LATEST ADDITIONS

Mark Fleischmann  |  Nov 23, 2010
Netflix has officially taken the wraps off its previously announced streaming-only plan for the U.S. The price is a low-low-low $7.99. However, the announcement also brings price hikes for the existing disc-and-streaming plans.
Scott Wilkinson  |  Nov 22, 2010
Panasonic's 103-inch plasma is nothing new—we first saw it at the 2006 CES—and it's not even the largest plasma in production, an honor that goes to Panasonic's 152-inch behemoth. But last week, the company announced that it is taking pre-orders in Japan for an updated version of the 103-incher that now offers 3D capabilities.
David Vaughn  |  Nov 22, 2010
In the late 19th Century, Deadwood, South Dakota, was a boom town where prospectors came to strike it rich. It was illegally established on Indian land and attracted a wide variety of people from all different backgrounds. The town sheriff, Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant), came to Deadwood to open a business and ends up wearing a badge in order to keep law and order. Opposite him is Al Swearengen (Ian McShane), a local business man whose moral compass veers in the opposite direction as a local pimp and crime boss.

This show isn't for those easily offended by foul language or violence, both of which are quite prevalent. In fact, my wife left the room 15 minutes into the first episode because the "F-word" was said over 20 times—literally. She complained the writing was lazy but in fact it was completely intentional according to creator David Milch. He wanted to recreate the rough and tumble atmosphere of the real town and by my wife's reaction; he succeeded a little too well.

Stan Horaczek  |  Nov 22, 2010

Take a look at most new TVs, Blu-ray players and media servers and it should be abundantly clear that streaming is serious business for Netflix. But, the lack of a plan completely free from the red envelopes hasn't existed until today. For $7.99 a month, you can now stream as much as you want without a single disc ever showing up at your door. Unfortunately for those who still like physical media as well, the prices of their other plans will be going up. A one-at-a-time account is going from $8.99 to $9.99, while the classic three-at-a-time account jumps three bucks to $19.99.

Mark Fleischmann  |  Nov 22, 2010
Mitsubishi's 2010 HDTV line is getting a software upgrade that will enable sets to process 3D formats supported by HDMI 1.4a. The upgrade will apply to "select 2010 Mitsubishi 3D-ready TVs" including 738 and 838 Series sets, enabling them to connect to 3D-capable Blu-ray players and satellite or cable set-top boxes without an adapter.
David Vaughn  |  Nov 21, 2010  |  First Published: Nov 22, 2010
When a former elite agent goes rogue with plans to unleash a device that will bring down her canine enemies, cats and dogs must join forces for the first time to prevent a global catastrophe.

My kids simply loved the original Cats and Dogs, especially my daughter, but no one in the family was particularly interested in watching this sequel due to bad word of mouth and uninteresting trailers. So when our expectations were extremely low and although it's flawed in numerous ways, there was enough laughter to keep us interested. My wife and I especially loved the references to other movies (any Bond film and Silence of the Lambs). The first act is horrible but if you resist the urge to eject the disc it get better as you get to know the characters.

Shane Buettner  |  Nov 21, 2010
I’m just putting together HT’s February Letters section, and one letter really stood out to me. A reader who’s Blu-ray centric and has built a quality surround sound system around lossless audio wrote in lamenting that streaming from Netflix and other platforms is gaining momentum even though the sound is not only lossy, but often limited to stereo instead of discrete 5.1. He wondered whether sound quality is going to continue to go by the wayside or whether, as bandwidth increases, these platforms will offer improved sound quality. Even the Vudu platform, which offers the highest quality streams I’m aware of, offers 5.1-channel surround at 640kbps lossy Dolby Digital at best. These are excellent questions, even if for now we’re ignoring the video quality issues (Apple’s iTunes movie downloads are limited to 720p, the high-def minimum). In the future, if bandwidth improves, it seems possible that high quality streams or downloads could be offered with lossless surround sound. But it would probably be at a cost premium, and people will have to be willing to pay more. To be willing to pay more people need to be educated that not all 5.1-channel surround sound is created equal, and be taught to aspire to lossless. HT’s readers are sophisticated on subjects like these, but I wonder, what about your friends and family? How many of them have component based home theater systems that would allow them to hear the difference? How many of your friends are using the speakers built-in to their TVs? Are these people into streaming? When they come to your house, and hear and see Blu-ray in its full glory does it make a difference? Do they ask you questions that suggest they’re interested in learning more and maybe elevating their experience at their house? I’m just curious, because for high quality options to exist in the streaming ecosystems, there needs to be demand.
Scott Wilkinson  |  Nov 19, 2010

Most visitors to UAV are into watching Blu-ray or DVD movies on their home-entertainment system, be it a 32-inch flat panel and its internal speakers, a full-blown home theater with front projector and 7.1 surround sound, or anything in between.

If you live alone, of course, you can watch whatever you want. If it's just you and your spouse/partner, you probably have to do some negotiating, but hopefully your tastes overlap at least somewhat. On the other hand, if you have young children, they most likely have the final say and you play a lot of kids' titles—over and over and over ad nauseam.

We are dedicated to providing reviews of Blu-ray movies that help you separate the wheat from the chaff in terms of both content and audio/video quality. To fine-tune that effort, we'd like to know what movie genre you watch most at home. Of course, you probably watch many different genres—perhaps a roughly equal number from several genres—in which case, please indicate your favorite.

Vote to see the results and leave a comment about your choice. If you vote "Other," please tell us what genre you're referring to.

What Movie Genre Do You Watch Most at Home?
David Vaughn  |  Nov 19, 2010
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's popular Victorian-era super sleuth gets a reboot in the 21st Century. Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) is the go to detective consultant for Detective Inspector Lesrade (Rupert Graves) of the London police department. Ex-soldier/doctor John Watson (Martin Freeman) joins Holmes as his trusty sidekick in order to solve the most bizarre cases London has ever seen.

Thanks to the BBC this fabulous show has made its way across the pond via PBS and now Blu-ray. Although the 2-disc set has only three 90 minute episodes, each is so well-crafted that I'll gladly take quality over quantity. The two leads breathe new life into the characters and from the first moment they share the screen you know it’s a match made in heaven.

user  |  Nov 19, 2010
Panasonic's larget plasma panel has gone 3D in a model released in the Japanese market.

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