Wii Goes To The Movies

The Wii might not be the "media center" of your home yet, but that doesn't mean it isn't on it's way. In addition to the expansive Channels of the Wii, ranging from Weather to the Internet, a new service called "Everyone's Theater Wii" will allow Wii owners to rent movies for a small fee.

Currently, the application is only available in Japan, where Wii owners can download it for 500 Wii Points ($5.00) and rent Warner Bros. movies for 300 Wii Points ($3.00), which they can view for 48 hours. However, it seems that Nintendo will certainly release this same Channel in the U.S.

The service began today in Japan and launched with a total of 54 movies, such as: Batman Begins, Goonies, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Free Willy, and plenty more. That's quite expansive, considering the fact that only Warner Bros. movies are available.

This could be a major stepping stone in the development and the future of the Wii. Right now, only movies previously released are available, but The Curious Case of Benjamin Button will be released on this service on the same day it is released on DVD in Japan. In the future, a similar music service could also become available, and the Wii might become the "media center" of everyone's homes.

In other movie news, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, has broken the midnight records set by The Dark Knight. Harry Potter's $22.2 million opening night easily beat out the $18.5 million made by The Dark Knight in it's opening night. According to the trends, it seems that the sequel to this movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (which is to be split into two movies) will likely break this record as well.

Image credit: "Gambit's Blog" (here).

Review: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Being a big fan of action movies, I felt slightly apprehensive about going into The Curious Case of Benjman Button, but I can surely say that after seeing this movie, my mind has been completely changed.

The movie begins with Daisy, an old woman who is on her deathbed in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, along with her daughter, Caroline. Daisy's last request is for her daughter to read the journal of a dear friend of hers, the man who lived life backwards: Benjamin Button.

The movie explores Benjamin Buttons life from when he was born as an old man, to when he eventually closes his eyes as a baby. When Benjamin is born, on the day World War I ends, his father is rushing to the delivery room. The doctors tell him that his wife will not make it, and she makes him promise that he will "have a place". This scene displays incredible emotion as Button's father realizes the monstrosity that killed` his wife, and decides to abandon the child.

Benjamin's life is explored in detail as this 2 hour 48 minute movie progresses. We get to see as he meets Daisy, a young child, in his seemingly older days, and as they continue to interact as their ages get closer to meeting. The sheer emotion and drama of each scene in his life, and especially the final scene, is amazing. I give this movie a 9/10 because it is truly one of the most amazing movies I have seen in my life time.