David Vaughn

Product positioning in today's consumer world generally falls into three categories: budget, mid-tier, and premium. For example, BMW offers the 3-series, 5-series, and 7-series. All are nice automobiles, but with each step up in class, additional features and performance add value for the end user with a concomitant increase in price.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/061308master.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Captain “Lucky Jack” Aubrey (Russell Crowe) of the HMS <I>Surprise</I> receives orders to sink or capture the French privateer <I>Acheron</I> off the east coast of South America. In his first encounter with the enemy vessel, the more powerfully built French warship gets the better of his crew and nearly sinks the <I>Surprise</I>. Dr. Stephen Maturin (Paul Bettany), Aubrey's best friend and ship's surgeon, tries to convince him there is no shame in returning home given the conditions they face. Torn between duty and friendship, the fate of his crew weighs on his mind.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/061308short.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Struck by lightning, a Defense Department robot malfunctions and, as a result, develops its own consciousness. Escaping the military, it finds refuge with a young woman (Ally Sheedy) who helps hide "Number 5" from its inventor, Newton Crosby (Steve Guttenberg), and the government who wants its weapon back.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/060608vendetta.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Remember, remember the 5th of November. The significance of this date in England goes back to 1605, when a Catholic terrorist by the name of Guy Fawkes tried to blow up Parliament in protest over how Catholics were treated. Fast forward to the near future and meet V (Hugo Weaving), our tragic hero, who struts around town wearing a Guy Fawkes mask and is a terrorist in his own right&mdash;or at least the totalitarian government has labeled him as such.