Crave

(Credit: Amazon)

So far, BD-Live has been a pretty questionable feature overall, and last week's Iron Man mishap only makes matters worse. According to High-Def Digest, BD-Live servers were overwhelmed last week, making it impossible for many customers to access the extra content.

The fact that the BD-Live servers were overwhelmed only emphasizes the fact that most BD-Live features could easily be fit on the Blu-ray Disc, instead of having to download them from the Internet. For example, we loaded up Iron Man this morning on the LG BD300, which uses a standard USB memory stick to save the BD-Live content. Afterward, we checked out how much space the BD300 used on the USB stick--only 13.5 MB. According to Blu-ray Statistics, there is over 2.5 GB of free space left on the Iron Man Blu-ray Disc, which means the feature easily could have fit on the disc. Perhaps future BD-Live features will make sense, but as of now, BD-Live seems like it's a gimmick to sell more discs, while actually making it harder for people to access features.

And if you're one of the unfortunate Iron Man buyers that got shut out of the BD-Live features last week, don't feel too bad. What Paramount is calling a "truly state-of-the art Blu-ray presentation" is merely trivia questions about the movie, with a short clip of the movie played behind them. Our experience on the BD300 was that it was frustratingly slow, but even if it was fast, it didn't seem like much fun. While Internet connectivity is needed for some functions, like comparing scores of downloading future question packs, the initial round of questions could be stored on the disc. We're still waiting for a BD-Live feature that's worthwhile.

(Source: High-Def Digest via Gizmodo)

(Credit: PNY Technologies)

Who's PNY gonna call? SONY!! LOL!!...Oh god, kill me. I tried to not make a "gonna call" reference, but the more I tried, the more inescapable it seemed.

Anyway, on Wednesday PNY Technologies announced with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment that it would be releasing a 2GB USB flash drive with the original Ghostbusters movie on it. This is apparently the first time a full-length movie has been released via a USB flash drive. For me, though, this begs the question, "Why Ghostbusters?"

The drive is releasing now, but the 25th anniversary of the theatrical Ghostbusters release in 1984 isn't until next year. Seems like an odd choice. I mean, I love the original Ghostbusters. It's one of my favorite comedies ever, but I really don't need to be able to watch it anywhere at any time. Maybe that's just me, though. Maybe there's an upcoming Ghostbusters popularity renaissance that I'm just not privy to.

The 2GB drive is able to hold 12 hours of video play, 33 hours of music, and 1,080 pictures. Of course this all depends on the size, quality, and type of files being used.

I don't know. I just can't stop thinking that they would have been much better served offering something more recent like Iron Man. PNY did not provide pricing for the drive or technical specs on the movie file.

(Credit: Sony Pictures)

Love Spidey? Hate cancer? Of course you do.

Consider this: Stand Up To Cancer [link includes an auto-play video], an organization dedicated to building interdisciplinary teams of experts to focus on solving specific cancer problems, has teamed up with eBay to auction off a number of "celebrity experiences" to raise funds for cancer research.

At the top of the list: a visit to the set of Spider-Man 4 to meet the cast and enjoy a walk-on role, plus a trip to the movie's New York premiere, and designer duds to wear to the show. (At the time of writing, the bid to beat is $5,000.) Or, if you'd prefer, wait until September 5 to bid on a set visit, walk-on role, and tickets to the Los Angeles premiere of Iron Man 2.

Other goodies going on the block in the next few weeks include lunch with Judd Apatow, who will also review your comedy script; a round of golf with Sugar Ray Leonard; and a visit to the set of the CBS Evening News (which is owned by CNET's parent company CBS). Check out the Stand Up To Cancer eBay store for a list of all items in the auction.

All proceeds will go directly to Stand Up To Cancer; consult your tax adviser about tax-deductibility.

This poster of Iron Man flying is from a scene that mixes computer graphics--the Iron Man character--with real footage of a cloud-filled sky.

(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)

When the visual effects and animation wizards at Industrial Light & Magic started working on Paramount Pictures film Iron Man, their biggest challenge was creating a suit for the title character that was part CGI and part real costumery.

The story is about genius billionaire industrialist Tony Stark, who's also a bit of a jerk and who designs and sells weapons. In the film's opening sequences, Stark is demonstrating one of his weapons and ends up in a scuffle with terrorists that leaves shrapnel lodged near his heart. To make a long story short, Stark ends up making an iron suit that protects him and his wounded organ.

The full-body armor is a technical marvel that allows him to fly, shoot missiles, be impervious to many conventional forms of attack, and more. The problem, according to ILM visual effects supervisor Ben Snow, was that the traditional options for creating a suit like Iron Man's--either making it fully CGI or making it a fully real-life, physical, or "practical," suit--weren't going to work for this film.

Find out how ILM overcame the problems in the full report on News.com.

This customized Iron Man figure sure doesn't have an iron stomach.

(Credit: Jin Saotome)

Just in time for next month's Iron Man action and CGI cinematic extravaganza comes this one-of-a-kind, custom-modded Iron Man action figure from Jin Saotome. Painted to resemble Tony Stark's gadget-obsessed hero after a serious bender, and based on a Marvel Movie Legends Iron Man figure, the alcohol-poisoned hero doesn't come with a Great White Telephone from which he can call Ralph.

It does, however, come with several miniature beer cans and a mini bottle of Bacardi that dear, dear Tony Stark probably swiped from a Paris Hilton Barbie. Painted in all the hues of the contents of your stomach after trying to prove you're a drinking superhero, the green, yellow, and orange figure is up for auction on eBay and was commanding more than $100 at the time of writing.

Besides a wicked hangover and dribbles of stomach acid leaking from his mouth, the figure features 28 points of articulation. He probably needs all of them to keep himself upright, too. The auction also comes with an 8.5-inch-by-11-inch drawing of the inebriated Iron Man in flight from Web comic writer and artist David Willis.

Hopefully, this figure will be popular and Saotome will do a Wayne Family Meets Joe Chill box set for July's Batman movie.

Is this the real Iron Man movie?

(Credit: Paramount Pictures Corporation)

Audi has recently made big media pushes with a luxury forum at the Super Bowl and rides for celebrities at the Oscars, and now the company touts its involvement with the upcoming superhero movie Iron Man. Audi got director Jon Favreau to include the Audi R8 as Tony Stark's personal car in the movie, citing it as an appropriate car for the most technically knowledgeable superhero. As luck would have it, we have an Audi R8 in our garage for review this week, so of course we had to make our own duplicate of a still from the movie.

Or is it this one?

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)

Audi goes a little overboard in comparing the R8 with Iron Man, suggesting that the eye slits in the Iron Man helmet resemble the LED headlights on the R8, that Tony Stark's artificial heart is a parallel for the glass-covered engine on the R8, and that the R8's high-strength space frame is a match for Iron Man's armor. Having driven the R8, we're pretty sure it couldn't stop bullets, and we couldn't find a button to fire blasters. However, we do appreciate that the Audi R8 isn't fictional. Audi also got its S5 in the movie as the personal car for Tony Stark's assistant, Pepper Potts.

Expect to see advertisements featuring Iron Man and the Audi R8 over the next month, leading up to the movie's May 2 release. There is also a site at www.audi.com/ironman.

(Credit: Pocket-lint)

It seems as if the hype over Iron Man has been going on forever, so we're surprised that it's taken this long for someone to release a phone dedicated to the movie. (Side note: Are we the only ones who think Robert Downey Jr. is totally miscast?)

Like other promotional movie phones, including Homer Simpson's cellie, this customized LG Shine will bear the colors of its hero and include exclusive footage from the film. The main difference is that this handset is finished in 18k gold (not iron) and will be given away in an online drawing, according to Pocket-lint, which spotted it on display at the CTIA trade show in Vegas.

As for us, we're holding out for the next Superman movie to see if they issue phones made of kryptonite.