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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Slumdog Millionaire—Fox Searchlight (Blu-ray)
Kris Deering  |  Mar 31, 2009
Video: 4/5
Audio: 4/5
Extras: 3/5
Today is the biggest day in Jamal Malik's life. A penniless, eighteen year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, he's one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India's "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" But when the show breaks for the night, suddenly, he is arrested on suspicion of cheating. After all, how could an uneducated street kid possibly know so much? Determined to get to the bottom of Jamal's story, the jaded Police Inspector spends the night probing Jamal's incredible past, from his riveting tales of the slums where he and his brother Salim survived by their wits to his hair-raising encounters with local gangs to his heartbreak over Latika, the unforgettable girl he loved and lost.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Reader—The Weinstein Company (Blu-ray)
Kris Deering  |  Mar 31, 2009
Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 4.5/5
Extras: 3.5/5
"The Reader" opens in post-WWII Germany when teenager Michael Berg becomes ill and is helped home by Hanna, a stranger twice his age. Michael recovers from scarlet fever and seeks out Hanna to thank her. The two are quickly drawn into a passionate but secretive affair. Michael discovers that Hanna loves being read to and their physical relationship deepens. Hanna is enthralled as Michael reads to her from "The Odyssey," "Huck Finn" and "The Lady with the Little Dog." Despite their intense bond, Hanna mysteriously disappears one day and Michael is left confused and heartbroken. Eight years later, while Michael is a law student observing the Nazi war crime trials, he is stunned to find Hanna back in his life - this time as a defendant in the courtroom. As Hanna's past is revealed, Michael uncovers a deep secret that will impact both of their lives.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Twilight—Summit (Blu-ray)
Kris Deering  |  Mar 31, 2009
Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 4.25/5
Extras: 3.75/5
Bella Swan has always been a little bit different never caring about fitting in with the trendy girls at her Phoenix high school. When her mother re-marries and sends Bella to live with her father in the rainy little town of Forks, Washington, she doesn't expect much of anything to change. Then she meets the mysterious and dazzlingly beautiful Edward Culler, a boy unlike any she's ever met.
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Premiere Design
Spare No Expense
Scott Wilkinson  |  Mar 31, 2009

<A href="http://www.usa.denon.com">Denon</A> is certainly pushing the envelope&#151;in terms of both performance and price&#151;with its new flagship line that includes a surround pre/pro, 10-channel power amp, and universal disc player. <I>UAV</I> reviewed the pre/pro and power amp <A href="http://ultimateavmag.com/surroundsoundpreampprocessors/denon_avp-a1hdci_..., but we haven't yet taken a critical look at the DVD-A1UDCI player.

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Ask S&V
XDE, DTC, LCD
Scott Wilkinson  |  Mar 31, 2009
Blu-ray Shy
I would like your thoughts on Toshiba's XDE DVD players. As one who is hesitant to adopt Blu-ray fully, I have had a PS3 from the beginning, just no standalone player. I'm thinking of replacing my worn out upconverting DVD player with an XDE model, although Toshiba is quick to point out that it does not output or produce native HD content. Seeing how fiber-optic Internet speeds of 100Mbps are within reach, should one really look at Blu-ray with all the trappings that come with it?
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Audio Video News
Boxed Set of the Month: Pearl Jam's "Ten"
SV Staff  |  Mar 31, 2009
Let's see now . . . two CDs, one DVD, four LPs, a buncha other stuff, and a cassette! What, no 8-track? Despite that, the Collector's Edition of Pearl Jam's 1991 debut, Ten (Epic/Legacy), truly goes to Eleven - and as such, it's...
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Audio Video News
Help Wanted: Smashing Pumpkins drummer
SV Staff  |  Mar 31, 2009
Can you take random abuse from Billy Corgan? Can you explode on cue? If so, the Smashing Pumpkins have a job for you: drummer!This is not a joke.Late yesterday, I received the following e-mail from the band's publicist:"Auditions will be...
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Audio Video News
CEA Knocks California TV Energy Regs
Mark Fleischmann  |  Mar 31, 2009
California's proposed energy efficiency standards for television sets will cost consumers money, says the Consumer Electronics Association in a study to be released this week.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Marley & Me (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Mar 30, 2009

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/marley.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Based on the best-selling book by John Grogan, this is a story about a young couple (Owen Wilson, Jennifer Aniston) who decide to get a puppy, Marley, in lieu of having a child at an early point in their marriage. Unfortunately, they adopt "evil" with the face of a dog that fails obedience school and is branded as "the world's worst dog."

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Slumdog Millionaire (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Mar 30, 2009

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/slumdog.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) is an 18-year-old Muslim tea boy from the slums of Mumbai, India, who's just one answer away from winning a fortune on India's version of <I>Who Wants To Be A Millionaire</I>. How does an uneducated "slumdog" know all the answers? Did he cheat or was it meant to be?

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