June 2007

YouTube have added what could be a very useful application - the ability to edit your videos online.

It is called YouTube Remixer and the official blurb says:

Sometimes, instant gratification video is just the thing you need. If you’ve ever uploaded from your cell phone, wished for an easy way to add titles and transitions, or just wanted to remix your own videos, Remixer is a great place to play.

It lets you assemble your new video in an easy drag-and-drop timeline, and then publish it right back to YouTube. Your original videos will stay exactly the same.

TechCrunch have their doubts:

This isn’t an offering that is going to be embraced by serious content creators but it is ideal for casual YouTube uploaders. The interface is fairly simple if perhaps a little bit dull and boring.

Creating a one stop shop for all things video at YouTube is a natural progression path that gives prosumers another reason to spend more time on the site; it’s just that it’s grey, uninspiring and so very not Google.

But this could be the start of something very interesting at YouTube.

Who knows, may be the Adobe powered editor could become a very popular online application. If it is easy to use then I can only see it growing and taking off in interesting ways.

Plus, the key thing here is that people are more likely to get hooked in to the site and even develop their editing skills if it takes off.

Another smart move from the the GooTubers.

> Official YouTube Remix section of the site
> Check out the lengthy and interesting Wikipedia entry on YouTube

It has been nearly 5 years since we last saw a film from writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson.

However, an early trailer for his latest film There Will Be Blood has surfaced online.

Based on the novel Oil! by Upton Sinclair, it stars Daniel Day Lewis in the lead role.

Check out the teaser trailer here:

[Link via AICN]

Plus you can see PTA discuss the film in this IFC interview with Henry Rollins that aired last May:

It is thought by some that the film will have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in late August.

> Check out the excellent PTA fansite Cigarettes and Red Vines
> IMDb entry for There Will Be Blood
> Photos from the production

Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer (PG)

The sequel to 2005’s adaptation of the comic book sees another Marvel character join the film with the arrival of the Silver Surfer. But his presence isn’t really enough to elevate what is another lacklustre outing for the quartet.

Ioan Gruffudd, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis and Jessica Alba return in their roles as the Fantastic 4 and we again see how they deal with their fame and powers whilst the mysterious Surfer starts to trigger panic around the world.

Like the original it is a bit too light and fluffy and the visual effects are not up to scratch. The exception is the Silver Surfer himself but even his character is largely wasted in an underwritten supporting role.

Vacancy (15)

When a couple (Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale) break down in the middle of nowhere, they have to spend the night at an isolated motel. They switch on the TV and discover that the sinister slasher movies on the box were all filmed in the very room they’re in.

Continuing the trend of horror films that have been raining down on cinemas recently, this tries to mix low budget scares with a more mainstream sensibility.

The problem with this approach is that isn’t shocking enough to be truly scary and is too low budget to really impress on a technical level. Whilst it is watchable enough for about an hour it is too derivative (Psycho is just one of the many touchstones referenced) and outstays its welcome long before its time to check out.

Tell No One (15)

A smart and absorbing thriller about a Paris doctor (Francois Cluzet) who has to deal with the apparent murder of his wife and the mysterious emails 8 years later that seem to show her still alive.

Things are complicated by the police and a mysterious criminal gang determined to find out what he does (or doesn’t) know about the crime. He then has to solve the mystery whilst also avoiding getting killed himself.

Based on a bestselling US novel by Harlan Coben, director Guilluame Canet has done a terrific job of adapting the action to France, as the action ticks along with plenty of satisfying twists and turns.

Cluzet is superb in the title role and there are some notable supporting performances from the likes of Kristin Scott Thomas and Gilles Lellouche. The film deservedly won several Cesar awards earlier this year (with Canet scooping Best Director) and is certainly a cut above most thrillers Hollywood has churned out in the past year.

Listen to this week’s Review Podcast here:

To subscribe to The Review Podcast via iTunes just click the image below:

> Download this podcast as an MP3 file (just right click, save as and rename the file)
> Check out the local listings for these films at Google Movies
> Listen to Guillaume Canet discuss Tell No One on our Interview Podcast

Guillaume Canet first came to prominence as an actor in France with films like In All Innocence (1998).

Internationally he is probably best known for his supporting role in The Beach (2000) but he has branched successfully in to directing and his new thriller Tell No One is out at UK cinemas this week.

A smash hit in France, it stars Francois Cluzet as a doctor whose wife (Marie-Josée Croze) is kidnapped and presumed dead. But eight years later he gets an email saying that she is still alive, which is the beginning of a clever and thrilling drama set in and around contemporary Paris.

I spoke to him recently about adapting the original story from an American setting to a French one, which directors have influenced him and what UK audiences can expect from the film.

Listen to the interview here:

To subscribe to our Interview Podcast via iTunes just click the image below:

> Download this interview as an MP3 file (just right click, save as and rename)
> Find local showtimes for Tell No One via Google Movies
> Check out the official UK website for Tell No One
> Check out Guillaume’s official site

Video Jug has a straightforward but interesting interview with Stephen Fry and his thoughts on the web.

VideoJug: Stephen Fry: The Internet

Check them out in 5 parts by clicking on the following links:

> Technology

> The Internet

> Learning 

> Web 2.0

> His Heroes 

It is great to see someone outside geekdom or the computer industry speak so lucidly about how and why the web is important to our lives.

> Official website for Stephen Fry
> Ben Balbo with an article on VideoJug

YouTube are testing a method of digital fingerprinting that will identify what clips are copyrighted.

Apparently, it was developed by Google in collaboration with Time Warner and Disney.

Kenneth Li and Eric Auchard of Reuters report:

The technology, developed by engineers at YouTube-owner Google Inc., will help content owners such as movie and TV studios identify videos uploaded to the site without the copyright owner’s permission, legal, marketing and strategy executives at YouTube told Reuters in an interview on Monday.

The so-called video fingerprinting tools, which identify unique attributes in the video clips, will be available for testing in about a month, a YouTube executive said.

“The technology was built with the Disney’s and Time Warner’s in mind,” Chris Maxcy, YouTube partner development director, said, adding that, since early this year, Google has been testing audio-fingerprinting tools with record labels.

These tools will be used to identify copyrighted material, after which media companies can decide if they would like to remove the material or keep it up, as part of a revenue-sharing deal with YouTube, which can sell advertising alongside it.

Once proven to work, the technology could be used to block the uploading of copyrighted clips, YouTube product manager David King said. It aims to make the tools widely available to any copyright owner later this year.

The big question here is: will this work? Obviously big media companies want to protect the content they fund and produce. But whether anyone likes it or not part of the appeal of YouTube is that it has become an unofficial archive for a lot of copyrighted material.

But its not like it has become The Pirate Bay. It is just that a generation of people are increasingly growing used to finding video on YouTube in a way that wasn’t possible in the past. If YouTube filters this out digitally (and that is a big if) then won’t that just lead to clone video sites picking up the slack?

With the notable exception of Disney, Paramount, Lionsgate and MGM’s bold move in to the world of movies on iTunes, major media companies have been slow to pick up on how their content can be used. At worst, they have been guilty of sticking their head in the sand when it comes to how people want to view clips, trailers or download movies.

Maybe this attempt to work with Google (rather than slapping down lawsuits that will probably go nowhere) is a step in the right direction. But at the moment it sounds like a group of highly paid lawyers trying to force a genie back in to a bottle.

> See the full story at Reuters
> Mark Cuban at Blog Maverick with his take on this issue
> Mark also wrote a very interesting post back in October about the copyright issues behind Google’s acquisition of YouTube

Matthew Garrahan of the Financial Times reports that Apple are in advanced talks with the major studios about launching a movie rental service:

Apple is in advanced talks with Hollywood’s largest movie studios about launching an online film rental service to challenge cable and satellite TV operators.

The service could be significant for Apple. If it signs enough studios, the group will get access to more premium film content.

Apple already sells films that can be downloaded and owned, and has distribution deals with Walt Disney and Paramount. Other studios have shied from tie-ups with Apple because of concerns that digital downloading may hit DVD sales.

But studios will be more enthusiastic about joining its video-on-demand service. Films downloaded to rent are unlikely to affect DVD sales.

Apple, which declined to comment, is believed to be aiming for an autumn release.

The price would be $2.99 for a 30-day rental and the DRM software would allow films to be copied from a computer to at least one other device such as the video iPod or iPhone.

This would appear to be a logical move after Apple started selling movies through iTunes last September.

> Check out the original story here at the Financial Times
> Mac Rumors reported a cryptic hint from Steve Jobs about this at a recent shareholders meeting
> Find out more about the iTunes Store at Wikipedia