John Sciacca Writes...

“Penny: Um, okay. Tell Bernadette to tell Priya that I’m on my way to Prague to shoot a movie with Angelina Jolie.

Amy: Got it. Is it going to be in 3-D?

Penny: What? I don’t know. It doesn’t matter.

Amy: I’m gonna say 3-D. That’ll let her know the studio has faith in it.̶...

As you likely know Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace was re-released to theaters this past Friday. In addition to little bits cut back in – identical to the recent Blu-ray release from what I’ve read – the big news is that this release is the first Star Wars film to be released in 3D. (I’m going to avoid the obvious, long-hanging Jar Jar in 3D jokes here.) And I have been straddling the fence about whether to pony up and go see this or not....

As a home theater nut, the video portion of CEDIA is what really puts the peanut butter in my chocolate. Sadly, the show has definitely devolved over time; in the past, glorious ,financial windfall heydays of yesteryear – you know, before the pin was thrust into the economic balloon – there would be giant, mega booths competing for best demo of the show, blasting out SPLs that would make your cochlea both tingle and whither. There would be these sick dedicated scree...

I first experienced Runco’s new D-73d 3D projector at the CEDIA Expo last September and was pretty impressed. By “pretty impressed” I mean that it was the best display of 3D technology I witnessed at the show. I find myself prone to headaches and discomfort when viewing many 3D demonstrations, and the D-73d was the easiest-on-the-eyes solution I’d seen. But there is a big difference between being wowed by a 10-minute demo and evaluating something critica...

There was a blog post a few weeks ago titled “Four Reasons to Avoid Stacking Projectors for Passive 3D Installs.” I read it. Chances are you read it too. (Come on, you know you can't get enough about 3D!) And after reading the post I thought, “Yeah, those are all good reasons why you wouldn’t want to stack projectors. Heck, I don’t even real...

Outside of control companies like Crestron, Control4 and even Lutron where dealers are required to attend training to be certified before they can sell and install systems, not many companies even offer any formal factory training. And this is especially true in the video segment, where generally a pulse and hot PO is all that is required to sell the latest flat panel set.

One company that stands apart from this is Runco. They have been c...

OK, so a BIG part of my trip out to Oregon to visit Runcoland was to get my 3D on. Runco was out to convince me that their new D73 projector was the shizzle of 3D and that there ain’t no 3D party like a Runco 3D party. So, to that end, I spent all day – as in ALL DAY, as in from 9 AM to 6 PM – Tuesday reviewing and assessing and assimilating myself into Runco’s new 3D video projector.

This was time spent in...

The particular part of the country that I live in is often referred to as “The Bible Belt.” And living in the Bible Belt, there are no shortage of churches. I haven’t kept an exact count – plus new ones are being added all the time – but I pass literally *dozens* on my to and from work. In fact, I pretty much pass dozens on my way to and from anywhere. While we have couple of large ones – though none of them are the mega-opolis types w...

For a number of reasons (OK, that exact number of reasons is three. 1) The inconvenience; it is difficult to just run out and see a movie with Lauryn. Also, our schedule is very fluid. There are times when we’ll start a movie at 9:13 other times at 9:58; to have to conform to some schedule set by “The Man” because he thinks shows should start at a specific time is often tough. And if I miss that "let's go out to the lobby, let's go out to the lobby..." jingle,...

 One of my first posts here was titled “3D: I kind of already hate you.” Disenchanted by the overwhelming marketing hype that was cramming this new technology down our throats with a giant, splinterey, 3D battering ram – even though 3D sets hadn’t even ...

For the second straight day, I’m assuming the role of babysitter. I’ve got a 9 year old, picked up early from school for supposed sickness, Kinsley, upstairs watching some Amanda Bynes movie on VHS and eating through a package of Saltines and a 4-year old, Lauryn, sitting next to me on the couch watching Open Season on DVD on

Remember several months ago when I told you that 3D hated babies, old people and drunks? And how Samsung said cautioned warned was likely prodded at the urging of their entire legal department to issue the decree that “Viewing TV using the 3D function” could cause little...

With an entire weekend between us and my last post, I’m hoping that you’ll remember that I was reading through one of the latest issues of TWICE recently that recapped the Black Friday after action report. One of the things that the Weekly – that̵...

I’ll admit... I’m a Polo Ralph Lauren fan boy. Like big time. And if you thought that it was just a happy irony that Lauryn is named Lauryn, well, sorry to spoil it for you. (Also, the inspiration for her middle name was a Mont Blanc pen slogan.)  It’s also not an exaggeration to say that like 75% of my clothing (if not more) is Polo Ralph Lauren. When I was a golf professional, I had a personal contact at Polo Golf named Karen that I would call to...

3D’s created a monster, ‘cos nobody wants to see 2D no more they want 3D. 2D’s chopped liver. Well if you want 3D, then this is what I’ll give ya, a little bit of Runco mixed with some big picture. Some eyewear that will calm down your eyes quicker...

OK, enough with the Real Slim Shady. If there was anything I learned at the CEDIA Expo this year it was this: Do NOT attempt to walk to ...

If you recall, I mentioned receiving a new 65-inch Panasonic (I’ll not use the term Panny here. In fact, it makes me hate you a little-bit when I hear you use it. Also, if I find that you used the term “Panny” in an on-line forum post, I’m going to just assume that you are a sweaty, pale-skinned shut-in who lives in your parent’s basement and spends a...

Admittedly, I’ve done my share of 3D bashing. In fact, one of my first posts on the subject was 3D: I kind of already hate you

which *pretty* much sums it all up. Then I pointed out that 3D kinda hates old people, babies and drunks.

 ...

Let’s get it out there: A lot of things about the 3D movie-watching experience just plain suck. Like suck-diddily-uck.

First there is the price premium for the ticket. Then there are the glasses (does anyone else feel like their eyes are going blurry like every 15 minutes? Anyone?!) Then there’s the headache and eye fatigue from two hours of trying to focus and refocus your eyes all over the screen. Then there’s the rush to market with lam...

Very late post today and none yesterday, but for a good reason. Yesterday was action-Jackson packed from morning till night. Then I caught a 10:30 PM flight from LAX to Charlotte, NC, arriving at 6:00 AM local. Flew in to Columbia, SC where I met up with Dana. So, a long, pretty exhausting day. But yesterday.....ahhh! Lots to talk about. Let's jump in, shall we?

One thing I will say about Sony -- besides the fact that they put us up in the shizzit of a hotel! -- was that th...

Roughly three months ago I wrote how you could get the new Toy Story Blu-ray discs for free. (I thought I was being oh-so clever by calling it Blupon, like "coupon" but now I think I just get people finding the story when they Google and misspell "Blu porn" but I'll take the hits where I can get them....)

So, part of that Blu-ray disc deal ...