Recent content by Jim Tudor

I am also having trouble with my Sony UBP-X700. After my first one froze multiple times (unresponsive, with pulling the power cord as the only way out), I exchanged it for an identical model. Same issue. Although this is a 4K player, I'm not quite there yet with my monitor, so I had this set...

Thanks Gene! Looks like I had the silver and gold ends of a spliced wire connection touching each other. After A LOT of trial and error, that was the adjustment that made the difference. :)

I have a two year old Pioneer VSX-520 audio receiver that has started clicking off during louder parts of both DVDs and Blu-Rays. I've determined that the problem is sound, not picture, as I was running both via HDMI through the receiver, but in troubleshooting, switched the blu-ray player's...

The other night, our venerable Panasonic PT47WX49 RPTV crapped out on me. Basically, I can't get it to turn on for more than 10 seconds before it shuts itself down again. No blinking codes or anything from the power light indicator. Nothing. After 9 years (2-3 hrs of use per day on average), it...

I'd gather up the kids, fire up some popcorn and leftover pie, and commence a Pixar marathon! "Wall-E", "Up", and the "Toy Story" trilogy. Now that's living!

I'm going to be doing a lecture on Early Soviet Cinema (the Potemkin era), and am having a hard time finding material on DVD. I have the 2-disc Kino Battleship Potemkin, but nothing else. Any recommendations for good R1 Early Soviet Cinema films on DVD? Also, any good historical docs on the...

Here's my review of "Nine", originally posted at twitchfilm.net... For what wants to be a simple, breezy musical, the act of even explaining the origins of “Nine” can be exhausting. But, I’ll give it a shot… Based on Federico Fellini’s autobiographical cinema classic “8 ½”, “Nine” made its...

"The Chaplin Revue" is the only MK2 Chaplin I've acquired so far (the reported PAL-to-NTSC issues have scared me away). Tonight I tried to watch it on my 47" 16x9 DTV, and it was blown up way too big (for lack of a better description). My JVC DVD player ordinarily does a great job of scaling...

Thanks for the offers and suggestions, but my class session on German Expressionism has come and gone. I did manage to find a few usable DVD supplements on the careers on F.W. Murnau (a 30 minute doc on the Kino "Tartuffe" DVD) and Fritz Lang (30 minute doc on Kino's "Dr. Mabuse The Gambler"). I...

Thanks for the suggestion, but seeing that it's long OOP, and commanding $200 on Amazon Marketplace, I think I'd better look elsewhere. Doggonit.

Not to sound cynical, but is there really any question? Option 1 is clearly the best looking cover, and the current numbers reflect that, as it's commanding 80% of the vote. Sony has to already know that, right? Right?? Hmm, after looking at the Icons of Adventure cover again, maybe not. Vote...

I'm teaching a film history class, and have had good luck using documentaries and DVD extras about various film genres and film movements. But I've got the topic of German Expressionism (Lang, Murnau, etc.) coming up, and I don't know of any video material I could use. I'm looking for...

I have to remind myself that premiere episodes are not where Whedon's strengths lie. IMO, "Buffy" was probably the most approachable of his premieres, and of course he didn't direct that. "Dollhouse" was difficult to warm up to, that's for sure. But with "Firefly", the long premiere episode (the...

Can't wait. I've never been able to see this. Hooray!

I'd snap up TRUE STORIES in an instant, although I recently caved on it when I saw it for $3 at Big Lots.