HD Movies On Demand - Rogers

[SensualPoet]

I wonder if anyone has tried out the HDTV Movies On Demand on Rogers? It seems to be a pretty well-kept secret.

From Rogers On Demand Channel 100 --> All Movies --> HDTV

Clerks II, A Prairie Home Companion, Bad Santa, Bridget Jones' Diary, Hero, Resident Evil - Apocalypse, Take The Lead, The Notorious Bettie Page

Not a lot of choice, and $7.99 each (although many of us are "VIP" customers and get 10% off all ROD purchases) a bit pricey ... but, hey, it is genuine HD.

Everyone has different tastes, of course, but holy cow!, you might want to check out Hero with Jet Li. It's breath-takingly, jaw-droppingly, eye-poppingly awesome to look at. The special effects are like Matrix on steroids and it's a broodingly dark adventure that's just exquisitely shot.

For other tastes, Take the Lead with Antonio Banderas has some pretty sexy bits for a PG-13 "heart-warming" story. To each his own.

Way better than commercial TV and with pause, rewind, replay, definitely my preferred way to watch something.

[57]

Many of the movies (including Hero, which is fantastic) have been on TMN-HD. You wouldn't catch me paying $8, but hey, to each his own.

[SensualPoet]

Yes, but TMN-HD -- a great service -- is still "appointment tv" and linear. On Demand let's you start, and stop, and rewind, and replay, to your heart's content for 24 hours. For those who rent DVDs -- or just prefer DVD-like controls -- it's a different way to enjoy the movies.

That's one of the reasons I like TMN on Rogers -- TMN On Demand and MPix On Demand. Unfortunately, to get HD content, at the moment you have to pay per title.

[57]

"appointment tv"

Not with a DVR, but that also costs money, but I'll gladly pay that (purchased the unit) to save time and timesift.

Sorry, I hope I'm not going too far off topic.

[SensualPoet]

I thought I'd do a quick follow-up on HD Movies On Demand.

From Rogers On Demand Channel 100 --> All Movies --> HDTV

Clerks II, A Prairie Home Companion, Bad Santa, Bon Cop, Bad Cop, Bridget Jones' Diary, Hero, Pulse, Resident Evil - Apocalypse, Take The Lead (No longer available: The Notorious Bettie Page)

Items in bold are new since last week. Each movie $7.99 ("VIP" customers get 10% off) and it is genuine HD with full pause, rewind, replay.

I looked at a trailer for Pulse online and it looked ok if you are into horror flicks but when I put my feet up this weekend I think I'm going to treat myself and my other half to Bon Cop, Bad Cop with Colme Feore. The blurb references serial killers, hockey and two Ontario and Quebec cops forced to work together.

The trailer sold me:
http://www.pulpmovies.com/trailers/bon-cop-bad-cop

If anyone tries it out, let me know what you think. Anyone take in Hero, other than Hugh?

[MuteyM]

I watched Hero with my wife a few months ago on TMN-HD. While the wife isn't exactly into Kung Fu movies, she enjoyed the twisting plot (about the unification of China under a single emperor) and cinematography. I enjoyed the fight scenes

[SensualPoet]

With all this snow and cold, I might stay in this weekend and check back with HD Movies On Demand. Here's an update of what's playing now.

From Rogers On Demand Channel 100 --> All Movies --> HDTV

Clerks II; A Prairie Home Companion; Bad Santa; Bon Cop, Bad Cop; Bridget Jones' Diary; Fearless; Hero; Pulse; Resident Evil - Apocalypse; Snakes On A Plane; Take The Lead (No longer available: The Notorious Bettie Page)

Items in bold are new since last posting. Each movie is $7.99 ("VIP" customers get 10% off) and it is genuine HD with full pause, rewind, replay.

I didn't get around to Bon Cop, Bad Cop with Colme Feore but now that it won a Genie I think I'll really get to it. Honest! The clips did look hilarious.

On the other hand, I am on on holidays soon and we'll be on a five hour flight. So maybe I should try Snakes On A Plane? LOL. And I thought it was just terrorists we had to be afraid of ....

I suppose I might try Fearless, too, but the special effects in Hero were so good, I wonder if I should quit while I'm ahead.

[wprager]

A few questions:

1. Does anyone know if there is an on-line list of movies available on-demand, especially the HD ones? I don't want to sit down in front of the TV and spend 5 minutes just to find out there's *still* nothing to watch. An online list and, better yet, a preview of what's coming, would be much better.

2. 57, you mentioned PVR, but you were talking about TMN-HD. Would recording an on-demand show even work (or will there be a broadcast flag to not allow recording)?

3. Is anyone actually renting these? Spending $8 just to see what a HD movie looks like is one thing, but doing this more than once? Especially with a selection of movies that include older fare like Bridget Jones (2001)

4. As far as I could tell, Bridget Jones has not been released on HD-DVD yet (it's Universal, rihgt?) so the list of movies they could show is not restricted to those. Are they just upconverting standard-def discs or are they actually broadcasting high-definition source material? If it's the former, I've got a player with Faroudja de-interlacing/scaling, so I doubt I would see a huge difference.

And as for movie choices, in the same year that Bridget Jones was released (2001) we also had:
Harry Potter (Sourcerer/Philosopher's Stone)
Lord of the Rings (Fellowship)
Chocolat
Amelie
A Knight's Tale
Moulin Rouge
Pearl Harbour
Tomb Raider
Jurassic Park III
Mulholland Drive
And many others that I would prefer for watching in HD over Bridget. How are these choices made?

[57]

2. You cannot record VOD due to the delivery method. You can record PPV onto your DVR.

Be aware that some of these movies would not be OAR or DD5.1, depending. These movies eventually get to TMN-HD, so you're paying for an "earlier viewing".