Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Casino Jack and the United States of Money

  • This portrait of Washington super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff, from his early years as a gung-ho member of the GOP political machine to his final reckoning as a disgraced, imprisoned pariah, confirms the adage that truth is indeed stranger than fiction.  A tale of international intrigue involving casinos, spies, sweatshops and mob-style killings, this is a story of the way money corrupts our polit
Two-time Academy Award® Winner Kevin Spacey delivers a “bravura performance” (The New Yorker ) in this “uproarious, riveting and wickedly hilarious” (Elle ) film inspired by a true story. Spacey stars as Jack Abramoff, the real-life Washington power player who resorted to jaw-dropping levels of fraud and corruption. High-rolling excess and outrageous escapades are all in a day’s work for Abramoff, as he goes to outrageous lengths to promote the Indian gambling industry, earning him the nickna! me “Casino Jack.” But when Jack and his womanizing protégé Michael Scanlon (Barry Pepper) enlist a dimwitted business partner (Jon Lovitz) for an illegal scheme, they find themselves ensnared in a web of greed and murder that explodes into a worldwide scandal.The sordid tale of lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his greedy, felonious power plays during the glory days of the W. presidency are fine fuel for the antic romp Kevin Spacey turns out in Casino Jack. Spacey's signature twist of smug sincerity and self-satisfaction perfectly suits the portrait of a man whose morals are so corrupt and ego so glorified that he truly believes he's doing God's work at the same time he's swiping cash from every opportunistic situation he can wrangle. As a companion piece to Alex Gibney's equally entertaining documentary Casino Jack and the United States of Money, this comic rendering of a political life led with such impolitic indiscretion ramps the ridiculousness of Abramoff'! s schemes up several notches thanks to a liberal dose of drama! tic lice nse. Nevertheless, the events portrayed are real--the ploys to defraud Indian tribes, the bumbling forays of entrepreneurship, the ballsy attempts at misdirection once misdeeds spiral out of control--as are many of the major players. Director George Hickenlooper (who died at age 47 just days before the film's opening in late 2010) has no compunction about magnifying the ethical warts of historical players such as Tom DeLay, Ralph Reed, Grover Norquist, and Karl Rove as they act out the real-life sketch comedy of what really happened in the corridors of the Capitol and the conference rooms of K Street. Because it does come off as high-end sketch comedy, Casino Jack sometimes feels a little sketchy in its execution, but the cast is uniformly excellent in making scenes crackle with hilariously vituperative flair. Especially good are Barry Pepper as Abramoff's oily cohort, Jon Lovitz as a doltish, mobbed-up mattress salesman, and the late Maury Chaykin as a seemingly harm! less mafia functionary who's way more dangerous than his clownish exterior betrays. But the movie belongs to Spacey as a man obsessed with his own importance. This Abramoff, who worked as a C-list producer early in his career, still fancies himself a Hollywood-type player even as the A-list plots he scripts in Washington end up filled with holes. Spacey apes and mugs with typically borderline-manic panache, giving masterful insight into the master of a universe that exists almost entirely in his own avaricious mind. --Ted FryThis portrait of Washington super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff, from his early years as a gung-ho member of the GOP political machine to his final reckoning as a disgraced, imprisoned pariah, confirms the adage that truth is indeed stranger than fiction. A tale of international intrigue involving casinos, spies, sweatshops and mob-style killings, this is a story of the way money corrupts our political process. Oscar®-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney illu! minates the way politicians' desperate need to get
elected ! and the millions of dollars it costs may be undermining the basic principles of American democracy. Infuriating, yet undeniably eye-opening and entertaining, CASINO JACK is a saga of greed and corruption with a cynical villain audiences will love to hate.As he proved in Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney knows how to transform creative bookkeeping into compelling drama without dumbing things down. In his follow-up to Gonzo, a portrait of rabble-rouser Hunter S. Thompson, Gibney takes on disgraced GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff (Stanley Tucci provides his voice in readings). Gibney begins with the Mob-style murder of a one-time associate before backtracking to Abramoff's days as chairman of the College Republicans, where he rubbed shoulders with Karl Rove and Ralph Reed--and impressed Ronald Reagan. Even as a student, however, there were signs of trouble as he laundered money through charities, a pattern he would repeat throughout the d! ecades, always on the lookout for new loopholes. Gibney proceeds through his dealings with the Contras, an Angolan dictator, Saipan sweatshops, and Indian casinos (the debacle in Angola led him to produce the right-wing shoot-'em-up Red Scorpion). Along the way, Abramoff ensnared lawmakers and government officials in his web as they traded political favors for campaign financing. As Bob Ney's chief of staff, Neil Volz, puts it, Abramoff "could talk a dog off a meat truck." When his house of cards finally came crashing down, Reed, Ney, Volz, Tom DeLay, and numerous others fell with him (all but Reed appear in the film). As in his other documentaries, Gibney juices the action with music cues that keep things lively, even if some of his choices are a little too on the nose, like Howlin' Wolf's "Back Door Man." --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Fox Men's Sledgehammer Short Sleeve Tee, Red, Large

  • Soft hand plastisol
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Fox sledgehammer s/s basic tee

Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker Poster Movie 11x17 Ewan McGregor Bill Nighy Alex Pettyfer

  • Approx. Size: 11 x 17 Inches - 28cm x 44cm
  • Size is provided by the manufacturer and may not be exact
  • The Amazon image in this listing is a digital scan of the poster that you will receive
  • Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker 11 x 17 Inches Style A Mini Poster
  • Packaged with care and shipped in sturdy reinforced packing material
You're never too young todare.

ProductInformation

In Alex Rider - Operation Stormbreaker, you'll enter the world of AlexRider, an ordinary teenager trained to be the ultimate spy. When hisuncle (Ewan McGregor) mysteriously disappears, Alex is recruited toinvestigate a billionaire (Mickey Rourke) plotting to control theworld's computers.  Within days, he's gone from schoolboy tosuper spy - but is Alex ready to save the world?  Based on thebest-selling novel by ! Anthony Horowitz, Alex Rider - OperationStormbreaker is loaded with an all-star cast, cool gadgets, sinistervillains, and amazing stunts.  Get ready for the ultimateadventure!


Product Features
  • From Page to Screen
  • The Stunts
  • The Horse Chase
  • Creating the VFX for Sayle Tower
  • Casting Alex
  • Martial Arts Master Donnie Yen
  • Theatrical Trailer


Specifications
  • Stars:  Ewan McGregor, AlexPettyfer, Alicia Silverstone
  • Format:  Color, DVD-Video,Standard
  • Language:  English, French
  • Subtitles:   English, Spanish
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Rating:  PG
  • Run Time:  93 minutes
  • Directed By:  Geoffrey Sax
A James Bond-style action-adventure film for the tween and teen set based on Anthony Horowit! z's book "Stormbreaker," Alex Rider--Operation Stormbreake! r is a fast-paced action film shot in and around London that's bursting with suspense, intrigue, high-tech gadgetry, martial arts moves, and intense chase scenes featuring everything from cars and motorbikes to helicopters, quad bikes, bicycles, and horses. Alex Rider (Alex Pettyfer) thinks he's just an ordinary 14-year old kid, but when the uncle that raised him (Ewan McGregor) dies, he soon discovers that his uncle led a secret life as an intelligence agent and that he was secretly grooming Alex for a similar future with special intelligence division MI6. Motivated by revenge against his uncle's killers, Alex takes up where his uncle left off in the investigation of computer mogul Darrius Sayle (Mickey Rourke), delving into his seemingly philanthropic plan to supply a whole new breed of laptops to school children throughout the United Kingdom. Alex's undercover investigation quickly reveals Sayle's true motive and, without any real support or protection from his MI6 superviso! rs Alan Blunt (Bill Nighy) or Mrs. Jones (Sophie Okonedo) or his quirky housekeeper Jack Starbright (Alicia Silverstone), Alex must somehow prevail against the dangerous Mr. Sayle to safeguard the lives of thousands of innocent people. Comparable to Spy Kids and a step above Agent Cody Banks, Alex Rider--Operation Stormbreaker is an intense, believable film that will captivate viewers ages 10 and older. Bonus features include featurettes focusing on making the book into a film with author and screenwriter Anthony Horowitz, the extensive stunt work performed, the logistics involved in shooting a horse chase through Hyde Park and Piccadilly, visual effects by Baseblack, casting Alex, and the choreography of martial arts master Donnie Yen. --Tami Horiuchi(Adventure/Family) A 14-year-old is forced to become a secret agent and embarks on a thrilling adventure. Based on the original novel in the best-selling Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowit! z.A James Bond-style action-adventure film for the tween and t! een set based on Anthony Horowitz's book "Stormbreaker," Alex Rider--Operation Stormbreaker is a fast-paced action film shot in and around London that's bursting with suspense, intrigue, high-tech gadgetry, martial arts moves, and intense chase scenes featuring everything from cars and motorbikes to helicopters, quad bikes, bicycles, and horses. Alex Rider (Alex Pettyfer) thinks he's just an ordinary 14-year old kid, but when the uncle that raised him (Ewan McGregor) dies, he soon discovers that his uncle led a secret life as an intelligence agent and that he was secretly grooming Alex for a similar future with special intelligence division MI6. Motivated by revenge against his uncle's killers, Alex takes up where his uncle left off in the investigation of computer mogul Darrius Sayle (Mickey Rourke), delving into his seemingly philanthropic plan to supply a whole new breed of laptops to school children throughout the United Kingdom. Alex's undercover investigation quickly ! reveals Sayle's true motive and, without any real support or protection from his MI6 supervisors Alan Blunt (Bill Nighy) or Mrs. Jones (Sophie Okonedo) or his quirky housekeeper Jack Starbright (Alicia Silverstone), Alex must somehow prevail against the dangerous Mr. Sayle to safeguard the lives of thousands of innocent people. Comparable to Spy Kids and a step above Agent Cody Banks, Alex Rider--Operation Stormbreaker is an intense, believable film that will captivate viewers ages 10 and older. Bonus features include featurettes focusing on making the book into a film with author and screenwriter Anthony Horowitz, the extensive stunt work performed, the logistics involved in shooting a horse chase through Hyde Park and Piccadilly, visual effects by Baseblack, casting Alex, and the choreography of martial arts master Donnie Yen. --Tami HoriuchiEnter the world of Alex Rider (Alex Pettyfer), an ordinary teenager trained to be the ultimate spy. Wh! en his uncle (Ewan McGregor) mysteriously disappears, Alex is ! recruite d to investigate a billionaire (Mickey Rourke) plottong to control the world's computers. Within days, he's gone from schoolboy to super spy - but is Alex ready to save the world? Based on the best-selling novel by Anthony Horowitz, "Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker" is loaded with an all-star cast, cool gadgets, sinister villains and amazing stunts. get ready for the ultimate adventure! Special Features: From Page to Screen, The Stunts, the Horse chase, Creating the VFX for Sayle tower, Casting Alex, Martial Arts Master Donnie Yen, Theatrical Trailer.Alex Rider: Stormbreaker brings you into a dark and dangerous world that young people never really get to see. Alex is a normal teenager who lives with his uncle Ian, a "boring" bank manager. When Uncle Ian dies under mysterious circumstances, Alex discovers his uncle was in fact a spy! He's been murdered by one of the most dangerous assassins in the world. Recruited into MI6, the schoolboy is thrust into the world of espionage. You'll become Alex Rider as he becomes the first teenage superspy. Linguist, scuba diver, mountaineer, crack shot and martial arts expert, Alex has the skills needed -- and with a new set of special gadgets, you'll lead him on his first mission.They have become a phenomenon. The Alex Rider adventures are now bestsellers the world over, and the book that started it all, Stormbreaker, is soon to b! e a major motion picture. Now is your chance to see this book visualized in a brand-new format, with bold, edgy, manga-like illustrations that bring Alex Rider to life in a way not seen before. For existing fans of the series, this graphic novel will be a must-have; for those yet to discover Stormbreaker, this will be the perfect introduction.Enter the world of Alex Rider (Alex Pettyfer), an ordinary teenager trained to be the ultimate spy. When his uncle (Ewan McGregor) mysteriously disappears, Alex is recruited to investigate a billionaire (Mickey Rourke) plottong to control the world's computers. Within days, he's gone from schoolboy to super spy - but is Alex ready to save the world? Based on the best-selling novel by Anthony Horowitz, "Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker" is loaded with an all-star cast, cool gadgets, sinister villains and amazing stunts. get ready for the ultimate adventure! Special Features: From Page to Screen, The Stunts, the Horse chase, Creating the VFX for Sayle tower, Casting Alex, Martial Arts Master Donnie Yen, Theatrical Trailer.Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker reproduction Approx. Size: 11 x 17 Inches - 28cm x 44cm Style A mini poster print

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Bra Boys

  • Are Sydney's Bra Boys a violent gang or just a loyal bunch of surfers? This documentary narrated by Russell Crowe (AMERICAN GANGSTER) explores this underground culture from the inside courtesy of writer-director-producer Sunny Abberton. The filmmaker and his three brothers--Koby, Jai, and Dakota--lie at the heart of this engrossing true story about some of Australia's most notorious people
Bra Boys is a documentary film about the cultural evolution of the Sydney beach side suburb of Maroubra and the social
struggle faced by its youth, the notorious surf gang known as the Bra Boys.
Featuring Koby, Sunny and Jai Abberton and narrated by Russell Crowe, the film follows their success in professional big
wave surfing and explores their reputation for hard partying and rough justice. The film touches on the Bra Boys running
battle with authorities and shows their reliance on one another! to survive in a society in which they are displaced.

Americano

  • AMERICANO is set against the backdrop of the country s centuries-old Fiesta de San Ferm n, better known as The Running of the Bulls at Pamplona. Chris McKinley (Joshua Jackson), a recent college graduate backpacking through Europe, savors his last three days of freedom before boarding the career fast track back in the States. In Pamplona for The Running of the Bulls with his best friend, Ryan (Tim
AMERICANO is set against the backdrop of Spain's centuries-old Fiesta de San Fermín, better known as The Running of the Bulls at Pamplona. Chris McKinley (Joshua Jackson), a recent college graduate backpacking through Europe, savors his last three days of freedom before boarding the career fast track back in the States. In Pamplona for The Running of the Bulls with his best friend, Ryan (Timm Sharp), and Ryan's girlfriend Michelle (Ruthanna Hopper), Chris meets a quintessential Spanish beauty Adela! (Leonor Varela) and an enigmatic provocateur Riccardo (Dennis Hopper), both of whom encourage him to rethink his life. As the minutes and seconds until his departure tick away, Chris struggles with an age-old question - should he follow the beaten path, or risk it all on the road less traveled?

Cry Wolf (Alpha and Omega, Book 1)

  • ISBN13: 9780441016150
  • Condition: New
  • Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Come along on the ultimate road-trip adventure that will leave the whole family howling with laughter! When Kate, a take-charge “Alpha” wolf, and Humphrey, a laid-back “Omega” wolf, get snatched by park rangers and relocated halfway across the country, the two must set off on an incredible journey home! With the help of a goofy golfing goose and his quacky duck caddy, Kate and Humphrey won’t let anything stop them â€" prickly porcupines, grumpy bears, even a speeding locomotive â€" from getting back to Jasper Park in time to help save their pack from rival wolves! And along the way, Kate and Humphrey learn that even though they are complete opposites, they make a pretty good team! It’s a th! ousand miles of fun in this wildly entertaining journey the whole pack can enjoy together!Love is blind to the rules of tradition, opposites attract, and both clichés apply quite nicely to the wolves in Alpha and Omega. In the wolf world, the pack values the omega wolves' skill of defusing tense situations with humor just as much as they value the keen leadership skills of the alpha wolves, but tradition dictates that alpha wolves don't mate with omega wolves. So, when the all-business alpha wolf Kate (Hayden Panettiere) and the fun-seeking omega wolf Humphrey (Justin Long) find themselves attracted to one another, the pair resign themselves to a life apart, and Kate agrees to a match with alpha male Garth (Chris Carmack) from a rival pack in order to peacefully merge the two packs into one. But when Humphrey and Kate are tranquilized in their home in Jasper National Forest, Canada, and relocated to Sawtooth Forest far away in Idaho, the two discover that not only! can opposites work very well together, but that neither of th! em can c ontinue to ignore their attraction for the other. The question is, will working together, combined with a little help from a golf-playing goose and his duck caddy, be enough to get the pair all the way back to Jasper National Park before the rival wolf packs tear one another apart at the next full moon? And what will become of their relationship if they do return in time? This animated film is amusing and entertaining, if not particularly outstanding. A lot of the humor is pretty corny and the plot has been done many times before (think Open Season 2), but the characters are likable, the action is pretty good, and who can resist chuckling at images like a retired, golf-playing French-Canadian goose or the distractive powers of a good cupcake? (Ages 5 and older) --Tami HoriuchiCome along on the ultimate road-trip adventure that will leave the whole family howling with laughter! When Kate, a take-charge “Alpha” wolf, and Humphrey, a laid-back “Omega” ! wolf, get snatched by park rangers and relocated halfway across the country, the two must set off on an incredible journey home! With the help of a goofy golfing goose and his quacky duck caddy, Kate and Humphrey won’t let anything stop them â€" prickly porcupines, grumpy bears, even a speeding locomotive â€" from getting back to Jasper Park in time to help save their pack from rival wolves! And along the way, Kate and Humphrey learn that even though they are complete opposites, they make a pretty good team! It’s a thousand miles of fun in this wildly entertaining journey the whole pack can enjoy together!Love is blind to the rules of tradition, opposites attract, and both clichés apply quite nicely to the wolves in Alpha and Omega. In the wolf world, the pack values the omega wolves' skill of defusing tense situations with humor just as much as they value the keen leadership skills of the alpha wolves, but tradition dictates that alpha wolves don't mate with om! ega wolves. So, when the all-business alpha wolf Kate (Hayden ! Panettie re) and the fun-seeking omega wolf Humphrey (Justin Long) find themselves attracted to one another, the pair resign themselves to a life apart, and Kate agrees to a match with alpha male Garth (Chris Carmack) from a rival pack in order to peacefully merge the two packs into one. But when Humphrey and Kate are tranquilized in their home in Jasper National Forest, Canada, and relocated to Sawtooth Forest far away in Idaho, the two discover that not only can opposites work very well together, but that neither of them can continue to ignore their attraction for the other. The question is, will working together, combined with a little help from a golf-playing goose and his duck caddy, be enough to get the pair all the way back to Jasper National Park before the rival wolf packs tear one another apart at the next full moon? And what will become of their relationship if they do return in time? This animated 3-D film is amusing and entertaining, if not particularly outstanding. A lo! t of the humor is pretty corny and the plot has been done many times before (think Open Season 2), but the characters are likable, the action is pretty good, and who can resist chuckling at images like a retired, golf-playing French-Canadian goose or the distractive powers of a good cupcake? (Ages 5 and older) --Tami HoriuchiAnna never knew werewolves existed until the night she survived a violent attack...and became one herself. After three years at the bottom of the pack, she'd learned to keep her head down and never, ever trust dominant males.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Four Christmases

  • Every Christmas happily unmarried Brad and Kate escape divorced parents and exasperating relatives by getting on a plane. This year a fog rolls in, the airport shuts down and the couple is forced to celebrate four family Christmases in one hectic, hilarious day. Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon lead an all-star cast in a comedy brimming with good cheer and great laughs -- as well as the answer t
A COUPLE STRUGGLES TO VISIT ALL FOUR OF THEIR DIVORCED PARENTS ON CHRISTMAS DAY.When your significant other tells you you both need an exit "safe word" before you enter his dad's Christmas gathering, you know you're not in Bedford Falls. But while Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon may not be It's a Wonderful Life's George and Mary Bailey, Four Christmases is a modern holiday classic in its own right. For one thing, every family neurosis and dysfunction have taken root in the four fami! lies of Vaughn and Witherspoon's characters, Brad and Kate--and the sleek yuppie façade each has built with the other is about to come tumbling down. There are real belly laughs as the couple unexpectedly has to spend holidays with their four extended family groups. "I don't want to speak ill of your mother on Christmas," growls Howard (Robert Duvall) to son Brad, while Brad's bullnecked ultimate-fighter brothers are rassling everything in sight, "but she's nothing but a common street whore." Brad may cringe, but Kate's own family is about to mortify her in abundant ways, from her randy "Gram-Gram" and about-to-pounce cougar mom Mary Steenburgen ("I feel like a Saudi prince in here," marvels Brad as all of Kate's female relatives drape themselves over him), to the revelation to Brad that Kate used to be--how to put this--a bit on the chubby side. If the plot isn't full of surprises, the quips are nonstop and the acting believable and charming. The supporting cast also incl! udes Sissy Spacek, Jon Voight, Jon Favreau and Dwight Yoakam i! n a memo rable turn as the mega-church pastor Steenburgen's character is involved with. It's a comic Christmas blessing, and there'll be no need to say "mistletoe"--at least not till the viewers are home with their own families. --A.T. Hurley

The Expendables

  • Condition: New
  • Format: DVD
  • AC-3; Closed-captioned; Color; Dolby; DVD; Subtitled; Widescreen; NTSC
Just because you grow older doesn’t mean you have to grow up! Comedy superstars Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade and Rob Schneider are at their hilarious and outrageous best playing childhood friends who reunite one holiday weekend to relive the good old days. It doesn’t matter that these five guys are now respectable businessmen, husbands and fathers. Once they get back together, nothing is going to stop these kids-at-heart from having the time of their adult lives. From the people who brought you Click, comes this hilarious and heartwarming film that proves men will be boys. Adam Sandler and his frequent costars (Chris Rock, Kevin James, David Spade, and Rob Schneider) grope blindly for maturity in the genial comedy Grown Ups. Five childhood ! pals are drawn back together after the death of their former basketball coach; over the course of a Fourth of July weekend, they--along with their wildly attractive wives (played by Salma Hayek, Maria Bello, Maya Rudolph) and precocious children--loosen up, try to introduce their kids to the simple pleasures of nature, air some dirty laundry, and rediscover their friendship. In other words, it's a fairly formulaic comedy that veers awkwardly from gags (ranging from slapstick to mean-spiritedness) to sentiment (ranging from sappy to not entirely sappy). Its appeal will depend entirely on your feelings about Sandler and the rest of the gang--if you like this bunch of lugs (in all their prolonged adolescent glory), then you'll like this movie. If you don't, you won't. Everyone's in relaxed but good form; affable is more the comic goal than razor sharp. Expect gags about being fat, being old, prolonged breast-feeding, ogling hot chicks, flatulence, etc. There's some role revers! al: it's the women, particularly Hayek as a type-A fashion des! igner, w ho need to learn the eternal cinematic lesson that family is more important than work. Featuring guest appearances from Tim Meadows, Colin Quinn, and Steve Buscemi. --Bret FetzerJust because you grow older doesn’t mean you have to grow up! Comedy superstars Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade and Rob Schneider are at their hilarious and outrageous best playing childhood friends who reunite one holiday weekend to relive the good old days. It doesn’t matter that these five guys are now respectable businessmen, husbands and fathers. Once they get back together, nothing is going to stop these kids-at-heart from having the time of their adult lives. From the people who brought you Click, comes this hilarious and heartwarming film that proves men will be boys.Adam Sandler and his frequent costars (Chris Rock, Kevin James, David Spade, and Rob Schneider) grope blindly for maturity in the genial comedy Grown Ups. Five childhood pals are drawn ! back together after the death of their former basketball coach; over the course of a Fourth of July weekend, they--along with their wildly attractive wives (played by Salma Hayek, Maria Bello, Maya Rudolph) and precocious children--loosen up, try to introduce their kids to the simple pleasures of nature, air some dirty laundry, and rediscover their friendship. In other words, it's a fairly formulaic comedy that veers awkwardly from gags (ranging from slapstick to mean-spiritedness) to sentiment (ranging from sappy to not entirely sappy). Its appeal will depend entirely on your feelings about Sandler and the rest of the gang--if you like this bunch of lugs (in all their prolonged adolescent glory), then you'll like this movie. If you don't, you won't. Everyone's in relaxed but good form; affable is more the comic goal than razor sharp. Expect gags about being fat, being old, prolonged breast-feeding, ogling hot chicks, flatulence, etc. There's some role reversal: it's the wo! men, particularly Hayek as a type-A fashion designer, who need! to lear n the eternal cinematic lesson that family is more important than work. Featuring guest appearances from Tim Meadows, Colin Quinn, and Steve Buscemi. --Bret FetzerJust because you grow older doesn’t mean you have to grow up! Comedy superstars Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade and Rob Schneider are at their hilarious and outrageous best playing childhood friends who reunite one holiday weekend to relive the good old days. It doesn’t matter that these five guys are now respectable businessmen, husbands and fathers. Once they get back together, nothing is going to stop these kids-at-heart from having the time of their adult lives. From the people who brought you Click, comes this hilarious and heartwarming film that proves men will be boys. Adam Sandler and his frequent costars (Chris Rock, Kevin James, David Spade, and Rob Schneider) grope blindly for maturity in the genial comedy Grown Ups. Five childhood pals are drawn back together! after the death of their former basketball coach; over the course of a Fourth of July weekend, they--along with their wildly attractive wives (played by Salma Hayek, Maria Bello, Maya Rudolph) and precocious children--loosen up, try to introduce their kids to the simple pleasures of nature, air some dirty laundry, and rediscover their friendship. In other words, it's a fairly formulaic comedy that veers awkwardly from gags (ranging from slapstick to mean-spiritedness) to sentiment (ranging from sappy to not entirely sappy). Its appeal will depend entirely on your feelings about Sandler and the rest of the gang--if you like this bunch of lugs (in all their prolonged adolescent glory), then you'll like this movie. If you don't, you won't. Everyone's in relaxed but good form; affable is more the comic goal than razor sharp. Expect gags about being fat, being old, prolonged breast-feeding, ogling hot chicks, flatulence, etc. There's some role reversal: it's the women, particul! arly Hayek as a type-A fashion designer, who need to learn the! eternal cinematic lesson that family is more important than work. Featuring guest appearances from Tim Meadows, Colin Quinn, and Steve Buscemi. --Bret FetzerDick and Mandy, a young working class couple, move into a council house in Canterbury, and find Mr. Butcher, one of their former teachers, living next door. Mandy's unmarried sister, Gloria, is constantly dropping in, and will not take any hints that the couple would prefer to be left alone, until her presence finally goads them into action. The entire film comes to a head when both couples are found wrestling in the hall while trying to oust the poor sister from the Mr. Butcher's bathroom.Misfit NYPD detectives Gamble and Hoitz (Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg) are sentenced to life behind the desk. They hate each other and the monotony of their meaningless jobs, as they’re forced to live in the shadow of the two biggest and most badass cops on the force (Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson). But when those guys go ! down for the count, opportunity knocks for Gamble and Hoitz. Stumbling onto what could be one of the biggest crimes in years, can The Other Guys step up their game to solve the case without killing each other and destroying NYC in the process? From the director of Step Brothers and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.Although the comedy team of Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg does not sound like a threat to Laurel and Hardy or Abbott and Costello, they conjure up consistent laughs in The Other Guys, yet another comedy from Talladega Nights director Adam McKay. Ferrell plays a mild-mannered police accountant partnered with Wahlberg's hothead (recently demoted to desk-jockey duty after shooting a very famous Yankee player during the World Series), and both men must endure the showboating fame of a pair of supercops (Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson) in their New York City precinct house. Along with sending up cop-movie clichés, the movi! e basically exists to give Ferrell and Wahlberg room to work a! musing v ariations on their characters (with grace notes for Michael Keaton's stereotypical tough captain, too). The loosey-goosey structure works especially well when Wahlberg is needling his partner's squareness or marveling, in wonderfully awestruck tones, at the unbelievable hot-i-tude of Ferrell's wife (Eva Mendes)--a discrepancy made all the more maddening because Ferrell seems indifferent to her charms. Throw in a plot about a billionaire Wall Street crook (Steve Coogan) and the revelation of Ferrell's hilariously dark past, and the movie finds a nice zone of silliness. Of course, any Will Ferrell vehicle must be judged by the opportunities for the star to launch into some borderline-surreal riff--and happily, this film comes through. From the moment Ferrell begins deconstructing Wahlberg's lion versus tuna metaphor, The Other Guys manages to find time for such nonsense, and the film--the world in general, for that matter--is the better for it. --Robert HortonHe ! electrifies the audience with a clever, animated style of comedy that cannot be duplicated and brings his audience to tears in this stand-up performance. He's hilarious as he pokes fun at everybody, but he's funniest when he's the brunt of the jokes! Fans who know him as the congenial host of BET's "Comic View: One Mic Stand" or from his outrageous characters in Soul Plane, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Scary Movie 3 and 4 and Super Hero Movie will want to see Kevin Hart at his wisecracking best.Danny Maccabee (Adam Sandler) meets the girl of his dreams (Brooklyn Decker) but has to enlist his loyal assistant Katherine (Jennifer Aniston) to pretend to be his soon-to-be ex-wife in order to cover up a careless lie. When more lies backfire, Katherine’s kids become involved, and everyone heads off to Hawaii for a ridiculous, out-of-control weekend that tests the limits of how far we’ll go for love.Sylvester Stallone stars as Barney Ross, leader of The Expendables, a tight-k! nit team of skilled combat vets turned mercenaries. Hired by a! powerfu l covert operator, the team jets off to a small South American country to overthrow a ruthless dictator. Once there, they find themselves caught in a deadly web of deceit and betrayal. Using every weapon at their disposal, they set out to save the innocent and punish the guilty in this blistering action-packed thriller.They might be expendable, but they sure are durable: The Expendables is crammed with well-traveled action heroes, called to a summit meeting here to capture some of that good old ultraviolent '80s-movie feel. Star-director Sylvester Stallone rides herd as the leader of this mercenary band, which includes Jason Statham, Jet Li, and Stallone's old Rocky V nemesis Dolph Lundgren. Mickey Rourke, looking like a car wreck on Highway 61, plays the tattoo artist who communicates the gang's assignments to Stallone; throw in Terry Crews and Ultimate Fighting champ Randy Couture, and you've got a badass crew indeed. The specifics here involve a Latin Americ! an island where US interests have mucked up the local politics beyond repair--but when Sly's eye is caught by the feisty daughter (Giselle Itie) of the local military jefe, a simple job gets complicated. Adding to the B-movie flavor of the enterprise, we've got Eric Roberts and Steve Austin bouncing around as badder-than-the-bad guys, plus Bruce Willis popping in for a one-scene bit, and… well, perhaps another unbilled cameo. The violence doesn't reach the frantic pace of Stallone's last Rambo picture, but it builds to a pretty crazy crescendo in the final reels, during which each cast member gets to show his stuff. Although Stallone's face looks younger than it did in the first Rocky movie, his line delivery is more sluggish than ever, and what lines! The dialogue is stuck in the '80s, too. Although it's pretty ham-handed throughout, The Expendables is likely critic-proof: the audience that wants to see this kind of body-slamming throwdown isn't goin! g to care about the niceties. Let the knife throwing begin. --Rober t Horton

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