Yes, this feature is supposed to be up on Fridays, but the Apple TV review took up too much time.. Sorry about that. Back to the questions now.

Josh has a computer purchasing question:

I have been flirting with buying a Mac as a second computer to tinker around with. What is your recommendation for a first time Mac buyer (other than the Mac Mini)?

The MacBook. Especially if your primary computer today is a laptop, I think you’ll be impressed with the speed and power of the MacBook for the price. (About $1200.) If you’re more of a power user, then you could go with the current Mac Pro set-ups, but they tend to start at $2000. They’re very powerful and expandable (four drive bays!), but I imagine you won’t want to start your Mac life on such a large investment. (I did, but I was nuts in those days. Thankfully, it paid off handsomely and I’m still using that computer daily, 3 years later.)

On the other hand, you’re stuck using a non-Mac monitor at that Mac Pro point, so an iMac would be a worthy investment if you prefer a desktop. It’s obviously not as expandable as a Mac Pro nor as portable as the MacBook, but it’s a pretty standard Mac computer that has a stunning monitor that won’t cost you an extra grand. Really, those screens are HUGE on the current generation iMacs. (Sadly, you’ll be paying for the screen AGAIN the next time you buy an iMac.)

Is that too mushy? What kind of computer set-up do you have today? What do you use your computer for? Is lots of storage a key point for you? Are you just using your computer for e-mail and web surfing? Do you just want a multimedia system that’s easy to use? These are all things that could swing my vote one way or the other.

Hope that helps.

Paul C. wants podcasting answers:

Did the idea of doing the Pipeline Podcast come up out of the blue or had you tinkered with the idea a couple of times before getting around to it? Are you surprised it caught on and that you have lasted this long in doing it in, more or less consecutive weeks? Have you ever thought about adding in any new features to it like a top 10 worst sounding books of the week or reader’s mail/questions?

I had toyed with the idea of doing Pipeline Radio a year or more before the podcast began. The idea was to record a minute long thing once a week that we could post on Fridays with some short review/thought/something or other. It didn’t go very far because I didn’t have the time to pursue it past writing up a couple of scripts, one of which I turned into an early Pipeline Podcast. That was more along the lines of an Andy Rooney style editorial piece. I was also worried about bandwidth consumption at the time. Broadband wasn’t so pervasive, and even a minute of audio would be a slow download in those dial-up days.

When I read about podcasting in December of 2004, I knew I had to jump in. I did college radio. I did local radio up until about a year and a half ago, as a matter of fact. I wanted to use that training to do a podcast, and so I started the Various and Sundry DVD podcast and The Pipeline Podcast at the same time – Christmas Break, 2004. I had the time that week to set up a system to produce two weekly podcast shows. Once I started, I was hooked.

Eventually, the DVD podcast faded away. That was due to a lack of time and, honestly, a decrease in DVD and movie viewing habits. While I still enjoy the weekly discussions here on the blog for new DVD days, I didn’t feel comfortable TALKING about a bunch of movies I wasn’t familiar with for ten minutes a week in a podcast.

I’m not surprised the comics podcast has lasted this long. I’ve never been able to give up on comic things. Pipeline is coming up on its eleventh anniversary now and I have never ever once missed a week. Never taken a week off. I’ve been late a couple of times, I’ve pre-written things a few times, but I’ve never missed a week. I don’t think there’s another comics columnist on-line who can claim that.  I doubt there’s a print columnist who could say that, either.  This next Pipeline is the 563rd or 564th edition. I ain’t giving up on it. The podcast comes secondarily to that, and I’ve never hesitated to just skip a week when I had to. I missed a couple of weeks due to illness and one or two weeks due to scheduling and technical troubles.

The main problem with the podcast is that it’s a timing thing. The new comics release list comes out late on Monday after my chance to record a podcast. I have to record it on Wednesday, or else it’s dated by the time Wednesday night comes around. If I miss that window, I’m sure lots of people just skip over it.

I would like to do more with the podcast. Honestly, I would. I even get requests about that all the time. Oddly enough, most of those requests thank me for doing a show that’s so relatively short to the rest of the comics podcast world, but then ask me to add more stuff into it.

The simple fact of the matter is that I don’t have the time to do more than I am doing right now with the podcast. I do it because it’s not a huge hassle to spend a half hour on Tuesday nights recording and publishing the thing. Sometimes, I can even pare that down to less than 20 minutes. Even the monthly PREVIEWS podcast can be tricky to schedule out with Jamie (as it is turning out to be this month – sorry, Jamie) and finding a solid hour to an hour and a half of our lives to record.

Finally, Ezekiel asks:

What do you think of the new Hulk trailer?

Haven’t seen it. If it doesn’t show up on the Apple TV in HD, I’m not watching it. I imagine it’ll show up in there eventually, though. I hope. I do want to see what this thing looks like.

That’s it for this week.  Post more questions below, please!  I’d love to answer them in upcoming Q&As.

This is a monumentally huge week.

• August Rush

C’mon, it’s named after me — “August.” Of course it leads the pack this week!

• No Country for Old Men

Who doesn’t love the Coen Bros? I’ve only ever seen one of their movies and it really didn’t do anything for me. Eh.

• Tin Man

It’s two discs to contain the full “wonderment” of this SCI FI cheapo mini-series — because that’s the only type of show SCI FI makes. Cheapo.

• Dan In Real Life

Steve Carrell stars in a movie that, well, everyone forgot about already.

• Hitman: Unrated

Uwe Boll did NOT direct this one. Repeat, he did NOT direct this one. Doesn’t mean it’s any good, but it does mean that there’s a small chance that it won’t suck worse than your standard Hoover upright.

• Bachelor Party 2: Unrated

Remember the original Tom Hanks movie two decades ago? Yeah, they decided to remake it. I’m guessing this is a cheapo direct-to-DVD thing, but there’s a small chance it actually made its way to a poor unsuspecting populace of randy teenaged boys who didn’t know there was an original movie, despite the “2″ in the title.

• Bee Movie

Let’s see if Oprah wants to repeat her hour-long advertisement for this movie this week.  This will likely be the best-selling release of the week.

• Nancy Drew

Fairly benign kid-friendly movie. It’s like Veronica Mars, but skewed younger.

• Sam & Max: Freelance Police

The geeks out there reading this are no doubt excited now.

So what are you picking up this week? Did I miss something?

First, some TV shows:

• Ben 10: Season Three

The kids are eating this up. The comic fans are impressed that something created by “one of their own” is so darn popular.

• The Love Boat: Season One, Volume One

Admit it– you just sang the theme song to the show in your mind when you read the title. I know I did. . .

• Blood Part 1

I remember kinda sorta liking the original short that this series is based on.  Whether that means the new series will be any good, though, is up in the air That’s it. Onto the movies:

• Into the Wild

Written and directed by Sean Penn, about a college kid who sells everything and runs off to the Alaskan wilderness.

• Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium

Looks incredibly silly, which means it’s one of those bulletproof family movies that will do well no matter the quality.

• Things We Lost in the Fire

Benicio Del Toro and Halle Berry. Now you know as much as I know about the movie.

Also available in HD-DVD format. Whoops.

Coming up tonight: American Idol, Guys, Round of 16.

It’s that time again! Fire up your DVD and Blu Ray players, and let’s get to work on what’s new this week:

• Justice League: The New Frontier

Based on Darwyn Cooke’s insanely beautiful comic book mini-series. (It looks even better in the ABSOLUTE edition, trust me.) Can it possibly hold a candle to its source material? I guess we’re about to find out.

It’s available in the standard release form, as well as a two disc special edition set and a Blu Ray special edition.

The Best Buy special edition comes with a Green Lantern figurine, too.

• Newhart: The Complete First Season

This is the Bob Newhart I grew up watching, and have such fond memories of. Remember when Monday nights were CBS nights? (OK, besides this and then Murphy Brown, just what was on the schedule for CBS on Mondays that causes me to remember it fondly? I can’t remember anymore.

• The Smurfs, Season One, Volume 1

I hope you caught the link on this blog earlier in the week about the CGI movie that’s forthcoming. I’m still holding out hope for a comic book revival/translation.

• Hotel Babylon: Season One

A BBC production. Anthony Stewart Head (of VR.5 fame) did a guest stint in an episode of this.

• Extras: The Extra Special Series Finale

I still haven’t caught the two seasons of this show, but it appears to have followed THE OFFICE’s structure — two seasons, a Christmas special, and done. This disc stands alone. It was previously available as part of the complete series set.

• Beowulf

Yes, that’s right. There are actual movies out this week, too! This one is written by comic scribe Neil Gaiman and features rotoscoped animation of a naked Angelina Jolie, as well as another excuse for everyone to write about the Uncanny Valley.

As a special bonus, there’s an HD-DVD version of the disc out this week, as well. Instant relic!

• 30 Days of Night

I’m not trying to stuff this week’s release list with comic book references, but I can’t help it. This one is based on the comic book. AND it’s live action.

• The Last Emperor

Why is this just coming out now? It’s not — this is the Criterion Collection edition of the movie. Impressive.

It’s a big big week. What else are you looking at? What’s on your Must Buy list?

• I really need to do another Twitter post, don’t I? I haven’t posted much over there lately. Need to get back into the groove.

• Screen shot comparisons between the Apple TV, Blu Ray, Cable HD, DVD, and SD Cable video. Apple TV holds up pretty well. You can’t beat Blu Ray discs, though. Not yet, anyway.

• The new STAR TREK film has been delayed to Summer 2009 now.

• The new INDIANA JONES movie trailer is available for viewing.

• Super Mario Bros. a capella.  With Zelda and Mortal Kombat, et. al. included. Hilarious!

• Much more about Auto Tune Abuse.

• Geek alert for the day: BeOS is coming BeACK?!?

For a change of pace, let’s do this on Monday instead of Tuesday this week.

It’s a pretty darn good week, with some exciting releases.

• Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Season 5

I know some of you will be looking forward to this one.

• Curb Your Enthusiasm, Season 6

I’ve only seen Season One, but it’s a darn hilarious show.

• The Invasion

Remember this one? Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig? Yeah, most people don’t. (Also available in both HD-DVD and Blu Ray.)

• Daddy Day Camp

They only wish they could forget about this movie, though it does make for a funny punchline.

• Lake Placid 2

Unnecessary Sequel of the Week! If Betty White isn’t in it, does anyone care?

• Damages, Season One

FX must really like it, despite the low ratings it got last summer. They’ve renewed it already for a couple more seasons. This is the legal show starring Glenn Close and Ted Danson. Really wanted to see it, but didn’t have the time. (It’s also available in Blu Ray.)

I am looking forward to making the time for the final season of THE SHIELD in a couple of months, though. THAT is the best show on television that never gets the rewards it deserves.

• The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters

This is the documentary tracking the controvery over who holds the World Record for best Donkey Kong score of all time. If you haven’t read about this one yet, go Google for it. I think WIRED had a pretty good article on it, and I think I linked to it on this blog before. Call me a geek, but this might just be the Release of the Week.

USATODAY.com

The film, which remains without a formal title, will dump the long-running “mythology” plotline — that aliens live among us and are part of a colonizing effort — that made it one of the most popular television shows in the late 1990s but ultimately drove away some viewers who found it too complex and ambiguous.”We spent a lot of time on (the mythology) and wrapped up a lot of threads” when the show went off the air in 2002, says Chris Carter, creator of the series and director of the new movie. “We want a stand-alone movie, not a mythology conspiracy one.”

That’s a very very good idea.

• Trajan is the movie font. Wait, wasn’t GLADIATOR in Trajan? He named three other Russell Crowe movies, but missed the most obvious one to me. . .

• LucasFilm Christmas cards through the years.

• Here’s a hobby I want nothing to do with. It involves jumping off cliffs and sailing down with a webbed suit. Beautiful video, though.

• Honestly, I’m not kidding. If you thought TEAM FORTRESS 2′s release was a miracle this year, take a gander at this: The DUKE NUKEM FOREVER trailer. No, that’s not a typo.

• Imagine familiar corporate logos done up in Web 2.0 style. Now, imagine 60 such logos. Some are improvements. Others just added rounded corners, a reflection, and a new font.

• Sometimes, I think that everything that could be said or done with STAR TREK has been done by now. Then a Flickr group comes along with the improbable name of “The Galactically Hot Women of Star Trek.” How does one not link to that?!? The only thing missing is a little icon in the corner for each of the women that Kirk bedded.

• BLADE RUNNER

This is all you need to know: 5 disc edition, 4 disc edition, and the Blu Ray edition. There’s a single disc edition of it out there, too, but is anyone seriously considering buying it?

I’m half-tempted to end it there, but there are lots of interesting releases this week:

• SIMPSONS: THE MOVIE

Pick it up at your local DVD dealer. Or 7-11.

• STARDUST

It flopped at the box office, but I hear it has its charms.

• THE ADVENTURES OF YOUNG INDIANA JONES: Volume 2

Has anyone actually watched the first volume of this yet? What did you think?

• BALLS OF FURY

Remember seeing a lot of promos and trailers for it, but don’t ever remember when it was in theaters.

• BRING IT ON: IN IT TO WIN IT

You go, girl!

Next week is Christmas week. Don’t be expecting ANYTHING. I think they released two movies last year for that week.

I do not have a good feeling about this one. . .

E! News – Cameron’s Avatar Delayed

Film geeks anxiously awaiting James Cameron’s first big-screen spectacular in nearly 15 years are going to have to wait just a little bit longer.On Wednesday, 20th Century Fox announced it will postpone the Oscar-winning helmer’s highly anticipated 3-D sci-fi action film Avatar, from May 22, 2009 until Dec. 18, 2009.

• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

This might be the release that decides the Blu Ray/HD-DVD war. Warner Bros is the last major studio to still release movies in both formats, having not yet been bought out by Microsoft. There are rumors now that Warner Bros might be deciding between the two camps in time for CES next month.

HARRY POTTER is their biggest release between now and then. So they’d be watching the sales figures on this release VERY closely. If there’s a big disparity between Blu Ray and HD-DVD format numbers on this movie Warner Bros could use that to choose a side.

Those covers above, by the way, are the regular DVD edition, the HD-DVD/Standard DVD edition, and the Blu-Ray edition.

• The Bourne Ultimatum

Sure, it goes over the edge in the Believability Column at the end, but it’s still a pretty cool movie trilogy.

• Lost Season Three

Remember LOST? It got really good down the stretch there last season. Then, it changed the game completely and left us hanging off a cliff. It’s going to do the same exact thing in the shortened fourth season coming up. I love it.

• High School Musical 2 – Extended Edition

Why? It’s Christmas time! How many letters to Santa will include this bad boy in it? How many parents wouldn’t be able to tell the difference on the store shelves between the extended edition and the regular edition? ::sigh::

Next week, we’ll have more DVDs, but not too many. And on Christmas week, we’ll likely have none, but let’s not get TOO FAR ahead of ourselves.

Christmas shopping season officially begins on Friday. The malls started it about three weeks back, but the sane people remaining in society are waiting for Black Friday. I might click over to Amazon once or twice to see if they have any insane dSLR camera sales, but otherwise I’m skipping the whole thing. My Christmas shopping is actually almost complete. And I didn’t have to park a mile away from any store to get anything. Whoo-hoo!

In any case, it’s Tuesday! New DVDs:

• Live Free or Die Hard (Unrated)

Oddly enough, the Blu Ray disc doesn’t say “Unrated” on it. Are both versions on the same disc? Is it just the standard movie edition on the Blu Ray? I dunno. I still question putting Blu Ray and HD-DVD covers in this feature every week.

I heard good reviews for the movie in a Big Dumb Action Flic With Lots of CGI kind of way.  That works for me, though.

• Hairspray

Those of us who watched SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE? over the summer are all too familiar with this movie. Chicks and tweenies dug it, too.  Wait, that’s the same demo, isn’t it? That’s the two-disc special edition on the left and the standard widescreen on the right. There’s also a full frame edition, but we don’t talk about those here.

• The Batman: Complete Fourth Season

Not a week goes by without pandering to my comic book friends! =)

X-Files Marks Spot for Release – Yahoo! News

Twentieth Century Fox has at long last unveiled a release date for its forever-in-the-works X-Files sequel, announcing that Mulder and Scully will be reuniting on the big screen June 25, 2008. [...] Fox, however, did note that the film, written and directed by X-Files creator Chris Carter, would act as a stand-alone story.

Yay!

• An appreciation of Shatner’s “Khaaaan” moment.
• Apple is on a roll – here’s why.
• 53 Photoshop tips. Some obvious, some useless, some necessary to get through your day.
• The final round of GH3 is “The Devil Went Down To Georgia.” In this version, the guitar takes the place of the fiddle. My fingers ache, but you can listen to the song here.
• Seriously, that’s playable? Insane.
• Google offices transformed into Super Mario Bros. Level 1-1.
• Lotsa TiVo3 updates!
• You want a MacBook slim? How about a Cintiq 12 inch? Beautiful, even if it has to run Windows. . .
• Remember when I said there are too many variations of PlayStation 3s and XBox 360s? Here’s the PS3 Venn Diagram to prove it.
• TRANSFORMERS moved 100,000 HD-DVD discs. I guess the next generation of DVD is finally here! Or, EVERY XBox 360 owner of the add-on picked up the movie. Very likely.
• A father tells his son the worst swearword in the world. Obviously, there’s some NSFW language in here. But it’s cute and funny all at the same time.
• Mythbusters takes on the cockroach radiation theory.
• You missed the iPod’s sixth birthday yesterday. Better go pick up one of those “belated” birthday cards.

This list may or may not be complete. We’ll lead off with the Big Release:

• The Transformers (2007)

It’s the ultimate boy’s movie. Kick ass cool, if terribly shallow and obvious and often visually confusing in the final scene. Still, tons of fun.

It’s also available, quite famously, in HD-DVD format. That’s the cover scan on the far right. The middle box is the single disc edition. The left box cover is for the two disc special edition. The HD-DVD is also two discs.

• Grind House Presents: Planet Terror (2007)

Wait, so they’re releasing the Quentin Tarantino/Rovbert Rodriguez double bill as separate movies now? Weird. There’s an unrated edition of the movie, too. As always, I suggest going for that one.

• The Jazz Singer: 80th Anniversary Collector’s Edition (3-disc set) (1927)

This is not the Neil Diamond movie, though he does seem old enough to have starred in it.

• MacGyver: The Complete Series (39-disc set)

How can you say no to MacGyver? This was my favorite show growing up. While it looks and sounds cheesy 80s today, it’s still a wonderfully creative show that only went off the rails a few times, like when Mac decided to fight for social injustices on a weekly basis. ::sigh:: Or how about that season that the writers decided to find him a girlfriend and then gave up after a half season of painful wannabes?

• The Princess Bride: 20th Anniversary Edition (2-disc set) (1987)
I’m torn. The world doesn’t need a THIRD edition of this movie. On the other hand, it’s on my Top Ten Movies Of All Time list, so maybe there needs to be an exception made? Nah, I’ll just pull out that previous special edition and watch that one, instead. UPDATE: Scratch that.  This release has been pushed back to November 13th.  I was working off an old release list on this one.  Sorry about that.