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"The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do." Steve Jobs 1955-2011
IMDB | Wiki | Official Site
Despite Apple’s near-domination of the digital media world with iTunes, Macs have never really had a stand-out solution for watching video – iTunes supports approximately 0 codecs, Front Row is pretty cumbersome, and standalone video players like QuickTime or VLC require far too much rooting around in my movies folders to find the movie I want. I’m looking for an easy-to-use, beautiful piece of software which will make watching movies on my Mac a pleasure.
This is where Plex comes in. As a firm favourite among movie-loving Mac users, Plex allows you to watch movies on your Mac from the comfort of your own sofa – It has support for the Apple Remote and accompanying iOS apps to improve the experience. To top it off, Plex even looks great. Could Plex be the media center app of my dreams? Let’s take a look!
Plex is not available from the Mac App Store, only from their site. Luckily for you though, it’s 100% free and open-source, due to the fact that it is a fork of XMBC. The download file is a little hefty at 108MB, but they’ve still done a pretty good job at compressing it, considering that the app itself is double the size. Installation is pretty run-of-the-mill – Drag the app icon to the Applications alias and you’re good to go!
Upon first opening Plex, you’ll be greeted with a welcome screen, and a few initial bits of info you need to use the app. The most important of these is where you keep your movies, TV shows and music. Simply point the app to the right place, and Plex will keep an eye on that folder, adding any new files to the library whenever you add something to the folder. One handy feature is the ability to add multiple folders. So if I, for some reason, wanted to keep my English-language films in one place on the computer, and my foreign-language films somewhere completely different, but still wanted both of them in Plex, that would be incredibly easy.
Once you’ve told Plex everything you want to, it’ll go away and scan your library, gathering lots of metadata from a number of online sources to create a nice selection of movie data and images to make your Plex experience even better. In terms of movies, it found plenty of data for all of my movies (including a few somewhat obscure films). The only film it had any problem with was Back to the Future Part I, however that was fixable, simply by adding the film’s release year to the file name in Finder.
Plex sports what is known as a 10-foot interface, which does exactly what it says on the tin: you can use it from 10 feet away. This is certainly useful if you want to put your MacBook down on the coffee table and watch a movie from the comfort of your sofa. The interface is very straightforward when it comes to usability. If you’ve ever used a DVD, video game, or anything in a similar vein, you’ll be very used to the linear structure of such an interface. You have a list of items, and if you click one, you get a new list of items, as each list of items bringing you closer to your target.
Aesthetically, the interface is quite nice, each item accompanied by a lovely big graphic. If you want to, you can change the background image to whatever you want in Preferences. Even the movies have an appropriate background image, in most cases an image from the film. In addition to the original theme, you can download third-party skins. Unfortunately, I found it almost impossible to find a skin online.
Watching video that is stored on your computer is very straightforward with Plex. There’s really not much that I need to go into. You can play, pause, fast forward, rewind, and all of the other things you’d expect to be able to do in a video player.
One thing that is worth noting, however, is how to control the player. By default, there is no cursor in Plex (you can enable one in Preferences), so any controls are done via the keyboard or a replacement device. I personally found navigating, pausing and playing using the arrow keys on the keyboard quite a pain, so I used my Apple Remote, which works perfectly with Plex, with almost the exact same functionality as in Front Row.
If you are more financially sound, and didn’t want to spend $20 on a small slab of metal with a few buttons on it, you can also whip out your slightly larger slab of metal with a few buttons on it, your iPhone, and control Plex via that, or your iPod Touch or iPad, for that matter. A universal iOS app which acts as a remote for Plex is available from the App Store for $4.99. To me, this is quite a high price, considering that the Mac app is free.
However, there are a few benefits of this app. The biggest one for me is the ability to stream movies that are in your Plex library on your Mac to your iPad. This is very handy if you’re watching a movie on your computer, and suddenly somebody else needs the computer. Instantly, the movie is on your iPad for your viewing pleasure.
Aside from native media, Plex also has support for online plug-ins for consuming media. There are a number of plug-ins, including most of your favourites: Netflix, Hulu, Pandora, Apple Trailers, YouTube and Vimeo. This is a wonderful addition to Plex, as it offers something which Front Row never had, and the ability to go from watching a movie in Netflix to listening to your favourite song in Pandora without moving off the sofa will undoubtedly appeal to many.
Conclusion
I’ve been searching for a long time for a really straightforward, really useful media center app which won’t make me go through so many hoops that by the time I’ve got to the film, I’m no longer in the mood to watch it. Plex is almost certainly the app for me. It’s incredibly easy to add movies, watching them is equally nice, and added online functionality is the icing on the cake.
It’s blatantly obvious why Plex is so loved in the Mac community. If you haven’t tried it yet, go do it. Right now. You won’t be disappointed.
http://harrypotter.warnerbros.com/harrypotterandthedeathlyhallows/
Synopsis
X-MEN FIRST CLASS charts the epic beginning of the X-Men saga, and reveals a secret history of famous global events. Before mutants had revealed themselves to the world, and before Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Not archenemies, they were instead at first the closest of friends, working together with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to prevent nuclear Armageddon. In the process, a grave rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto's Brotherhood and Professor X's X-Men.
Genre: Action and Adventure, Drama
Official Site: http://x-menfirstclassmovie.com
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Cast: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Rose Byrne, January Jones, Oliver Platt, Kevin Bacon - IMDB
A single act of both compassion and arrogance leads to a war unlike any other -- and to the RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES. The Oscar-winning visual effects team that brought to life the worlds of Avatar and Lord of the Rings is breaking new ground, creating a CGI ape that delivers a dramatic performance of unprecedented emotion and intelligence, and epic battles on which rest the upended destinies of man and primate.
Genre: Science Fiction
Official Site: http://apeswillrise.com
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Cast: James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, Andy Serkis
Writers: Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver
In a universe as vast as it is mysterious, a small but powerful force has existed for centuries. Protectors of peace and justice, they are called the Green Lantern Corps. A brotherhood of warriors sworn to keep intergalactic order, each Green Lantern wears a ring that grants him superpowers. But when a new enemy called Parallax threatens to destroy the balance of power in the Universe, their fate and the fate of Earth lie in the hands of their newest recruit, the first human ever selected: Hal Jordan. Hal is a gifted and cocky test pilot, but the Green Lanterns have little respect for humans, who have never harnessed the infinite powers of the ring before. But Hal is clearly the missing piece to the puzzle, and along with his determination and willpower, he has one thing no member of the Corps has ever had: humanity. With the encouragement of fellow pilot and childhood sweetheart Carol Ferris (Blake Lively), if Hal can quickly master his new powers and find the courage to overcome his fears, he may prove to be not only the key to defeating Parallax...he will become the greatest Green Lantern of all.
Directed by: Martin Campbell
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, Mark Strong, Jay O. Sanders, Temuera Morrison, Taika Waititi, Jon Tenney, Angela Bassett, Tim Robbins
Official Website: greenlanternmovie.warnerbros.com
Yuen Woo Ping (The Matrix trilogy, Kill Bill Volumes I and II, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero) brings you True Legend, a heart pounding epic about the timeless battle between good and evil. Su Can's (Vincent Zhao) respectable life is obliterated when his vengeful brother, Yuan (Andy On), returns from war armed with the deadly Five Venom Fists. Weakened but not destroyed, Su Can learns a never-before-seen form of martial arts: the Drunken Fist. Armed with this new power, he returns home to honor his family through retribution by taking on his brother in a battle to become the ultimate warrior. Packed with distinct fighting styles--including MMA, knife combat and sweeping aerial stunts-- and starring martial arts legends Michelle Yeoh, David Carradine and Jay Chou.
Director: Yuen Woo Ping
Cast: Vincent Zhao, Zhou Xun, Michelle Yeoh, David Carradine, Cung Le
Official Website: http://releasing.indomina.com/true-legend/
In 1925, the nation of China is divided by infighting, and Japan has become the most powerful force in Asia. With the city of Shanghai torn in half by international conflict, Club Casablanca has become a hotbed of spies, mobsters, English officials and the Japanese military- all looking to gain control of the country, with little regard for what happens to its citizenry. Into this den of intrigue enters Chen Zhen (Donnie Yen), who has returned to China after fighting alongside the Allied forces in Europe, bringing some dark secrets from his past along with him. During the day, he's known as "Qi", and appears to be just another wealthy playboy. But at night, he takes to the street as a masked warrior, determined to subvert the Japanese invasion while becoming entangled with the sultry Kiki (Played by Shu Qi), who has a dangerous secret of her own. When his past catches up to him, Zhen is faced with near impossible odds- but his skills are formidable, and he's up to the challenge.
Directed by: Andrew Lau
Starring: Donnie Yen, Shu Qi, Anthony Wong, Huang Bo.
Homepage: http://legendofthefist.com/
