Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Disney / Pixar CARS 2 Movie Exclusive PVC 10Pack Deluxe Figurine Playset

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Fracture (Widescreen Edition)

  • Academy Award? winner Anthony Hopkins and Academy Award? nominee Ryan Gosling are brilliant in this "exceptionally suspenseful nail-biter" (Rex Reed) that's so smart it "doesn't let go, even after the final twist" (Gene Shalit, "Today"). Ted Crawford (Hopkins) brutally murders his wife and calmly waits for the police to arrest him. With the weapon and a signed confession in hand, Deputy D.A., Will
Dan Dunne (Ryan Gosling) is a young inner-city junior high school teacher whose ideals wither and die in the face of reality. Day after day in his shabby Brooklyn classroom, he somehow finds the energy to inspire his 13 and 14-year-olds to examine everything from civil rights to the Civil War with a new enthusiasm. Rejecting the standard curriculum in favor of an edgier approach, Dan teaches his students how change works ' on both a historical and personal scale ' and how to think for themselves. Though Dan is brilliant, dynamic, and in control in the classroom, he spends his time outside school on the edge of consciousness. His disappointments and disillusionment have led to a serious drug habit. He juggles his hangovers and his homework, keeping his lives separated, until one of his troubled students, Drey (Shareeka Epps), catches him getting high after school.

From this awkward beginning, Dan and Drey stumble into an unexpected friendship. Despite the differences in their ages and situations, they are both at an important intersection. Depending on which way they turn ' and which choices they make ' their lives will change.

Sometimes people are att! racted t o each other because of their differences. When there's a nebulous attraction between a teacher and a young teenage child--as in the superb Half Nelson--the relationship has all the makings of confused disaster. Though there are a few uncomfortable moments when it's not obvious whether Dan (Ryan Gosling) and Drey (Shareeka Epps) might cross the line, the attraction between the pair is culled less from sexual tension than desperation. Dan is an idealistic history teacher in an inner-city school. Drey is one of his brightest students. For both, drugs represent something that may help them escape their worlds. He takes drugs to dull his dissatisfaction with himself. She views drugs as a possible way to better her life, even though she knows her brother's foray into that trade landed him in jail. Bleakly filmed and well told, Half Nelson soars because of the immaculate acting by Gosling and Epps. With his impish smile, Gosling provides a character that is at once d! isarming, alluring, and pitiful. As the young girl who's already seen too much hardship in her life, Epps plays her part with just the right amount of hardened raw emotion. While the ambiguous ending may not please fans weaned on happy Hollywood finales, it's a fitting and believable close to a thought-provoking film. --Jae-Ha Kim

Stills from Half Nelson (click for larger image)



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Beyond Half Nelson at Amazon.com


The Films of Ryan Gosling
More Oscar Nominated Roles at the Amazon.com Oscar Store
The Soundtrack

Sometimes you find love where you'd least expect it. Just ask Lars (Academy Award-Nominee* Ryan Gosling), a sweet but quirky guy who thinks he's found the girl of his dreams in a life-sized doll named Bianca. Lars is completely content with his artificial girlfriend, but when he develops feelings for Margo, an attractive co-worker, Lars finds himself lost in a hilariously unique love triangle, hoping to somehow discover the real meaning of true love. Offbeat and endearing, this romantic comedy takes a fresh look at dating and relationships and dares to a! sk the question: What's so wrong with being happy?To some, ! Lars and the Real Girl will play as comedy; to others, tragedy. Though Craig Gillespie (Mr. Woodcock) allows Lars Lindstrom (a mustachioed Ryan Gosling, miles away from Half Nelson) a happy ending, the road is far from smooth. This rumpled Midwesterner couldn't be more miserable. His brother, Gus (Paul Schneider, All the Real Girls), and sister-in-law, Karin (Emily Mortimer, Lovely and Amazing), fall over themselves to cheer him up, but Lars cannot be moved; he’s been like that since childhood. Then a porn-addicted co-worker hips him to the lifelike Real Doll. The next thing everyone knows, Lars has a new girlfriend named Bianca. She's from Brazil, she's shy, and she uses a wheelchair. She's also made of silicon. (Because Lars is a devout Christian, hanky-panky is out of the question.) Since he's finally emerging from his shell, his doctor, Dagmar (Patricia Clarkson), advises Gus and Karin to play along with the "delusion." Soon the whole town, including M! argo (Kelli Garner), who harbors a not-so-secret crush on her officemate, gets in on the action, forcing Lars to rejoin the human race or crawl deeper into psychosis. Written by Six Feet Under's Nancy Oliver, Lars and the Real Girl is built around such a preposterous premise, it's hard to know whether to laugh or cry. Fortunately, the actors play it straight. Gosling does his best to make Lars sympathetic, but Schneider and Mortimer, fully convincing in their concern, are the true heart and soul of this odd little film. --Kathleen C. Fennessy


Beyond Lars and the Real Girl

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More Comedies from MGM

More from Ryan Gosling
Lars and the Real Girl Soundtrack!


Stills from Lars and the Real Girl

Blue Valentine is the story of love found and love lost told in past and present moments in time. Flooded with romantic memories of their courtship, Dean and Cindy use one night to try and save their failing marriage. Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams star in this honest portrait of a relationship on the rocks.Love blooms and dies at the same time in the delicate dance between Oscar nominees Ryan Gosling (Half Nelson) and Michelle Williams (Brokeback Mountain). Gosling's Dean, a high-school dropout, works for a New York moving company. While relocating a frail widower into a retirement home, he spots Cindy, a nursing student who's visiting her grandmother, but the film actually begins six years later. Married with a daughter, they live in rural Pennsylvania. Heavy drinker Dean's looks are fading, while Cindy still turns heads. In his elegantly constructed second feature, writer-director Derek Cianfrance pirouettes between past and present, with ea! ch scene commenting on the next (set to the bittersweet tones ! of Brook lyn band Grizzly Bear). The Dean of the early years pursues Cindy, who resists at first, but a spontaneous date ends with her tap dancing (badly) and him singing (not so badly). She leaves her domineering boyfriend (Mike Vogel) for this attentive stranger, leading to scenes of intimacy that are far more suggestive than pornographic--even if the MPAA briefly rated the film NC-17. Later, when the family dog goes missing, the cracks in their marriage intensify, so Dean arranges for a night of romance, which plays out like a negative image of their first date. If the two actors, who are very good, are meant to carry equal weight, Gosling has the more difficult task. It's harder to like the clingy, insecure Dean, who loves more intensely and less wisely, but that makes Gosling's the braver performance. --Kathleen C. FennessyAcademy Award® winner Anthony Hopkins and Academy Award® nominee Ryan Gosling are brilliant in this "exceptionally suspenseful nail-biter" (Rex R! eed) that's so smart it "doesn't let go, even after the final twist" (Gene Shalit, "Today"). Ted Crawford (Hopkins) brutally murders his wife and calmly waits for the police to arrest him. With the weapon and a signed confession in hand, Deputy D.A., Willy Beachum (Gosling), believes a conviction is a slam dunk; that is until the case completely unravels. Now, with little evidence, Beachum goes head to head with the cunning Mr. Crawford in a desperate search for the truth and the answer to one burning question: How is this guy getting away with murder?Anthony Hopkins plays a brilliant, pathologically serene killer outwitting the good guys at every turn and taking a shine to a twentysomething law enforcer who can’t conceal a rural accent and rugged origins. Could it be...? No, not The Silence of the Lambs, but an original mystery, Fracture, which plays a little like Lambs as an episode of Columbo, minus Columbo. Which means the film tells us fro! m the get-go that Hopkins’ character, a wealthy engineer, sh! oots his philandering wife (Embeth Davidtz) and leaves her in a vegetative state. From there, it should be a simple matter for young, assistant District Attorney Willy Beachum (Ryan Gosling) to nail Crawford, who provides a full confession and even eschews counsel. That’s good for Beachum, a slick winner with a vague background of deprivation, rapidly on his way out of public service after attracting the attention of a deep-pocket, private firm. What he doesn’t know, however, is that Crawford has masterminded more than vengeance against his wife, and that the state’s case against him is full of pre-arranged holes and a huge time-bomb that will send Beachum scrambling to keep the pieces together.

The story, conceived and co-scripted by Daniel Pyne (Doc Hollywood), goes down easily with a minimum of blood and violence, and should easily appeal to mystery buffs as well as old fans of Hopkins and new admirers of Oscar nominee Gosling (Half Nelson). The latter h! olds his own in multiple, two-character scenes with the masterful portrayer of Hannibal Lecter, pacing Beachum’s reactions to Crawford’s polite provocations so everything spills onto his youthful face: torn loyalties, confusion, gullibility. Director Gregory Hoblit (Hart’s War), still best-known for decades of distinguished television work (NYPD Blue), brings the necessary intimacy to make the stars’ chemistry work effectively. His noirish atmosphere is a little over the top, sometimes pushing the audience to a level of expectation that the film isn’t really ready to deliver, but this, overall, is an enjoyable work. --Tom Keogh

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Damned If She Does, Damned If She Doesn't: Rethinking the Rules of the Game That Keep Women from Succeeding in Business

  • ISBN13: 9781616141745
  • Condition: New
  • Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

For the first time, the players at Leeds United during Brian Clough’s reign have their say Brian Clough’s 44-day tenure as manager of Leeds United between July and September 1974 is one of the most infamous episodes in soccer history. While The Damned United was a fictional account of Clough’s short-lived but controversial reign at the club, this book reveals the true story, as told by the players he managed at the time. Vividly recreating the atmosphere of the era, the book features candid contributions from legendary names such as Peter Lorimer, Eddie Gray, and Norman Hunter. They reveal what it was like to make the transition from the relatively smooth management style of forme! r manager Don Revie, who helped the club achieve success in Europe, to a constant crossing of swords with the outspoken Brian Clough, who left the club flailing at the foot of the league upon his premature departure. This explosive account covers all the drama that ensued from the moment Clough was earmarked by the club directors as the favorite to succeed Revie to his exit less than two months later, saddled with the knowledge that he had been the club’s most unsuccessful manager ever. Told from the perspective of those who experienced Clough’s dictatorial managerial methods at Leeds at first hand, We are the Damned United tells it how it really was rather than how it might have been.

Brian Clough’s 44-day tenure as manager of Leeds United between July and September 1974 is one of the most infamous episodes in British football history. While the bestselling The Damned United was a fictional account of Clough’s short-lived but controversial re! ign at the club, We are the Damned United reveals the t! rue stor y, as told by the players he managed at the time. Vividly recreating the atmosphere of the era, the book features candid contributions from legendary names such as Peter Lorimer, Eddie Gray, Terry Yorath and Duncan McKenzie. They reveal what it was like to make the transition from the relatively smooth management style of former manager Don Revie, who helped the club achieve success in Europe, to a constant crossing of swords with the outspoken Brian Clough, who left the club flailing at the foot of the league upon his premature departure. This explosive account covers all the drama that ensued from the moment Clough was earmarked by the club directors as the favourite to succeed Revie to his exit less than two months later, saddled with the knowledge that he had been the club’s most unsuccessful manager ever. Told from the perspective of those who experienced Clough’s dictatorial managerial methods at Leeds at first hand, We are the Damned United tells it how it ! really was rather than how it might have been.Brian Clough’s 44-day tenure as manager of Leeds United between July and September 1974 is one of the most infamous episodes in British football history. While the bestselling The Damned United was a fictional account of Clough’s short-lived but controversial reign at the club, We are the Damned United reveals the true story, as told by the players he managed at the time. Vividly recreating the atmosphere of the era, the book features candid contributions from legendary names such as Peter Lorimer, Eddie Gray, Terry Yorath and Duncan McKenzie. They reveal what it was like to make the transition from the relatively smooth management style of former manager Don Revie, who helped the club achieve success in Europe, to a constant crossing of swords with the outspoken Brian Clough, who left the club flailing at the foot of the league upon his premature departure. This explosive account covers all the drama that ensu! ed from the moment Clough was earmarked by the club directors ! as the f avourite to succeed Revie to his exit less than two months later, saddled with the knowledge that he had been the club’s most unsuccessful manager ever. Told from the perspective of those who experienced Clough’s dictatorial managerial methods at Leeds at first hand, We are the Damned United tells it how it really was rather than how it might have been.From the Academy Award-nominated writer of The Queen and Frost/Nixon, The Damned United is based on the incredible true story of Brian Clough, one of England’s greatest soccer managers and his 44 controversial days at the helm of reigning champs Leeds United. Michael Sheen (Frost/Nixon, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans and Twilight Saga: New Moon) triumphs as Clough starring alongside a winning ensemble cast that includes Timothy Spall (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), Colm Meaney (Layer Cake) and Jim Broadbent (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince). This inspiring and humorous sports drama is about the power of friendship in the face of adversity and the stubborn will of one man to play by his own rules.You don't have to like football (or soccer, as we call it in the U.S.) to enjoy The Damned United, because this sharp, funny movie isn't about sports any more than Citizen Kane is about running a newspaper. The Damned United is about ego--specifically, the large and driven ego of Brian Clough (Michael Sheen), the manager of a low-rung football team who, along with his assistant Peter Taylor (the always superb Timothy Spall, Secrets & Lies), brought his team to the top rank. At which point Clough self-destructed, even as he seemed to be given the keys to even greater heights: he was hired as the new manager of Leeds United, perhaps the strongest team in England, replacing his longtime rival Don Revie (Colm Meaney, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine). The Damned United bounces back and forth! in time, deftly laying out Clough's rise and fall, transformi! ng a man who initially seems an unbearable, domineering jerk into someone you feel for deeply. After Frost/Nixon and The Queen, Sheen practically specializes in playing real people, but his performance here is utterly stellar, by turns brilliantly comic and subtly moving. The movie lets the relationship between Clough and Taylor unspool organically, until the love and anger between them starts to fray and collapse. This is a riveting and ultimately invigorating story, psychologically compelling and with more twists and turns than a crime thriller. Simply a great movie. --Bret Fetzer


Stills from The Damned United (Click for larger image)
















From the Academy Award-nominated writer of The Queen and Frost/Nixon, The Damned United is based on the incredible true story of Brian Clough, one of England’s greatest soccer managers and his 44 controversial days at the helm of reigning champs Leeds United. Michael Sheen (Frost/Nixon, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans and Twilight Saga: New Moon) triumphs as Clough starring alongside a winning ensemble cast that includes Timothy Spall (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), Colm Meaney (Layer Cake) and Jim Broadbent (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince). This inspiring and humorous sports drama is about the power of friendship in the face of adversity and the stubborn will of one man to play by his own! rules.You don't have to like football (or soccer, as we call it in the U.S.) to enjoy The Damned United, because this sharp, funny movie isn't about sports any more than Citizen Kane is about running a newspaper. The Damned United is about ego--specifically, the large and driven ego of Brian Clough (Michael Sheen), the manager of a low-rung football team who, along with his assistant Peter Taylor (the always superb Timothy Spall, Secrets & Lies), brought his team to the top rank. At which point Clough self-destructed, even as he seemed to be given the keys to even greater heights: he was hired as the new manager of Leeds United, perhaps the strongest team in England, replacing his longtime rival Don Revie (Colm Meaney, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine). The Damned United bounces back and forth in time, deftly laying out Clough's rise and fall, transforming a man who initially seems an unbearable, domineering jerk into someone you feel for deepl! y. After Frost/Nixon and The Queen, Sheen practi! cally sp ecializes in playing real people, but his performance here is utterly stellar, by turns brilliantly comic and subtly moving. The movie lets the relationship between Clough and Taylor unspool organically, until the love and anger between them starts to fray and collapse. This is a riveting and ultimately invigorating story, psychologically compelling and with more twists and turns than a crime thriller. Simply a great movie. --Bret Fetzer


Stills from The Damned United (Click for larger image)











Drawing on untapped archives and full of fresh revelations, here is the definitive biography of America’s legendary defense attorney and progressive hero.

Clarence Darrow is the lawyer every law school student dreams of being: on the side of right, loved by many women, played by Spencer Tracy in Inherit the Wind. His days-long closing arguments delivered without notes won miraculous reprieves for men doomed to hang.
 
Darrow left a promising career as a railroad lawyer during the tumultuous Gilded Age in order to champion poor workers, blacks, and social and political outcasts against big business, Jim Crow, and corrupt officials. He became famous defending union leader Eugene Debs in the land­mark Pullman Strike case and went from one headline case to the nextâ€"until he was nearly crushed by an indictment for bribing a jury. He redeemed himself in Dayton, Tennessee, defending school! teacher John Scopes in the “Monkey Trial,” cementing his place in history.
 
Now, John A. Farrell draws on previously unpublished correspondence and memoirs to offer a candid account of Darrow’s divorce, affairs, and disastrous finances; new details of his feud with his law partner, the famous poet Edgar Lee Masters; a shocking disclosure about one of his most controversial cases; and explosive revelations of shady tactics he used in his own trial for bribery.
 
Clarence Darrow is a sweeping, surprising portrait of a leg­endary legal mind.A hilarious, shocking, terrifying thrill-ride across the American landscape, The Damned Highway combines two great flavors of weird: the gonzo journalism of Hunter S. Thompson and the uncanny terrors of H.P. Lovecraft! Horror legend Brian Keene and cult storytelling master Nick Matamas dredge up a tale of drug-fueled eldritch madness from the blackest depths of the American Nightmare. On a freaked! -out bus journey to Arkham, Massachusetts and the 1972 Preside! ntial pr imary, evidence mounts that sinister forces are on the rise, led by the Cult of Cthulhu and its most prominent member - Richard M. Nixon!Forty-five years after Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique, women have yet to achieve parity with men in the workplace. Men continue to make more money than women, and women's representation in the higher management ranks continues to lag behind men's.

Damned if She Does, Damned if She Doesn't asserts that certain respected rules of business actually work against gender equality. The rules inadvertently create paradoxes that put women in no-win situations, limiting their opportunity to succeed relative to men. Written by a woman and a man who have lived in the trenches of the corporate battlefield, this perceptive analysis exposes five of these paradoxes and concludes with a new model for business, which the authors call a coed corporation.

The tacit rules of corporate culture that create these parity paradoxes ! are:

  • Be a team player: While women rarely receive recognition comparable to men, if a woman seeks recognition for herself, she is seen as not being a team player.

  • Attract mentors and advocates: Talented women who work hard often don't attract the respected mentors or win influential, loyal advocates to the same degree as men.

  • Show commitment to the job: A woman fully dedicated to her career is often perceived as lacking a personal life. Conversely, a woman with a fulfilling personal life is dismissed as not seriously committed to her career.

  • Bond with coworkers: A woman who tries to bond with her male peers is seldom successful and tends to alienate both men and women.

  • Recognize your role in the system: If women accept their role, nothing changes; if they challenge it, they are stigmatized and their careers are limited.

    • With the insights that these two seasoned consultants provide, changes ! can be made that will finally achieve true gender parity in th! e workpl ace.

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    Thomas And Friends Wooden Railway - Harold The Helicopter

    • Handmade from REAL WOOD
    • Moving propeller
    • Durable paint job
    • Realistic details
    • Recommended Age Range 2 to 5 Years
    Was it worth it, this awful struggle to survive, no matter what the cost?"

    Harold is Hal Holbrook’s affecting memoir of growing up behind disguises, and his lifelong search for himself. Abandoned by his mother and father when he was two, Holbrook and his two sisters each commenced their separate journeys of survival. Raised by his powerful grandfather until his death when Holbrook was twelve, Holbrook spent his childhood at boarding schools, visiting his father in an insane asylum, and hoping his mother would suddenly surface in Hollywood. As the Second World War engulfed Europe, Holbrook began acting almost by accident. Thereafter, through war, marriage, and the work of honing his craft, his fear of insanity and his fearlessness! in the face of risk were channeled into his discovery that the riskiest path of allâ€"success as an actorâ€"would be his birthright. The climb up that tough, tough mountain was going to be a lonely one. And how he achieved itâ€"the cost to his wife and children and to his own conscienceâ€"is the dark side of his eventual fame from performing the man his career would forever be most closely associated with, the iconic Mark Twain.
    All aboard the next stop along the learning curve . . . kids three and up will enjoy the magical adventures of the ever-popular Thomas and Friends Wooden Railway System. Featuring characters from the Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends video series and the Thomas and the Magic Railroad feature film now out on video, this system allows children to re-enact their favorite Thomas tales or create new adventures of their own. Besides encouraging imagination, wooden train-play helps kids develop motor and social skills. The Thomas Wooden! Railway System is designed to grow along with kids' increasin! g skills , offering years of enjoyable play and new adventures around each and every bend.

    Thomas and his friends bring personality and fun to wooden train play. All aboard for adventure on the Island of Sodor! Good-hearted Harold brings welcome but noisy visits to the quiet Sodor landscape. For use with Thomas and Friends Wooden Railway System sets (sold separately).Kindhearted but noisy, Harold the Helicopter likes to drop in on the Island of Sodor to visit his railway friends. This 4-inch sturdy wood helicopter is white with a sleek red racing stripe above his name. With a rotating propeller and plastic landing pontoons, Harold is ready for action. Based on the popular Thomas the Tank Engine series by Reverend W. Awdry and the PBS television show Shining Time Station, this flying fellow is part of the much-loved wooden railway system, which is compatible with other magnetic train sets. You can reenact all the exciting stories in the series or make up new ones. Th! omas fans won't want to miss out on any of these fun, well-built railway characters. --Emilie Coulter

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    Down to Earth

    • Condition: New
    • Format: DVD
    • Anamorphic; Closed-captioned; Color; DVD; Widescreen; NTSC
    When a presidential candidate is needed just a few weeks before the election washington picks mays graham a powerless politician they plan to use as their puppet certain he will lose. But mays wont go out like that! if hes going to run hes going to have fun! Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 02/13/2007 Starring: Christ Rock Run time: 95 minutes Rating: Pg13Chris Rock writes, directs, and stars in the sassy political comedy Head of State, about Mays Gilliam, a black man who's chosen by the leaders of an unspecificed party to run for president after their previous candidates die in a plan crash. Though he initially follows his handler's instructions, Gilliam soon starts handling speeches in his own brazen, outspoken way, which starts to turn the tide--which upsets the party! leaders who chose him, since they expected him to lose. While Head of State doesn't quite have the razor wit that Rock wields in his stand-up routine, it has a sharper edge than just about any other political satire in recent memory. Rock bursts with charisma, and his supporting cast (including Lynn Whitfield, Dylan Baker, Robin Givens, and especially Bernie Mac as Gilliam's brother and running mate) provide solid comic support. --Bret FetzerWhen a presidential candidate is needed just a few weeks before the election washington picks mays graham a powerless politician they plan to use as their puppet certain he will lose. But mays wont go out like that! if hes going to run hes going to have fun! Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 02/13/2007 Starring: Chris Rock Run time: 95 minutes Rating: Pg13Chris Rock writes, directs, and stars in the sassy political comedy Head of State, about Mays Gilliam, a black man who's chosen by the leaders of an! unspecificed party to run for president after their previous ! candidat es die in a plan crash. Though he initially follows his handler's instructions, Gilliam soon starts handling speeches in his own brazen, outspoken way, which starts to turn the tide--which upsets the party leaders who chose him, since they expected him to lose. While Head of State doesn't quite have the razor wit that Rock wields in his stand-up routine, it has a sharper edge than just about any other political satire in recent memory. Rock bursts with charisma, and his supporting cast (including Lynn Whitfield, Dylan Baker, Robin Givens, and especially Bernie Mac as Gilliam's brother and running mate) provide solid comic support. --Bret FetzerNo Description Available.
    Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
    Rating: PG13
    Release Date: 24-APR-2007
    Media Type: DVDChris Rock writes, directs, and stars in the sassy political comedy Head of State, about Mays Gilliam, a black man who's chosen by the leaders of an unspecificed party t! o run for president after their previous candidates die in a plan crash. Though he initially follows his handler's instructions, Gilliam soon starts handling speeches in his own brazen, outspoken way, which starts to turn the tide--which upsets the party leaders who chose him, since they expected him to lose. While Head of State doesn't quite have the razor wit that Rock wields in his stand-up routine, it has a sharper edge than just about any other political satire in recent memory. Rock bursts with charisma, and his supporting cast (including Lynn Whitfield, Dylan Baker, Robin Givens, and especially Bernie Mac as Gilliam's brother and running mate) provide solid comic support. --Bret FetzerChris Rock writes, directs, and stars in the sassy political comedy Head of State, about Mays Gilliam, a black man who's chosen by the leaders of an unspecificed party to run for president after their previous candidates die in a plan crash. Though he initially foll! ows his handler's instructions, Gilliam soon starts handling s! peeches in his own brazen, outspoken way, which starts to turn the tide--which upsets the party leaders who chose him, since they expected him to lose. While Head of State doesn't quite have the razor wit that Rock wields in his stand-up routine, it has a sharper edge than just about any other political satire in recent memory. Rock bursts with charisma, and his supporting cast (including Lynn Whitfield, Dylan Baker, Robin Givens, and especially Bernie Mac as Gilliam's brother and running mate) provide solid comic support. --Bret FetzerWhen an African American stand up comedian prematurely dies, the angels in heaven supply him with the body of an eldery white tycoon, so that he can return to earth.
    Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
    Rating: PG13
    Release Date: 2-JAN-2007
    Media Type: DVDA tepid reworking of Warren Beatty's Heaven Can Wait (itself a remake of 1941's Here Comes Mr. Jordan), Down to Earth tries to mold co! median Chris Rock into an amiable romantic lead, but it softens the scathingly observant humor that made Rock a standup successor to Richard Pryor. Rock's aggressive style is bracingly expressed in a few good scenes, but through most of this movie--from the directors of American Pie--he struggles with dialogue that would barely pass muster in a low-rated sitcom. Edgy potential loses out to crowd-pleasing with the familiar body-switch formula: by way of premature death and bad timing on the part of heaven's Vegas-styled gatekeepers (played by Eugene Levy and Chazz Palminteri), Rock--as struggling comedian Lance Barton--is reincarnated as a 55-year-old white billionaire with a nasty reputation.

    Adjusting (too easily) to his racial transition, Lance charms a hospital administrator (Regina King) who's amazed to see the selfish white billionaire turning into romantic philanthropist. This allows plenty of black/white-contrast jokes (did you ever see a fat, middle-aged! white guy who's into hip-hop?), and Rock, who cowrote the scr! eenplay, still manages to work some pointed politics into the movie's good-natured tone. It's guaranteed that some will find Down to Earth quite entertaining, but others will wonder how potent this comedy could have been if Rock had been more willing to confront the harsher truths that lurk beneath the humor. --Jeff Shannon

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    Amen

    • AMEN (DVD MOVIE)
    A breakthrough, easy-to-follow brain-based program to lose weight and keep it offâ€"for the rest of your lifeâ€"from the bestselling author of Change Your Brain, Change Your Body, Magnificent Mind at Any Age, and Change Your Brain, Change Your Life
     
    Have you tried diet after diet without success? Want to know the two major secrets why most diets don’t work?

    The #1 secret is that most weight problems occur between your ears, not in your stomach. If you want a better body the first place to always start is by having a better brain.

    Secret #2 is that there isn’t just one brain pattern associated with being overweight; there are at least five patterns. Giving everyone the same diet plan will make some people better, and a lot of people worse. Finding the right plan for your individual brain type is the key to lasti! ng weight loss.

    In The Amen Solution bestselling author and brain expert Dr. Daniel Amen shares his one-of-a-kind brain-based program that helps you lose weight, improve your memory, and boost your mood at the same time. This is the same program offered at the world-renowned Amen Clinics that has already helped thousands of people lose the love handles and muffin tops. Based on the most up-to-date research, Dr. Amen shows you how to
     
    • Determine your individual brain type so you can find the plan that will work for you
    • Say goodbye to emotional overeating to shed pounds
    • Curb your cravings and boost willpower
    • Improve your brainpower, memory, and mood
    • Make small lifestyle changes that have a huge impact on weight loss
    • Prepare easy, delicious brain-healthy meals
     
    Packed with insight, motivation, and everything you need to get started right away, The Amen Solution will help you lose unwanted weight and! teach you the strategies to keep it off for a lifetime.

    From the Hardcover edition.AMEN - DVD Movie
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    Natural Fruit Flavors Collection Set of 6

    • Baking and Dessert
    • Gluten Free
    • Drinks
    • Extracts
    • Kosher
    The creator of Office Space, writer-director Mike Judge (Beavis and Butt-head), moves from cubicles to the assembly line with Extract-- his outrageous return to workplace comedy, featuring a hilarious ensemble cast of quirky characters. About to sell his successful flavor extract company, life is almost sweet for Joel (Jason Bateman) until a freak on-the-job accident happens. Add to that his bored wife (Kristen Wiig), his laid-back, stoner best friend (Ben Affleck), a sexy con artist (Mila Kunis) who blows into town with dollar signs in her bedroom eyes, and a dumb gigolo and life as he knows it turns sour. Filled with laugh-out-loud one-liners and raunchy comedy, Extract is 100% pure hil arity.The creator of Office Space, writer-director Mike Judge (Beavis and Butt-head), moves from cubicles to the assembly! line with Extract-- his outrageous return to workplace comedy, featuring a hilarious ensemble cast of quirky characters. About to sell his successful flavor extract company, life is almost sweet for Joel (Jason Bateman) until a freak on-the-job accident happens. Add to that his bored wife (Kristen Wiig), his laid-back, stoner best friend (Ben Affleck), a sexy con artist (Mila Kunis) who blows into town with dollar signs in her bedroom eyes, and a dumb gigolo and life as he knows it turns sour. Filled with laugh-out-loud one-liners and raunchy comedy, Extract is 100% pure hilarity.

    Bonus Features include: Mike Judge's Secret Recipe Featurette The Ingredients For A Classic Mike Judge FilmMike Judge is in a familiar zone in Extract, which is sort of a close relative to his cult classic Office Space. But this time the main character owns the company, instead of being a cog in the machinery, and middle age presents a different set of challenges. Joel (J! ason Bateman) concocted a new approach to soda pop, and his sm! all comp any is bubbling along nicely--in fact, there's talk he might get bought out by General Foods…unless something were to come along to really, you know, screw up the deal. Hmm, what could go wrong? Joel is sexually unfulfilled with his wife (Kristen Wiig), there's a new temp worker (Mila Kunis) at the factory who favors minimal clothing, and Joel's best friend (Ben Affleck), a slacker bartender, is bursting with bad advice. Oh, and there's an employee (Clifton Collins Jr.) contemplating a lawsuit because of a workplace accident that left him missing an important piece of equipment. The film's plot machinations are less enticing than the moment-by-moment behavioral observations, always a Mike Judge specialty. Examples: the chattering of the factory floor workers, who could easily have stepped out of a King of the Hill cartoon, or Joel's suburban neighbor (David Koechner at his chummiest), the kind of yakety-yak blowhard who simply will not shut up, however many polite! messages he receives. It might not amount to a whole lot, and somehow the gifted Bateman seems underused here (Affleck, on the other hand, is having a ball). But Extract seems destined for cable-TV repeatability, much like its corporate cousin. --Robert Horton

    Stills from Extract (Click for larger image)
     






    The creator of Office Space, writer-director Mike Judge (Beavis and Butt-head), moves from cubicles to the assembly line with Extract-- his outrageous return to workplace comedy, featuring a hilarious ensemble cast of quirky characters. About to sell his successful flavor extract company, life is almost sweet for Joel (Jason Bateman) until a freak on-the-job accident happens. Add to that his bored wife (Kristen Wiig), his laid-back, stoner best friend (Ben Affleck), a sexy con artist (Mila Kunis) who blows in! to town with dollar signs in her bedroom eyes, and a dumb gigolo and life as he knows it turns sour. Filled with laugh-out-loud one-liners and raunchy comedy, Extract is 100% pure hil arity.The creator of OFFICE SPACE, writer-director Mike Judge (BEAVIS AND BUTT-HEAD), moves from cubicles to the assembly line with EXTRACT his outrageous return to workplace comedy, featuring a hilarious ensemble cast of quirky characters. About to sell his successful flavor extract company, life is almost sweet for Joel (Jason Bateman) until a freak on-the-job accident happens. Add to that his bored wife (Kristen Wiig), his laid-back best friend (Ben Affleck), a sexy con artist (Mila Kunis) who blows into town with dollar signs in her bedroom eyes, and a dumb gigolo -- and life as he knows it turns sour. Filled with laugh-out-loud one-liners and raunchy comedy, EXTRACT is 100% pure hilarity.

    Bonus Features include: Exclusive To Blu-ray Deleted Scene, Exclusive To Blu-ray Extended Scen! es, Mike Judge's Secret Recipe Featurette The Ingredients For ! A Classi c Mike Judge FilmMike Judge is in a familiar zone in Extract, which is sort of a close relative to his cult classic Office Space. But this time the main character owns the company, instead of being a cog in the machinery, and middle age presents a different set of challenges. Joel (Jason Bateman) concocted a new approach to soda pop, and his small company is bubbling along nicely--in fact, there's talk he might get bought out by General Foods…unless something were to come along to really, you know, screw up the deal. Hmm, what could go wrong? Joel is sexually unfulfilled with his wife (Kristen Wiig), there's a new temp worker (Mila Kunis) at the factory who favors minimal clothing, and Joel's best friend (Ben Affleck), a slacker bartender, is bursting with bad advice. Oh, and there's an employee (Clifton Collins Jr.) contemplating a lawsuit because of a workplace accident that left him missing an important piece of equipment. The film's plot machinations ! are less enticing than the moment-by-moment behavioral observations, always a Mike Judge specialty. Examples: the chattering of the factory floor workers, who could easily have stepped out of a King of the Hill cartoon, or Joel's suburban neighbor (David Koechner at his chummiest), the kind of yakety-yak blowhard who simply will not shut up, however many polite messages he receives. It might not amount to a whole lot, and somehow the gifted Bateman seems underused here (Affleck, on the other hand, is having a ball). But Extract seems destined for cable-TV repeatability, much like its corporate cousin. --Robert Horton

    Stills from Extract (Click for larger image)
     






    Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent. Release Date: 09/27/2011 Run time: 92 minutes Rating: RSix 1 FL OZ bottles contained banana, blueberry, cherry, mango, raspberry and strawberry flavors
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