inside LOVEFiLM

Hot on the heels of our Wii application, LOVEFiLM is now also available on the Wii U.

So, with a LOVEFiLM subscription and a broadband internet connection, you can stream our thousands-strong collection of movies & TV shows, instantly, using your Wii U console.

Select the LOVEFiLM logo on your Wii U menu, and you’ll be guided through the installation process. Once LOVEFiLM is installed on your console, hit our logo on your menu screen to launch the application.

(If you’ve deleted the LOVEFiLM logo from your Wii U menu, don’t worry – just launch the Wii U eShop, select LOVEFiLM, and follow the installation process… the LOVEFiLM logo will then reappear on your menu screen.)

Designed specifically for the Wii U, you can navigate our application using the Wii U GamePad AND the Wii Remote. You can also use the GamePad to browse and watch a film or TV episode, even if someone else is using the TV.

Watch out for the Watchlist too. While you’re browsing, just hit the “Add to Watchlist” button – really handy for marking titles you want to watch and building up a list. You’ll find your Watchlist on the LOVEFiLM Home screen once you’ve signed in.

Just like the Wii (and all our Instant devices, in fact), nothing is downloaded – all titles begin streaming as soon as you press the “Play” button (you don’t have to wait for the whole thing to download) and you can jump to any point in the film or episode at any time…

And your Wii U supports HD, which means you can watch our titles in High Definition. A connection speed of at least 2Mbps is required for standard definition, and at least 3Mbps for viewing 720p HD, but the application will automatically stream in the best quality possible and will adjust seamlessly depending on your connection speed.

You can browse for movies & TV shows in several ways – by genre, or by using our hand-crafted collections, or by looking through the unique LOVEFiLM Picks and Most Viewed lists. You can also search our catalogue by title or actor/director.

Enjoy this latest addition to the LOVEFiLM Instant stable, do let us know what you think, and happy Instant Wii U viewing…

Farah Fahmy, Product Manager

LOVEFiLM is now available on your Wii, which means you can stream thousands of great films & TV shows if you have i. a Wii, ii. a LOVEFiLM subscription, and iii. a broadband internet connection.

If you’re not sure how to connect your Wii to the internet, our instructional videos will take you through the process, step-by-step (depending on whether you have a wired or wireless internet connection).

Once you’re online, start the Wii Shop Channel and then go to Wii Channels to find LOVEFiLM. The application is free to download and install, so you can start the process immediately.

When LOVEFiLM has been installed on your Wii, you’ll find our logo on your Wii Menu every time you turn on your Wii.

We’ve designed the application specifically for the Wii, so you can find plenty of fantastic family films & TV shows using either the pointer or the directional-pad on your Wii Remote.

Nothing is downloaded – all titles begin streaming as soon as you press the “Play” button (you don’t have to wait for the whole  thing to download) and you can jump to any point in the film or episode at any time.

And if you started watching a LOVEFiLM title on a different device, your Wii application will remember where you stopped, and will ask if you want to watch from the beginning or resume from where you left off.

We strongly recommend that you have a broadband internet connection speed of at least 2Mbps for the best possible viewing experience (Wii does not support HD playback, of course, so it’s SD titles across the board).

You can browse for movies & TV shows in several ways – by genre, or by using our hand-crafted collections, or by looking through the unique LOVEFiLM Picks and Most Viewed lists.  You can also search our catalogue by title or actor/director.

LOVEFiLM on the Wii has all the great titles that you’ve come to associate with LOVEFiLM, and it’s really easy to use too.  Happy Instant Wii viewing!

Farah Fahmy, Product Manager

There’s an awful lot of really good TV out there, these days – much of it boasting big stars and high production values. So, not that awful at all, in fact. But definitely a lot.

Among the many shows currently available on LOVEFiLM Instant, you’ve hopefully spotted the arrival of Grey’s Anatomy and The Tudors, plus perhaps less famous fare like Reaper and the short-lived (but still worth exploring) Commander in Chief.

Of all our new stuff, the one I’m most excited about is… The Shield.

It’s been mentioned in, if not the same breath, at least the same sentence as The Wire. High praise, indeed. It’s a different flavour, of course, from the immersive Baltimore-set pinnacle of crime drama (before any fired-up Wire fans rail against the comparison).

And since I’ve been intending to get stuck into this show for years now, now is finally the time.

Chris Bird, our Film Strategy Director, has long been a fan. He reckons The Shield is right up there with the best TV series ever made…

“If I described what happens in the pilot, it’d tell you all you need to know about why The Shield is different from other cop shows. But that would ruin the pilot, which would be a shame, so all I’ll say is – watch the pilot, and you’ll soon see what I mean.

“It’s tough stuff. Far more brutal and uncompromising than you’d expect. And with much more ambiguity and grey area.”

And what of the comparisons to The Wire. Overstating the matter, surely?

“The Wire’s pretty much in a league of one, I think most people who’ve seen it would agree with that. It also has a very distinct tone and atmosphere. The Shield has a different tone, and I can’t recommend it highly enough. And Michael Chiklis in the lead role is just brilliant.”

December will see extra seasons/series added to some of our existing shows – Downton Abbey – Series 3, for example, and Sons of Anarchy – Season 4.

Scrubs will arrive too – so I’ll probably be back soon to bang on about why spending Christmas with JD & co, even if you’ve watched it over and over again, is a very good move.

I will, however, try to avoid using phrases like ‘it’ll have you in stitches…’

Darren Bignell, Senior Communications Manager

As if there wasn’t enough to choose from in our LOVEFiLM Instant catalogue, some excellent films are newly released (or coming very soon) on Blu-ray and DVD. So, by way of inspiration for your rental list, here’s my personal pick:

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to Chernobyl, it turns out radiation poisoning is the least to be worried about. A gang of intrepid tourists head to the fallout zone with a local guide and Chernobyl Diaries captures their terrifying experience.

It’s not high art, or even particularly middle art, but what is it about horror movies set in dark abandoned buildings that grabs me? Yelling at characters for making stupid decisions, for one. Plus a nod to The Simpsons, with the brief appearance of a mutated fish. Or maybe I’ve just watched The Simpsons too much.

Next up is Red Tails, which looks like it might be weightier stuff, but is actually an old-fashioned, air combat romp telling the story of an African-American Fighter Squadron during WWII. The film deals with the racism they experienced, as well as their ultimate triumphs, but George Lucas keeps the tone light and there’s lots of fun to be had.

Also on a historical note (tenuous link ahoy!), Mad Men Season 5 offers more 60s cool and scandals aplenty. I should admit that I’ve yet to see a single episode (I know, I know: I’ll take myself to the gallows now), but the upside of this is that five seasons of the show in quick succession are mine for the taking.

Margin Call will soon be available on Blu-ray and DVD, a film I missed at the cinema but have been desperate to see. Based on the very real and recent mess in the financial sector, it might not sound that interesting, but I’m reliably informed it’s a well-written must-see with an excellent cast: Kevin Spacey, Zachary Quinto, Jeremy Irons, Stanley Tucci, Paul Bettany and many more.

Finally, two films that aren’t new but are coming to Blu-ray for the first time…

First, one of those formative childhood movies: Flight of the Navigator. Set in 1986, a boy returns after an eight year disappearance, apparently unchanged from the 12-year-old he was when he vanished. It includes the single greatest alien-robot in movie history, who’s called Max and likes The Beach Boys and does impressions. What more could you want?

Empire of the Sun is a Steven Spielberg classic that was long overdue the high resolution treatment. A young Christian Bale ends up in a WWII prison camp after being separated from his parents in Shanghai, and the film expertly mixes the terrors of war with a beautiful sense of childlike wonder.

Check out the New Releases and Coming Soon sections regularly to keep up with the latest releases, but be warned… you might end up with the kind of rental list I have.

628 titles, and counting…

Alexa Muir, UK Merchandising Manager

Today sees the arrival of the new Kindle Fire HD in the UK. We’re excited because the LOVEFiLM Instant application is fully integrated – no downloading required, just turn on your Kindle Fire, tap the “Videos” button and you’re away.

It’s got some fantastic new features…

Watch out for the new Watchlist! As you’re browsing thousands of movies & TV episodes, you can create a list of titles to watch later. All at the tap of a button. The Watchlist feature is currently only available on the Kindle Fire, but we’ll be adding it to the LOVEFiLM website soon.

TV lovers will like our Next Up feature, which shows a list of the TV shows you’ve recently watched. If you’re part way through an episode, you can resume watching it. If you’ve got to the end of an episode, Next Up will offer you the next one.

X-Ray for Movies is especially cool. Tap the screen while a film is playing and X-Ray for Movies will show you who’s in the current scene. Tap on their name and you’ll see their biography and previous films. Perfect for when you can’t quite put a name to the face.

IMDb – the Internet Movie Database – provides the key details, as well as trivia, goofs and quotes too. While this feature will only be available on certain films to begin with, we’ll be adding more every week. The “Includes X-Ray” icon will tell you if it’s available for a particular film.

If your broadband connection is fast enough, the Kindle Fire HD lets you watch selected titles in glorious high definition. An HD icon flags which titles are in HD, but whatever your broadband connection speed, the Kindle Fire automatically selects the best picture quality.

Amazon’s famous personalised recommendations – including the ‘people who watched this also watched’ feature – are also on offer. The more you watch on LOVEFiLM Instant (on any LOVEFiLM app, not just the Kindle Fire), the better your recommendations become and they’ll always offer something new.

It’s a quick and simple process to link your Amazon and LOVEFiLM accounts, which means you’ll only need one account to access both services. If you don’t yet have a LOVEFiLM subscription, you can use the Kindle Fire to sign up to our streaming only package and be watching in minutes.

All these features and thousands of brilliant movies & TV shows are waiting for you on the Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD. Enjoy!

Andrew Bowden, Product Manager

Kindle Fire HD, a stunning new version of the Kindle, will be available from 25 October. It’s bursting with top of the range features and state of the art tech, and you’ll be able to stream LOVEFiLM Instant movies & TV shows on it too, so we’re obviously very excited.

You can pre-order your Kindle Fire HD now… at Amazon.co.uk, and it’ll cost £159.

It’s a beautiful device, boasting a customised 7” HD display, lightning-fast Wi-Fi and Dolby audio. Plenty of stamina in the battery too, with 11 hours life between charges, but it’s still a lithe, trim number – only 395 grams and 1cm thick.

It’s got girth in the storage department though, which is handy when you’re downloading in HD – 16 GB as standard and, if that’s not enough, there’s a 32 Gb option as well.

No downloading required to watch LOVEFiLM Instant titles, of course – if you’re already a member, you’ll be able to link your account and stream titles at no extra cost.

And if you’ve never tried the LOVEFiLM service, a one month free trial comes as part and parcel of buying a Kindle Fire HD, so you can explore thousands of Instant films & TV episodes on your shiny new piece of wonderment.

By the way, as well as reducing glare and delivering great colour and resolution, the display is made of ‘Gorilla Glass’, which sounds brilliant to us and cheers you up just by saying it.

The Kindle Fire standard (an Amazon best-seller in the US) is also being released in the UK for the first time, spruced up with a faster processor, twice the memory, longer battery life, and — perhaps best of all — a nice low price of £129.

Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos said: “Not only does Kindle Fire HD feature the most-advanced hardware, it’s also a service.

“When combined with our enormous content ecosystem, unmatched cross-platform interoperability, and standard-setting customer service, we hope people will agree that Kindle Fire HD is the best 7” tablet available anywhere, at any price.”

You can pre-order your Kindle Fire HD now… at Amazon.co.uk

Darren Bignell, Senior Communications Manager

We will very likely be fixated upon Paralympic exploits for the next week or so, and willing Team GB on to further super-human endeavour and medal glory.

In and around the sport, there are plenty of streaming options on LOVEFiLM Instant at the moment, and you could do a lot worse than starting with our wide variety of instant TV series.

Of these, the top 5 below are proving most popular at the moment, but equally fine stuff like  Lie To Me (starring Tim Roth), old faves like Spooks and Only Fools & Horses, and the entirely more recent Sons of Anarchy (from the makers of The Sopranos and The Shield) are hard on their heels.

1. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
2. Prison Break
3. Desperate Housewives
4. 24
5. Brothers & Sisters

We’ve got the original Danish version of The Killing too, if you like your telly dark and enthralling.

And if you need something a little less murdery for the kids (probably wise), there’s plenty of family entertainment to be had, especially with new Aardman stuff coming in like Shaun The Sheep, Timmy Time and dear old Wallace & Gromit. Plus Pingu, Thomas, Bob and many more.

Film wise, action is top of the pops right now, with sword & fortarama Centurion smashing allcomers (probably due to Dominic West and the Fass factor), all – that is – except Diane Kruger’s Special Forces.

Get Him To The Greek and The Waterboy are flying the comedy flag, and perennial faves The Dark Knight and I Am Legend continue to play well too.

Best place to start having a root around for great movies would be the LOVEFiLM Instant page, which has loads of great suggestions, Most Popular and Highest Rated collections, as well as some Hidden Gems. And stacks of other ways to search our range besides.

Fill your boots, and come on Team GB…!

Darren Bignell, Senior Communications Manager