Gear Patrol | Spirit of Adventure, Passion for Gear

The wrong kind of touchy-feely

Contagion is a germophobe’s worst nightmare. Director Steven Soderbergh and his usual team tackle a well-worn niche, ploughed by titles like Outbreak, to create a pandemic horror story that will leave most viewers running to stockpile Purell and hesitant to enter airports. Much of its success comes from a grounded depiction of how the world’s [...]

Date-approved, yet still enjoyable

Despite what the posters say, Our Idiot Brother is less of a roll-on-the-floor-comedy, and more of a feel-good-indie. That doesn’t mean you won’t laugh out loud while watching though (the parole officer conversations and an attempted threesome are particularly rich moments). Loaded with generation X stars including Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel, Rashida Jones [...]

Epic Moments, Take Two

GoPro’s original line of cameras established the brand as the go-to outfitter for documenting the near-death experiences of the outdoor-inclined/insane. Their successor HD Hero 2 ($300) ups the ante by providing professional low light performance, double the image sharpness, and adding a new narrow (90 degree) and medium (127 degree) recording angle to the original’s [...]

Boxed-In

When you get the money, then you get the $700 limited edition Scarface Blu-ray. Then, when you get the power and Blu-ray, then you get the women. That’s probably not the exact curriculum of the Tony Montana life coaching system, but we’re pretty sure he’d still splurge on this ridiculous version of Brian De Palma’s [...]

Look Now, Or Later

Precision glass isn’t cheap. Photographers and Apple Store architects have known that for years, as have those in the market for a quality pair of binoculars. In that context, Sony’s digital recording binoculars ($1400+) offer an interesting value proposition and represent an entirely new category of devices — at least for those whose business card [...]

Excellence For the Rest of Us

Utter the Runco name around most men, and you’ll trigger a chain reaction that ends with their wallet hiding in a cave of happiness, shivering in anticipation of the pillaging to come. The company’s new Light Style 1 HD DLP Projector ($4,000) still packs a wallop of sticker shock, but it’s down right affordable compared [...]

It's All in the Pix

You all know the lines, scenes and what Shooter eats for breakfast, but for more than a decade, anyone hoping for a rage-fueled trip through the PGA circa 1996 has had to put up with standard def. The wait is over starting tomorrow. Yup, Adam Sandler’s instant-classic Happy Gilmore ($20) has finally received a 1080p [...]

Abiding Finally in 1080p

The Dude would surely approve of the leisurely 10+ years it’s taken the Cohen Brothers to release their cult-classic on Blu-ray. Based on what’s included in the newly announced, limited edition version ($21), however, — the extended patience from fans will be paid back in full. For starters, the studio announced that the film has [...]

A peerless racing movie

Le Mans is a movie that was driven by passion, instead of the bottom line. Steve McQueen desperately wanted the film made to showcase his talents as a actor and driver, and authentically at that. Subsequently, he dumped millions of his own cash into the film, which nearly bankrupted him. The way he saw it, [...]

Fine Lines

Get it straight people. HP’s new x2301 monitor isn’t thin, it’s Micro Thin. What exactly does Micro Thin mean? Well, we’ll skip today’s lesson on redundancy, and just presume it’s a new adjective for describing things measuring 9.8mm (0.39 thick) or less — because that’s how thin the x2301 is. It’s a pretty incredible spec [...]

Never Doubt the Will to Survive

James Franco may have trouble delivering teleprompter lines realistically, but you shouldn’t let his Oscar hosting skills dissuade you from watching his excellent performance in 127 Hours ($20). If you happened to miss the memo on Danny Boyle’s latest masterpiece, Franco plays the role of outdoor legend Aron Ralston, who earned his notoriety by sawing [...]

Nolan's Breakthrough Film, Finally in True 1080p

Before Christopher Nolan was a mega-star director, he made Memento, based off a short story written by his brother, Jonathan Nolan. If you’ve never seen this cinematic mind-bender, you should, because it’s his finest work to date in our humble opinion. This film was released originally in 2002 on Blu-ray, but that copy was done [...]

Remember It's "Steeg" not "Stig"

While you’re waiting for David Fincher and co. to provide their own cinematic interpretations of Stieg Larsson’s break away “The Girl Who Played With..” series, we’d recommend checking out the original Swedish films. Those who have read the books will find that each of the films stays relatively close to their original novel story lines [...]

Take It For What It Is

We’ll be honest. The Expendables isn’t a good movie per se — and it certainly won’t be up for any golden statue nominations. If you approach the film as the ridiculous farce of a blockbuster action film that it is however, watch it and you’re bound to have a good time. We won’t divulge any [...]

A Future Comedy Classic

We’ve been patiently waiting for this Blu-ray release ever since we walked out of the theater back in March. It’s hands down one of, if not the funniest movie we’ve seen so far in 2010, and should not be missed if you happened to skip it while it ran in theaters. Trust us, we know [...]