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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Rocky Horror Picture Show—20th Century Fox (Blu-ray)
Kris Deering  |  Oct 20, 2010
Video: 3.5/5
Audio: 4/5
Extras: 4.5/5
Fasten your garter belt and come up to the lab and see what's on the slab! It's "The Rocky Horror Picture Show Special Edition", a screamingly funny, sinfully twisted salute to sci-fi, horror, B-movies and rock music, all rolled into one deliciously decadent morsel. And now there's even more to make you shiver with antici...pation: two additional musical numbers, "Once In A While" and "Superheroes", never seen theatrically or available on video! The madcap, musical mayhem begins when rain-soaked Brad and Janet take refuge in the castle of Dr. Frank-N-Furter, a transvestite mad scientist from outer space who is about to unveil his greatest creation - and have a bit of fun with his reluctant guests!
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Predators—20th Century Fox (Blu-ray)
Kris Deering  |  Oct 20, 2010
Video: 5/5
Audio: 5/5
Extras: 3.5/5
Adrien Brody stars as Royce, a mercenary who reluctantly leads a group of elite warriors who come to realize they've been brought together on an alien planet... as prey. With the notable exception of a disgraced physician, they are all cold-blooded killers - mercenaries, Yakuza, convicts, death squad members - human "predators" that are now being systematically hunted and eliminated by a new breed of alien "Predators".
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet—20th Century Fox (Blu-ray)
Kris Deering  |  Oct 20, 2010
Video: 4/5
Audio: 4.5/5
Extras: 3.5/5
In this dazzling adaptation of Shakespeare's classic love story, Leonardo DiCaprio stars opposite Claire Danes. They light up the screen as the original star-crossed lovers against a thumping soundtrack and a boldly imagined modern-day setting.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
High Tension (Switchblade Romance)—Lionsgate (Blu-ray)
Kris Deering  |  Oct 20, 2010
Video: 3.5/5
Audio: 4.5/5
Extras: 3/5
"High Tension" is an intense game of murder and survival, which will rattle viewers to their core. Maria and Alexia are classmates and best friends. Hoping to prepare for their college exams in peace and quiet, they decide to spend a weekend in the country at Alexia's parents secluded farmhouse. But in the dead of night, a stranger knocks on the front door. And with the first swing of his knife, the girls' idyllic weekend turns into an endless night of horror.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Back to the Future Trilogy—Universal (Blu-ray)
Kris Deering  |  Oct 20, 2010
Video: 4/5
Audio: 4/5
Extras: 4/5
"Back To The Future": When teenager Marty McFly is blasted to 1955 in the DeLorean time machine created by the eccentric Doc Brown, he finds himself mixed up in a time-shattering chain reaction that could vaporize his future - and leave him trapped in the past. "Back To The Future Part II": Picking up precisely where they left off, Marty and Doc launch themselves to the year 2015 to fine-tune the future and inadvertently disrupt the space/time continuum. Now, their only chance to fix the present is by going back to 1955 all over again before it is too late. "Back To The Future Part III": Stranded in 1955 after a freak accident, Marty McFly discovers he must travel back to 1885 to rescue Doc Brown before he becomes smitten with school teacher Clara Clayton. Now, it's up to Marty to keep Doc out of trouble, get the DeLorean running, and put the past, present and future on track so they can all get back to where - and when - they belong.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
How To Train Your Dragon—Dreamworks Animation (Blu-ray)
Kris Deering  |  Oct 20, 2010
Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 5/5
Extras: 2.5/5
Hiccup is a young Viking who defies tradition when he befriends one of his deadliest foes - a ferocious dragon he calls Toothless. Together, the unlikely heroes must fight against all odds to save both their worlds.
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Ask S&V
HD in Zone 2, Two Subs, Video Conversion
Scott Wilkinson  |  Oct 20, 2010
In The Zone
As digital HDMI connections (and their associated HDCP requirements) become the default for A/V gear, I wonder if the days of a second HD zone on AVRs are behind us? Or are the manufacturers planning to address the current limitation of sending only SD video to a second zone? Will I be forced to buy an HDMI matrix?
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New Products
V-Moda Vibrato Headphones Are Made of Zinc Alloy, Kevlar
SV Staff  |  Oct 20, 2010

 

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Power Amplifier ReviewsSurround Processor Reviews
Rotel RSP-1570 Surround Processor and RMB-1575 Amplifier
Michael Fremer  |  Oct 20, 2010
Price: $4,998 At A Glance: Superior surround processor sonics • Excellent ergonomics • Cool-running ICEpower amp lacks definition

The Ladder to the High End

You’ve got to have sympathy for sound- and build-quality-oriented A/V electronics manufacturers like Rotel. You can go online, and for four hundred bucks and change buy a “630-watt” 7.1-channel AVR from a big-name manufacturer with all the latest lossless audio decoding from Dolby and DTS, video processing, 1080p HDMI switching, upconversion, and more. Since many people these days don’t care about good sound and because they’ve never actually heard it, they think, “Everything sounds the same.” And they think they should get it all for a pittance.

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Home Theater Geeks Podcast
Podcast 38: Don Stewart
Scott Wilkinson  |  Oct 20, 2010
Don Stewart, a third-generation owner/partner at Stewart Filmscreen, talks about the company's more than 60-year history, projection-screen basics such as gain and aspect ratios, white vs. gray vs. "black" screens, acoustically transparent screens, curved screens, 3D screens, and answers to chat-room questions.

Run Time: 58:08

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