Tag: movies

AnyDVD Supports UHD Blu-Ray Ripping, While Devices Patch Security Holes

The controversial ripping tool AnyDVD has released a new beta version that allows users to decrypt and copy UHD Blu-Ray discs. The software makes use of the leaked keys that came out recently and appears to work well. Meanwhile, disc drive manufacturers are patching security holes. TorrentFreak reports: This year there have been some major developments on this front. First, full copies of UHD discs started to leak online, later followed by dozens of AACS 2.0 keys. Technically speaking AACS 2.0 is not confirmed to be defeated yet, but many discs can now be ripped. This week a popular name jumped onto the UHD Blu-Ray bandwagon. In its latest beta release, AnyDVD now supports the format, relying on the leaked keys. “New (UHD Blu-ray): Fetch AACS keys from external file for use with ‘UHD-friendly’ drives, ” the release notes read. The involvement of AnyDVD is significant because it previously came under legal pressure from decryption licensing outfit AACS LA. This caused former parent company Slysoft to shut down last year, but the software later reappeared under new management. Based on reports from several AnyDVD users, the UHD ripping works well for most people. Some even claim that it’s faster than the free alternative, MakeMKV. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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AnyDVD Supports UHD Blu-Ray Ripping, While Devices Patch Security Holes

Amazon Is Making a ‘Lord of the Rings’ Prequel Series

Amazon is making a Lord of the Rings prequel TV series for its Amazon Instant streaming service. The show, which already carries a multi-season commitment, will “explore new storylines preceding J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring.” TechCrunch reports: It’s possible the new series will mine the ponderous but rich Silmarillion for material, as fan fiction writers and lore aficionados have done for decades. The exploits of the Elf-Lords of old would make for a stirring epic, while many would thrill at the possibility of seeing Moria at the height of its grandeur. So much depends on the quality of the adaptation, though. Amazon has been pretty good about its Originals, but this will be an undertaking far beyond the scope of anything its studios and partners have yet attempted. Amazon is partnering with New Line Cinema, which of course was the film company behind the much-loved trilogy that began in 2001, and the Tolkien Estate, as well as HarperCollins for some reason. The deal also “includes a potential additional spin-off series, ” presumably if it’s popular enough. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Amazon Is Making a ‘Lord of the Rings’ Prequel Series

‘Drive’ director debuts free streaming service for forgotten movies

Love him or hate him, you can’t deny that Drive and Neon Demon director Nicholas Winding Refn has an astute eye for style in his movies. He’s taking that and launching his own streaming service , dubbed “byNWR.” It’s different from Netflix in that its offerings will be tightly curated by Refn and others. Oh, and it’ll be free. The service describes itself as “an unadulterated expressway for the arts, ” and beta sign-ups are live right now. Per Indiewire , the website further states that “byNWR shares Nicholas WInding Refn’s passion for the rare, the forgotten and the unknown, breathing new life into the culturally intriguing and influential.” Each month will feature a different restored movie (thanks in part to Harvard Film Archive) that fits into a theme that’ll change every quarter. When it launches next February the theme will be “Regional Renegades: Exploitation Gems from the Southern USA, ” and the second will be “Restored and Rediscovered Classics of American Independent Cinema.” Vodzilla elaborates that the website will also offer essays, music and photos in addition to streaming video. Sounds a bit like what Apple wanted to do with Music at first . Want to watch the movies somewhere other than your computer? Apparently there will also be screenings for the restored films as well at select theaters across the globe. byNWR is one of the more niche streaming services we’ve come across, but if you’re a fan of obscure movies from Hollywood’s past, it might be your best place to watch them — all it’s missing is an app. Via: Vodzilla Source: byNWR

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‘Drive’ director debuts free streaming service for forgotten movies

Cyberstalking Suspect Arrested After VPN Providers Shared Logs With the FBI

An anonymous reader writes: “VPN providers often advertise their products as a method of surfing the web anonymously, claiming they never store logs of user activity, ” writes Bleeping Computer, “but a recent criminal case shows that at least some do store user activity logs.” According to the FBI, VPN providers played a key role in identifying an aggressive cyberstalker by providing detailed logs to authorities, even if they claimed in their privacy policies that they don’t. The suspect is a 24-year-old man that hacked his roommate, published her private journal, made sexually explicit collages, sent threats to schools in the victim’s name, and registered accounts on adult portals, sending men to the victim’s house… FBI agents also obtained Google records on their suspect, according to a 29-page affidavit which, ironically, includes the text of one of his tweets warning people that VPN providers do in fact keep activity logs. “If they can limit your connections or track bandwidth usage, they keep logs.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Cyberstalking Suspect Arrested After VPN Providers Shared Logs With the FBI

An action-packed new Star Wars animated series is on YouTube now

(video link) The latest Star Wars story is already here, and it’s free on YouTube. It’s a series of shorts called Forces of Destiny , and each one delivers action, humor, and a genuinely heartfelt moment of heroism. The best part about the series, authored by Marvel alum Jennifer Muro, is that it fills in backstory on characters that you always wondered about. (So yeah, it’s canon.) Forces of Destiny is a 16-episode series, and the first eight were released this month. Eight more will come in October. The series is episodic, jumping around in time from Episodes 1 through 7 of the films. We see a lot of Rey (Daisy Ridley) and BB-8, though we also stop in to see Ahsoka (Ashley Eckstein) kicking butt, Leia doing spycraft, and Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) being her usual chaotic good rogue. All the actors from the movies and TV series voice their characters, except Leia (RIP Carrie Fisher), who is voiced by Shelby Young. Read 7 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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An action-packed new Star Wars animated series is on YouTube now

New Guillermo del Toro movie looks beautiful and terrifying

The Shape of Water looks magical, disturbing, and weirdly romantic. Though Guillermo del Toro took Hollywood by storm with movies like Hellboy and Pacific Rim , he truly made his mark with gothic indies like the Oscar-winning Pan’s Labyrinth and the sumptuous Crimson Peak . Now he’s back with The Shape of Water , another intimate look at the inner lives of monsters and the humans who love them. Anyone who has been immersed in del Toro’s lush, magical films knows he’s a master of design, especially when it comes to creatures. Nearly all of his movies deal with the idea that monsters are better people than their human counterparts, and he always manages to get us to identify with giant hellbeasts and gore-soaked ghosts. Though del Toro’s monsters have always been mesmerizing and gorgeous, The Shape of Water is the first of his movies to deal overtly with a human falling in love with one of these otherworldly creatures. Like Pan’s Labyrinth and Crimson Peak , The Shape of Water is also a period piece. Set in the early 1960s during the Cold War, it’s about Elisa (Sally Hawkins), a mute janitor working at what seems to be a top-secret government facility. She’s assigned to clean a lab where the government has imprisoned a beautiful, intelligent fish-like man (Doug Jones), sort of a glimmering cross between the Creature from the Black Lagoon and Aquaman. Read 3 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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New Guillermo del Toro movie looks beautiful and terrifying

Scientists Want to Use Color-Changing Rainbow Poop to Diagnose Your Bowel Problems

The physical appearance of your bowel movements can already reveal a lot about your body’s digestive health , and color changes can even indicate more severe problems. But scientists at Rice University want to make it even easier to spot medical problems in your colon, by tinting your poop a rainbow of different… Read more…

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Scientists Want to Use Color-Changing Rainbow Poop to Diagnose Your Bowel Problems

The Blair Witch Project Almost Had a Far More Gruesome Ending

The final shot of The Blair Witch Project is haunting. It’s Michael standing in a corner, turned away so he won’t see the terrible thing about to happen to Heather, who is holding the camera. However, in a new interview, the filmmakers explained that was almost changed before release. Read more…

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The Blair Witch Project Almost Had a Far More Gruesome Ending

Netflix Gets Offline Playback on Windows

Great news if you’re the sort of person who just wants to kick back and watch movies on your laptop when you’re flying. The Netflix app for Windows 10 now supports offline playback, meaning you can download shows and movies and save them for when you don’t have Wi-Fi. Read more…

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Netflix Gets Offline Playback on Windows