Valentine’s Day is not my favorite holiday. I imagine it’s the same with many of you, for various reasons. My big one is that the movies are generally pretty boring…but it doesn’t have to be that way. If all your significant other wants for a Valentine’s Day movie is romance, you can get that in pretty much any kind of movie—even most Godzilla movies have romantic elements, after all (at the end of Godzilla vs. Megalon, for example, Godzilla shakes Jet Jaguar’s hand for an uncomfortably long time).

So, when you hear the words “Let’s watch something romantic tonight,” you can steer clear of anything with Renee Zellweger or Reese Witherspoon in it and instead take these suggestions from the hopeless romantics here at Appletell. All the movies recommended are available for rental at purchase from iTunes.

David: Wall-E

Boy-bot meets girl-bot, girl-bot tries to atomize boy-bot with screaming laser death, boy-bot displays undying devotion, girl-bot’s processor undergoes quantum inversion. I know, it happens all the time, but it still gets me right in the CPU.

So, it’s an animated flick about a trash compactor and his mission to tidy up the planet, but the humanity is still there for all to see. Besides, who wouldn’t want a girlfriend who can shoot energy bolts from her arm? Think of the possibilities for the commute to work! Wall-E has the classic elements of a romantic comedy: a hero and his love interest, unrequited affection, apparently insurmountable differences in purpose and station in life, a little bit of playful poking at one’s flaws, and recognition and appreciation of each other in the end.

Wall-E doesn’t have a lot of dialogue, but it isn’t necessary when the message is so clearly and artfully delivered. Do we really need dialogue when we get a visual of Wall-E holding an umbrella in a thunderstorm so EVE, who is inactive at the moment, doesn’t get wet? So, the lightning strike was a bit Caddy Shack, but that doesn’t stop it from being funny and touching at the same time. We have all known people who will quietly sacrifice even if the focus of devotion doesn’t realize it. But before you get all misty-eyed, don’t forget you also get some laughs as well. Think about the poor Burn-E who just wants to fix the running light and can’t seem to win for losing. You get the laughs you need to say, “Yes, I have been entertained.”

Buy or rent Wall-E

Erica: Independence Day

Not only do you have the Earth under attack by aliens with a ragtag group of misfits being the only thing standing between survival and destruction, but you also have three romances. These romantic stories have a similar theme; one person didn’t appreciate the other, and instead wanted them to be what they considered the “perfect spouse.” In the end, they realized they were the ones who needed to change to truly appreciate the other person’s worth.

With plenty of comedy, action and romance, it’s a movie the entire family can watch together.

Buy or rent Independence Day

Aaron: The Abyss

A disappearing nuclear submarine, a threat from the Soviets, encounters with a mysterious alien life form, and an intentional drowning hardly sound like the recipe for a romantic movie, but The Abyss somehow manages to weave the redemption story of a tough oil platform captain and his estranged wife into a believable melodrama set against a sci-fi background.

If I’m going to watch a film with heavy overtones of “why-can’t-we-all-get-along,” there needs to be a believable love story (The Abyss was released in 1989 just as the Cold War was nearing its end). The combination of Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as the estranged Bud and Dr. Lindsey Brigman make the overarching theme of a watchful alien presence work by reflecting a microcosmic view of the tensions present in the world. The he said / she said of their relationship and ultimate redemption holds a mirror up to the ultimately petty squabbles of the human race at large. As a bonus, there are plenty of sci-fi thrills along the way, like a perfluorocarbon liquid breathing experiment.

The Abyss features some fine examples of early computer animated imagery from Industrial Light & Magic, with pioneering animation techniques including digitization of human characters’ faces for the scene when the alien pseudopod performs some doppelgänger tricks. More importantly, the movie features one of the most violent true-love scenes when Mary Elizabeth Matrantonio voluntarily sacrifices herself to drowning and Ed Harris goes to great lengths to revive her (hilariously parodied in the NSFW South Park Imaginationland).

For those of you with absolutely no interest in sappy, chick-flick style love, this is about as macho as it gets.

Buy or rent The Abyss

Bill: Casino Royale

If there’s anything women love, it’s a tormented man who’s also extremely handsome. If there’s anything guys love, it’s watching two guys beat the crap out of each other. Casino Royale (2006) makes good use of both meanings of the word “tortured” as it reboots the Bond franchise and amazingly manages to make an action film that appeals to both men and women. This is one of the favorite films of my marriage because, as my wife says, “I always have time for Daniel Craig.”

Bond starts the film as an aloof jerk that all the chicks dig, using women and throwing them away because he realizes that in his line of work, he could be dead tomorrow. Also, he’s a bit of a sociopath; when a woman he used for information is tortured and killed, it doesn’t bother him in the slightest. But since he walked out of the ocean wearing tiny, tiny swim trunks about 15 minutes earlier, you’re willing to forgive him. Enter Eva Green as Vesper Lind, the gorgeous woman who will go through hell with Bond, win his heart, but eventually betray him. The actual plot of the film—Bond must beat a terrorism funding criminal mastermind in a high stakes game of poker—is almost completely unimportant as you watch the tempestuous relationship of Craig and Green play out on the screen.

It being a Bond film, there are also car chases and gunfights galore. But Casino Royale takes a big step back from the invisible cars and magnetic watches of previous films; every battle here is brutal, visceral, and very, very personal. This isn’t a Bond who makes a quip after shooting a henchman, but one who strangles with his bare hands then stares at the corpse to make sure he’s dead. None of the battles is more intense, however, than the confrontation where Bond is tied naked to a chair and beaten with a rope. Nobody in modern film takes a beating like Daniel Craig, who still manages to joke his way through the extremely dark film.

And the fact that he’s naked during it doesn’t hurt, in my wife’s point of view.

Buy or rent Casino Royale

Kirk: Corpse Bride

My first inclination here was to go with Dark City, simply because I’m always looking for a reason to recommend that to people. But it’s…well…dark, and has a couple dead hookers in it. That’s a pretty hard sale. So, instead, let’s go with dead puppets.

Corpse Bride is a stop-motion animation pseudo-musical along the lines of The Nightmare Before Christmas. Set in a dreary 19th century Europe, we follow along with Victor (Johnny Depp) and his pending marriage to Victoria (Emily Watson). Although the wedding is arranged by their parents for financial reasons, the two actually fall instantly in love; but a series of mishaps finds Victor accidentally proposing to the wrong woman. The main problem here is that she’s dead, but that doesn’t prevent her form accepting.

The corpse bride steals Victor down to the underworld (which is, of course, much more lively and colorful than the world of the living) with full intent of becoming his wife. In what may be my second favorite cinematic musical number ever, we learn that the corpse bride got the name because she was murdered on the night she was to elope with her true love. Meanwhile, a new suitor for Victoria has appeared above, and the corpse bride below is actually quite friendly and pretty, anyway. Is Victoria better off above without Victor? Is Victor willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to give the corpse bride the husband she always wanted?

The movie is graced with a wonderful cast featuring Tracey Ullman, Richard Grant, Christopher Lee, Michael Gough, Joanna Lumley, Albert Finney and others, including, of course, Deep Roy, who even in animation has to play someone very short. This is a Tim Burton film, after all.

Corpse Bride is lively, colorful, and quite funny, and features some of Danny Elfman’s best post-Oingo Boingo music. More importantly, it cleverly honors the sacrifices we’re willing to make for the ones we love…living or dead.

Buy or rent Corpse Bride

Be sure to give us your suggestions in the comment area below (especially if that suggestion is Dark City), and have a wonderful Valentine’s Day!

Also see: Appletell staff picks: Romantic movies for Valentine’s Day

Apple has rolled out a new feature for Apple TV users. Owners of the media streaming device will now find a new option called Genius under Movies and TV Shows. The Mac version of the iTunes Store has had Genius recommendations for quite some time, but the feature has been absent from Apple TV until now.

The Genius feature recommends iTunes content to watch based on your purchase history.

There will not be a software update required to see the new feature. This small changes was made on Apple’s own servers, so users are a click away from Genius recommendations if you’re ready to use it.

According to MacRumors, has been automatically pushed to all connected devices. If you’re not seeing the new menu on your Apple TV menu screen, it’s recommend to maintain an active internet connection to make sure it updates.

Via [MacRumors]

Previously, if iTunes customers had a desired product in mind, they had to resort to clicking on multiple pages to get to that specific item. But now Apple has given iTunes a much-needed improvement that will certainly assist users in quickly finding apps and videos in the iTunes Store. This small makeover adds the ability for users to peruse the whole store in a “Quick View mode” which will let them purchase items without leaving the current page.

When clicking on the “info” button in the bottom right of each app icon, an option will appear which gives a detailed description of the selected item along with the reviews, screenshots and price. According to several reports around the internet, this option became available on both the main iTunes Store and App Store pages, as well as in search results.

It seems this new feature also works across all the content that can be found within iTunes, including songs, albums, music videos, movies and TV shows. Simply scroll over the desired item you wish to view in order to get the pop up window with a small preview of the product, its overall rating, basic description, and pricing information. Users can also easily make a purchase of the items from within the window.

Via [iSpazio]

iTunes Match has generated a bit of confusion since its initial release, as some users aren’t sure about what exactly happens to their music library after the service has been enabled. To better explain iTunes Match, Apple posted a walkthrough video showing viewers how to activate their account and load songs.

The new $25/year service offers users the ability to match their existing iTunes library with high quality versions in Apple’s iCloud. In order to use the service, users needs to download iTunes 10.5.1 on a PC or a Mac and/or iOS 5.0.1 on an iPhone 3GS or later,a third-or fourth-generation iPod touch or an iPad.

The video comes with a FAQ about the services being offered by Apple’s iTunes Match, which aims to addresses several questions about whether users can stream music to iOS devices and if songs needs to be uploaded to iCloud. According to Apple, computers will be able to stream music stored in the iCloud. All iOS devices will have the ability to play tracks while its still downloading to your device. Apple TV only seems to stream songs.

Apple’s FAQ also answers what would happen if users let their subscription of iTunes Match comes to a closure after a year, “Any songs you’ve upgraded or downloaded again are completely safe. The only thing you lose is the central storage — iCloud will no longer stream or download matched or uploaded songs to your devices.”

Apple’s iTunes Match became available for US customers back in November, while other countries just recently have gained access.

See [iTunes Match]

iTunes

1. Launch iTunes and click “Redeem.”

2. Scratch off number on card and enter it in field (I suppose you could this first, but let’s not be difficult).
3. Enter your iTunes password if you’re not already logged in. Your credit should appear in the upper right of the browser.
4. Add the apps, movies and music to your cart and follow Apple’s purchasing instruction. Be sure to get the good stuff…there’s a lot of junk in there.

iTunes App

1. Launch the iTunes app and tap on either “Music” or “Videos” at the lower left.
2. Scroll down to and tap “Redeem.”

3. Enter code. You may now have to enter your password, too, but then the app should immediately start downloading.

App Store app

1. Launch App Store and tap on “Featured” at the lower left.
2. Scroll down to and tap “Redeem.”

3. Enter code.

Books

1. Launch Books and click on “Store” if you’re not already there.
2. Tap the “Featured” icon at the lower left.
3. Scroll down to and tap “Redeem.”

4. Enter code.

Now, it used to be that there were different gift cards for apps and for music/videos. That’s no longer the case in the U.S. But in other markets, make sure you check the card to see how it’s meant to be used. You don’t want to redeem a gift code for an app only to find it’s not meant to be used for that.

According to Macrumors, when a user logs into the iTunes Store to see the list of a TV show’s season’s episodes, he/she will have the choice of buying the entire season without double paying for the episodes already purchased.

Via [MacRumors]

9to5Mac is reporting that Apple made a decision not to update it’s Apple TV software with the Hulu Plus app for a “political not a technical reason.” Sources claim the Hulu Plus application has been finished and is ready to be installed on Apple TV, but development have been placed on hold. It’s speculated that the hold-up is because Apple wants to protect its own iTunes revenue stream.

Hulu Plus offers subscription-based access to a broad catalog of streamed TV episodes from ABC, Comedy Central, Fox, NBC and MTV, amongst other television broadcasters. The $7.99 per month subscription to “Hulu Plus” delivers access to a selection of “hundreds” of movies and more than 16,000 episodes from 400 different TV series, according to the company’s records. The main problem is that the Hulu Plus subscription-based streaming service would interfere with the iTunes pay-per-download model.

Curiously enough, the iPad and iPhone do have Hulu Plus apps; it seems kind of strange to me that Apple wouldn’t want to add something that could attract more customers to their Apple TV hardware.

Via [9to5Mac]

Along with the release of iOS5, iTunes 10.5 and other major software updates from Apple come several new iOS apps. One of these apps is iTunes Movie Trailers. I don’t know if this just escapes me or what, but I don’t recall hearing about this new app before. The iTunes Movie Trailers is a pretty good looking app which gives you the newest and most exclusive previews of upcoming movies. The app lets you browse trailers, clips and featurettes for the Hollywood blockbusters and independent cinema releases. Additionally, the app also provides you access to high-quality HD photos, and allows you to explore schedules of movie releases and search for showtimes of movies in theaters near you.

Complete features of iTunes Movie Trailers include:

• Access hundreds of movie trailers, clips, behind-the-scenes featurettes, and images, available in HD or SD.
• Explore an interactive, year-long release calendar that helps you plan when you’ll be going to the theaters.
• Save favorite movies and theaters for immediate access anytime.
• Search what’s playing at your local theaters and purchase tickets directly from your iPad or iPhone.
• Save images to your iPad photo gallery, to use as iPad or desktop wallpapers or send to your friends.
• Browse top charts to view the most downloaded trailers, box office rankings, and top movies on iTunes to buy or rent.
• Enjoy your favorite movie trailers on your TV with AirPlay and Apple TV.
• Email or tweet trailer recommendations to your friends.
• Use iCloud to push your favorite theaters and movie trailers to all of your iOS devices.

So far, the app looks pretty good. Trailers load quickly and playback is pretty smooth. The coverage is pretty extensive. In fact, if you haven’t watched the Avengers movie trailer which spread across social media sites recently, you can watch it again in full HD goodness via the iTunes Movie Trailers.

The app is available as a free download from the App Store.

Product [iTunes Movie Trailers]

In the extras for Citizen Kane: the 70th Anniversary Edition, film critic Roger Ebert notes the film doesn’t make its protagonist, Charles Foster Kane, likable. He’s charming, of course—powerful and charismatic—but you don’t particularly like him. When he does something noble, like championing the rights of the poor against big business trusts, you get the sense he’s doing it to put the screws to the banker who took him from his family. And when he does something like, oh, start a war between the U.S. and Spain, fire his best friend or humiliate two wives, you get the sense he couldn’t see the difference. They were all just things he wanted.

The Movie

Kane is routinely called the greatest movie ever made, and even after all this time it’s easy to see why. The way the film is put together is still so wonderfully vibrant, with its unusual opening (the main character dies, followed a newsreel that tells you the entire story), the way it moves back and forth through time, and the cinematography. You can watch this film again and again and catch something new. This time for me, it was parallel shots of Kane in a window, first as a boy playing in the snow, later as a newspaper magnate surrounded by dance hall girls.

And on top of it, Kane is simply a great story, that of a man who had unlimited wealth and power, but couldn’t buy love. A boy who was torn from his home (sent away, actually, by his mother who wanted him to be raised “right”) and spent his entire adult life trying to make sure no one could control him, but ended up wanting to control everyone else.

The Download

The download is a mere 1.22 GB but they’ve done a wonderful job of giving you a clean print. There are no artifacts or scratches (except for a newsreel section where the film scratches are an artistic choice). The film is presented in fullscreen (4:3), which was the aspect ratio in which it was shot.

The Extras

As you might expect from the most acclaimed movie of the 20th century, a lot of people have something to say about it. Kane comes with several extras: interviews with Ruth Warrick (who played Kane’s first wife) and editor Robert Wise.

The “Production” section gives you a look at the elaborate storyboards for certain scenes, call sheets, and still photographs taken on the set, with an audio commentary by Roger Ebert playing under it, all presented in a movie/slideshow format. The storyboards are shown at low resolution, however, which makes it hard to pick out details.

The “Post” section include photos from a deleted scene set in a brothel, along with a stern letter noting that such a scene would be impermissible under the Hays censorship code. You also get a look at the ad campaign and souvenir books. Finally, there’s a newsreel about the film’s premiere and the obligatory trailer.

Conclusion

There are a lot of “classic” films that have flaws to modern eyes: Citizen Kane is not one of them. It’s a tale of a great man who lost everything. After 70 years it’s still an engrossing tale, and the iTunes download is a great way to experience it.

Buy or rent Citizen Kane: 70th Anniversary Edition.

The iTunes Store and Apple TV catalog are now completely rid of 99-cent TV show rentals, with all mention of them also removed from Apple’s website. Heavy speculation surrounded the reason for the company’s move in this case, although an Apple spokesperson followed up with this comment:

iTunes customers have shown they overwhelmingly prefer buying TV shows. iTunes in the Cloud lets customers download and watch their past TV purchases from their iOS devices, Apple TV, Mac or PC allowing them to enjoy their programming whenever and however they choose.

The idea of being able to rent movies and TV shows rather than having to purchase them isn’t a bad one, but at $0.99 for a TV show rental, the price wasn’t very justifiable. Still, Apple believes its customers would rather own the TV shows they purchase, so the rentals likely won’t be coming back any time soon (although if they do, I really hope they come with a much better price tag next time). We will have to wait and see what direction Apple takes with this new move.

Via [TUAW]