DVD: Cellular—New Line
Abducted Jessica Martin's frantic wire-connecting on a smashed-up landline phone finally connects her with cell-phoned surfer-dude Ryan (Chris Evans) in Cellular, an action thriller that has just enough cool touches to make it effective. After Jessica (Kim Basinger) is threatened by three men looking for her husband, she is forced to protect her child, give up his locale, and beg this skeptical stranger to believe her and help her. Ryan eventually does and is determined to aid and not lose their tenuous phone link. Part Speed, part Phone Booth, this ride is filled with crashes and chases and is a high-octane trip that's a taut 95 minutes.
The editors of Home Theater magazine are proud to announce the winners of the 2005 RAVE Awards. The RAVE (Recognition of Audio and Video Excellence) Awards are open to all manufacturers whose components have been reviewed in Home Theater magazine over a 12-month period.
Get Shorty Collector's Edition—MGM/UA
Fresh off his success in Pulp Fiction, John Travolta cemented his mid-'90s comeback with Get Shorty, a fun, clever adaptation of Elmore Leonard's novel about a loan shark who decides to get out of the business and into The Business, aka movie-making. Travolta so thoroughly inhabits the character of Chili Palmer that it's hard to believe he initially turned down the role. It was Quentin Tarantino who ultimately convinced Travolta to take the part. (Where was he when Travolta decided to take Battlefield Earth?)
DVD: Mary Poppins 40th Anniversary Edition—Buena Vista
Everyone wanted Mary Poppins to be their nanny when they were kids. Rosy cheeks, cheery disposition, and never cross? That's just ideal. However, lucky Jane and Michael Banks were the two children who got to enjoy her company, and this fine presentation of the classic musical will make you jealous of those two kids all over again.
See, touch, and demo the next generation of personal media players, home networking solutions, HDTV, digital music, and more—all under one roof.
The stage is set and the curtain will rise on April 28 for
a return engagement of the popular Home Entertainment Show—the high-performance
sound and imaging event of the year. HE-2005 will take place April 28–May 1, 2005,
once again at the Hilton New York Hotel, only steps away from Broadway, marking the
seventh time the event has been held in New York City.
DVD: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban—Warner Brothers
Audio: 5
Video: 3
Extras: 4
Directing this movie had to be tough. On the one hand, legions of Potter fans don't want a filmmaker to swing too wide of J.K. Rowling's beloved source material. Yet critics and audiences were becoming restless with Chris Columbus' literal interpretations of the first two books. It turns out that director Alfonso Cuaron was an excellent choice to take over the reins. His visual flair gave Hogwarts a much-needed fleshing out; he kept much of the original story intact while stepping up its pacing; and he got some of the best performances yet from Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson as Harry and Hermione. Younger viewers may find this film scarier than the first two, but it's all in keeping with Rowling's move toward darker themes.
JBL
Now this is what we call a deal. With JBL's new Cinema Vision system, you get a 7.1-channel loudspeaker package, a 50-inch plasma HD monitor, and an A/V system controller that includes a five-disc DVD-Audio/-Video changer, a surround receiver, and a digital amplifier. The 16:9 monitor works with the A/V controller to automatically display any video source in widescreen mode. The A/V controller has a rated power output of 100 watts times seven, and the JBL Digital Link maintains all-digital audio and video signal paths. Each speaker uses multiple 5.5-inch woofers, along with a 0.75-inch titanium-laminate dome tweeter. The Cinema Vision is available as a system only, for $15,000.
JBL
(516) 496-3400 www.jbl.com
HT Staff
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