movies - page 10

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol hits theaters everywhere tomorrow. Surprisingly, the movie actually got really good reviews and is positioned to be one of the top movies of the holiday season. We went and watched the film this weekend at IMAX and enjoyed the dose of big-budget popcorn entertainment that reminded us how huge action movies used to be a lot more fun than the annoying and cringe-worthy action flicks that hit the screen en masse nowadays. Thanks a lot Michael Bay.

The success of Mission Impossible 4 shouldn’t come as a huge surprise though to anyone who is familiar with the director Brad Bird. Having worked at Pixar for a number of years, Bird has directed popular films such as The Iron Giant, Ratatouille, and The Incredibles, as well as leading the creative teams behind Toy Story 3 and Up. Being a Pixar alum, Bird had the opportunity to work with Steve Jobs and remarks that, “he wasn’t about making something that was going to be cool next week, he was about making something that was going to be cool 100 years from now.”

As a fan of Apple, Bird places Apple products throughout his newest movie and uses them as tools for Ethan Hunt and his team to do some really awesome stuff. Here’s some of the coolest uses of Apple technology in Mission Impossible 4 (we’ll try and keep the spoilers at a minimum).

Want to quickly edit a movie file but can’t be bothered battling with the complexity of iMovie or Final Cut Pro? Here’s how to use QuickTime Player, included with every Mac, to trim movie files and merge movie files together.

Apple has posted two HD trailers for Christopher Nolan’s highly-anticpated Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises. While you’ll have to wait until summer of 2012 to watch the whole thing, 3:41 minutes of glorious footage is available from the movie trailer section of iTunes right now.

If you need more of a Batman fix, the 6-minute prologue to The Dark Knight Rises is showing before Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol in IMAX. The official trailer is also showing before Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.

Don’t forget that you can see these trailers and more in Apple’s official Trailers app for the iPhone and iPad.

Apple has expanded the reach of its iTunes Store today by offering music and movie content for the first time across 16 Latin American countries. It has also introduced the new iTunes Match service to users in Brazil, making it the first country outside of the U.S. to gain access to the feature.

Got a new Mac? You’ve probably realised that OS X provides an excellent out-of-the-box experience. Unlike with Windows, few add-ons are required. There’s a great browser, for example, and full PDF support. But there’s still some tools that most experienced Mac users download the minute they boot-up a new Mac. Here they are, listed for possibly the first time…

The latest iTV rumor is hitting the web today as Gene Munster told the crowd at IGNITION: Future of Media that the new Apple Television Set has been in the works for sometime now but should be released next year.

Munster is so certain that the new device is coming that he told everyone to wait before buying a new TV because Apple’s is going to be awesome.

Sure, the 32GB iPad has enough storage space for a bunch of apps, some songs and maybe even a movie or two. But for those of us with large media collections, even the mega 64GB version will start to feel a little cramped when stuffed full of music and videos (and I have no idea how those of you with 16GB iPads get by).

So, what if you could just stick a portable external drive into your iPad, like you would with a MacBook? Bam, extra storage! Well, yeah — but you can’t, right? Wrong! Well, sorta — you can’t plug one in physically; but the 500GB Seagate GoFlex Satellite ($200) gets around the whole physical connection thing by supplying its own wifi hotspot that lets you create a wifi link between it and your iPad. Genius.

Fanhattan is absolutely the required guide for TV/Movie junkies who frequently view titles on the iPhone. Just like on the iPad version, the app acts as a gateway to entertainment — it gathers a heap of information about shows or movies that can be watched on the iPhone, then serves up that information in a super-cool, easy-to-navigate interface (that looks absolutely stunning on the iPhone 4).

The Criterion Collection consists of the “important classic and contemporary films” from around the world. 46 of its films from throughout the years have been made available in iTunes for film aficionados to download.

The films in the collection are considered to be titles that have made a significant impact on the world of cinema. Many titles have been remastered and released in the highest quality possible for iTunes distribution.

Late last month, Apple rolled out the iTunes Music Store to twelve new European countries. Now they’ve done the same for the iTunes Movie Store, so if you’re Bulgarian, Czech, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Slovakian, Slovenian or from Cyprus, hey, go nuts!

[via MacTrast]

Apple is said to be finalizing deals with major movie studios that will allow the Cupertino company to introduce movie streaming to iCloud for Macs and iOS devices.

Apple is getting set to launch a brand new service that will compliment iCloud called iTunes Replay. The service will allow users to re-download and possibly stream movies they have previously purchased through iTunes, and could go public within the coming weeks.

When Steve Jobs unveils iCloud at next week’s WWDC, we know that all four major music labels will be onboard Apple’s streaming music service… but what about Hollywood?

Up until now, it looked as if iCloud would launch as a music-only affair without the proper deals inked with video content providers, but in a surprise development, it looks like Cupertino may be scrambling around Tinseltown trying to round up signatures after all.

Silent Film Director is another app to add to the amusing-video-effects list, but this one’s worth investigating.

Crackle is one of the fastest-growing digital entertainment networks, offering hundreds of high quality Hollywood movies and TV series from Columbia Pictures, Tri-Star, Screen Gems, Sony Pictures Classics and more.

Fans of the service couldn’t previously enjoy this content on their iOS device due to its Flash-based website, however, the official Crackle application is now available to download in the App Store.

The application is free and supports all iOS devices, while the content is ad-supported and free to watch. It lets you enjoy high quality content over Wi-Fi and 3G and build your own queue of content for viewing online or on your iOS device.

Crackle currently features movies such as The Da Vinci Code, Big Daddy, Ghostbusters, and Snatch, while its TV series collection boasts Seinfeld, Spider-Man, Married With Children, and The Three Stooges, amongst hundreds of other great titles.

DVD to iPhone Converter for both Mac and PC is a handy application that allows you to transfer your DVD movies in to MP4 files optimized for your iPhone 3G, 3GS or 4.

It’s incredibly simple to use: just stick your favorite DVD in to your computer, select the appropriate movie file and then click “convert.” When it’s done, drag the MP4 file in to your iTunes library and sync it to your device.

This application is a must for any movie fan, and the giveaway which will last just over a week will save you $29. All you need is a Facebook account.

Visit iSkySoft’s Facebook page, and click on the “like” button to become a fan. Fill in your name and email address and then download the application. Be sure to click on the “get keycode” link to get the serial key sent to you via email.

Get it before the offer ends and enjoy your movies on the move without buying them again on iTunes!

The mildly entertaining redemption story of The Rocker hinges on a Mac. Serial-geek actor Rainn Wilson (Dwight Schrute from The Office) plays an almost-been heavy metal drummer called Robert Fishman. His niece, annoyed that she can’t do her homework, uploads a video of his sweaty practice session from her iMac. It goes viral. The rest is history.

Not exactly hot under the collar to see this movie, since by most accounts it is a rom-com gone wrong, but Zack and Miri Make a Porno is a hotbed for Apple product placement.

The trailer features an ailing iBook, showing us exactly how desperate our two young friends are for cash. The movie also has a part for Justin Long, “Get a Mac” Apple adman as a gay porno star, leaving at least one person to suggest the actor is an Apple endorsement, too.

Given the title, there had to be some Apple action in this teen flick revolving around mix-CDs, break-up mix-ups and all-night quest in Manhattan for a band called Where’s Fluffy?

Norah (Kat Dennings) discovers something in common with Nick (Michael Cera) by scrolling through his iPod.

She declares: “You’re, literally, like, my musical soulmate.”

The line has sparked off a debate about whether personality is really defined by playlist.

Movie stills for forthcoming chick flick “Confessions of a Shopoholic” show star Isla Fisher sitting in front of a MacBook. She’s pretty in pink and so is her computer case.

The movie, based on Sophie Kinsella’s book of the same title, is about a 25-year-old financial journalist who can’t stop overheating her credit cards. And finds a wealthy husband. Or something like that.

Film producers didn’t have to go too far to put a Mac in the movie.

On page 335 of the book, the Becky Bloomwood character has “a crisp copy of the Financial Times under one arm, a pair of tortisehell glasses perched on my head, my clunky executive briefcase in one hand and an AppleMac laptop (sic) in the other. Maybe I over did it.”

Nah, we think it’s just the right touch.