Category: Review

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Review: Madagascar 2 (Spoilers)i

Who does not love the militant penguins!  I wish they would make a movie just on them.  LOL.  Anyway…back to the movie.

We start by getting a flash back to the first movie and then into the past where we learn how “Alex” ended up in the Central Park Zoo.  He was baited and captured from an African preserve. 

The lemurs have a spectacular sling shot plane takeoff with eventually crash lands in Africa.  The group of zoo animals find themselves in a preserve in Africa and Alex runs into his parents who happen to be the head of the pride.  The birthmark, which happens to be in the shape of Africa is on his paw like his father.  

The old lady that kicks the “Bad Kitty’s” butt in the first movie, is back for several rounds in this movie as well.  It turns out that New Yorker’s while rude, are also very strong willed and proud.  Before killing Alex and his father who just rescued him from being roasted on a spit, Alex performs his zoo act and is recognized by the New Yorker’s which keeps them from becoming dinner.  

Gloria and the Giraffe fall in love.  The lead penguin marries his bobble head Tahitian bride, and the penguins depart the island in their rebuilt air plane which after some skillful redesign becomes a helicopter. 

The movie was very entertaining and had me laughing throughout.  The only thing I did not like…is the fact that there is a bully lion that is trying to take over the pride much like Disney’s “The Lion King” and Alex leaves the pride first by being taken away, and then again when he is tricked and fails his right of passage.   This was not necessary and could have been totally eliminated from the movie not making the movie reminiscent of another, but the ass kicking by the old lady when he is sporting her purse as a man bag is priceless.  

Let me know what you think?  Was it better than the first?  Is the bully lion necessary?

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Movie Review: Eagle Eye (SPOILERS)

EXCELLENT!  Reminds me of iRobot, MacGyver: Human Factor, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Homewrecker and some SciFi Film where computers take over, but was very action packed and engaging.  While I already gave away the premise of the movie, I won’t give away any more.  I have not seen a movie in so long, and this was worth the wait.

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Labor Day Shopping!

Did I mention I have two jobs? There is a reason…not just because I live in a place that does not have mice or cockroaches, the last apartment did, I like to shop.  I also like to research products and get the best one at the best price.  Which these days tends to lead to me to Amazon.com or another online retailer.

Best Price = Internet

Granted, I would gladly spend more to get a product from a local, independent store, but when your main options are chains, there is no loyalty there.

Ever since I entered the world of HD November 2007 with the purchase of a Samsung 1080i 32″ LCD TV, a Panasonic 1080i HD Home Theatre Projector, and a HD DVD player, now obsolete (tear), I have been looking to get an HDMI switching audio receiver.  

About 4 years ago I upgraded my Philips with a Harman/Kardon AVR 135 (6.1, 40 watts per channel, S-Video).  This was a big improvement!  Slowly I upgraded my speakers from the set that came with my Philips to Polk Audio.  I realized that bigger is better with speakers as they sound much fuller when there is a cabinet to resonate in.  

Hint: Don’t waste money on an expensive name or those tiny speakers that promise to be better.

Prices have continued to drop and there was both a sale and interest free financing for 36 months at Circuity City.  It was time!

I ended up getting a Onkyo TX-SR606 (7.1, 90 watts per channel, 4 HDMI Inputs) for just $399.  What a great receiver and deal!  Here are just a few of the cool features:

  • Full 7.1 channel surround with support for HD and Blu-Ray HD Audio.
  • 90 Watts per channel.
  • Satellite Radio and iPod ready.
  • 4 HDMI Inputs with switching and up-conversion to 1080i. (S-Video to HDMI is not impressive, thankfully all of my components have HDMI outputs)
  • Automatic speaker setup and equalization! 

Automatic Speaker Calibration

This was really cool…plug in the provided microphone and position as instructed in the 3 listening locations and after a series of test tones, the technology calculates the distance away and compensates for distortion to give the best surround sound experience.  I don’t know how to calibrate them myself, so even if it does not work, the idea is great.  After is was done, it sounded great!

Happy?

You bet!  Not only does it have 4 HDMI inputs where the competition has only 2 or 3 for the same price, I can finally use all 7 speakers and send HDMI signals from the components to the projector in best picture available!  (PS – I don’t even have to change inputs on my projector between S-Video and HDMI.)

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Mama Mia! (Review – Spoilers)

Batman was my first choice last weekend and there was no time to see 2 movies, so Mama Mia! got pushed off to this weekend though I was really wanting to see it the first weekend.  I tend to have a weakness for musicals and even better then they become movies to save some money.  Don’t get me wrong, I do like live shows, but if done well, movies inspired from theatrical presentations can bring the show to your home, just make sure you have a big screen and great surround sound 🙂  I enjoy watching good movies many times, and seeing Mama Mia! 10 times on Broadway may cost me a bit more than a $20 DVD 🙂

On to the movie….I was moving in my seat, and admittedly sang along for a bit as I knew most of the songs.  It was understanding that the actors and actresses were required to sing and dance without any doubles.  Most of the singing was great, but Pierce Bronson…..wow, I don’t think he should sing again!  If you see the movie, let me know what you think about his singing.  

The movie starts with the soon to be married daughter mailing letters to 3 guys in her mother’s diary which were “…” 9 month before her birth.  Apparently “…” refers to baby making.  While her mother denied being with hundreds of men, she was not able to identify her father among them.

The bride does her best to keep the presence of the 3 potential dads a secret from her mother and groom, but she discovers them early on and tries to figure out how and why they are on the island.  Eventually the guys figure out that they were invited in order for the bride to find out who is her father and to ask them to give her way at the wedding.  One would think that her mother should be the one to do this since she has been raised by her mom for 20 years.

After countless ABBA hits, we get to the wedding ceremony.  A lot goes on at the alter and the bride and groom turn out to be one of the dads and the brides mother!  The original bride and groom decide to go off traveling and postpone their marriage.  One of the dads is gay and finds a lover on the island, and the other one is stalked by a friend of the brides mom who I believe is a judge on that David Hasselhoff talent show.  

Julie Walters and Christine Baranski are amazing!  They make you laugh through the entire movie.  

So take a friend and go see this great movie musical!  It is based on ABBA hits, so if you don’t like ABBA, I would not recommend going to see this movie.

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