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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Tomorrowland
David Vaughn  |  Jan 22, 2016
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As a youth, Frank Walker is full of hope and aspiration, which is almost snuffed out when his entry into the 1964 World’s Fair science competition is shot down by one of the judges before he even gets a chance to enter it. But fate has a different plan for Frank, and with the help of Athena, a mysterious young girl, he’s taken to a magical place where his hopes and dreams can come true. Fifty years later, we meet Casey Newton, a science-minded teen who dreams of going to the stars and will stop at nothing to sabotage NASA’s efforts to dismantle the last remaining launch pad—that is, until the police catch her. Upon posting bail, she finds a mysterious pin among her belongings. When she touches it, she gets a glimpse of the magical world of Tomorrowland, a futuristic city that’s light-years ahead of Earth technologically.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
A Room with a View
Fred Kaplan  |  Jan 22, 2016
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A Room with a View is one of the most romantic films of all time—a funny, leisurely, unabashed, but also ironic celebration of “beauty, joy, love,” (as its youthful hero shouts from a flimsy treetop in the Italian countryside). Based on E.M. Forster’s novel, it remains the most successful film by Merchant Ivory, the enterprise consisting of producer Ismail Merchant, director James Ivory, and screenwriter Ruth Prawler Jhabvala. I’d found (and still find) many of their other movies dull, so what jelled with this one? The infectiously gorgeous setting—Florence, its surroundings, and the estates of southeastern England—must have played some role. The actors are as fine an ensemble as any assembled (besides the three listed below, Denholm Elliott, Daniel Day-Lewis, Judi Dench, Simon Callow, Rupert Graves).
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Bram Stoker’s Dracula
David Vaughn  |  Jan 22, 2016
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Fourteenth-century prince Vlad Dracula ushers off on a religious crusade to battle his enemies, leaving the love of his life in his gothic castle. Before he returns victoriously, the evil Turks send word to his bride that he has died in battle. Beset with grief, she commits suicide, and upon seeing her lifeless body, Dracula denounces the church in a fit of rage and becomes an undead man whose eternal existence requires him to feed off the blood of other living creatures. Four hundred years later, a London real-estate broker visits Dracula in Transylvania. When Dracula happens upon a picture of the agent’s fiancée and notices her striking resemblance to his deceased bride, he must travel to London to gaze upon her beauty for himself and rediscover true love.
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Audio Video News
Tributaries Introduces Series 8 AC Power Cables
SV Staff  |  Jan 22, 2016
Tributaries today announced the Series 8 Power Cable designed by high-end cable designer Jay Victor. The AC cable is made with 12-gauge Linear Crystal Copper (LC-OFC) “cast in a controlled environment to deliver a lower crystal count per foot,” which is said to reduce signal loss and distortion.
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Audio Video News
Raumfeld Expands Streaming Options for its Wireless Speaker Systems
SV Staff  |  Jan 22, 2016
Raumfeld of Germany, maker of the wireless multiroom audio system recently added to Sound & Vision’s Top Picks list, is expanding its streaming options with the addition of Google Cast for audio and SoundCloud.
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Remotely Possible
ConnectSense’s HomeKit-enabled Smart Outlet is Smart and Sensible
Darryl Wilkinson  |  Jan 21, 2016
There’s no dearth of smart outlets with Wi-Fi connectivity, but you might not know of their existence because they really don’t get much ink (or pixels) in the press. Fancy smart home hubs and biometric door locks are much more exciting to talk about than an electrical outlet that you can turn on and off via Wi-Fi using an app on your smartphone. I’ve fallen into the same “been there, written about that” trap myself. But a review sample of the Smart Outlet from ConnectSense showed up on my doorstep a few days after CES 2016 ended, and it is a Wi-Fi-enabled smart outlet that’s definitely worth spending some time talking about.
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Audio Video News
Netflix Gets High on Virgin
Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 21, 2016
Netflix and Virgin America have teamed up to provide the former’s streaming on the latter’s flights—or at least those on the 10 new Airbus A320s taking flight through mid-2016.
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Audio Video News
Sony Shows Portable Ultra Short Throw Projector
SV Staff  |  Jan 21, 2016
Sony is planning to introduce a battery-powered portable projector this summer that can project images onto a wall from a very short distance, according to TheVerge.com.
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Audio Video News
Flashback 1984: The “Betamax Case” Decided
SV Staff  |  Jan 21, 2016
The videocassette recorder (VCR) seems quaint today but 32 years ago this week the Supreme Court handed down a landmark 5-4 decision that supported innovation (try to imagine home entertainment without it) and essentially legalized time-shifting—which in those days meant recording a TV show on tape for later viewing. (Consider for a moment what clarifying that right means today.)

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Ask S&V
How Do I Connect my iMac to My Blu-ray Player?
Al Griffin  |  Jan 21, 2016
Got a tech question for Sound & Vision? Email us at AskSandV@gmail.com

Q I own an Integra receiver, Polk Audio speakers, and an Oppo BDP-105D Blu-ray player with a high-end DAC. I recently bought an iMac and am using it to download and store high-res audio files. What’s the best way to connect my iMac to the Oppo player? Both are set up in the same room about 20 feet apart. —Neil Levy

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