VideoOnDemand Tagged Articles at Cinematical

For many filmmakers, film festivals are a way to potentially secure distribution for their indie films. Maybe a very few will hit the jackpot and land a deal with a big studio. However, most deals are likely to incorporate a limited -- if any -- theatrical release, followed by DVD or increasingly, online distribution or video on demand (VOD). At a brunch hosted by Cinetic FilmBuff during Fantastic Fest, a bunch of film journalists gathered to discuss the future of VOD and alternate methods of distributing films.

The big question we discussed is: How do people watch movies these days? Movies that don't get theatrical distribution are often automatically considered second-tier, and the term "direct to DVD" is still derogatory. But many people do most of their movie viewing in their own homes, either on TV or on a computer or other device, like the iPhone. We watch movies on DVD, but also on cable, through VOD channels that are available through cable TV or online, and through online streaming sites, like Netflix Watch Instantly and Hulu. A month ago, I had the choice of watching World's Greatest Dad on Amazon VOD, or waiting a week to see it in the theater -- this model made it possible for people in any city, not just those getting a theatrical release -- to watch the movie.

It's Labor Day weekend, but instead of grilling, maybe you feel like chilling at home with some fine, fine films. Netflix's on-demand service is great but sometimes the pickings are slim, and you're craving something meatier, something you can sink your teeth into.

Well, The Auteurs' Cinematheque has got your number. Sign up for free and check out what's available in your area -- some of the movies are actually free (hey, I've always meant to see L'avventura!) and some are available for a 7-day rental for the mere price of $5. The quality is so fine, you can hook your computer up to your TV and have an arty party for you and your friends. The Auteurs also offers curated series' like Cannes Winners, six movies from the fancy French fest courtesy of Criterion. Mais oui.

The site also offers forums to chat with other like-minded folks, as well as The Auteurs Notebook, which offers daily info on festivals, reviews, and even the occasional poem, as well as deep-cut think pieces from such film critics as Glenn Kenny and David Hudson, among others.

It's a cool site and perfect for those late nights when you feel like something a little more highbrow without getting out of your jammies.

Dust off your fangs and your body glitter, the Twilight DVD is on its way. But the bigger news (courtesy of MTV) is that Summit is trying something a little different and offering the teen romance on VOD the same day the two-disc edition will hit shelves. So that means if you can't make it to one of those midnight release parties being held across the US, you can still be first on your block to fall in love with the pigment-challenged Edward Cullen all over again.

If you do decide to drag your poor parents out in the middle of the night line up for a copy, here's what you're going to get: the two disc set will have plenty of extras for lovers of all things Edward and Bella. Disc one provides the usual goodies like extended scenes and audio commentary from director Catherine Hardwicke and stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart. Disc two, however, is for the truly devout and has a seven-part documentary about bringing the novel to the screen, along with deleted scenes and a comic-con feature.

Studios have been trying for some time to close the gap between theatrical and home video releases. Back in 2006, Steven Soderbergh tried something similar with the release of his murder mystery, Bubble, but unfortunately for him it didn't quite work out as planned. But for fans of the Twilight series, collecting is a big pastime (no matter how creepy it gets) -- so even if they tune in rather than line up at their local Hot Topic, I'm pretty sure most fans will be buying a copy of the DVD either way.

Now I'll leave it to the fans out there: will you be first in line for Twilight, or will you be swooning from the comfort of your own home?

Just about a year ago, Comcast's FEARnet video-on-demand service dug into the Lionsgate vault and pulled out Catacombs, which they offered at no charge on their VOD network. Turns out the flick wasn't all that hot, but hey, horror fans love to see stuff for free ... especially if it hasn't been released on video just yet.

So this year FEARnet is doing it again -- only this time it's a movie that did have a (rather insultingly) limited theatrical release. Like, VERY limited. Yes, gore-fans, Ryuhei Kitamura's adaptation of Clive Barker's The Midnight Meat Train may very well be viewable in your own living room -- at this very moment! (If you get FEARnet on your cable box, that is...) Last year Catacombs was also made available on the FN website prior to its DVD release, but we don't know if that will be the case on Meat Train. Lionsgate has yet to announce a DVD date for the film, so anything could happen.

Best of all, unlike Catacombs, I've already seen and have strongly recommended this particular horror movie -- and I certainly wouldn't sneeze at the source material either. For our earlier reports on this strangely controversial little horror flick, check here, here and here.

With the popularity of those new Netlix-playing Roku devices and this week's news that Xbox will also work with the Netflix Watch Instantly service and yesterday's launch of the documentary site SnagFilms and the fact that everyone including your grandma has a site that streams movies, it's no surprise that Amazon has finally also launched a stream service called Amazon Video on Demand. And it's got its own special Roku-type device to be manufactured by Sony, only it's much more expensive at $300 (compared to $99 for the Roku). And it seems you also need a Sony-made hi-def television to use it. The good news: eventually Sony's Bravia TVs will cut out the middle man (aka that $300 device) and Amazon may be able to work out future deals with other TV manufacturers.

Because it comes a little too late in the game, and because iTunes will likely forever keep its rival from offering Disney and ABC titles, I don't see Amazon Video on Demand being hugely successful. But the service at least sounds better than Amazon Unbox, which sold movie downloads. Because everyone and your grandmother subscribes to Netflix, if anyone wants to stream a movie they're going to just go with Watch Instantly and Roku. And because the main downside to that service is that it doesn't transfer to portable devices nor does it allow offline viewing, movie consumers are better off with iTunes for their non-Netflix needs. Hey, at least Amazon is still the preferred place to buy books, whether in paper or digital format.

[via Cinema Tech]

A couple of weeks ago, I ordered a Netflix Player by Roku -- a little box that lets Netflix subscribers watch the company's video-on-demand selections on a TV set. We already had a media computer hooked up to our TV, but it runs on a Linux platform so we couldn't use it to Watch Instantly on Netflix, which is Windows-only. The Roku player was priced at $99, which is a little steep for a gamble on whether the quality would be acceptable and whether we could make it work with our increasingly bulky TV/media setup, but we decided to give it a shot.

The box, which is about the size of a large paperback, arrived last weekend while I was at the farmers' market, and by the time I returned with tomatoes and peaches, my husband had hooked the box into our TV setup and activated it through our Netflix account. He tells me this was a very easy thing to do, although we're talking about someone who spent time the night before creating a fancy diagram of our devices and cabling input/output so he'd know exactly where and how to hook up the Roku box. (We also have a digital TV tuner, two DVD players, a VCR, and the media computer.) Here are the ups and downs we've discovered so far about the newest addition to our home's TV/media setup.

As usual, I'm not going to pretend to understand the technologies behind modern home entertainment. And so, before I begin, I'd like to prematurely thank any commenters who choose to weigh in on things such as "selectable output control," "the analog hole" or any other terms I might misuse or incorrectly explain. The only thing I comprehend about those electronic doohickeys in my living room is that they each somehow connect to my antiquated analog television and through the magic of, well, I don't know, I'm able to watch the occasional classic movie and mindless cake design program.

Those familiar with this column should know that I'm not here to necessarily explain how threats to movie theaters work. I'm just here to yell, "the sky is falling!" from within the lobby of the local cinema and hope that you Henny Pennys and Goosey Looseys are listening to my rants and ramblings and at least try to go to the movies more often (and hopefully buy at least one thing at the concession stand). This time, however, I feel even less knowledgeable about the latest threat, and I feel even more fearful that this is the beginning of the end. The cinemapocalypse, if you will.

Imagine if The Dark Knight or Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull initially opened in limited release, and then took a month or so to reach you in "flyover country." But on the same day that they hit those first theaters in New York and L.A., they were also available on your television, via Video on Demand. Would you wait a few weeks to see the blockbusters on the big screen or would you lack the patience and go ahead and download the movies to your cable box? Of course you would choose the VOD route. I probably would, as well.

Despite this column, I cannot claim to be a purist when it comes to theatrical film exhibition. I subscribe to Netflix and even sometimes watch old movies on the Watch Now streaming player. I now own a video iPod, and while I haven't yet tried watching a feature, I have had no problem watching shorts and television episodes on its small screen and am not totally against eventually downloading a whole movie from iTunes. And although New York's Film Forum is currently showing a ton of United Artists classics, many of which I've never seen at all and a number of which I've never seen on the big screen, I haven't been able to make my way to Manhattan to appreciate the retrospective.

Recently, several companies, including Microsoft, Apple and others have started offering content via online download to be watched on your television, iPod or other devices. And this week, Sony announced it was getting into the online content business with downloads for its PSP gaming/media device. Finally, according to The New York Times, Comcast, the nations largest cable operator, will soon begin an experimental program that will make programming available both on-demand via its cable service the same time the programming hits the shelves on DVD.

The program, being tested in Pittsburgh and Denver at the moment, is a bold move that seeks to tap into the burgeoning market for alternatively distributed content -- especially now that overall DVD sales have slowed. Plus, Comcast is already offering over 8000 titles with its video-on-demand service so this new program seems like a logical progression from that service. During the test, users will be able to pay $4 to see a movie the same day they could buy it for $25 at a local store or pay about the same price to rent a DVD from their local Blockbuster.

So, you pay four bucks to watch a movie once via on-demand or you go out and rent the DVD and watch it as many times as you want during the rental period? Or, you buy the DVD and watch it as many times as you like until you get sick of it and sell it on Ebay? Or, you subscribe to Netflix, get DVDs sent to your home, watch them and then send them back to get your next pick. And for that, all you have to do is go to your mailbox -- something you probably already do anyway.

Plus, if you're particularly enterprising, you could, in theory, make a "backup" of the DVDs you get from Netflix and watch them again later -- not that you would or should do that. Sorry Comcast, but I think Netflix is still the way to go -- at least until someone gets a download service going with everything in HD that I can watch as many times as I want as long as I don't try to copy it. That's what I'm waiting for and I think its coming -- maybe not tomorrow, but soon enough. Whatever company finally gets that kind of service going can count on getting my money for sure. Until then, I'll stick with Netflix. But I am curious -- so if you happen to be a Comcast customer participating in this program, let us know how it is.

Cable network Starz! has just announced that they'll partner with Microsoft and Sony to form Vongo, a legal, pay-for-play movie download service. For a $9.99 service fee per month, Vongo users will obtain unlimited access to a rotating 1,000 film library, likely culled from Starz! current catalog. They'll be able to watch those downloads at any time on a PC or portable media device (presumably that means iPods, PSPs, etc), and will be able to download "new releases" (theatrical features will be available for download after a six month window) for $3.99 apiece. Though the service will obviously draw instant comparisons to the iTunes Music Store, which just started selling television shows for $1.99 an episode with a one day window, to VOD services like GreenCine and Movielink, and to traditional models of television-based pay-per-view, Vongo would seem to go beyond old methods of delivery in terms of its breadth of content alone. But that six month window seems terribly wide, doesn't it? Especially considering that, with the backing of Microsoft and Sony, Vongo will undoubtedly be marketed to PSP and Xbox-rocking gamers. Bill Gates is expected to expand on the deal and the concept in his CES keynote this week.