David Vaughn

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
American Beauty (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Sep 15, 2010  |  0 comments
Feeling the weight of middle age upon his shoulders, Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) rebels against his cheating wife (Annette Bening) and ungrateful daughter (Thora Birch). Seeking to relive the life of a twenty something, he leaves his high profile job to work at a local fast food joint and along the way develops a dangerous infatuation with one of his daughter's friends (Mena Suvari) that can only lead to trouble.

Time has a strange effect on ones perceptions and tastes in movies and that's certainly the case here. I remember in 1999 how powerful I found this film due to the great performances and wonderful direction from first time director Sam Mendes. As a 41 year old father of a teenage girl, I find the subject matter too disturbing and the behavior of Spacey's character criminal and sickening.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
American Graffiti (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Jun 03, 2011  |  0 comments
A coming-of-age story set against the 1960s backdrop of hot rods, drive-ins, and rock 'n' roll follows two young men as they spend their last night in town before heading off to college. Crusing the streets to the howling sounds of Wolfman Jack, Terry (Charles Martin Smith) is on the prowl for a hot blonde (Suzanne Somers), while Steve (Ron Howard) tries to make up with his girlfriend after suggesting they see other people while he's away at college.

George Lucas is known for his Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises, but this film was his first commercial success, and it earned five Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director. Not only is it wildly entertaining, it's a blast to see future stars Richard Dreyfuss, Harrison Ford, Cindy Williams, Somers before they became household names.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
American Sniper in Dolby Atmos
David Vaughn  |  Jul 24, 2015  |  0 comments
Picture
Sound
Extras
American Sniper introduces us to Chris Kyle, on his first tour of duty in Iraq as he’s protecting an advancing Marine patrol. Through the scope of his sniper rifle, he spies an Iraqi mother as she hands a grenade to her preteen child with the intention of killing as many Americans as they can. Kyle must choose to take the life of this kid or risk losing his brothers in arms. To Kyle, the choice is clear: He must protect the troops at any cost. And so we can understand why he went on to become the most lethal sniper in U.S. military history, with 160 confirmed kills during his four tours.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
An American Werewolf in London (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Sep 22, 2009  |  0 comments

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/werewolf.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>When two American tourists are attacked by a strange creature in the English countryside, only one survives. While recovering in a London hospital, he starts to have strange and vivid dreams about the attack. Out of the blue, his deceased friend visits him from the afterlife and lets him know they were attacked by a werewolf, and by surviving, he is now one himself. In order to end the deadly cycle, he must kill himself before transforming during the next full moon.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Aug 30, 2010  |  0 comments
Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) is San Diego's top-rated news anchorman and isn't the biggest fan of a diversified workplace. When Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) arrives on the scene, Ron feels the heat after the hot young reporter aims for his prestigious job and a battle of the sexes ensues.

In many ways the production feels like an overly long skit on Saturday Night Live, which isn't surprising given director Adam McKay's pedigree. Ferrell's portrayal is mostly over the top but there are plenty of laughs to be had as long as you don't take things too seriously.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Angels & Demons (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Nov 20, 2009  |  0 comments

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/angdem.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Harvard symbolist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) is back on a thrilling journey through Rome trying to find four Cardinals kidnapped by the Illuminati, an ancient secret brotherhood that will stop at nothing to destroy its eternal enemy, the Catholic Church.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Animal House, The Blues Brothers
David Vaughn  |  Aug 25, 2011  |  0 comments
Born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1949, John Belushi was the offspring of Albanian immigrants. Both he and his younger brother Jim would find success in Hollywood, but on March 5, 1982, John was found dead in his hotel room in West Hollywood from a drug overdose.

Although his career was short-lived, he had a great foundation to become a comedic force in Hollywood. At the age of 22, Belushi hooked up with the Second City comedy troupe in Chicago and eventually found his way to New York as a cast member in the off-Broadway production of National Lampoon’s Lemmings. The show was originally slated to run six weeks, but it entertained packed houses for almost ten months. From there, the comedian worked as a writer for two years for The National Lampoon Radio Hour. His big break came in 1975 when he joined the original cast of Saturday Night Live, where he showcased the humor he’d honed while he was with Second City.

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AV Receiver Reviews
Anthem MRX 1120 A/V Receiver Review
David Vaughn  |  Oct 27, 2016  |  1 comments

Audio Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $3,499

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Dolby Atmos and DTS:X support
Anthem Room Correction (ARC)
11 amp channels in one box
Minus
ARC doesn’t calibrate dual subwoofers individually
Pricey

THE VERDICT
One of the finest-sounding AVRs I’ve had the pleasure to audition, though it’ll cost ya.

Much like a luxury sports car, the flagship AVR is expected to have every bell and whistle under the hood in order to appeal to the well-heeled crowd that’s willing to drop a few thousand dollars on a piece of electronics. The real bummer is that even if you spend the extra cash on a flagship, there’s no such thing as totally future-proofing your investment, due to the rapidly changing landscape of the home theater business.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Apollo 13 (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Apr 11, 2010  |  Published: Apr 12, 2010  |  0 comments

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/apollo13bd.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>After landing on the moon in 1969 and fulfilling John F. Kennedy's pledge, Americans began to lose interest in the space program. In fact, many TV stations stopped covering the missions but that changed on April 13, 1970 when Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks) radioed back to control with the historic phrase: "Houston, we have a problem." What should have been a seemingly routine mission to the moon became a race against time to save three American astronauts.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Appaloosa
David Vaughn  |  Jan 21, 2009  |  Published: Jan 22, 2009  |  0 comments

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/appaloosa.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Longtime friends and for-hire peacekeepers Virgil Cole (Ed Harris) and Everett Hitch (Viggo Mortensen) find themselves in the crime-ridden town of Appaloosa and attempt to take back the streets from a band of local outlaws. When a young widow (Renee Zellweger) moves to town, Cole struggles between his duty and his newfound love for the beautiful new resident.

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