Oscar Winners/Nominees Coming To Video On Demand

Heath McKnight — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 17:20:47 +0000

TVN Entertainment, one of the leaders in Video On Demand (VOD) technology, will be presenting eight 2009 Oscar winners and nominees, some of them day-and-date with DVDs. The movies include Frost/Nixon, The Wrestler, Slumdog Millionaire, and others.

So why is this a big deal? Because although studios embraced VOD with devices such as the VUDU and the Roku with access to thousands of Netflix titles and cable/satellite companies’ on demand services, they wouldn’t always allow rentals or even purchases day-and-date (when DVDs are released for sale and rental).

Things are changing and that’s a good thing. However, I think studios can do better: create some sort of “virtual DVD experience” and offer VOD services like TVN the opportunity to have DVD features, like commentary, documentaries, bloopers, etc., along with menus, in SD (standard definition) or HD (high definition). I believe this will push more people to choose VOD, though Broadband Internet service is a must.

Anyway, TVN also has some release dates of these Oscar winners/nominees and other movies:

April 21, 2009: Frost/Nixon: (Day and date), The Wrestler

April 24, 2009: Rachel Getting Married

April 29, 2009: Slumdog Millionaire

May 6, 2009: Bolt

May 7, 2009: Doubt

May 14, 2009: The Reader

June 3, 2009: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

I certainly hope to see more exclusives like this, along with day-and-date releases of VOD movies. I truly believe this is the future of home movie entertainment. And if we can “carry” these movies around with us on our mobile devices, like you can with Apple and movies from the iTunes Store, we’ll all be able to enjoy movies at home and abroad. Hey, it worked for music!

To see the nominees and award winners of this year’s Academy awards, check out our play-by-play coverage of the 81st Oscars ceremony.

Source: TVN Entertainment

Final Trailer For Disney’s Bolt

Rob Keyes — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 18:19:27 +0000

Disney has released the final trailer for its 3D animated feature Bolt, in preparation for its release just two weeks from now.

Bolt is the story of a dog who’s the star of a TV show where he’s a super-powered hero. After being accidentally shipped from the Hollywood studio where they show is filmed, Bolt ends up in New York. The adventure begins as the TV star attempts to make it back to the other side of the country with the help of some unique friends he meets with along the way. Hilarity ensues as Bolt doesn’t realize that his powers aren’t real – but throughout the journey he learns he doesn’t need them in order to be a hero.

The voice cast features John Travolta as Bolt, Miley Cyrus as Peggy, Susie Essman as Mittens and Mark Walton as Rhino, the TV-loving hamster (which at this point seems like it will steal the show).

Both this trailer and the previous one look pretty funny to me and the Hamster stands out as my favorite character in both. Much like the Monsters vs. Aliens trailer, the movie is geared towards all audiences, although I think I favor that one a little bit more. Bolt comes out the same day Twilight does so it will have a lot of competition for opening weekend box-office results.

Watch the trailer and see what you think:

[See post to watch Flash video]

For higher-res versions of the trailer head on over to head on over to MySpace.

What do you think of the trailer(s)? Does this stand a chance against Twilight?

Bolt hits theaters everywhere on November 21st, 2008.

Screen Rant » bolt

Oscar Winners/Nominees Coming To Video On Demand

Final Trailer For Disney’s Bolt