Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Dance Flick : Widescreen Edition

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

Stills from Dance Flick (Click for larger image)











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

Stills from Dance Flick (Click for larger image)











The spoof movie Dance Flick is the creation of an army of normally funny Wayans men: Damien Dante Wayans directi! ng, from a script written by him and Keenen Ivory Wayans, Shaw! n Wayans , Marlon Wayans, and Craig Wayans. Craig Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr. star in what should have been, in the tradition of Airplane!, a rich parody of a genre that could use a little spoofing, i.e., earnest dance movies in the vein of High School Musical, Flashdance, and, especially, Save the Last Dance. Damon Wayans Jr. plays a determined, African American hip-hop dancer named Thomas Uncles, who becomes romantically and artistically involved with a white wannabe ballerina (Shoshana Bush in the Julia Stiles role from Last Dance). Dance Flick goofs on Last Dance in obvious and silly ways, but the Wayans also take shots at just about everything that pops into their heads: Twilight, Dick Cheney, the self-consciousness of interracial romance
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Holy Smokes (Aisling Grey, Guardian, Book 4)

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Double Feature: Big Trouble in Little China & Planet of the Apes

  • 2-DVD Set
  • Double Feature
  • Feature Length Movie
Directed by thrill master John Carpenter, this edgo-of-your seat adventrue stars Kurt Russell as Jack Burton, a tough-talking, wisecracking truck driver whose hum-drum life on the road takes a sudden supernatural tailspin when his best friend's fiancee is kidnapped. Speeding to the rescue, Jack finds himself deep beneath San Francisco's Chinatown, in a murky, creature-filled world ruled by Lo Pan, a 2000-year-old magician who mercilessly presides over an empire of spirits. Dodging demons and facing baffling terrors, Jack battles his way through Lo Pan's dark domain in a full-throttle, action-riddled ride to rescue the girl. Co-starring Kim Cattrall, this effects-filled sci-fi spectacle speeds to an incredible, twist-taking finish.Once you settle into the realization that this 1986 John Carpenter (Halloween) film is not go! ing to be one of the director's more masterful works, Big Trouble in Little China just becomes a full-tilt comic blast. Kurt Russell is hilarious as a drawling, would-be John Wayne hero who steps into the middle of a supernatural war in the heart of Chinatown. While kung fu warriors and otherworldly spirits battle over the fate of two women (Kim Cattrall and Suzee Pai), Russell's swaggering idiot manages to knock himself out or underestimate the forces he's dealing with. The whole thing is dopey, but it's supposed to be dopey and Russell's game performance brings an ironic edge. Carpenter directs some nifty spook effects (the sudden arrival of three martial arts demigods from out of nowhere is worth applause), and he also wrote the music. --Tom Keogh Directed by thrill master John Carpenter, this edge-of-your seat adventure stars Kurt Russell as Jack Burton, a tough-talking, wisecracking truck driver whose hum-drum life on the road takes a sudden supernatural ! tailspin when his best friend's fiancee is kidnapped. Speeding! to the rescue, Jack finds himself deep beneath San Francisco's Chinatown, in a murky, creature-filled world ruled by Lo Pan, a 2000-year-old magician who mercilessly presides over an empire of spirits. Dodging demons and facing baffling terrors, Jack battles his way through Lo Pan's dark domain in a full-throttle, action-riddled ride to rescue the girl. Co-starring Kim Cattrall, this effects-filled sci-fi spectacle speeds to an incredible, twist-taking finish.

  • Audio: English: 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio, Dolby Surround / Spanish & French: 5.1 Dolby Digital
  • Language: Dubbed & Subtitled: English, French & Spanish
  • Aspect Ratio: Widescreen: 2.35:1
Once you settle into the realization that this 1986 John Carpenter (Halloween) film is not going to be one of the director's more masterful works, Big Trouble in Little China just becomes a full-tilt comic blast. Kurt Russell is hilarious as a drawling, would-be John Wayne hero who! steps into the middle of a supernatural war in the heart of Chinatown. While kung fu warriors and otherworldly spirits battle over the fate of two women (Kim Cattrall and Suzee Pai), Russell's swaggering idiot manages to knock himself out or underestimate the forces he's dealing with. The whole thing is dopey, but it's supposed to be dopey and Russell's game performance brings an ironic edge. Carpenter directs some nifty spook effects (the sudden arrival of three martial arts demigods from out of nowhere is worth applause), and he also wrote the music. --Tom Keogh Once you settle into the realization that this 1986 John Carpenter (Halloween) film is not going to be one of the director's more masterful works, Big Trouble in Little China just becomes a full-tilt comic blast. Kurt Russell is hilarious as a drawling, would-be John Wayne hero who steps into the middle of a supernatural war in the heart of Chinatown. While kung fu warriors and otherworldly s! pirits battle over the fate of two women (Kim Cattrall and Suz! ee Pai), Russell's swaggering idiot manages to knock himself out or underestimate the forces he's dealing with. The whole thing is dopey, but it's supposed to be dopey and Russell's game performance brings an ironic edge. Carpenter directs some nifty spook effects (the sudden arrival of three martial arts demigods from out of nowhere is worth applause), and he also wrote the music. --Tom Keogh Directed by thrill master John Carpenter, this edgo-of-your seat adventrue stars Kurt Russell as Jack Burton, a tough-talking, wisecracking truck driver whose hum-drum life on the road takes a sudden supernatural tailspin when his best friend's fiancee is kidnapped. Speeding to the rescue, Jack finds himself deep beneath San Francisco's Chinatown, in a murky, creature-filled world ruled by Lo Pan, a 2000-year-old magician who mercilessly presides over an empire of spirits. Dodging demons and facing baffling terrors, Jack battles his way through Lo Pan's dark domain in a full-throttle,! action-riddled ride to rescue the girl. Co-starring Kim Cattrall, this effects-filled sci-fi spectacle speeds to an incredible, twist-taking finish.Once you settle into the realization that this 1986 John Carpenter (Halloween) film is not going to be one of the director's more masterful works, Big Trouble in Little China just becomes a full-tilt comic blast. Kurt Russell is hilarious as a drawling, would-be John Wayne hero who steps into the middle of a supernatural war in the heart of Chinatown. While kung fu warriors and otherworldly spirits battle over the fate of two women (Kim Cattrall and Suzee Pai), Russell's swaggering idiot manages to knock himself out or underestimate the forces he's dealing with. The whole thing is dopey, but it's supposed to be dopey and Russell's game performance brings an ironic edge. Carpenter directs some nifty spook effects (the sudden arrival of three martial arts demigods from out of nowhere is worth applause), and he also! wrote the music. --Tom Keogh Once you settle into the ! realizat ion that this 1986 John Carpenter (Halloween) film is not going to be one of the director's more masterful works, Big Trouble in Little China just becomes a full-tilt comic blast. Kurt Russell is hilarious as a drawling, would-be John Wayne hero who steps into the middle of a supernatural war in the heart of Chinatown. While kung fu warriors and otherworldly spirits battle over the fate of two women (Kim Cattrall and Suzee Pai), Russell's swaggering idiot manages to knock himself out or underestimate the forces he's dealing with. The whole thing is dopey, but it's supposed to be dopey and Russell's game performance brings an ironic edge. Carpenter directs some nifty spook effects (the sudden arrival of three martial arts demigods from out of nowhere is worth applause), and he also wrote the music. --Tom Keogh Studio: Tcfhe Release Date: 08/03/2010 Rating: NrOnce you settle into the realization that this 1986 John Carpenter (Halloween) film is no! t going to be one of the director's more masterful works, Big Trouble in Little China just becomes a full-tilt comic blast. Kurt Russell is hilarious as a drawling, would-be John Wayne hero who steps into the middle of a supernatural war in the heart of Chinatown. While kung fu warriors and otherworldly spirits battle over the fate of two women (Kim Cattrall and Suzee Pai), Russell's swaggering idiot manages to knock himself out or underestimate the forces he's dealing with. The whole thing is dopey, but it's supposed to be dopey and Russell's game performance brings an ironic edge. Carpenter directs some nifty spook effects (the sudden arrival of three martial arts demigods from out of nowhere is worth applause), and he also wrote the music. --Tom Keogh Double Feature (2 DVD Set) includes Big Trouble in Little China and Planet of the Apes
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I Can't Think Straight

  • I CAN'T THINK STRAIGHT (DVD MOVIE)
Winner of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival Audience Award, CIRCUMSTANCE is a provocative coming-of-age story that cracks open the hidden, underground world of Iranian youth culture filled with sex, drugs and defiance. From newcomer Maryam Keshavarz, this suspenseful tale of love and defiance unfolds as a wealthy family struggles to contain their teenage daughter’s growing sexual rebellion and her brother’s dangerous obsession.In another place and time, the young women of Circumstance might have a bright future ahead of them, but in Tehran, they must pretend to be something they're not. Sixteen-year-old orphan Shireen (Sarah Kazemy) lives with her strict uncle, while Atafeh's loving parents have provided a comfortable home. Nonetheless, Atafeh's brother, Mehran (Reza Sixo Safai), has traded his classical music career for a crack habit. After a stint! in rehab, though, Mehran rejects Western art, embraces Islam, helps out at a mosque--and spies on his family. While he struggles to stay clean and secure a wife, Shireen and Atafeh (Nikohl Boosheri) sneak out to drink and dance to rock and hip-hop with a couple of like-minded male friends. It gradually emerges that the feelings between the girls go deeper than friendship, and the two even participate in a project to dub Gus Van Sant's Milk into Farsi in hopes that other Iranian youth will see the film and agitate for equal rights. After they get in trouble with the law, though, everything changes: Shireen's uncle pressures her to marry, and Atafeh finds her friend slipping away, so she comes up with a plan to solve all their problems at once. Filmed in Beirut, American-born writer-director Maryam Keshavarz's feature-film debut is pitched somewhere between My Son the Fanatic and No One Knows About Persian Cats. If less overtly political, she's equally s! ympathetic towards her protagonists and just as critical of th! e indivi duals and institutions that would stand in their way. --Kathleen C. FennessyJulia Jarmond (Kristin Scott Thomas), an American journalist married to a Frenchman, is commissioned to write an article about the notorious Vel d’Hiv round up, which took place in Paris, in 1942. She stumbles upon a family secret which will link her forever to the destiny of a young Jewish girl, Sarah. Julia learns that the apartment she and her husband Bertrand plan to move into was acquired by Bertrand’s family when its Jewish occupants were dispossessed and deported 60 years before. She resolves to find out what happened to the former occupants: Wladyslaw and Rywka Starzynski, parents of 10-year-old Sarah and four-year-old Michel. The more Julia discovers - especially about Sarah, the only member of the Starzynski family to survive - the more she uncovers about Bertrand’s family, about France and, finally, herself.

Sarah’s Key is based on the book by Tatiana d! e Rosnay.An intrepid journalist brings the past to life in this gripping drama. An American based in Paris, Julia Jarmond (Tell No One's Kristin Scott Thomas) has been working on a piece about a French atrocity while planning to move into an apartment that belongs to her husband Bertrand's family. During the course of her research, she finds that 10-year-old Sarah Starzynski (Mélusine Mayance, a sparky presence) lived in the same Marais flat until 1942 when French authorities wrenched Jewish citizens from their homes during the notorious Vél d'Hiver Roundup (Julia's daughter is only a year older). Unbeknownst to anyone but her parents, Sarah locked up her 4-year-old brother in a hidden closet in hopes of returning to set him free him later, but the trio ends up in a transit camp en route to Auschwitz. Sarah will eventually escape, but the years to come will not be easy. In adapting Tatiana de Rosnay's novel, director Gilles Paquet-Brenner, the son of a deportee, mo! ves back and forth between Sarah and Julia, who finds out she'! s pregna nt in the midst of trips to Florence and New York, but Bertrand doesn't share her joy. A French farmer (A Prophet's Niels Arestrup) and a food writer (Aidan Quinn) also figure into Sarah's story, which merges with Julia's as she finds a way to carry on her legacy. Much as in Julie and Julia, the past proves more compelling than the present, though Scott Thomas holds the narrative together with the force of her talent. --Kathleen C. FennessyWhile preparing for her wedding, Tala meets Leyla, a shy Muslim. Although they come from different worlds, the attraction is immediate and Tala must decide whether to stay true to her culture or to her heart. Starring Lisa Ray, Sheetal Sheth and Nina Wadia.
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Girl with a Pearl Earring, Deluxe Edition

  • ISBN13: 9780452287020
  • Condition: New
  • Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
A Deluxe Edition of the National Bestseller with Over 2 Million Copies Sold:
• Eight Pages of Full-Color Plates Include Every Vermeer Painting Discussed in the Book
• French Flaps
• Rough Front
• Larger Trim Size
• Premium Stock
• With a New Foreword

Celebrate Tracy Chevalier’s modern classic Girl With A Pearl Earring, featuring a gorgeous new edition illustrated with eight pages of Vermeer’s masterworks. History and fiction merge seamlessly in this luminous novel about artistic vision and sensual awakening. The story of Griet, whose life is transformed by her brief encounter with a genius as she herself is immortalized in canvas and oil, is new a! gain.With precisely 35 canvases to his credit, the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer represents one of the great enigmas of 17th-century art. The meager facts of his biography have been gleaned from a handful of legal documents. Yet Vermeer's extraordinary paintings of domestic life, with their subtle play of light and texture, have come to define the Dutch golden age. His portrait of the anonymous Girl with a Pearl Earring has exerted a particular fascination for centuries--and it is this magnetic painting that lies at the heart of Tracy Chevalier's second novel of the same title.

Girl with a Pearl Earring centers on Vermeer's prosperous Delft household during the 1660s. When Griet, the novel's quietly perceptive heroine, is hired as a servant, turmoil follows. First, the 16-year-old narrator becomes increasingly intimate with her master. Then Vermeer employs her as his assistant--and ultimately has Griet sit for him as a model. Chevalier vivi! dly evokes the complex domestic tensions of the household, ru! led over by the painter's jealous, eternally pregnant wife and his taciturn mother-in-law. At times the relationship between servant and master seems a little anachronistic. Still, Girl with a Pearl Earring does contain a final delicious twist.

Throughout, Chevalier cultivates a limpid, painstakingly observed style, whose exactitude is an effective homage to the painter himself. Even Griet's most humdrum duties take on a high if unobtrusive gloss:

I came to love grinding the things he brought from the apothecary--bones, white lead, madder, massicot--to see how bright and pure I could get the colors. I learned that the finer the materials were ground, the deeper the color. From rough, dull grains madder became a fine bright red powder and, mixed with linseed oil, a sparkling paint. Making it and the other colors was magical.
In assembling such quotidian particulars, the author acknowledges her debt to Simon Schama's classic study! The Embarrassment of Riches. Her novel also joins a crop of recent, painterly fictions, including Deborah Moggach's Tulip Fever and Susan Vreeland's Girl in Hyacinth Blue. Can novelists extract much more from the Dutch golden age? The question is an open one--but in the meantime, Girl with a Pearl Earring remains a fascinating piece of speculative historical fiction, and an appealingly new take on an old master. --Jerry Brotton
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Artie Lange's Beer League featuring Artie Lange & Ralph Macchio

  • Beer, broads and softball combine with hilarious results in ARTIE LANGE'S BEER LEAGUE, an over-the-top comedy about a group of misfits whose weekly softball games descend more into fights for macho dominance than making home runs. When love enters his life (Cara Buono), it unexpectedly alters Artie's low self-esteem; and the odds for winning not only the league trophy but a new life are co
Beer, broads and softball combine with hilarious results in ARTIE LANGE'S BEER LEAGUE, an over-the-top comedy about a group of misfits whose weekly softball games descend more into fights for macho dominance than making home runs. Starring Artie Lange and Ralph Macchio. When love enters his life (Cara Buono), it unexpectedly alters Artie's low self-esteem; and the odds for winningâ€"not only the league trophy but a new lifeâ€"are considerably amped along with the comedy and chaos.It's! appropriate that this extravaganza of lowbrow cinema had its premiere at the 2006 Cinevegas Film Festival, because what happens in Artie Lange's Beer League should stay in Artie Lange's Beer League. Lange is most recognizable for his stint in the Mad TV ensemble, but probably more idolized by the people who will get wild kicks from his leading man debut as the resident guest-baiter and booze/scatological/flatulence/sex joke expert on Howard Stern's radio show. Those are the same kinds of laughs this movie relies on in telling the wisp of a story about a bunch of New Jersey boneheads whose lives are fulfilled by softball games and the beer-guzzling that goes on before, during, and after. Artie's team is proud to be in the bottom ranks of their league, especially when brawls erupt at games against their slick, archrival team. Artie and the rest of his team know these arrogant jerks in their immaculate black (of course) uniforms are unbeatable, so it's on! ly natural that Artie thinks its easier to just beat the hell ! out of t hem. The local cop who's had to deal with both teams finally gets so angry with the escalating brawls that he issues an ultimatum: Whichever team loses the season has to disband and never play on the league again. It's kind of an utterly tasteless version of The Bad News Bears for people who like their movies vulgar, offensive, misogynistic, and often really funny in spite of it all. Some of the subplots and supporting players include Ralph Macchio as one of Artie's childhood friends who's about to get married (cue depraved bachelor party scene with lots of topless babes), Mary Birdsong from Reno 911! as a kooky waitress, and a delightful turn by crusty character actor Seymour Cassel as Artie's teammate Dirt, who may be old but loves booze, fisticuffs, and debauchery as much as anyone. For some reason, Artie's foul-mouthed slobbery attracts a local Jersey girl (Cara Buono), even though he's jobless and still lives with his mom (Laurie Metcalf, who should get so! me kind of good sport award). The buffoonery doesn't just stop with the movie. There's also more than two hour of bonus material tailored for Artie Lange enthusiasts who probably number more than you'd think -- whether they'd ever admit it or not. --Ted Fry
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Deep Water

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Knight of Pleasure (All the King's Men)

  • ISBN13: 9780446553384
  • Condition: New
  • Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
When All the King's Men was first published in 1946, Sinclair Lewis pronounced it "massive, impressive...one of our few national galleries of character." Diana Trilling, reviewing it for the Nation, wrote, "For sheer virtuosity, for the sustained drive of its prose, for the speed and the evenness of its pacing, for its precision of language...I doubt indeed whether it can be matched in American fiction." The Washington Post declared, "If the game of naming the Great American Novel is still being played anywhere, Warren's All the King's Men would easily make the final rounds."
 
Set in the 1930s, this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel traces the rise and ! fall of demagogue Willie Stark, a fictional character who resembles the real-life Huey "Kingfish" Long of Louisiana. Stark begins his political career as an idealistic man of the people but soon becomes corrupted by success and caught between dreams of service and an insatiable lust for power. As relevant today as it was more than fifty years ago, All the King's Men is one of the classics of American literature.
This landmark book is a loosely fictionalized account of Governor Huey Long of Louisiana, one of the nation's most astounding politicians. All the King's Men tells the story of Willie Stark, a southern-fried politician who builds support by appealing to the common man and playing dirty politics with the best of the back-room deal-makers. Though Stark quickly sheds his idealism, his right-hand man, Jack Burden -- who narrates the story -- retains it and proves to be a thorn in the new governor's side. Stark becomes a successful leader, ! but at a very high price, one that eventually costs him his l! ife. The award-winning book is a play of politics, society and personal affairs, all wrapped in the cloak of history.It is 1953, on the eve of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, and American journalist Helena Claybourn and Chief Inspector John Kincaid have uncovered a long-hidden secret involving men close to the Crown-a secret that unleashes two relentless assassins on a killing spree across England, France and Germany.Sean Penn, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, and Anthony Hopkins star in this riveting story of a humble man’s rise to political power and the destructive force of corruption and betrayal that would ultimately unravel his soul, based on Robert Penn Warren’s 1946 classic Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Also starring James Gandolfini, Mark Ruffalo and Patricia Clarkson.

Beyond All The King’s Men

!


The Original
The Book
The Soundtrack

More Political Dramas
The Films of Sean Penn
The Films of An! thony Ho pkins

Stills from All the King’s Men (click for larger image)







Sean Penn gives another powerhouse performance in All the King's Men, leading a topnotch cast in writer-director Steven Zaillian's underrated adaptation of the Pulitzer prize-winning 1946 novel by Robert Penn Warren. When you consider that the previous 1949 film version earned well-deserved Academy Awards for director Robert Rossen and actors Broderick Crawford and Mercedes McCambridge, it's no surprise that Zaillian's film was expected to earn similar acclaim, but lukewarm critical reception and disappointing box-office gave it the stigma of a noble failure. And while the film (which moves Warren's story from the Depression-era '30s to the early 1950s) suffers from uneven pacing, partial miscasting, and an occasional lack of dramatic tension, it still qualifies as a first-class production that resonates with the timeless relevance of! Warren's piercing political classic. Like Broderick before hi! m, Penn is riveting as Louisiana governor Willie Stark, an upstart political dynamo (freely inspired by controversial real-life Louisiana governor Huey P. Long) whose rise to power is ultimately doomed by corruption and betrayal.

Jude Law costars as political reporter Jack Burden, our firsthand witness to Stark's rise and inevitable fall; his orbit of political insiders includes a corrupt judge (Anthony Hopkins) with a dark secret to hide; a longtime friend (Mark Ruffalo) and former lover (Kate Winslet) who fall victim to Stark's influence; and political staffers (James Gandolfini, Patricia Clarkson) who remain powerless against Stark's ill-fated populist juggernaut. At Sean Penn's request, former child star Jackie Earle Haley (from the original Bad News Bears) makes a welcome return to movies as Willie Stark's quietly intense bodyguard, "Sugar-Boy." Coproduced by Louisiana-born political consultant James Carville, filmed on authentic Louisiana locations and boasting all! the stately, luxurious production values of a would-be Oscar contender, All the King's Men clearly benefits from Penn's fiery performance and Zaillian's earnest embrace of Warren's still-potent subject matter. And while the film's shortcomings may have prevented it from achieving unanimous acclaim, this is still a serious, well-crafted drama with much to say about the insidious potential for fascism in America, especially when well-meaning politicians lose their souls to power. --Jeff Shannon

On the DVD
The special features that accompany All the King's Men further demonstrate the film's in-production status as a potential classic. While the "making of" featurette is perfunctory at best, the other featurettes are definitely worthwhile despite Sean Penn's conspicuous absence. In "Shake Hands with the Devil," the film's cast, producer, and writer-director Steven Zaillian discuss the timeless theme of political corruption; "An American Clas! sic" is a concise profile of Robert Penn Warren, paying tribut! e to the poet and author's literary achievements; and "The Legend and Lore of Huey Long" examines the life and legacy of the still-beloved governor who won the hearts of working-class Louisianans while falling prey to his own ambition. "LA Confidential" is a brief featurette about the film's use of authentic Louisiana locations and the positive effect they had on cast and crew; three deleted scenes were obviously cut from the film for purposes of time, yet offer ample proof of Zaillian's established skill as one of Hollywood's top screenwriters; and the alternate ending extends beyond the film's final shot, with a funeral scene that serves as a melancholy (and ultimately unnecessary) coda to the film's Greek-tragic drama. --Jeff ShannonNew! Fast shipping!Ryan Ortiz and Nathan Richardson are estranged lovers who shouldn't be apart. When Ryan decides to go direct to LA to fight for a second chance he is caught up in the biggest earthquake to hit the city since records began. ! LA is destroyed, burning, people homeless, people dying, and fires are ignited high in the LA hills above Nathan's apartment. Nathan is trapped and Ryan is his only hope. It is a race against time and the powerful all consuming destruction of nature for Ryan to find Nathan, trapped in the ruins of his home in the hills, and to get both of them to help before the fire consumes everything.ALL THE KING'S MEN - DVD MovieWriter-director Robert Rossen and character actors Broderick Crawford and Mercedes McCambridge (in her film debut) took home Oscars (for Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Supporting Actress, respectively) for this excellent adaptation of Robert Penn Warren's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Crawford stars as Willie Stark, a charismatic populist Southern politician (inspired by the real Louisiana Governor Huey Long) who belies his "man of the people" roots as he ruthlessly maneuvers, lies, and deals his way into the halls of power. John Ireland is his right-han! d man, Jack Burden, a newsman turned political flack who hangs! on to S tark's early idealism even in the face of Stark's most reprehensible acts of corruption. McCambridge is Stark's cool mistress come calculating assistant. The immediacy of the drama is due in part to a documentary-like style, notably in the scenes on the campaign trail where Stark sways crowds with his folksy rhetoric and estimable charm. Joanne Dru and John Derek also costar. Rossen's savage screenplay and firm direction give the film a powerful punch, but it's Crawford's blustery charm and oversized performance that carry the picture. --Sean Axmaker THE GREATEST PASSION
Lady Isobel Hume is an expert swordswoman who knows how to choose her battles. When the king asks her to wed a French nobleman to form a political alliance, she agrees. But that's before the devilishly charming Sir Stephen Carleton captures her heart-and tempts her to betray her betrothed, her king, and her country.

IS WORTH THE GREATEST PERIL
Sir Stephen Carleton enjoys his ma! ny female admirers-until he dedicates himself to winning the lovely Isobel. So when a threat against the king leads Isobel into mortal danger, Stephen has a chance to prove that he is more than a knight of pleasure...and that love can conquer all.


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