Shane Buettner
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The Last Samurai HD DVD
Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Shane Buettner • Jul 25, 2006 • 0 comments

The Last Samurai is a movie that succeeds more than I expected it to in spite of Tom Cruise giving one of the worst performances of all time by an actor of his stature (and I’m not referring to his diminutive height here). I didn't see Samurai in the theater because I was repelled by its marriage of subject matter and star. And no, I'm not a Tom Cruise hater at all. I just had a hard time imagining him in a Samurai picture of any kind. And even my lowered expectations didn't prepare me for how laughably unconvincing Cruise is here as the adrift Civil War hero Nathan Algren. Cruise's performance is all the more frustrating because the man can be nothing short of brilliant when he wants to be (see Born on the Fourth of July, Magnolia and even Interview with the Vampire for proof positive).
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I Am Dangerous, Iceman
HE 2006
Shane Buettner • Jun 04, 2006 • 6 comments

Oh yeah, other than that oddly uncomfortable beach volleyball scene and the Kenny Loggins music, we all love Top Gun.
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Serious Sonics?
HE 2006
Shane Buettner • Jun 04, 2006 • 1 comments

Allen Perkins of Immedia is shown here with the new Allegria speakers from Sonics, a newish speaker company founded by the man who formerly founded and designed some highly regarded speakers for Audio Physic, Joachim Gerhard.
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Disturbed By Ayre And Vandersteen
HE 2006
Shane Buettner • Jun 04, 2006 • 0 comments

OK, it's probably more fair to say I was "Disturbed" at the Ayre and Vandersteen room. Ayre's Steven Silberman was on a mission this weekend to prove to any doubters out there that zero feedback amplifiers and first-order loudspeakers can ROCK!
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Blu-ray Disc Is Here!
HE 2006
Shane Buettner • Jun 03, 2006 • 0 comments

Not only does the sign say so, I'm holding a full production copy of Hitch on Blu-ray Disc right now! OK, it's actually sitting next to my laptop since I can't type and hold it at the same time.
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Blu-Friday, Part Deux
HE 2006
Shane Buettner • Jun 03, 2006 • 5 comments

Although everything was blue at the Blu-ray introduction, including the martinis,no one was feeling blue when we were invited into a large theater and shown comparisons of standard definition video vs. high-definition on one of Sony's 4K SXRD digital cinema projectors.
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Thiel 3.7 Sighting- And Listening!
HE 2006
Shane Buettner • Jun 03, 2006 • 0 comments

Thiel's eagerly anticipated CS3.7 was on display and playing music, with the help of Audio Research tube gear and power by Richard Gray's Power Company.
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A Piece Of The Action
HE 2006
Shane Buettner • Jun 02, 2006 • 0 comments

While it's still all too common to walk by a demo room at a trade show and see a clip of Fifth Element running, it is far more rare to actually see one of the police officers from Fifth Element standing in the room!
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Blu-ray On Day 1
HE 2006
Shane Buettner • Jun 02, 2006 • 0 comments

Late Thursday I made it over to Sony's Blu-ray demo theater display, where I was treated to the most extensive Blu-ray demo I've yet seen. Sony had a demo BD that was put together to show off not only clips from many popular films (Spider-Man 2, Chronicles of Narnia and the digitally animated Chicken Little among others) but also the first look at BD's dynamic interactivity.
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Aperion, With A Side Of HD DVD
HE 2006
Shane Buettner • Jun 02, 2006 • 1 comments

Internet-direct speaker manufacturer Aperion Audio won some street cred from me by building a demo in which the picture didn't take a backseat to the sound.
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