Video: 3.25/5
Audio: 3.5/5
Extras: 1/5 Demi Moore and Woody Harrelson play Diana and David Murphy, high-school sweethearts who marry and who are doing very well - Diana is a successful real-estate agent, and David is an idealistic architect who has built a dream house by the ocean - until the recession hits. Suddenly, David loses his job, and they can't make the mortgage payments. Dead broke, they borrow $5000 from David's father and head to Las Vegas to try to win money to pay the mortgage on their house. At first, they get $25,000 ahead - but inevitably the house always wins, and they end up losing it all. While Diana is in the fancy casino boutique trying to lift some candy, she is spotted by billionaire John Gage, who is immediately attracted to her. John invites Diana and David to an opulent party, and it is there that John offers David $1 million for a night with his wife. David is wracked by this moral dilemma, but Diana finally makes the decision on her own, with ensuing consequences for their ideal marriage and their bank account.
Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 4.5/5
Extras: 3.75/5 College kids seeking a weekend of kicks have made a horrible mistake. They've come to party at eerie Crystal Lake, the deadly domain of machete-mad killer Jason Voorhees. Terror goes to extremes in this reimagining of the Jason legend for today's horror fan. Enter for the first time the subterranean lair that is Jason's den of torture and fear.
Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 4/5
Extras: 2.5/5 Ted Crawford brutally murders his wife and calmly waits for the police to arrest him. With the weapon and a signed confession in hand, Deputy D.A., Willy Beachum, believes a conviction is a slam dunk; that is until the case completely unravels. Now, with little evidence, Beachum goes head to head with the cunning Mr. Crawford in a desperate search for the truth and the answer to one burning question: How is this guy getting away with murder.
Video: 4.25/5
Audio: 4.5/5
Extras: 3.5/5 Living in glamorous New York, Becky desperately wants a job writing for a high-fashion magazine. She gets her stilettos in the door when she gets a job writing a personal finance column at a sister publication. Much to her surprise, her column, "The Girl In The Green Scarf," not only becomes a hit, but she falls head over high heels for her overworked yet handsome boss. But Becky has a secret that leads to some hilarious high jinks that could unravel it all.
<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/genkill.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>The seven-part series opens with a platoon of Marines on a training mission in Kuwait shortly before the start of the Iraq War doing what Marines do best—kicking ass and taking names—preparing for the most important event of their young lives. This is Bravo Company of the First Recon Marines, led by the bright but nave Lt. Fick (Stark Sands). Like most kids, these guys are a little unsure of themselves and act a lot tougher than they actually are. I had to remind myself that these young men aren't our best and brightest, but they do a job that most of us aren't willing to do. Is some of their dialog reprehensible? Yes. But given their circumstances, I'm willing to cut them some slack.
Earbuds may be all the rage these days, but audio connoisseurs know that private listening sounds best with circumaural headphones, which cover the outer ear and offer larger drivers for deeper bass than most buds can produce. Among the finest headphones in the world come from Germany's <A href="http://www.ultrasone.com">Ultrasone</A>, including the new top-dog <A href="http://www.edition-headphones.com">Edition 8</A>.
Price: $2,599 At A Glance: High-end implementation of Class D amplification • Among first Rotels with HDMI 1.3, lossless surround decoding • Faroudja video processing but no auto setup
It’s Not Easy Being Green
Energy will likely be the defining challenge of our lifetimes. We use a lot of it but need to use less, so the ways in which we use it must become more responsible, creative, and resourceful. Will home theater continue to add to the quality of life in an energy-scarce future by bringing us closer to music and movies? Or will we write it off as just another accessory of sprawl, soon to be ruthlessly un-supersized? Is it possible to enjoy big pictures that are accompanied by big sound, while using less energy? This is the stage onto which the Rotel RSX-1560 A/V receiver walks, before an audience that is holding its breath.
Price: $3,800 At A Glance: Good blacks and shadow detail • Excellent resolution • Natural color • QC issues in our early samples
The LED Edge
It was CES, January 2009. The young lady standing next to the new Samsung 7000 Series LCD HDTVs was still perky. (It was early in the show’s four-day run.)
There is HD video flying all over the place, overworking wireless routers to the point of exhaustion. Belkin's new Gigabit Powerline HD Starter Kit does what any good Powerline system should do, sending heaps of data through a house's...