Saturday, December 31, 2011

Catfish in Black Bean Sauce

  • PG-13
  • 119 mins.
  • 2001
In late 2007, filmmakers Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost sensed a story unfolding as they began to film the life of Ariel's brother, Nev. They had no idea that their project would lead to the most exhilarating and unsettling months of their lives. A reality thriller that is a shocking product of our times, Catfish is a riveting story of love, deception and grace within a labyrinth of online intrigue.The slipperiness of truth and lies on the Internet gets played out in unexpected ways in the documentary Catfish. When Nev Schulman receives a painting based on a photograph of his from an 8-year-old girl named Abby in Michigan, he doesn't realize this is going to lead to a long-distance romance with Abby's older sister Megan… and that this romance, conducted over the phone and the Internet, will lead to something far more troubling. It woul! d be unfair to reveal more details of Catfish, as the process of discovery is one of its pleasures--but even if you do know the sequence of events, the movie's ultimate reward is not the revelation of secrets but the surprising and very human interactions of the movie's last third. While there is a thriller aspect to the movie--and the suspense at points is indeed nail biting--the revelation isn't the bang that Hollywood movies lead you to expect. Instead, Catfish turns sad, unsettling, and sure to inspire arguments about motivations and human nature. --Bret FetzerStudio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 01/04/2011 Run time: 88 minutes Rating: Pg13The slipperiness of truth and lies on the Internet gets played out in unexpected ways in the documentary Catfish. When Nev Schulman receives a painting based on a photograph of his from an 8-year-old girl named Abby in Michigan, he doesn't realize this is going to lead to a long-distance romance wi! th Abby's older sister Megan… and that this romance, conduct! ed over the phone and the Internet, will lead to something far more troubling. It would be unfair to reveal more details of Catfish, as the process of discovery is one of its pleasures--but even if you do know the sequence of events, the movie's ultimate reward is not the revelation of secrets but the surprising and very human interactions of the movie's last third. While there is a thriller aspect to the movie--and the suspense at points is indeed nail biting--the revelation isn't the bang that Hollywood movies lead you to expect. Instead, Catfish turns sad, unsettling, and sure to inspire arguments about motivations and human nature. --Bret Fetzer
For years, catfish have taken a backseat to more glamorous species like largemouth bass and walleyes. But times have changed. Today, nearly 10 million anglers wet a line hoping to do battle with a monster cat. Learn how to catch bigger catfish than ever before.

This book is a comprehensive look at the world of ! catfish. Beginning with the biology of catfish, Author Keith Sutton then follows with the where-to and how-to information that will lead to successful fishing. Beyond locating fish and rig & tackle techniques, there's even a section on cleaning and cooking your catfish.

Dwayne and his sister are Vietnamese siblings who were adopted by an African-American couple. Now in their mid-20s, they both have chosen different paths, but when they learn that their biological mother is coming to Los Angeles, they eagerly await the reunion. This drama is both funny and moving in an emotionally rewarding journey through the tapestry of one group of immigrants searching for what it means to call themselves a family.

Down with Love (Widescreen Edition)

  • 2003 - Down With Love - DVD Video
  • Renee Zellweger, Ewan McGregor, Tony Randall
  • Widescreen Edition - Rated PG-13
  • New - With Bonus Features -
  • Collectible
Renee Zellweger (Chicago) and Ewan McGregor (Moulin Rouge) are the toast of the town in the most stylish romantic comedy of the year! From the producers of American Beauty and the director of Bring It On comes a teasing, tantalizing battle of the sexes that is "pure enchantment" (Daily News). When best-selling feminist author Barbara Novak (Zellweger) becomes the target of dashing playboy Catcher Block (McGregor), these sparring, would-be lovers generate enough sparks to fly you to the moon and back. In other words, the ultimate catch has just met his match!The bright, glossy world of Doris Day and Rock Hudson sex comedies gets a self-aware brush-up in Down with Love. Pillow-lipped Renée Zellweger (Ch! icago) plays Barbara Novak, the author of a bestselling book called Down with Love that advises women to focus on their careers and have sex à la carte--just like a man would. Determined to prove that Novak is just as vulnerable to love as any woman, dashingly chauvinist magazine writer Catcher Block (ever-charming Ewan McGregor, Moulin Rouge) pretends to be a courtly astronaut who wouldn't dream of putting his hand on a woman's knee. This piffle of a story seems like nothing more than an excuse for ironic double-entendres and dazzling production design, until a sneaky plot twist suddenly raises the stakes for the movie's end. As he always does, the brilliant David Hyde Pierce (Frasier) scores the most comic points as Block's fussy editor. --Bret Fetzer

Incipio iPhone 4/4S feather Ultralight Hard Shell Case - 1 Pack - Carrying Case - Retail Packaging - Black Absolute

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Boat Trip (R-Rated Edition)

  • Actors: Cuba Gooding Jr., Horatio Sanz, Roselyn Sanchez, Vivica A. Fox, Maurice Godin.
  • Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC.
  • Language: English, Spanish, Swedish.
  • Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only).
  • Not Rated. Run Time: 94 minutes.
Hoping to get his mind off of his ex-girlfriend Felicia heartbroken Jerry decides to join his best friend Nick on a singles cruise for a week of sun and possible romance. But when they find out they've wound up on the wrong cruise all they can think of is how to jump ship! That is until Jerry falls for Gabriella a gorgeous dance instructor who has given up on men and signed up on the cruise to get away from it all. Meanwhile the cruise ship picks up some crash victims who happen to be the Swedish Bikini Tanning Team and things really heat up!System Requirements:Starring: Cuba Gooding Jr. Vivica Fox Horat! io Sanz Victoria Silvstedt Lin Shaye Roselyn Sanchez Roger Moore Directed By: Mort Nathan Running Time: 93 Min. Color Copyright 2003 Artisan EntertainmentFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: NR UPC: 012236142805 Manufacturer No: 14280Cuba Gooding Jr. still has the exuberant energy that won him an Academy Award for Jerry Maguire--though his subsequent career choices have not been so golden. Still, he's a charming fellow, and his charisma makes Boat Trip surprisingly inoffensive, despite its plot: After being dumped by his girlfriend, Jerry (Gooding) sinks into a depressive funk until his buddy Nick (Horatio Sanz) drags him to a singles cruise--not realizing they've been sent on a gay singles cruise by a vengeful travel agent. But Jerry meets Gabrielle (Roselyn Sanchez), a sexy dance instructor, and falls head over heels--but to maintain her trust, he has to pretend to be just another gay guy out for a little sea air. Though thick with gay stereotypes! , Boat Trip actually has a modest gay-men-are-people-to! o theme that makes the movie innocuous fluff. Also featuring Vivica A. Fox, Roger Moore, Will Farrell, and Playboy playmate Victoria Silvstedt. --Bret FetzerTWO BEST BUDDIES WHOSE LOVE LIVES HAVE HIT ROCK BOTTOM, ONE HAVING JUST VOMITED ALL OVER HIS FIANCE ON A HOT AIR BALLOONTRIP AS HE PROPOSED TO HER. TO ESCAPE THEIR TROUBLES & FIND WOMEN, THEY BOOK A CRUISE, THE AGENT PLAYS A HORRID TRICK ONTHEM & BOOKS THEM ON A GAY CRUISE.Cuba Gooding Jr. still has the exuberant energy that won him an Academy Award for Jerry Maguire--though his subsequent career choices have not been so golden. Still, he's a charming fellow, and his charisma makes Boat Trip surprisingly inoffensive, despite its plot: After being dumped by his girlfriend, Jerry (Gooding) sinks into a depressive funk until his buddy Nick (Horatio Sanz) drags him to a singles cruise--not realizing they've been sent on a gay singles cruise by a vengeful travel agent. But Jerry meets Gabrielle (Roselyn Sanchez! ), a sexy dance instructor, and falls head over heels--but to maintain her trust, he has to pretend to be just another gay guy out for a little sea air. Though thick with gay stereotypes, Boat Trip actually has a modest gay-men-are-people-too theme that makes the movie innocuous fluff. Also featuring Vivica A. Fox, Roger Moore, Will Farrell, and Playboy playmate Victoria Silvstedt. --Bret Fetzer

Foxy Brown

  • Used - Like New
Set in modern day Britain, Harry Brown follow's one man's journey through a chaotic world where drugs are the currency of the day and guns run the streets. A modest law-abiding citizen, Harry Brown is a retired Marine and a widower who lives alone on a depressed housing estate. His only company is his best friend Leonard (David Bradley). When Leonard is murdered by a gang of thugs, Harry feels compelled to act and is forced to dispense his own brand of justice. As he bids to clean up the run-down estate where he lives, his actions bring him into conflict with the police, led by investigating officer DCI Frampton (Emily Mortimer) and Charlie Creed-Miles. With its themes of rampant urban decay and crime, mistreatment of the elderly, and vigilantism, Harry Brown will inevitably be compared to earlier movies from Death Wish to Gran Torino. The compariso! ns are apt, but with the able assistance of Michael Caine in the title role, director Daniel Barber and screenwriter Gary Young's tale stands on its own, grimly but compellingly. Caine's Harry Brown, a retiree and former marine, lives alone in a flat in a decrepit London council estate, spending his time visiting his comatose wife in the hospital, playing chess at the local pub with his only friend (David Bradley), and gazing out at the quotidian violence and drug dealing carried out with virtual impunity by the insolent young thugs and lowlifes on the estate grounds. It's a lonely existence that only gets sadder when his wife dies and his pal is murdered; and when the police inform him that nailing those responsible will be next to impossible, Harry turns dirty. His first killing is in self-defense, but once he gets hold of a gun (obtained from a dealer-junkie in a nightmarishly vivid scene), it is on, as our "vigilante pensioner" takes no prisoners in his pursuit o! f street justice. The cops, who are mostly depicted as clueles! s and th oroughly inept, assume the local gangs are responsible; only Detective Inspector Alice Frampton (Emily Mortimer), about the only one with a brain and a heart, suspects Harry, and she plays an important role as the film careens towards its operatically brutal climax. The scenes of violence are intense but very well staged, and the film's overall look and downbeat color palette effectively convey the sense of squalid hopelessness permeating this stratum of British existence. Harry Brown isn't a lot of fun, but it will stick with you. --Sam GrahamSet in modern day Britain, Harry Brown follow's one man's journey through a chaotic world where drugs are the currency of the day and guns run the streets. A modest law-abiding citizen, Harry Brown is a retired Marine and a widower who lives alone on a depressed housing estate. His only company is his best friend Leonard (David Bradley). When Leonard is murdered by a gang of thugs, Harry feels compelled to act and ! is forced to dispense his own brand of justice. As he bids to clean up the run-down estate where he lives, his actions bring him into conflict with the police, led by investigating officer DCI Frampton (Emily Mortimer) and Charlie Creed-Miles. With its themes of rampant urban decay and crime, mistreatment of the elderly, and vigilantism, Harry Brown will inevitably be compared to earlier movies from Death Wish to Gran Torino. The comparisons are apt, but with the able assistance of Michael Caine in the title role, director Daniel Barber and screenwriter Gary Young's tale stands on its own, grimly but compellingly. Caine's Harry Brown, a retiree and former marine, lives alone in a flat in a decrepit London council estate, spending his time visiting his comatose wife in the hospital, playing chess at the local pub with his only friend (David Bradley), and gazing out at the quotidian violence and drug dealing carried out with virtual impunity by the insole! nt young thugs and lowlifes on the estate grounds. It's a lone! ly exist ence that only gets sadder when his wife dies and his pal is murdered; and when the police inform him that nailing those responsible will be next to impossible, Harry turns dirty. His first killing is in self-defense, but once he gets hold of a gun (obtained from a dealer-junkie in a nightmarishly vivid scene), it is on, as our "vigilante pensioner" takes no prisoners in his pursuit of street justice. The cops, who are mostly depicted as clueless and thoroughly inept, assume the local gangs are responsible; only Detective Inspector Alice Frampton (Emily Mortimer), about the only one with a brain and a heart, suspects Harry, and she plays an important role as the film careens towards its operatically brutal climax. The scenes of violence are intense but very well staged, and the film's overall look and downbeat color palette effectively convey the sense of squalid hopelessness permeating this stratum of British existence. Harry Brown isn't a lot of fun, but it w! ill stick with you. --Sam GrahamUnited Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada: LANGUAGES: English ( Dolby Digital 5.1 ), English ( Subtitles ), ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN (2.35:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Anamorphic Widescreen, Cast/Crew Interview(s), Commentary, Deleted Scenes, Interactive Menu, Music Video, Scene Access, SYNOPSIS: Set in modern-day Britain, Harry Brown follows one man's (Sir Michael Caine) journey through a chaotic world where drugs are the currency of the day and guns run the streets. A modest law-abiding citizen, Harry Brown is a retired Marine and a widower who lives alone on a depressed housing estate. His only company is his best friend Leonard (David Bradley). When Leonard is murdered by a gang of thugs, Harry feels compelled to act and is forced to dispense his own brand of justice. As he bids to clean up the run-down estate where he lives, his a! ctions bring him into conflict with the police, led by investi! gating o fficer DCI Frampton (Emily Mortimer) and Sergeant Hickock (Charlie Creed-Miles). ...Harry BrownShe's brown sugar and spice...and if you don't watch it, she'll put you on ice! Delivering a performance worthy of "the Queen of the genre" (Los Angeles Times), Grier portrays one of the screens first action heroines with humor, sensitivity and steely determination. This electrifying revenge thriller explodes with all the sex appeal and cooler-than-cool attitude of its irresistible leading lady. Foxy Brown (Grier) has found her soulmate in an undercover narcotics investigator, but when he is brutally murdered, she swears vengeance against the crime ring responsible. Posing asa call girl to gain access to the ring's inner circle, Foxy discovers just how high the corruption extends, igniting a blistering war that takes her from the city streets to a remote drug laboratory to a breathtaking midair battle behind the controls of an airplane! But the most startling confrontations are ye! t to come as she schemes to bring down her boyfriend's killers in ways they never could have imagined.Pam Grier, the voluptuous queen of blaxploitation movies (and the foxy title character of Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown) reigns supreme in this kick-ass action flick. Bodacious nurse Foxy takes the law into her own hands after her main squeeze is murdered in cold blood. The standard revenge plot of Foxy Brown moves along on fast-forward, and the violence ratio (some of it quite gruesome) is high. Director Jack Hill, a master of the low-budget drive-in movie (Switchblade Sisters), made Coffy with Pam Grier the year before. This one's not quite as much fun, but it is decidedly kinkier, and the parade of 1970s fashion crimes is mind expanding. At one crucial moment Foxy saves herself by pulling a concealed revolver out of her mighty Afro--absolutely one of the high points of blaxploitation cinema. --Robert Horton Pam Grier, the voluptuous ! queen of blaxploitation movies (and the foxy title character o! f Quenti n Tarantino's Jackie Brown) reigns supreme in this kick-ass action flick. Bodacious nurse Foxy takes the law into her own hands after her main squeeze is murdered in cold blood. The standard revenge plot of Foxy Brown moves along on fast-forward, and the violence ratio (some of it quite gruesome) is high. Director Jack Hill, a master of the low-budget drive-in movie (Switchblade Sisters), made Coffy with Pam Grier the year before. This one's not quite as much fun, but it is decidedly kinkier, and the parade of 1970s fashion crimes is mind expanding. At one crucial moment Foxy saves herself by pulling a concealed revolver out of her mighty Afro--absolutely one of the high points of blaxploitation cinema. --Robert Horton

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Drive Me Crazy (Simon Romantic Comedies)

  • ISBN13: 9781416974840
  • Condition: New
  • Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Opposites attract with irresistible force in this fresh, funny, feel-good comedy about two mismatched teens who scheme to make their ex's jealous. Melissa Joan Hart (TV's "Sabrina the Teenage Witch") is "picture perfect" (CBS-TV, Fort Worth) as a peppy preppy who performs the ultimate makeover on her scruffy next-door neighbor (Adrian Grenier) - and discovers this former "frog" was a prince all along! With a screenplay by Rob Thomas (Dawson's Creek), a cast featuring today's hottest young stars, plus the smash hit songs "Crazy" (Britney Spears), and "I Want It That Way" (Backstreet Boys), "Drive Me Crazy" is "worth celebrating!" (Detroit Free Press)This conflicted teen comedy can't decide what it wants! to be. Is Drive Me Crazy a mainstream piffle about a popular girl who turns her grungy next-door neighbor into a dream date? Or is it a sneaky critique of high school conformity? Melissa Joan Hart (TV's Sabrina, the Teenage Witch) is angling to get asked to an upcoming dance by a basketball star, but when her plans go awry, she turns to a childhood friend (Adrian Grenier from The Adventures of Sebastian Cole) in the hopes of avoiding total humiliation. Grenier wants to win back his recently lost girlfriend, so he agrees to Hart's total makeover plan to induce jealousy. Naturally, the scam turns into something sparky. Teen flicks always make things too glossy and upscale, but Drive Me Crazy somehow fumbles its design and ends up looking false and square. The movie initially presents Grenier's transformation as unqualified good, with no sense that anything he was doing before--political protests, alternative music, rebellious pranks--had any valu! e. But as the plot unfolds, a few barbed twists undercut the g! ood chee r, sneakily commenting on school spirit and popularity. These themes wrestle uncomfortably with the movie's production values, resulting in a curiously provocative jumble. This confusion is probably why the movie was only a modest success in theaters, but it's actually what makes Drive Me Crazy worth looking at now. --Bret FetzerThis conflicted teen comedy can't decide what it wants to be. Is Drive Me Crazy a mainstream piffle about a popular girl who turns her grungy next-door neighbor into a dream date? Or is it a sneaky critique of high school conformity? Melissa Joan Hart (TV's Sabrina, the Teenage Witch) is angling to get asked to an upcoming dance by a basketball star, but when her plans go awry, she turns to a childhood friend (Adrian Grenier from The Adventures of Sebastian Cole) in the hopes of avoiding total humiliation. Grenier wants to win back his recently lost girlfriend, so he agrees to Hart's total makeover plan to induce j! ealousy. Naturally, the scam turns into something sparky. Teen flicks always make things too glossy and upscale, but Drive Me Crazy somehow fumbles its design and ends up looking false and square. The movie initially presents Grenier's transformation as unqualified good, with no sense that anything he was doing before--political protests, alternative music, rebellious pranks--had any value. But as the plot unfolds, a few barbed twists undercut the good cheer, sneakily commenting on school spirit and popularity. These themes wrestle uncomfortably with the movie's production values, resulting in a curiously provocative jumble. This confusion is probably why the movie was only a modest success in theaters, but it's actually what makes Drive Me Crazy worth looking at now. --Bret FetzerDisc 1: BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (MOVIE) Disc 2: DRIVE ME CRAZYThis conflicted teen comedy can't decide what it wants to be. Is Drive Me Crazy a mainstream piffle about! a popular girl who turns her grungy next-door neighbor into a! dream d ate? Or is it a sneaky critique of high school conformity? Melissa Joan Hart (TV's Sabrina, the Teenage Witch) is angling to get asked to an upcoming dance by a basketball star, but when her plans go awry, she turns to a childhood friend (Adrian Grenier from The Adventures of Sebastian Cole) in the hopes of avoiding total humiliation. Grenier wants to win back his recently lost girlfriend, so he agrees to Hart's total makeover plan to induce jealousy. Naturally, the scam turns into something sparky. Teen flicks always make things too glossy and upscale, but Drive Me Crazy somehow fumbles its design and ends up looking false and square. The movie initially presents Grenier's transformation as unqualified good, with no sense that anything he was doing before--political protests, alternative music, rebellious pranks--had any value. But as the plot unfolds, a few barbed twists undercut the good cheer, sneakily commenting on school spirit and popularity. The! se themes wrestle uncomfortably with the movie's production values, resulting in a curiously provocative jumble. This confusion is probably why the movie was only a modest success in theaters, but it's actually what makes Drive Me Crazy worth looking at now. --Bret FetzerThis conflicted teen comedy can't decide what it wants to be. Is Drive Me Crazy a mainstream piffle about a popular girl who turns her grungy next-door neighbor into a dream date? Or is it a sneaky critique of high school conformity? Melissa Joan Hart (TV's Sabrina, the Teenage Witch) is angling to get asked to an upcoming dance by a basketball star, but when her plans go awry, she turns to a childhood friend (Adrian Grenier from The Adventures of Sebastian Cole) in the hopes of avoiding total humiliation. Grenier wants to win back his recently lost girlfriend, so he agrees to Hart's total makeover plan to induce jealousy. Naturally, the scam turns into something sparky. ! Teen flicks always make things too glossy and upscale, but ! Drive Me Crazy somehow fumbles its design and ends up looking false and square. The movie initially presents Grenier's transformation as unqualified good, with no sense that anything he was doing before--political protests, alternative music, rebellious pranks--had any value. But as the plot unfolds, a few barbed twists undercut the good cheer, sneakily commenting on school spirit and popularity. These themes wrestle uncomfortably with the movie's production values, resulting in a curiously provocative jumble. This confusion is probably why the movie was only a modest success in theaters, but it's actually what makes Drive Me Crazy worth looking at now. --Bret FetzerAn irresistible cast of Hollywood's young faces star in this fun, sexy comedy hit about the power of attraction and the pressures of popularity! Stung when his bombshell girlfriend abruptly dumps him for a TV celebrity, big man on campus Zack Siler (Freddie Prinze Jr., SCOOBY-DOO, BOYS AND GIRLS, DOWN T! O YOU) wagers with a classmate he can quickly turn any girl -- even the school's biggest geek, Laney Boggs (Rachel Leigh Cook, TEXAS RANGERS, JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS) -- into the prom queen! He wasn't, however, betting on falling in love! After an amazing makeover, Laney is transformed from nobody to knockout ... but when she learns of Zack's deception, it could ruin any chance he had with his newfound dream girl! With a hip, modern soundtrack and a hilarious story that audiences loved, this great comedy is all that ... and more!This charming update of Pygmalion (by way of the John Hughes oeuvre, most notably Pretty in Pink) rode the crest of the late-'90s wave of immensely popular teen films (Varsity Blues, etc.), thanks primarily to the immense charisma of its two leads, Freddie Prinze Jr. and Rachael Leigh Cook. When school star Zach (Prinze)--who's a jock, smart, and popular--gets dumped by vacuous Taylor (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe) after spring brea! k, he's left dateless for the all-important prom. With a littl! e goadin g from his less-than-sensitive best friend (hunky Paul Walker), he bets that he can make any girl into prom queen a mere eight weeks before the dance. The object of their wager: misfit Laney (Cook), a gawky art student too busy with her paintings and taking care of her brother and dad to worry about school politics. However, after a couple looks from Zach, and a few dates that reveal him to be a hunk of substance, Laney's armor begins to melt--and her stock at school soars. Soon enough, she's the lone candidate for prom queen against the bitchy and relentless Taylor.

What elevates She's All That above the realm of standard teen fare is its mixture of good-natured fairy-tale romance and surprisingly clear-eyed view of high school social strata. The lines of class are demarcated as clearly as if in a Jane Austen novel, but the satire is equally deflating and affectionate. Sure, high school could be bad sometimes, but it was lots of fun too; this is a movie good-nat! ured enough to take time out for an extended hip-hop dance number at the prom. Director Robert Iscove (who also helmed the Brandy-starring TV adaptation of Cinderella) has also assembled a great young cast, including a scene-stealing Anna Paquin as Zach's no-nonsense sister, Kieran Culkin as Laney's geeky brother, and a stupidly goofy Matthew Lillard as a Real World cast member whose arrival shakes things up a little too much. And amidst all the comedy and prom drama, you'd be hard-pressed to find two teen stars as talented, attractive, and appealing as Prinze and Cook. Prinze is an approachable and sensitive jock, though it's Cook who's the true star, investing Laney with confidence, humor, and heart. Like Zach, you'll be hard-pressed not to fall in love with her. By the story's end, both Cook and the film will have charmed the socks off of you. --Mark EnglehartIn Drive Me Crazy, Kate, Sierra, and Alexis kick off the summer with a! n unforgettable road trip. But when Adam, Alexis’s cousin, h! appens t o tag along, it could mean jeopardy for the all-girls trip. Adam turns out okay, and Kate even takes a liking to him. So what does this mean for Lucas, the boy Kate was driving out to see? In Love Off-Limits, Natalie has the perfect boyfriend, or so everyone thinks. But Natalie knows she wants more. When she discovers that more equals Matt, her boyfriend’s best friend, Natalie finds herself in quite the dilemma.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Gomorrah: A Personal Journey into the Violent International Empire of Naples' Organized Crime System

Die Hard Trilogy Includes Die Hard,Die Hard 2 Die Harder,and Die Hard With a Vengeance

  • DIE HARD
  • DIE HARD 2 DIE HARDER
  • DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE
  • BRUCE WILLIS
Die Hard
Bruce Willis stars as New York City Detective John McClane, newly arrived in Los Angeles to spend the Christmas holiday with his estranged wife (Bonnie Bedelia). But as Mclane waits for his wife's office party to break up, terrorist take control of the building. While the terrorist leader, Hans gruber (Alexander Godunov) round up hostages, McClane slips away unnoticed. Armed with only a service revolver and his cunning, McClane launches his own one-man war. A crackling thriller from beginning to end, Die Hard explodes with heart-stopping suspense.

Die Hard 2
Bruce Willis returns as the heroic cop who battles not only terrorists, but also an incompetent airport police chief (Dennis Franz), the hard-headed commander (John Amos) of the Army's anti-terro! rist squad and a deadly winter snowstorm. The runways are littered with death and destruction, and McClane is in a race against time. His wife (Bonnie Bedelia) is trapped on one of the planes circling overhead, which is desperately low on fuel. It's all-out war, a heart-stopping, jet-propelled journey filled with excitement and terror. Fasten your seat belts!

Die Hard 3
The third installment of the hugely succesful Die Hard series, reteams Bruce Willis and director John McTiernan in a new action/adventure extravaganza of special effects, unexpected comedy and non-stop thrills.

Live Free or Die Hard
"The best of the best is back and better than ever" (WNYW-TV) in the latest installment of the pulse-pounding, thrill-a-minute Die Hard action films. New York City detective John McClane (Bruce Willis) delivers old-school justice to a new breed of terrorists when a massive computer attack on the U.S. infrastructure threatens t! o shut down the entire country over Independence Day weekend.Die Ha rd is the movie franchise that made a movie star out of TV star Bruce Willis, and created an entire action-movie genre of its own. In the original 1988 film, Willis plays wisecracking New York cop John McClane, who arrives at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles to meet up with his estranged wife, Holly (Bonny Bedelia), at her office Christmas party. As luck would have it, the company ends up in the middle of a terrorist plot led by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) and his gang of expert killers, and with little help coming from outside, McClane has to pick off his enemies one by one. Thus was born the "Die Hard genre," epitomized by such films as Under Siege ("Die Hard on a ship"), Passenger 57 ("Die Hard on a plane"), Speed ("Die Hard on a bus"), and Cliffhanger ("Die Hard on a mountain"). But few measure up to the explosive brilliance of Die Hard. Director John McTiernan develops the action at a fast and fur! ious pace, culminating in some fantastic set-pieces on the top of the building, in the elevator shaft, and in the building's outer plaza. Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza's script, based on Roderick Thorp's novel Nothing Lasts Forever, is smart, funny, and full of memorable lines (among them "Welcome to the party, pal!" and of course "Yippee ki-ay, motherf*****"), and the cast is perfection, especially Rickman as the cunningly evil villain, and Willis, whose McClane character--bloodied, beaten, bruised, and barely breathing, as he battles both bad guys and bureaucrats--is someone audiences could genuinely cheer for.

Directed by Renny Harlin, the 1990 sequel, Die Hard 2 (unofficially referred to as Die Harder), doesn't match the level of the original, but it's still an exciting thrill ride with some terrific action sequences. One year after the Nakatomi incident, McClane (Willis) is awaiting his wife's (Bedelia) plane to arrive at Dulles Airport whe! n he stumbles onto a plot to paralyze the entire airport, incl! uding al l the planes trying to land. It's up to McClane to take on the cadre of bad guys despite all the bureaucrats standing in his way, and before the planes run out of fuel and crash to the ground. The cast includes William Sadler as rogue military man Col. Stuart, Dennis Franz as the latest bureaucratic cop to get in McClane's way, Richard Thornburg as the annoying reporter from the original movie, John Amos as a special-forces commander, early-in-their-career John Leguizamo and Robert Patrick as terrorists, and future politician and Law and Order actor Fred Thompson as the head of air traffic control.

The third film in the series, Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995), was again directed by John McTiernan and uses a different concept. The villain (played by Jeremy Irons) claims to have planted bombs all over New York City and gives John McClane (Willis), now alchoholic and separated, a series of clues to try to track them down. Along the way, he's aided by, ! and eventually teams up with, a Harlem shopkeeper named Zeus Carver (Samuel L. Jackson). The interplay between Willis and Jackson is engaging, but better suited to the Lethal Weapon franchise it was previously considered for, and not till the end does the movie return to the familiar McClane-vs.-villains-showdown format.

Twelve years after Die Hard with a Vengeance, the third and previous film in the Die Hard franchise, Live Free or Die Hard finds John McClane (Bruce Willis) a few years older, not any happier, and just as kick-ass as ever. Right after he has a fight with his college-age daughter (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), a call comes in to pick up a hacker (Justin Long, a.k.a. the "Apple guy") who might help the FBI learn something about a brief security blip in their systems. Now any Die Hard fan knows that this is when the assassins with foreign accents and high-powered weaponry show up, telling McClane that once again he's s! tumbled into an assignment that's anything but routine. Once t! hat wrec kage has cleared, it is revealed that the hacker is only one of many hackers who are being targeted for extermination after they helped set up a "fire sale," a three-pronged cyberattack designed to bring down the entire country by crippling its transportation, finances, and utilities. That plan is now being put into action by a mysterious team (Timothy Olyphant, Deadwood, and Maggie Q, Mission: Impossible 3) that seems to be operating under the government's noses.

Live Free or Die Hard uses some of the cat-and-mouse elements of Die Hard with a Vengeance along with some of the pick-'em-off-one-by-one elements of the now-classic original movie. And it's the most consistently enjoyable installment of the franchise since the original, with eye-popping stunts (directed by Len Wiseman of the Underworld franchise), good humor, and Willis's ability to toss off a quip while barely alive. There was some controversy over the film's PG-13 ra! ting--there might be less blood than usual, and McClane's famous tag line is somewhat obscured--but there's still has plenty of action and a high body count. Yippee-ki-ay! --David HoriuchiContains: *Die Hard *Die Hard Bonus Disc *Die Hard 2: Die Harder *Die Hard 2: Die Harder Bonus Disc *Die Hard: With a Vengeance *Die Hard: With a Vengeance Bonus DiscDie Hard is the movie franchise that made a movie star out of TV star Bruce Willis, and created an entire action-movie genre of its own. In the original 1988 film, Willis plays wisecracking New York cop John McClane, who arrives at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles to meet up with his estranged wife, Holly (Bonny Bedelia), at her office Christmas party. As luck would have it, the company ends up in the middle of a terrorist plot led by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) and his gang of expert killers, and with little help coming from outside, McClane has to pick off his enemies one by one. Thus was born the "Die Hard genre," epitomized by such films as Under Siege ("Die Ha rd on a ship"), Passenger 57 ("Die Hard on a plane"), Speed ("Die Hard on a bus"), and Cliffhanger ("Die Hard on a mountain"). But few measure up to the explosive brilliance of Die Hard. Director John McTiernan develops the action at a fast and furious pace, culminating in some fantastic set-pieces on the top of the building, in the elevator shaft, and in the building's outer plaza. Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza's script, based on Roderick Thorp's novel Nothing Lasts Forever, is smart, funny, and full of memorable lines (among them "Welcome to the party, pal!" and of course "Yippee ki-ay, motherf*****"), and the cast is perfection, especially Rickman as the cunningly evil villain, and Willis, whose McClane character--bloodied, beaten, bruised, and barely breathing, as he battles both bad guys and bureaucrats--is someone audiences could genuinely cheer for.

Directed by Renny Harlin, the 1990 sequel, Die H! ard 2 (unofficially referred to as Die Harder), doesn't match the level of the original, but it's still an exciting thrill ride with some terrific action sequences. One year after the Nakatomi incident, McClane (Willis) is awaiting his wife's (Bedelia) plane to arrive at Dulles Airport when he stumbles onto a plot to paralyze the entire airport, including all the planes trying to land. It's up to McClane to take on the cadre of bad guys despite all the bureaucrats standing in his way, and before the planes run out of fuel and crash to the ground. The cast includes William Sadler as rogue military man Col. Stuart, Dennis Franz as the latest bureaucratic cop to get in McClane's way, Richard Thornburg as the annoying reporter from the original movie, John Amos as a special-forces commander, early-in-their-career John Leguizamo and Robert Patrick as terrorists, and future politician and Law and Order actor Fred Thompson as the head of air traffic control.

! The third film in the series, Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995) , was again directed by John McTiernan and uses a different concept. The villain (played by Jeremy Irons) claims to have planted bombs all over New York City and gives John McClane (Willis), now alchoholic and separated, a series of clues to try to track them down. Along the way, he's aided by, and eventually teams up with, a Harlem shopkeeper named Zeus Carver (Samuel L. Jackson). The interplay between Willis and Jackson is engaging, but better suited to the Lethal Weapon franchise it was previously considered for, and not till the end does the movie return to the familiar McClane-vs.-villains-showdown format.

Twelve years after Die Hard with a Vengeance, the third and previous film in the Die Hard franchise, Live Free or Die Hard finds John McClane (Bruce Willis) a few years older, not any happier, and just as kick-ass as ever. Right after he has a fight with his college-age daughter (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), a call comes in to pick up a hacker (! Justin Long, a.k.a. the "Apple guy") who might help the FBI learn something about a brief security blip in their systems. Now any Die Hard fan knows that this is when the assassins with foreign accents and high-powered weaponry show up, telling McClane that once again he's stumbled into an assignment that's anything but routine. Once that wreckage has cleared, it is revealed that the hacker is only one of many hackers who are being targeted for extermination after they helped set up a "fire sale," a three-pronged cyberattack designed to bring down the entire country by crippling its transportation, finances, and utilities. That plan is now being put into action by a mysterious team (Timothy Olyphant, Deadwood, and Maggie Q, Mission: Impossible 3) that seems to be operating under the government's noses. Live Free or Die Hard uses some of the cat-and-mouse elements of Die Hard with a Vengeance along with some of the pick-'em-off-one-by-one! elements of the now-classic original movie. And it's the most! consist ently enjoyable installment of the franchise since the original, with eye-popping stunts (directed by Len Wiseman of the Underworld franchise), good humor, and Willis's ability to toss off a quip while barely alive. There was some controversy over the film's PG-13 rating--there might be less blood than usual, and McClane's famous tag line is somewhat obscured--but there's still has plenty of action and a high body count. Yippee-ki-ay! --David HoriuchiThe third installment of the hugely succesful Die Hard series, reteams Bruce Willis and director John McTiernan in a new action/adventure extravaganza of special effects, unexpected comedy and non-stop thrills.The second sequel to the mold-making action film Die Hard brings Detective John McClane (Bruce Willis) to New York City to face a better villain than in Die Hard 2. Played by Jeremy Irons, he's the brother of the Germanic terrorist-thief Alan Rickman played in the original film. But this bad guy! has his sights set higher: on the Federal Reserve's cache of gold. As a distraction, he sets McClane running fool's errands all over New York--and eventually, McClane attracts an unintentional partner, a Harlem dry cleaner (Samuel L. Jackson) with a chip on his shoulder. Some great action sequences, though they can't obscure the rather large plot holes in the film's final 45 minutes. --Marshall FineThe second sequel to the mold-making action film Die Hard brings Detective John McClane (Bruce Willis) to New York City to face a better villain than in Die Hard 2. Played by Jeremy Irons, he's the brother of the Germanic terrorist-thief Alan Rickman played in the original film. But this bad guy has his sights set higher: on the Federal Reserve's cache of gold. As a distraction, he sets McClane running fool's errands all over New York--and eventually, McClane attracts an unintentional partner, a Harlem dry cleaner (Samuel L. Jackson) with a chip on his shoul! der. Some great action sequences, though they can't obscure th! e rather large plot holes in the film's final 45 minutes. --Marshall FineJohn McClane takes on an Internet-based terrorist organization who is systematically shutting down the United States.

Twelve years after Die Hard with a Vengeance, the third and previous film in the Die Hard franchise, Live Free or Die Hard finds John McClane (Bruce Willis) a few years older, not any happier, and just as kick-ass as ever. Right after he has a fight with his college-age daughter (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), a call comes in to pick up a hacker (Justin Long, a.k.a. the "Apple guy") who might help the FBI learn something about a brief security blip in their systems. Now any Die Hard fan knows that this is when the assassins with foreign accents and high-powered weaponry show up, telling McClane that once again he's stumbled into an assignment that's anything but routine. Once that wreckage has cleared, it is revealed that the hacker is only one of many hackers who! are being targeted for extermination after they helped set up a "fire sale," a three-pronged cyberattack designed to bring down the entire country by crippling its transportation, finances, and utilities. That plan is now being put into action by a mysterious team (Timothy Olyphant, Deadwood, and Maggie Q, Mission: Impossible 3) that seems to be operating under the government's noses.

Live Free or Die Hard uses some of the cat-and-mouse elements of Die Hard with a Vengeance along with some of the pick-'em-off-one-by-one elements of the now-classic original movie. And it's the most consistently enjoyable installment of the franchise since the original, with eye-popping stunts (directed by Len Wiseman of the Underworld franchise), good humor, and Willis's ability to toss off a quip while barely alive. There was some controversy over the film's PG-13 rating--there might be less blood than usual, and McClane's famous tag line is somew! hat obscured--but there's still has plenty of action and a hig! h body c ount. Yippee-ki-ay! --David Horiuchi

Beyond Live Free or Die Hard


Live Free or Die Hard on Blu-Ray

Top U.S. Box Office of 2007

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Stills from Live Free or Die Hard (click for larger image)

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Disc 1: **"Die Hard" Widescreen Feature with optional Commentary by director John McTiernan and production designer Jackson DeGovia **Additional scene-specific commentary by special effects supervisor Richard Edlund **Subtitled commentary by various cast and crew **Branching version with the extended power shutdown scene **DVD-ROM - script-to- screen comparison

Disc 2: **"Die Harder" Widescreen Feature **Directors commentary Disc 3: **"Die Hard with a Vengeance" Widescreen Feature **D! irectors commentary

Disc 4 Bonus Disc: **Inside Look: LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD **Wrong Guy, Wrong Place, Wrong Time: A Look Back At Die Hard **The Continuing Adventures of John McClane Die Hard is the movie franchise that made a movie star out of TV star Bruce Willis, and created an entire action-movie genre of its own. In the original 1988 film, Willis plays wisecracking New York cop John McClane, who arrives at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles to meet up with his estranged wife, Holly (Bonny Bedelia), at her office Christmas party. As luck would have it, the company ends up in the middle of a terrorist plot led by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) and his gang of expert killers, and with little help coming from outside, McClane has to pick off his enemies one by one. Thus was born the "Die Hard genre," epitomized by such films as Under Siege ("Die Hard on a ship"), Passenger 57 ("Die Hard on a plane"), Speed ("Die Hard on a ! bus"), and Cliffhanger ("Die Hard on a mountain"). But few measure up to the explosive brilliance of Die Hard. Director John McTiernan develops the action at a fast and furious pace, culminating in some fantastic set-pieces on the top of the building, in the elevator shaft, and in the building's outer plaza. Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza's script, based on Roderick Thorp's novel Nothing Lasts Forever, is smart, funny, and full of memorable lines (among them "Welcome to the party, pal!" and of course "Yippee ki-ay, motherf*****"), and the cast is perfection, especially Rickman as the cunningly evil villain, and Willis, whose McClane character--bloodied, beaten, bruised, and barely breathing, as he battles both bad guys and bureaucrats--is someone audiences could genuinely cheer for.

Directed by Renny Harlin, the 1990 sequel, Die Hard 2 (unofficially referred to as Die Harder), doesn't match the level of the original, but ! it's still an exciting thrill ride with some terrific action s! equences . One year after the Nakatomi incident, McClane (Willis) is awaiting his wife's (Bedelia) plane to arrive at Dulles Airport when he stumbles onto a plot to paralyze the entire airport, including all the planes trying to land. It's up to McClane to take on the cadre of bad guys despite all the bureaucrats standing in his way, and before the planes run out of fuel and crash to the ground. The cast includes William Sadler as rogue military man Col. Stuart, Dennis Franz as the latest bureaucratic cop to get in McClane's way, Richard Thornburg as the annoying reporter from the original movie, John Amos as a special-forces commander, early-in-their-career John Leguizamo and Robert Patrick as terrorists, and future politician and Law and Order actor Fred Thompson as the head of air traffic control.

The third film in the series, Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995), was again directed by John McTiernan and uses a different concept. The villain (played by Jeremy ! Irons) claims to have planted bombs all over New York City and gives John McClane (Willis), now alchoholic and separated, a series of clues to try to track them down. Along the way, he's aided by, and eventually teams up with, a Harlem shopkeeper named Zeus Carver (Samuel L. Jackson). The interplay between Willis and Jackson is engaging, but better suited to the Lethal Weapon franchise it was previously considered for, and not till the end does the movie return to the familiar McClane-vs.-villains-showdown format.

The 2007 Die Hard Collection is a four-disc set that comes up short when compared to the previous six-disc Ultimate Collection , which is now out of print. That 2001 set had two discs for each film (plus, Die Hard was a Five Star Collection release). This set does away with all of the second discs, though it retains the features that were on the movie-only discs, including director commentaries and the seamlessly branched ver! sion of the first film with a scene added back in. There's al! so a bra nd-new fourth disc, but it's pretty minor. "Wrong Guy, Wrong Place, Wrong Time" is a 40-minute retrospective of the original movie. Wide-ranging but rather dull, it collects interviews with director John McTiernan, cinematographer Jan De Bont, screenwriters Jeb Stuart and Steven E. De Souza, other crew, and actors Reginald Veljohnson, Hart Bochner, and William Atherton. Also from 2007, "The Continuing Adventures of John McClane" looks at the second and third movies in the series. It's a mere 13 minutes and only interviews the two directors, Renny Harlin and (in new and old footage) John McTiernan. Last, three trailers for the 2007 film, Live Free or Die Hard, make this set look like something that was released merely to have something on the shelves while the new film was in theaters. --David HoriuchiThe third installment of the hugely succesful Die Hard series, reteams Bruce Willis and director John McTiernan in a new action/adventure extravaganza of speci! al effects, unexpected comedy and non-stop thrills.The second sequel to the mold-making action film Die Hard brings Detective John McClane (Bruce Willis) to New York City to face a better villain than in Die Hard 2. Played by Jeremy Irons, he's the brother of the Germanic terrorist-thief Alan Rickman played in the original film. But this bad guy has his sights set higher: on the Federal Reserve's cache of gold. As a distraction, he sets McClane running fool's errands all over New York--and eventually, McClane attracts an unintentional partner, a Harlem dry cleaner (Samuel L. Jackson) with a chip on his shoulder. Some great action sequences, though they can't obscure the rather large plot holes in the film's final 45 minutes. --Marshall FineThe second sequel to the mold-making action film Die Hard brings Detective John McClane (Bruce Willis) to New York City to face a better villain than in Die Hard 2. Played by Jeremy Irons, he's the broth! er of the Germanic terrorist-thief Alan Rickman played in the ! original film. But this bad guy has his sights set higher: on the Federal Reserve's cache of gold. As a distraction, he sets McClane running fool's errands all over New York--and eventually, McClane attracts an unintentional partner, a Harlem dry cleaner (Samuel L. Jackson) with a chip on his shoulder. Some great action sequences, though they can't obscure the rather large plot holes in the film's final 45 minutes. --Marshall FineDIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE - DVD MovieThe second sequel to the mold-making action film Die Hard brings Detective John McClane (Bruce Willis) to New York City to face a better villain than in Die Hard 2. Played by Jeremy Irons, he's the brother of the Germanic terrorist-thief Alan Rickman played in the original film. But this bad guy has his sights set higher: on the Federal Reserve's cache of gold. As a distraction, he sets McClane running fool's errands all over New York--and eventually, McClane attracts an unintentional partner, a Harl! em dry cleaner (Samuel L. Jackson) with a chip on his shoulder. Some great action sequences, though they can't obscure the rather large plot holes in the film's final 45 minutes. --Marshall FineThe second sequel to the mold-making action film Die Hard brings Detective John McClane (Bruce Willis) to New York City to face a better villain than in Die Hard 2. Played by Jeremy Irons, he's the brother of the Germanic terrorist-thief Alan Rickman played in the original film. But this bad guy has his sights set higher: on the Federal Reserve's cache of gold. As a distraction, he sets McClane running fool's errands all over New York--and eventually, McClane attracts an unintentional partner, a Harlem dry cleaner (Samuel L. Jackson) with a chip on his shoulder. Some great action sequences, though they can't obscure the rather large plot holes in the film's final 45 minutes. --Marshall FineChristmas is not a good time of year in the McClane family. Especia! lly for John McClane, who always happens to be in the wrong pl! ace at t he wrong time. But if it weren't for the heroics of this rugged, resourceful cop, many lives would be lost and megalomaniacal terrorists with various European accents would be having their evil way. In 1988, director John McTiernan and the phenomenal hit Die Hard introduced the world to maverick Sgt. John McClane (Bruce Willis) of the New York Police Department, and in the course of this film and two blockbuster sequels McClane was frantically saving lives, buildings, airports, schools, cities, and even his marriage from the threat of international terrorists, psychopaths, and cagey mercenaries. Now you can watch antihero McClane blast his way through all three movies. Witness his transition from a happy-go-lucky, slightly cranky cop to extremely burnt-out, partially alcoholic cop with a propensity to attract extreme violence and catastrophe. Yet the one thing that always overshadows his character flaws is his uncanny ability to spoil the schemes of stylish villains with sli! ck names such as Hans Gruber (the nasty terrorist from the first film, played to perfection by Alan Rickman). Sit down, pop some corn, grab a bottle of Coca-Cola, and get ready to watch (in any order you please) the Die Hard Trilogy--a must for any action buff or fan of Bruce Willis, who owes his film career to the enduring appeal of these global box-office hits. --Jeremy Storey

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Small Thumb Guard - Children

  • Split Leather
  • Elastic Cloth Backing
  • Closed end for fit and safety
  • Priced per pair
  • Child Size
Sergeant Gerry Boyle (Brendan Gleeson) of Galway is crass and abrasive and interprets the law a bit freely, all to glorious comic effect. Paired with strait-laced American FBI agent Wendell Everett (Don Cheadle), Boyle seeks to solve a couple of murders and disrupt a massive drug shipment in what could have been a trashy fish-out-of-water buddy comedy--but, through a combination of sharp and witty writing, ruthlessly speedy editing, and understated but spot-on performances, The Guard is a marvel of character-based storytelling. Gleeson (28 Days Later, In Bruges) and Cheadle are peerless actors, the kind who rarely star in blockbusters but who bring dynamic life to any scene they're in. The supporting cast is chock-full of off-kilter talent, turning ! even the most incidental role into a memorable character. Writer-director John Michael McDonagh makes a remarkably accomplished feature debut; The Guard moves forward with gripping efficiency, yet every moment seems casual and often beside the point, crammed with colorful language, incidental comedy, and a deliciously eclectic soundtrack. The result is hugely entertaining. One of the best films of 2011. --Bret FetzerAvoid the nasty board chafe and keep your skin protected from the sun when you pull on the O'Neill Men's 24-7 Crew Rash Guard. A loose fit and quick-drying, breathable fabric mean ultimate comfort from your first bottom turn to the last barrel of the day.

Product Features
  • Material: nylon, polyester, spandex
  • Insulation:
  • UPF Rating: 50
  • Recommended Use: surfing, watersports
  • Manufacturer Warranty: 1 year
Made of split leather with an ela! stic cloth backing and closed end for extra fit and safety. Pr! iced per pair.

Hugo Boss Men's Basket Weave Sock, Black, One Size

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Lackawanna Blues

  • Based on the award winning play by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, this poignant and colorful drama tells the inspirational story of a courageous woman, Nanny, whose spirit and strength served as the foundation for a struggling community trying to survive during the segregation era. Starring an exceptional ensemble cast led by Jimmy Smits, Rosie Perez, and Macy Gray, this inspiring drama from HBO Films is
EVE'S BAYOU (SIGNATURE SERIES) - DVD MovieActress Kasi Lemmons made an auspicious debut as a writer and director with this delicately handled, wrenchingly emotional drama, hailed by critic Roger Ebert as one of the best films of 1997. Eve's Bayou begins with ominous narration: "The summer I killed my father, I was 10 years old." From that point the story moves backward in time and memory to Louisiana in 1962, when a young girl named Eve (Jurnee Smollett) witnesses a shocking act on the part of! her womanizing father (Samuel L. Jackson). But what really happened? And can Eve be certain about what she saw when there is more than one interpretation of the facts? Less a mystery than a study of deeply rooted emotions rising to the surface to affect an entire family, the film has the quality of classic Southern literature, with layers of memory unfolding to reveal a carefully guarded truth. --Jeff ShannonActress Kasi Lemmons made an auspicious debut as a writer and director with this delicately handled, wrenchingly emotional drama, hailed by critic Roger Ebert as one of the best films of 1997. Eve's Bayou begins with ominous narration: "The summer I killed my father, I was 10 years old." From that point the story moves backward in time and memory to Louisiana in 1962, when a young girl named Eve (Jurnee Smollett) witnesses a shocking act on the part of her womanizing father (Samuel L. Jackson). But what really happened? And can Eve be certain about what s! he saw when there is more than one interpretation of the facts! ? Less a mystery than a study of deeply rooted emotions rising to the surface to affect an entire family, the film has the quality of classic Southern literature, with layers of memory unfolding to reveal a carefully guarded truth. --Jeff ShannonActress Kasi Lemmons made an auspicious debut as a writer and director with this delicately handled, wrenchingly emotional drama, hailed by critic Roger Ebert as one of the best films of 1997. Eve's Bayou begins with ominous narration: "The summer I killed my father, I was 10 years old." From that point the story moves backward in time and memory to Louisiana in 1962, when a young girl named Eve (Jurnee Smollett) witnesses a shocking act on the part of her womanizing father (Samuel L. Jackson). But what really happened? And can Eve be certain about what she saw when there is more than one interpretation of the facts? Less a mystery than a study of deeply rooted emotions rising to the surface to affect an entire family, the film! has the quality of classic Southern literature, with layers of memory unfolding to reveal a carefully guarded truth. --Jeff ShannonActress Kasi Lemmons made an auspicious debut as a writer and director with this delicately handled, wrenchingly emotional drama, hailed by critic Roger Ebert as one of the best films of 1997. Eve's Bayou begins with ominous narration: "The summer I killed my father, I was 10 years old." From that point the story moves backward in time and memory to Louisiana in 1962, when a young girl named Eve (Jurnee Smollett) witnesses a shocking act on the part of her womanizing father (Samuel L. Jackson). But what really happened? And can Eve be certain about what she saw when there is more than one interpretation of the facts? Less a mystery than a study of deeply rooted emotions rising to the surface to affect an entire family, the film has the quality of classic Southern literature, with layers of memory unfolding to reveal a carefully gu! arded truth. --Jeff ShannonBased on the award winning p! lay by R uben Santiago-Hudson, this poignant and colorful drama tells the inspirational story of a courageous woman, Nanny, whose spirit and strength served as the foundation for a struggling community trying to survive during the segregation era. Starring an exceptional ensemble cast led by Jimmy Smits, Rosie Perez, and Macy Gray, this inspiring drama from HBO Films is a celebration of the good things in life, no matter how tough times may be.

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary:Audio Commentary with director George C. Wolfe and writer Ruben Santiago-Hudson
Deleted Scenes
Featurette

Cool music, a wonderful atmospheric feel, and first-rate performances by a stellar cast distinguish Lackawanna Blues, a 2005, 90-minute film originally broadcast by HBO. Director George C. Wolfe's theater background (as a writer and/or director he's been responsible for The Colored Museum, Jelly's Last Jam, and Bring in Da Noise, Bring in! Da Funk) is apparent; adapted by scriptwriter Ruben Santiago-Hudson from his own autobiographical play, Lackawanna Blues is less a story than a reminiscence, told by a young man (an affecting performance by Marcus Carl Franklin) raised by the indefatigable Rachel "Nanny" Crosby (an equally fine turn by S. Epatha Merkerson, known to many from her role in TV's Law & Order) in that upstate New York town. The focus is on Nanny's rooming house, which is populated by all manner of colorful characters (played by the likes of Macy Gray, Jeffrey Wright, and many others, with Jimmy Smits and Carmen Ejogo as the boy's wayward parents). The roomers include drunks, hustlers, ex-cons, and other shady types, but while plenty of bad stuff goes on, it's all coated with a certain patina of sentiment that tends to minimize the hard realities of life for African Americans in the early 1960s. That's fine; Wolfe, with the help of some superb editing by Brian Kates, gives the f! ilm such a delightful period vibe that it's easy to overlook i! ts few s hortcomings. The music (available on a soundtrack CD), ranging from downhome country blues to uptown swing, jump blues, and more, also makes a major contribution to the delightful diversion that is Lackawanna Blues. --Sam Graham

Boiler Room

  • TESTED
Six students lie dead at the hands of a fellow classmate. In the aftermath an unlikely bond is about to form. Alicia (Busy Philipps "Dawson's Creek") is a Goth misfit who hates the world and everyone in it and may know more about the shooting than she's telling. Deanna (Erika Christensen Swimfan) one of the injured is a classic overachiever confined to a hospital bed. Brought together by fate united by secrets they couldn't be less alike or need each other more.System Requirements:Running Time: 132 Min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: R UPC: 043396018952 Manufacturer No: 01895DVD'SThe intense soundtrack of Boiler Room is a fitting underscore for this movie, which pulses with the vigor of young, rich, amoral men wreaking havoc. This is not the antisocietal havoc of Fight Club, but the more deliberate mayhem that comes from greed run amok. The testosterone-junkie! brokers of J.T. Marlin (the only female in the office is Abby, the receptionist and love interest, played by Nia Long) are out to make the sale, and whether that sale is legal or ethical doesn't matter.

Seth Davis (Giovanni Ribisi) is a 19-year-old college dropout who strives for approval from his father (Ron Rifkin), a judge who is horrified that his son operates a 24-hour illicit casino. When an old friend visits the casino with a fellow broker, Davis is impressed by their wads of money and yellow Ferrari, and decides to join the firm. In no time he's making sales and settling into the groove of the office and all the after-hours perks, but the dream fades when Davis discovers the scam that is making all of the brokers wealthy beyond their dreams.

Borrowing heavily from Wall Street and Glengarry Glen Ross, Boiler Room is at its best when dealing with matters of money, and powerful scenes of Davis learning to be a "closer" showcase the signifi! cant talent of Ribisi, Nicky Katt, and Vin Diesel. The movie f! lounders when developing the relationship between Davis and his father, becoming sentimental and trite. However, as a fable of modern society and a nostalgic vehicle about the days of yuppies past, Boiler Room is right on the money. --Jenny Brown

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Bloodrayne (Unrated Director's Cut)

Saturday, December 3, 2011

The Girl from Purple Mountain: Love, Honor, War, and One Family's Journey from China to America

  • ISBN13: 9780312302702
  • Condition: New
  • Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
A family memoir set against the shifting tides of twentieth-century China, The Girl from Purple Mountain begins with a mystery: the Chai family matriarch, Ruth Mei-en Tsao Chai, dies unexpectedly and her grieving husband discovers that she had secretly arranged to be buried aloneâ€"rather than in the shared plots they had purchased together years ago.

For many years, Ruth's family remained shocked by her decision and could not begin to fathom her motivations. Over time, they would fully understand her extraordinary story. Ruth was born in China at the beginning of the 20th century, during the reign of the last emperor. Educated by American missionaries, she was one of the first wome! n admitted into a Chinese university, during an era when most Chinese women were illiterate and had bound feet. She would defy tradition and refuse to marry the man her family had chosen for her, instead choosing his younger brother as her husband. Later, as the Japanese Army advanced across China during World War II, her foresight and quick thinking kept her family alive as she, her husband, and their three sons were forced to flee from city to city. In war-torn Chungking, she was Lady Mountbatten's interpreter as the Allies struggled to help China. After the war, the Chais immigrated to the U.S. to what seemed, until Ruth's death, a happier and more peaceful life.

In this extraordinary family epic, Ruth's first-born son, Winberg, and his daughter May-lee explore family history to reconstruct her life as they seek to understand her fateful decision. As Winberg writes: "It is my duty to try to understand my mother, to seek answers. To ignore the past is too much lik! e forgetting . . . I hope my memories are enough to fulfill a ! son's ob ligations."

Dear Wendy

Heaven's Prisoners

  • A Vietnam vet/ex-detective leaves New Orleans with his wife for a quieter life in Louisiana's bayou. However, a plane crash on the Gulf gets him involved in the world of murder and deception.Running Time: 106 min. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: R Age: 794043672521 UPC: 794043672521 Manufacturer No: N6725
A Vietnam vet/ex-detective leaves New Orleans with his wife for a quieter life in Louisiana's bayou. However, a plane crash on the Gulf gets him involved in the world of murder and deception.When he emerged from film school in the mid-1980s, director Phil Joanou was touted as the next Steven Spielberg, perhaps because Spielberg took him on as a protégé briefly. Since then, it's been "Phil who?" thanks to a series of mediocre thrillers like this one. Based on one of a series of novels by James Lee Burke about a troubled ex-cop named Dave Robicheaux, this film sat on the shelf fo! r a couple of years before finally being released in 1995. Alec Baldwin plays Robicheaux, a recovering alcoholic who has put life on the New Orleans police department behind him--until a plane crashes in the lake next to his house. He rescues a young Central American girl from the wreck and adopts her--and winds up involved in a gumbo of drug running and dirty dealing involving an old pal named Bubba. Tip-off that this movie should have gone straight to video: Bubba is played by Eric Roberts. Redeeming feature (at least for men, who are all dogs, as everyone knows): a Teri Hatcher nude scene. --Marshall Fine

Armageddon

  • When an asteroid the size of Texas is headed for Earth, the worlds best deep core drilling team is sent to nuke the rock from the inside.Starring: Ben Affleck, Steve Buscemi, Keith David, Will Patton, PeterStormare, Billy Bob Thornton, Liv Tyler, and Bruce Willis.Directed By: Michael BayRunning Time: 2 hrs. 31 mins.This film is presented in "Widescreen" format.Copyright 1999 Buena Vista Format
From the blockbuster-making team who produced and directed PEARL HARBOR and THE ROCK (Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay) comes the biggest movie of 1998 -- ARMAGEDDON! Starring the explosive talents of Bruce Willis (DIE HARD), Academy Award(R)-winners Ben Affleck (GOOD WILL HUNTING) and Billy Bob Thornton (SLING BLADE), Liv Tyler (INVENTING THE ABBOTTS), Steve Buscemi (CON AIR), and Will Patton (INVENTING THE ABBOTTS), ARMAGEDDON is a meteor storm of action-adventure moviemaking that has you on the edge! of your seat forgetting to breathe! When NASA's executive director, Dan Truman (Thornton), realizes the Earth has 18 days before it's obliterated by a meteor the size of Texas, he has only one option -- land a ragtag team of roughneck oil drillers on the asteroid and drop a nuclear warhead into its core. Spectacular special effects, laugh-out-loud humor, great characters, riveting storytelling, and heartfelt emotion make ARMAGEDDON an exhilarating thrill ride you'll want to experience like there's no tomorrow.The latest testosterone-saturated blow-'em-up from producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Michael Bay (The Rock, Bad Boys) continues Hollywood's millennium-fueled fascination with the destruction of our planet. There's no arguing that the successful duo understands what mainstream American audiences want in their blockbuster movies--loads of loud, eye-popping special effects, rapid-fire pacing, and patriotic flag waving. Bay's protagonists--the eight c! rude, lewd, oversexed (but lovable, of course) oil drillers su! mmoned t o save the world from a Texas-sized meteor hurling toward the earth--are not flawless heroes, but common men with whom all can relate. In this huge Western-in-space soap opera, they're American cowboys turned astronauts. Sci-fi buffs will appreciate Bay's fetishizing of technology, even though it's apparent he doesn't understand it as anything more than flashing lights and shiny gadgets. Smartly, the duo also tries to lure the art-house crowd, raiding the local indie acting stable and populating the film with guys like Steve Buscemi, Billy Bob Thornton, Owen Wilson, and Michael Duncan, all adding needed touches of humor and charisma. When Bay applies his sledgehammer aesthetics to the action portions of the film, it's mindless fun; it's only when Armageddon tackles humanity that it becomes truly offensive. Not since Mississippi Burning have racial and cultural stereotypes been substituted for characters so blatantly--African Americans, Japanese, Chinese, Scotti! sh, Samoans, Muslims, French ... if it's not white and American, Bay simplifies it. Or, make that white male America; the film features only three notable females--four if you count the meteor, who's constantly referred to as a "bitch that needs drillin'," but she's a hell of a lot more developed and unpredictable than the other women characters combined. Sure, Bay's film creates some tension and contains some visceral moments, but if he can't create any redeemable characters outside of those in space, what's the point of saving the planet? --Dave McCoyThe 1998 testosterone-saturated blow-'em-up from producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Michael Bay (The Rock, Bad Boys) continues Hollywood's millennium-fueled fascination with the destruction of our planet. There's no arguing that the successful duo understands what mainstream American audiences want in their blockbuster movies--loads of loud, eye-popping special effects, rapid- fire pacing, and! patriotic flag waving. Bay's protagonists--the eight crude, l! ewd, ove rsexed (but lovable, of course) oil drillers summoned to save the world from a Texas-sized meteor hurling toward the earth--are not flawless heroes, but common men with whom all can relate. In this huge Western-in-space soap opera, they're American cowboys turned astronauts. Sci-fi buffs will appreciate Bay's fetishizing of technology, even though it's apparent he doesn't understand it as anything more than flashing lights and shiny gadgets. Smartly, the duo also tries to lure the art-house crowd, raiding the local indie acting stable and populating the film with guys like Steve Buscemi, Billy Bob Thornton, Owen Wilson, and Michael Duncan, all adding needed touches of humor and charisma. When Bay applies his sledgehammer aesthetics to the action portions of the film, it's mindless fun; it's only when Armageddon tackles humanity that it becomes truly offensive. Not since Mississippi Burning have racial and cultural stereotypes been substituted for characters so ! blatantly--African Americans, Japanese, Chinese, Scottish, Samoans, Muslims, French ... if it's not white and American, Bay simplifies it. Or, make that white male America; the film features only three notable females--four if you count the meteor, who's constantly referred to as a "bitch that needs drillin'," but she's a hell of a lot more developed and unpredictable than the other women characters combined. Sure, Bay's film creates some tension and contains some visceral moments, but if he can't create any redeemable characters outside of those in space, what's the point of saving the planet? --Dave McCoy

Blood Diamond (Widescreen Edition)

  • An ex-mercenary turned smuggler (Leonardo DiCaprio). A Mende fisherman (Djimon Hounsou). Amid the explosive civil war overtaking 1999 Sierra Leone, these men join for two desperate missions: recovering a rare pink diamond of immense value and rescuing the fisherman's son, conscripted as a child soldier into the brutal rebel forces ripping a swath of torture and bloodshed across the alternately bea
An ex-mercenary turned smuggler (Leonardo DiCaprio). A Mende fisherman (Djimon Hounsou). Amid the explosive civil war overtaking 1999 Sierra Leone, these men join for two desperate missions: recovering a rare pink diamond of immense value and rescuing the fisherman's son, conscripted as a child soldier into the brutal rebel forces ripping a swath of torture and bloodshed across the alternately beautiful and ravaged countryside. Directed by Edward Zwick (Glory, The Last Samurai), this urgent, intense! ly moving adventure shapes gripping human stories and heart-pounding action into a modern epic of profound impact.Leonardo DiCaprio puts a handsome face on an ugly industry: In parts of Africa, diamond mining fuels civil warfare, killing thousands of innocents and drafting preteen children as vicious soldiers. DiCaprio (The Departed) plays Danny Archer, a white African soldier-turned-diamond-smuggler who gets wind of a large raw jewel found by Solomon Vandy, a native fisherman (Djimon Hounsou, In America) recently escaped from enslavement by a brutal rebel leader. Archer offers a deal: He'll help Vandy find his war-scattered family if Vandy will share the diamond with him. Drawn into this web of exploitation is journalist Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly, Little Children), who agrees to help if Archer will tell her the details of how conflict diamonds make their way into the hands of the corporations who sell them to the Western world. DiCaprio is compell! ing because he never flinches from Archer's utter ruthlessness! ; Archer ends up doing the morally justifiable thing, but only because his desperate greed has led him to it. Hounsou and Connelly, though saddled with all the moral and political speeches, rise above the cant and keep the movie's treacherously formulaic plot rooted in human characters. But in the end, the story won't stick with you as much as the dead stillness in the child soldiers' eyes; the horror of African civil strife refuses to be contained by Blood Diamond's uplifting message--and the movie is all the more potent as a result. --Bret Fetzer

Dan in Real Life

  • Steve Carell (THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN, TV's THE OFFICE), Hollywood's leading funnyman, stars in the hilarious comedy that's bursting with charm -- a movie you'll watch again and again. Advice columnist Dan Burns (Carell) is an expert on relationships, but somehow struggles to succeed as a brother, a son and a single parent to three precocious daughters. Things get even more complica
n/aSteve Carell’s best film performance to date can be found in the fitfully engaging Dan In Real Life, where his long-suffering persona suits a character who lets his long-dormant hopes rise for a moment, only to be shot down again. Carell plays Dan Burns, a newspaper columnist who writes about family issues and relationships. As a widower with three growing girls to raise, however, the difference between Dan’s printed wisdom and his struggles with fatherhood and loneliness is often vast. He’s put to ! a severe test when he packs up the kids for a cabin holiday with his parents and siblings, then falls for the exotic, if elusive, Marie (Juliette Binoche) during a solo excursion to a bookstore. Stirred by a woman for the first time since his late wife, Dan is shocked to find that Marie is actually dating his brother Mitch (Dane Cook), and that she’ll be spending the vacation with him in the midst of his family. From that point, the script, co-written by director Peter Hedges (Pieces of April), pretty much becomes a parade of difficult circumstances under which both Dan and Marie have to keep their attraction to one another secret. Certain scenes work better than others, but there is an overall monotony to the movie that isn’t helped by a lack of onscreen chemistry between Binoche and Carell. Both actors are fine on their own terms, but whatever is supposed to be clicking between Marie and Dan isn’t compelling enough to make one truly care that they get togethe! r somehow. Still, this is a film with plenty of moments to lik! e, espec ially when Carell gets to broaden his previous range of emotions in a movie. --Tom Keogh

Invictus

  • Format: DVD
  • Rating: PG-13
  • Release Date: 5/18/10
  • Run Time: 133 min
  • Director: Clint Eastwood
Imagine Harrison Ford as a rogue scientist exploring not ancient artifacts of lost arks, but biochemical research to help cure rare diseases. In "Extraordinary Measures", Ford manages to keep some of that wry rebellious Indiana Jones energy as he plays Dr. Robert Stonehill, a fringe researcher whose findings just might help keep alive the two children of John Crowley, played with heart and sobriety by Brendan Fraser. "Extraordinary Measures" is based on a true story, one chronicled in the gripping book "The Cure: How a Father Raised $100 Million--and Bucked the Medical Establishment--in a Quest to Save His Children", by "Wall Street Journal" reporter Geeta Anand. The cast is excellent, with Ford tamping down his occasional urge to vamp for the camera, and Fraser grounded ! in his first true adult role. The supporting cast is also strong, including Keri Russell as Crowley's frantic wife, facing the near-certain death of both of her children; Dee Wallace, Jared Harris, and Courtney B. Vance also appear as strong supporting characters. Director Tom Vaughan switches gears from his wildly successful romp "What Happens in Vegas" to turn in a crisply paced and suspenseful family drama. As Crowley and Dr. Stonehill team up to raise money to support Stonehill's research, Crowley says, "Who's going to be half as motivated as the dad who's trying to save his own kids?" "Extraordinary Measures" brings to mind similar dramas like "Lorenzo's Oil", but its heart and drive are unique to the story of the Crowleys, a very special family indeed. "--A.T. Hurley" \n\n \n\n\n Stills from "Extraordinary Measures" (Click for larger image)Imagine Harrison Ford as a rogue scientist exploring not ancient artifacts of lost arks, but biochemical research to help cure rar! e diseases. In Extraordinary Measures, Ford manages to ! keep som e of that wry rebellious Indiana Jones energy as he plays Dr. Robert Stonehill, a fringe researcher whose findings just might help keep alive the two children of John Crowley, played with heart and sobriety by Brendan Fraser. Extraordinary Measures is based on a true story, one chronicled in the gripping book The Cure: How a Father Raised $100 Million--and Bucked the Medical Establishment--in a Quest to Save His Children, by Wall Street Journal reporter Geeta Anand. The cast is excellent, with Ford tamping down his occasional urge to vamp for the camera, and Fraser grounded in his first true adult role. The supporting cast is also strong, including Keri Russell as Crowley's frantic wife, facing the near-certain death of both of her children; Dee Wallace, Jared Harris, and Courtney B. Vance also appear as strong supporting characters. Director Tom Vaughan switches gears from his wildly successful romp What Happens in Vegas to turn in a crisply pace! d and suspenseful family drama. As Crowley and Dr. Stonehill team up to raise money to support Stonehill's research, Crowley says, "Who's going to be half as motivated as the dad who's trying to save his own kids?" Extraordinary Measures brings to mind similar dramas like Lorenzo's Oil, but its heart and drive are unique to the story of the Crowleys, a very special family indeed. --A.T. Hurley




Stills from Extraordinary Measures (Click for larger image)








Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 05/18/2010 Run time: 106 minutes Rating: PgImagine Harrison Ford as a rogue scientist exploring not ancient artifacts of lost arks, but biochemical research to help cure rare diseases. In Extraordinary Measures, Ford manages to keep some of that wry rebellious Indiana Jones energy as he plays Dr. Robert Stonehill, a fringe researcher whose findings just mig! ht help keep alive the two children of John Crowley, played with heart and sobriety by Brendan Fraser. Extraordinary Measures is based on a true story, one chronicled in the gripping book The Cure: How a Father Raised $100 Million--and Bucked the Medical Establishment--in a Quest to Save His Children, by Wall Street Journal reporter Geeta Anand. The cast is excellent, with Ford tamping down his occasional urge to vamp for the camera, and Fraser grounded in his first true adult role. The supporting cast is also strong, including Keri Russell as Crowley's frantic wife, facing the near-certain death of both of her children; Dee Wallace, Jared Harris, and Courtney B. Vance also appear as strong supporting characters. Director Tom Vaughan switches gears from his wildly successful romp What Happens in Vegas to turn in a crisply paced and suspenseful family drama. As Crowley and Dr. Stonehill team up to raise money to support Stonehill's research, Crowl! ey says, "Who's going to be half as motivated as the dad who's! trying to save his own kids?" Extraordinary Measures brings to mind similar dramas like Lorenzo's Oil, but its heart and drive are unique to the story of the Crowleys, a very special family indeed. --A.T. Hurley




Stills from Extraordinary Measures (Click for larger image)








What does Nelson Mandela do after becoming president of South Africa? He rejects revenge, forgives oppressors who jailed him 27 years for his fight against apartheid and finds hope of national unity in an unlikely place: the rugby field. Clint Eastwood (named 2009's Best Director by the National Board of Review) directs an uplifting film about a team and a people inspired to greatness. Morgan Freeman (NBR's Best Actor Award winner and Oscar nominee for this role) is Mandela, who asks the national rugby team captain (Best Supportin! g Actor Oscar nominee Matt Damon) and his squad to do the impo! ssible a nd win the World Cup. Prepare to be moved--and thrilled.After South Africa elected Nelson Mandela president, the racially divided country could've easily erupted into civil war. In Clint Eastwood's determinedly populist, yet heartfelt look back at that time, the director examines one of the more ingenious steps Mandela (Morgan Freeman in a performance of sly charm) took to prevent that from happening. Knowing that his country was set to host the Rugby World Cup in 1995, Mandela believed the national team could provide an example of reconciliation in action. Led by François Pienaar (an unbelievably buff Matt Damon), the mostly white Springboks inspired devotion among Afrikaners and disgust among native Africans. Instead of changing their name or colors, Mandela encouraged them to win for the sake of their homeland. During the year leading up to the event, the team learns to work together as never before, just as Mandela's newly integrated security detail, a combination of co! ps and activists, finds a way to bridge their ideological differences. By the time of the big day, the poorly ranked Springboks are well equipped to hold their own against New Zealand's All Blacks (so named for their uniforms, not their racial composition). Drawing from John Carlin's Playing the Enemy, Anthony Peckham's script takes its title, Latin for "unconquerable," from a British poem Mandela held close to his heart during the 27 years he spent in prison. If Damon's accent is more convincing, Freeman serves as the film's heart--and as a timely reminder that reconciliation is never easy, but that it will always trump revenge. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
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