Category Archives: Blog Posts

Determining a Film’s Year of Release (While Respecting Historical Context)

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Movie Release Year

Author’s Note: This blog post is the result of a conversation between Jason Pyles and MPW listener Dino Ticinelli on Movie Podcast Weekly, Episode 217. The “verdict” below does not necessarily reflect any of Dino’s feelings; instead, these sentiments solely belong to Jason. Nevertheless, Dino’s suggestions significantly influenced and inspired the creation of “Uncle Oscar’s Tailgate Party” and its underpinnings. Thank you, Dino. -Jason Pyles

1. All *movie submissions will be accepted. (*Non-movie submissions that are television shows or other segmented series will not be considered for MPW’s Top 10 movies lists.)

2. The year of release will be determined by the first date that a film becomes widely available to a U.S. audience (theatrical release, online streaming, physical purchase or rental).

3. The following are examples that do not constitute a “wide release” and will be disregarded: premier dates, film festival screening dates, limited theater releases, foreign (non-U.S.) releases, and any other system for determining year of release.

4. The Internet Movie Database’s “Release Info” page will be the primary source for determining dates of widespread U.S. release.
(Ex. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3460252/releaseinfo) If IMDb.com proves to be an inconclusive source, the three backup resources are Wikipedia.org, Movie Insider.com and Amazon.com.

*** 5. The most crucial, linchpin point to this system is the “historical context” of the reality of the viewer actually first seeing the new release film during the year in question. (Thus, the Top 10 list truly becomes personal and subjective because it consists of films the viewer literally saw during that year.) Continue reading →

Participate in Our Top 10 Best Movies of 2016 Episode and You Could Win a $50 Amazon Gift Card, a $25 Amazon Gift Card or Ryan’s No. 1 Movie of 2016!

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Top 10 of 2016 blog

Preface:
For those who love movies, there’s nothing so valuable or as anticipated as a year’s Top 10 Best Movies list. Even cinephiles who find list-making to be arbitrary or problematic can’t help but take notice of the flurry of Best Of submissions that flood the Internet in December and January.

At the end of each year, Movie Podcast Weekly (and separately, Horror Movie Podcast) assembles a Top 10 Best Movies of the Year list, where each host reveals his selections for the very best cinema of the past 12 months.

But something we love to do is to incorporate another Top 10 list that’s a collective consensus of our listenership’s favorite films of the year! Continue reading →

MPW Blog: Mr. EULA and The Cloud – by Karl Huddleston

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The Cloud

You may remember a few years ago when Walmart announced its big “Cloud” initiative in relation to DVDs and Blu-ray movies. Basically, you could bring in all your discs that you had purchased in the past from anywhere, and they would take them and “give” you a copy of that movie “in The Cloud” that you would own “forever” and stream whenever you like.

Yeah, right.

This is the part where I love to introduce our good friend, “Mr. EULA” (pronounced “yoo-la”). I became good friends with Mr. EULA when I worked for seven years at a large software company doing compliance work. Essentially, my job was to make sure that all our customers had paid for all the software they were using, because they could install as many instances of the software as they wanted — at will. Continue reading →

MPW Blog: The Next Great Franchise – by Geek Cast Ry

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Harbingers of Doom

The old adage goes something like this: “The book will always be better than the movie.” I’m here to disagree with that — if only for this instance.

I recently bought and read, “The Stuff of Legend Omnibus One,” the New York Times best-selling graphic novel written by Mike Raicht and Brian Smith and produced by Th3rd World Studios.

The story centers around a child’s toys which travel into The Dark to save him after he is brought there by The Boogeyman. The Dark is just that, a desolate place run by Boogey himself and populated with the boy’s discarded toys. Continue reading →

MPW Blog: Two Trailers That Are Harbingers of Doom for American Cinema – by Jason Pyles

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Harbingers of Doom

I realize that most of the people who listen to Movie Podcast Weekly or read this blog article are probably younger than I am. Yes, I’m 39 years old, and I promise if you hang with me through this article, my argument will amount to more than just a crotchety old man lamenting that “the times are a changing.”

If you’ve rolled your eyes or you’re bored already, then GET OFF MY LAWN!

The cinema has been evolving and changing ever since the very first motion pictures, circa 1895. Some historians peg the birth year at 1896, but I’ve mentioned both to cover my bases.

As remarkable as it seems, filmmakers and technicians are continually innovating and improving upon the techniques and technology behind film art.

To be clear, I believe this is exactly as it should be. Continue reading →