Category: Movies (Page 40 of 498)

How to Get the Most Out of Laptop Movie Viewing

September 3, 2012 /

From Friday nights in to boredom at airports, laptops now serve a purpose of more than just writing Word documents and surfing the Internet. Users are upgrading their drives to view Blue-Ray DVDs and access high-quality movies online from popular content websites. Here are a few tips to ensure you get the most out of watching movies from your laptop.

Change Your Power

Typically laptops default to a low performance. This conserves power and is beneficial when working on programs such as Word or writing an email. When running a video, however, the laptop must utilize more energy—especially HD videos that require a higher output of power. You can combat this setting by simply changing the power management to a high performance setting within your laptop’s settings function. This can be done in Windows by going to the Control Panel and finding the Power Options menu. You can also click on the battery icon on the taskbar and access Power Options.

Upgrade Your Notebook

If your laptop is older even by a few years, it is not current with the technological needs of HD videos. Laptops are now faster and more capable of the performance necessary to sustain the power required to view a movie. Lightweight laptops are not only easier to carry, but also optimized for performance. If you are going to be spending hours watching movies, an investment like this will yield much more positive results.

Check Your Programs

Watching HD movies causes your laptop to work harder. It has to decode the content. Stopping any anti-virus software running in the background, closing out of any open programs, removing any malware, and keeping a clean system will ensure your laptop doesn’t have to work harder than it already will. It is also possible that you experience reduced power when transferring files between laptops or onto other devices, so be sure to finish all of these tasks before inserting the movie or downloading one off of a website.

Use Graphics Chips

Modern laptops come with a graphics chip to assist processors with any high-definition movies you want to play, which is known as GPU-acceleration. They are designed to display video and graphics while taking away the load from the processors. If your laptop is an older model, using a graphics chip will ensure that the video plays effortlessly and does not skip while running at just a small percentage of its maximum load.

Following these techniques will help ensure you have a pleasant, uninterrupted experience when watching movies on your laptop. It is not tedious to perform a few simple tasks so that your laptop doesn’t have to work harder and cause you frustration in the movie-viewing process.

Source:

http://www.thinkdigit.com/forum/graphic-cards/156701-how-play-hd-content-movies-netbook-laptop.html

Movies

Hidden Netflix Gems – The House of Yes

September 1, 2012 /

The term “dark comedy” often seems overused, as relatively few films really strike the balance between truly dark and truly funny, tending instead to fall more on one side or the other. One film that really deserves the title, however, is Mark Waters‘ 1997 adaptation of Wendy MacLeod‘s play, The House of Yes. Blending sharp, clever dialogue and a wonderfully unhinged lead performance by Parker Posey with exceptionally disturbing subject matter and boldly unlikable characters, The House of Yes has to be one of the darkest comedies ever made. At the same time, though, it is strikingly funny.

Posey is “Jackie-O” Pascal, a disturbed young woman with a lifelong obsession over Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and, especially, the JFK assassination. As a child, she once dressed as her namesake for Halloween, complete with fake blood and “brains” made from macaroni. She also has an unhealthy fixation on her twin brother, Marty (Josh Hamilton), with whom she shares a far too close relationship, even for twins. Their mother (Genevieve Bujold), upon meeting Marty’s fiancée, Lesly (Tori Spelling), tells her, “Jackie and Marty belong to each other. Jackie’s hand was holding Marty’s penis when they came out of the womb.” This casual admission of such an unsettling fact to a relative stranger gives the viewer a pretty strong idea of how this unbalanced family came to be the way they are.

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Movie Comedies, Movie Dramas, Movie DVDs, Movies

Hidden Netflix Gems – Session 9

August 25, 2012 /

Most films classified within the horror genre are not so much truly scary as they are fun in a sort of morbid way, at least to true horror fans. A real horror fan is too jaded to actually jump when the killer jumps out of the shadows, and certainly most monster movies are more eye candy to the true fan than they are actually frightening. The one thing most of the scariest films ever made have in common is a strong atmosphere of claustrophobia, a sense of no escape from a terrifying situation. Whether it’s in outer space (Alien), a remote arctic wilderness (The Thing), or an isolated building haunted by the past (The Shining), the feeling of being either physically or psychologically trapped is essential to real terror.

Brad Anderson‘s Session 9 has this atmosphere in spades, which is one reason it is probably the scariest film of the past decade. Though its characters can and do leave the location of the horror, a defunct mental hospital from which they have been contracted to remove asbestos, once they have set foot in it the horror never really leaves them. Gordon Fleming (Peter Mullan) is the owner of the company, a man troubled by a failing marriage and seemingly a lack of proper sleep. The rest of his team has their problems as well, all integral to the horror that befalls them. Mike (Stephen Gevedon, the film’s co-writer) is a law school dropout who has some prior knowledge of the asylum, which gradually begins to seem like an unhealthy obsession. Phil (David Caruso) and Hank (Josh Lucas) have an uncomfortable shared history, in that Phil’s former girlfriend is now with Hank, and Gordon’s nephew, Jeff (Brendan Sexton III), has a severe case of nyctophobia, or fear of the dark.

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Horror Movies, Movie DVDs, Movies

Box Office Recap: A Lot of New Releases, for the First Time in a While

August 21, 2012 /

After a few weeks in which there were never more than a few new releases at a time, mostly out of fear of “The Dark Knight Rises,” this weekend saw four new pictures enter theaters. As a result, there was major turnover in the domestic box office charts for the first time in what seems like a while.

The most successful new release was action sequel “The Expendables 2,” starring way too many people to name. The film brought in approximately $28.6 million after debuting in 3,316 theaters. Unsurprisingly, the film skewed to older males, 63 three percent of the audience was male and 65 percent was over 25. While the sequel fell off 18 percent from the debut of the original “Expendables” ($34.8 million), $28.6 million is a modest but acceptable opening mark.

The stop-motion animated feature “ParaNorman” took third place with $14.1 million. After production studio LAIKA received a great deal of critical acclaim for its first film, “Coraline,” many thought the studio might become a Pixar competitor. While LAIKA may arguably be putting out films of similar quality (each was certified fresh, with “ParaNorman” receiving an 88 percent and “Coraline” a 90 percent rating on the Tomatometer), they’re still lagging far behind in terms of box office success. Ten of the thirteen Pixar films have ended up with total domestic grosses over $200 million. LAIKA has a long way to go before they can compete with that.

As for the weekend’s other two new release, the musical “Sparkle” rounded out the top 5 with $11.6 million, while “The Odd Life of Timothy Green” came in seventh with $10.8 million.

Here are the results for this weekend’s top 10 at the box office:

Title/Weeks in release/Theater count, Studio/Three-day weekend total/Cume

1. The Expendables 2, 1/3,316, LGF, $28.591 million.
2. The Bourne Legacy, 2/3,753, Universal, $17.057 million, $69.618 million.
3. ParaNorman, 1/3,429, Focus, $14.087 million.
4. The Campaign, 2/3,255, Warner Bros., $13.127 million, $51.435 million.
5. Sparkle, 1/2,244, TriStar Pictures, $11.643 million.
6. The Dark Knight Rises, 5/3,157, Warner Bros., $11.011 million, $409.787 million.
7. The Odd Life of Timothy Green, 1/2,598, Buena Vista, $10.822 million.
8. Hope Springs, 2/2,361, Sony, $9.111 million, $35.063 million.
9. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days, 3/2,737, Fox, $3.834 million, $38.747 million.
10. Total Recall, 3/2,434, Sony, $3.472 million, $51.755 million.

Movies, test

Ultimate Movie-Goers Experiences: From Cruises to Alaskan Resorts

August 20, 2012 /

Even as cinematography reaches new heights never before dreamed of by movie goers or movie makers, many modern theaters lack what the aficionado might refer to as atmosphere. Gone are the grandiose 18th Century theaters with elaborate molding or fabulous Art Deco architecture that reigned when live performances were the norm. Go into most any theatre from Baltimore to San Diego and it’s virtually impossible to distinguish one from another. If ambiance is an important part of the movie going experience for you, consider one of these venues.


Image via The Globe Theatre

5. Cine Thisio in Athens, Greece

Many outdoor movie theaters call Athens home during the summer months, but for the most spectacular view, try the Cine Thisio. Opened in 1935, it is also the oldest outdoor theater in Athens. Patrons enjoy the night viewing the best, but at any time of day or night you can see the Acropolis and the Parthenon.

4. Alamo Drafthouse in Alamo, Texas, United States

This theater combines a guaranteed quiet viewing along with great food and excellent beer. No children under the age of six are permitted, and there is a zero tolerance policy for interruptions during the film. Patrons also enjoy no advertisements before the film.

3. Prasads in Hyderabad, India

More than just one of the world’s many entertainment complexes, the Prasadas boasts the unique title of being the largest 3D IMAX theatre in the entire world. Not to be confused with the largest IMAX screen in Sydney, Australia, the Prasads is in possession of a 3D IMAX screen that measures a whopping 72 x 92 ft. This venue is also great for children of all ages.

2. The Castro Theatre in San Francisco, United States

Among the palace theaters that became popular during the first half of the 20th Century, The Castro Theatre entered the scene in 1922 and remains as one of the few relics of this grand era of architecture. Its Mexican cathedral-inspired styling embodies detail rarely seen in today’s buildings.

1. Celebrity Cruises

To see the latest blockbuster films as well as enjoy live entertainers like musicians, magicians, vocalists and more – the best possible overall experiences are Alaskan Cruises. Here, guests can enjoy days of dancing, listening to music, seeing the best films, dressing up, partying, dining and generally having a blast. The joy of celebrity cruises is how guests are pampered. This is an experience that truly must be enjoyed to be believed.

For movie and cinema enthusiasts, these venues offer the best experience possible – adding the benefit of ambiance to an already spectacular flick.

Movies

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