The iTunes movie store is now live and includes about 70 movies from the Disney family of companies. Despite being Disney-only, the initial batch is pretty interesting and includes some of our favorites. Leading off the list are a select group of Academy Award winners:

Good Will Hunting

The English Patient

Shakespeare In Love

Next, a fun selection of action flicks:

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

National Treasure

Gone In 60 Seconds

The Rock

Then, a selection of good enjoyable movies:

The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou

Grosse Pointe Blank

The Sixth Sense

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

And finally, since this is Disney, the best in animation:

Toy Story

The Incredibles

A Bug's Life

Chicken Little

The not-so-secret-secret is no longer a secret: Apple has added full-length movies to iTunes 7. As expected, the first 70 movies all come from the Disney family. New movies will cost $12.99 as pre-orders and during the first week. To help produce “Near-DVD” video, movie resolution is upped to 640×480 instead of 320×240. This feature is only available at the US store but will launch internationally in 2007.

The new iTunes 7 will look similar to iTunes 6 but also an organized navigation bar, album viewing, and album art viewer. The upgraded iTunes will also download missing album art (a feature which will make many iPod Video users very happy). Another major update is the ability to transfer purchased content between authorized computers using your iPod.

As for new shows, iTunes 7 will offer highlights of the whole 2006 NFL season for $1.99 per game or $24.99 for a season pass.

Download iTunes 7

See Also: Apple Makes the iPods Even Better (and also Cheaper)

Billboard Magazine is reporting that Linkin Park has finally agreed to join iTunes. The successful group was one of the last remaining major acts that had not already offered its music on Apple’s iTunes Music Store (the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Radiohead and Garth Brooks are the major holdouts). As of today, three albums, several exclusive tracks, and a couple of videos are available for download on iTunes.

Additionally, we learn that the Linkin Park is working with Rick Rubin on their next album which they hope to release by the end of the year. They have narrowed it down to 30-50 songs so hopefully we will get a great new album and maybe some b-sides or extras.

In the meantime, here are the albums just posted on iTunes. Also, you should check out Fort Minor, Mike Shinonda’s other project.

• Collision Course (with Jay-Z)
• Meteora
• Reanimation
• Hybrid Theory
• Live In Texas (Video)
• Jay-Z & Linkin Park – Collision Course (Video)

Today is one of the better music release days we have seen in a while. No release is bigger than the latest from Bob Dylan. If that wasn’t enough, we here at Shopperism are giddy about the new album from The Roots. Here are some of the big releases:

Bob Dylan – Modern Times:   Download / Buy

The Roots – Game Theory:   Download / Buy

Method Man – 4:21… The Day After:   Download / Buy

Jessica Simpson – A Public Affair:   Download / Buy

Ray LaMontagne – Till the Sun Turns Black:   Download / Buy

Pete Yorn – Nightcrawler:   Download / Buy

Pete Townshend – Empty Glass:   Download / Buy

BT – This Binary Universe:   Download / Buy

Dave Holland – Critical Mass:   Download / Buy

The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds 40th Anniversary:   Download / Buy

Bob Dylan’s Modern Times is available for pre-order from the iTunes Music Store (expected release August 29, 2006). The iTunes version comes with four bonus videos, and, if you pre-order the album, you will receive a fifth video, Jokerman, only from iTunes. Once you pre-order, you will receive an email with a code for pre-sale Ticketmaster access for tickets to Dylan’s upcoming tour.

Bob Dylan – New Album + Ticketmaster Pre-Sale Offer