I’ll admit it, I’m a movie fanatic! I’ve owned “Goodfellas” on every format and “special edition” it’s ever been released in, and still, if I’m channel surfing and see it playing on a channel I hit, that’s where I’ll stay until it’s over. If you have a similar affinity for the silver screen, or that 60 inch plasma you have in your viewing room, you need the apps we’re going to be looking at in this article. The great thing is, all the apps are either cheap or free, so that’ll leave you more money in your pocket to go to the movies!
Amazon Instant Video — If you love movies, especially if you have an Amazon Prime Membership, this is a must have app for your iPad. (It’s not yet available on the iPhone. Weird, right?) Amazon Instant Video lets you watch thousands of titles free if you have an Amazon Prime membership. (If you order a lot of stuff from Amazon, look into the membership, for a small annual fee you get some great member benefits, like free 2-day shipping.) You’ll also be able to download and view purchased or rented videos from Amazon’s library of over 120,000 videos.
Keep track of movies or shows to watch later by putting them in your Watchlist. Also, if you start watching a video on your iPad, you can resume where you left off on another device like a PS3, PC, Mac, or even your TiVo or Blu-Ray player.
One interesting side note, this app only works on unmodified iOS installations. If you have a device that’s been jailbroken, you’re screwed.
Netflix — I know, it’s almost silly to include this app in the list, but it’s a must have. Netflix is the best known video streaming video service, and if you don’t have a membership, why not? This app is available on every smartphone, wi-fi connected Blu-Ray player, TiVo, PC, Mac, Xbox, Apple TV, Roku, PS3, Wii… If a device connects to Wi-Fi, there’s probably a version of Netflix that will run on it.
With the Netflix app you can choose from thousands of movies and TV shows, watch part of it on your iOS device, then pick up where you left off on any other Netflix enabled computer or device. You can search for titles directly from the app, and rate your favorites to help Netflix suggest new titles for you to view. This is the grandaddy of all streaming services, it’s the one to have if you’re only having one.
Drive-In Classics Movie Viewer — This app will set you back $4.99, but if you remember going to the drive-in like I do you’ll want this app! The app streams movies directly to your iPad or iPhone. Categories include all the favorites from the heyday of the drive-ins, they include: Werewolves, Robots, Aliens, Zombies, Grindhouse, 3-D, Horror, and many more.
Just some of the titles available include: Dark Habit (Drug dealing nuns with guns!), Grizzly (A Jaws rip-off starring a massive grizzly bear!), The Naughty Stewardesses (Figure that one out for yourself skippy!), and many more fine “classics”.
And get this, the app is AirPlay enabled, so you stream these “classics” to your Apple TV for enjoyment on the “big” screen! Put the back seat of a ’69 Plymouth in your living room for you to sit on, let some mosquito’s into the house, and it’ll be just like you’re at the drive-in!
One warning, most of these movies are rated “R”, and do include violence, gore, nudity, and bad language. Yup! All the stuff you looked for in a drive-in movie!
Movies by Flixster, with Rotten Tomatoes — This app claims to be the #1 app for movie reviews, trailers, and showtimes. I don’t know about all that, but it’s a great app to have on your device if you love movies.
It allows you to browse current and upcoming movies, look up showtimes at local theaters and you can even buy tickets if the movie is showing at a participating theater, get reviews from Rotten Tomatoes (my favorite feature), watch trailers, stream and download movies, create your own personal movie lists, rate and review movies, and even view and manage your Netflix queue.
This is like having a swiss army knife for movies right in your pocket. and you can take it on airplanes, unlike the real knife.
My favorite feature is the ability to use the iPhone’s camera to take a photo of the UPC code on the movie’s packaging. The app then looks up the info for the movie using the UPC code. Fantastic!
The app also allows you to lend out your movies, keeping track of who has the movie, and when they borrowed it. You can create a wishlist, get info about movies, you can even use the “Shake for random” feature to select a movie to view.
This is a must have app for movie fanatics. It’s available for $2.99 in the App Store, but is also available in a free version that allows you to try out the app first. The free app is limited to a small number of entries into the library via your camera.
There you have it, in my opinion these are must-have apps for movie lovers. Did I miss some? What movie related apps do you think are a must-have for any movie lover? Let me know down in the comments section below. Then, I’ll check them out and then maybe cover your favorite movie apps in a future article.
