greasy popcorn. Hard to miss that...
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