Reviews by Friends of elcue

TheBard says "Epiphany skips the Sophomore Blues in style" about Epiphany by Chrisette Michele

TheBard — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 15:26:34 GMT

Bottom-Line: No matter what your favorite track turns out to be, Epiphany contains a little for everyone.

Ms. Michele is back with a brand new CD, entitled Epiphany, released in the spring of 2009. Epiphany debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and went on to sell 83,000 copies in its opening week. To date the CD has sold some 363,000 + copies and has hit the No. 1 spot on the Billboard R&B charts and spawned the singles Epiphany (track No.1), track No.3 What You Do (featuring Ne-Yo), Blame it On Me (track No. 4), and track No. 9 a remixed Fragile (featuring rapper Wale).

Superbly engineered and produced, Epiphany pulls together the best of the genre and entertains without insult; the music is evocative and at times moving and reflective. Throughout this CD Ms. Michelle seems to be telling a lover goodbye; track after track she proclaims her strength and independence (and fragility) through superbly performs songs.

Epiphany is a CD that I-and my wife-can and do listen...

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TheBard says "An (African American) Story well worth a look" about Cadillac Records

TheBard — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 13:25:17 GMT

Story-Line

Written and directed by (Black American) Darnell Martin Cadillac Records chronicles-insofar as Hollywood possible-the birth and rise of Chess Records (Cadillac) and it recording artists including Blues guitar legend-and Father of Chicago Blues-Muddy Waters (Jeffery Wright), harmonica myth Little Walter Jacobs (Columbus Short), vocalist Howlin' Wolf (Eamonn Walker); one of the fathers of Rock-n-Roll, Chuck Berry (Mos Def ~ Something the Lord Made, 16 Blocks, Lackawanna Blues) and the incomparable Etta James (Beyonce Knowles).

Leonard Chess (Adrien Brody) an immigrant from Poland started Chess Records on the south side of Chicago in 1950. Cedric the Entertainer portrays double-bassist, vocalist, songwriter and record producer Willie Dixon, who narrates the story. Muddy's girlfriend Geneva Wade (Gabrielle Union), and Leonard Chess' wife Revetta Chess (Emmanuelle Chiriquí) round out the cast.

My Viewpoint

I thoroughly enjoyed Cadillac Records. The music, the...

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TheBard says "Just Plain Fun to Watch" about Mamma Mia! (2008 movie)

TheBard — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 13:07:56 GMT

Bottom-Line: In my estimation Mamma Mia! deserved all of the hype surrounding its release...

I am usually not one for musicals, but I did enjoy the music of the Swedish Pop group ABBA like everyone seemed to in '70's and '80's; there I admitted that I liked ABBA! So a musical-Mamma Mia! (2008)-set to the bubblegum pop music of ABBA needed to be seen, especially one staring the timeless Meryl Streep was not to be missed. So I watched and...

My Viewpoints

Bubblegum music or no, the music of ABBA is infectious and still fun to listen to. And watching Mamma Mia!, however silly the premise was just great fun. Is the movie Oscar material? No, but I seriously don't think it was meant to be. Can Pierce Brosnan sing? No, but I over looked that because at least he tried! Did Meryl Streep look at tad out of place? Well, yes, if you take in her enormous body of work and juxtapose it against Mamma Mia!, but at least it looked as though the woman had fun making this campy...

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TheBard says "And here I thought I was living the good live in the burbs!" about Revolutionary Road

TheBard — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 17:01:40 GMT

Bottom-Line: Though wonderfully acted and intelligently laid out, I find it hard to recommend Revolutionary Road because I just can't relate nor empathize with the characters.

Story-Line

Revolutionary Road is directed by Sam Mendes (Jarhead, Road to Perdition, American Beauty), and is based on the novel of the same name by Richard Yates. The setting is suburban Connecticut in the mid-1950's, not too far from New York City.

Frank Wheeler (Leonardo DiCaprio ~ The Man in The Iron Mask, The Aviator, Blood Diamond) and his wife April (Kate Winslet ~ Quills, Little Children, The Reader) appear to be living the American Dream with a shining little white house in the burbs, a beautiful wife, and 2.5 children. Frank has a plumb marketing job in the same Manhattan company his father used to work at (Knox Business Machines, read: IBM), while April is aspiring-but mostly unsuccessful-actress.

They should be happy, but they are, unfulfilled; especially April she wants something...

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TheBard says "Hathaway truns is a fine performance; so long Princess " about Rachel Getting Married

TheBard — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 13:52:17 GMT

Bottom-Line: Life, like Rachel Getting Married just is and we deal the best we can.

Directed by Jonathan Demme, Rachel Getting Married open in the beautiful state of Connecticut just as Kym (Anne Hathaway ~ The Princess Diaries, Havoc, Get Smart) is released from rehab (not for the first time) just in time to attend her sister Rachel's (Rosemarie DeWitt) wedding to Sidney (Tunde Adebimpe).

As the movie unfolds we learn, almost as an FYI, that Kym was responsible for the dead of her younger brother when she was 16 and stoned. That knowledge and the accompanying guilt lead Kym to have a blowout with her mother Abby (Debra Winger) that culminates in a pretty ugly scene.

My Viewpoint

First of all the cast of Rachel Getting Married is a microcosm of America; the bride is Caucasian, and groom is Negro, and the wedding party is multi-cultural and multi-racial in every sense of the two words! Big kudos to the producers for offering up this slice of what America could and truly should...

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TheBard says "A Guilty Pleasure Three Season In" about Entourage - Season 3, Part 1

TheBard — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 19:23:35 GMT

Bottom-Line: Entourage: The Complete Third Season is not for those under the age of 17; this is strictly adult fair, pretty much like anything HBO produces; YES!

Entourage chronicles the life of one Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier), an up and coming A-list movie actor, and his posse of two friends and one brother from Queens New York as they party their way through the jungle that is Hollywood California. Purportedly Entourage is loosely based on the experiences of Executive Producer Wahlberg and his gang when he first appeared on the Hollywood scene.

Ari Gold, played to hilarious over-the-top perfection by Jeremy Piven, is Vincent's high-powered always on the edge agent, while Mrs. Piven (Perrey Reeves - The Lyon's Den) and Shauna (Debi Mazar) round out the regular cast membership.

Entourage: The Complete Third Season DVD drops us into the four childhood friends lives just after Vinnie become an A-list star, and the "Entourage" is living large. ...

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TheBard says "Is This Supposed to be Christmas Music?" about Brand New Year by SHeDAISY

TheBard — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 21:16:24 GMT

Bottom-Line: When all is said and sung, Brand New World is a worthy effort, but for a traditionalist like me the CD just doesn't work.

I have been a fan of Kristyn, Kelsi and Kassidy Osborn, better known as the Pop-Country group, SheDaisy, since 1999 when I saw the video for the single Little Good-byes from their debut album The Whole SHeBANG (1999). To this day Little Good-byes typifies what SheDaisy's music is all about; the song is fun, whimsical, full of energy and highlights the trio's harmonizing acumen.

In between The Whole SHeBANG and Knock on The Sky the trio released the obligatory Christmas CD, entitled Brand New World in the fall of 2000. However, the CD was less than I expected. Now I like my Yuletide music traditional, thank you very much and with one, okay two, exceptions, Brand New World fails to deliver.

Yes, the trio put their own new-age country-contemporary spin on wintery seasonal favorites like Deck The Halls (track No.1), Jingle Bells (track No.4), and

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TheBard says "A Submarine Movie This Bubblehead Can Enjoy" about Crimson Tide

TheBard — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 15:03:59 GMT

Bottom-Line: Crimson Tide is now one of my favorite must see once-a-year movies.

Directed by action junkie Tony Scott (Top Gun, Man on Fire, Spy Game), Crimson Tide revives and old enemy (Russia) for some tomfoolery and high intrigue in the middle of the Pacific Ocean onboard the nuclear-powered ballistic submarine U.S.S. Alabama. The "Bama" has been sent to counter possible first strike moves by a rouge Russian rebel leader who has managed to seize a Russian nuclear base on Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula in the Northwestern Pacific. The U.S.S. Alabama is led by a no nonsense, by-the-book skipper, one Captain Frank Ramsey (Gene Hackman ~ A Bridge Too Far, Superman, Mississippi Burning).

The acting executive officer is one Lt. Commander Ron Hunter (Denzel Washington ~ Glory, Malcolm X, American Gangster) and almost immediately the two men butt heads. One man is doer, an old-school sub driver, while the other is a thinker a graduate of Annapolis.

The differing leadership...

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TheBard says "Nice To Look At, The Unit Has Problems" about AT&T - Quickfire Cell Phone

TheBard — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 17:30:51 GMT

The AT&T Quickfire 3G Handset (made by UTStarcom and distributed by PCD) serves up a capacitive touch screen, similar to the one used on the Apple iPhone and the T-Mobile G1. In addition, the sliding handset ships with a full QWERTY keyboard idea for texting, e-mailing, surfing the Internet, or performing Instant message functions.

The AT&T Quickfire 3G Handset ships with a plethora of useful features including a 1.3 megapixel camera, micro-SD media card slot, 500-entry address book, a full HTML Polaris browser, and MP3 player. In addition, the unit ships with stereo Bluetooth, mobile e-mail, instant-messenger support, and A-GPS. With A-GPS, the Quickfire also comes with AT&T Navigator, as well as AT&T's own traffic and turn-by-turn direction service.

First Impressions

I did a considerable amount of research on the AT&T Quickfire 3G Handset before I agreed to purchase it for my off-spring and what I found was not altogether encouraging! The handset has a high failure rate,...

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TheBard says "No New Revelations, But The Movie is Worth the Watch" about Battlestar Galactica: The Plan

TheBard — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:57:06 GMT

Bottom-Line: Before watching Battlestar Galactica: The Plan do watch all four seasons of Battlestar Galactica the (2004) television series; it will make understanding this movie so much easier.

Directed by Edward James Olmos, Battlestar Galactica: The Plan tells the story of the attack and its aftermath from the group of (12) Cylons perspective. The Cylon's plan was supposed to be simple: destroy the hated human race in its entirety. But when their devastating nuclear attack upon the colonies leaves human survivors, the Cylons have to improvise and set about destroying the rest.

Two powerful Cylon leaders, both portrayed by Dean Stockwell (JAG, Battlestar Galactica, The Manchurian Candidate); are working separately; one on Occupied Caprica (one of the twelve colonies), the other aboard the Galactica. And both are determined to finish the task at hand. The story is all-too-human in its exploration of how the best laid plans oft go awry.

My Viewpoint

If Battlestar Galactica...

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TheBard says "I'm Just Not Into This (Very Bad) Movie" about He's Just Not That Into You (2009)

TheBard — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 21:50:49 GMT

Bottom-Line: He's Just Not That Into You is a humorless, white bread, loaf of a movie that is short on drama as well.

Directed by Ken Kwapis (The Office, The Bernie Mac Show, Malcolm in the Middle) and festoon with an A-Lister's dream of (non-minority) Hollywood actors and actresses, including Jennifer Connelly, Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, Kevin Connolly, Scarlett Johansson, Bradley Cooper, just to name a few, He's Just Not That Into You chronicles the failing fortunes of a multitude of 20 and 30-something single women juggling relationships.

He's Just Not That Into You is based on the (best-selling) relationship book entitled "Just Not That Into You: The No-Excuses Truth to Understanding Guys" by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo.

Despite the who's-who list of Hollywood wattage, and story more or less coalesces around Gigi (Ginnifer Goodwin ~ Robot Chicken, Big Love, Ed) who has a hard time holding a man's interest. Could it be that men react this was way she is unbelievably...

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TheBard says "I wanted enjoy this movie more than I did" about The Wrestler

TheBard — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 02:51:13 GMT

Bottom-Line: After all the hype surrounding The Wrestler, I expected more.

Directed by Darren Aronofsky (The Fountain, Requiem For a Dream) The Wrestler chronicles the failing fortunes of Randy 'The Ram' Robinson a once successful professional wrestler who now lives alone in a rented trailer, works part-time at a super market and wrestles at small venues on the weekends.

My Viewpoint

The wrestling moves and action sequences took me back to yesteryear. Yes, I have long since given up the ritual, but I can still remember the signature moves, the back and forth of the opponents seeking the upper hand. The move captures that magic all over again with startling realism. Ram's body truly dies take a beating, but he keeps coming back for more. He knows wrestling is all there is for him; life has lost its meaning outside the comfortable cocoon.

And therein lies the problem with The Wrestler, Ram is not smart and neither is the movie. The movie is predictable and that...

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TheBard says "Never Trust Two White Guys with White Gloves" about Funny Games (American Version)

TheBard — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 13:58:55 GMT

Bottom-Line: Funny Games, for me, failed to shock, failed to thrill, and failed to entertain, despite the always perfect performance by one Ms. Naomi Watts.

Written and directed by German-born Michael Haneke Funny Games starts innocently enough as a family of three-mom (Naomi Watts), dad (Tim Roth), and son (Devon Gearhart)-settle into their vacation home on a lake. Not long after the groceries are put away and the boat is assembled two psychotic young men Paul and Peter (Michael Pitt and Brady Corbet respectively) in white gloves a-come calling under the pretext of wanting to barrow some eggs.

And so the "funny" games begin. Ann (mom) demands the two young men leave, they don't. George (dad) comes home and demands same and gets a driver to the knee for his insistence. And the violence escalates from there...

My Viewpoint

Funny Games is a remake of a German movie of the same name, where of course the same sadistic things happen to an Austrian family. At times the movie...

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TheBard says "The Perfect "Starter" Display" about ViewSonic VX1940w (Black) 19 inch LCD Monitor

TheBard — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 00:34:40 GMT

Bottom-Line: When all is said and done I have to say that I am very pleased with the VX1940w 19" (Widescreen) LCD Monitor, despite its rather austere features.

When it came time to build my daughter a new computer for Christmas, ViewSonic was my first and only choice for the matching display. So which model?; I settled on the VX1940w 19” LCD Display, not only because of my past experience with ViewSonic, but also because the monitor/display is quite affordable checking in at slightly under $130.00 at TigerDirect.

The 411

The VX1940w 19" (Widescreen) LCD Monitor from ViewSonic is an entry-level thin-bezel LCD. By entry-level I mean no frills: no speakers, no USB ports, and no telescoping bezel. What the monitor does offers up is an outstanding picture (2ms, 3000:1 dynamic contrast ratio and Super-HD 1680 X 1050 resolution) at an affordable price-point. The monitor offers both standard VGA (analog) and DVI-D (digital) inputs.

The VX1940w 19" (Widescreen) LCD...

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TheBard says "This Ergonomic Keyboard Could Be It!" about Microsoft Natural Ergonomic 4000 Keyboard (B2M00012)

TheBard — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 02:32:24 GMT

Bottom-Line: Overall, I would state the Microsoft has designed a good, solid, useful, ergonomic keyboard with a lot to recommend it in the Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000.

Let’s face it there is nothing sexy or even new about keyboard design, expect for the rise of backlit units. But the keyboard is one of the most essential parts of the computer; after all, without one the computer is close to useless.

I’ve tried quite a few keyboards over the years so it was time to give Microsoft a try. The Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 almost delivers.

The 411

Microsoft says of the Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 “has been expertly crafted to allow you to work in a more natural position. The new Gull Wing design features a 14-degree gable, a natural arc and a curved key bed - bringing the keys closer to your fingers to reduce reach and unnecessary motion, while encouraging a more natural typing position. It also comes equipped with an optional palm lift for...

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TheBard says "No Other Mouse Delivers Like a Logitech!" about Logitech VX NANO Cordless Laser Notebook Mouse

TheBard — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 17:04:06 GMT

Bottom-Line: The VX Nano Cordless Laser Notebook Mouse is an excellent example of a pointing device done right!

I have long trusted and enjoyed Logitech pointing devices (mice); they are on the whole, affordable, attractive, highly functional performance stars. So when I started looking for the perfect companion to my new Dell Latitude E6500 notebook computer, the brand of mouse I would eventually get was never in doubt. But the model took some time to decide on, Logitech offers so many! In the end I decided on the VX Nano Cordless Laser Notebook Mouse, for its size, feature-set, and price.

The 411

The ($39.99 at Amazon.com) Logitech VX Nano Cordless Laser Notebook Mouse is a highly functional, lightweight laser mouse that fits perfectly in the (my) hand. Though it is designed for right-handed users (of course, we left-handed users are always an afterthought it seems), the mouse feels equally at home in my left hand.

The (AAA battery powered) mouse is cleverly designed. ...

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TheBard says "An Affordable, Reliable Network Adapter" about Linksys LNE100TX EtherFast 10/100 LAN Card

TheBard — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 18:03:34 GMT

Bottom-Line: If you need an affordable, reliable, easy-to-install and configure 32-Bit NIC look no further than the Linksys LNE100TX EtherFast 10/100 LAN Card.

For the past few months the unthinkable has been happening, my Intel Pro 100/1000Gbps desktop-class Network Interface Card (NIC) had been failing. I didn’t want to believe it, but the last few days it has been none too obvious.

The problem: every time I restarted the (file) server the NIC was installed in, the adapter flapped, that is the link was dropping for long seconds, then come back for a minute, then dropping the link again.

The solution: the Linksys LNE100TX EtherFast 10/100 LAN Card

The 411

The LNE100TX EtherFast 10/100 LAN Card is a high performance NIC designed for desktop computers with 32-bit PCI expansion slots. Right out of the box, the LNE100TX EtherFast 10/100 LAN Card is ready to run on both 10BaseT and 100BaseTX networks. The 10/100Mbps NIC can automatically detect your networks maximum speed and adjusts...

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Jolie says "buyuggsboot.net is a scam! Ugg Boots from China that are fake." about www.buyuggsboot.net

Jolie — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 05:22:46 GMT

Background on Buyuggsboot.net

A friend of mine at Viewpoints recently passed along a site called www.buyuggsboot.net. She found it online. www.buyuggsboot.net is a web site that sells all styles of Ugg Boots at discounted prices.

We werent certain if www.buyuggsboot.net were the real or not. But after a thorough review of the site, we thought it was legit. Buyuggsboot.net looks like a reasonable reseller of Ugg Boots. The page is designed well, the pictures look authentic and they make claim to having the real deal. They also consistently site throughout the web site having customer satisfaction commitments.

To add to the thought it was authentic, the pricing seemed good but not amazing. As you probably know a typical pair of Ugg Boots cost about $110. On Buyuggsboot.net the cost was $89.00- approximately a $20 savings. Seemed like a good deal, but they werent so cheap that I thought it could be scam. As an aside, last year Nordstrom had a similiar sale on Ugg boots so the pricing seemed...

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