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.
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.
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?
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...
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...
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.
<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."
<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?
High-end audio manufacturer McIntosh is celebrating six decades in the business a system that hails back to the company's early days.
The Limited Edition 60th Anniversary Classic System features McIntosh's MC75 monoblock amplifier and C22...