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]

Well, okay: maybe that's hyperbole about the death of DVD. On the other hand, maybe it's not. In what has to be seen as a major vote of confidence in online content delivery, almost all of the major studios (including Fox, Disney, Paramount, Warner Bros., Universal, Lionsgate, and what's left of New Line) have signed with Apple to offer many of their movies on the iTunes Store's download-to-own service -- simultaneously with the release of the DVDs. This seems to show that they're not squeamish about losing DVD sales -- or at least not squeamish enough to turn down the attractive deal Apple no doubt offered.

Most new movies currently offered for sale on iTunes cost 10 to 15 bucks and about 1 GB in hard drive space (depending on the length). AppleTV, the device that Apple hoped would make the iTunes Store even more prevalent by making content purchased there watchable on users' television sets, has been beset by problems, and free advertising-supported content providers like Hulu.com also present a challenge. But whether or not iTunes wins, we're getting inexorably closer to the day of physical media obsolescence. The studios have now shown they're willing to go there (this announcement comes on the heels of Time Warner's decision to offer all of its movies via On-Demand cable day-and-date with DVD releases).

Of course, videophiles will still want their Blu-Ray, and it's hard to blame them. But it's only a matter of hard drive space. Tick-tock.

As reported by Variety (and just about every tech site on the planet), Steve Jobs' keynote address at MacWorld 2008 on Tuesday morning included details on Apple's new movie rental plan. The gist of it is that Apple TV users will be able to rent and download movies from all the major Hollywood studios directly from iTunes. The details, though, are where things get squiggy.

As our sister site Engadget promptly pointed out, while the firmware for Apple TV is changing, the hardware is not, so built-in limitations remain. Example: HD resolution is limited to 1,280 by 720. Also, DD 5.1 sound is not available with all HD rentals. In addition, HD movie rentals will only be available through and on the Apple TV, and the rental price only covers playing the movie on the Apple TV -- no moving it to your iPod for free.

The "new releases" rental price is $3.99 for standard-def and $4.99 for high-def; "library" titles are a dollar cheaper for each format. About 100 HD movies will be available for rental starting in February. You'll have 30 days to watch the rental, but once you start watching, you have to finish within 24 hours. New releases will not be available until 30 days after the DVD release date. Still, Apple promises "instant movie gratification" because downloading starts immediately and with standard-def movies you can start watching "in seconds."

To me, this is very much Apple's version of "On Demand" programming for cable and satellite systems. On my local system, I pay $3.99 for standard-def movies, $4.99 for high-def and $1.99 for "library" titles (older films in standard-def). The rental period of 24 hours starts immediately. In order to get that, I have to pay a monthly equipment rental fee for a cable box. With Apple TV, you pay your hardware fee up front: $229.00 (for a 40gb box) or $329.00 (for a 160gb box). If you rent a limited number of movies and don't have/want cable or satellite, this could be a good deal.

Is the idea of renting through downloading sounding any more appealing to you now? Or will you stick with an online rental service or the good old neighborhood video store?

Call it another victim of the Superman curse. Wal-Mart has closed down its movie download service, which had only begun back in February. The retail giant had been slow to start selling movie downloads, finally offering Superman Returns in November 2006 -- part of a strange deal in which you had to first buy the actual DVD from a Wal-Mart store -- then completely opening up shop early last year in an obvious attempt to directly compete with iTunes, selling TV episodes for 4 cents less than Apple's store (it also sold older movie titles at a cheaper price). It had long been speculated that Wal-Mart was even behind iTunes' struggle to make deals with Hollywood studios; supposedly Wal-Mart was fearful that downloads would hurt its massive share of the DVD market and so pressured Hollywood to stay away from Apple or suffer the consequence: Wal-Mart would stop ordering so many of a studio's DVDs if it signed on to iTunes. Of course, it didn't appear that Wal-Mart was about to begin boycotting Disney movies, so that rumor/assumption/conspiracy was likely untrue, or at least a bad bluff.

Now, with Fox and Disney movies soon available for rental on iTunes and more studios likely to come soon, it is clear that Wal-Mart failed in its competitive bid for a share of the download market. The retailer also had problems competing with Netflix in the rental-by-mail service race a few years back, eventually folding into its competition. However, this time around the problem is less to do with Wal-Mart caving in or acknowledging defeat. The primary reason for the download shop's closing is that Hewlett-Packard was supplying the software for the online store and that company made the decision to terminate the service, citing disappointing performance as the cause. Wal-Mart could still continue with movie downloads through another software deal, though this giant pothole in business would hardly make the relocation an easy task.

For the last official Monday Morning Poll before 2008 comes rolling in, I thought we'd tackle a topic that will be talked about a lot throughout the month of January and well into the new year: Movie downloading. Or, more specifically, renting your films online through iTunes. Chris told us recently that Apple was gearing up to launch a service that would allow folks to rent films through iTunes (with an official announcement expected to land during next month's MacWorld). As of now, iTunes only allows users to download films for purchase, and not rentals. However, the majority of people would rather rent, and so this new service -- coupled with a familiar name like iTunes -- could revolutionize the entire rental industry come 2008.

Add to that the fact that Variety has just announced Apple's first studio partners in the rental game: 20th Century Fox and Disney. Other studios like Paramount, Lionsgate and MGM -- all of whom already make titles available for purchase on iTunes -- are expected to join the club as well. While on-demand rentals are nothing new, being able to rent and download directly to an iPod is new ... and very exciting for some. Me? I'm not hip enough to start renting and downloading online, and so I'm not yet prepared to dive in. But I am curious to know how many of you will be scarfing down iTunes' new video rental service? Is this a big deal? Or not so much?

Come Tuesday, if Santa pulls through, I'll have my first real iPod (I don't count that Shuffle marked with my old employer's logo, which I got for free). It isn't that I couldn't afford one before; it's more that I'm finally caving in. But at least I'm caving in at a good time. There's talk that iTunes movie rentals could finally be arriving in early 2008, and if they are somehow allowed to be transferred to iPods, then I'll be a very happy subway rider. Sure, we've been hearing about the possibility of iTunes rentals all year, and back in September, Engadget even pointed out an error made by Apple that was evidence that it was coming soon. Three months later, Video Business is passing along the rumor that Apple may announce the service at MacWorld next month. Apparently the developments have been slow going because Apple has been trying to get more of Hollywood's studios on board (currently iTunes only offers movies for purchase from Disney, MGM, Lionsgate and Paramount). We can expect to hear about new additional distribution partners at MacWorld, too.

According to Video Business, the iTunes rentals are likely to only be watched on a PC or via Apple TV, for which Apple is to introduce a software update that will allow rentals to be downloaded directly to the machine (making it like a DVR, sort of). However, considering the new iPod Touch (this is the one that made me cave in) features the iTunes store and can directly download movies from the web via Wi-Fi, I don't see why it wouldn't be able to play movie rentals, as well. If Apple does it right, this could be the new Netflix -- of course, iTunes would have to have some kind of monthly plan, which I doubt they'd do, at least not at first. Last summer it was reported the prices for rentals would be $2.99 each. That's still a whole lot better than the $14.99 for new release purchases. Santa, if you read Cinematical, please don't fail me. And if you happen to know Steve Jobs, tell him not to fail me either.

Later this month, Edward Burns' Purple Violets will be available exclusively on iTunes. You won't see it in theaters, or on DVD or anywhere else -- at least for awhile. Did you know this? I've written about it, and maybe you read that previous post, but if you're not a regular reader of movie news and/or blogs, would you know about the landmark event? I haven't seen any ads anywhere, nor have I even seen mention on the main iTunes page. When I search Purple Violets on the iTunes store, it only gives me the soundtrack -- not even a mention that the film will soon be offered.

So, how is Purple Violets being marketed? I have no idea, which is sad because there's a new bit of information that could be used to advertise to its target demographic. The film was awarded the top prize at the Savannah Film Festival, winning best narrative feature this past Saturday. Certainly this honor will appeal to indie film enthusiasts, no? Sure, the festival isn't the biggest or most prestigious, but the award would still look good on an ad for the film. If only it had one.

Other winners in Savannah included The First Saturday in May and The Singing Revolution, which tied for the documentary award, and Bill Plympton's Shuteye Hotel, which won best animation. First Saturday also picked up a producer award for co-directors/producers John Hennegan and Brad Hennegan and Singing Revolution also won the jury prize. Screenwriter David Benioff, whose adaptation The Kite Runner was screened at the fest, was honored with a non-competition award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinema.

The top 10 short films for sale on iTunes break down like this: Seven are cartoons, including six from Pixar. Nine are fictional. That leaves one live-action documentary -- and it's the #1 film.

It's called The Tribe, and after winning awards at several film festivals, it was released on iTunes on Oct. 2. Now, not even a month later, it's the top-selling short film. And did I mention it's a documentary? That's important. There are only three other docs in the top 100 shorts, none higher than #39.

Directed by Tiffany Shlain and narrated by Peter Coyote, The Tribe is a very entertaining and thoughtful discussion of what it means to be Jewish in the 21st century -- and how that relates to the history of the Barbie doll. Barbie was invented (and Mattel was co-founded) by a Jewish woman, Ruthie Handler. The Tribe ties it all together and asks some interesting questions about how we humans break ourselves into "tribes," and how those tribes interact with one another.

A recent New York Times article mentions that Apple has had trouble getting studios to sell their movies on iTunes, and that consumers aren't necessarily buying them anyway. But when it comes to short films, iTunes is a huge blessing to filmmakers, and people are downloading them. Think about it: You can see feature-length movies in theaters, on TV, or on DVD. But where do you ever see short films? Even the Oscar-nominated ones are hardly seen outside of film festivals.

ITunes is rapidly changing that. Now filmmakers who once made shorts that stood little chance of being seen by a wide audience are finding mass appeal through iTunes, where thousands of people are downloading their films for $1.99. And a documentary about Barbie and Judaism reaching the #1 spot? Even two years ago, that idea would have seemed absurd.

The Tribe's website is here; the direct link to it at iTunes is here.

On November 20, for the first time ever, a movie will be exclusively distributed via iTunes. Yes, we already heard about this briefly when our own Kevin Kelly talked with Edward Burns at ComicCon. But at the time, Burns had said he would be given a trial run, in which his latest film, Purple Violets, would be available on iTunes for four weeks beginning on October 9. That date has come and gone, and now the New York Times has revealed that the film will actually get a full, exclusive release on November 20. That means you won't be able to see it in theaters, or on DVD, or on Cable. Yet, anyway. Personally, I'm a bit shocked the idea didn't happen sooner. There's tons and tons of indie films out there that can't get good distro. Going with iTunes sounds like a great opportunity to get notice. Plus, with iTunes still only offering less than 1000 movies, and still unable to get titles from all the studios, the service would do well to increase its library with exclusives like this. The idea certainly worked for companies like Netflix, which started exclusive distribution via its Red Envelope Entertainment moniker. Maybe one day, like Red Envelope, iTunes could even produce its own movies.

The Times goes into detail about iTunes distribution, mentioning the strategy of putting Wes Anderson's Hotel Chevalier up for free download, which sparked extra interest in The Darjeeling Limited. It also points out the benefit of having short films on iTunes in general, not just for well-knowns like Anderson. The move can affect DVD rentals, though, according to Burns, who has had difficulty securing video distribution for Purple Violets now that it will be available on iTunes. The movie, which stars Burns, Debra Messing, Patrick Wilson and Selma Blair, premiered earlier this year at the Tribeca Film Festival, where Eric called it Burns' "best film since The Brothers McMullen ... a more mature film than anything Burns has done in the past."

It's been awhile since we last heard anything about Movielink. Actually, it's been awhile since we last heard any news regarding movie download sites in general. Honestly, I had pretty much forgotten about them, despite the news earlier this year about Hollywood giving the greenlight on download-to-DVD options. But today we get a doozy of an announcement relating to the topic: Blockbuster Video is buying Movielink.com. I'm sure I'm not the only person not surprised by the decision. I've been expecting Blockbuster to do something with downloads for a few years now -- though I did think they'd develop something new, in-house. Going with Movielink seems easier, but it also brings any baggage the download site has in terms of reputation and satisfaction -- something I can't speak for since I've never tried their service. All I know is that in two years Movielink (and CinemaNow and Guba, etc.) has failed to show the world that this is the wave of the future. Part of this, I believe, is due to the high price of movie downloads. Then there's also the matter of iTunes jumping in late and stealing the show. Blockbuster will have to figure out a cheaper cost -- among other things -- if it hopes to compete.

Personally I have little interest in movie downloads, because I have little patience and a terrible attention span when it comes to watching stuff on my computer. If anything I would rather watch streaming videos on the web, and even then I prefer short stuff or segmented films (unfortunately my favorite segmented streaming movie site was not legal). Even as a longtime fan and subscriber of Netflix, I haven't yet been able to finish a whole feature on the company's new streaming, Video-on-Demand-style "Watch Now" option (and even though I don't take full advantage, I'm still disappointed that Netflix's recent price decreases caused customers' streaming hours to decrease as well). Blockbuster's purchase of Movielink is probably going to be seen as more directly competitive with this Netflix service (than with iTunes), so we'll have to see what people prefer -- streaming or download -- in the future. Blockbuster's plan for now is to continue to operate Movielink as is, but they'll also be integrating the site's technology and elements into Blockbuster.com.