The new season of Heroes starts on September 24th. If you didn’t watch the first season, pick up the Heroes - Season One DVD and get caught up before the new episodes start.
I’ve always enjoyed movies and shows about superheroes and their powers. Heroes takes a unique approach with ordinary people discovering their superpowers. Here’s a description from Amazon…
“Arguably the most talked-about television show of the 2006-2007 season, the Emmy-nominated fantasy Heroes gives viewers blends comic book-style adventure with plotting and characters as rich and layered as any graphic novel or drama series. Creator Tim Kring’s premise is deceptively simple – ordinary individuals in locations around the globe discover that they have, for lack of a better term, super powers, and wrestle with this reality while facing challenges both global (the destruction of New York City, for one) and personal (indestructible cheerleader Hayden Panetierre has family issues – serious ones, as the true identity of her adoptive father reveals; Milo Ventimiglia’s Peter Petrelli, who absorbs other powers, must overcome his own insecurities). Add to this mix a terrific villain – Zachary Quinto’s Sylar, who hunts and kills people with extraordinary powers like our heroes – and viewers have a riveting series that exhibits an almost-perfect balance of cliffhanger thrills (the action and special effects are truly impressive for a network program).”
“The seven-disc set of Heroes: Season One offers a wealth of extras for fans, who may be familiar with some of them through the NBC.com website, especially the cast commentaries, which are featured on half of the episodes. Kring is featured on the 73-minute uncut pilot episode, which for some viewers, may be even better than the network version; the main difference is the degree of character development, including an entire storyline for D.L. Hawkins that isn’t featured in the broadcast version.”
If you can have a superpower, which power would you want? I would like to have Peter Petrelli’s ability to absorb other powers. Why stop at one superpower when you can have them all?
One of my favorite TV shows right now is the Dog Whisperer on the National Geographic channel. The star of the show is Cesar Millan, who is a…
“Renowned dog behavior expert and New York Times best-selling author Cesar Millan is one of the most sought-after specialists working in the field of dog rehabilitation. From bullying Chihuahuas to timid great Danes, Cesar has an uncanny gift for communicating with dogs and seeing the world through their eyes.
Cesar has been called “a Dr. Phil for dogs,�? and for good reason. His amazing rehabilitations of aggressive, scared, lazy, compulsive and jealous dogs—and the families that are usually in the dark about how their own behavior contributes to the dogs’ quirky traits—captured the national spotlight when his National Geographic Channel (NGC) series Dog Whisperer premiered in 2004. On Friday, September 7, 2007, at 8 p.m. ET/PT, Dog Whisperer returns for a fourth season with a record 35 new hour-long episodes.”
Every time I watch an episode, I’m amazed at how Cesar can instantly control unruly and badly behaving dogs. I could have used Cesar’s advice and tips when I was helping my parents raise their cockapoo, Champagne. Champagne was an adorable dog but she was extremely excitable and despised other dogs.
I have no doubt that if we had read Cesar’s Way - The Natural, Everyday Guide to Understanding & Correcting Common Dog Problems, before bringing Champagne home, she would have been a more calm and balanced dog. If you are thinking about getting a dog, I definitely recommend reading Cesar’s book or watching his TV show. Previous seasons of the Dog Whisperer are available on DVD. And here’s a video of Cesar in action…
Posted by: Chuck
Posted in Books, Movies
Tags cesarmillan, dog, dvd, psychology, training
Over the past several months, I’ve been watching episodes of Planet Earth on TV. After each episode, I am amazed at the beauty of our planet and I’m completely in awe of the wildlife footage captured in this BBC series. Words cannot describe the magnificent scenery and intriguing animal behavior in these DVDs, so check out the video below for a preview.
“This astonishing 11-part BBC series is brilliantly narrated by Sir David Attenborough and sensibly organized so that each 50-minute episode covers a specific geographical region and/or wildlife habitat (mountains, caves, deserts, shallow seas, seasonal forests, etc.) until the entire planet has been magnificently represented by the most astonishing sights and sounds you’ll ever experience from the comforts of home. The premiere episode, “From Pole to Pole,” serves as a primer for things to come, placing the entire series in proper context and giving a general overview of what to expect from each individual episode. Without being overtly political, the series maintains a consistent and subtle emphasis on the urgent need for ongoing conservation, best illustrated by the plight of polar bears whose very behavior is changing (to accommodate life-threatening changes in their fast-melting habitat) in the wake of global warming–a phenomenon that this series appropriately presents as scientific fact. With this harsh reality as subtext, the series proceeds to accentuate the positive, delivering a seemingly endless variety of natural wonders, from the spectacular mating displays of New Guinea’s various birds of paradise to a rare encounter with Siberia’s nearly-extinct Amur Leopards, of which only 30 remain in the wild.”
I have always enjoyed watching animal behavior and was fortunate enough to go on safari in the Serengeti several years ago. Watching Planet Earth is almost as good as watching the animals in person, sometimes it’s even better due to the night vision and super slow motion video captured.
One of the most amusing clips is the mating displays of New Guinea’s birds of paradise. This video is pure entertainment…
Planet Earth - The Complete BBC Series is available in standard DVD-Video, HD-DVD and Blu-ray. This is a great gift for anyone who enjoys the outdoors or loves animals.
Posted by: Chuck
Posted in Movies
Tags animals, bbc, conservation, dvd, gift, nature, planetearth, wildlife
As a long time Tivo owner and Netflix user, I had hoped their partnership would provide the ultimate on-demand video service. Unfortunately, the venture ended with nothing to show.
I was naturally excited about Amazon Unbox on Tivo. Amazon Unbox allows you to rent or buy movies and TV shows and download them to your PC. With the new Unbox on Tivo service, you can now download videos directly to a broadband connected Tivo.
The key selling point for me is movie rentals. I have a stack of DVD movies that collect dust because I never re-watch them. I love Netflix, but I don’t watch enough movies to justify the monthly fee anymore. Currently, my preferred video viewing model is my cable provider’s on-demand/pay-per-view service, with instant gratification, decent video and audio quality and complete control of playback for 24 hours. The only negative is the on-demand movie selection is very limited.
With great anticipation, I tested out Amazon Unbox on Tivo today. By registering my Tivo before April 30th, I received a $15 Unbox credit. The cost to rent a movie is $3.99, $14.99 to purchase a movie and $1.99 to buy a TV show. For my Unbox test, I rented The Illusionist and bought Casino Royale. Renting or purchasing a movie is an easy one click process and the movie automatically began downloading to my Tivo within 15 minutes. According to the Unbox on Tivo FAQs, download times vary depending on your Internet connection speed. On my broadband connection, it took over 1.5 hours for a 109 minute video and 2.5 hours for a 145 minute movie. Unfortunately, video playback is not available until the movie is completely downloaded to your Tivo.
Once a movie rental is downloaded, you have a limited window, 30 days, to begin watching it. After you start watching the rental, it’s available for 24 hours and then is automatically deleted, much like a cable provider’s on-demand movie service. Rental can be downloaded to either your PC or Tivo but not both, and therefore not available for re-download from Your Media Library on Amazon Unbox. If you purchase movies, the videos are “available for re-download from Your Media Library and can be downloaded on up to 2 (two) different personal computers or Tivo DVRs and can be transferred to up to 2 (two) portable devices at any one time.”
According to Tivo, Unbox videos “are of better quality than videos recorded at the Best Quality setting on a TiVo Series2™ DVR.” After watching part of the movies on my Tivo, the video quality is about the same as the Best Quality setting. However, the video and sound quality is only adequate for viewing TV shows. I expect DVD quality video and digital surround sound while watching movies. The Tivo Series3 is capable of digital audio; however, I believe Unbox videos are only offered in stereo sound.
The video quality, using the Unbox player to watch videos on a PC, isn’t much better than on the Tivo. But I’m more forgiving of video on PCs versus an HDTV and I usually don’t watch videos on a PC unless it’s free. One positive on the Unbox player is the progressive download feature, which allows you to watch videos while it’s downloading.
Overall, I’m disappointed with the Unbox on Tivo service. I was hoping for a service that would replace my cable provider’s pay-per-view service and Netflix. With a limited rental library, the inability to immediately watch videos and poor video quality, I don’t plan on using Unbox on Tivo unless it’s the last option. Additionally, there’s no point in purchasing a movie from Unbox when you can buy the DVD with superior video and audio at the same price. It’s the same reason I don’t buy any movies or music from iTunes. Why pay the same price for inferior video or audio?
Despite my disappointment, Unbox does allow you to easily download video to your Tivo in just one click. As a movie renter, I’ll add Unbox on Tivo as an option but it will be third on my list after DVD rental (Netflix, etc.) and pay-per-view/on-demand. I’ll gladly move Unbox on Tivo up my list and even to the top with the following improvements:
If Amazon and Tivo can make these improvements, I would also finally pony up the $650 and upgrade to a Tivo Series3 HD DVR. Until then, I’m keeping my eye on the Apple TV (no rentals is a downer) and the SlingCatcher.
