Pete's Write

One of his less renowned movies, but I found it very entertaining, with a sweet story that was quite unique. You get the talents of Jacqueline Lim, and Gordon Lam and they have excellent chemistry, making this a wonderful disc. "only" in DTS on DVD, it's nevertheless a keeper for me. ______________________________________________________________ I have no financial interest or other interests in any of the items / events I write about.

If one is serious about HT, and not just music, then the centre speaker forms a big part of the experience. Just switch off the left and right and see how little you lose. I feel that using a phantom speaker, or compromising on the centre is not what a true HT fan should do if he/she wants the best cinema experience. Having a equal or better center speaker rather than using the phantom mode is vital. I recently posted about transition between speakers here: I just watched "Gravity" on BR and it's a very good demo disc. Most people will use the bass scenes, but it's actually much more. It's also a good test of the tonal matching of your front three speakers, and also the position. When Sandra Bullock hallucinates that George Clooney is alive and comes into the spacecraft, you get a cacophony of sound, and he moves from right off screen to centre and round the sides. You also get a bunch of sound effects of switches, and you should be able to lo...

These days, reboots have become de-rigueur in extending the longevity of a good movie franchise that has stalled or where the stars have gotten too old to play their roles. However what if the there are desirable aspect of the previous episode that is worth retaining and yet you want a fresh perspective to drive the series forward in a new direction, that is not possible with the current storyline? Enter time travel, the wonderful tool that allows one to reset the timeline, storyline and even resuscitate characters that have passed on or erase a story arc that the audience didn’t take too well. So it begins somewhere in the future that the Mutants are in danger of being wiped out by a bunch of super robots called Sentinels, and you see Magneto and Prof X together, and the only way to prevent the extinction of the Mutants is to travel back and prevent the creation of these super Mutant destroyers. The only Mutant up for the task which is highly danger...

 I just watched "Gravity" on BR and it's a very good demo disc. Most people will use the bass scenes, but it's actually much more. It's also a good test of the tonal matching of your front three speakers, and also the position. When Sandra Bullock hallucinates that George Clooney is alive and comes into the spacecraft, you get a cacophony of sound, and he moves from right off screen to centre and round the sides. You also get a bunch of sound effects of switches, and you should be able to locate where the switches are with your eyes closed and hear that George's voice sounds consistently the same as he pans from one side to the other. There should not be a different tone and the height of his voice should also remain the same. Does your setup achieve this? ______________________________________________________________  I have no financial interest or other interests in any of the items / events I write about.

Once we have achieved a certain nadir with our HT system, and begin the process of enjoying our sound system, we then move to a state of enjoyment, which can last for years, or unfortunately, for those with a bit of pruritis ani (aka itchy backside), this state of contentment could last merely months or weeks. The HT system could still sound fabulous, but we then start to consider the stereo performance and ponder if we can do better. There are many solutions to this. Firstly, we could begin building a dedicated stereo system from scratch. Separate speakers, amps, sources and the whole shebang. This approach requires deep pockets and more importantly space, which could be a premium in a small apartment. Secondly, we could integrate things into our surround setup. This can be done in a few ways. Sharing the same front speakers is one way, which minimizes costs, and space utilization, and but the speaker placement for HT versus stereo can vary a...

 Just sharing a little on how to get a good surround feel.. Audyssey tends to run the surrounds a little 'hot', so they can be a little more prominent than desired. Remember, the idea is to have an immersive effect, not one where the surrounds overwhelm and direct too much attention to themselves. After whatever auto-eq has been done, take a SPL meter and turn down the surrounds, and after that, use a sound track you are familiar with, with good surround, and see if it sounds natural. If not, turn down the surrounds bit by bit and also adjust the bass accordingly. Everything should come together in synergy. ______________________________________________________________ I have no financial interest or other interests in any of the items / events I write about.

Lego the movie is one more in the list of Lego related movies / films that cleverly use lego bricks to make characters. Transformers have nothing compared to this, the dialogue is far wittier and the transformations are merely a small part of this show, which is interestingly a character driven one with a good theme behind it. Ordinary man can strive to do the extraordinary and be 'The One' as the bad guy tries to make everything conform and create the ultimate weapon. Not merely a distraction for the kids, it will be interesting for adults and reasonable distraction for a day out at the movies and the kids will certainly want you to buy it for multiple repeated viewings. There is a positive none too subtle family theme, but it's easily palatable and the wit keeps the adults interested, whilst the non stop flowing action will enthrall both adult and child. A keeper or at least a rental. ______________________________________________________________  I have no ...

Monument men movie review This was apparently based on a true story of Americans who went into nazi occupied Germany in a bid to get back as many of the precious artwork and other historical artifacts that Hitler's men were looting. George Clooney and his friends certainly had fun making it, and there are many buddy banter moments. However the pacing is a little irregular and you get moments of tension and emotion and yet some rather disjointed and slow scene. A tighter editing and less forced emotions would have served this plot better. However all in all, it's a interesting enough plot and worth a rental at least