David Vaughn

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/contact.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>When Carl Sagan wrote <i>Contact</i>, he framed it in the context of a feature film, and it shows. Where most sci-fi flicks rely on wiz-bang special effects and evil alien invaders, this one is story-driven and has a firm grasp on real science. The video encode is solid, but it's the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack that steals the show with an immersive surround experience, first-rate frequency response, and superlative dynamic range.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/clone1.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>George Lucas did his best to alienate me and other fans from the <i>Star Wars</i> universe with the critically panned feature film <i>The Clone Wars</i>, which felt more like an overlong pilot—as it turned out to be—than a worthy contender for our cinematic dollar. Fortunately for us <i>Star Wars</i> fans, the weekly TV series is much better as we follow Anakin Skywalker (voiced by Matt Lanter), his new padawan Ashoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein), and his former master Obi-Wan Kenobi (James Arnold Taylor) on their trials and tribulations during the Clone Wars. With the help of the countless clone troopers (Dee Bradley Baker) and the Jedi council, they fight against the evil separatists led by Count Dooku (Corey Burton) and General Grievous (Matthew Wood).

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/up.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Carl Fredricksen (voiced by Ed Asner) fulfills his lifelong dream of adventure and exploration when he ties thousands of helium balloons to his house and escapes the construction hell surrounding his Oakland, California, home for the beautiful surroundings of South America. But shortly after takeoff, there's a disturbing knock at the front door&#151;a local Wilderness Explorer named Russell (Jordan Nagai) looking to earn his "assisting the elderly" badge has stowed away for the trip.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/tinklost.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>The head of Disney Animation, John Lasseter, once said, "From the beginning, I kept saying it's not the technology that's going to entertain audiences, it's the story. When you go and see a really great live-action film, you don't walk out and say 'that new Panavision camera was staggering; it made the film so good.' The computer is a tool, and it's in the service of the story."