LATEST ADDITIONS

Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Boondock Saints—20th Century Fox (Blu-ray)
Kris Deering  |  Feb 17, 2009
Video: 4/5
Audio: 3.75/5
Extras: 3.5/5
Fraternal twins Conner and Murphey MacMannus are on a mission from God to rid Boston of crime. However, instead of signing up for the police force, these hard-drinking Irish-American brothers take the law into their own hands a la Charles Bronson in "Death Wish". Heralded as saints by the city's beleaguered residents, the brothers also attract the attention of Paul Smecker, the openly gay FBI special agent assigned to investigate the spate of killings amongst the ranks of the Russian mafia.
Continue Reading »
Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Body of Lies—Warner Bros. (Blu-ray)
Kris Deering  |  Feb 17, 2009
Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 4.25/5
Extras: 3.75/5
Roger Ferris is the best man U.S. Intelligence has on the ground, in places where human life is worth no more than the information it can get you. In operations that take him around the globe from the Middle East to Washington, Ferris's next breath often depends on the voice at the other end of a secure phone line - CIA veteran Ed Hoffman. Waging war from a laptop in the suburbs, Hoffman is on the trail of an emerging terrorist leader who has orchestrated a campaign of bombings while eluding the most sophisticated intelligence network in the world. To lure the terrorist out into the open, Ferris will have to penetrate his murky world, but the closer he gets to the target, the more he discovers that trust is both a dangerous commodity and the only one that will get him out alive.
Continue Reading »
Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Amadeus—Warner Bros. (Blu-ray)
Kris Deering  |  Feb 17, 2009
Video: 3.75/5
Audio: 4.25/5
Extras: 3.5/5
Gripping human drama. Sumptuous period epic. Glorious celebration of the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. This marvelous winner of eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, portrays the rivalry between the genius Mozart and the jealous court composer who may have ruined Mozart's career and shortened his life.
Continue Reading »
Blu-ray Movie Reviews
W.—Lionsgate (Blu-ray)
Kris Deering  |  Feb 17, 2009
Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 4.5/5
Extras: 3.5/5
The stimulating true life story about the life of President George W. Bush. Whether you love him or hate him, there is no question that George W. Bush is one of the most controversial public figures in recent memory. In an unprecedented undertaking, acclaimed director Oliver Stone is bringing the life of our 43rd President to the big screen as only he can. "W." takes viewers through Bush's eventful life - his struggles and triumphs, how he found both his wife and his faith, and of course the critical days leading up to Bush's decision to invade Iraq.
Continue Reading »
Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Quarantine—Screen Gems (Blu-ray)
Kris Deering  |  Feb 17, 2009
Video: 4/5
Audio: 4.75/5
Extras: 3/5
Television reporter Angela Vidal and her cameraman are assigned to spend the night shift with a Los Angeles Fire Station. After a routine 911 call takes them to a small apartment building, they find police officers already on the scene in response to blood curdling screams coming from one of the apartment units. They soon learn that a woman living in the building has been viciously attacked by something unknown. After a few of the residents are also attacked, they try to escape with the news crew in tow, only to find that the CDC has quarantined the building. Phones, internet, televisions and cell phone access have been cut-off, and officials are not relaying information to those locked inside. When the quarantine is finally lifted, the only evidence of what took place is the news crew's videotape.
Continue Reading »
Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Changeling—Universal (Blu-ray)
Kris Deering  |  Feb 17, 2009
Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 4/5
Extras: 3.5/5
Los Angeles, 1928: On a Saturday morning in a working class suburb, Christine said goodbye to her son Walter, and left for work. When she came home, she discovered he had vanished. A fruitless search ensues, and months later, a boy claiming to be the nine year old is returned. Dazed by the swirl of cops, reporters and her conflicted emotions, Christine allows him to stay overnight. But in her heart, she knows he is not Walter. As she pushes authorities to keep looking, she learns that in Prohibition-era L.A., women don't challenge the system and live to tell their story. Slandered as delusional and unfit, Christine finds an ally in activist Reverend Briegleb, who helps her fight the city to look for her missing boy.
Continue Reading »
The Big Picture
Alec in Huluwood
Scott Wilkinson  |  Feb 17, 2009

As anyone who knows me will tell you, I'm not what you'd call a sports fan. The only sports I watch at all are some of the Olympics, and then mostly for the great high-def images. The closest I've come to football was as the drum major of my high-school band, when I had to ask a clarinet player what was happening on the field so I could call up the appropriate music ("Yay, something good happened!" or "Boo, something bad happened!").

Continue Reading »
Audio Video News
DTV Day, Sort Of . . .
SV Staff  |  Feb 17, 2009
The hot mess that was the transition to digital TV was supposed to happen today. At midnight. Some stations went ahead and pulled the plug - it was their option, and for many stations, it was too expensive to keep both analog and digital...
Continue Reading »
Audio Video News
Sirius XM Saved by the Bell
SV Staff  |  Feb 17, 2009
Howard Stern can sigh with relief. His home on Sirius XM satellite radio is safe, at least for now. Liberty Media Corp., parent company of DirecTV, has stepped up to the plate to save the floundering radio service.  In a corporate game of...
Continue Reading »
LCD TV Reviews
Sony BRAVIA KDL-55XBR8 LCD HDTV
Thomas J. Norton  |  Feb 17, 2009
This review is part of a four-way Face Off. Read the introduction and conclusions of the Face Off here.

Despite the market penetration of LCD flat panels—they significantly outsell plasmas—LCD technology has two serious shortcomings. Off-axis viewing is one—we’ll get to that a bit later. The other is how they handle blacks and deep shadow detail. But a new design technique, LED backlighting with local dimming, promises to change all that. (See sidebar on page 37.) Both the Sony and the Samsung use it.

Continue Reading »

Pages

X