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First iTunes Movie Premiere: Purple Violets

This does sound interesting. The movie is probably crap though. Or maybe worse than crap. You got theaters, straight to dvd and now straight to iTunes. Most of these crappy movies on dvd you can get for under $10. $12.99? Yea, right.

Now when Disney starts doing those straight to dvd sequels as straight to iTunes exclusives, then we'll be talking. And I will be talking about my inability to put movies in a separate library from my music (unless that's been addressed by then).
 
Ed Burns and his icky movies are the furthest thing from what I'd like to see get premiered. Just the fact that one of his movies is the first one has completely ruined my desire for iTunes movie premieres.

(half-joking)
 
stevejust said:
umm... Apple tv?
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EXACTLY what I was thinking.

The reporter from LA Times is a tard:

"your date would have to be cool with coming over to watch the movie on your laptop. Or desktop. Or even on the gorgeous little 3-inch by 2-inch screen of your iPod Touch -- since nothing says romance like sharing ear buds."

Again, he's a tard.

This could spur a nice little movement for indie films as well as iTunes exclusive "major" films.

Time to get an AppleTV. ;)
 
I wonder what the resolution will be. I finally downloaded a movie from iTunes a month or so ago and was shocked at how small it was on my monitor. Are they even hitting 480p yet? :(
 
soosy said:
I wonder what the resolution will be. I finally downloaded a movie from iTunes a month or so ago and was shocked at how small it was on my monitor. Are they even hitting 480p yet? :(
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If it's a 4:3 movie, then yes, it should be 480p. Otherwise, it won't be for a wider aspect ratio such as 2.35:1 since Apple crops them to save space. You are getting slightly less vertical resolution than a DVD because it's cropped as opposed to anamorphic 16:9. (not really a huge difference from what I've seen)
 
Not only does the Times fail to mention AppleTV, but why not mention just watching the darn thing via your iPod on your TV. Am I the only one that does that?

I watch movies/tv all the time off the iPod on the TV...pretty basic functionality that's been there since the video iPods were first released. Surprised that's not mentioned by anyone..
 
so iTunes is LOWER than direct-to-DVD?

now iTunes can be choked with Ed Burns movies so terribly, insanely crappy they can't even make a straight-to-DVD jump to blockbuster? and this is a GOOD thing?

Seems odd that apple would tout their first big movie from that idiot who hasn't made a decent movie... well, ever. He is one of the most universally reviled filmmakers i can think of right now.

so, here iTunes public... a ******, ****** movie from a ******, ****** director. awesome.

couldn't we have at least gotten Kevin Smith or something? seriously... Ed Burns? Steve KNOWS he's not the documentary guy, right? should someone tell him he got the wrong Burns?
 
Sayer said:
I have a suspicion that the USB port on the :apple:tv was meant to accept an iPod/iPhone dock so you could browse and view (but not copy) iPod-based content (including videos). I bet the music execs nixed that idea, fearin' us dumb users would somehow not pay another round of royalties to them (I wish I could get paid over and over again for the same completed job indefinitely).
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The execs have destroyed more than that. Since Apple has been unable to negotiate a distribution deal outside of the US, I'll bet you can count the number of aTV's sold in Canada, Europe, Australia, etc on the fingers of one hand.

They launched it expecting to be able to rapidly negotiate the market around the rest of the world and the rug was pulled out from under them. I expect they have realized they need to rethink the concept, but have to give a year or two's separation from this failure before they do anything.
 
I think this is a good start, but I really wish they would come out with some type of rental solution in addition to the current "purchase to own". Then I'd buy an :apple:TV in a heartbeat.

muskratboy said:
Seems odd that apple would tout their first big movie from that idiot who hasn't made a decent movie... well, ever. He is one of the most universally reviled filmmakers i can think of right now.
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Hmmm. I don't exactly hang out on a lot of movie sites, but I've never seen anyone trashing an Ed Burns film until now. He's definitely not a well-known filmmaker (outside of Hollywood), but he's certainly not "universally reviled". Uwe Boll, on the other hand... :p
 
Id like to see it, but not for 12.99, and not when Id have to watch it either on my computer or iphone.

And yes, Ed Burns has done some turds, but some of his stuff is good. I caught Sidewalks of New York on HDNet one night. Id never even heard of this movie, but it was surprisingly VERY good.
 
I like the idea of having access to movies that don't get a general release. Where I live, if a movie wont bust a block then it won't come to a cineplex near me anytime soon.

Now, if only it were available in Canada...

Oh, well, maybe this trend will lead to more h.264 torrents.

[Did I say that out lod?]
 
First, I think this is AWESOME.

When I first heard about the movie, I was expecting some lame art school film, not Ed Burns and Debra Messing. Big name actors? Nice job.

I hope this works. I'd love to see a lot more films get made with smaller budgets and great stories. iTunes seems like the perfect way for that to happen without a monolithic Studio standing in the way.

Thanatoast said:
The only problem I have is knowing that I want to spend $10 on a movie I haven't seen. Of course, I'd spend more than that going to the theater, but there's a mental disconnect there.
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That was my concern as well. Being the first to attempt this, and without a lot of promotion, I would have liked to see a $4.99 price tag. At that price, I think you get a ton of people to buy on impulse. At $10 -- even if it is cheaper than what you'd pay for a trip to the theater -- it still feels like a lot of money. Particularly for a digital download.

What I'd really like to see is Apple put it's marketing power behind the film. Advertise the hell out of it on TV, right along side their iPhone, iPod Touch and Mac commercials. Sure, they'd take a hit now, but if they can show that this film made the producer (Ed Burns) a bundle of cash, you might start seeing others like James Cameron, Quentin Tarantino, Kevin Smith and Robert Rodriguez give it a try. When that happens, iTunes sales skyrocket and Apple reaps the profits.
 
VoodooDaddy said:
And yes, Ed Burns has done some turds, but some of his stuff is good. I caught Sidewalks of New York on HDNet one night. Id never even heard of this movie, but it was surprisingly VERY good.
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Oh, that's who Ed Burns is? I saw that film. And that's pretty much all I have to say about it.

Anyone going to review the movie?
 
the future

i think this is the way the industry is headed. personally i'd so much rather download the movie than go to the theatre with people talking and unwrapping candy during the movie. plus, if you can have the digital copy for all time, if the movie is awesome, don't have to spend the $12-15 on a ticket AND then $20 on the dvd later. i'm sure this will be the first of many in this new wave!! congrats apple for setting the trend again.
 
Macrumors said:


9to5mac reminds us that the first feature film to be launched exclusively on iTunes is opening today. Written and directed by Edward Burns, Purple Violets is a romantic comedy starring Selma Blair, Debra Messing, and Patrick Wilson. A preview page is already available on iTunes (though ordering is currently unavailable) along with a trailer.

The LA Times notes that this digital-only distribution experience may take some getting used to:

But director Edward Burns wants his fans to be able to see his films when they are released, and not face the same issues with limited distribution that he has dealt with in the past. Online film distribution also eliminates printing and distribution costs. That being said, the ultimate success of a film may be limited by this form of distribution. Apple's vice president of iTunes reveals that while the most popular movies have sold "hundreds of thousands" copies each, no single iTunes movie has broken the 1 million download mark.

iTunes Link: Purple Violets

Article Link
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This sounds pretty awesome to me, personally I have no problem with playing movies on my computer with friends...all you need is a good projector :)
 
MacQuest said:
EXACTLY what I was thinking (AppleTV).

The reporter from LA Times is a tard:

"your date would have to be cool with coming over to watch the movie on your laptop. Or desktop. Or even on the gorgeous little 3-inch by 2-inch screen of your iPod Touch -- since nothing says romance like sharing ear buds."

Again, he's a tard.

This could spur a nice little movement for indie films as well as iTunes exclusive "major" films.

Time to get an AppleTV. ;)
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Ok, so I got a response from David Sarno, the LA Times reporter who wrote the article after I sent him a link to AppleTV's page on Apple's website:

"Yep, a few people have said the same. I was focusing on the iPod because that's what it was sent to me on (DRM such that I could not transfer it to a laptop or other device), and no component video cable. So I decided to make the article about the very very small screen. Part of me was trying to avoid making it a littany of Apple viewing devices, but a mention of Apple TV probably would've been fair."

Out of respect for his courteous response, I'll retract my stance that "he's a tard", and re-word my opinion to state that while he was apparently aware that AppleTV was a viable solution, he simply omitted that fact to avoid going off on a tangent about other Apple viewing devices.
 
purple violets

just watched the movie and it was actually pretty good (in a chick-flick sort of way). definitely worth the $12.99 and laptop or apple tv viewing experience was great. hope we will see more of these direct-to-itunes movies in the future or at the very least a better selection of new releases than they currently have.
 
MacQuest said:
Out of respect for his courteous response, I'll retract my stance that "he's a tard"...
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that's big of you. and appropriate. but ouch! let's not overlook your original "tard" comment as a classic example of online commentary surpassing judgement. I doubt you'd have said that to his face. if you would have, well... bottom line is, who's the 'tard now? we should all keep your experience in mind when we're tempted to sling the verbal **** before thinking. sometimes those moments come back and slap us in the foreheads, and end up saying more about us than the person we were trying to slam. I'm old fashioned: a little civility never hurts.

on a more serious note, a review of the movie: it's your typical boy has girl; boy loses girl; boy gets girl back, with the same narrative flow for the girl, too, since they're a little ambigous about who dumped whom. but most stories hark back to a handful of classic plotlines. almost every religion has its own legends paralleling Christian tales. so the real question is, is this version done well? I thought it was engaging. there are minor and major characters who don't follow the expected line, and that's always a good thing. personally, i prefer action movies. and i watch movies to BE entertained, not looking for shortcomings to critique. As an experiment in online marketing, it's a worthy effort, imho.
 
rtdunham said:
that's big of you. and appropriate. but ouch! let's not overlook your original "tard" comment as a classic example of online commentary surpassing judgement. I doubt you'd have said that to his face. if you would have, well... bottom line is, who's the 'tard now? we should all keep your experience in mind when we're tempted to sling the verbal **** before thinking. sometimes those moments come back and slap us in the foreheads, and end up saying more about us than the person we were trying to slam. I'm old fashioned: a little civility never hurts.
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I'm making an exception for this guy because he isn't the typical, run of the mill technology tard that most anti-Apple/Mac microsoft/windows pundits are.

He is an exception to the rule, not the norm.

Most of theses clowns are ill informed, speculative and sensationalist ******s who would never admit to having overlooked something the way that David Sarno has.

To put it bluntly (screw civility, this is war) more often than not, they're tards.

Maybe not at the level of Enderle, Thurrot, or Dvorak, but tards nonetheless.
 
Not the First

Wow this story is way late. Purple Violets might be the first on iTunes but a movie called RUNE (http://www.runethemovie.com) was released last year around the same time. HOLLYWOOD REPORTER ran a big story on it, PC World, Yahoo...couple of places. It was the first film to debut only on the iPod. Of course it was Creative Commons so I guess :apple: didn't take it seriously enough to pimp it like they are Purple Violets. Hmmm.
 
I enjoyed this movie thoroughly. My girlfriend likes the actor so she and many other women will enjoy this easy-going-not-as-cliched-as-one-might-think film.
 
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