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Three Clint Eastwood classics receive excellent 4K adaptions

Warner Brothers has reached into its vaults and picked a trio of Clint Eastwood's most famous and honoured films to give the 4K disc treatment, and it really is a "treat"-ment worthy of note.

The films are Dirty Harry, Pale Rider and the Outlaw Josie Wales, one cop film and two westerns. Each of the films has received an exquisite transfer to 4K, including remastered sound that is worth the price of admission on its own.

Not only that, but the extras on each disc are also quite something; if you're an Eastwood fan, a movie buff, or a student of cinema, you'll probably find the stuff extremely interesting. Oh, some of it is repeated from feature to feature and disc to disc, but most of it isn't and it's well worth your time.

Dirty Harry, which was released in 1971, was a bit of a change of pace for Eastwood, who was known better as a guy who occupied westerns, from Rawhide on TV to the Man with No Name in Sergio Leone's "spaghetti westerns".

Here, Eastwood plays Harry Callahan, a San Francisco cop whose idea of justice puts him at odds with the System. So, he does things pretty much his own way – much to the chagrin of not only the System, but of those he busts and the cops with whom he serves.

Pale Rider, released in 1985, sees Eastwood as another man with no name – at least we never learn it – but this time he's a preacher who appears at just the right time to help a small mining camp survive when a large, evil capitalist mining company is trying to put them out of business.

The Outlaw Josie Wales, directed by Eastwood, is an interesting flick. Eastwood, who obviously plays the title character, is a Missouri farmer in the immediately post-Civil war era where the South was on its heels and the North – at least according to this movie (I'm no historian) – is busy exploiting that. Viciously. more...

Ford Rangers offer some nifty versions of the compact pickup truck

If you happen to be looking for a compact pickup truck, Ford may be your huckleberry, thanks to its line of Rangers.

And judging from my couple of weeks in back-to-back Rangers, including the outrageous Raptor version, you just might think they have done it right.

Now, as my regular reader knows by now, I've opined many times that I am not the best person to be reviewing pickup trucks. I don't like them, I don't like driving them, and as a person whose legs barely reach the ground on a good day I don't like getting into and out of them.

This applies especially to full size pickups, but even the Rangers had me hopping out gingerly lest Parent Nature use her gravity powers to face plant me on the ground outside the truck. Still, ingress and egress were a lot better for me than in a big pickup and, thanks to the Rangers' running boards, my wife and I managed.

And I'm glad I did! I really enjoyed the two Rangers (I really wanted to put a Lone Ranger joke there, but NOOOOOO!), though obviously I liked the packed-with-goodies Raptor better, because it not only had more toys, but it was more fun as well. A lot more fun! more...

Electric cars the worst for depreciation – while used car values continue to soar

Can electric cars survive without taxpayer money? Should they?

Subsidies for EV's seem to be on their way out, which suits me just fine; they should sink or swim on their own, like evil gas-powered vehicles have to.

Subsidies or not, if you're thinking of getting an EV and want to keep it for a while, the folks at iSeeCars have some sobering news.

"Electric cars lose more value than any other vehicle type, dropping by nearly 60 percent after 5 years," says a new survey by the group. "This compares to only a 40 percent drop in value for trucks and hybrids, and an industry average of 45.6 percent across all vehicle types"

The survey notes that while the five-year depreciation of EV's is 58.8 per cent, trucks "only" lost value by 40.4 per cent, while SUV's lost nearly half their value (48.9 per cent) and hybrids were "down only" a tad more than as trucks, at 40.7 per cent.

That overall average of 45.6 per cent depreciation this year compares with 38.8 per cent in 2023 and – worse – a whopping 49.6 per cent in 2019. So read that way, the stats may indicate a yoyoing rate of depreciation more than a trend. I guess time will tell. more...

Roger Corman's debut monster movie more guilty than guilty pleasure

Before there was an Audrey II, before there was the Raven and before there was a Wasp Woman there was the Monster from the Ocean Floor, Roger Corman's first foray into what became his signature style of cheap and/or exploitative popcorn movies.

Since then, Corman's name has become legendary, so perhaps this particular flick can be forgiven for its comparatively lackluster story and looked at as a forerunner to Corman's famed run of motion pictures.

I mean, I looked at the Monster and thought immediately of Ray Harryhausen and how much he could have benefitted the production. He'd probably have priced it out of Corman's range, though, so I guess there's that.

Besides, what's a classic Corman movie without a tad of schlock? more...

Warners' new Christmas movie miss and old musical masterpiece hit hit 4K disc

Just in time for Easter, we get Red One, Warner Brothers' new Santa Claus-themed movie. And it could have been a really good Christmas flick, too. It has an interesting concept, a good cast, and excellent production values.

Alas, this movie about the search for a kidnapped Santa Claus (J. K. Simmons, who's mostly wasted here), never really decides if it's a Christmas movie or yet another comic book-like action-adventure special effects film. And that really works against it.

On the other hand, while the story of a long dead classical music composer may not sound like the stuff of which cinematic dreams are made, in the right hands it can be a compelling and highly enjoyable film. And that's what happened with Milos Forman's adaptation of the Peter Shaffer play Amadeus, which has also just been released on 4K disc.

It's kind of ironic that the better of the two films – Amadeus, by far – doesn't look as good in 4K as Red One. more...

Consumers appear leery of intrusive insurance apps – and AMC lives again in book form

Car insurance, and their related premiums, are a necessary evil in today's society and it always seems as if prices go up and never down.

Yet there is a way to control your insurance premiums at least somewhat, though the solution I'm talking about involves trusting your insurance company and that's not something I – and apparently many others – am comfortable with.

It's the tracking technology, or "telematics" some insurance companies offer that keeps an eye on where and when – and how – you drive.

Can you say Big Brother?

Making American Motors Great Again?

On a more fun note, kind of, there's another new automotive book out, kind of in the vein of the one on John Z. DeLorean I reviewed a couple of columns back. This one deals with another "niche" manufacturer, though one that wasn't too niche back in the day until economics, market forces, and the like, turned it niche and then later it went kaput. more...

Consumers keeping the used car market alive and thriving

It appears that the lustre and the lure of new wheels is wearing off for an increasing number of car owners, and that older cars are making up a much larger portion of the used car market than even 10 years ago.

According to a study by iSeeCars, the number of older cars on the market has increased by nearly a third over the past few years, with conventional sedans, hatchbacks and, my favourite, wagons leading the way.

That may not be translating completely into people being able to keep as much of their hard-earned after-tax income, however. According to Karl Brauer, iSeeCars' executive analyst (I guess he analyzes the executives) "Consumers seeking relief from high vehicle prices are turning to older cars…but even going back a decade or more isn't shielding buyers from the massive used car price hikes in recent years, with the average older car now costing more than $12,000." That's U.S. dollars.

I can dig this. I review new cars and as much as I enjoy it, I wouldn't buy a new car today. Not only are they stupidly expensive (an entry level Toyota Corolla now lists on the company's Canadian website for $27,198.96 and for that you have to suffer through life with a cvt transmission) they're so full of technology and supposed safety and driver assistance aids that I find myself yelling at some of these vehicles rather than enjoying the drive.

Don't get me wrong, I like some of this stuff. more...

John DeLorean and his iconic car live again in new book

If you've ever wondered what the real story was behind the DMC-12 and its famous, infamous, and late, inventor, a new book gives insight you might find quite fascinating.

"Delorean: the Rise, Fall and Second Acts of the Delorean Motor Company", by Matt Stone, is an easy read, illustrated copiously, and it basically follows the life of John Zachary DeLorean from when he was a nipper until, well, today – which is about two decades after his untimely death from a stroke.

It's a tale of the pursuit of one's dreams, the pursuit of excellence, and the lengths to which some people will go to ensure their dream is realized – or that an upstart's dream isn't.

I enjoyed it quite a bit!

I also learned quite a bit. more...

New for 2024 Lexus TX 350 upgrades the three row SUV experience

If you want a mid-sized SUV/Crossover that's a little more nicely tricked out than something like the Toyota Grand Highlander, Lexus may have your answer.

The new TX, available in two versions in Canada, is based on that great Grand Highlander, but as is typical for Lexus, they've worked their luxury magic on what was already a very nice vehicle.

The result, not surprisingly, is "very nicer."

The TX offers three rows of seating, configurable for six or seven people, depending upon whether you opt for a second-row bench or captain's chairs. Lexus Canada's sample had the captain's chairs, which is the way I'd configure it if I were purchasing this vehicle. Not only are captain's chairs more comfortable, but it's easy to sneak around them to gain access to steerage, the small but adequate rear bench.

Of course, if you really need to carry seven people, you'll either have to opt for the second-row bench or glue that seventh person to the roof, which might open up a different can of worms. more...

Warners releases three classics on 4K disc – and an inferior sequel

Warner Brothers has outdone itself with three great 4K disc releases from their catalogue, and each one of them is well worth owning if you collect or are just a fan of any of this trio: North by Northwest, Blazing Saddles, and James Cameron's original The Terminator.

Then there's the inferior and unnecessary second Beetlejuice movie, which is okay but hardly in the league of Tim Burton's fresh original.

Let's tackle the good news first, and the best of the good news is how great all three of those classic films look (and sound) in their 4K release. My favourite of the three, North by Northwest, also simply bristles with excellent extras, so much so that it's almost like going to film school to study the great Alfred Hitchcock.

But it's Blazing Saddles that looks the best of the three, and who'd have expected that? more...

Ford Bronco Raptor ups the SUV's game

It may only sport a V-6, but Ford's Bronco Raptor is a high performance on-and-off-road beast that'll not only get you into and out of the outback, it'll turn heads and cause drool attacks from certain onlookers.

So, if that's what you want in a utility vehicle, put together your $116,570 entry ticket (without options) and pony down to your Ford dealer to get in line for yours.

The Bronco Raptor's twin-turbo V-6 is rated at 418 horsepower and 440 lb.-ft. or torque. That's pretty nice in a mid-sized vehicle such as this and it gave me no issues when I wanted to accelerate with wild abandon. You also get upgraded HOSS 4.0 with FOX Live Valve 3.1 Internal Bypass Semi-Active Dampers that supposedly gives you better off-road capability, though I never took it offroad during my week with it.

Beneath all that, 37-inch all-terrain tires promise to give you peace of mind when it comes to traction. And to keep all that stuff in good shape, there are skid plates galore.

And to keep you entertained, you get a lovely Bang and Olufsen audio system featuring 10 speakers including a Subwoofer. more...

LG's remarkable CineBeam 4K projector is an intriguing home theatre alternative

Flat panel TV's are today's staple in home entertainment video devices, but if you want a really, really big picture you'll pay through the nose for one – even though prices continue to drop.

For a more affordable RLS ("really large screen", an acronym I just made up), there are still front projectors you can buy, a wide variety of them in fact, from ultra short throw ones that don't require you to renovate your room, to longer throw ones whose placement is more critical than the others, but who can throw to really, really big screens.

Into this market comes LG's tiny little CineBeam Q 4K projector, a thing so small could fit into a backpack easily. more...

Ford F-250 Super Dutys bring brawn and bling to the serious truck market

Ford, the king of pickup truck sales in North America, has updated its big F-250 for 2024, though since it was updated in a major way for the last model year it may be a case of gilding a pretty  nice lily.

Still, if you're looking for a three-quarter ton diesel-powered workhorse, you probably can't go too far wrong – after all, there must be a reason Ford sells so many trucks year after year!

All this is mostly lost on me because, as I've said repeatedly, I'm not a truck guy in the slightest. Oh, I get their use and their place and that people love them even if they don't really need a truck (people don't need MX-5's either, after all). But I'm more a MX-5, small and sporty car guy and I'm sure that makes some truck aficionados think I'm from outer space.

So, when I'm tasked with reviewing a truck, it's quite a challenge for me. Hell, just getting into and out of a full-sized truck is quite a challenge for my short and round body. more...

LG 4K Nanocell TV offers nice performance and good value

Television technology continues to advance, with many of today's screens offering picture quality and other features that could have only been dreamed about not too many years ago.

I've followed, and participated in, this evolution ever since I discovered I might be a nerd – or at least since my first colour TV. Back then, a 20-inch screen was considered the best because, as CRT-based technology, that size offered the best compromise between pixels and the (empty) space between them. You could get up to 27 inches or so (and, eventually, giant CRT's of 40 inches or so also came along) but it was argued by many video snobs that the actual picture quality was best at 20 inches.

That was analogue technology and though its resolution never really got beyond 480i, it was pretty darn good for the time, especially if you embraced the old Laserdisc technology and, then, DVD.

Now, of course, it's a whole 'nuther ballgame, with digital high-definition TV having been the rule for the past couple of decades. more...

Lincoln Nautilus charts a widescreen course into drivers' garages

Ford's upmarket brand, Lincoln, has an idea it thinks will appeal to the video generation, which may indicate they're going for customers who may not have been the marque's traditional market.

Indeed, this modern vehicle simply bristles with high tech – for good or for not so good – with a unique dashboard-wide video setup that's quite the thing to see.

Alas, I found it redundant, obtrusive, and kind of silly, since most of what you can display on this massive display (actually a few displays side by side) can and/or is displayed already on the more conventional large screen atop the centre stack.

Still, it looks really cool, is somewhat customizable, and certainly starts conversations among onlookers and passengers.

Nautilus is a two row, five-passenger beastie that's meant to compete with such other beasties as the Genesis GV80, Porsche Cayenne, or BMW X5.  The only ones of those competitors I've driven is the Cayenne and X5, and not for at least 10 years, so I'm totally unqualified to compare them.

Ford sent me the conventional (non-hybrid) version of the "new for 2024" Nautilus and though Captain Nemo was nowhere to be found, I found myself enjoying it quite a bit. more...

Mazda's new CX-70 brings a lot of goodness to the plug-in hybrid SUV market

If you're looking for a reasonably large, two row SUV that also offers some nice fun-to-drive to the mix, check out Mazda's brand new CX-70.

Available in three versions, Mazda Canada sent the PHEV, plug-in hybrid, model for review. This isn't the one I would've chosen – there's another one with a lovely inline six-cylinder engine that I was really looking forward to try – but it's a fine vehicle nonetheless and if you're in the market for such a beast, this one is well worth your time.

The CX-70 is essentially a CX-90 with the third row removed, welded shut, or whatever it is they did to eschew extra seating. more...

George Miller's Furiosa a great looking but strange prequel

The Mad Max saga continues, without Mad Max, in director/writer George Miller's latest epic, Furiosa. And though it's pretty weird, and sometimes very cruel, it's well worth at least a look.

Furiosa is set before the last Mad Max outing, Fury Road, and stars Anya Taylor-Young as the title character, with Chris Hemsworth, sounding more Australian than he probably does even in real life, as her main nemesis, a pompous and rather socialist warlord called Dementus, who has dreams of dominating the wasted lands of the wasteland.

But before Furiosa meets Dementus, we find her living in the kind of perfect, idyllic green world the eco-nuts dream of, an oasis from the wasteland where there's lots of water, plenty of animals, and all the electricity needed comes, apparently, from a few lazily-spinning windmills that obviously survived the eco-apocalypse that destroyed the world. more...

Mazda's miniscule motoring masterpiece continues to amaze and delight

If you're looking for a classic sporty drive, you can't go far wrong with Mazda's venerable MX-5.

Now just called the MX-5, though it'll always be the Miata to me, Mazda's little two-seater hearkens back to the classic European sports cars of old, except that the Mazda is far less likely to leave you stranded on the side of the road than those Eurosports of days gone by would.

I say that from experience. Three of the first cars I owned were MGB's (or is it MG's B?), of varying age and condition.

Then Mazda, in its wisdom, decided the world could use a little personal "Zoom-Zoom" again and created a new classic roadster that was reminiscent of (some might say ripped off from) the British sports car of old. more...

Travelling by vehicle this summer? How about making sure your vehicle is ready for action?

Flying used to be fun to me. I've always been an aviation buff, my father flew in World War II, and in the early 1980's I realized a dream and got a pilot's license myself.

But flying commercially now (I haven't flown privately for years, alas) is nothing but a major pain in the buttocks. Whether it's obtrusive security screening that always seems to give special attention to those who don't fit the "terrorist profile" (grandmothers, etc.), airlines who apparently don't give a damn about the people who pay their salaries, airplane manufacturers who seem to be slacking off in their quality control, or just the layers of bureaucracy - from government to corporate – that strangle what used to be a pleasant and even fun experience, I'm at the point in my life where I'd rather not fly any more.

Hence the summer driving vacation! more...

Twister blows onto 4K disc in a wild presentation

Just in time to cash in on this summer's sequel (or at least soften us up for its arrival), Warner Bros. has unleashed a really nice 4K version of the 1990's disaster film about storm chasers who appear to get chased as much by the storms as they do chase them.

It's a kind of classic disaster film, the type one might expect from Irwin Allen, except that this one comes from such more modern names as Steven Spielberg and Michael Crichton – folks who had already given us Jurassic Park a few years earlier.

As I said in my review of the Blu-ray when it came out: "If you open a dictionary, looking for the definition of "summer popcorn movie", chances are you'll find Twister there right next to Independence Day." more...

Ford's Mustang is a better than ever treat even after 60 years

Muscle cars are getting hard to find these days as government regulation and some short-sighted auto companies continue to drop cars in favour of the flavours of the decade, the EV, the SUV and/or crossover.

But if you want a muscle car, the original one can still be found, and after a week spent in the 2024 version of the Mustang GT, I can safely tell you it's still a blast.

And the one I had was saddled with a damn 10-speed automatic transmission!

To my eyes, the current, seventh generation of the Mustang is the best looking one ever, even nicer than my usual favourite version the 1967-68 model that became so famous when Steve McQueen caused a comparable Dodge Charger to blow its doors – and everything else, really – off. After 1970, the Mustang kind of lost its way stylistically, and with the Mustang II it lost its way technologically, too.

Fortunately, that was then... more...

Are so-called safety nannies endangering your car's value?

Lane departure warning, lane keeping assist, front cross traffic monitors, driver awareness warnings – all of these are bits of technology supposedly designed to help keep you safe when you're behind the wheel. And maybe they do.

But what if they're just expensive add-ons – that you have to pay for anyway – that not only lull drivers into a false sense of security that they're "safe!" but which could also affect your car's value if it's involved in a collision?

According to a recent article by Chris Chilton, as run on MSN's website (I know, I know…), an ugly reality of nanny life is that about 20 per cent of such nanny-equipped cars end up being written off completely after the vehicle was crunched (or crunched someone else's). more...

Kia EV9 a compelling vehicle despite the issues of EV's

If you're looking for a relatively big, three row electric SUV, Kia's EV9 is probably a good place to start.

That said, Kia also makes other very nice three row SUV's such as the Telluride and Sorrento, except that those vehicles have internal combustion engines and therefore won't facilitate smug emissions.

But this piece isn't about fake Eco-lunacy, it's about the captivating EV9, which Kia's Canadian website says starts at $63,166. That's a pretty big chunk of change, about 10 grand more than the Telluride's starting price and more than 20 grand more than the Sorrento's starting price.

Of course this is a bit of apples-to-oranges, especially with the smaller Sorrento, but it does show that "going green" is going to cost you big time. Here's how Kia describes the vehicle. more...

Dune part 2 and American Sniper: two 4k films worth owning

Warner Brothers has released two excellent examples of the 4K disc medium and both are so good they're really "must own" discs if you're a movie buff and/or collector. One is brand new, and the other is celebrating its 10th anniversary.

But you may be surprised to find out which one this die-hard sci-fi fan thinks is the better of the two – although I suppose I just gave that away.

Yes, I had planned on focusing more on Denis Villeneuve's Dune Part 2, yet after having seen Clint Eastwood's American Sniper I found myself so taken, so moved by this masterpiece that I decided to focus more on it because it's not only a better film overall, but a more important one as well.

Not that Dune Part 2 is a slouch. I'm not sure it's better than Part One, though that seems to be the consensus of reviewers, but it's still a darn fine sci-fi epic and the fact that it did its best to stay faithful to Frank Herbert's classic novel is a big bonus. more...

Excellent new Arizer vapes up the brand's – and the state of the art – ante

Medical marijuana users – and others who may merely choose to imbibe in cannabis products since Justin Trudeau decided he needed their votes – have some great new (and new-ish) tools from which to choose, thanks to Canadian company Arizer.

So why vape, as opposed to edibles or smoking? Well, I can't really comment on edibles, but my doctor recommended vaping as opposed to smoking because you don't get all the supposedly dangerous stuff created by combustion (vapes don't burn the stuff, they just heat it up until it gives up its "wonders").

And now Arizer has taken my favourite vape – the Solo, which impressed my panel and myself in various versions – and introduced not only an update to an earlier generation but added an entirely new model (the Solo III) as well, one that ups the ante substantially.

The previous version, the Solo II, now has a Max edition as well, and you can also get an even more portable Air Max and an entry level Air SE. Arizer sent me all four of these to reiew and I can happily admit that all deliver excellent performance coupled with wonderful build quality. They're quite a bit different from each other, however, and together they offer a nice range from "entry level portable" to "high end not quite as portable" units.more...