Grace Notes

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Leslie Shapiro  |  Jan 08, 2017  | 
Don’t you just hate it when you have the greatest photo op but the lighting is all wrong? Break out the Monster Firecracker Bluetooth Speaker to light up any situation. Monster is bringing back the boombox mentality with a new lineup up portable Bluetooth speakers, and they are most excited about the new little Firecracker, with a built-in flashlight.

Leslie Shapiro  |  Jan 08, 2018  | 
CES 2018 kicked off this morning with the always entertaining, always optimistic Monster Press Conference hosted by head Monster Noel Lee, who launched the company's 39th year in the industry with the motto "Takeover 2018." Along with an array of new speakers and headphones, Monster announced a variety of new products that will capitalize on the popularity of smart speakers and headphones with MonsterTalk, powered by Speak Music’s Melody voice service.

Leslie Shapiro  |  Jan 05, 2016  | 
Head Monster Noel Lee knows how to kick off CES with enthusiasm that’s hard to ignore. Monster is attempting to rethink, revamp and reinvent themselves with an almost-overwhelming number of new products.
Leslie Shapiro  |  Aug 09, 2013  | 

As with most futuristic films, the earth portrayed in Elysium is overpopulated, crime-ridden, diseased, and has all the bucolic charm of a garbage dump. Awfully bleak. Unless you are a member of the elite, in which case you live in an orbiting, utopian, titular space station. You have access to miraculous health care and views to die for. When an oppressed Matt Damon is poisoned by radiation, he decides to crash the upper-crust party.

Leslie Shapiro  |  May 24, 2013  | 

 

The Fast and Furious filmography began in 2001 as a low-budget film based on a magazine article. It now incompasses six feature films and two short films, video games, and it even has its own Guess clothing line. Never aspiring to the same league as franchises such as 007 or Star Trek, FFs are scrappy, popcorn-munching, tremendously profitable testosterone trips. Does the latest installment fire on all cylinders, or run out of gas?

 

Leslie Shapiro  |  Jul 12, 2013  | 

Entire cities have been obliterated by giant, rampaging monsters. Despite heroic efforts, the human race is losing the struggle. The situation is grim. In a last ditch effort to save civilization, the Pan Pacific Defense Corps sends forth the last of its skyscraper-sized robots to battle the monsters. The fate of humanity hangs in the balance.

 

SV Staff  |  Sep 06, 2013  | 
Riddick is an intergalactic murderous badass. When things start to go south, he’s your best and only hope.
Leslie Shapiro, Ken C. Pohlmann  |  Sep 27, 2013  | 
The year is 1976, when sex was safe and racing was dangerous. The Formula One World Championship is up for grabs, and it’s a grudge match. British race driver James Hunt goes mano a mano with Austrian race driver Niki Lauda, both driving pedal to the metal, with absolutely no margin for error and loving every minute of it. As Hunt explains, “The closer you are to death, the more alive you feel.” Director Ron Howard accelerates out of his comfort zone, and you’re sitting beside him, on the ride of your life.

Leslie Shapiro  |  Jul 03, 2013  | 

The story is familiar to everyone: A Texas Ranger is left for dead. He dons a mask and with his sidekick Tonto, they fight against injustice in the wild west. In the pantheon of heroes, perhaps none is as iconically American as this one. Yes, we have Superman and all the other super heroes, but the Lone Ranger lives and breathes the authentic American West.

Leslie Shapiro  |  Jun 21, 2013  | 

Suddenly, just when you thought the world was safe, it's full of zombies. They are everywhere – on your game console, your phone, cable TV, and now even on the big screen. Metaphor for the fragility of modern civilization, and just plain fun to shoot at, zombies are cool. So it takes someone even cooler than zombies, namely Brad Pitt, to kick some zombie butt.

Leslie Shapiro  |  Apr 30, 2013  | 

The first Iron Man was an unqualified hit, featuring a terrifically witty and sly Robert Downey, Jr. The second Iron Man was merely tolerated because the first was so good. Good or not, the movies banked an impressive $1.2 billion in box office receipts. With that much money in play, a lot is riding on this latest release. Is the suit still strong, or has it become a rusty relic?

Leslie Shapiro  |  Apr 21, 2013  | 

Right off the bat, let’s get something out of the way. Oblivion isn’t a particularly original film. WALL•E, Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind,  Planet of the Apes, 2001, Blade Runner, the overlooked Moon, and most blatantly, Total Recall - you’ll see, ah - homages - to all of them as the 2-hour Oblivion, co-written, produced and directed by Joseph Kosinski, unfolds. 

Leslie Shapiro  |  May 16, 2013  | 

 

In addition to innumerable television episodes, Paramount has produced no fewer than 12 Star Trek feature films. The canon is vast, and the core characters and their relationships are familiar to many moviegoers. The dilemma is this: How to make a film that satisfies both hardcore Trekkies as well as more casually invested international movie audiences. Does this latest installment boldly reinvigorate the franchise, or merely recycle it?

Leslie Shapiro  |  Sep 16, 2011  | 

It's become ubiquitous. Anytime you see a person jogging, there's always a cord flapping in the breeze and on closer look, you'll see their earphones. They're having an endorphin rush, zoning out to their favorite tunes. But - you have to wonder - can earphones designed for the rigors of exercise really sound okay? And more important, how safe are they to wear?

Leslie Shapiro  |  Jan 09, 2017  | 
While traversing the CES show floor, listening to products is usually an exercise in futility - nothing sounds good with so much chaos around you, and who has time to stop and really listen to anything? Amidst the noise of this CES, however, taking a moment to slip on a pair of the new MrSpeakers ETHER Flow headphones was an escape into musical paradise, and one of the best listening experiences I’ve had in Vegas in years.

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