Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Almost Famous [Blu-ray]

  • cameron crowe almost famous kate hudson
Audiences and critics alike are raving about this larger-than-life rock'n 'roll favorite that Roger Ebert calls "one of the best movies of the year!" The guys of Stillwater have the sound, they have the look and Rolling Stone Magazine wants their story. For young reporter William Miller, it's the opportunity of a lifetime as he hits the road with his favorite band and discovers the price of fame, the value of family and the limits of friendship.Almost Famous is the movie Cameron Crowe has been waiting a lifetime to tell. The fictionalization of Crowe's days as a teenage reporter for Creem and Rolling Stone has all the well-written characters and wonderful "movie moments" that we expect from Crowe (Jerry Maguire), but the film has an intangible something extra--an insider's touch that will turn the film into the ode to ! '70s rock & roll for years to come. We are introduced to Crowe's alter ego, William Miller (Patrick Fugit), at home, where his progressive mom (Frances McDormand, just superb) has outlawed rock music and sister Anita (Zooey Deschanel) has slipped him LPs that will "set his mind free." Following the wisdom of Creem's disheveled editor, Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman in an instant-classic performance), Miller gets on the inside with the up-and-coming band Stillwater (a fictionalized mixture of the Allman Brothers, Led Zeppelin, and others). A simple visit with the band turns into a three-week, life-altering odyssey into the heyday of American rock. Of the characters he meets on the road, the two most important are groupie extraordinaire Penny Lane (Kate Hudson in a star-making performance) and Stillwater's enigmatic lead guitarist (Billy Crudup), who keeps stringing Miller along for an interview. From the handwritten credits (done by Crowe) to the bittersweet fin! ale, Crowe's comedic valentine is an indelible, heartbreaking ! romance of music, women, and the privilege of youth. --Doug ThomasCameron Crowe's award-winning semi-autobiographical look at the world of 1970s rock music will be presented in its longer "bootleg cut," with a 162-minute run time. Special features include: * Audio commentary with Cameron Crowe and Alice Crowe * Audio introduction by Crowe * Featurette: The Making of Almost Famous * Interview with the real Lester Bangs * Cameron Crowe's Top Albums of 1973 * Music video: "Fever Dog" * Stillwater's Cleveland Concert * "Small Time Blues" * Stairway * "B-Sides" behind-the-scenes footage * Seven Rolling Stone articles with audio introduction by Crowe: o The Allman Brothers from Dec. 6, 1973 o Led Zeppelin from March 13, 1975 o Neil Young from Aug. 14, 1975 o Peter Frampton from Feb. 10, 1977 o Fleetwood Mac from March 24, 1977 o Van Morrison from May 19, 1977 o Joni Mitchell from July 26, 1979Almost Famous is the movie Cameron Crowe has been waiting a lifetime to tell. The fictionalization of Crowe's days as a teenage reporter for Creem and Rolling Stone has all the well-written characters and wonderful "movie moments" that we expect from Crowe (Jerry Maguire), but the film has an intangible something extra--an insider's touch that will turn the film into the ode to '70s rock & roll for years to come. We are introduced to Crowe's alter ego, William Miller (Patrick Fugit), at home, where his progressive mom (Frances McDormand, just superb) has outlawed rock music and sister Anita (Zooey Deschanel) has slipped him LPs that will "set his mind free." Following the wisdom of Creem's disheveled editor, Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman in an instant-classic performance), Miller gets on the inside with the up-and-coming band Stillwater (a fictionalized mixture of the Allman Brothers! , Led Zeppelin, and others). A simple visit with the band turns into a three-week, life-altering odyssey into the heyday of American rock. Of the characters he meets on the road, the two most important are groupie extraordinaire Penny Lane (Kate Hudson in a star-making performance) and Stillwater's enigmatic lead guitarist (Billy Crudup), who keeps stringing Miller along for an interview. From the handwritten credits (done by Crowe) to the bittersweet finale, Crowe's comedic valentine is an indelible, heartbreaking romance of music, women, and the privilege of youth. --Doug Thomas

Fisher-Price Little People Lil' Movers Airplane

  • Lights, sounds, talking, and a fun sing-along song help little imaginations take flight while they learn about high and low
  • Little People figures wiggle and wobble as kids spin the wheel, and the easy-carry handle helps pretend flights soar
  • Includes plane and 3 Little People figures: Mia, Roberto, and a pilot
  • Part of the World of Little People System
  • 3 AA batteries required (not included)
This Fisher Price - Little People Lil' Movers Airplane features lights; sounds, talking, and a fun sing-along song help little imaginations take flight. It includes plane and 3 people. It requires 3 AA batteries for lights and sound, which are not included."Ready for take-off…here we go!" Diminutive pilots in training can let their imagination take flight with this stocky, swooshy, wiggly-wobbly airplane. Measuring 12 inches nose to tail, and 8 inches from wingtip t! o wingtip, this sturdy plastic plane features a pilot, two passengers, a piece of luggage, a door that opens, six windows, including the pilot’s windshield, a handle over the cut-out top, working wheels (which make the pilot and passengers go up and down as if encountering turbulence), and the obligatory face on the front of the craft. Push down on the pilot in her seat (yes, her seat…we are in the 21st century, you know!) for flashing lights, a tune, flight attendant commentary, and swooshing airplane sounds. Judging from the outfits of the passengers and the palm tree design on the wings, this aircraft seems to be headed for a tropical port--airport, that is. What’s not to love? Check out the entire line of Lil’ Movers vehicles. Three AA batteries required (not included). (Ages 18 months to 3 years) --Emilie Coulter

Donnie Brasco (Special Edition)

  • TESTED
DVDBased on a memoir by former undercover cop Joe Pistone (whose daring and unprecedented infiltration of the New York Mob scene earned him a place in the federal witness protection program), Donnie Brasco is like a de-romanticized, de-mythologized version of The Godfather. It offers an uncommonly detailed, privileged glimpse inside the world of organized crime from the perspective of the little guys at the bottom of Mafia hierarchy rather than from the kingpins at the top. Donnie Brasco is not only one of the great modern-day gangster movies to put in the company of The Godfather films and GoodFellas, but it is also one of the great undercover police movies--arguably surpassing Serpico and Prince of the City in richness of character, detail, and moral complexity. Donnie (Johnny Depp, a splendid actor) is practically adopted by Lefty Rug! giero (Al Pacino), a gregarious, low-level "made" man who grows to love his young protégé like a son. (Pacino really sinks into this guy's skin and polyester slacks, and creates his freshest, most fully realized character since his 1970s heyday.) As Donnie acclimates himself to Lefty's world, he distances himself from his wife (a terrific Anne Heche) and family for their own protection. Almost imperceptibly his sense of identity slips away from him. Questioning his own confused loyalties, unable to trust anybody else because he himself is an imposter, Donnie loses his way in a murky and treacherous no-man's land. The film is directed by Mike Newell, who also headed up Four Weddings and a Funeral and the gritty, true crime melodrama Dance with a Stranger. --Jim Emerson

American Gun

Hartstrings Baby-Girls Newborn Ginger Bread Interlock Dress, Rose Shadow, 3-6 Months

  • 100% Cotton
  • Sleeveless
  • Pearlier back buttons
  • Appliqué and embroidery details
Told here for the first time, the riveting story of the most remarkable strike in American history

On January 12, 1912, an army of textile workers stormed out of the mills in Lawrence, Massachusetts, commencing what has since become known as the “Bread and Roses” strike. Based on newspaper accounts, magazine reportage, and oral histories, Watson reconstructs a Dickensian drama involving thousands of parading strikers from fifty-one nations, unforgettable acts of cruelty, and even a protracted murder trial that tested the boundaries of free speech. A rousing look at a seminal and overlooked chapter of the past, Bread and Roses is indispensable reading.BREAD & ROSES - DVD Movie
Newbery-author Katherine Paterson's tale of the 1912 mill workers' strike -- in pape! rback!

Rosa’s mother is singing again—union songs. She’s joined the strike against the corrupt mill owners. Rosa is terrified. What if Mamma is jailed or, worse, killed?

Jake’s dad threatened to kill him if he joined the strike. For Jake, that is reason enough to do so.

Then Rosa, Jake, and the other children living in the middle of the strike are offered a very special opportunity: To live in Vermont until the strike is over. For Rosa, being away from her family is worse than seeing them in harm’s way. For Jake, it’s a chance to start over. For both of them, it’s a time of growing up.
Told here for the first time, the riveting story of the most remarkable strike in American history

On January 12, 1912, an army of textile workers stormed out of the mills in Lawrence, Massachusetts, commencing what has since become known as the “Bread and Roses” strike. Based on newspaper accounts, magazine reportage, and oral ! histories, Watson reconstructs a Dickensian drama involving th! ousands of parading strikers from fifty-one nations, unforgettable acts of cruelty, and even a protracted murder trial that tested the boundaries of free speech. A rousing look at a seminal and overlooked chapter of the past, Bread and Roses is indispensable reading. Told here for the first time, the riveting story of the most remarkable strike in American history

On January 12, 1912, an army of textile workers stormed out of the mills in Lawrence, Massachusetts, commencing what has since become known as the “Bread and Roses” strike. Based on newspaper accounts, magazine reportage, and oral histories, Watson reconstructs a Dickensian drama involving thousands of parading strikers from fifty-one nations, unforgettable acts of cruelty, and even a protracted murder trial that tested the boundaries of free speech. A rousing look at a seminal and overlooked chapter of the past, Bread and Roses is indispensable reading.

The new baking masterwork ! from the author of The Cake Bible and The Pie and Pastry Bible.

The Bread Bible gives bread bakers 150 of the meticulous, foolproof recipes that are Rose Levy Beranbaum's trademark. Her knowledge of the chemistry of baking, the accessibility of her recipes, and the incomparable taste of her creations make this book invaluable for home cooks and professional bakers alike.

"Understanding" and "Pointers for Success" sections explain in simple, readable language the importance of various techniques and ingredients demonstrated in a recipe, providing a complete education in the art of baking, with thorough sections on types of flour, equipment, and other essentials. Easy-to-use ingredient tables provide both volume and weight, for surefire recipes that work perfectly every time.

Recipes include bread made with yeast starters, quick breads, flatbreads, brioche, and much more. From ciabatta, semolina, rye, and sourdough bread! s to bagels, biscuits, crumpets, and pizza dough, The Brea! d Bible< /em> covers all the baking bases. 225 line drawings and 32 pages of color illustrationsRose Levy Beranbaum's The Cake Bible introduced readers to a newly illuminating baking-book approach--a precisely detailed yet accessible recipe format emphasizing baking science. The Bread Bible follows the same plan, offering 150 recipes, arranged by type, for a great variety of baked goods--from muffins, popovers, and English muffins to sandwich loaves, focaccia, rolls, hearth breads, rye bread, challah, and more, with a particularly vivid (and passionate) stop at sourdough loaves. Instruction is abetted by 32 pages of photos plus 300 step-by-step illustrations that depict, for example, bagel forming, in exact, imitable detail. In addition, an introductory section, "The Ten Essential Steps of Making Bread," includes a particularly lucid discussion on the way yeast works plus an invaluable comparison of kneading methods. Like the book's final look at ingredients, these "min! i-texts" provide information uncommon to most home bread books, rendered in simple language that allays fears of putting one's hand in the dough.

All this is impressive indeed, and readers bitten by the bread-baking bug will welcome the ultra-thorough Beranbaum approach. The less committed may find her technical demands too painstaking (her baguette recipe requires two starters, for example; though simpler loaves are, of course, offered) or even impractical (ingredient quantities using grams are sometimes given in minute fractions, requiring a special scale). The frequent inclusion of alternate mixing methods and equipment options can also make the formulas unwieldy. On the other hand, features like Pointers for Success and Understanding often yield exciting discovery as well as rewarding results. In short, this Beranbaum bible answers virtually every bread-making question, as well as providing exemplary formulas. It's the real deal for those willing to bake along wi! th Rose. --Arthur Boehm"Blood, Bread, and Roses" reclai! ms women 's myths and stories, chronicling the ways in which women's actions and the teaching of myth have interacted over the millenia. Grahn argues that culture has been a weaving between the genders, a sharing of wisdom derived from menstruation. Her rich interpretations of ancient menstrual rites give us a new and hopeful story of culture's beginnings based on the integration of body, mind, and spirit found in women's traditions. "Blood, Bread, and Roses" offers all of us a way back to understanding the true meaning of women's menstraul power.

Foreword by Charlene Spretnak

"[Grahn's] intriguing excursion through folklore, myth, religion, anthropology and history bespeaks a feminist conviction that male origin stories must be balanced by a recognition of women's central role in shaping civilization."
-Publishers Weekly

Newbery-author Katherine Paterson's tale of the 1912 mill workers' strike -- in paperback!

Rosa’s mother is singing again—uni! on songs. She’s joined the strike against the corrupt mill owners. Rosa is terrified. What if Mamma is jailed or, worse, killed?

Jake’s dad threatened to kill him if he joined the strike. For Jake, that is reason enough to do so.

Then Rosa, Jake, and the other children living in the middle of the strike are offered a very special opportunity: To live in Vermont until the strike is over. For Rosa, being away from her family is worse than seeing them in harm’s way. For Jake, it’s a chance to start over. For both of them, it’s a time of growing up.
Newbery-author Katherine Paterson's tale of the 1912 mill workers' strike -- in paperback!

Rosa’s mother is singing again—union songs. She’s joined the strike against the corrupt mill owners. Rosa is terrified. What if Mamma is jailed or, worse, killed?

Jake’s dad threatened to kill him if he joined the strike. For Jake, that is reason enough to do so.

Then ! Rosa, Jake, and the other children living in the middle of the! strike are offered a very special opportunity: To live in Vermont until the strike is over. For Rosa, being away from her family is worse than seeing them in harm’s way. For Jake, it’s a chance to start over. For both of them, it’s a time of growing up.
From the producer of Selena and directed by award-winning actor Edward James Olmos comes the stirring true story of courage and justice. The year is 1968, the height of the national civil-rights movement. Paula Crisostomo (Alexa Vega, Spy Kids) is an idealistic honor student who refuses to "play it safe" in a school system that discriminates against Mexican-Americans. Together with thousands of supporters, she coordinates a multi-school walkout of students to protest academic prejudices. Mentored by her charismatic teacher Sal Castro (Michael Pena, Million Dollar Baby), and with the help of her friend Bobby (Efran Ramirez, Napoleon Dynamite), Paula learns that sometimes the price of progress is high - but it's ultimat! ely worth paying.In an era when so many movies about inner-city youth focus on gangs, drugs, and violence, Walkout deserves props for its sincere depiction of the peaceful efforts of Chicano students to effect positive change in the Los Angeles school system. The year is 1968, a time of profound social upheaval, what with the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, the escalation of the Vietnam War, the chaotic scene in Chicago during the Democratic Convention, and so on. In East L.A., a young schoolteacher (Michael Pena) tries to instill pride in his students, reminding them of Chicano contributions to the Civil War and 'Nam and taking them on a tour of the west side, where they see how the other (i.e., whiter) side lives. Laura Crisostomo (Alexa Vega from the Spy Kids series), a good girl and ace student, soon finds herself caught up in the movement to improve conditions at local high schools--much to the chagrin of her dad (Yancey Arias), a! strict Filipino immigrant mistrustful of "agitators" (this fa! ther-dau ghter dynamic, while not the film's only cliché, is perhaps its most obvious). Said conditions are not, in fact, all that horrendous; there's nothing good about corporal punishment (students are "swatted" for speaking Spanish during an English lit class), of course, but the lack of Mexican food in the cafeteria and the fact that school bathrooms are closed during lunch are hardly issues of earth-shattering importance. The students persist nonetheless, leading to mass boycotts (the titular "walkouts"), the predictable over-reaction by police and other authorities, and, eventually, some tangible results. All of this is presented by director Edward James Olmos (who also has a small onscreen role) and three screenwriters in the kind of earnest, inspiring style of a TV movie of the week (the film originally aired on HBO in 2006). But while Walkout is hardly what you'd call "edgy," its efforts to refute stereotypes and promote Mexican-American cultural awareness are nothin! g if not admirable. Bonus features include three audio commentary tracks, with participation by Olmos, the writers, and executive producer Moctesuma Esparza, who was part of the student movement (and is portrayed in the film). --Sam Graham

Monday, November 7, 2011

Hearts in Atlantis

  • Based on a Stephen King novella, the film is set in the small-town Connecticut of 1960 and centers around an 11-year-old fatherless boy, whose life is changed when an eccentric man with a psychic gift boards at his home. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: PG-13 Age: 085392208128 UPC: 085392208128 Manufacturer No: 22081
Although it is difficult to believe, the Sixties are not fictional:

THEY ACTUALLY HAPPENED.

No matter the format, Stephen King's work is spellbinding because the author himself is spellbound. The first hugely popular writer of the TV generation, King published his first novel, Carrie, in 1974, the year before the last U.S. troops withdrew from Vietnam. Images from that war -- and protests against it -- had flooded America's living rooms for nearly ten years. In Hearts in Altantis, King mesmerizes readers with fiction deeply rooted in the Sixties! , and explores -- through four defining decades -- the haunting legacy of the Vietmnam War.

As the characters in Hearts in Atlantis are tested in every way, King probes and unlocks the secrets of his generation for us all. Full of danger, full of suspense, and most of all full of heart, Stephen King's new book will take some readers to a place they have never been able to leave completely.With his idiosyncratic blend of patrician airs and boyish charm, narrator William Hurt provides a wonderful complement to this wildly imaginative collection of short stories by author Stephen King. Hurt carefully weaves the disparate elements into a cohesive whole, embracing the subtle complexities of each character; one moment a wizened sadness leaks into his voice as a haunted old man, pursued by demons, asks his 11-year-old lookout, "You know everyone on this street, on this block of this street anyway? And you'd know strangers? Sojourners? Faces of those unkno! wn?" Then, in a profound yet almost imperceptible switch, he ! exposes the boy's naive enthusiasm, "I think so." Right about here your neck hairs will stand at attention. Hurt's peculiar vocal style is in perfect pitch to King's dark, surreal vision of growing up amid the monsters of post-Vietnam America. (Running time: 21 hours, 20 CDs) --George Laney An extraordinary journey of the heat. An 11-year-old boy discovers a courage and self-reliance he didn't know he had when he tries to help a friendly boarder with unique powers elude equally mysterious agents pursuing him. Special features: subtitles in English and French, and much more.Fans of The Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption will feel a similar affection for Hearts in Atlantis, a Stephen King adaptation that again finds the horror writer in more mainstream waters, with a bit of dabbling in the supernatural. When mysterious out-of-towner Ted Brautigan (Anthony Hopkins) moves into the boarding house that 11-year-old Bobby Garfield (Anton Yelchin) shares! with his self-involved mother (Hope Davis), Bobby jumps at the chance to befriend an adult who talks to him straightforwardly. Ted enlists Bobby to read him the newspaper daily--and to keep an eye out for the "low men" bent on capturing Ted, who possesses a strange mind-reading power. Hopkins is in fine form, ably matched by the phenomenal young Yelchin, but director Scott Hicks (Shine) more often than not flattens out the dramatic arcs of the story, despite all the intriguing turns the film takes. Thankfully, though, the schmaltz factor is kept to a minimum, making Hearts in Atlantis a heartfelt coming-of-age drama. --Mark Englehart

Enter the Void

Down to the Bone