Tag: Movies

Posted on

Futurama: ILoveBender.com

Futurama Bender is Back, Baby!

Head over to www.ilovebender.com for more Futurama!!!!!!!

Even better, send email to: bender@ilovebender.com

Spoilers, sort of:

Returning Characters including main characters (will be updated whenever)

  • Philip J. Fry
  • Turanga Leela
  • Bender Bending Rodriguez
  • Amy Wong
  • Dr. John E. Zoidberg
  • Hermes Conrad, Bureaucrat Grade 34
  • Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth
  • Cubert Farnsworth
  • The Fry Family, including Philip J. Fry the nephew of Philip J. Fry
  • Leela’s parents
  • LaBarbara and Dwight Conrad
  • Barbados Slim
  • Scruffy
  • Sal
  • Nixon’s head
  • Al Gore
  • Zapp Brannigan
  • Kiff Kroker
  • Nibler and the Nibblonians (in the kitten class attack ships)
  • The Harlem Globetrotters
  • Lrr
  • Morbo and Linda
  • The Cryogenic Lab crews
  • Mr. Panucci
  • Seymour (Fry’s dog)
  • Tinny Tim
  • Robot Santa
  • Kwanzabot
  • Matt Groening’s head

Other Cameo Appearances

  • Eric Cartman’s head (54:02)
  • Family Guy (sort of)

Futurama is Back, Baby! - http://www.ilovebender.com/

But honestly, if you’re a fan of Futurama, BUY THE DVD!!!!!

“Futurama The Movie – Bender’s Big Score” will be released on November 27th, 2007. I already pre-ordered it through Amazon.com. The crazy part is that I know that I’ll be picking it up at the local Target or Circuit City store. I despise “Best” Buy, and have no plan to spend my money there. OK, I’ll buy the DVD from Best Buy if they would give me a life-size Bender statue.

Silly Futurama Preview @ Amazon.com

Futurama The Movie - Bender's Big Score

Based on the available informations, the “Futurama The Movie – Bender’s Big Score” will be in a “glorious” widescreen format.

Posted on

“Futurama: Bender’s Big Score” is Leaked Out

Upon reading my web-access log, I found out that the soon to be released “Futurama The Movie – Bender’s Big Score” is now available for viewing on the internet. I don’t know if this is official, I’ll find out soon.

Apparently, the stream itself is coming from a legitimate source, but I am not sure if the “leak” is officially sanctioned.

But honestly, if you’re a fan of Futurama, BUY THE DVD!!!!!

“Futurama The Movie – Bender’s Big Score” will be released on November 27th, 2007. I already pre-ordered it through Amazon.com. The crazy part is that I know that I’ll be picking it up at the local Target or Circuit City store. I despise “Best” Buy, and have no plan to spend my money there. OK, I’ll buy the DVD from Best Buy if they would give me a life-size Bender statue.

Silly Futurama Preview @ Amazon.com

Futurama The Movie - Bender's Big Score

Based on the available informations, the “Futurama The Movie – Bender’s Big Score” will be in a “glorious” widescreen format.

Posted on

Carlos Alazraqui, AVCHD, Panasonic HDC-SD5, Macs, and iMovie ’08.

I finally finished the first project involving Carlos Alazraqui, AVCHD, Panasonic HDC-SD5, Macs, and iMovie ’08. I learned a lot from this project, from using the Panasonic HDC-SDC camera, importing AVCHD movie clips, using iMovie ’08 even further, and the hardware requirements for this project.

First, I’d like to thank Hollywood Improv for giving the permissions to film Carlos Alazraqui’s stand-up sets.

I do realize that my personal MacBook Pro Core Duo is a little bit underpowered in handling AVCHD movie clips. For certain, it took a long time to import the AVCHD clips, and it took even longer to export the HD clips.

I do learn a lot of tricks in using iMovie ’08. I originally was going to use Final Cut Pro to edit the clips. Unfortunately, I have not had a chance to install Final Cut Pro on my MacBook Pro, after I clean installed Mac OS X Leopard on it. In addition to that, I have yet to acquire Final Cut Express 4 which now supports AVCHD format.

I will post my review on Panasonic HDC-SD5, my experience with iMovie ’08, and what I learn about AVCHD format.

As a preview, please take a look at the following screen capture taken using Panasonic HDC-SD5.

Carlos Alazraqui, Hollywood Improv, 2007.11.17 - 3

Posted on

I Need New Macs

For the past 7 years I have been purchasing at least one portable computer each year with the exception of 2007. It is now November 2007, and I have yet purchased a computer. OK, I did get a new Core 2 Duo PC from the office. It is currently running Windows XP, take that Windows Vista. I can’t bear using Windows Vista at all. The PC itself is more than powerful enough to run Windows Vista Ultimate, but up to this moment there are some softwares that wouldn’t run properly on Windows Vista. In addition to that, the networking stack in Windows Vista does not play nice with other Operating Systems. I have not reinstalled Windows Vista back on any computers I have in my home office.

I have recently acquired a new AVCHD camcorder, Panasonic HDC-SD5. I just finished recording Carlos Alazraqui‘s stand up sets at the Hollywood Improv. It is roughly an hour of raw footage, and recorded in High Definition at 1080i. Working with AVCHD format requires a lot of processing powers. It takes 2 hours to re-encode an 11-minute of edited footage on my 2GHz MacBook Pro Core Duo. I am sure that it would take significantly less time if I have a Core 2 Duo Mac (or better). I am hoping that the 64-bit CPU and Operating System (Mac OS X Leopard) would be able to handle the HD encoding better and faster.

Anyway, I am waiting for the next version of MacBook Pro sometimes during Macworld 2008. I was talking to a friend who wanted to do movie editing on MacBook Pro in High Definitions, and I did convince her to wait until the next version of MacBook Pro is released.

I am thinking about getting an iMac or even a Mac Pro for all the multimedia projects I am working on right now. As of this point I can’t justify spending the money for any of them. I personally prefer using portables such as MacBook Pro. Maybe I can convince the office to get me new Mac or Macs.

One other thing in mind is for me to somehow contact Apple and get them to donate a Mac or two. It’s a wishful thinking. If you’re working for Apple Inc., please let someone know at the corporate office that I need new Macs and the Pro-Apps.

One can dream……..

Posted on

Carlos Alazraqui at Hollywood Improv (2007.11.17)

Carlos Alazraqui at Hollywood Improv (2007.11.17)

Carlos Alazraqui at Hollywood Improv (2007.11.17)

UPDATE:
Just got back from Hollywood Improv. I had a great time covering both 8:00pm and 10:00pm show. Carlos was actually sick and and having troubles with his voice. There were more people on 8:00pm show than the 10:00pm show.

I have both Carlos’ sets recorded, and will soon (whenever I have the time) be edited. I want to get the video clips out as soon as possible, pending Carlos’ approvals.

Special Thanks to Hollywood Improv for letting us film the sets.

I’m heading off to Hollywood Improv to see Carlos Alazraqui, the man behind Reno 911! James Garcia’s mustache, the voice of many characters including Taco Bell Chihuahua, Family Guy’s Mr. Weed, Rocko, and Lazlo.

Full report from the show tonight, and maybe some interview with Carlos.
Watch this post for reports.

Posted on

Roxio Releases Toast 8.0.3 Update

Roxio releases Toast 8.0.3 update.

Roxio Toast 8 icon

Roxio Toast® 8 now support Blu-ray discs recording on the Mac. Toast® 8 includes exclusive EyeTV burning and TiVoToGo™ transfers to DVD or iPod®.

Toast® 8 now supports Mac OS X Leopard.

Toast® 8 version history:
http://www.roxio.com/enu/support/toast/version_history8.html

Download Toast® 8.0.3 update:
http://www.roxio.com/enu/support/toast/software_updates.html

Buy Toast 8 Titanium @ Amazon.com

Posted on

Apple Introduces Final Cut Express 4

Apple introduces Final Cut Express 4.

Final Cut Express 4 box

For more informations on Final Cut Express 4, head to:
http://www.apple.com/finalcutexpress/

System Requirements

  • A Mac computer with a 1.25GHz or faster PowerPC G4, PowerPC G5, Intel Core Duo, Intel Core 2 Duo, or Intel Xeon processor
    For AVCHD: A Mac computer with an Intel processor
  • 1GB of RAM or more
  • An AGP or PCI Express graphics card compatible with Quartz Extreme; or an Intel GMA integrated graphics processor in a MacBook or Mac mini computer
  • Some FxPlug filters are not compatible with integrated Intel graphics processors.
  • A display with 1024-by-768 resolution or higher
  • A DVD drive for installation
  • Mac OS X v10.4.10 or later
  • QuickTime 7.2 or later
  • 500MB of disk space to install Final Cut Express and LiveType
  • Additional 500MB to install LiveType content

It is finally answering the one question out of many that I currently care about.

“Why doesn’t Final Cut Express support AVCHD? Final Cut Pro can, but I rarely use it for small projects. Wait a minute, iMovie ’08 can too. I feel that iMovie ’08 is under-powered, and Final Cut Pro is an overkill. Apple, please add AVCHD support to Final Cut Express. I would like to import and edit the AVCHD-encoded clips that I took using my new Panasonic HDC-SD5 camcorder.”

OK, apparently Apple was not going to add AVCHD support to Final Cut Express 3.5 and older. The AVCHD support will be built in Final Cut Express 4.

Anyway, I like using Final Cut Pro; but it’s a bit overkill at many times. I like using iMovie HD ’06; but it’s a little bit limited in features. I like using iMovie ’08; but it’s missing some important features such as audio extractions, and many others. In my mind, I’d say that for most of the projects I’m working on, I can sufficiently handle them in Final Cut Express. I recently purchased Panasonic HDC-SD5 camcorder and it records into the AVCHD format. I was going to fire up Final Cut Pro to work on some videos, but since Apple announces Final Cut Express 4 with AVCHD support; I don’t need Final Cut Pro for most of my projects.