Since he first delighted audiences and divided critics with his stylized, idiosyncratic first feature, Strictly Ballroom, writer/ director Baz Luhrmann has gone on to make Romeo+Juliet and Moulin Rouge - each more ambitious, more stylized, and more dividing of critics than the last. Each has also had greater success at the box office and in accumulating awards both in the U.S.
Psst! Hey, you! That's right - you! You wanna hot deal on a DVD player? I've got an SUV full of factory-fresh hardware. There are a few scratches and dents, and maybe some broken glass inside, but I'll give you my full lifetime warranty. Any problems - just bring it back to me here, in the alley off Broadway.
Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America (MDEA) has announced a new large-format high definition plasma screen and matching receiver. The combination is claimed to be the industry's first complete high-definition television system.
There's still not much digital programming to enjoy, but consumers are going for digital television sets in ever-increasing numbers. The <A HREF="http://www.CE.org">Consumer Electronics Association</A> reports that sales of DTV sets rose 83% in February 2002 compared to the same period the previous year.
In the good old days of over-the-air (OTA) broadcast TV, before the proliferation of cable and DBS, pointing your rooftop antenna was a common ritual when switching between channels. OTA HDTV has brought those days back, as viewers carefully orient their specialized HDTV antennas to lock in fussy signals.
Slowly, but perhaps inevitably, digital television will become a reality. The <A HREF="http://www.ce.org">Consumer Electronics Association</A> (CEA) has announced that its members will include digital tuners in large model television sets by the year 2004.
<I>Haley Joel Osment, Jude Law, Frances O'Connor, Brendan Gleeson, William Hurt. Directed by Steven Spielberg. Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 (anamorphic). Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1, Dolby Surround (English), Dolby Digital 5.1 (French). Two DVDs. 145 minutes. 2001. DreamWorks Home Entertainment 89567. PG-13. $29.99.</I>
Integrated A/V systems may not appeal to home theater elitists, but they have enormous appeal for people with less-than-capacious living quarters---apartments, condominiums, and town houses. That's a category that includes most people in most cities. It's also a market niche traditionally catered to by Bang & Olufsen.