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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Mechanic—Columbia Pictures
Kris Deering  |  May 18, 2011
Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 4.5/5
Extras: 2/5
Arthur Bishop is a 'mechanic' - an elite assassin with a strict code and unique talent for cleanly eliminating targets. It's a job that requires professional perfection and total detachment, and Bishop is the best in the business. But when his mentor and close friend Harry is murdered, Bishop is anything but detached. His next assignment is self-imposed - he wants those responsible dead. His mission grows complicated when Harry's son Steve approaches him with the same vengeful goal and a determination to learn Bishop's trade. Bishop has always acted alone but he can't turn his back on Harry's son. A methodical hit man takes an impulsive student deep into his world and a deadly partnership is born. But while in pursuit of their ultimate mark, deceptions threaten to surface and those hired to fix problems become problems themselves.
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3D Tech
A Passive 3D Approach
Thomas J. Norton  |  May 18, 2011
Another Road to 3D

Up to the present, all 3D HDTVs have used active shutter glasses, and most still do. The two separate 3D images—one for each eye and each of them full 1920-by-1080 resolution—flash on the screen in sequence. Active shutter glasses are triggered by an IR signal generated by the 3DTV (or a separate transmitter attached to it). To isolate the 3D images to their respective eyes, the glasses alternately open and close each eyepiece. The alternating is rapid enough that even though the two pictures are displaced in time, the brain fuses them together and sees them as a single 3D image.

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Ask S&V
First Flat Panel, VHS Upscaling, Panasonic Layoffs
Scott Wilkinson  |  May 18, 2011
Which non-matte flat panel should I get? Which TV does the best upscaling of VHS? What do the upcoming Panasonic layoffs mean for the future of plasma?
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CD Review: Sarah Jarosz, Sierra Hull
Billy Altman  |  May 18, 2011

Given the ubiquity these days of performers whose acts seem to rely as much (or more) on technology as on talent, fans of genres like Americana can be forgiven for fretting that fretboards could soon wind up on the endangered species list.

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Ask S&V
TV Skype
Scott Wilkinson  |  May 18, 2011
I purchased a Panasonic TC-P58VT25 TV from Best Buy in early January. When I asked about the Panasonic webcam to use with Skype, the price was too high. I asked if any USB webcam would work, and I was told that it probably would.

Later, I got a good deal on a Logitech 1080p HD webcam—not cheap, but about half the price of the Panasonic. However, it does not work; the TV doesn't recognize it. A little research leads me to believe that the Best Buy folks gave me bad info, and the Panasonic webcam is the only one that will work.

Can you shed any light on this? Do you know of a workaround so I can use a less expensive webcam for Skype calls on my new Panasonic TV? I really think others should be warned of this problem.

Jerry Gifford

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Home Theater Geeks Podcast
Podcast 66: Barb Gonzalez
Scott Wilkinson  |  May 18, 2011
Barb Gonzalez, aka The Simple Tech Guru, updates her impression of Roku as well as other media-streaming devices and services such as Vudu, Google TV, Apple TV, and the Sony SMP-N100, which has the best picture quality of all, though not the widest selection of content. She also talks about how content providers present different user interfaces and content to different devices, and she explains a new service called Zediva, which streams the playback of actual, physical DVDs to get a jump on the release of streaming movies. Plus answers to chat room questions and more.

Run Time: 56:07

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Game Review: L.A. Noire
Geoffrey Morrison  |  May 18, 2011

You pretty much know what you're getting into with this game just from the title. A good, old fashioned, film noir crime drama based in Los Angeles. Think Chinatown or The Big Sleep, except you're controlling one of the guys from Mad Men. No, not that one...this one.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Terminator (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  May 18, 2011
A ruthless killing machine (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is sent back in time by Skynet in order to kill Sarah Conner (Linda Hamilton), the woman who will soon give birth to the leader of the resistance movement in the future. But her future son isn't going to let his mother be exterminated and sends Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) back in time in order to save her from certain destruction and give the human race a chance to survive.

This is about the umpteenth time this classic sci-fi/horror/action film has been released on home video, but I'm sure the fans will pick it up agian in order to have the digibook packaging. Regardless, this is one of the best movies of the late 20th Century and launched the careers of both Schwarzenegger and writer/director James Cameron.

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Audio Video News
Audio Heavyweight Holman to Join Apple
Mark Fleischmann  |  May 18, 2011
Another day, another Apple rumor. Surround audiophiles may find today's rumor especially juicy: R. Tomlinson Holman, who was instrumental in developing THX, may be about to take a job with Apple.

If this is true, it suggests Apple may be planning a major audio-related move, one in which the help of a certified home theater audio heavyweight would be indispensable.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
American Graffiti—Universal
Kris Deering  |  May 17, 2011
Video: 4/5
Audio: 3.5/5
Extras: 2.5/5
From director George Lucas and producer Francis Ford Coppola, "American Graffiti" is a classic coming-of-age story set against the 1960s backdrop of hot rods, drive-ins and rock n' roll. Starring Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss, Harrison Ford, Cindy Williams, Mackenzie Phillips and Suzanne Somers in their breakout roles, this nostalgic look back follows a group of teenagers as they cruise the streets on their last summer night before college.
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