Category Archives: Movies

PlayStation Store In Germany Is Removing Purchased Movies

Movies

PlayStation Store Germany has announced in a recent legal notice that Studiocanal content won’t be available to seen soon, exputer.com reported. According to exputer.com, From August 31, 2022, users can’t view any of the production and distribution company’s related content that they have in their library and have paid for. This is most probably due to a license agreement with the parent company coming to an end.

Exputer wrote: Hence, it doesn’t matter if you have purchased the movie or television show, you won’t be able to view it from September. No Studiocanal asset will be present on the PlayStation Store Germany and everything will be removed. We see only the harm of digital purchases in this situation, as you can’t permanently keep your purchases.

Variety reported: The move comes a year after Sony’s PlayStation group stopped offering movie and TV show purchases and rentals, as of Aug. 31, 2021, citing the rise of streaming-video services. At the time, Sony assured customers that they “can still access movie and TV content they have purchased through PlayStation Store for on-demand playback on their PS4, PS5 and mobile devices.” But clearly, that didn’t mean forever.

According to Variety, PlayStation posted notices about the impending removal of the Studiocanal content for German and Austrian customers on its website:

“As of August 31, 2022, due to our evolving licensing agreements with content providers, you will no longer be able to view your previously purchased Studio Canal content and it will be removed from your studio library,” the notices read. “We greatly appreciate your continued support.”

The list of Studiocanal-distributed titles that will be removed include 314 in Germany and 137 in Austria.

PCGamer wrote about this subject and included a paragraph that I think is especially astute:

The move is the nightmare scenario for digital libraries, and it’s surprising to see from such a high-profile established company. As GamesHub pointed out in its coverage, Sony previously stated that users would be able to access media purchased on the PlayStation Store, even as the company halted new sales of licensed movies and TV shows through the platform.

Personally, I’ve seen this sort of idea talked about on social media. It sometimes starts with a question: Do you really own your digital media? If PlayStation can take away movies and TV shows that German and Austrian consumers had paid for – other companies might consider doing that as well.

Cleveland Comic-Con 2017

Comic Cons, comics, Movies, Netflix, Star Wars, Toys, TV, , , , , , , ,

Wizard World’s Cleveland Comic-Con kicked off its third annual show this past weekend, with a pretty good crowd. Fans gathered at the Huntington Convention Center in downtown Cleveland to get their fill of comics, art, toys and several celebs. Famous faces included: Lou Ferrigno (The Incredible Hulk), Gene Simmons (Kiss), Jennifer Carpenter (Dexter), Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things), Charisma Carpenter and Nicholas Brendon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Jewel Staite (Firefly), Nichelle Nichols (Star Trek) and more. Wizard World Comic Con Cleveland will return, March 23-25, 2018.

Ghostbusters: Answer the Call is Coming to Blu-Ray

Movies,

Ghostbusters Answer the CallThe Ghostbusters movie that hit theaters over the summer will be available in Digital HD and Digital SD on September 27, 2016. It can be preordered now on Amazon.com. The movie will also be released on Ultra HD / Blu-ray Combo Pack and on Blu-ray on October 11, 2016.

According to Box Office Mojo, Ghostbusters (2016) was the then tenth highest-grossing summer released film in the United States. Its total gross was $125,174,627. It does not appear that a sequel is in the works.

In the lead-up to the release of the movie, it was referred to as Ghostbusters or as Ghostbusters 2016. It turns out the full name of the movie is Ghostbusters: Answer the Call.  The full title is what appears on the upcoming digital and Blu-ray releases.  In other words, the movie did not get a name change.

According to Collider, the full list of bonus material available on the 4K UHD/Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack, Blue-ray, and Digital include:

  • Ghostbusters Extended Edition & Theatrical Version
  • 2 Hysterically Haunting Gag Reels
  • 4 Unearthed deleted scenes
  • 11 Totally Possessed Alternate Scenes and more than 60 minutes of additional extended and alternate scenes with Ultraviolet download
  • 6 Jokes-A-Plenty alternate take reels
  • 5 Supernatural Featurettes: “Chris Helmsworth is ‘Kevin’”, “The Ghosts of Ghostbusters”; “Meet the Team”; “Visual Effects: 30 Years Later”, and “Slime Time”.
  • Filmmaker Commentaries
  • Photo Gallery

The verified Ghostbusters Twitter account says that Ghostbusters: Answer the Call is back in theaters this weekend (in some locations).  The link in the Tweet below takes you to Fandango, where you can find out if the movie will be playing in a theater near you.

Oi! I Was Watching That

Film, Movies, Streaming,

bluraylogoStreaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Sky’s Now TV might have overtaken DVRs, DVDs and Blu-ray but I’ve discovered that physical discs have one major advantage…..no-one can take away the film until you’re finished watching (excepting small children and drunken relatives). 

Our family subscribes to a streaming service, and while I normally watch a film or episode in a single viewing, there are some that I don’t get through in one go, perhaps because friends call round unexpectedly (yes, I have friends). Recently I’ve twice had the experience of returning to a film only to find that it’s no longer in my queue. The first time I thought I was mistaken as I couldn’t find the film but the second time was no mistake. I was very annoyed.

Streaming services take on new content and drop old content regularly as they license films from studios and other copyright holders for set periods. I can understand this but what bothers me is that they don’t feel it’s necessary to either email or pop-up the deadline on-screen. I would have made a special effort to watch the ending if they’d dropped me an email to say, “Hey, I see you’re watching Spiderman. Just to let you know that film’s going away at the end of the month so you’ve three days to find out what happens.” How hard would that be?

Anyway, if someone could let me know if Spidey saves the world, I’d be grateful.

Before Ive, There Was Rams

Geek Culture, Movies, , , ,

Braun LogoAsked to name an industrial designer, most Apple lovers will come up with Sir Jonathan “Jony” Ive, designer of iconic products such as the iMac, iPod, iPhone and iPad. Go back a few decades, and it was Braun and Dieter Rams that were synonymous with industrial design. From coffee makers and toothbrushes to calculators and radios, there’s a good chance that you’ve seen or used one of his designs.

Braun CalculatorRarely seen in the public eye, there’s a fantastic opportunity to learn more about this great designer, famous for his “Ten Principles for Good Design“. Film director, Gary Hustwit, is recording a feature-length documentary about Dieter Rams which is currently looking for funding on Kickstarter. The director has previously produced Helvectica, a documentary about typography and Objectified which looks at the relationship between objects and the designers behind them..

The project has already reached its target of US$200,000 with another two weeks to go. There’s some cool rewards (including your own private screening with the director at $5,000) but a $15 digital download is more reasonable.

To underline Dieter Ram‘s significance, there’s a trail that goes from mid-century modern straight through his work to today’s designs from Apple and Ikea. If you want to understand the consumer products you buy now, this is a must-see documentary….though you’ll have to wait until 2017.

Star Wars: Rogue One to Digitally Revive Deceased Actor

Movies, Star Wars

TarkinThe next official full-length Star Wars film, Episode VII: The Force Awakens, is scheduled to hit theaters in December. Leading up to that release, the Disney/Lucasfilm hype machine has been running at full speed. One facet of this promotional juggernaut is a film called Star Wars: Rogue One, the first part of an ongoing Anthology Series that will compliment major Star Wars releases in the future. Rogue One tells the story of brave Rebellion fighters who capture the secret plans for the first Death Star, ultimately leading to the destruction of that space station in Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope. Given how close Rogue One and Episode IV are in the Star Wars timeline, it would be necessary for some characters to cross over. But there’s a logistical problem here because Episode IV was released almost forty years ago, in 1977. Of course, some characters could be recast with contemporary actors who look/sound enough like their Episode IV counterparts. But in one case, the producers of Rogue One are doing something else.

Even the most casual of Star Wars fans will remember the character of Grand Moff Tarkin, portrayed stoically by famed British actor Peter Cushing in Episode IV. Tarkin was the commander of the first Death Star and one of Darth Vader’s most trusted allies. He was only seen on screen a handful of times, but the character has endured as a fan favorite. (In fact, a recent Star Wars novel is dedicated to the telling of Tarkin’s backstory.) Peter Cushing died in 1994 at the age of 81. There’s no way he can reprise the role of Grand Moff Tarkin. But Cushing’s likeness will appear in Rogue One thanks to modern CGI techniques.

It has been said that this type of special effect is like “bringing dead actors back to life,” and it is somewhat eerie to consider. If Cushing can be replicated thru CGI now, then in theory, any person whose ever appeared on film could be resurrected in the same way. In the case of Tarkin, the character is arguably more integral to the Star Wars franchise than the actor who originally portrayed him. The mind begins to reel at the possibilities within future Star Wars films alone. Why not make a new movie based around Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Princess Leia, but instead of using the actors that portrayed those characters as they appear today, using CGI-rendered versions of the actors as they looked forty years ago? I guess the fan reaction to computer-generated Peter Cushing will be a good gauge for how far Star Wars producers can stretch this idea in the future. But it seems likely that this is the first step in that direction.