Adrienne Maxwell

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Reservoir Dogs 15th Anniversary—Lionsgate
Adrienne Maxwell  |  Feb 05, 2007
Video: 4
Audio: 4
Extras: 4
Let’s do a little math. If a film comes out in 1992, and its 10th-anniversary Special Edition DVD arrives in 2002, what year should the 15th Anniversary Edition DVD be released? Granted, I was an English major, but even I can count to five—something Lionsgate apparently cannot do. How else do you explain the October 2006 release of this two-disc set? Perhaps the more relevant question is, do we need a 15th-anniversary DVD of Reservoir Dogs?
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LCD TV Reviews
Sony KDL-46XBR2 LCD HDTV
Adrienne Maxwell  |  Jan 27, 2007
There was a time in the not-too-distant past when a 46-inch LCD was a rarity, and a $3,800 asking price a bargain. As prices continue to plunge in this category, a $3,800 46-inch LCD finds itself occupying high-end territory. If a manufacturer wants to compete in this space, they had better be prepared to meet high-end expectations in features, performance, and style. The question before us now is, does Sony's KDL-46XBR2 do just that?
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LCD TV Reviews
Toshiba 42LX196 LCD HDTV
Adrienne Maxwell  |  Jan 27, 2007
If you're willing to step up around $1,100, your LCD options increase dramatically, with plenty of choices from the big names in the TV business. One such option is Toshiba's $2,600 42LX196. The most obvious feature upgrade is the move from 768p to 1080p, but that's not all this TV brings to the table. It boasts a well-rounded features list to suit a wide variety of setup needs.
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A Prairie Home Companion—New Line
Adrienne Maxwell  |  Feb 05, 2007  |  Published: Jan 05, 2007
Video: 3
Audio: 4
Extras: 5
As with most Robert Altman films, A Prairie Home Companion isn’t easy to summarize. It’s an oddly ethereal little film that’s about nothing in particular and yet explores the cosmic everythings of life, love, and death. Written by Garrison Keillor, the man behind the real Prairie Home Companion radio show, the story chronicles the final performance of a radio show much like PHC, as its cast and crew struggle to say goodbye.
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The Da Vinci Code 2-Disc Widescreen Special Edition—Sony Pictures
Adrienne Maxwell  |  Feb 05, 2007  |  Published: Jan 05, 2007
Video: 4
Audio: 4
Extras: 4
Many a time have I listened to friends lament that a movie isn’t as good as the book on which it’s based. I just smile and nod, thinking smugly to myself that, if these poor people would just stop reading, they’d be much happier moviegoers. Then one of these friends gave me the novel The Da Vinci Code as a gift. I knew full well that Dan Brown’s insanely popular religious-themed murder mystery would someday become a film, yet I foolishly read it anyhow. And now here I am, forced to utter the same five words I once so smugly dismissed: “Eh, the book was better.”
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Bad Santa Director’s Cut—Buena Vista
Adrienne Maxwell  |  Feb 02, 2007  |  Published: Dec 02, 2006
Video: 4
Audio: 3
Extras: 3
I enjoy a good black comedy as much as anyone, but Bad Santa just didn’t work for me—and I can’t quite pinpoint why. It’s better than any recent holiday film that comes to mind. Billy Bob Thornton is outstanding as the truly distasteful Willie, a safe cracker who poses as Santa each year to pull off a master robbery. The movie’s ultimate triumph is that you find yourself caring about Willie by the end, not because he becomes much more likable but because his flaws are put into perspective as other characters’ true natures are revealed. Still, in the end, it just didn’t generate enough laughs to offset the cringes.
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AV Receiver ReviewsOther Source Component ReviewsTower Speaker Reviews
Panasonic TH-42PX60U Plasma HDTV, SA-XR57 A/V Receiver, DMR-EH55 DVR/DVD Recorder, and SB-TP100 Speaker System
Adrienne Maxwell  |  Nov 21, 2006  |  Published: Nov 22, 2006
HDMI: It's not just for video anymore.

HDMI is a wonderful invention filled with promise. When utilized to its fullest, it can offer the best of both worlds: uncompressed audio and video signals and intelligent, two-way communication over a single cable. Manufacturers have long teased us with talk of complete home theater systems that you can set up using just two or three cables, but the reality has fallen far short of the promise. Most designers have used HDMI only as a top-grade video connector, paying little attention to its audio and communication abilities. Armed with the new HDMI 1.2a spec (the products here were designed and released before 1.3 was finalized), Panasonic is aiming for the ultimate in connection and control with their new EZ Sync HDAVI Control products.

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Syriana—Warner Brothers
Adrienne Maxwell  |  Apr 24, 2007  |  Published: Oct 24, 2006
Video: 4
Audio: 3
Extras: 2
“Syriana is one of the most relevant stories in the world today,” says the film’s executive producer, Jeff Skoll, in the “Make a Change, Make a Difference” featurette on Warner Brothers’ new DVD release. He’s absolutely right, as even a cursory glance at world and domestic news will confirm. The film paints an unflinching portrait of the world’s dependence on oil and the lengths to which politicians and businessmen will go to maintain the status quo in the global oil fields, even as that status quo contributes to the rise of Islamic extremism in countries where people are afforded few other options.
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V for Vendetta Two-Disc Special Edition—Warner Brothers
Adrienne Maxwell  |  Apr 24, 2007  |  Published: Oct 24, 2006
Video: 4
Audio: 5
Extras: 3
Is it frightening or reassuring that the themes explored in V for Vendetta are as relevant now as they were when the graphic novel was first penned in the 1980s? Alan Moore and David Lloyd created the story about an antihero’s attempts to bring down a fascist government. In their film adaptation, the Wachowski Brothers didn’t have to veer too far from the original to strike a modern chord. It manages to address all the hot-button topics residing on our cultural and political plates—terrorism, immigration, gay rights, censorship, biological weapons, and how a government should best balance freedom and security—while remaining an engaging piece of fiction.
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Madea’s Family Reunion—Lionsgate
Adrienne Maxwell  |  Apr 24, 2007  |  Published: Oct 24, 2006
Video: 4
Audio: 4
Extras: 4
I may have arrived a bit too late to the party to fully embrace Madea’s Family Reunion. Tyler Perry’s Madea character was born on stage and brought to life through a series of successful plays written, directed, and performed by Perry. Two of those plays have now become full-length feature films: 2005’s Diary of a Mad Black Woman and the film in question here, which recounts with humor and drama the personal struggles within one multigenerational family.
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