Being the professed geek that I am, I recently purchased all six Star Wars flicks on DVD. If you're even a moderate Star Wars fan, I recommend them.
Anyway, the discs have a lot of great behind the scenes footage on the role digital technology played, particularly in the latest films (Episodes I - III). As I watched the documentaries, I kept thinking that stripped down versions of these same tools could soon be in our hands. Just as blogging impacted newspapers, podcasting changed radio, and YouTube impacted TV, movies could be next as we become more empowered with digital editing tools.
For an early taste, check out this amateur Star Wars light saber battle shot at California State University, San Marcos. It was filmed with a single camera and tri-pod and all the cool special effects were added in Adobe After Effects on a single computer. (Adobe is an A&R Edelman client)
