After five long years the fate of Jack (Matthew Fox), Kate (Evangeline Lilly), Sawyer (Josh Holloway), Sayid (Naveen Andrews), Hurley (Jorge Garcia), Locke (Terry O'Quinn), Jim (Daniel Dae Kim), Sun (Yunjin Kim), and Claire (Emile de Ravin) is finally revealed. These survivors of Oceanic flight 815 didn't land in a tropical paradise. Awaiting rescue they discovered polar bears, a smoke monster roaming the jungle, and the "Others" led by Ben Linus (Michael Emerson). Has it all been a dream? Did they all die in the crash and there in some sort of twisted version of hell? Who started the Darma initiative in the first place? Is it just me, or do all of these questions give you a headache?
Ending a popular show is a difficult under the best of circumstances, but when you take a show like Lost with its large ensemble cast, complicated story, and many unanswered questions. Is there a way to please everyone? Not a chance.
Smooth-talking playboy Jamie Randall (Jake Gyllenhaal) is on the fast track to the top of the pharmaceutical-sales industry promoting a new miracle drug called Viagra. However, when he meets Maggie (Anne Hathaway) during one of his sales calls, he falls madly in love with her and is forced to choose between his career and the girl who captured his heart.
The trailers made this look like your typical romantic comedy, but it’s anything but. While it has its funny moments, it takes a very serious tone when tackling the subject of Parkinson’s disease and its effects on relationships. Hathaway and Gyllenhaal display great onscreen chemistry, but the supporting cast can be distracting, especially Gyllenhaal’s onscreen brother (Josh Gad), who’s quite annoying with his sophomoric behavior. If you find Hathaway attractive (I certainly do), then you’ll love the multiple sex scenes as she shows a lot of skin (and looks marvelous)!
<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/loveactually.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>It's a few weeks before Christmas, and love is in the air in England for the ensemble cast that includes Hugh Grant, Bill Nighy, Colin Firth, Liam Neeson, Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson, Laura Linney, and Kiera Knightley. All of the characters' lives are intertwined in one way or another, and somehow writer/director Richard Curtis keeps all the different stories interesting and emotionally stirring.
<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/lovehappens.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT><i>When self-help author Dr. Burke Ryan (Aaron Eckhart) arrives in Seattle to teach a sold-out seminar, he unexpectedly meets florist Eloise Chandler (Jennifer Aniston), the one person who might be able to help him help himself. But will two people who may have met the right person at exactly the wrong time be able to give love a chance? If they can, they'll find that sometimes, when you least expect it….love happens.</i>
S300 Speaker System Performance Build Quality Value
X12 Subwoofer Performance Features Ergonomics Value
PRICE $17,700
AT A GLANCE Plus
Realistic, dynamic sound
Outstanding build quality
Carries on the fine M&K tradition
Minus
Expensive
THE VERDICT
M&K’s system is perfect for the movie lover and extremely capable for the discerning audiophile.
It was in February 2000 when I was in a hi-fi store looking at some new electronics and stumbled upon a salesman giving a speaker demonstration to a married couple. I decided to listen in to see if anything piqued my interest. The salesman went through a number of different speakers, and I didn’t hear anything remarkable until his last demo: M&K Sound S150s coupled with an MK350 subwoofer. I don’t recall the exact track he played, but my jaw dropped when I heard the sound emanating from the speakers. It was as if the entire wall came alive, and I couldn’t pinpoint which speakers were active. Much like the wand picking the wizard in Harry Potter, these speakers picked me, and I knew I’d have to own them.
Sadly, it took me three years to convince She Who Must Not Be Crossed to give her blessing, but I’ve been in audio bliss for over 10 years now with a trio of S150s across the front soundstage and four SS150s across the rear of my home theater.
AT A GLANCE Plus
Powerful, deep, and taut bass response
Outstanding build quality
Sealed push-pull design
Minus
No built-in parametric equalizer
Pricey
THE VERDICT
M&K Sound calls the X12 the subwoofer, and I can’t disagree with them. This is one of the best subwoofers I’ve ever heard in my room.
M&K Sound got started when Walter Becker of Steely Dan commissioned Ken Kreisel to design a studio reference subwoofer and monitoring system for the Pretzel Logic mixing sessions. Partnering with a high-end audio dealer, Jonas Miller, Kreisel developed a revolutionary subwoofer that led to the creation of M&K. As time passed, word of mouth spread throughout the music and movie industries, and M&K would go on to create systems for leading studios and in-home installations for producers, actors, and recording artists.
AT A GLANCE Plus
Very accurate sound
Excellent dynamics
Great for movies
Minus
Pricey
S150 speaker terminals don't accept standard banana plugs
THE VERDICT
M&K Sound's revamp of its long- standing THX certified line delivers audible improvements over the original speakers.
It was a sad day for home theater fans when M&K Sound exited the speaker-building business in 2007. Fortunately, a group of investors and former managers bought that company's assets and created a new venture called MK Sound. To celebrate the company's 40-year anniversary in 2013, the team decided to bring back the legendary M&K Sound company name, along with the original Miller&Kreisel brand.
AT A GLANCE Plus
Deep bass response with extremely high output
Impeccable build quality
THX Dominus Certification
Minus
No built-in parametric EQ or room correction
No control app or handset
THE VERDICT
The performance of M&K Sound’s THX Dominus Certified X15+ is over the top. Highly recommended if you demand bass that can go extremely deep and loud even in the largest of rooms.
Let me state from the outset that I'm a fan of M&K Sound speakers. I have owned an M&K S-150 surround system for the past 18-plus years and have zero desire to change it out anytime soon. The first time I auditioned it in a Magnolia Hi-Fi store back in 2002 made me an instant admirer of the brand, and it took me two years of saving up to be able to afford a full 7.1 speaker package. I fully bought into M&K's—and THX's—principle that using a subwoofer/satellite configuration to separate and optimize the reproduction of low frequencies improves midrange purity and accuracy.
As a Green Beret, Navy Seal, and Army Ranger, MacGruber (Will Forte) was awarded 16 Purple Hearts, three Congressional medals of honor, and seven presidential medals of bravery. Vowing never to take up arms after losing his fiancé 10 years earlier, duty calls when his mortal enemy, Dieter Von Cunth (Val Kilmer), gets his hands on a nuclear warhead.
Trailers can be so deceiving and such is the case with MacGruber. I could have a pretty good lawsuit against the producers for false advertising since I didn't laugh once during the excruciating 91 minutes of the theatrical cut (there's an extended unrated cut included) and even the action segments weren't very good. Really folks, it's that bad.
<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/madagascar2.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Alex (Ben Stiller), Marty (Chris Rock), Melman (David Schwimmer), and Gloria (Jada Pinkett Smith) prepare to head home to Manhattan in a rickety aircraft piloted by the inventive penguins. But when they crash land in the African savannah, things get interesting when Alex has a surprise family reunion.