Thor (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy)

• Thor Blueray Used Movie

Raised by her father (Eric Bana), an ex-CIA agent, in the wilds of Finland, Hanna's upbringing and training have been one and the same, all geared to making her the perfect assassin. The turning point in her adolescence is a sharp one. Sent into the world by her father on a mission, Hanna journeys stealthily across Europe, eluding agents dispatched after her by a ruthless intelligence operative with secrets of her own (Cate Blanchett). As she nears her ultimate target, Hanna faces startling revelations about her existence.Hanna has the plot of a Hollywood action blockbuster but the style of a European art movie--and this unholy hybrid is fascinating to watch. Hanna (Saoirse Ronan, The Lovely Bones) has been raised by her father (Eric Bana, Munich), an ex-covert agent, for one purpose: to murder the American agent, Marissa Wiegler (Cate Blanchett), ! who murdered Hanna's mother. Hanna thinks she succeeds and escapes, but she's actually being followed by Wiegler, who will go to any lengths to exterminate the girl. Hanna could have been little more than a tween reboot of La Femme Nikita, but in the hands of director Joe Wright (Atonement, Pride & Prejudice) the movie spends as much time on Hanna's budding relationship with a girl on holiday in Morocco as it does on Hanna's capacity to kill. Even the action scenes have atypical rhythms (and one violent sequence occurs in a long, sustained shot that will make film geeks squeal with glee). Hanna is visually sumptuous, emotionally delicate, and completely unlike any other action flick you'll see. The ending goes flat as disappointingly banal plot mechanics take hold, but up until then, Hanna combines genuine thrills, unexpected complexity of character, and an unusual electronica soundtrack into an enthralling film. --Bret FetzerRaised by her father (Eric Bana), an ex-CIA agent, in the wil! ds of Fi nland, Hanna's upbringing and training have been one and the same, all geared to making her the perfect assassin. The turning point in her adolescence is a sharp one. Sent into the world by her father on a mission, Hanna journeys stealthily across Europe, eluding agents dispatched after her by a ruthless intelligence operative with secrets of her own (Cate Blanchett). As she nears her ultimate target, Hanna faces startling revelations about her existence.Hanna has the plot of a Hollywood action blockbuster but the style of a European art movie--and this unholy hybrid is fascinating to watch. Hanna (Saoirse Ronan, The Lovely Bones) has been raised by her father (Eric Bana, Munich), an ex-covert agent, for one purpose: to murder the American agent, Marissa Wiegler (Cate Blanchett), who murdered Hanna's mother. Hanna thinks she succeeds and escapes, but she's actually being followed by Wiegler, who will go to any lengths to exterminate the girl. Hanna could have been little more than a tween reboot of La Femme Nikita, but in the hands of director Joe Wright (Atonement, Pride & Prejudice) the movie spends as much time on Hanna's budding relationship with a girl on holiday in Morocco as it does on Hanna's capacity to kill. Even the action scenes have atypical rhythms (and one violent sequence occurs in a long, sustained shot that will make film geeks squeal with glee). Hanna is visually sumptuous, emotionally delicate, and completely unlike any other action flick you'll see. The ending goes flat as disappointingly banal plot mechanics take hold, but up until then, Hanna combines genuine thrills, unexpected complexity of character, and an unusual electronica soundtrack into an enthralling film. --Bret FetzerX-Men: First Class is the thrilling, eye-opening chapter you’ve been waiting for...Witness the beginning of the X-Men Universe. Before Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr took t! he names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men disc! overing their superhuman powers for the first time, working together in a desperate attempt to stop the Hellfire Club and a global nuclear war.When Bryan Singer brought Marvel's X-Men to the big screen, Magneto and Professor X were elder statesmen, but Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass) travels back in time to present an origin story--and an alternate version of history. While Charles Xavier (Laurence Belcher) grows up privileged in New York, Erik Lehnsherr (Bill Milner) grows up underprivileged in Poland. As children, the mind-reading Charles finds a friend in the shape-shifting Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) and Erik finds an enemy in Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon), an energy-absorbing Nazi scientist who treats the metal-bending lad like a lab rat. By 1962, Charles (James McAvoy) has become a swaggering genetics professor and Erik (Michael Fassbender, McAvoy's Band of Brothers costar) has become a brooding agent of revenge. CIA agent Moira (Rose Byrne) brings the two together to work for Division! X. With the help of MIB (Oliver Platt) and Hank (A Single Man's Nicholas Hoult), they seek out other mutants, while fending off Shaw and Emma Frost (Mad Men's January Jones), who try to recruit them for more nefarious ends, leading to a showdown in Cuba between the United States and the Soviet Union, the good and bad mutants, and Charles and Erik, whose goals have begun to diverge. Throughout, Vaughn crisscrosses the globe, piles on the visual effects, and juices the action with a rousing score, but it's the actors who make the biggest impression as McAvoy and Fassbender prove themselves worthy successors to Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen. The movie comes alive whenever they take center stage, and dies a little when they don't. For the most part, though, Vaughn does right by playing up the James Bond parallels and acknowledging the debt to producer Bryan Singer through a couple of clever cameos. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

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The epic adventure Thor spans the Marvel universe from present-day Earth to the cosmic realm of Asgard. At the center of the story is The Mighty Thor, a powerful but arrogant warrior whose reckless actions reignite an ancient war. As a result, Thor is banished to Earth where he is forced to live among humans. When the most dangerous villain of his world sends its darkest forces to invade Earth, Thor learns what it takes to be a true hero.Of all the folks in long underwear to be tapped for superhero films, Thor would seem to be the most problematic to properly pull off. (Hypothetical Hollywood conversation: "A guy in a tricked-out, easily merchandisable metal suit? Great! An Asgardian God of Thunder who says stuff like thee and thou? Um, is Moon Knight available?") Thankfully, the resulting film does its source material rather proud, via a committed cast and an approach that doesn't shy away from the over-the-top superheroics. ! When you're dealing with a flying guy wielding a huge hammer, gritty realism can be overrated, really. Blending elements from the celebrated comic arcs by Walter Simonson and J. Michael Straczynski, the story follows the headstrong Thunder God (Chris Hemsworth) as he is banished to Earth and stripped of his powers by his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) after inadvertently starting a war with a planet of ticked-off Frost Giants. As his traitorous brother Loki (the terrific Tom Hiddleston) schemes in the wings, Thor must redeem himself and save the universe, with the aid of a beautiful scientist (Natalie Portman). Although director Kenneth Branagh certainly doesn't skimp on the in-jokes and fan-pleasing continuity references (be prepared to stick around after the credits, Marvel fans), his film distinguishes itself by adopting a larger-than-life cosmic Shakespearean air that sets itself apart from both the cerebral, grounded style made fashionable by The Dark Knight and ! the loose-limbed Rat Packish vibe of the Iron Man serie! s. Glory ing in the absolute unreality of its premise, Branagh's film is a swooping, Jack Kirby-inspired saga that brings the big-budget grins on a consistent basis, as well as tying in with the superhero battle royale The Avengers. --Andrew Wright

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As Good as Dead (Angel Delaney Mystery Series #3)

• Softcover Book

The victims are all found face-down in the murky waters of the creek that runs through Cherokee Pointe, Tennessee. They are naked, except for the black satin ribbon tied around their necks. And each murdered woman shares a single characteristic...they are all redheads. Socialite Reve Sorrell has come to Cherokee Pointe seeking answers about her family history and her shocking connection to wrong-side-of-the tracks Jazzy Talbot. With their stunning good looks and shining red hair, the two are mirror images of each other-twins abandoned at birth and raised in very different worlds. And whoever left them for dead on a cold night thirty years ago isn't about to let them uncover the truth now. As a serial killer leaves another chilling calling card in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, Reye turns to Sheriff Jacob Butler to help her unravel the potentially deadly secrets of her pa! st. But someone will do anything to stop her...someone who won't make the same mistake twice...someone more cunning than she knows...and closer than she ever could imagine.The Hostage. Police officer Helen Weeks walks into her local newsagent's on her way to work. Little does she know that this simple daily ritual will change her life forever. It's the last place she expects to be met with violence, but as she waits innocently at the till, she comes face to face with a gunman. The Demand. The crazed hostage-taker is desperate to know what really happened to his beloved son, who died a year before in youth custody. By holding a police officer at gunpoint, he will force the one man who knows more about the case than any other to re-investigate his son's death. That man is DI Tom Thorne. The Twist. While Helen fights to stay alive and the body-count rises,Thorne must race against time if he is to bring a killer to justice and save a young mother's life.What She Does! n't Know. . .

The victims are all found face-do! wn in th e murky waters of the creek that runs through Cherokee Pointe, Tennessee. They are naked, except for the black satin ribbon tied around their necks. And each murdered woman shares a single characteristic. . .they are all redheads. . .

Just Might. . .

Socialite Reve Sorrell has come to Cherokee Pointe seeking answers about her family history and her shocking connection to wrong-side-of-the-tracks Jazzy Talbot. With their stunning good looks and shining red hair, the two are mirror images of each other--twins abandoned at birth and raised in very different worlds. And whoever left them for dead on a cold night thirty years ago isn't about to let them uncover the truth now. . .

Kill Her

As a serial killer leaves another chilling calling card in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, Reve turns to Sheriff Jacob Butler to help her unravel the potentially deadly secrets of her past. But someone will do anything to stop h! er. . .someone who won't make the same mistake twice. . .someone more cunning than she knows. . .and closer than she ever could imagine. . .

"Fast. . .edgy. . .sexy. . .I loved The Fifth Victim!" --Linda Howard, New York Times bestselling author

"Smart, sexy, and scary as hell. Beverly Barton just keeps getting better and better." --Lisa Jackson, New York Times bestselling author on The Fifth Victim

What She Doesn't Know. . .

The victims are all found face-down in the murky waters of the creek that runs through Cherokee Pointe, Tennessee. They are naked, except for the black satin ribbon tied around their necks. And each murdered woman shares a single characteristic. . .they are all redheads. . .

Just Might. . .

Socialite Reve Sorrell has come to Cherokee Pointe seeking answers about her family history and her shocking connection to wrong-side-of-the-tracks Jazzy Talbot. With the! ir stunning good looks and shining red hair, the two are mirro! r images of each other--twins abandoned at birth and raised in very different worlds. And whoever left them for dead on a cold night thirty years ago isn't about to let them uncover the truth now. . .

Kill Her

As a serial killer leaves another chilling calling card in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, Reve turns to Sheriff Jacob Butler to help her unravel the potentially deadly secrets of her past. But someone will do anything to stop her. . .someone who won't make the same mistake twice. . .someone more cunning than she knows. . .and closer than she ever could imagine. . .

"Fast. . .edgy. . .sexy. . .I loved The Fifth Victim!" --Linda Howard, New York Times bestselling author

"Smart, sexy, and scary as hell. Beverly Barton just keeps getting better and better." --Lisa Jackson, New York Times bestselling author on The Fifth Victim

Penelope Thomson is a young woman from the seventeenth century who is forced by ! her father into marriage with a young baron. The young couple travels from Holland to the New World almost immediately after their wedding. Penelope is shipwrecked, attacked by Indians, made a widow, left for dead, and compelled to make her own way in America in one of the most unique stories ever told. She meets Richard Stout, who is almost twice her age, and he becomes more than just her rescuer. They, along with other new settlers, are forced to battle a corrupt government and hostile enemies, all the while trying to hold on to what they have built.What begins as an average day for ethan takes a dangerous turn when hes kidnapped & held hostage in his apartment. The home invaders arent looking to rob him: instead they are looking to avenge the death of a right-wing cult leader. But the more they interrogate him the more they doubt hes the killer. Studio: Millenium Media Services Release Date: 10/12/2010 Starring: Andie Macdowell Frank Whaley Run time: 91 minutes Rati! ng: RSoftcover Book

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Brief Interviews with Hideous Men

• ISBN13: 9780316925198
• Condition: New
• Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

David Foster Wallace made an art of taking readers into places no other writer even gets near. The series of stories from which this exuberantly acclaimed book takes its title is a sequence of imagined interviews with men on the subject of their relations with women. These portraits of men at their most self-justifying, loquacious, and benighted explore poignantly and hilariously the agonies of sexual connections.Amid the screams of adulation for bandanna-clad wunderkind David Foster Wallace, you might hear a small peep. It is the cry for some restraint. On occasion the reader is left in the dust wondering where the story went, as the author, literary turbochargers on full-blast, suddenly accelerate! s into the wild-blue-footnoted yonder in pursuit of some obscure metafictional fancy. Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, Wallace's latest collection, is at least in part a response to the distress signal put out by the many readers who want to ride along with him, if he'd only slow down for a second.

The intellectual gymnastics and ceaseless rumination endure (if you don't have a tolerance for that kind of thing, your nose doesn't belong in this book), but they are for the most part couched in simpler, less frenzied narratives. The book's four-piece namesake takes the form of interview transcripts, in which the conniving horror that is the male gender is revealed in all of its licentious glory. In the short, two-part "The Devil Is a Busy Man," Wallace strolls through the Hall of Mirrors that is human motivation. (Is it possible to completely rid an act of generosity of any self-serving benefits? And why is it easier to sell a couch for five ! dollars than it is to give it away for free?) The even shorte! r glimps e into modern-day social ritual, "A Radically Condensed History of Postindustrial Life," stretches the seams of its total of seven lines with scathing economy: "She laughed extremely hard, hoping to be liked. Then each drove home alone, staring straight ahead, with the very same twist to their faces." Wallace also imbues his extreme observational skills with a haunting poetic sensibility. Witness what he does to a diving board and the two darkened patches at the end of it in "Forever Overhead":

It's going to send you someplace which its own length keeps you from seeing, which seems wrong to submit to without even thinking.... They are skin abraded from feet by the violence of the disappearance of people with real weight.

Of course, not every piece is an absolute winner. "The Depressed Person" slips from purposefully clinical to unintentionally boring. "Tri-Stan: I Sold Sissee Nar to Ecko" reimagines an Arthurian tale in MTV terms a! nd holds your attention for about as long as you'd imagine from such a description. Ultimately, however, even these failed experiments are a testament to Mr. Wallace's endless if unbridled talent. Once he gets the reins completely around that sucker, it's going to be quite a ride. --Bob Michaels

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Masada - The Complete Epic Mini-Series

• An epic true story of Jews fleeing Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Pursued to a mountain stronghold of the Herods, they face lives enslaved, or suicide. This is the full-length television miniseries. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION Rating: NR Age: 741952648291 UPC: 741952648291 Manufacturer No: KOC-DV6482

The hilarious hi-jinks begin when a hapless group of orphans from curious backgrounds come together to embark on an adventure that takes them to a special chocolate factory where they fall into an enchanted wardrobe and wind-up in a magical land. Here, hilarity ensues when the bungling bunch run into a colorful collection of characters including a flamboyant pirate and a gang of wizardry-apprentices who they join forces with to overthrow the wicked White Bitch of Gnarnia.

By dint of the inexplicable popularity of their send-up of movie genres in the parody movies Sca! ry Movie and Date Movie, writer/director duo Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer probably got an epic-sized bucket of cash for this hastily stitched pastiche of drive-by entertainment. There's no particular variety of movie they were sent to send up this time, unless big box-office grossers has now become a genre in and of itself. If so, Epic Movie may well qualify as part of that league itself. Very little expense has been spared to make so-called "comic" references to a slew of mostly recent blockbusters--The Chronicles of Narnia, Borat, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the X-Men and Harry Potter series, Superman Returns, Nacho Libre, and The Da Vinci Code to name a few--and it's assumed we've seen them all. In a goofy thread of a story about four orphans plucked from some of the above, battle must be done through various bastardized plots from same so tha! t a prophecy can be fulfilled and they can assume their rightf! ul place as rulers of a sacred land. Lots of crotch kicks, fart, urine, and vomit jokes speed by as we pass through Willie Wonka's factory and a magical wardrobe with an unusually interesting assortment of look-alikes and name actors caught up in the gag mix (some of it legitimately funny). Darrell Hammond, Crispin Glover, David Carradine, Kevin McDonald, Carmen Electra, Kal Penn put on game (and sometimes gamy) faces, and it's definitely a hoot to watch comedy improv alums Fred Willard and Jennifer Coolidge as Aslo the Lion and the White Bitch do battle in a Narnian good vs. evil character smackdown. As lame as you already expect a movie like this to be, anything that can throw together an homage to C.S. Lewis alongside MTV's Punk'd in less than 90 minutes can't be all bad. --Ted Fry

Epic Movie Extras

Watch the writers and producer talk about how adding song and dance made Epic Movie a smash.

Beyond Epic Movie

More Comic Spoofs

More Kal Penn Films

More From 20th Century Fox

Stills from Epic Movie

The hilarious hi-jinks begin when a hapless group of orphans from curious backgrounds come together to embark on an adventure that takes them to a special chocolate factory where they fall into an enchanted wardrobe and wind-up in a magical land. Here, hilarity ensues when the bungling bunch run into a colorful collection of characters including a flamboyant pirate and a gang of wizardry-apprentices who they join forces with to overthrow the wicked White Bitch of Gnarnia.

By dint of t! he inexplicable popularity of their send-up of movie genres in the parody movies Scary Movie and Date Movie, writer/director duo Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer probably got an epic-sized bucket of cash for this hastily stitched pastiche of drive-by entertainment. There's no particular variety of movie they were sent to send up this time, unless big box-office grossers has now become a genre in and of itself. If so, Epic Movie may well qualify as part of that league itself. Very little expense has been spared to make so-called "comic" references to a slew of mostly recent blockbusters--The Chronicles of Narnia, Borat, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the X-Men and Harry Potter series, Superman Returns, Nacho Libre, and The Da Vinci Code to name a few--and it's assumed we've seen them all. In a goofy thread of a story about four orphans plucked from so! me of the above, battle must be done through various bastardiz! ed plots from same so that a prophecy can be fulfilled and they can assume their rightful place as rulers of a sacred land. Lots of crotch kicks, fart, urine, and vomit jokes speed by as we pass through Willie Wonka's factory and a magical wardrobe with an unusually interesting assortment of look-alikes and name actors caught up in the gag mix (some of it legitimately funny). Darrell Hammond, Crispin Glover, David Carradine, Kevin McDonald, Carmen Electra, Kal Penn put on game (and sometimes gamy) faces, and it's definitely a hoot to watch comedy improv alums Fred Willard and Jennifer Coolidge as Aslo the Lion and the White Bitch do battle in a Narnian good vs. evil character smackdown. As lame as you already expect a movie like this to be, anything that can throw together an homage to C.S. Lewis alongside MTV's Punk'd in less than 90 minutes can't be all bad. --Ted Fry

Epic Movie Extras

Watch the writers and producer talk about how adding song and dance made Epic Movie a smash.

Beyond Epic Movie

More Comic Spoofs

More Kal Penn Films

More From 20th Century Fox

Stills from Epic Movie

Genre: Comedy
Rating: UN
Release Date: 6-JAN-2009
Media Type: DVDEven within the subgenre of grab-bag comedy, Disaster Movie sets a new bar for free-associative lunacy. To what degree there is a plot, it's vaguely stolen from Cloverfield: A handful of twentysomethings try to rescue someone in a city assaulted by an incomprehensible threat--in t! his case, falling asteroids. But that's just a thread on which to string a long and increasingly tedious series of gestures towards recent movies (ranging from High School Musical to Enchanted to Sex and the City to Kung Fu Panda) and pop culture figures (Amy Winehouse to Flavor Flav to Dr. Phil to, of course, perpetual punching-bag Michael Jackson). No one over 30 will recognize more than a fraction of the movie's references, but the movie's bigger problem is that there are hardly any actual jokes--the filmmakers seem to think that simply alluding to Hancock or Jumper is funny in and of itself... and it just isn't. Disaster Movie will probably appeal to its primary audience of high-school students and repressed frat boys, for whom the mere mention of homosexuality prompts jittery laughter and who find generically pretty girls and studly boys in tight clothing titillating. It's a wasted opportunity; there are mo! ments that, through sheer incompetence and desperation, sugges! t a surr eal stream-of-consciousness. A filmmaker like Luis Bunuel or Federico Fellini could have turned such raw matter into a satirical aria that would genuinely critique a culture that worships Paris Hilton. Instead, we get this. Featuring, as ever, Carmen Electra.--Bret Fetzer

Spider-Man, X-Men, and the Fantastic Four will never be the same after this outrageously funny spoof of your favorite comic book movies! Drake Bell (Drake & Josh) stars as a nerdy high school student bitten by a genetically-altered dragonfly. He stumbles hilariously through the process of becoming a crime-fighter and as his new powers grow, so do the laugh! s. Sara Paxton (Aquamarine) and Christopher McDonald (Spy Kid! s 2) cos tar as the clueless damsel in distress and the comically intense super villain, along with Pamela Anderson and Leslie Nielsen. Going from superzero to superhero has never been this much fun! Adolescent fantasy meets sophomoric humor in the latest cuisinart comedy, Superhero Movie. The story of how frustrated loser Rick Riker (Drake Bell of Drake & Josh) becomes the superpowered Dragonfly is largely poking fun at Spider-Man, but there are a handful of digs at X-Men, Fantastic Four, and other Marvel Comics superhuman flicks. What's disappointing is how few of the jokes are specific to the genre--the abundance of gags about urine, feces, horniness, and especially flatulence (long, drawn-out gags about flatulence) could have been shoehorned into a parody of pretty much anything. The strong point of Superhero Movie is the above-average cast; while there are the obligatory cameos by the likes of Pamela Anderson, the cast is mostly filled ! out with actual actors like Marion Ross (Happy Days), Christopher McDonald (Thelma & Louise), Brent Spiner (Star Trek: The Next Generation), Jeffrey Tambor (Arrested Development), and Leslie Nielsen, who trots out his trademark deadpan one more time. As Dragonfly's love interest, Sara Paxton (Aquamarine) does a flawless and subtle imitation of Kirsten Dunst's sultry vocal mannerisms. And for fans of Airplane! (the movie that started the whole everything-but-the-kitchen-sink genre of comedy), there's an appropriate cameo by Robert Hays as Rick Riker's father. Superhero is a step above such recent tripe as Date Movie and Meet the Spartans... but sadly, that's not saying much. --Bret FetzerMultiple Directors - Starring Kal Penn, Adam Campbell, Jennifer Coolidge 20th Century Fox - Rated PG13 - 93 min - Parody/Spoof - Region: 1 (USA & territories, Canada) If forced to watch any entry in Aaron Seltzer and Jason Friedberg's [Fill in the Blank] Movie franchise, the best (and only) way to stay entertained is to make a game of pinpointing the most recent cultural spoof, thereby identifying just how recently they coughed out the shoddy script. In the disastrous Epic Movie, that would be a Borat joke, meaning the script was probably submitted sometime in November for a January release. Boy does it show. Even if they claim to be lampooning a particular genre, these films are more interested in a particular window of time -- hence the inclusion of decidedly non-epic films like Snakes on a Plane and Talladega Nights in Epic Movie's slate of targets. The jokes are so brainlessly simple, only by aiming them at the most recent Hollywood releases is there any chance they'd seem fresh -- and even that is quite optimistic. Simply put, this is lowest common denominator filmmaking, produced on a shoestring using actors whose hunger for a paych! eck is downright embarrassing. That Jennifer Coolidge and Fred Willard didn't learn their lesson from the abomination known as Date Movie is a sad commentary on what funny actors must do to make a living -- it's the equivalent of Eugene Levy appearing in every last straight-to-DVD American Pie sequel. Discussing this slapdash production in any detail is too generous, as it gives the false impression that the film succeeds on any level. However, to dismiss it entirely ignores its $19 million opening weekend take, which indicates there are certainly viewers content enough to guffaw over such cut-rate obviousness. If any of them remembered the sublime beginnings of the parody genre, such as Airplane!, they wouldn't give this film a dime. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie GuideIn first century A.D., Flavius Silva (Peter O’Toole), commander in Roman Palestine, leads his forces in combat against the remaining Jewish Zealots who have taken refuge in the seemingly impregnable fortress! of Masada. There, the engineering and military might of Rome ! faces th e passion and ingenuity of Eleazar Ben Yair (Peter Strauss) and his people. Based on the novel "The Antagonists" by Ernest K. Gann, this epic, 4-part mini-series was shot on location in Israel.This 1981 television miniseries, based on Ernest K. Gann's historical novel The Antagonists, is a dramatization of a documented revolt by nearly a thousand Jerusalem Jews against Roman oppressors in A.D. 72 to 73. Following a city-wide siege by Rome's soldiers, Jewish Zealots move into a fortress in the mountains of Masada, from which they present a defense strong enough to convince the enemy to negotiate. Peter O'Toole, in all his golden dignity, plays Cornelius Flavius Silva, commander of the Roman legions, and Peter Strauss is Zealot leader Eleazar ben Yair. Both are outstanding as representatives from each side trying, in good faith, to find a way out of the deadlocked situation. Unfortunately, neither realizes that Rome has no intention of yielding, resulting in one of! the greatest tragedies in Jewish history. A strong cast of character actors--David Warner, Barbara Carrera, Timothy West, and Anthony Quayle--is rewardingly watchable, the action and sets are persuasive without overwhelming the story's human dimension, and direction by Boris Sagal (The Omega Man) is crisp and enthralling. This was a pleasure to watch when it was first broadcast, and it holds up very well today. --Tom Keogh"A victory? What have we won?" laments a breathtaking Peter O'Toole as the Roman warrior Flavius Silva. "We've won a rock in the middle of a wasteland, on the shores of a poisoned sea." Thus does Masada, the epic 1981 miniseries about a horrific battle in ancient Palestine, echo the terrible toll of war in general, and of the brutal conflicts in today's Middle East in particular. Masada, from the golden age of miniseries (Roots, Shogun), is a transportive viewing event--shot on location, and apparently no exp! ense spared.

The film retells (with some dramatic license)! the tru e story of an uprising in Palestine of a ragtag band of Jews, in a fortress called Masada, who refuse to surrender to the governing Romans. O'Toole, as Flavius Silva, is the brilliant commander who, over the course of several years of trying, and failing, to breach Masada, comes to regard the leader of his foes, Eleazar ben Yair (the charismatic Peter Strauss), with a certain amount of respect and awe. If left to Flavius, he might have simply leave the holdout fortress and return to the Italy he so longs for; but the Roman emperor demands victory--at any cost.

The performances are uniformly crisp and believable; the direction by Boris Sagal, economical; the screenplay, sharp and incisive. David Warner, who won an Emmy for his performance, plays the brutal Roman henchman Falco with seething determination. The location shooting is nothing short of spectacular. There is sorrow in the story of Masada, but an uplifting message in the ability of true believers to creat! e their own destiny. --A.T. Hurley

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Melissa & Doug Abby & Emma Deluxe Magnetic Dress-Up Set

• These adorable play sets feature magnetic dolls with doll stands
• Hundreds of dress-up options
• Enrich a child's imagination
• Plenty of clothing and accessory pieces for hours of dress-up fun
• Exceptional Quality and Value

Romantic Comedy. Alex (Luke Wilson) is an author whose writer's block and gambling debts have landed him in a jam. In order to get loan sharks off his back, he must finish his novel in 30 days or wind up dead. To help him complete his manuscript he hires stenographer Emma (Kate Hudson). As Alex begins to dictate his tale of a romantic love triangle to the charming yet somewhat opinionated stenographer, Emma challenges his ideas at every turn. Her unsolicited yet intriguing input begins to inadvertently influence Alex and his story and soon real life begins to imitate art.For perhaps the first time in her career, Kate Hudson doesn't just imitate t! he twinkle of her mother, Goldie Hawn--and proves to be a winning romantic lead in her own right. Hudson plays Emma, a stenographer hired by a desperate writer named Alex (Luke Wilson, The Royal Tenenbaums, Legally Blonde), who has to finish a book in 30 days. Of course, a tentative romance blooms between them; but as Alex begins to interweave elements of his life into the love triangle of his novel--including a suspiciously Emma-esque character named Anna--Emma wonders if the novel's sexy other woman has a real-life counterpart as well. Though Alex & Emma suffers from some bland, formulaic elements, it also features flashes of engaging wit. Hudson dampens her gleam, but because she's not working so hard to be adorable, a relaxed and more unique charm comes forth. --Bret FetzerRomantic Comedy. Alex (Luke Wilson) is an author whose writer's block and gambling debts have landed him in a jam. In order to get loan sharks off his back, he must finish ! his novel in 30 days or wind up dead. To help him complete his! manuscr ipt he hires stenographer Emma (Kate Hudson). As Alex begins to dictate his tale of a romantic love triangle to the charming yet somewhat opinionated stenographer, Emma challenges his ideas at every turn. Her unsolicited yet intriguing input begins to inadvertently influence Alex and his story and soon real life begins to imitate art.For perhaps the first time in her career, Kate Hudson doesn't just imitate the twinkle of her mother, Goldie Hawn--and proves to be a winning romantic lead in her own right. Hudson plays Emma, a stenographer hired by a desperate writer named Alex (Luke Wilson, The Royal Tenenbaums, Legally Blonde), who has to finish a book in 30 days. Of course, a tentative romance blooms between them; but as Alex begins to interweave elements of his life into the love triangle of his novel--including a suspiciously Emma-esque character named Anna--Emma wonders if the novel's sexy other woman has a real-life counterpart as well. Though Alex & Em! ma suffers from some bland, formulaic elements, it also features flashes of engaging wit. Hudson dampens her gleam, but because she's not working so hard to be adorable, a relaxed and more unique charm comes forth. --Bret FetzerSixteen-year-old Poppy (Emma Roberts) is an LA teen diva who does what she wants, whenever she wants. But after an over-the-top prank pushes her father one step too far, she finds herself shipped off to the one place where everything will change: a British boarding school. No cell phones, no designer clothes…no way. Desperate to break free, she sets in motion the ultimate escape plan involving the head mistress’ son â€" only to discover that this could be the reason she wants to stay. Co-starring Natasha Richardson, Aidan Quinn and Nick Frost, it’s the fun and fabulous comedy that’s LOL!Poppy is spoiled. OK, Poppy, played with snottiness galore by Emma Roberts, is wicked-impossible spoiled. As Wild Child opens, Poppy is havi! ng a Malibu meltdown, in the form of tossing her dad's new gir! lfriend' s clothing into the Pacific--just past the edge of the infinity pool."This is the last straw, Poppy!" shouts her beleaguered dad (Aidan Quinn). So off Poppy goes--to boarding school. In England. Where it rains 200 days a year. If Wild Child has few plot surprises--selfish kid learns respect for others with the persistence and pluck of new friends and firm authority figures--it's still a lark, because of Roberts' considerable winsomeness, and because the dreaded England ends up showing considerable charm of its own, which draws in both Poppy and the viewer. Wild Child also marks something bittersweet, the last film performance of Natasha Richardson (who died in March 2009). Richardson is winning as the strict but warmhearted headmistress, Mrs. Kingsley, making what could be a one-dimensional character complex. Richardson is totally self-possessed and grounded, and in some shots seems to channel another great British actress, Emma Thompson. T! he great Scottish character actress Shirley Henderson also makes a sly appearance as the matron with the dry-as-bone-china sense of humor.

"What is this place, Hogwarts?" sneers Poppy when she arrives at the remote 18th-century school. But what happens to Poppy is in some ways even more transformative than the goings-on at Harry Potter's school. Flirtation and love hover in the air, in the form of Mrs. Kingsley's hunky son, Freddie (Alex Pettyfer); and Poppy's flair for the dramatic and her undeniable leadership skills galvanize the student body, in some unexpected ways. Roberts is becoming a delightful actress with charisma and nuance. And as the Wild Child is tamed, a lovely young woman is revealed. --A.T. HurleyRomantic Comedy. Alex (Luke Wilson) is an author whose writer's block and gambling debts have landed him in a jam. In order to get loan sharks off his back, he must finish his novel in 30 days or wind up dead. To help him complete his manuscript he hi! res stenographer Emma (Kate Hudson). As Alex begins to dictat! e his ta le of a romantic love triangle to the charming yet somewhat opinionated stenographer, Emma challenges his ideas at every turn. Her unsolicited yet intriguing input begins to inadvertently influence Alex and his story and soon real life begins to imitate art.For perhaps the first time in her career, Kate Hudson doesn't just imitate the twinkle of her mother, Goldie Hawn--and proves to be a winning romantic lead in her own right. Hudson plays Emma, a stenographer hired by a desperate writer named Alex (Luke Wilson, The Royal Tenenbaums, Legally Blonde), who has to finish a book in 30 days. Of course, a tentative romance blooms between them; but as Alex begins to interweave elements of his life into the love triangle of his novel--including a suspiciously Emma-esque character named Anna--Emma wonders if the novel's sexy other woman has a real-life counterpart as well. Though Alex & Emma suffers from some bland, formulaic elements, it also features flashes ! of engaging wit. Hudson dampens her gleam, but because she's not working so hard to be adorable, a relaxed and more unique charm comes forth. --Bret FetzerAbby and Emma love to play dress-up and exchange mix and match outfits. These two wooden, magnetic friends come with stands and hundreds of dress-up options for hours of fun!

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G-Force (Single Disc Widescreen)

• Buckle up for thrilling edge-of-your seat action and laugh-out-loud fun in Disney's family comedy adventure G-FORCE. Just as the G-Force -- an elite team of highly trained guinea pigs -- is about to save the world, the F.B.I. shuts the secret unit down. But these next-generation action heroes -- Darwin, loyal team leader; Blaster, weapons expert with attitude to spare; Juarez, drop-dead gorgeous m

In this luminous novel -- winner of Britain's prestigious Booker Prize -- John Berger relates the story of "G.," a young man forging an energetic sexual career in Europe during the early years of this century. With profound compassion, Berger explores the hearts and minds of both men and women, and what happens during sex, to reveal the conditions of the Don Juan's success: his essential loneliness, the quiet cumulation in each of his sexual experiences of all of those that precede it, the tendernes! s that infuses even the briefest of his encounters, and the way women experience their own extraordinariness through their moments with him. All of this Berger sets against the turbulent backdrop of Garibaldi and the failed revolution of Milanese workers in 1898, the Boer War, and the first flight across the Alps, making G. a brilliant novel about the search for intimacy in history's private moments.A successful rap producer is reunited with his former love and tries to win her back, away from her abusive husband.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: R
Release Date: 1-MAY-2007
Media Type: DVDG. is an engrossing update of The Great Gatsby, set in the Hamptons and starring Richard T. Jones as Summer G., a self-made, millionaire head of a hip-hop label. Having risen from obscurity to make his fortune, Summer pines for just one thing: Sky (Chenoa Maxwell), the woman who dumped him back in college to marry the brutal, philanderi! ng Chip (Blair Underwood). Sky's feckless cousin, Tre (Andre R! oyer), a pop journalist, sets her up in an assignation with Summer, leading to predictable conflicts but with unexpected consequences. Co-written and directed by Christopher Scott Cherot, G. is also an interesting portrait of American wealth, particularly the collision of old and new money in the form of a biracial aristocracy coming to terms with a hip-hop elite. Strong performances alone are enough to recommend this feature. --Tom Keogh

Something magic this way comes…

Wicked ³, Book 1

Callie has always known the Abbotts were different. Witches, though they call themselves “Magians”. They are her second family. Harrison Abbott has been her best friend since they were children. Tucker Abbott, her life-long crush. And their brother, Tyghe? A magical pain in her backside.

When the Abbotts need her human perspective to solve a mystery, she doesn’t hesitate. Especially since it means getting everything she ever wanted. A chance to b! e one of them, to have magic, even if it’s only temporary.

Someone is attacking young women at Triune, a ritual that helps Magians find their perfect threesomeâ€"the match that will complete their magic and their hearts. Callie expected to be dazzled by her first glimpse into the Magian world, but the bone-melting desire between her and the Abbott brothers isn’t part of the plan.

Nor is the decades-old secret that makes her the target of a killer…

Warning: Explicit sex, magical dresses, mind-reading rooms and mind-boggling threesomes.

Something magic this way comes…

Wicked ³, Book 1

Callie has always known the Abbotts were different. Witches, though they call themselves “Magians”. They are her second family. Harrison Abbott has been her best friend since they were children. Tucker Abbott, her life-long crush. And their brother, Tyghe? A magical pain in her backside.

When the Abbotts need her human persp! ective to solve a mystery, she doesn’t hesitate. Especially ! since it means getting everything she ever wanted. A chance to be one of them, to have magic, even if it’s only temporary.

Someone is attacking young women at Triune, a ritual that helps Magians find their perfect threesomeâ€"the match that will complete their magic and their hearts. Callie expected to be dazzled by her first glimpse into the Magian world, but the bone-melting desire between her and the Abbott brothers isn’t part of the plan.

Nor is the decades-old secret that makes her the target of a killer…

Warning: Explicit sex, magical dresses, mind-reading rooms and mind-boggling threesomes.

Buckle up for thrilling edge-of-your-seat action and laugh-out-loud fun in Disney’s family comedy adventure G-Force. Just as the G-Force â€" an elite team of highly trained guinea pigs â€" is about to save the world, the F.B.I. shuts the secret unit down. But these next-generation action heroes â€" Darwin, loyal team leader; Blaster, weapons exper! t with attitude to spare; Juarez, drop-dead gorgeous martial arts diva; and tag-along Hurley â€" won’t be stopped. Armed with the latest in high-tech spy equipment, and with the F.B.I. on their tails, the fur flies as they race against the clock to save the world. From the producer of the Pirates Of The Caribbean trilogy and National Treasure, and filled with high-octane action, daredevil stunts, cutting-edge special effects and outrageous comedy, G-Force is fantastic fun for the whole family.G-Force just might be the best Jerry Bruckheimer action film in many a moon. The film is exuberant, and its premise--don't think big for an animated caper film, think small--brilliantly upends the more-bigger-faster trope of American action films… with cute, little, furry guinea pigs.

Bruckheimer, the action genius behind the likes of the Pirates of the Caribbean, Con Air, The Rock, Armageddon, and many more, here teams with visual effects maestro Hoy! t Yeatma n, who writes and directs. The combo is potent, and the fact that they streamed their blow-'em-up vision through a film about tiny rodents saving the world makes the whole confection a hilarious family-friendly experience as well as a satisfying action adventure. The premise isn't earth-shattering: oddball, unexpected heroes are called on to save the day (Men in Black, Underdog, etc.). But the lowly guinea pig has been long overdue to get its moment in the spotlight. And now the free world knows whom it can really trust. The film mixes the animated heroes with real-life actors, including the sardonic British character actor Bill Nighy, who plays an evil mogul out to take over and/or destroy the world. The U.S. government, it turns out, has been nurturing a special squad for occasions just such as this. It's just that it's been nurturing them in small pens with wood shavings on the floor and running wheels for exercise. Will Arnett, deadpan and spot-on, play! s the human agent who has the unenviable task of wrangling the guinea pig G-Force, and is a deft foil for the bad guys as well as for the mini-heroes.

But the true powerhouse acting belongs to those giving voices to the guinea pig agents, including Sam Rockwell, Penélope Cruz, Steve Buscemi, and, as the voice of a domesticated layabout, Jon Favreau. The film's standout, though, is Tracy Morgan, whose Agent Blaster is bellicose, fearless, and as full of malapropisms as Morgan's character on 30 Rock. (In fact, the viewer keeps half-expecting Blaster to turn to Cruz's female agent, Juarez, and yell "Liz Lemon!") G-Force is full of belly laughs for kids, as well as their action-film-fan parents. --A.T. Hurley

Stills from G-Force (Click for larger image)

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