D.O.A. - Dead or Alive

• Four gorgeous women are invited to a remote island to participate in a fighting tournament. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: R Age: 796019796941 UPC: 796019796941 Manufacturer No: 79694

Four gorgeous women are invited to a remote island to participate in a fighting tournament.Based on the popular video-game series, Corey (The Transporter) Yuen's DOA: Dead Or Alive brings together cheesecake titillation and martial-arts action in a lightweight slice of exploitation that's sure to keep its largely young and male audience happy. Jaime Pressly (My Name is Earl) is top-billed as a pro wrestler who joins a no-holds-barred brawling competition on a remote island; once there, she discovers that the tournament's sponsor, Donovan (Eric Roberts at his toothiest and oiliest), has nefarious plans up his sleeve, and the competitors (which include Devon Aoki, Ho! lly Valance, and the always impressive Kane Kosugi) must bond together to fight a common enemy. As with 2007's The Condemned, DOA: Dead Or Alive is the 21st century equivalent of an early '70s drive-in movie: Proudly loud and lunkheaded, its main function is to cram as much fighting and bikini-clad women into its running time as possible, and to that end, it's enormously successful. Director Yuen understands this, and wisely skews the tone towards the broadly (ahem) tongue-in-cheek; Pressly (whose knack for comedy doesn't get as much mileage here) and the rest of her castmates look good and move well, and the fighting, while not on par with Hong Kong or Thai standards, is plentiful and flashy. If you come expecting this and nothing else, you'll have a fine time with DOA: Dead Or Alive. --Paul Gaita

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Double Take

• Outrageously funny and charged with explosive action, hot young comedy stars Eddie Griffin (Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo) and Orlando Jones (The Replacements) team up for a fast-paced adventure in the tradition of Blue Streak and Rush Hour. Framed in a multimillion-dollar money-laundering scheme, upstanding investment banker Daryl Chase (Jones) suddenly finds himself running from the FBI -- and swap

It's been more than six months since her husband's brutal death, and Julia Ransom is just beginning to breathe again. She loved her husband, renowned psychic August Ransom, but the media frenzy that followed his murder sapped what little strength she had left. Now, after dinner with friends, strolling along San Francisco's Pier 39, she realizes that she's happy. Standing at the railing, she savors the sounds around her-tourists, seals on a barge-and for a moment enjoys the sheer normalcy of it all. ! And then it comes to an end.

Out of nowhere she's approached by a respectable-looking man who distracts her with conversation before violently attacking her and throwing her the railing. If it hadn't been for Special Agent Cheney Stone, out to stretch his legs between courses at a local restaurant, Julia would have vanished into the bay's murky depths. Not only does he save her from a watery grave, but he senses a connection between her assault and her husband's death, and sets out to serve as her protector while reopening August Ransom's murder investigation.

Meanwhile, in Maestro, Virginia, Sheriff Dixon Noble-last seen in Point Blank-still mourns his wife, Christie, who vanished hree years earlier. His life, too, is just getting back to normal when he learns of a San Francisco woman named Charlotte Pallack, whose shocking resemblance to Christie sends Dix across the country. Though he knows in his heart that she can't possibly be his wife, Di! x is compelled to see her with his own eyes. Once in San Franc! isco, Di x and Cheney's paths inevitably cross. With the help of agents Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock, whose San Francisco connections prove essential in unlocking the mystery behind Charlotte Pallack's identity as well as the forces behind Julia Ransom's attempted murder, Sheriff Noble and Agent Stone push deep into a complex world of psychics and poseurs. As the stakes and the body count rise, Savich, Sherlock, Dix, and Cheney fight for answers-and their lives.Outrageously funny and charged with explosive action, hot young comedy stars Eddie Griffin (DEUCE BIGALOW: MALE GIGOLO) and Orlando Jones (THE REPLACEMENTS) team up for a fast-paced adventure in the tradition of BLUE STREAK and RUSH HOUR. Framed in a multimillion-dollar money-laundering scheme, upstanding investement banker Daryl Chase (Jones) suddenly finds himself running from the FBI -- and swapping identities with loudmouthed, low-life petty thief Freddy Tiffany (Griffin). Then, as he dashes for the Mexican border in s! earch of the one man who can clear his name, Daryl discovers his new alias is even more wanted than he is. With hilarious performances and nonstop excitement at every turn, buckle up for a riotous road trip as this wildly mismatched pair deliver the laughs in double time!For reasons that are still fuzzy even by the time final credits roll for Double Take, Wall Street hotshot Daryl Chase (Orlando Jones), framed for both financial wrongdoings and murder, heads to Mexico after exchanging identities with fast-talking Freddie (Eddie Griffin), who is either the key to his freedom or the engineer of his demise. The incomprehensible and supposedly madcap twists and turns that follow make mindless buddy flicks like Rush Hour seem giants of brainy plotting in comparison. The film even features one of those unintentionally hysterical moments in which the villain stops to explain the entire charade to characters who supposedly already know what's going on--and it still! doesn't make any sense. None of this would matter, of co! urse, if everything was propelled by some sort of internal screwball logic that had it playfully bouncing over its plot holes. But writer-director George Gallo can't streamline his potential assets--Jones's suave likeability and Griffin's take-no-prisoners crassness--into something that moves. Some of the throwaway comic asides work ("You keep campaigning for this ass-whuppin', you gonna get elected"), but every single one of the extended bits is painfully strained and overdone. Griffin, in particular, becomes desperately obnoxious, and saddling him with clumsy comments on race and social status in a comedy that is ultimately about neither doesn't help. Try 48 Hours instead. --Steve Wiecking

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Ballistic: Ecks vs Sever

• Inspired by the Warner Bros. and Franchise Pictures movie "Ballistic: Ecks Vs Sever" starring Antonio Banderas,Lucy Liu and Ray Park
• Over 22 single player missions, playing as former FBI agent Ecks or rogue NSA agent Sever;Three different modes of Multiplayer Multi Pak action including Death Match, Assassination, and Bomb Ki
• Explosive, destructible environments. Cause real destruction in real settings
• Explore bigger and more realistic areas in locations in the United States and the rest of the world
• ounterstrike style hostage rescue missions. Fight your way into situations and then protect the innocent;Vastly improved enemy AI reacting to sound, sight and threatening situations;A massive array of realistic weapons including hand-to-hand items, pistols, shotguns, assault rifles, sniper rifle, and grenades

This is a story of two spies, who are lifelong adversarie! s, engaged in a cat-and-mouse hunt. Jonathan Ecks (Banderas) is an FBI agent hunting the other, Sever (Liu) a rogue NSA agent. What they learn, however, while trying to kill each other... is that they might be on the same side, and faced with a threat greater to each other than themselves.If you have a hearty appetite for fiery explosions, heavy ordnance, and nonsensical mayhem, Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever is just for you. This mindless action flick is so wrong-headed that even its ungainly title is inaccurate: as expert assassins on the fringes of government intelligence, FBI agent Ecks (Antonio Banderas) and Defense Intelligence agent Sever (Lucy Liu) aren't battling each other at all. Instead, he's trying to find his missing ex-wife (the stunning but expressionless Talisa Soto) and young son, while she's pursuing an agency turncoat (Gregg Henry) who's stolen the ultimate micro-technology for clandestine killing. United against a common enemy, Ecks and Sever lay wast! e to half of Vancouver (the film's budget-conscious location),! and it all makes as much sense as meatballs on a vegetarian menu. Banderas and Liu look fabulous as corpses pile up around them, but Thai action director Kaos (a.k.a. Wych Kaosayananda) must have confused his nickname with the incomprehensible plot of his movie. --Jeff ShannonIf you have a hearty appetite for fiery explosions, heavy ordnance, and nonsensical mayhem, Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever is just for you. This mindless action flick is so wrong-headed that even its ungainly title is inaccurate: as expert assassins on the fringes of government intelligence, FBI agent Ecks (Antonio Banderas) and Defense Intelligence agent Sever (Lucy Liu) aren't battling each other at all. Instead, he's trying to find his missing ex-wife (the stunning but expressionless Talisa Soto) and young son, while she's pursuing an agency turncoat (Gregg Henry) who's stolen the ultimate micro-technology for clandestine killing. United against a common enemy, Ecks and Sever lay waste to half of V! ancouver (the film's budget-conscious location), and it all makes as much sense as meatballs on a vegetarian menu. Banderas and Liu look fabulous as corpses pile up around them, but Thai action director Kaos (a.k.a. Wych Kaosayananda) must have confused his nickname with the incomprehensible plot of his movie. --Jeff ShannonIf you have a hearty appetite for fiery explosions, heavy ordnance, and nonsensical mayhem, Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever is just for you. This mindless action flick is so wrong-headed that even its ungainly title is inaccurate: as expert assassins on the fringes of government intelligence, FBI agent Ecks (Antonio Banderas) and Defense Intelligence agent Sever (Lucy Liu) aren't battling each other at all. Instead, he's trying to find his missing ex-wife (the stunning but expressionless Talisa Soto) and young son, while she's pursuing an agency turncoat (Gregg Henry) who's stolen the ultimate micro-technology for clandestine killing. United agai! nst a common enemy, Ecks and Sever lay waste to half of Vancou! ver (the film's budget-conscious location), and it all makes as much sense as meatballs on a vegetarian menu. Banderas and Liu look fabulous as corpses pile up around them, but Thai action director Kaos (a.k.a. Wych Kaosayananda) must have confused his nickname with the incomprehensible plot of his movie. --Jeff ShannonThe World has changed. Freedom has been compromised. Terror attacks on innocent people are on the increase. Ex-FBI agent Ecks and Ex-NSA operative Sever are back in another action filled game that advances the boundaries of First Person Shooters on the Game Boy Advance. Whilst Ecks follows up leads on home soil, Sever takes the battle to the front, infiltrating suspected sleeper groups based overseas and closing in on their chain of supply. Only Ecks and Sever can save the world from certain nuclear holocaust. Have you got what it takes to help them? Go Global. Go Ballistic.

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Bart Got a Room : Widescreen Edition

• Widescreen

Nerdy high school senior Danny has spent six hundred bucks on the hotel room, the limo and the tux for his prom. He's only missing one thing - the girl. Hampered by well intentioned but clueless advice from his newly divorced parents and unsympathetic mocking from his best friends, Danny battles peer pressure, teen angst and his own raging hormones as he desperately searches for a prom date. Danny's luckless quest turns to panic when he learns that even Bart - the school's biggest dweeb - has secured not only a date but also a hotel room for the night.Bart Got a Room isn’t the first movie comedy about nerds, high school, and the senior prom, and it undoubtedly won’t be the last. It may not be the best, either, but writer-director Brian Hecker’s 2008 concoction has enough laughs, charm, amusingly-drawn characters, and winning performances to more than hold its own.! For Danny Stein (Steven J. Kaplan), a high school student in Hollywood, Florida, the imminence of the prom is the source of considerable distress; even more distressing is the prospect of booking of a hotel room for himself and his date at the end of the evening. Problem is, Danny (who’s a bit of a schlub, but far from a total, like, loser), doesn’t have a date yet. The obvious choice is his “best friend” Camille (Alia Shawkat), who’s available and clearly interested, but Danny thinks he can do better--say, with Alice (Ashley Benson), the sophomore hottie who drives to school with him every day. Wrong. As the days, then the hours, dwindle down, Danny, whose parents’ separation is an added distraction (William H. Macy and Cheryl Hines are perfect as Ernie, who’s looking for love on the internet, and Beth, who has a new beau), realizes he’s in big trouble, not least because even the titular Bart--a geek so geeky he makes Danny look like Tom Cruise--already ha! s the room thing covered. All of this plays out in ways that a! re neith er surprising nor especially hilarious, but the movie has heart, not to mention a number of cute, quirky scenes (many involving Danny’s well-intentioned, but mostly clueless, family). Movies like Bart Got a Room aren’t really about the destination, anyway; they’re about the journey, and this one’s a fun ride. --Sam Graham

Stills from Bart Got a Room (Click for larger image)

Bart Got a Room isn't the first movie comedy about nerds, high school, and the senior prom, and it undoubtedly won't be the last. It may not be the best, either, but writer-director Brian Hecker's 2008 concoction has enou! gh laughs, charm, amusingly-drawn characters, and winning perf! ormances to more than hold its own. For Danny Stein (Steven J. Kaplan), a high school student in Hollywood, Florida, the imminence of the prom is the source of considerable distress; even more distressing is the prospect of booking of a hotel room for himself and his date at the end of the evening. Problem is, Danny (who's a bit of a schlub, but far from a total, like, loser), doesn't have a date yet. The obvious choice is his "best friend" Camille (Alia Shawkat), who's available and clearly interested, but Danny thinks he can do better--say, with Alice (Ashley Benson), the sophomore hottie who drives to school with him every day. Wrong. As the days, then the hours, dwindle down, Danny, whose parents' separation is an added distraction (William H. Macy and Cheryl Hines are perfect as Ernie, who's looking for love on the internet, and Beth, who has a new beau), realizes he's in big trouble, not least because even the titular Bart--a geek so geeky he makes Danny look like Tom Cruise--! already has the room thing covered. All of this plays out in ways that are neither surprising nor especially hilarious, but the movie has heart, not to mention a number of cute, quirky scenes (many involving Danny's well-intentioned, but mostly clueless, family). Movies like Bart Got a Room aren't really about the destination, anyway; they're about the journey, and this one's a fun ride.

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Hurt Locker [Blu-ray]

• Condition: New
• Format: Blu-ray
• AC-3; Color; Dolby; DTS Surround Sound; Dubbed; Subtitled; Widescreen

Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (summit) Release Date: 01/12/2010 Run time: 131 minutes Rating: RThe making of honest action movies has become so rare that Kathryn Bigelow's magnificent The Hurt Locker was shown mostly in art cinemas rather than multiplexes. That's fine; the picture is a work of art. But it also delivers more kinetic excitement, more breath-bating suspense, more putting-you-right-there in the danger zone than all the brain-dead, visually incoherent wrecking derbies hogging mall screens. Partly it's a matter of subject. The movie focuses on an Explosive Ordnance Disposal team, the guys whose more or less daily job is to disarm the homemade bombs that have accounted for most U.S. casualties in Iraq. But even more, the film's extraordinary tension derives from th! e precision and intelligence of Bigelow's direction. She gets every sweaty detail and tactical nuance in the close-up confrontation of man and bomb, while keeping us alert to the volatile wraparound reality of an ineluctably foreign environment--hot streets and blank-walled buildings full of onlookers, some merely curious and some hostile, perhaps thumbing a cellphone that could become a trigger. This is exemplary moviemaking. You don't need CGI, just a human eye, and the imagination to realize that, say, the sight of dust and scale popped off a derelict car by an explosion half a block away delivers more shock value than a pixelated fireball.

The setting may be Iraq in 2004, but it could just as well be Thermopylae; The Hurt Locker is no "Iraq War movie." Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal--who did time as a journalist embed with an EOD unit--align themselves with neither supporters nor opponents of the U.S. involvement. There's no politics here. War is just the ! job the characters in the movie do. One in particular, the sup! remely r esourceful staff sergeant played by Jeremy Renner, is addicted to the almost nonstop adrenaline rush and the opportunity to express his esoteric, life-on-the-edge genius. The hurt locker of the title is a box he keeps under his bunk, filled with bomb parts and other signatory memorabilia of "things that could have killed me." That none of it has killed him so far is no real consolation. In this movie, you never know who's going to go and when; even high-profile talent (we won't name names here) is no guarantee. But one thing can be guaranteed, and that is that almost every sequence in the movie becomes a riveting, often fiercely enigmatic set piece. This is Kathryn Bigelow's best film since 1987's Near Dark. It could also be the best film of 2009. --Richard T. Jameson

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American Zombie

• Filmmakers Grace Lee ( The Grace Lee Project ) and John Solomon ( Nonsense Man ) team up to shoot a documentary about high-functioning zombies living in Los Angeles and their struggles to gain acceptance in human society.Despite their wildly different working styles, Grace and John manage to chronicle the hopes and dreams of four fascinating subjects: IVAN, a convenience-store clerk who longs for

Filmmakers Grace Lee ( The Grace Lee Project ) and John Solomon ( Nonsense Man ) team up to shoot a documentary about high-functioning zombies living in Los Angeles and their struggles to gain acceptance in human society.Despite their wildly different working styles Grace and John manage to chronicle the hopes and dreams of four fascinating subjects: IVAN a convenience-store clerk who longs for a career in publishing; LISA a florist trying to recover her lost memories; JUDY a hopeless romantic who le! arns to accept her true nature; and JOEL (pronounced Yo-El ) a committed political activist striving for zombie rights. As Grace strives to get to know the zombies on their own terms John is eager to uncover their darker side and rallies to get the crew permission to shoot at a three-day zombies-only retreat called Live Dead where the documentary takes an unexpected and dangerous turn. What transpires there is beyond anything the filmmakers could imagine as they are forced to re-evaluate their ideas about tolerance identity politics and the future of the human race.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR/COMEDIC HORROR UPC: 881394105027 Manufacturer No: CLS1050

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House, M.D.: Season Six

• Condition: New
• Format: DVD
• AC-3; Box set; Color; Dolby; DVD; Subtitled; Widescreen; NTSC

Get ready for a full dose of medical mysteries with 21 episodes of the riveting drama series, House. Hugh Laurie is joined by James Earl Jones (Star Wars), Laura Prepon (That '70s Show) and David Strathairn (The Bourne Ultimatum) in guest appearances as he returns to his Golden Globe® winning and Primetime Emmy® Award-nominated role as Dr. Gregory House. In this brilliant sixth season, House finds himself in an uncomfortable positionâ€" away from the examination room. As he works to regain his license and his life, his coworkers deal with the staff shakeups, moral dilemmas, and their own tricky relationships with House. And when House returns more obstinate than ever, Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital will never be the same again.The sixth season of House, M.D. starts off wit! h a phenomenal two-part episode that sets the tone for the rest of the year. After years of abusing prescription drugs (and colleagues), Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie) finds himself in a psychiatric ward as a patient who is not so patient with his own doctor. Smart and manipulative, House tries to finagle his way out of the hospital. But his selfish actions set off a chain reaction of events that manage to shake even his own confidence--temporarily, at least. This season spends a lot of time delving into House's psyche and the writers do a wonderful job depicting a brilliant, sad, and flawed man who knows more than most, but not enough to save every patient who comes to see him. That glimpse allows viewers to sympathize with his addictions but leaves them guessing as to whether the good doctor will be able to shake his dependency on drugs for good. However, viewers are never actually convinced when House quits his job. In many ways, he is his job.

House has alwa! ys tackled fascinating cases and that continues this season, t! hough th e symptoms aren't overly dramatic by House standards. The team tries to save a man whose family history indicates that he will die of a heart attack before he turns 40. They try to help a brilliant scientist whose depression and addictions make him feel he's better suited for a simpler life as a courier. And Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard) may once again be grappling with cancer. It's a credit to this show that while it features such a strong lead character, the costars don't get shafted in the process. Wilson is one of the show's most charming characters and, by default, has become House's best friend. The two of them share a home and bicker like an old married couple. When a woman they both are attracted to mistakenly assumes that they're a complicated gay couple, we can't help but laugh. But Wilson's love life is made difficult by the return of his ex-wife and House doesn't want to see his friend hurt again. He can abuse Wilson, but he doesn't want her to do the same.!

House's boss Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein) has her own issues, juggling a harried personal life and the complications that come with trying to keep House in line. Chase (Jesse Spencer) falls under scrutiny this season after treating a controversial politician who he fears will murder innocent civilians. He finds himself struggling with the Hippocratic oath to treat all patients--even the ones he finds distasteful--to the best of his ability. And of the main characters on the show, one will be fired, another will profess their love for a colleague, and three of them will look for love via a speed-dating service. Yes, the story lines are all over the place, but then again, so is House. --Jae-Ha Kim

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The Closer: The Complete Fifth Season

• CLOSER, THE: 5TH SEASON (DVD MOVIE)

Moving up? The LAPD is looking for a new chief and Will Pope thinks he has the inside track. He soon has an unexpected rival for the job: Brenda (Best Actress Emmy® and Golden Globe® winner Kyra Sedgwick). And Brenda has an unexpected ally helping groom her for the selection process: Capt. Raydor. The contest for chief is only one of the ingenious, suspenseful, often funny storylines that makes Season Six of The Closer stellar entertainment. Join the squad as Sanchez looks after an orphaned boy, Tao goes undercover as a biker dude, Provenza and Flynn date airline attendants (turns out one of them has a corpse in her bathtub) and Brenda finds her family Christmas rudely interrupted by crime. Kyra Sedgwick's Brenda Johnson is one of TV's most compelling, complicated, and likable heroines. Johnson makes The Closer much more than just the well-w! ritten, crisply paced police procedural that it is. The viewer feels invested in Johnson's neurotic private life, marriage, and family, as well as in her political ambitions at the Los Angeles Police Department and in her relationships with her coworkers. In fact, The Closer hits its stride in season six as not just a fantastic showcase for Sedgwick's Emmy-winning acting talents, but also for the ensemble that helps her shine. J.K. Simmons, Corey Reynolds, Robert Gossett, G.W. Bailey, and Michael Paul Chan are among the all-too-human but motivated law-enforcement officials surrounding Johnson. Jon Tenney continues to be the super-supportive best husband ever, FBI agent Fritz, and season six shows Fritz and Brenda settling into their new marriage, with just a few speed bumps. The other big theme of this season is the LAPD's search for a new police chief. Brenda's boss, Will Pope (Simmons), thinks he has the job in the bag, but suddenly there's a dark horse in the race! --Deputy Chief Johnson herself. Mary McDonnell reprises her ro! le as th e officious Captain Raydor. Season six features plenty of gripping crime solving and just the right amount of humanity to keep lovers of The Closer entranced. Extras include lots of outtakes and deleted scenes, and an in-depth interview with Sedgwick on how she, and Brenda, have grown over the course of the show. --A.T. HurleyThe Superbit titles utilize a special high bit rate digital encoding process which optimizes video quality while offering a choice of both DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 audio. These titles have been produced by a team of Sony Pictures Digital Studios video, sound and mastering engineers and comes housed in a special package complete with a 4 page booklet that contains technical information on the Superbit process. By reallocating space on the disc normally used for value-added content, Superbit DVDs can be encoded at double their normal bit rate while maintaining full compatibility with the DVD video format.Four extremely beautiful people do e! xtremely horrible things to one another in Closer, Mike Nichols' pungent adaptation of Patrick Marber's play that easily marks the Oscar-winning director's best work in years. Anna (Julia Roberts) is a photographer who specializes in portraits of strangers; Dan (Jude Law) is an obituary writer struggling to become a novelist; Alice (Natalie Portman) is an American stripper freshly arrived in London after a bad relationship; and Larry (Clive Owen) is a dermatologist who finds love under the most unlikely of circumstances. When their paths cross it's a dizzying supernova of emotions, as Nichols and Marber adroitly construct various scenes out of their lives that pair them again and again in various permutations of passion, heartbreak, anger, sadness, vengeance, pleading, deception, and most importantly, brutal honesty. It's only until you're more than halfway through the movie that you'll have to ask yourself exactly why you are watching such a beautifully tragic tale, as Clo! ser is basically the ickiest, grossest, most dysfunctional par! ts of al l your past relationships strung together into one movie. Ultimately, it falls to the four actors to draw you deeper into the story; all succeed relatively, but it's Law and Owen whose characters will cut you to the quick. Law proves that yet again he's most adept at playing charming, amoral bastards with manipulative streaks, and Owen is nothing short of brilliant as the character most turned on by the energy inherent in destructive relationships--whether he's on the giving or receiving end. --Mark EnglehartA witty, romantic, and very dangerous love story about chance meetings, instant attractions, and casual betrayals. CLOSER is director Mike Nichols' critically acclaimed look at four strangersâ€"Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Natalie Portman and Clive Owenâ€"with one thing in common: each other.Four extremely beautiful people do extremely horrible things to one another in Closer, Mike Nichols' pungent adaptation of Patrick Marber's play that easily marks the Oscar-winnin! g director's best work in years. Anna (Julia Roberts) is a photographer who specializes in portraits of strangers; Dan (Jude Law) is an obituary writer struggling to become a novelist; Alice (Natalie Portman) is an American stripper freshly arrived in London after a bad relationship; and Larry (Clive Owen) is a dermatologist who finds love under the most unlikely of circumstances. When their paths cross it's a dizzying supernova of emotions, as Nichols and Marber adroitly construct various scenes out of their lives that pair them again and again in various permutations of passion, heartbreak, anger, sadness, vengeance, pleading, deception, and most importantly, brutal honesty. It's only until you're more than halfway through the movie that you'll have to ask yourself exactly why you are watching such a beautifully tragic tale, as Closer is basically the ickiest, grossest, most dysfunctional parts of all your past relationships strung together into one movie. Ultimately, it ! falls to the four actors to draw you deeper into the story; al! l succee d relatively, but it's Law and Owen whose characters will cut you to the quick. Law proves that yet again he's most adept at playing charming, amoral bastards with manipulative streaks, and Owen is nothing short of brilliant as the character most turned on by the energy inherent in destructive relationships--whether he's on the giving or receiving end. --Mark EnglehartAt work, L.A. Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson is a woman in charge. Got a suspect to grill, a case to crack, a murderer about to walk? Call Brenda in and watch the fireworks. But at home...well, that’s another story. Kyra Sedgwick headlines a sizzling 4-disc, 15-episode Season 5 of the series that combines heart, humor and homicide into a show that’s equally compelling as a police procedural and a personal drama. As a cop, Brenda takes on everything from a corpse that comes COD to a serial killer to Sharon Raydor, an internal affairs officer as tough as she is. As a civilian, Brenda loses one family memb! er and gains another: her surly niece Charlie. Brenda can outsmart, outmaneuver and out a killer. But can she handle a teenager?

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Summer Heights High

• In this hilarious series set in a real Australian high school, actor/comedian Chris Lilley stars as three different characters: a vain drama teacher, a self-absorbed boy, and a haughty female exchange student. Hysterical, absurd and frequently shocking, Summer Heights High reveals a world where small issues become huge, social groups are critical, young minds are molded, hopes are shattered and dr

From the author of The Works: Anatomy of a City comes a gorgeous graphic tour through the inner workings of skyscrapers.

The skyscraper is perhaps the most recognizable icon of the modern urban landscape. Providing offices, homes, restaurants, and shopping to thousands of inhabitants, modern skyscrapers function as small cities- with infrastructure not unlike that hidden beneath our streets. Clean water is provided to floors thousands of feet in the sky; elevators move peo! ple swiftly and safely throughout the building; and telecom networks allow virtual meetings with people on other continents. How are these services-considered essential, but largely taken for granted- possible in such a complex structure? What does it really take to sustain human life at such enormous heights?

Exploring the interconnected systems that make life livable in the sky is the task of Kate Ascher's stunningly illustrated The Heights: Anatomy of a Skyscraper. Ascher examines skyscrapers from around the world to learn how these incredible structures operate. Just how do skyscrapers sway in the wind, and why exactly is that a good idea? How can a modern elevator be as fast as an airplane? Why are skyscrapers in Asia safer than those in the United States? Have new safeguards been designed to protect skyscrapers from terrorism?

What happens when the power goes out in a building so tall? Why are all modern skyscrapers seemingly made of glass, and ! how can that be safe? How do skyscrapers age, and how can they! be main tained over decades of habitation? No detail is too small, no difficulty too big to escape Ascher's encyclopedic eye.

Along the way, The Heights introduces the reader to every type of person involved in designing, building, and maintaining a skyscraper: the designers who calculate how weight and weather will affect their structures, the workers who dig the foundations and raise the lightning rods, the crews who clean the windows and maintain the air ducts, and the firefighters-whose special equipment allows blazes to be fought at unprecedented heights.

More than a technical survey, Ascher's work is a triumphant ode to the most monumental aspect of modern civilization. Saturated with vivid illustrations and unforgettable anecdotes, The Heights is the ultimate guide to the way things work in the skyscraper.

Five New Yorkers must make decisions overnight that will affect their futures.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: R
Release Date: 2-MAY-2006
Media Type: DVDWith wit and sympathy, Heights traces the crossed paths and messy lives of New York theater people, journalists, and artists. At the middle of everything is Isabel (Elizabeth Banks, The Sisters), a struggling photographer whose mother, Diana (Glenn Close, Dangerous Liaisons), is the grand dame of the theater world. Isabel's fiance, Jonathan (James Marsden, X-Men), is being pursued by a writer for Vanity Fair about his relationship with a lionized photographer. Meanwhile, Diana, though married, casts her eye on a young actor named Alec (Jesse Bradford, Happy Endings), who lives in the same building as Isabel... This only begins to unravel the tangle, but a clever script, clean direction, and nicely pitched performances keep Heights from tripping over its own plot lines or sagging into soap opera. Close, in particular, has a blast doing an uncanny Meryl Streep impression, and def! t supporting performances by Isabella Rosselini (Blue Velve! t), Eric Bogosian (Talk Radio), George Segal (California Split), and musician Rufus Wainwright keep the edges of the stories lively. Heights doesn't achieve the emotional fullness of the best of Robert Altman's ensemble movies, but it stakes a claim in that cinematic territory. --Bret FetzerThis is a beautifully designed, 6"x9" large edition of Emily Brontë's classic WUTHERING HEIGHTS.A "devilishly delightful" (Bookpage) new novel from an Academy Award-nominated screenwriter and the author of What's Eating Gilbert Grape.

Tim and Kate Welch are seemingly the last middle-class family in the exclusive neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights, NewYork. Tim is a popular history teacher, and an ordinary guy. Kate is not ordinary, but she aspires to be. Brought up by a hippie mother, Kate stays home with their two young sons trying to be the responsible parent she never had. But their neat and tidy world is turned upside down when Ann! a Brody- beautiful, wealthy, and impulsive-moves into the most expensive brownstone in Brooklyn, and draws Kate and Tim into her world.Kindle Description:Now updated with an Active Table of Contents.
Wuthering Heights is a gothic novel, and the only novel by Emily Brontë. It was first published in 1847 under the pseudonym Ellis Bell, and a posthumous second edition was edited by her sister Charlotte.

The name of the novel comes from the Yorkshire manor on the moors on which the story centres (as an adjective; wuthering is a Yorkshire word referring to turbulent weather). The narrative tells the tale of the all-encompassing and passionate, yet thwarted, love between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw, and how this unresolved passion eventually destroys them and many around them.

Now considered a classic of English literature, Wuthering Heights met with mixed reviews by critics when it first appeared, mainly because of the narrative's stark depictio! n of mental and physical cruelty. Though Charlotte Brontë's J! ane Eyre was initially considered the best of the Brontë sisters' works, many subsequent critics of Wuthering Heights argued that its originality and achievement made it superior. Wuthering Heights has also given rise to many adaptations and inspired works, including films, radio, television dramatisations, a musical by Bernard J. Taylor, ballet, opera, and song.Kindle Description:Now updated with an Active Table of Contents.
Wuthering Heights is a gothic novel, and the only novel by Emily Brontë. It was first published in 1847 under the pseudonym Ellis Bell, and a posthumous second edition was edited by her sister Charlotte.

The name of the novel comes from the Yorkshire manor on the moors on which the story centres (as an adjective; wuthering is a Yorkshire word referring to turbulent weather). The narrative tells the tale of the all-encompassing and passionate, yet thwarted, love between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw, and how this unresolved passion eventually des! troys them and many around them.

Now considered a classic of English literature, Wuthering Heights met with mixed reviews by critics when it first appeared, mainly because of the narrative's stark depiction of mental and physical cruelty. Though Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre was initially considered the best of the Brontë sisters' works, many subsequent critics of Wuthering Heights argued that its originality and achievement made it superior. Wuthering Heights has also given rise to many adaptations and inspired works, including films, radio, television dramatisations, a musical by Bernard J. Taylor, ballet, opera, and song.The narrative is non-linear, involving several flashbacks, and involves two narrators - Mr. Lockwood and Ellen "Nelly" Dean. The novel opens in 1801, with Lockwood arriving at Thrushcross Grange, a grand house on the Yorkshire moors he is renting from the surly Heathcliff, who lives at nearby Wuthering Heights. Lockwood spends the night at Wuther! ing Heights and has a terrifying dream: the ghost of Catherine! Earnsha w, pleading to be admitted to the house from outside. Intrigued, Lockwood asks the housekeeper Nelly Dean to tell the story of Heathcliff and Wuthering Heights while he is staying at the Grange recovering from a cold.The narrative is non-linear, involving several flashbacks, and involves two narrators - Mr. Lockwood and Ellen "Nelly" Dean. The novel opens in 1801, with Lockwood arriving at Thrushcross Grange, a grand house on the Yorkshire moors he is renting from the surly Heathcliff, who lives at nearby Wuthering Heights. Lockwood spends the night at Wuthering Heights and has a terrifying dream: the ghost of Catherine Earnshaw, pleading to be admitted to the house from outside. Intrigued, Lockwood asks the housekeeper Nelly Dean to tell the story of Heathcliff and Wuthering Heights while he is staying at the Grange recovering from a cold.In this hilarious series set in a real Australian high school, actor/comedian Chris Lilley stars as three different characters: a vain dr! ama teacher, a self-absorbed boy, and a haughty female exchange student. Hysterical, absurd and frequently shocking, Summer Heights High reveals a world where small issues become huge, social groups are critical, young minds are molded, hopes are shattered and dreams are realized.

DVD Features:
Deleted Scenes
Outtakes

Australian writer/performer Chris Lilley specializes in the comedy of narcissism. All three of his characters in the mockumentary series Summer Heights High are blindly, maddeningly self-absorbed: Mr. G, a drama teacher who writes and directs his own musicals; Ja'mie, a preening 16-year-old from a wealthy private school who views her year at public school as purgatory; and Jonah, a Tongan juvenile delinquent who's been previously expelled from two other schools. The series' 8 episodes follow these three as they seek to find some form of fame and adulation.Mr. G struggles to create a musical about a student who recen! tly died of a drug overdose... only it becomes increasingly ab! out a he roic drama teacher whose dog dies in an accident; Ja'mie desperately wants to stage a formal dance and will lie, bribe, and manipulate to do it; and Jonah wants to do breakdancing with his posse, but he's simply incapable of keeping himself from insulting his teachers and getting into fights with other students. While Mr. G and Ja'mie are blinkered monsters, Jonah verges on tragic, as he stumbles towards increasing self-destruction. The thoroughness of Lilley's creations is impressive, as the comedian loses himself fully in these characters. Still, some viewers may find them more aggravating than funny; just a hint of self-awareness might have made them a little easier to spend time with. But for anyone who connects with Lilley's humor, Summer Heights High will be a feast of juicy, unfiltered, rampaging egomania. --Bret Fetzer

Stills from Summer Heights High (Click for larger image)

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Dance Flick : Widescreen Edition

• Widescreen

Street dancer Thomas Uncles is from the wrong side of the tracks, but his bond with the beautiful Megan White might help the duo realize their dreams as they enter into the mother of all dance battles.The spoof movie Dance Flick is the creation of an army of normally funny Wayans men: Damien Dante Wayans directing, from a script written by him and Keenen Ivory Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, and Craig Wayans. Craig Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr. star in what should have been, in the tradition of Airplane!, a rich parody of a genre that could use a little spoofing, i.e., earnest dance movies in the vein of High School Musical, Flashdance, and, especially, Save the Last Dance. Damon Wayans Jr. plays a determined, African American hip-hop dancer named Thomas Uncles, who becomes romantically and artistically involved with a white wannabe ballerina (! Shoshana Bush in the Julia Stiles role from Last Dance). Dance Flick goofs on Last Dance in obvious and silly ways, but the Wayans also take shots at just about everything that pops into their heads: Twilight, Dick Cheney, the self-consciousness of interracial romance. There are a few laughs, but in the absence of a sustained comic tone and consistently good ideas, the script relies on endless bathroom humor and such throwaway visual ideas as a baby stored in a high school locker. --Tom Keogh

Stills from Dance Flick (Click for larger image)

DANCE FLICK - Blu-Ray MovieThe spoof movie Dance Flick is the creation of an army of normally funny Wayans men: Damien Dante Wayans directing, from a script written by him and Keenen Ivory Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, and Craig Wayans. Craig Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr. star in what should have been, in the tradition of Airplane!, a rich parody of a genre that could use a little spoofing, i.e., earnest dance movies in the vein of High School Musical, Flashdance, and, especially, Save the Last Dance. Damon Wayans Jr. plays a determined, African American hip-hop dancer named Thomas Uncles, who becomes romantically and artistically involved with a white wannabe ballerina (Shoshana Bush in the Julia Stiles role from Last Dance). Dance Flick goofs on Last Dance in obvious and silly ways, but the Wayans also take shots at just about everythi! ng that pops into their heads: Twilight, Dick Cheney, ! the self -consciousness of interracial romance. There are a few laughs, but in the absence of a sustained comic tone and consistently good ideas, the script relies on endless bathroom humor and such throwaway visual ideas as a baby stored in a high school locker. --Tom Keogh

Stills from Dance Flick (Click for larger image)

The spoof movie Dance Flick is the creation of an army of normally funny Wayans men: Damien Dante Wayans directi! ng, from a script written by him and Keenen Ivory Wayans, Shaw! n Wayans , Marlon Wayans, and Craig Wayans. Craig Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr. star in what should have been, in the tradition of Airplane!, a rich parody of a genre that could use a little spoofing, i.e., earnest dance movies in the vein of High School Musical, Flashdance, and, especially, Save the Last Dance. Damon Wayans Jr. plays a determined, African American hip-hop dancer named Thomas Uncles, who becomes romantically and artistically involved with a white wannabe ballerina (Shoshana Bush in the Julia Stiles role from Last Dance). Dance Flick goofs on Last Dance in obvious and silly ways, but the Wayans also take shots at just about everything that pops into their heads: Twilight, Dick Cheney, the self-consciousness of interracial romance

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