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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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reviews stories: 40 news summaries

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FARHAD MANJOO

Microsoft Office 2010:
Worthy, But Not Worth It

Why buy what you can get for free?

Nov 20, 09 9:45 AM CST
(Newser) - The latest edition of the Fantastic Four of productivity—Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook—is worthy but not actually worth buying, writes Farhad Manjoo for Slate . Out next year but now available in a beta edition, Microsoft Office 2010 offers some definite improvements: It lets you preview how text or... More »

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Microsoft • competition • software • reviews • Microsoft Office • computers

FTC Warns Bloggers on 'Reviewing' Freebies

New media critics must come clean or risk fine

Oct 5, 09 4:53 PM CDT
(Newser) - Bloggers, Tweeters, and Facebookers who receive payments or free products from companies and in turn hype or review them—without mentioning the arrangement—could be on the hook for $11,000 in FTC fines. The commission’s new regulations offer clear guidelines on the responsibilities of reviewers working in new... More »

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Facebook • FTC • reviews • blogger • endorsement • product placement • Twitter

Online, Everyone's a Critic—but Not So Critical

Customer reviews tend to be positive

Oct 5, 09 11:19 AM CDT
(Newser) - Online reviewers are a little like T-Ball parents: To them, everyone’s a winner. Though the Internet is laden with snark and meanness, customer reviews are a bastion of the positive, with the average grade sitting at about 4.3 out of 5 stars, according to Bazaarvoice, a company that... More »

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online • reviews • Amazon • customer

MOVIE REVIEW

 Zombieland a Gory 'Joyride' 

Woody Harrelson is great in one of the best new comedies, critics agree

Oct 2, 09 11:07 AM CDT
(Newser) - Zombieland is gory, but most critics think it's a rollicking good time. A sampling:
  • “Zombieland is a romance, a comedy, a road movie, and a freewheeling schlock horrorfest, all in one,” writes Stephanie Zacharek for Salon. “Its growling, groaning zombie villains aren't particularly menacing.
... More »

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entertainment • film • movie review • reviews • Woody Harrelson • zombie • Zombieland

TV REVIEW

 Margulies Dazzles 
 in The Good Wife 

New series scandalously good: critics

Sep 22, 09 4:59 PM CDT
(Newser) - Critics are impressed with The Good Wife,  starring Julianna Margulies as the wife of a cheating and stealing politician forced to rejoin the workforce after his arrest. The CBS drama begins tonight.
  • "There could not be a better choice for the title role of Alicia Florrick than
... More »

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television • CBS • reviews • Julianna Margulies • The Good Wife

OPERA REVIEW

 Met Audience Boos Drab Tosca 

Critics pan new production of Puccini opera

Sep 22, 09 8:48 AM CDT
(Newser) - New York's Metropolitan Opera opened its season last night with a gala production of Puccini's Tosca, a crowd-pleasing war horse given an aggressive new staging by the Swiss director Luc Bondy. The black-tie crowd was not pleased with the stark, modern production, erupting in boos during the curtain call. Critics... More »

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New York • opera • reviews • Metropolitan Opera • Peter Gelb

 'Twitter Opera' 
 Wins Over Londoners 

900 authors wrote Twitterdammerung libretto in tweets

Sep 7, 09 1:16 PM CDT
(Newser) - The first-ever Twitter opera—a melding of high tech and high art with a libretto written in chunks of 140 characters—received an unexpectedly positive reception when it opened pver the weekend, the Washington Post reports. One critic called Twitterdammerung “an accident waiting to happen.” But it “... More »

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music • social networking • Internet • London • opera • reviews • Royal Opera House • Twitter • tweet

music review

 Moby's Wait for Me 
 Is Pleasant, Bland 

Pitchfork describes album as 'background music in the purest sense'

Jul 6, 09 5:29 PM CDT
(Newser) - Moby’s latest album, Wait For Me, is a pleasant if forgettable trip to the artist’s softer, more ambient side, writes Jess Harvell for Pitchfork. Coming a decade after 1999’s Play, a record that perfectly captured the “post-rave” zeitgeist of pop at the time to become... More »

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music • listeners • reviews • Moby • dance music • music review • indie rock • Wait for Me

TV REVIEW

 Gigolo Comedy 
 Pays Off for HBO 

HBO's newest is more than a sex gag, but needs to develop further

Jun 26, 09 3:39 PM CDT
(Newser) - Critics are split on Hung, HBO's new series starring Thomas Jane as a down-on-his-luck dad who becomes a gigolo. Though it's deeper than its salacious premise, the show, which makes its debut Sunday, isn't living up to its potential.
  • Hung "represents a wonderfully positive step for HBO,
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
television • HBO • critic • reviews • Thomas Jane

product review

Microsoft's Bing: Life-Saver, or Big Brother?


May 30, 09 6:07 PM CDT
(Newser) - Reviewers say Microsoft's new Bing search engine—still not officially released—is great for shopping and answering tricky questions. It's also Big Brother in disguise:
  • "There's much to like," writes Mike Elgan in PC World, except Bing's top search matches—chosen by Microsoft, not popularity rankings. "
... More »

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Microsoft • search engine • reviews • Bing

TV review

 Goode Family Not Great 

A few good jokes, but show's aim seems off

May 27, 09 9:02 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Goode Family, an animated series about an eco-obsessed, passionately politically correct family that airs tonight on ABC, is fairly funny, but leaves reviewers scratching their heads:
  • It “feels aggressively off-kilter with the current mood, as if it had been incubated in the early to mid-’90s,”
... More »

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television • animation • reviews • TV series • Mike Judge • television review

TV REVIEW

 Grey Gardens a Grim  
 Retelling of Odd Duo's Life 

Latest incarnation has its 'flaws'

Apr 17, 09 12:08 PM CDT
(Newser) - The riches-to-rags story of an eccentric mother and daughter—relatives of Jackie O, no less—who gained fame for their destitute existence in a 1975 documentary gets another retelling in HBO's Grey Gardens. Critics aren't overly excited:
  • The movie "fills in bittersweet blanks” left by the original documentary,
... More »

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entertainment • television • HBO • movie review • reviews • Drew Barrymore • Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis • Jessica Lange • Maysles brothers • Grey Gardens • Edie Beale

TECH REVIEW

New Google Voice Offering a 'Dutiful but Klutzy Secretary'

Features like voicemail transcription are great, but far from flawless

Apr 6, 09 8:28 AM CDT
(Newser) - Google’s Voice feature, offered in free beta for now, bundles all your phone numbers into one “Google number,” and records, transcribes, emails, and archives voicemails, allowing you to respond via texts sent from your computer. It “has some brilliant features,” Courtney Banks writes in the... More »

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Google • cell phones • reviews • telecommunications • Google Apps • voicemail • Google Voice

critical roundup

 ER Checks Out Tonight 

Critics, fans, brace for last episode tonight

Apr 2, 09 10:54 AM CDT
(Newser) - After 15 seasons, viewers will make their final trip to County General Hospital tonight in the series finale of ER. Critics and fans are reflecting on the groundbreaking show:
  • Mixing “medical triumph” with “personal angst,” ER “may have begun as a show about salvation, but
... More »

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television • NBC • emergency room • reviews • TV series • ER

Theater review

 Decades Later, Hair Still Swings 

Critics love 'exuberant' revival

Apr 1, 09 11:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - Bursting with energy, the Broadway revival of Hair, recently moved indoors from Central Park, has wowed critics—though there are a few gripes. What they had to say:
  • “Hair, for all its references to hippies, Vietnam, free love and the revolution, feels utterly of the moment in its
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
theater • Broadway • reviews • musical • Hair • Diane Paulus

Auto review


 Critics Bowled Over 
 by World's Cheapest Car 

It's $2K, but the Tata Nano provides bang for your buck

Mar 26, 09 10:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - India unveiled the world's cheapest car this week, and a few lucky drivers took the $2,000 Tata Nano for a test drive. Their reactions:
  • “A surprisingly smooth ride. Thrifty transport is not meant to be this comfortable,” writes Randeep Ramesh in the Guardian. “Built for
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
reviews • Tata Motors • Tata Nano • cars

SOFTWARE REVIEW

New Safari 4 Frustrates, but
Is Blazing Fast 

Apple browser's UI improvements flop, but halve load times

Mar 5, 09 1:00 PM CST
(Newser) - Apple’s new Safari 4 browser is the fastest available by far, Walter Mossberg writes in the Wall Street Journal, but the much-hyped “user-interface changes are a big disappointment.” In most cases, Safari just follows other browsers with helpful improvements to its format. But moving tabs to the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Internet • Apple • web browser • Internet Explorer • Safari • speed • reviews • Mozilla • Google Chrome

TV REVIEW


 Critics: 
 Better Luck 
 Next Time,
 Jimmy 

They're unimpressed, but ready to give him a chance

Mar 3, 09 7:16 AM CST
(Newser) - Critics weren’t wowed by last night’s debut of Late Night With Jimmy Fallon—but they were willing to cut Jimmy some slack for his “opening-night nerves.” Still, some noted, the show didn’t make good on its promise to be different.
  • “A typically stiff
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
late night talk show • reviews • Late Night • Jimmy Fallon

tv review

 Disney Kidcom 
 Screams Miley 
 Ripoff 


Feb 7, 09 7:43 PM CST
(Newser) - Still enthralled with Miley Cyrus, Disney is rolling out a so-so show starring its latest "'Hannah'-mannered" glam-girl, Tom Shales writes in the Washington Post. Sonny With a Chance stars Demi Lovato as a comic on an SNL-ish sketch-comedy show. "Not a bad idea in theory," ... More »

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Disney • reviews • sitcom • Demi Lovato

Chiropractor Sues Over Bad Online Review

San Fran libel case could break back
of review sites

Jan 8, 09 8:02 AM CST
(Newser) - A chiropractor's lawsuit has the potential to break the back of the online business-review industry, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. The bone-cracker is suing a client who posted a complaint on review site Yelp that suggested he was dishonest with insurance companies. "I think he is trying to scare... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Internet • free speech • libel • Internet libel • lawsuit • reviews • online review

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