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Viewing audiences and critics generally dismissed Jarhead when it rolled into theaters last year. That was a mistake—it’s one of the better unconventional war films ever made. This subgenre is championed by masterpieces such as Full Metal Jacket, Dr. Strangelove, and Apocalypse Now. These flicks actually explore the essence of war and its inevitable impact on the core of humanity. Jarhead measures up to the best of them specifically because the purported negatives critics hurled at it (cold, distant) is exactly the reason why it is great.

What's the latest cinematic sensation? The New York Metropolitan Opera! The Met struck a deal with exhibitor chain National CineMedia for high-def theatrical telecasts of six operas. The first four--The Magic Flute, I Puritani, The First Emperor, and Eugene Onegin--sold out 48 of 60 houses, making Mozart, Tan Dun, Bellini, and Tchaikovsky more popular than Prince, Bon Jovi, and The Who. The fact that people are paying $18 per ticket, versus $10 for rock acts, brings even wider smiles to exhibitors. Next up are The Barber of Seville (Rossini) and Il Trittico (Puccini, set model by Douglas W. Schmidt pictured). While the telecasts have prospered in big cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Miami, and Washington, they're also drawing crowds in smaller markets including Huntsville, Alabama; Pueblo, Colorado; Boise, Idaho; and Dayton, Ohio. The Met will continue its longstanding Saturday-afternoon FM radio and more recent Sirius broadcasts. Its public-TV exposure had dwindled in recent years due to union pressures, but thanks to a new profit-sharing plan with the unions, the same half-dozen productions listed above will air on public TV, in HD, with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround. There is, however, a window between theater and television. So if you just cannot wait for Rossini--or just like the social ritual of enjoying opera in the presence of fellow music lovers--check your local theater listings.

If you follow up a great sci-fi movie with two increasingly inferior sequels, how do you keep selling all three titles? You bundle all of them together so no one can skip out on the sequels, of course! OK, I know I'm being cynical. I love <I>The Matrix</I> and am as excited as the next to snatch this title up on HD DVD when it hits stores on May 22nd. And I'll even go so far as to say that I thought its sequel, <I>Matrix Reloaded</I> had some cool fight sequences and stunts. But I wouldn't watch the incomprhensible <I>Matrix Revolutions</I> again on a bet. Even George Lucas thinks it's whack that I have to buy all three movies to own the first.

Tubular chic meets comforting conformism.

KEF's KHT5005.2 speaker system and Onkyo's TX-SR674 surround receiver are an odd couple. The KEF speakers are slim, tubular, and chic, the latest thing in décor-friendly sub/sat sets. And the Onkyo receiver? It couldn't be more conventional, conservative, even conformist. It's a plain black box with a very good features set for the price. But could it be that the two complement one another? Could this, in fact, turn into a long-term relationship?