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Category: AI

May 31, 2026

How to Use Claude AI to Find New Streaming Movies for Family Movie Night 

Instead of manually searching through each of my streaming apps to find new film releases each week, I did this instead using Claude.

In our house, streaming a movie on a Friday night isn’t just fun, it’s become something of a family tradition. Each week for more than a decade, I’ve curated a list of films for my wife and son to stream with me. (We usually choose one after I play all the trailers.)

As you can imagine, the movie choices were more limited when our son was younger. (Don’t ask how many times we watched, “The LEGO Movie.”) Now that our boy is in high school, he’s ready for a wider range of options. 

But that still doesn’t make our movie selection process easy. We’re three people with three different tastes in movies. I can often predict what our son will like, but not always. 

“John Carter?”

I’ve got a running joke going with him regarding Disney’s “John Carter.” That flick’s been on my list since our son was in elementary school. Even though it was an absolute box office bomb, I thought this silly adventure on Mars was fun. Plus, its parallel Civil War era dark vibe provided an interesting stylistic twist. 

I’ve always felt it was the perfect Friday night choice. But he’s probably turned it down at least 100 times. (I think I might want to take it off the list.) 

I Always Need More Choices

The truth is Barrett’s movie list doesn’t always contain a collective choice to watch each week.

So, I’m always looking for new options to offer up. And it feels crazy to say that with eight streaming platforms to choose from, it’s been challenging to find enough fresh releases. (This has become increasingly difficult since the pandemic and the overall decrease of movies being made today.)

Hurry!

Every Friday evening before dinner, I find myself quickly scouring through all my streaming apps in search of any new releases to add to my list.

And let me tell you, this process always feels like it takes forever as I hunt around! 

Wouldn’t it better if I could put a little AI-oomph into this process to speed up my search?

And that’s exactly what I just did.

Set up a Claude Project

So, I went to my Claude AI assistant and asked it for help on how I should set up this movie search to repeat regularly. It suggested I create a Claude Project.

You can do that by navigating to the left sidebar and clicking on “Projects.” 

  • Click on “New Project”
  • Add in the “Description”
  • Then add in the “Instructions”

The “Instructions” field is for your prompt, which provides the directions for Claude to follow.

Here’s the prompt that Claude created for me to use:

  • When I ask for new streaming movie releases, search each service individually with separate web searches — one each for Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Max, Hulu, Apple TV+, Peacock, and Paramount+. Cross-reference with Rotten Tomatoes and JustWatch. Do NOT use a single combined search. Group results by service and include: title, date added, genre, and Rotten Tomatoes score where available. Only include movies, not TV shows or specials. Include results for the most recent seven days. (I added in that last sentence.)

You, of course, can use this prompt as well. Just modify it with your particular list of streaming services.

Creating My Movie List in Seconds

So, I quickly set up this Claude Project and then ran it. It instantly got to work searching a variety of websites that track new streaming movie releases for the platforms I listed.

And then about ten seconds later, Claude provided me a report with all the new movies I should consider, sorted by streaming service and complete with brief descriptions.

It was perfect.

(You don’t need to set up a Claude Project for this. You can just run the prompt as part of a regular chat question. But the project makes it ready to go for the next time.)

A Huge Time Saver

Wow. Why didn’t I think I this sooner?

Claude isn’t the only AI assistant out there that can do this trick. (It just happened to be the one I used for this exercise.)

Now, I can accomplish this movie search in seconds. That’s quite the time saver.

Barrett’s Movie List

I must admit that presenting my movie list has become a bit of an eye-rolling moment for my family after all these years. But they still let me do it.

And you might be asking… where are their lists? Exactly.

Somehow, I’ve fashioned myself as the all-knowing movie critic in our family. (In my defense, I have been writing movie reviews as a hobby since I was in college.)

But that doesn’t really make me an authority any more than you.

Thank You, Claude

At best, my movie list is a quaint family tradition. We’ll leave it at that.

And by the way, our son is growing up. Did I mention he’s in high school already?

So, Friday movie night doesn’t happen regularly anymore. And when we do sit down together after dinner, it’s often to watch the next episode from a series we’re watching. (We’re currently enjoying “Dark Matter” on Apple TV.)

But I will always have a few movies to suggest whenever the moment calls for it.

And now, Claude gets to do all the research work for me.

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April 26, 2026

Should You See “The Wizard of Oz at Sphere” When Visiting Las Vegas?

Sphere in Las Vegas glows and pulses with mystery, inviting you to enter. Though we all know the story of “The Wizard of Oz,” experiencing the new version at Sphere means there are many delights ahead. Here’s why.

If you enjoy watching movies on an IMAX screen, or if you’ve ever been to a 4D theater and think that’s cool, then you’d better hold onto your hat when walking into Sphere in Las Vegas.

I recently visited this enormous venue for the first time while I was attending the NAB conference, and I was not disappointed. In fact, I was blown away (almost literally). Sphere was quite the immersive experience.

We’re Off to See the Wizard

I saw “The Wizard of Oz at Sphere,” reimagined for the massive 160,000-square-foot screen and 17,600-seat dome-shaped arena. The movie’s run time was slimmed down to 75 minutes, but everything else was supersized.

This new 2025 version uses cutting-edge tech to greatly extend the 1939 dimensions for each scene both on screen and off. However, the creative process also revealed certain technological limits with having to scale up the movie’s main characters to insane proportions.

GenAI Enhanced

In a few closeups, I noticed that Judy Garland’s face had that Princess Leia artificial CGI vibe from “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.” Clearly, there was some GenAI power at work here. 

And I was right. I later learned while attending a Google keynote at NAB that Google DeepMind partnered with the visual effects artists to tackle many of the hurdles involved in creating ‘super resolution’ imagery as well as entirely new elements.

But what I didn’t realize while watching the movie were the multitude of ways that GenAI magic had also been deployed to flawlessly do the impossible. And it was usually so good, I didn’t notice it was even happening.

Sure, it may be a challenge to extend the background elements like the haunted forest or the yellow brick road. But it’s an entirely different hurdle having to visually lengthen the actors’ performances. And that had to happen, because the wider screen size required characters to be in the frame where they weren’t originally.

Performance Generation

So, to create something from nothing, they used ‘AI character outpainting,’ which morphed original medium shots and cropped bodies into full-body shots.

But that wasn’t all of it. 

Since the field of view was so much wider on the wraparound screen, more characters suddenly had to remain in particular shots, even though they were framed out in the original scenes. So, those performances needed to be ‘generated.’

And it often felt entirely natural. (Occasionally, there was resulting blurring for background characters, but I expect most viewers wouldn’t notice.)

Inside the Tornado

Each of the movie’s old 4:3 frames had to be broken down, reconstructed, digitally extended and then sometimes reimagined.

When you begin to recognize the process, effort and wizardry applied here, the results become even more impressive.

And then there were certain scene enhancements that were hardly subtle. They’re blatantly reengineered to knock your socks off with everything that Sphere can throw at you.

I’ll mention the tornado sequence and say no more, other than it was worth the price of admission right there. 

Incredible.

400 Section Seats are Fine

Speaking of the price of tickets, I sat in the higher ‘400’ center section. Though my seat was relatively far away from the more expensive seating, it was absolutely fine for this film. 

If anything, the higher vantage point gave me a better view to appreciate all the expanded visual elements stretching over my head.

I got the same incredible 4D and audio experience as the lower section seats. Sure, I may have missed out on (spoiler alert) a falling apple or two, but that’s okay.

Impressive, Most Impressive

I bought my ticket to “The Wizard of Oz at Sphere” at the last minute. So, I didn’t have time to do research about how they re-made this movie. That’s probably for the best, because I didn’t know exactly what to look for. I simply experienced it.

Sure, I still spotted some of the limitations from 2024-2025 AI tech, but now, I also recognize and appreciated how far these filmmakers stretched to create this.

Ultimately, I am floored by the overall achievement. 

And just visiting Sphere by itself was a total experience. (It didn’t really matter what was playing.)

There’s a mischievous design cleverness that’s displayed throughout the entire space, beginning from the moment you walk into the lobby.

And after I sat down in my seat, I must admit I was fooled by the preshow illusion, an homage to Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

So, if you’re in Vegas, and you want to take in a show, I absolutely recommend you head over to Sphere.

You’ll quickly discover you’re not in Kansas anymore.

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April 19, 2026

How to Turn Your Photo into a Cinematic Video Clip Using GenAI

I recently snapped the photo on the top. I then went home and used generative AI to modify it to create the photo on the bottom. But I didn’t stop there. I continued to evolve it into a short video. The fascinating result is below.

Have you ever encountered a visual moment that you immediately felt compelled to capture with a photo? It happens to me all the time. Taking a walk on the street… hiking in the forest… or commuting to work. I just see it and say to myself, “Wow, that would be a great picture.” 

I imagine you’ve experienced this too.

One Frame is All You Need

And whether you happen to be carrying your camera or can quickly pull out your smartphone, it’s often possible to capture the moment. But the visual opportunity usually lasts for just a few seconds, right? You might get off a couple shots, but then the opportunity has passed.

If you’re also attracted to the motion of the moment and you want to shoot a little video clip, that’s usually a much harder task, because there simply isn’t enough time.

That’s where GenAI video creation tools can really help. No, they can’t turn back or slow down time, allowing you the freedom to shoot that perfect video. 

But GenAI can take your photo and then magically generate a few seconds of realistic action from your freeze frame. 

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

This faux reality is clearly not the same as recording the real deal.

But if you consider the potential of this amazing and disruptive AI video creation process as an art form, you can sidestep (for the moment) the ethical debate surrounding fake video use.

Today, we’re simply talking about using your very real photos as the creative foundation to generate video art. Think of it as a realistic-looking digital painting in motion.

And instead of having to start from scratch with just words and a series of complex prompts, your photo can instantly provide a ton of art direction for your scene. From there, you can focus more on creating the action in it.

Here’s an example of how I do this…

Start with One of Your Photos

Upload your photo to the GenAI platform of your choice. For today’s demonstration, I’m using Google Veo. I snapped this photo of a man flying a kite on the beach on a cool spring afternoon. 


Animate your Photo

Then I asked Veo to bring it life.


Change the Person in your Photo

Next, I asked Nano Banana to change the man into a woman.


Create a Cinematic Video

Finally, I had Veo create a video from that new photo and add a tracking dolly move to the shot.

This cinematic motion added to the scene was especially impressive, because that would have otherwise required a video crew for the day with expensive gear to pull off.

I generated this video clip in about 30 seconds.

Impressive. Most impressive.

AI Video Creation Tip:
Use a Start and End Image

Often, it’s easier to get what you’re looking for if you first upload what the first and last frame of your new video should look like (using two of your photos). 

That will provide the guardrails for your Gen AI platform to appropriately fill in the middle. Otherwise, it might do anything it wants, creating entirely unwanted action. Even uploading the same photo as the first and last shot can help stabilize the output.

Perfect results are not guaranteed, but I’ve found it captivating to explore this process. Here are a few more examples based on my own photos.

Woman Sits on Church Steps in Barcelona

My original photo
GenAI video


Man and his Dog Walk to Waterfall

My original photo
GenAI video


This is Serious

So yes, this is really cool. But what’s my practical application for all this beyond showing off a parlor trick of sorts?

Well, clearly, this is all about the future of video creation. And GenAI video will only continue to become more realistic. Again, beyond the ethical questions surrounding this topic, there are massive implications that are already rewriting the rulebook for the entire video production industry.

And as video production sits at the center of my career, I’ve been paying close attention to this revolution.

It’s easy to play in this sandbox in the name of art or personal photography. But there’s a much larger arena that’s already being impacted.

Soon, playtime will be over.

It’s time to skill up. 

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