Chris Chiarella

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Quiet Man
Chris Chiarella  |  Feb 10, 2017
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Bigger-than-life John Wayne stars as Sean Thornton, a mild-mannered American returning to his native Ireland, seeking nothing more than a peaceful life in a charming village. But his homecoming is soon complicated by the sight of a tempestuous redhead (Maureen O’Hara) and by the aggressions of a blustery local bully... who just so happens to be her brother. Sean does his best to blend into the colorful community, occasionally led into an inadvertent clash of cultures, and ultimately forced to confront a dark secret from his past, all culminating in one of the most satisfying two-fisted finales in movie history. Much of the story might seem a bit quaint or even politically incorrect to modern audiences, but The Quiet Man endures as a sweetly irresistible bit of entertainment, quite possibly inspiring an urge to visit The Emerald Isle or at least throw back a pint.
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Blu-ray Movie ReviewsUltra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Shining
Chris Chiarella  |  Nov 01, 2019
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In some dialect, perhaps the language of cinema itself, the name Kubrick must mean "atmosphere." That's abundantly evident in his chilling film adaptation of Stephen King's haunted hotel opus, The Shining. Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson), an aspiring novelist with a dark past, takes the challenging job of caretaker for a remote luxury resort during the off-season, meaning that his incredibly indulgent wife (Shelly Duvall) and young son with a mysterious gift will be the only living souls for miles around until the spring thaw. Life there is pleasant enough at first, if a bit dull, until curious events begin to unfold.
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Blu-ray Movie ReviewsUltra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Silence of the Lambs
Chris Chiarella  |  Oct 22, 2021
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Serial killers. Cannibalism. A disturbing journey into the darkest recesses of the human psyche. The Silence of the Lambs has more than its share of horrors, yet, through it all, the movie tells the very personal story of FBI trainee Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster, nabbing a second Best Actress Oscar here). Haunted by loss and her guilt over a childhood failure, she seeks redemption in a high-profile missing persons case that requires her to work closely with notorious murderer Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins, who netted a Best Actor Oscar). An outstanding piece of filmmaking in every way, Silence of the Lambs has transcended the thriller genre to become a genuine classic.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Skeleton Twins
Chris Chiarella  |  Mar 11, 2015
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Surely Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig are two of the more interesting people working in Hollywood right now. With his diverse mile-long résumé and her Oscar nomination (for co-writing Bridesmaids) and indie cred, plus their shared Saturday Night Live pedigree, we never know quite what we’ll get next from them. The Skeleton Twins is not their first big-screen pairing, but it’s their most significant, as they play same-age sibs Maggie and Milo, estranged for the past 10 years and now suddenly reunited as they grapple with their own issues.
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The Smarter Home
Chris Chiarella  |  Jan 09, 2008
A small building just outside the LVCC evoked memories of Ralph Kramden in his chef hat, as were were treated to a glimpse of The House of the Future. The man of the house is the Life|media LMS-754, a home media server running Microsoft Windows Vista, available in different configurations that include DVD, Blu-ray, CableCARD, and various processors, either in a rack-mountable form factor or as a set-top box. The Life|ware 2.0 software enables elaborate control of the home entertainment experience, while taking it a step further with a new level of home automation, executing user-defined commands called Life|scenes, in collaboration with everything from Lutron lighting to next-generation smart beds. A 16:9 touch screen displays data and allows access from any room in the house.
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Audio Video News
The Stars of the Battlestar
Chris Chiarella  |  Feb 27, 2004
Once more into the breach with Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict.

Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict helped make Sunday nights a lot more interesting in the autumn of 1978, starring as the best-in-fleet space pilots Captain and Apollo Lieutenant Starbuck in the science fiction series Battlestar Galactica. Upon the release of a lavish new DVD set of the TV show's first and only season, not coincidentally on the eve of the premiere of The SCI FI Channel's reinvented Galactica mini-series, the two gentlemen traveled back in time with Home Theater Magazine.

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Blu-ray Movie ReviewsUltra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Suicide Squad
Chris Chiarella  |  Jan 21, 2022
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Blurring the line between sequel, reboot and remake, The Suicide Squad fairly leaps off the screen with something too often conspicuously absent from the DC Cinematic Universe: a sense of fun. Written and directed by James Gunn after his famous firing from Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy series (and before he was rehired), The Suicide Squad gleefully embraces excess in every way imaginable. It's rated R for its gore, language, and nudity, yet seldom misses an opportunity to pause and appreciate the absurdity of it all—a drastic tonal shift from its joyless 2016 predecessor, simply titled "Suicide Squad."

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Swimmer
Chris Chiarella  |  Aug 05, 2014
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Embellished from John Cheever’s most famous short story, The Swimmeris a rather artful drama that is ultimately open to individual interpretation. Determined to swim his way home from pool to pool across the county, middle-aged Ned also spends this unusual day wrestling with the very truth of his life, reality coming at him in increasingly hostile waves as he encounters more of his friends. Clad only in bathing trunks—except for one scene in which he removes them altogether—the legendary Burt Lancaster imbues this misguided soul with his bigger-than-life screen presence, carrying the entire narrative on his broad, buff shoulders.

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Ultra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Three Musketeers/The Four Musketeers: Two Films by Richard Lester 4K Review
Chris Chiarella  |  May 31, 2025
The Three Musketeers
The Four Musketeers
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As a kid I was more of a Robin Hood guy, first Errol Flynn and then Disney, but by the time I was first asked "What's your favorite movie?" I recall answering, "The Three Musketeers," meaning Richard Lester’s wildly entertaining version from 1973. Alexandre Dumas’ source novel has it all: love, war, friendship, honor, treachery, bravery, betrayal. Few movies have for me ever captured the pure spirit of swashbuckling adventure, a tale too big to fit into a single film and therefore cleaved in twain.

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Blu-ray Movie ReviewsUltra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Untouchables
Chris Chiarella  |  Aug 05, 2022
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Those seeking an accurate account of notorious gangster Al Capone's downfall should continue their search elsewhere. But anyone wanting two thrilling hours of fact-influenced entertainment need look no further. Director Brian De Palma's artful take on Eliot Ness and his squad of incorruptible treasury agents on a quest to clean up Prohibition-era Chicago blends hard-hitting dialogue and career-best performances in an almost operatic tale of good versus evil.
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