Appleseed Ex Machina [Blu-ray]

• The next installment in the Appleseed franchise, Appleseed: Ex Machina,available on DVD! Produced by John Woo and Directed by Shinji Aramaki,and featuring next generation CG technology, Appleseed: Ex Machina isback bigger and badder! Based on the manga from reknown creator Shirow Masamune, in this movie,Deunan and Briareos are both partners and lovers. As members of ESWAT,the elite forces servi

The next installment in the Appleseed franchise Appleseed: Ex Machinaavailable on DVD! Produced by John Woo and Directed by Shinji Aramakiand featuring next generation CG technology Appleseed: Ex Machina isback bigger and badder!Based on the manga from reknown creator Shirow Masamune in this movieDeunan and Briareos are both partners and lovers. As members of ESWATthe elite forces serving Olympus they are deployed everywhere troublestrikes. The two fighters find their partnership tested in a new way by! the arrival of Tereus who uncannily resembles Briareos before thewartime injuries that led to his becoming a cyborg. At the same timeOlympus finds itself under a stealth attack . Cyborg terrorism deadlynanotech zealots and rioting citizens are just some of the threats thatDeunan must contend with as she fights to save Olympus.System Requirements:Running Time: 104 minutesFormat: BLU-RAY DISC Genre: SCI-FI/FANTASY/FANTASY Rating: PG-13 UPC: 085391200666 Manufacturer No: 120066Produced by John Woo and directed by Shinji Aramaki, Appleseed Ex Machina (2007) ranks as the most elaborate, stylish, and violent of the three adaptations of Masamune Shirow's manga. When it was released in 1988, the original Appleseed felt like a summary of anime's past, while Akira pointed the way to the future. The second Appleseed (2004), also directed by Aramaki, was an unimpressive motion-capture CG feature that borrowed elements from other sci-fi anime. In this lat! est incarnation, Deunan, Briareos, and Tereus of the E.S.W.A.T! . team a re charged with preserving the peace of the city-state of Olympus, a hi-tech paradise on a largely ruined Earth. Screenwriters Kiyoto Takeuchi and Todd W. Russell have given the story a contemporary twist, adding attacks by "cyborg terrorists" and an effort by the ruler of Olympus to control a world-wide satellite surveillance system. When cyborgs and human launch coordinated attacks on the government headquarters in Olympus, Deunan, Briareos, and Tereus swing into action against a mysterious enemy. The plot has little in common with the earlier films: the Appleseed technology that was at the core of the story isn't even mentioned. The look, tone, and characters in Ex Machina recall Shirow's Ghost in the Shell, rather than the original Appleseed. Not surprisingly, the elaborately choreographed fight scenes reflect Woo's signature style, with slo-mo martial-arts combat, close-ups of falling shells, dynamic camerawork, and all-out gun battles. But the weig! htless movements of the motion-capture characters and the limited rendering of the skin textures gives Appleseed Ex Machina the feel of an extremely elaborate computer game. Despite the limits of the mo-cap technology, Appleseed Ex Machina is a fast-past, take-no-prisoners cinematic adventure that will delight action-movie fans as well as anime lovers. (Rated PG-13: violence, violence against women, profanity, grotesque imagery, potentially offensive religious imagery.) --Charles Solomon

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The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: A Memoir of Life in Death

• ISBN13: 9780375701214
• Condition: New
• Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

In 1995, Jean-Dominique Bauby was the editor-in-chief of French Elle, the father of two young childen, a 44-year-old man known and loved for his wit, his style, and his impassioned approach to life. By the end of the year he was also the victim of a rare kind of stroke to the brainstem.  After 20 days in a coma, Bauby awoke into a body which had all but stopped working: only his left eye functioned, allowing him to see and, by blinking it, to make clear that his mind was unimpaired. Almost miraculously, he was soon able to express himself in the richest detail: dictating a word at a time, blinking to select each letter as the alphabet was recited to him slowly, over and over again. In the same! way, he was able eventually to compose this extraordinary book.

By turns wistful, mischievous, angry, and witty, Bauby bears witness to his determination to live as fully in his mind as he had been able to do in his body. He explains the joy, and deep sadness, of seeing his children and of hearing his aged father's voice on the phone. In magical sequences, he imagines traveling to other places and times and of lying next to the woman he loves. Fed only intravenously, he imagines preparing and tasting the full flavor of delectable dishes. Again and again he returns to an "inexhaustible reservoir of sensations," keeping in touch with himself and the life around him.

Jean-Dominique Bauby died two days after the French publication of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.

This book is a lasting testament to his life.We've all got our idiosyncrasies when it comes to writing--a special chair we have to sit in, a certain kind of yellow paper we absolute! ly must use. To create this tremendously affecting memoir, Je! an-Domin ique Bauby used the only tool available to him--his left eye--with which he blinked out its short chapters, letter by letter. Two years ago, Bauby, then the 43-year-old editor-in-chief of Elle France, suffered a rare stroke to the brain stem; only his left eye and brain escaped damage. Rather than accept his "locked in" situation as a kind of death, Bauby ignited a fire of the imagination under himself and lived his last days--he died two days after the French publication of this slim volume--spiritually unfettered. In these pages Bauby journeys to exotic places he has and has not been, serving himself delectable gourmet meals along the way (surprise: everything's ripe and nothing burns). In the simplest of terms he describes how it feels to see reflected in a window "the head of a man who seemed to have emerged from a vat of formaldehyde."

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Glory Road (Widescreen Edition)

• Very Black

COACH CARTER tells the inspiring true story of controversial high school basketball coach Ken Carter (Jackson). Making headlines for his emphasis on the importance of academics over athletics, Carter requests all the members of the team to sign contracts, promising to maintain a certain grade point average. When the players fail to live up to this agreement, Carter benches the entire team, locking the gym and forfeiting games to prove his point. This infuriates the community who sees this as a hindrance to the future professional athletic careers of the players. Through hard work and dedication, Carter eventually gets his point across to his team and the community, going above and beyond to ensure a solid academic future for his team.Based on a true story of the man who locked his boys out of the gym until they focused on their schoolwork, this by-the-numbers crowd-pleaser hold! s together because a steely Samuel L. Jackson refuses to notice the parade of clichés he's trumpeting (the dialogue sticks to platitudes like, "Success in here is the key to success out there"). Coach Ken Carter (Jackson) takes over an unruly team of Richmond, California basketball players and teaches them how to play--and behave--like champions. His plight, which pits him against an uncooperative school board and parents who've given up hope, holds some interest, but the film is too concerned with giving us a Big Game every twenty minutes or so. The teens all have the spark of life in them (including pop star Ashanti, who features in a surprisingly well-handled teen pregnancy subplot), though the film's plodding familiarity means it's never really rousing, adding up to simply a good-natured amalgam of Stand and Deliver, Hoosiers, Dangerous Minds, and even Dead Poet's Society (one of the tougher players actually recites some inspirational poetry! ).--Steve WieckingCOACH CARTER tells the inspiring true! story o f controversial high school basketball coach Ken Carter (Jackson). Making headlines for his emphasis on the importance of academics over athletics, Carter requests all the members of the team to sign contracts, promising to maintain a certain grade point average. When the players fail to live up to this agreement, Carter benches the entire team, locking the gym and forfeiting games to prove his point. This infuriates the community who sees this as a hindrance to the future professional athletic careers of the players. Through hard work and dedication, Carter eventually gets his point across to his team and the community, going above and beyond to ensure a solid academic future for his team.Based on a true story of the man who locked his boys out of the gym until they focused on their schoolwork, this by-the-numbers crowd-pleaser holds together because a steely Samuel L. Jackson refuses to notice the parade of clichés he's trumpeting (the dialogue sticks to platitudes li! ke, "Success in here is the key to success out there"). Coach Ken Carter (Jackson) takes over an unruly team of Richmond, California basketball players and teaches them how to play--and behave--like champions. His plight, which pits him against an uncooperative school board and parents who've given up hope, holds some interest, but the film is too concerned with giving us a Big Game every twenty minutes or so. The teens all have the spark of life in them (including pop star Ashanti, who features in a surprisingly well-handled teen pregnancy subplot), though the film's plodding familiarity means it's never really rousing, adding up to simply a good-natured amalgam of Stand and Deliver, Hoosiers, Dangerous Minds, and even Dead Poet's Society (one of the tougher players actually recites some inspirational poetry).--Steve WieckingAcademy Award nominee Samuel L. Jackson stars in the inspiring true story of controversial high school basketball c! oach Ken Carter, who benched his entire undefeated team for po! or acade mic performance, in order to teach his players the importance of education.Based on a true story of the man who locked his boys out of the gym until they focused on their schoolwork, this by-the-numbers crowd-pleaser holds together because a steely Samuel L. Jackson refuses to notice the parade of clichés he's trumpeting (the dialogue sticks to platitudes like, "Success in here is the key to success out there"). Coach Ken Carter (Jackson) takes over an unruly team of Richmond, California basketball players and teaches them how to play--and behave--like champions. His plight, which pits him against an uncooperative school board and parents who've given up hope, holds some interest, but the film is too concerned with giving us a Big Game every twenty minutes or so. The teens all have the spark of life in them (including pop star Ashanti, who features in a surprisingly well-handled teen pregnancy subplot), though the film's plodding familiarity means it's never really rousing,! adding up to simply a good-natured amalgam of Stand and Deliver, Hoosiers, Dangerous Minds, and even Dead Poet's Society (one of the tougher players actually recites some inspirational poetry).--Steve WieckingThe studio that brought you REMEMBER THE TITANS now delivers another winner with this exciting and inspirational true story of the team that changed college basketball -- and the nation -- forever! Josh Lucas (SWEET HOME ALABAMA) stars as future Hall of Fame coach Don Haskins of tiny Texas Western University, who bucks convention by simply starting the best players he can find: history's first all-African American lineup. In a turbulent time of social and political change, their unlikely success sends shock waves through the sport that follow the underdog Miners all the way to an epic showdown with all-white, #1 ranked Kentucky for the National Championship!One of the greatest basketball games in NCAA history is immortalized in Gl! ory Road, an engaging sports movie that dramatizes a pivot! al miles tone in the racial integration of college athletics. While it may not be as rousing as similar movies like Hoosiers or Friday Night Lights, this fact-based drama gains depth and substance from the groundbreaking achievement of Don Haskins (well-played by Josh Lucas), who coached the 1965-66 team from Texas Western University to the NCAA championship, using the first-ever all-black lineup in the championship game and forever changing the rules of college basketball. Texas Western's underdog season is followed from anxious start to glorious finish, as Haskins recruits many of his black star players from the North, including Bobby Joe Hill (Derek Luke) and Willie Cager (Damaine Radcliff), and this typically wholesome Disney film doesn't flinch from the harsh realities of racial tension (including player beatings and vandalized motel rooms) that Texas Western's black players had to struggle against as their victories began to draw national attention. Jon Voight (un! der heavy makeup) makes a memorable cameo appearance as legendary Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp, whose favored all-white team was no match for Texas Western, and Haskins' unforgettable achievement is celebrated in an end-credits sequence that demonstrates the positive ripple-effect of his color-blind coaching. Glory Road relies a bit too heavily on sports-movie clichés, but its shortcomings are easily overlooked in favor of its greater historical significance. --Jeff Shannon

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HOME OF THE BRAVE - Format: [Blu-Ray Movie]

• Condition: New
• Format: Blu-ray
• Color; Widescreen

A man I helped to settle here
taught me a saying from Africa.
I’ll bet you would like it:
A cow is God with a wet nose.

Kek comes from Africa where he lived with his mother, father, and brother. But only he and his mother have survived. Now she’s missing, and Kek has been sent to a new home. In America, he sees snow for the first time, and feels its sting. He wonders if the people in this new place will be like the winterâ€"cold and unkind. But slowly he makes friends: a girl in foster care, an old woman with a rundown farm, and a sweet, sad cow that reminds Kek of home. As he waits for word of his mother’s fate, Kek weathers the tough Minnesota winter by finding warmth in his new friendships, strength in his memories, and belief in his new country.

When a humanitarian mis! sion in Iraq is derailed by an explosive ambush, a small band of American soldiers find themselves fighting for their lives.The fact that Home of the Brave is about soldiers coming home from a war that isn't even over is just one of the things that's off in this film; director Irwin Winkler and screenwriter Mark Friedman's 2006 tale of the problems faced by the men and women returning from Iraq is also hampered by thoroughly predictable storytelling, sub-par acting, and sometimes painfully on-the-nose dialogue, reducing what could have been a provocative and challenging effort into so much TV movie fodder. When Army medic Will Marsh (Samuel L. Jackson, who does his best to rise above the level of the material) and soldiers Vanessa Price (Jessica Biel) and Tommy Yates (Brian Presley) return to Spokane, Washington, major readjustment problems loom, mostly due to a chaotic ambush in a small Iraqi town (occurring less than two weeks before they were to be sent home, the ! incident is so unsurprising that anyone could have seen it com! ing). Wi ll and his angry teenage son wage their own war, while Dad takes to the bottle; Vanessa's learning to cope with a prosthetic hand, while Tommy's grieving over the best buddy who died in the ambush and the loss of his job, girlfriend, and self-respect. Those matters and the clichéd, unconvincing way in which they're handled, along with the film's refusal to take a strong stand either for or against the war, obscure the potentially much more interesting issues. Are these soldiers patriots, or merely pawns? Were they doing their righteous duty by serving in this conflict, or were they victims sent off to suffer and perhaps die by a bunch of men in suits who never saw a minute of combat themselves? Other home-from-war films, from 1946's The Best Years of Our Lives to 1978's Coming Home to 1989's Born on the Fourth of July, have dealt with these and other issues a good deal more effectively than the earnest and well-intentioned but not very compelling Hom! e of the Brave. --Sam Graham

In dreamlike sequences, a man symbolically confronts the trauma of his family’s incarceration in the Japanese internment camps during World War II. This infamous event is made emotionally clear through his meeting a group of children all with strange name tags pinned to their coats. The man feels the helplessness of the children. Finally, desperately he releases the name tags like birds into the air to find their way home with the hope for a time when Americans will be seen as one people—not judged, mistrusted, or segregated because of their individual heritage.
Sixty years after thousands of Japanese Americans were unjustly imprisoned, the cogent prose and haunting paintings of renowned author and illustrator Allen Say remind readers of a dark chapter in America’s history.

It is 2012. Chris Randall is an average American male. Growing up during the 1990s, he witnesses the turmoil of the world through the safety of! a television set. His idols include popular musicians and spo! rts figu res. He can t point out the country of Mongolia on a map. The hardest decision he faces is whether to go to college or join the military like so many of his friends. But something happens that changes all of that. In one day, his entire world is unraveled. A massive electromagnetic pulse cripples all electronic devices throughout the country, and temporary chaos sets in. What emerges is a different but strangely familiar world a world that had always been seething just beneath the surface. As the dust settles, only the strong and resourceful survive. Millions of others die from famine, disease, and disorder. Chris must make a choice: succumb to nihilism, hatred, and self-destruction, or find redemption by leaving behind everything he has ever known.When a humanitarian mission in Iraq is derailed by an explosive ambush, a small band of American soldiers find themselves fighting for their lives.The fact that Home of the Brave is about soldiers coming home from a war ! that isn't even over is just one of the things that's off in this film; director Irwin Winkler and screenwriter Mark Friedman's 2006 tale of the problems faced by the men and women returning from Iraq is also hampered by thoroughly predictable storytelling, sub-par acting, and sometimes painfully on-the-nose dialogue, reducing what could have been a provocative and challenging effort into so much TV movie fodder. When Army medic Will Marsh (Samuel L. Jackson, who does his best to rise above the level of the material) and soldiers Vanessa Price (Jessica Biel) and Tommy Yates (Brian Presley) return to Spokane, Washington, major readjustment problems loom, mostly due to a chaotic ambush in a small Iraqi town (occurring less than two weeks before they were to be sent home, the incident is so unsurprising that anyone could have seen it coming). Will and his angry teenage son wage their own war, while Dad takes to the bottle; Vanessa's learning to cope with a prosthetic hand, whi! le Tommy's grieving over the best buddy who died in the ambush! and the loss of his job, girlfriend, and self-respect. Those matters and the clichéd, unconvincing way in which they're handled, along with the film's refusal to take a strong stand either for or against the war, obscure the potentially much more interesting issues. Are these soldiers patriots, or merely pawns? Were they doing their righteous duty by serving in this conflict, or were they victims sent off to suffer and perhaps die by a bunch of men in suits who never saw a minute of combat themselves? Other home-from-war films, from 1946's The Best Years of Our Lives to 1978's Coming Home to 1989's Born on the Fourth of July, have dealt with these and other issues a good deal more effectively than the earnest and well-intentioned but not very compelling Home of the Brave. --Sam Graham

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Heavyweights

• From the creator of THE MIGHTY DUCKS comes HEAVYWEIGHTS, a comedy of enormous proportions! It's the hilarious story of a group of underdog kids who discover their beloved summer camp has been sold to a crazy fitness fanatic who's determined to make their lives miserable! The new owner plans to keep the boys huffing and puffing, but these hungry kids have a plan of their own. They unite to

When a harried businessman and a hapless crook collide on the biggest day of both their careers, the only road seems to lead straight to comic disaster. A workaholic advertising executive (David Paymer) is stuck driving the neighborhood carpool on the day of a make-or-break presentation. A down-on-his luck carnival owner (Tom Arnold), fleeing a bungled robbery, takes the exec and his vanful of kids hostage and begins a comic day-long chase through the city streets where the two men learn some unexpected le! ssons and forge an unlikely friendship.After announcing their intention to get a divorce, a suburban couple suddenly finds themselves locked in the basement together under orders from their kids to reconcile their differences. Soon, others in the neighborhood follow suit, and the basement becomes the crowded prison home for all the local bickering couples.Meet the Stupids. Stanley (Tom Arnold) and Joan (Jessica Lundy) and their kids, Buster and Petunia. They're a nice, typical, suburban American family. Except for one thing. None of them has the sense God gave a lemon. Year: 1996 Director: John Landis Starring: Tom Arnold, Jessica Lundy, Bug HallFrom the creator of THE MIGHTY DUCKS comes HEAVYWEIGHTS, a comedy of enormous proportions! It's the hilarious story of a group of underdog kids who discover their beloved summer camp has been sold to a crazy fitness fanatic who's determined to make their lives miserable! The new owner plans to keep the boys huffing and puffing! , but these hungry kids have a plan of their own. They unite t! o turn t he tables, take back their woodsy hideaway, and challenge the rival camp to the most outrageous summer games of all! You'll laugh out loud with these HEAVYWEIGHTS -- they're big, loud, and proud, and ready to win their way into your heart!

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The House of Yes

• Valse June / Love's Hesitation Waltz

This outrageous comedy was cheered for its edgy humor and hot young cast! All Marty (Josh Hamilton -- ALIVE) wants is a normal life, but nothing goes as planned when his fiancee (Tori Spelling -- SCREAM 2) meets his far-from-normal family. His beautiful but crazy twin sister, "Jackie-O" (Parker Posey -- DAZED AND CONFUSED), becomes dangerously jealous ... and their younger brother (Freddie Prinze, Jr. -- I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER) puts the moves on Marty's new love! Soon, Mother's hiding the kitchen knives ... but she can't hide the family's shockingly hilarious secrets! One of Hollywood's most talked about releases in years -- this offbeat motion picture is wild entertainment fun!Parker Posey was the It Girl of independent film in early 1997, the year this film (along with three or four others in which she starred) all played at the Sundance Film Fe! stival. This film was the toughest of the bunch to embrace, based as it was on a self-consciously quirky off-Broadway play about Thanksgiving at the home of a particularly strange family. Oldest son Josh Hamilton comes home from college for the holidays, with fiancée Tori Spelling in tow. What he hasn't told her is that his twin sister, Jackie-O (played by Posey), thinks she's Jackie Kennedy--or that he and Jackie-O have shared more than, shall we say, filial affection. Posey is wonderfully edgy and she and Hamilton spar with entertaining vigor, but you still have to cope with writer-director Mark Waters's pretentious script. --Marshall Fine

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Boiler Room

• TESTED

Six students lie dead at the hands of a fellow classmate. In the aftermath an unlikely bond is about to form. Alicia (Busy Philipps "Dawson's Creek") is a Goth misfit who hates the world and everyone in it and may know more about the shooting than she's telling. Deanna (Erika Christensen Swimfan) one of the injured is a classic overachiever confined to a hospital bed. Brought together by fate united by secrets they couldn't be less alike or need each other more.System Requirements:Running Time: 132 Min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: R UPC: 043396018952 Manufacturer No: 01895DVD'SThe intense soundtrack of Boiler Room is a fitting underscore for this movie, which pulses with the vigor of young, rich, amoral men wreaking havoc. This is not the antisocietal havoc of Fight Club, but the more deliberate mayhem that comes from greed run amok. The testosterone-junkie! brokers of J.T. Marlin (the only female in the office is Abby, the receptionist and love interest, played by Nia Long) are out to make the sale, and whether that sale is legal or ethical doesn't matter.

Seth Davis (Giovanni Ribisi) is a 19-year-old college dropout who strives for approval from his father (Ron Rifkin), a judge who is horrified that his son operates a 24-hour illicit casino. When an old friend visits the casino with a fellow broker, Davis is impressed by their wads of money and yellow Ferrari, and decides to join the firm. In no time he's making sales and settling into the groove of the office and all the after-hours perks, but the dream fades when Davis discovers the scam that is making all of the brokers wealthy beyond their dreams.

Borrowing heavily from Wall Street and Glengarry Glen Ross, Boiler Room is at its best when dealing with matters of money, and powerful scenes of Davis learning to be a "closer" showcase the signifi! cant talent of Ribisi, Nicky Katt, and Vin Diesel. The movie f! lounders when developing the relationship between Davis and his father, becoming sentimental and trite. However, as a fable of modern society and a nostalgic vehicle about the days of yuppies past, Boiler Room is right on the money. --Jenny Brown

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It's Called a Breakup Because It's Broken: The Smart Girl's Break-Up Buddy

• ISBN13: 9780767921961
• Condition: New
• Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

There’s no doubt about itâ€"breakups suck. But in the first few hours or days or weeks that follow, there’s one important truth you need to recognize: Some things can’t and shouldn’t be fixed, especially that loser who dumped you or forced you to dump him. It’s called a breakup because it’s broken, and starting right here, right now, it’s time to dry your tears, put down that pint of ice cream, log out of his e-mail, and open this book to Chapter Oneâ€"and start turning your breakup into a breakover.

From Greg Behrendt, the co-author of the smash two-million copy bestseller He’s Just Not That Into You, comes It’s Called a Breakup Because It’s Broken--the ! ultimate survival guide to getting over Mr. Wrong and reclaiming your inner Superfox. From how to put yourself through “he-tox,” to how to throw yourself a kick-ass pity party, Greg and his wife, Amiira, share their hilarious and helpful roadmap for getting past the heartache and back into the game. You will learn:

• Why you shouldn’t call himâ€"and what he’s thinking when you do
• How to keep your friends and not lose your job
• How to avoid breakup pitfalls: IMing, stalking, having sex with your ex
• Reframing realityâ€"seeing the relationship for what it was
• How to transform yourself into a hot, happening Superfox and get a jump on the better, brighter future that awaits

Complete with an essential workbook to help you put the crazy down on paper and not take it out into the world, It’s Called a Breakup Because It’s Broken is a must-have manual for finding your way back to an even more rocking you.

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