By Ken Shaw
With the advent of the Internet and the mushrooming of various sites, entrepreneurs operating in small and specialized niches have found a means of survival. There are many sites that offer various products and services, which could not have been found so easily earlier. Also with efficient search engines like Google, finding appropriate sites for anything that one needs has become extremely easy.
Entertainment is one such area that has seen a boom, aided and abetted by the Internet. There is no need to buy music and movie videos these days since many of the same movies and videos are available free of cost. Free movie downloads have become extremely popular these days. One of the best aspects of these free downloads is that once the download is complete one can be assured of a few hours of uninterrupted entertainment.
Free movie downloads are not replete with advertisements which disrupt the flow of a gripping thriller at the peak of the plot. These free movie downloads can be saved and be viewed anywhere and at anytime on your PC, iPod or MP3 player. There is no need to wait patiently for the airing time for the movie on television or wait in long queues to collect tickets in a theatre.
To watch a free movie download one needs to have either the Windows Media Player or Rhapsody and Realplayer or the Apple Quicktime. These are names of software that allow anyone to view free movie downloads at the click of a button.
A popular new video compression technology that has been developed by DivX Inc allows users to play free movie downloads easily while preserving the quality of the picture and sound. It offers the same image quality as DVD's and saves up to 90% of the space required.
The plethora of free movie download sites that are available allows easy access to anyone. Some sites differentiate themselves by offering specialized movies like http://turnerclassmovies.com that provides downloads and background information on classic movies. Some, like the http://atomfilms.com specialize in funny free movie downloads like parodies and others like the http://subservientchicken.com allow you to create your own movie.
With the popularity of the free movie downloads, many associated sites have also formed a niche. Sites like http://tunefind.com will enable you to find any music or songs appearing in movies from a comprehensive collection. Movie scripts can be read at http://theinternetmoviescriptdatabase.com and bloopers, continuity goofs and anachronism can be located at http://moviemistakes.com.
Most of the free movie downloads sites that you may come across like http://emol.org/movies, http://unlimitedmoviedownloads.com, http://movieadvanced.com, http://cinemanow.com and many others may be legal and genuinely free. But this is not true for all. Some sites allow for downloads of movies which are not in the public domain and therefore flout the US copyright laws. And then some claim to be free but charge a registration fee or a fee per download. Some may even have hidden viruses that may get downloaded to your PC.
So be careful while using the option of free movie downloads and exercise caution!
My Top 10 Documentary Films
By Ronaldo Tumbokon
Documentary films used to trigger yawns among ordinary mortals. These are films you would watch in schools, museums, or other places for intellectual stimulation. You would not pay to pay watch, as they are probably subsidized by the government or some non-profit agency.
Documentary films used to trigger yawns among ordinary mortals. These are films you would watch in schools, museums, or other places for intellectual stimulation. You would not pay to pay watch, as they are probably subsidized by the government or some non-profit agency.
But things have changed. Documentary films are now mainstream entertainment - and some of them are riveting and very interesting. In fact, some are superior to a lot of Hollywood dreck. The more powerful documentaries not only divert you, they open your eyes to new realities, and sometimes change your life.
Below are my personal picks for the best documentary films in recent memory.
- An Inconvenient Truth - if you have to see one, see this one about global warming and its terrible far-reaching effects. If you care about how we're leaving our planet for future generations, this will open your eyes. All of a sudden, any other issue is dwarfed.
- Fog Of War - a very informative film about the once Secretary of Defence McNamara and the lessons he has learned in life, looking back, in his 80 something years. Our generation should learn lessons from history, ("Empathize with your enemy", "Rationality will not save us", to name a few), but sometimes we don't.
- Enron - with this doc, I was able to finally understand how corporate smart guys steal from investors and ordinary people. Ken Lay, Skilling and Fastow's tragic endings show that being smart and greedy is a road to hell.
- Winged Migrations - to those who care about nature, and birds in particular, this feature about birds' migratory habits is phenomenal!
- Microcosmos - It's fascinating to see things we take for granted when we walk through the woods. The details it shows about insect life is beautiful and amazing.
- Supersize Me - this doc will wake you up to the unhealthiness of fastfood (McDonald's) eating. Very gutsy to take on big business. Also very instrumental in making changes to fast-food offerings.
- Fahrenheit 9/11 - Moore's entertaining take about the guy whom many have judged to be the worst president of the U.S. To me, it's like shooting a fish in a barrel.
- Bowling for Columbine - Moore's sometimes thought-provoking, sometimes funny take about gun violence in America.
- The Corporation - an eye-opener, showing how corporations' efforts to maximize profit can be a scourge to our lives - and an even bigger threat to the future. Bovine Growth Hormone, Agent Orange, marketing research on how to inspire children to nag their parents to buy products - it makes its case convincingly.
- Darwin's Nightmare - Documentary about the effects of rampant capitalism on Africa's ecology and people.
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