The Avengers - 2012 - Movie Review - 3D/2D - Iron Man, The Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye

Avengers Movie Review - 3D/2D



Super-stars:
Iron Man - Robert Downey Jr.
The Hulk - Mark Ruffalo
Captain America - Chris Evans
Black Widow - Scarlett Johansson
Hawkeye - Jeremy Renner

along with Samuel L. Jackson, Cobie Smulders, Gwyneth Paltrow 

Director: Joss Whedon
Writers: Zak Penn (story), Joss Whedon (story), and 3 more credits »

The movie evolves around basically 3 things: 1) S.H.I.E.L.D 2) The Tesseract 3) Saving planet from Loki. Samuel Jackson heads the SHIELD, which is a hi-tech international security agency of the planet. The movie starts off with an action sequence where the when the villain, Lori, escapes from the facility. Slightly illogical in the whole movie is the fact that the SHIELD team detains the villain in their facility knowing that he could easily escape the facility. The consequence of this is the remaining story packed with explosions and action sequences. Part of the movie goes off with repairing the aircraft-carrier-ship that flies. It takes a while for the dynamics of the Avengers to settle, catalyzed by the death of Agent Coulson.

I could not enjoy the movie with 3D glasses on as the movie looked darker with the glasses on. This may be attributed to the theater's PJ system calibration. I watched the movie without glasses for about 80% of the time and do not think I missed out any cool 3D sequences.



The story plot was created in such a way that all super-heroes grab the eyes of audiences; however, Iron Man, Hulk and Thor look more prominent in the movie. Iron Man is a treat to our eyes as the frames in which he appears are filled with VFX. The Hulk and Thor shakes the entire movie with thumping action sequences in their own styles.

To err is human, this is implied in at least two scenes: the reception scene in Stuttgart, Germany, was filmed in the U.S., as Stuttgart do not have skyscraper-buildings. Also the mercedes cars shown are U.S.-models.



The whole script is very detailed and filled with sharp wit of humor. Be it the VFX or EFX, special effects are and action scenes are hard-hitting and well designed. The scrips also cares about the characters which makes it reasonable for us to care about them and cheer to them. It is not intellectually pretentious or groundbreaking from a cinematic or storytelling point of view, but it delivers perfectly.



Throughout the movie, I felt like I am seeing "Iron Man - Revolution" in which apparently the rest just live in it.



The whole theater cheered more for the scenes where the green monster, Hulk, and Iron Man appeared. Almost every single viewer burst into laughter when The Hulk punches Thor after they've just teamed up to take down a bad guy and when he cuts Loki off mid-speechifying by pounding him into the floor repeatedly before he could complete this statement that "I am a God! I am not going to be bullied by a..."   Also, when The Hulk roars to wake up Iron Man from the glimpse of death!  

I kind liked this dialogue by Iron Man to The Hulk, "Dr. Banner, your work is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."

This movie tops the list of the superheroes movies, as Marvel managed to neatly present the movie keeping in mind all its audiences. The movie has a whole lot of action sequences, explosions, and more than everything that one can get from a superhero movie. This movie fits perfectly for all the audiences, especially the below-15 category as there is less room for sci-fi and more for action!

Take your kids and little monsters to the movie and they would call you a super-man after the movie.

Disclaimer: The viewpoints herein expressed are subjective and may be in complete contrast to the other reviews.


www.hififreak.in

Acoustic Portrait

Acoustic Portrait


Received info from Siva of Acoustic Portrait this morning that their website has now been updated with their latest range of Hi-Fi gear.

Website: http://www.acousticportrait.com

I just visited the website and found the picture in the about-us page. This setup looks beautiful and someone care to explain the specs of the component.




Their Product includes below :

Thiyaga DAC
Thiyaga CD transport 
Swara Preamplifier 
Swara power amplifier 
Thallam cables 

Altec Lansing A7 "Voice of the Theater" Build

Author & DIY'er: Santhosh


Post -9

More pics with the newly made rack. I also started spinning some Vinyl on my Pioneer PL-15 TT of 1973 Vintage:

_________________
Cheers
Santhosh

Altec Lansing A7 "Voice of the Theater" Build

Author & DIY'er: Santhosh


Post -8


Finally, the speaker was ready for a listen. Quickly connected the gear and found that the HF driver was more sensitive. After several combinations and not much success in reducing the gain on the HF, I connected it to a less powerful amp and used a doubly powerful amp for the LF driver. Sound much better but the Low Frequencies were not that great....


So, I removed some damping and I could hear the LFs much better. Removed damping from the lower porting through the bass reflex port. At the moment, the mids and highs are to die for. Fantastic Tone and Timbre!!. Will continue to tune it for more bass, but first need to reduce the gain on the HF by a few dBs.

I plan to listen to it this way until I decide on the crossover and make one myself...that is after I figure out how to make one .

Btw, I am having issues with the Behringer Active Crossover that I had mentioned earlier, hence I am in this situation without a proper crossover..just a matter of time .

Altec Lansing A7 "Voice of the Theater" Build

Author & DIY'er: Santhosh


Post -7

Been unwell and down with viral conjunctivitis, so no progress last few days. Today, I was feeling better in the afternoon and decided to do a bit.

Moved the A7s upstairs with the help of a friend. Damn!! Are these heavy?!! Easily weigh over 60 kilos I am guessing.

Here they are along with the W.I.P Audio Rack that I am making. Just wanted to ensure I got the measurements right and the rack still fits between the speakers  .


I then fitted the Altec 416 woofers and also connected the HF drivers and played it Open Baffle (?) while I dampened the cabinet. Open baffle was not bad, but there was zero bass - understandable as there is no rear wall....just a sloping roof about 12 feet behind the speakers:


So, I started with the dampening. I tried the Synthetic equivalent of Glasswool. It is a product called Synth made by Anutone. Safer than Glasswool for sure, not sure if it sounds just as good. Spoke to member sunilj and he swears by Synth, so decided to go ahead with Synth as I had an unused roll at home:


Managed to cut and staple the Synth into the rear door with my trusty old Stanley Stapler:


Dampening the inside portions:


Dampening the inner side of the horn flare:


and some more..

_________________
Cheers
Santhosh

The Hunger Games Movie Review 2012

The Hunger Games

Movie Teaser:


Cast:
Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen
Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark
Liam Hemsworth as Gale Hawthorne
Woody Harrelson as Haymitch Abernathy
Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket
Lenny Kravitz as Cinna
Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman
Donald Sutherland as President Coriolanus Snow

This is one of 2012's much-awaited movie. The expectations have been very high on this one. No prizes for guessing why. The Hunger Games, the movie, is based on the bestselling young adult novel by Suzanne Collins.

Survival of the fittest is put to the ultimate test in this action adventure based on the first novel of the trilogy penned by Suzanne Collins. This futuristic tale is set in a totalitarian nation comprised of 12 districts. The title refers to an annually televised event involving 24 combatants, ages 12 to 18, in a fight to the death competition leaving only one survivor.

The scenes of combat and violence are rushed with quick cuts and a blurry handheld camera. There is a high body count and an especially sad death. Computer graphic imagery comes into play with a forest fire and a pack of ferocious beasts. A romantic subplot develops in the last portion of the movie to ease the fear, tension and pervasive sense of panic and provide a slim ray of hope to the audience.

It's actually Jennifer's preparation for the big game that holds your attention as she pits against some highly-trained tributes who have prepared for these Games since time immemorial. That's another story, nothing seems to intimidate our PYT (Pretty Young Thing) -- not even her lack of confidence when it comes to getting people to like her.

Lawrence is terrific in the lead role and gives us someone to root for to survive this horrible ordeal. The supporting players carve out memorable characters. The musical score, costumes and makeup are the other strengths.

The signature and oft- repeated line of the movie is “May the odds be ever in your favor.”

With an opening weekend take of $152.5 million, it ranks third all-time behind “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-Part 2” and “The Dark Knight.” This blockbuster hit franchise takes over the cinematic baton passed by Harry Potter and “The Twilight Saga.”

Since this is the opening installment in the young-adult literature series, fans can look forward to at least two more film adaptations in the future.

Rating Scale: 0-5
Rating: 4.5

Oru Kal Oru Kannadi 2012 Movie Review

Oru Kal Oru Kannadi 2012 Movie Review

Directed by M. Rajesh
Produced by Udhayanidhi Stalin
Written by M. Rajesh
Starring: Udhayanidhi Stalin, Hansika Motwani, Santhanam
Music by Harris Jayaraj
Cinematography : Balasubramaniem
Editing by Vivek Harshan
Studio: Red Giant Movies
Release date(s): 13 April 2012
Country: India
Language: Tamil

Warning: Do not look for storyline, logic or soothing BGM or songs!

The movie, as promoted, is a romantic comedy or perhaps can be precisely categorized as comical romance. I personally do not find any romantic ingredient. Apparently, the script has been made keeping Santhanam in mind. The entire script revolves around Santhanam and the frame looks empty and colorless without him.. At some point it creates an impression that even the names of characters were made such that they go along with the comedy track.

The movie apparently is a full-fledged comedy movie and does not contain any pinch of romance, as said earlier, mainly due to weak casting and weaker storytelling. Much emphasis is given to the comedy and dialogues, and there are quite a number of Kollywood-style scenes and many of them do not connect each other.

The Director of SMS and Boss Engira Baskaran could have slightly modified the pattern, but the movie all-in-all looks like a replica of SMS or BEB, with the only exception of casting. Arya, Sneha, Andrea have made guest appearances but they disappear from the screen in no time without creating little to no impact and add little to no value to the movie. 

Songs: Below average numbers, though 2 or 3 of them sound good, but the familiarity of tunes, genre and theme make them sound boring.
Casting: Hanshika "Mottu"wani was not a good choice as far as the script and hero material goes. She looks bulky and her costumes could have been much better so that she did not look fatso on-screen. 
Plus Factor: Santhanam, Dialogues and timings again by Santhanam. Santhanam has tried to veer off from his usual style and is bombarding with different style or pattern from frame to frame. Santhanam's costume looks hilarious. Noteworthy is cinematography which was above the mark compared to other areas in the movie. The cinematographer tried very hard to enhance the song sequences with eye-catching backdrops. 
Minus Factor: Hero material, dance sequences, Hanshika Motwani - Many would disagree with me on this, because the whole crowd in the theater seemed so excited and cheered for her. Choreography is another big minus to this movie and clearly failed to create some cute movements.

This movie has many unique well-timed comedy bits which drives the whole crowd nuts.

Overall, this movie is just another feel-good time-pass one and is a perfect meal for one who enjoys well-timed comedy bits and fun gags. The movie is little short of a hilarious comedy, due to lot of unwanted dramatic bits throughout.

On a Rating Scale: 0-5
Rating: 3

The devil's double - blu-ray review

The devil's double - blu-ray review


Hi all,

I got the blu-ray "The Devils Double" thru Mr.Satish who is an aspiring director.

I enjoyed the film very much and the atrocities done by Saddam Hussein son in Iraq.  

This film is based on the "true account" of an Iraqi soldier who was forced to fill in as the double of Saddam Hussein's evil elder son Uday acted by Dominic Cooper,. The cruelties that Uday inflicted on the Iraqi populace are legendary, as are stories of his limitless debauchery, torture of prisoners including players of the country's national Olympic team, and rapes.Devil’s Double is gripping when it needs to be, enough that it’s held together by an intense dynamic between two main characters. 

Latif Yahia, who wrote a book by the same name, says he was threatened that his family would be killed if he didn't agree to Uday's demands. Cooper, in one of his biggest roles, essays the characters of both Uday and Latif.It's just that this film views Iraq and the Hussein family with such coloured lenses that only one hero can fit the frame. And that hero is Yahia, whose account has itself been questioned for its authenticity.The Devil's Double' spends more time inside Uday's personal life, including on a woman who not surprisingly guesses Yahia's secret and falls for him, taking unbelievable risks in the process.

The Devil’s Double is driven almost entirely by Dominic Cooper’s memorable turn as both Latif and Uday. Though there are differences between the two that help viewers tell them apart – they have different voices and teeth – it ends up not mattering, as Cooper communicates which person he is via body language alone. The two men can be in the same room, wearing the same clothes, standing perfectly still and yet you’ll have no trouble picking out which one is which. Though each character is different and complex, Cooper completely embodies each one he seamlessly interacts with himself. You’ll never consciously feels like you’re watching Dominic Cooper play two roles, which is everything you can ask for in a film made like this one.


For me it is worth an watch..

Altec Lansing A7 "Voice of the Theater" Build

Author & DIY'er: Santhosh


Post -6

Since the plywood surfaces are huge, they require a lot of bracing:





Cleats made of strong jungle wood were used to reinforce the structure:


To improve WAF, some teak wood veneer and beadings were added. Altec made a model called Altec Magnificent which had the same dimensions as the A7, except that the cabinet was inverted and the horn was fitted in the bass reflex port. I have tried to copy the side beading design from that but had to change the top and bottom beadings to suit an upright cabinet:





Bass Reflex port has been reduced to 220 Square inches as per the Sound Practices article:


contd....

_________________
Cheers
Santhosh

Altec Lansing A7 "Voice of the Theater" Build

Author & DIY'er: Santhosh


Post -5

This is the location in my home, I want to place those speakers after they have been built. I wanted to do a trial run of the drivers using a Behringer CX-2310 that I had bought for the purpose. The bookshelf speakers are only acting as a stand for the horns and are not part of the system.
Many thanks to fellow member, Soundsgreat helped me set it up with the crossover, offered me some tips, explained/taught me a few technicalities and also loaned me a pair of 20uF capacitor. Currently facing some issues with the crossover, hopefully will be ironed out soon:






contd....

_________________
Cheers
Santhosh

Altec Lansing A7 "Voice of the Theater" Build

Author & DIY'er: Santhosh


Post -4

The speakers are being built in my basement, so my 1955 Willys Jeep basks in the hot April sun (excited that he is gonna soon have company - a younger brother from the same era, same country (my Jeep is an original US import, not the one built by Mahindra).

 

Work progresses....:


Bracing/Support for the horn flares:


Right from the start, I knew that getting the plywood to bend as per the flare would be the biggest challenge. However, I managed to get some imported 12mm thick flexible plywood after looking in 5 different shops. The shopkeeper was thanking his stars as he has been having it in since 3 years and not a single query and then a mad man appears asking specifically for it .


Thanks to Anilva, I managed to buy another pair of Altec LF drivers. This time, the mighty Altec 515b for my next project  

The ones on the right are the 515b's. They are from a Theater and need to be refurbished. Thankfully, Greatplainsaudio supports Altec owners by supplying recone kits:




Trial fitting of a Altec 515b driver that I bought that day:




Also managed to win these original Altec Lansing Speaker Badges on eBay the same day. Had to get up at 3AM to bid for these, but was well worth it :


contd....

_________________
Cheers
Santhosh