Considering Movember raises money for men’s health issues, in particular prostate cancer and depression, and the fact that most Gizmodians are men, this is a great initiative to raise money for a great cause, especially if it saves your life.

Warner puts the Mo in Movies

Warner Home Video is getting on board with Movember this year and doing its bit to change the face of men’s health, by helping to raise awareness and funds for prostate cancer and depression in men.

In support of Movember, Warner is putting the Mo in movies through a range of Blu-ray titles. During November, thirty-one (31) Warner Home Video titles will be sporting a blue Movember moustache on their box covers, with every specially marked pack representing a $1 donation to Movember causes.

Mo Bros and Sistas will be able to enjoy classics such as The Hangover, Batman Begins, Heat and The Dark Knight, whilst simultaneously raising funds for Movember from the comfort of their living rooms. Each movie being available on Blu-ray will mean that the picture quality will be up to five times sharper than DVD and the sound will be up to three times better than DVD.

Warner Managing Director, Roger Clarke said, “As a company, we are thrilled to be helping Movember raise funds and awareness for men’s health. We want Australia to buy Blu and Save a Bro! Our Movember collection of Blu-ray releases makes it really simple to do so through any of our outlets across Australia. Moustaches and film have a well documented and celebrated history together with leading men and their moustaches gracing the screen since film began – icons such as Charlie Chaplin, Clark Gable, Peter Sellers, Burt Reynolds, Prince and, of course, Tom Selleck have firmly secured the Mo’s place in entertainment history.”

Movember Founder, Luke Slattery, continues, “Movember is all about doing something with your mates, for your mates. So, as well as growing a mo this year, we want all Mo Bros to get better at looking out and checking in with each other. If you haven’t seen a mate for a while, then get in touch and arrange a time to catch up. For this reason our partnership with Warner Home Video is a great fit as a night in with the boys watching a couple of Blu-ray’s is the perfect way to check in with your mates.”

Warner Blu-ray titles, supporting Movember, will be available from all leading Blu-ray retailers including JB HiFi, BigW and more.

Update: Here’s a list of the eligible flicks:

THE HANGOVER (25th November release date)
ENTER THE DRAGON
OUT FOR JUSTICE
PURPLE RAIN
NATIONAL LAMPOON’S CHRISTMAS VACATION
KISS KISS BANG BANG
BODY OF LIES
BLOOD DIAMOND
THE PRESTIGE
ROCKNROLLA
MAD MAX II
BODY HEAT
SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
JUSTICE LEAGUE: NEW FRONTIER
SUPERMAN DOOMSDAY
BATMAN BEGINS
THE DARK KNIGHT
AMADEUS, DIRECTOR’S CUT
LED ZEPPELIN SONG REMAINS THE SAME
SUPERNATURAL (Season 3)
TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONOR CHRONICLES (Seasons 1 & 2)
CONTACT (November release)
THE POSTMAN (November release)
SPHERE (November release)
THE NEGOTIATOR (November release)
ERASER
NATURAL BORN KILLERS (November release)
HEAT (November release)
PAYBACK (November release)

Let’s hope it doesn’t put a buzz kill on my childhood memories the way G.I. Joe and Transformers have.

Dan Lin, who is shepherding Warner Bros’ “Sherlock Holmes” and exec produced the studio’s upcoming family film “Shorts”, will produce the movie through his Lin Pictures, which is also behind a “Tom and Jerry” film that will put the feuding animated characters in a live-action setting.

[Variety via Sci Fi Wire]

The Watchmen BD comes out July 21, then Zack Snyder will host a community screening (allowing viewers to watch the movie along with his live commentary on their Blu-ray players) during Comic-Con on July 25. Is the experience worth the price of the disc alone? Definitely not. But if you’re a big Watchmen fan, the screening is certainly a nice bonus if you’re already purchasing the Blu-ray on day of release. I just wonder if Snyder’s bladder is heartier than Nolan’s. Place your bets on pee breaks now. And remember, Watchmen is a long movie, too. (AU: I wouldn’t expect this to be available to Australian Watchmen fans… [Video Business via engadgetHD]

In the interest of making Community Screenings a bit more practical (that BD Live function allowing users to watch a film in sync with friends over the network), Warner has teamed with Facebook in a cash-less deal to allow Community Screenings to sync with your Facebook friend lists.

It’s actually a great idea that’s far more progressive than using Warner’s current solution, a proprietary account system. Read more about the DVD and Blu-ray at these links: [Hollywood Reporter and Rope of Silicon via BluRayFreak]

An additional note to Watchmen fans: The Director’s Cut detailed here does not look to include interspersed moments from The Tales of the Black Freighter.

Even so, it was June when the first movie capable of BD-Live was released in Australia. The movie was Men In Black, and the bonus, digital content was in the form of “a BD-Live multi-player Interactive Trivia Game, as well as exclusive downloadable theatrical and home entertainment previews and a FAQ about BD-Live functionality”. In other words, nothing very exciting. In fact, plugging in the movie today, there’s no BD-Live trivia game, the exclusive trailers are for movies like Monster House and Open Season and the previews all seem old and out of date as well.

But in the scheme of things, Men In Black was small fry. A testing of the waters, if you will. The first major new release Blu-ray release featuring BD-Live was Iron Man, and it proved so popular that it crashed Paramount’s servers. On offer: An Iron Man quiz. Or more precisely, a selection of quizzes testing your knowledge of various aspects of the film. But the catch for this seemingly interesting approach to live online content is in the menu – alongside the option for knowledge quizzes are the unselectable options of creating your own quizzes, selecting the highest rated quizzes and other user-generated content themes. And that’s disappointing, especially considering that there’s been no update to the bonus content since the film was released last year.

Of course, here in Australia, we’re lucky if we even get the BD-Live content at all. Warner Bros, in particular have shunned BD-Live in Australia so far. Even their crowning glory of 2008, The Dark Knight, lacked any BD-Live content for the Australian release. Of course, the US release featured an online discussion with Christopher Nolan, which ultimately proved how much the technology is struggling to find its feet.

Perhaps the problems stem from the fact that unlike the Blu-ray format itself, BD-Live has no standard, no rules on what it can or cannot be. That leaves each studio to come up with their version of how BD-Live should be implemented, and that creates problems. Disney, for example, has jumped on the BD-Live bandwagon, announcing that all their classic releases will feature the online component. The first release to feature it was Sleeping Beauty, and it was in the form of online chat while watching the film, online trivia and the ability to embed a short video from a webcam into the film.

Sony, on the other hand, have tried a few different tacts. Starship Troopers 3 lets you insert a still photo of yourself into certain scenes of the film, which are poorly animated and distracting. 21, on the other hand, lets you play interactive Blackjack with other viewers around the world.

Universal pictures sees BD-Live as a jack of all trades. Cindy McCulloch, marketing director at NBC Universal believes that BD-Live content could be anything, including “deleted scenes, movie trailers or on-set interviews; Interactive features such as polls and games will be available to play or save on your player for later; setting up a buddy list and share your favourite clips and content with your friends; or create your own video, audio and text commentary and chat live while you watch the film.”

But not everyone looks at BD-Live as a worthwhile feature. Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of Dreamworks doesn’t believe BD-Live is something can enhance their films, considering their target audience is generally too young: “It’s not our audience – if you think about our movies, they’re mostly films for the family. In particular they’re films that parents purchase for children.”

Perhaps the best implementation of BD-Live so far comes not from a movie, but from John Mayer’s Where The Light Is Blu-ray concert release. Instead of a gimmicky implementation like live chat with John Mayer, or a game, or being able to put your photo on stage with the singer himself, the BD-Live content is a backstage recording of one of his songs. Of course, once you’ve downloaded the song, there’s little incentive to use BD-Live again, but expanding on that idea (exclusive video blogs from the tour, more backstage clips) could be the shot in the arm BD-Live needs.

Still, the majority of studios are committed to providing discs with BD-Live content. And while its current implementation may not be all that desirable, well-maintained or even entertaining, it’s important to remember that the technology is still in its infancy. The real question is whether or not one we’ll see the studios create a truly engaging way of offering bonus content online for the Blu-ray format at all. Obviously we’re hoping that they do – as the default high-definition medium now, Blu-ray’s success hinges on the extra value it can offer consumers.

[BD-Live on Gizmodo]

To refresh, BD-Live is the Blu-ray technology that allows for more interactive special features on your disc, like being able to arrange “screenings” with your friends or record commentary tracks yourself.

It all comes down to the technology. Instead of having director Chris Nolan talk into a mic and answer questions as they were asked via the website, Nolan had to do all his own typing. Or, we assume it was Nolan and not some designated typist, since the answers were slow going and contained a bunch of typos. The largest problem was that the text, displayed IRC-style with a white overlay behind it, was too small (on my PS3, at least), forcing me to sit closer than I normally would.

Smaller issues included Chris Nolan connecting and disconnecting every two minutes for the first 1/3 of the movie, which lead to the unfulfilling situation where questions were displayed but his answers were dropped. He also intentionally stayed silent or deftly evaded when certain questions on sensitive topics chosen by the moderator, such as piracy, making a third movie and any talk of money.

There were some enjoyable moments, such as when he took not one, but two pee breaks, explaining that he needed to make a shorter film next time. Fortunately, the BD-Live format let him pause everyone’s movie simultaneously. He also reused the same joke three times in different formats, thanking an actor or a contributor by name when someone asked how awesome it was working with said person.

Here’s how to fix the experience. Give Chris Nolan a microphone. Make whatever adjustments you have to make to the BD-Live technology to allow a low-bandwidth audio stream to reach however many players were signed on last night. Then, record the “podcast”, and let people who were still at work (it was on at 6PM PST) watch it after the fact whenever they like. I stare at chatrooms all day at work, don’t make me stare at another one when I’m watching Batman tearing around Gotham City.

Warner Bros. Licenses Content for Distribution on DivX Certified(R) Consumer Electronics Devices

Agreement Enables Retailers to Offer Premium Content in DivX(R) Format for Playback on Variety of Devices

SAN DIEGO & LOS ANGELES —(Business Wire)— Oct 14, 2008 DivX, Inc. (NASDAQ:DIVX) and Warner Bros. Entertainment today announced an agreement that will enable online retailers to offer Warner Bros. titles in the high-quality DivX® standard definition format in October 2008 and high definition format in September 2009 for playback on DivX Certified® consumer electronics devices.

The wide-ranging agreement covers all titles available for digital distribution in the Warner Bros. catalogue including current and back-catalogue major motion pictures and television programs. All titles offered in the DivX format are compatible with a variety of DivX Certified devices from major consumer electronics brands, including DVD players, Blu-ray devices, gaming consoles and more. The agreement allows retailers who sign additional agreements with DivX and Warner Bros. to offer Warner titles in the DivX digital media format.

“Using the DivX secure format is in keeping with our overall digital distribution strategy,” said Jim Wuthrich, Senior Vice President, Warner Bros. Digital Distribution. “The visual quality, security and widespread interoperability of the DivX format offers an excellent means for consumers to enjoy Warner Bros.’ content whenever and wherever they desire.”

“Warner Bros. offers an extremely compelling catalogue of premium, high-quality content enjoyed by consumers all over the world,” said Kevin Hell, CEO of DivX, Inc. “We’re very excited to work together to offer consumers premium content on any DivX device, from the PC to the living room and on the go.”

For more information about DivX, visit www.divx.com. To learn more about Warner Bros. Entertainment visit www.warnerbros.com.

Jason Chen: I’m Batman!
Mark Wilson: I’m Batman!
Jesus Diaz: I’m Batman!
Matt Buchanan: I’m Batman!
John Mahoney: I’m not that guy from Frasier! [DVDTown Thanks Eric!]

One of the reasons why it’s so important to try to protect the first weekend is that it prevents the pirate supply chain from starting. A day or two becomes really, really significant. You’ve delayed disc manufacturing that then delays distribution, which then delays those discs from ending up on street corners for sale.

But while Warner Bros. is high fiving that they defeated the internet, maybe the executives should learn a different lesson about creating US$158.4 million weekend openings–namely by making good movies and tailoring them for the big screen experience.

AU: So I guess those night-vision goggles worked then?[LATimes]

]]> http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2008/07/warner_bros_delays_dark_knight_piracy_for_38_hours_deems_it_success-2/feed/ 0 http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2008/07/special_edition_dc_xbox_360_are_hot_in_the_nonrrod_sense-2/ http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2008/07/special_edition_dc_xbox_360_are_hot_in_the_nonrrod_sense-2/#comments Sun, 27 Jul 2008 16:00:00 +0000 Jack Loftus http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2008/07/special_edition_dc_xbox_360_are_hot_in_the_nonrrod_sense-2.html Check out these four horsemen of the Xbox 360 apocalypse from ComicCon: one Watchmen, one DC Comics, one Gears of War, and one Terminator Salvation, all up for grabs as part of a contest from Warner Bros. These aren’t just new cases, either, they’re full-fledged Xbox 360 consoles. There’s only limited info to go on right now concerning these custom consoles, so we have no idea whether or not the superheros and super powers splayed across the fronts of these Xbox 360’s will be enough to combat the RROD that surely awaits each of them in the future. [Film School Rejects]

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