Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Friday Night Lights: The Fourth Season

  • Condition: New
  • Format: DVD
  • AC-3; Box set; Color; Dolby; DVD; Subtitled; Widescreen; NTSC
For four years, the residents and students of Dillon, Texas, have faced difficult choices on and off the field with courage, passion and perseverance. Now the time has come to find closure for problems of the past while pursuing new possibilities that will lead many beyond Dillon city limits. But, will everyone be up to the challenge?Saying goodbye to Dillon, Texas, won't be easy for those who've been with Friday Night Lights from the start--especially those who read the book or saw the movie. Over five years on NBC, students graduated, the high school changed (from West to East Dillon), and Eric and Tami Taylor (Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton) and Buddy Garrity (Brad Leland) remained constants, sometimes making mistakes, but always trying to do right by their kids--biological and! otherwise. And few shows offered more believable relationships, from Coach and Tami to Luke (Matt Lauria) and Becky (Madison Burge), who rekindle their romance in the final season.

If the fourth year marked the end of an era, the fifth revolves around new beginnings: Tami returns to her role as guidance counselor (after a controversial reign as principal), Buddy takes his wayward son under his wing, Julie (Aimee Teegarden) has a rough start at college, Billy (Derek Phillips) becomes assistant football coach, Becky moves in with him and his wife, and quarterback Vince (Michael B. Jordan), who continues to see Jess (Jurnee Smollett), tangles with his recently paroled father, Ornette (Cress Williams). Naturally, there are a few new arrivals, but they don't make the same impact as returning Dillon veterans Landry (Jesse Plemons), Jason (Scott Porter), Matt (Zach Gilford), Tyra (Adrianne Palicki), and Billy's younger brother, Tim (Taylor Kitsch), whose adjustment to life aft! er prison parallels Ornette's experience.

This 13-episode a! rc trace s the road to the state championships and marks the end of one of television's most emotionally involving shows, always operating on the principle that everyone can change, and that there's still room on network TV for semi-improvised, documentary-style filmmaking. Deleted scenes, commentary tracks, and a featurette offer a comprehensive look back at a stellar series, truly one of the medium's very best. --Kathleen C. FennessyStudio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 10/04/2011TV's hottest new drama, Friday Night Lights, touches down on DVD with all 22 Season One episodes in a 5-disc collection! In the small town of Dillon, everyone comes together on Friday nights when the Dillon High Panthers play. But life is not a game; and the charismatic players, new coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler), and the passionate fans find that their biggest challenges and obstacles come off the field in the compelling day-to-day dramas of their tight-knit community. From producer! s Brian Grazer (The Da Vinci Code) and Peter Berg (The Kingdom) comes the critically acclaimed TV series based on the best-selling novel and hit theatrical movie. Discover why The Associated Press calls it "breathtaking in how it captures ordinary life set against extraordinary passions."The first season of Friday Night Lights accomplishes something that few television dramas are able to do: It betters the 2004 film (starring Billy Bob Thornton) on which the series is based. Set in Dillon, Texas, where football--even on the high school level--is everything, Friday Night Lights is a compelling drama with a football subplot. Poignantly and effectively touching on racism, rape, steroids, jealousy, infidelity, and life-changing injuries, the series presents the inhabitants of Dillon as real people who are flawed, but remarkable in their ordinariness. Though the series struggled to find an audience during its inaugural year, it was a critical favorite thanks to som! e fine acting by leads Kyle Chandler (as Coach Eric Taylor) an! d Connie Britton (who portrays his wife, Tami). Coach Taylor's career depends on his ability to get the Dillon Panthers to the state championship. If the team suffers a losing streak, he knows his family, which includes daughter Julie (Aimee Teegarden), will no longer be welcome in Dillon. Britton, who also played the coach's wife in the film version, is a phenomenal actress who shares simmering chemistry with Chandler. Not content at just being the coach's wife, she lands a job as a counselor at the local high school. That position plays a pivotal role in the season finale, which leaves viewers wondering whether Eric will leave Dillon to accept a coveted coaching job with a university. Though the majority of the twentysomething actors appear too mature to portray high school students, they have the mannerisms of teens down pat. Gaius Charles is perfect as cocky running back Brian "Smash" Williams, who'll risk his health to make sure he gets a football scholarship to college. Local! sweethearts Jason Street (Scott Porter) and Lyla Garrity (Minka Kelly) are the high school's golden couple. When a football injury leaves him paralyzed, he finds strength in what the future holds for him, but Lyla finds herself in a short-lived affair with Jason's best friend Tim Riggins (Taylor Kitsch). Once the relationship comes out in the open, their classmates' reactions to the "traitors" show that sexual inequality is rampant even in the teen set. Tim's teammates briefly ostracize him, but just as quickly forgive him, especially since he's so valuable on the football field. But Lyla becomes persona non grata to the girls at school who take too much glee in calling the head cheerleader a slut. The hits she takes verbally are no less lethal than the ones the boys take on the gridiron. And the tentative relationship between Julie Taylor and Matt Saracen (Zach Gilford) is the best depiction of teenage love since Angela Chase fell for Jordan Catalano on My So-Called Li! fe. The actors do a wonderful job conveying the sweetness,! pain, a nd hurt of falling in love without really understanding all of its implications. Peter Berg, who co-wrote and co-directed the film, has a strong presence as a writer on the series and evenly distributes the storylines between the kids and the adults. Friday Night Lights is a drama with teenage characters at its core. But the stories are universal. --Jae-Ha KimOne of the greatest TV dramas of all time continues with 13 gripping fourth season episodes of the critically acclaimed series Friday Night Lights. Small-town life in Dillon has changed irrevocably with the dramatic split of the school district. Coach Taylor (Kyle Chandler) finds himself fighting for the respect of the East Dillon Lions, while his wife, Tami (Connie Britton), faces her own battles as principal of the Dillon High Panthers. Across town, it’s a season for change as graduating students face life after high school, and new students deal with hostile rivalries. From executive producers Brian G! razer, Peter Berg and Jason Katims comes the show that critics rave “may have the greatest emotional range of any series ever on television” (Neal Gabler, Los Angeles Times).The fourth season of Friday Night Lights begins with Coach Taylor (Kyle Chandler) in what appears to be a lose-lose situation. Fired from Dillon High School as the Panthers' football coach, Taylor is offered a position coaching the East Dillon Lions. No matter how the school board tries to spin it with platitudes about both schools being equal, East Dillon is rundown, has no funds, and has a football squad that's a team in name only. Of course we all know that Coach Taylor being who he is, it's only a matter of time before he turns the team around and gets a little vengeance on the snooty Panthers. Meanwhile, his wife Tami (Connie Britton) is principal of Dillon High School, where their daughter Julie (Aimee Teegarden) is a senior. Her boyfriend, Matt (Zach Gilford), who had the chance to go ! to art school in Chicago, stayed behind in the small Texas tow! n becaus e he didn't want to leave behind his grandmother--who's suffering from Alzheimer's--or Julie. Though some of the plot points may sound melodramatic, they play beautifully in the 13 episodes, which originally aired on television during the 2009-2010 season. There are cast changes, reflecting the graduation of some of the characters. Lyla (Minka Kelly) briefly returns from her studies at Vanderbilt to attend a funeral, while Tim (Taylor Kitsch)--the boy she left behind--struggles with his ambivalent feelings for college and his need to help take care of the only family he has: his older brother, sister-in-law, and infant nephew. And new characters like Vince (Michael B. Jordan)--a central part of at least half the story lines--easily fit into the ensemble cast. Meanwhile, Lyla's dad Buddy (played by Brad Leland with just the right combination of sleaze and pathos) turns out to be instrumental in helping get the football program off the ground at East Dillon. Landry (Jesse Plem! ons) realizes that his on-again, off-again girlfriend is never coming back to him. And he's OK with that as he tackles the challenges of being the new kid at East Dillon. But, as his best friend Matt notes, "he's like a girl" when it comes to holding grudges. There also is major fallout for Tami, who is accused of telling a teenager to end her pregnancy, and trouble for a football player who gets hooked on drugs after an injury. When his religious parents tell him to pray, he does: "Dear Lord, please let me get some more drugs before Friday." There are a few scenarios that ring false, like when the Panthers' star quarterback J.D. McCoy (Jeremy Sumpter) seemingly turns into a malicious, spoiled brat overnight. But overall, Friday Night Lights scores just the right touch. --Jae-Ha Kim

Friday, December 30, 2011

Bride of the Wind

  • british
  • romance
  • dragonslayer
  • virginia
  • unwanted marriage

The daughter of a wealthy Virginia planter, innocent Rose Woodbine curses cruel fate for leading her to the court of the British King Charles -- and into an unwanted marriage with handsome and dangerous Lord Pierce Deforte, a man she dares never love.

His soul searing desire for the stunning Rose had once blinded Pierce to the treacherous machinations of his enemies. Now banished from his beloved England, he lives the life of a pirate -- seeking vengeance on those who betrayed him... including the beautiful temptress whom he once held dear. On a storm-tossed sea they are united once more -- he, no longer a noble, but the notorious brigand called Dragonslayer. And she, one his bride, is now his helpless prisoner -- forced to submit to his fury, his will...and the blistering, sensuous need that chains h! er captive heart.

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Hannah Takes the Stairs

  • Hannah, a restless college grad, spends a hot Chicago summer trying to figure it all out. Full of ambition and indecision, she'll try to find a crush who can keep up with her and a project that will keep her stimulated, but she may just leave a trail of broken hearts. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: NR Age: 796019809610 UPC: 796019809610 Manufacturer No
Hannah, a recent college graduate, spends a brutally hot Chicago summer falling in and out of love. As she struggles to find personal and professional fulfullment through various relationships with friends and co-workers, she leaves destruction in her wake. Outstanding casts of rising indie film stars create an intimate look at friendship, ambition and th pursuit of happiness.

The Road to Bonneville

  • Feature Run Time: 61 Minutes
  • + Over 45 minutes of Bonus Footage
Faced with the decision of a lifetime, Arvilla Holden (Jessica Lange) hijacks her two best friends (Kathy Bates, Joan Allen) and sets off in a vintage '66 Bonneville convertible across the great American West to deliver her husband’s ashes to her step-daughter. What begins as a simple trip, will end up becoming a chance to rediscover themselves, their friendship, the importance of promises - and of living life to the fullest.Sentimental, but not too sugary, Bonneville proves there's a road movie for every taste and demographic. While the testosterone-fueled Easy Rider took aim at the young and the disaffected, this female-centric offering targets a more mature, less cynical audience. After her husband, Joe, passes away, Arvilla (two-time Oscar winner Jessica Lange) faces the prospect of homelessness as he ! neglected to update his will. Her single-minded stepdaughter, Francine (Christine Baranski), now in possession of the property, intends to sell their Pocatello home if she doesn't hand over her father's ashes, so Arvilla and Mormon best friends Margene (Kathy Bates) and Carol (Joan Allen) pile into Joe's refurbished 1966 Bonneville Pontiac convertible with the urn and head to Santa Barbara. On their trip through Bryce Canyon, Lake Powell, the Vegas Strip, and other Western wonders, they meet helpful skateboarder Bo (Victor Rasuk, Raising Victor Vargas) and chivalrous trucker Emmett (Tom Skerritt), who takes a shine to the widowed Margene. Though nothing goes quite as planned, friendship helps smooth the bumpy ride from Idaho to California--and beyond. The characters in Bonneville may be older and wiser than the women of Thelma and Louise or Fried Green Tomatoes, in which Bates appeared, but this smaller-scale effort shares the same sisterly value! s and the central trio establishes a touching rapport. Supplem! ents inc lude a making-of featurette, deleted and alternate scenes, and a short gag reel. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Beyond Bonneville on DVD


Watch Little Miss Sunshine on DVD

Check out Imagine Me & You on DVD



Stills from Bonneville (Click for larger image)



!




Join hot rod builder and filmmaker Brian Darwas as he rides shot gun with two of the most significantly influential hot rod builders of this generation for an epic cross country adventure that you will want to experience again and again. You've heard the stories and you've seen the photographs, but now for the first time you can ride along side of Ken Schmidt and Keith Cornell of The Rolling Bones as they travel over 2,300 miles, through ten states from New York to Nevada in their famous 1932 Ford Coupes, "The Wicked Sisters." Pit next to The Hop Up Race Team and The Bean Bandits at what most people consider to be the birth place of hot rodding, The Bonneville Salt Flats. Watch Dan Parker and the other members of The Rolling Bones Race Team hit the salt for Speed Week. Get on the ground with Keith Cornell while he swaps the gears out of a vintage Halibrand rear and stand next to Ken Schmidt as he gets under the hood to re-jet carbs between runs! Peer over the shoulder of renown hot rod photographer Peter Vincent while he shoots two of the world's most beautiful hot rods in one of the world's most beautiful settings, and witness The Rolling Bones hop in George Poteet's '32 roadster and hit speeds of up to 175 miles per hour! Get an in depth look inside the shop at Greenfield Center in New York. Go down to the Maxton Monster Mile in North Carolina for a test run, and travel all the way across the country to Bonneville for the time trails at Speed Week. This film is a true lesson in hot rodding that is not to be missed! - Feature run time approx. 61 minutes + over 45 minutes of bonus features! -

Act of God

  • This particular album has all the elements I've come to expect from acapella, great voices, good lyrics, and catchy tunes that are uplifting, sad, and comforting.
Track Listings 1. He's Gonna Let You Know 2. Get To The Point 3. Act Of God 4. House Of Praise 5. And They Praise God 6. Gotta Grow Up 7. Let There Be Love 8. Teaching The Truth In Love 9. Let's Show And Tell 10. Walking The Line

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Eden Lake

  • EDEN LAKE (DVD MOVIE)
Like a bad dream turned worst nightmare, Eden Lake is a "relentlessly tense and immaculately paced" (Twitch Film) horror-thriller about modern youth gone wild. When a young couple goes to a remote wooded lake for a romantic getaway, their quiet weekend is shattered by an aggressive group of local kids. Rowdiness quickly turns to rage as the teens terrorize the couple in unimaginable ways, and a weekend outing becomes a bloody battle for survival. Eden Lake is "fierce, thought-provoking ... and genuinely shocking" (Time Out London).British director James Watkins’s directorial debut is an overtly moralistic thriller centering around a couple who are trapped and taunted lakeside by a gang of teenage bullies, led by a boy named Brett (Jack O’Connell). Warning signs to stay out of this camping area abound, in the spirit of myriad camping-trip-gone-awry tales, like the cla! ssic Friday the 13th. The challenge, here, is to subvert those warning signs in order to harness some minor sympathy for the alleged victims to be. However, Steve (Michael Fassbender) and Jenny (Kelly Reilly) are too wrapped up in puppy love to turn around, even when their GPS signal advises them to do so. As a gang of wayward kids pick fights with Steve and Kelly, the couple attempts escape... at first. But Steve’s desire for revenge impels him to search for the delinquents’ parents, which becomes the couple’s downfall. A good portion of Eden Lake is devoted to the chase, during which Steve and Kelly look increasingly swampy under caked on layers of blood and mud. These scenes are well done, fast-paced, and here, enacting fear, Kelly Reilly is at her best. But as the film progresses, one sees so many connections between the teens’ violence and the abhorrent behavior of their parents, that Eden Lake leaves no character interpretation up to the v! iewer. Yes, bad parents usually make bad teens. But a deeper i! nvestiga tion into Brett’s inner mind, or his ability to follow through with torture and the sadistic control he exhibits over his gang, would result in less obvious, and possibly more interesting explanations for criminal action. Though many Dimension Extreme films are cutting edge in the horror genre (see Inside), Eden Lake is not one of them. --Trinie Dalton

Friday, December 16, 2011

Ghost in the Shell: Anime Legends 2nd Gig

  • Condition: New
  • Format: DVD
  • Animated; Color; DVD; NTSC
GHOST IN THE SHELL - DVD MovieThe skillful blending of drawn animation and computer-generated imagery excited anime fans when this science fiction mystery was released in 1995: many enthusiasts believe Ghost suggests what the future of anime will be, at least in the short term. The film is set in the not-too-distant future, when an unnamed government uses lifelike cyborgs or "enhanced" humans for undercover work. One of the key cyborgs is The Major, Motoko Kusanagi, who resembles a cross between The Terminator and a Playboy centerfold. She finds herself caught up in a tangled web of espionage and counterespionage as she searches for the mysterious superhacker known as "The Puppet Master."

Mamoru Oshii directs with a staccato rhythm, alternating sequences of rapid-fire action (car chases, gun battles, explosions) ! with static dialogue scenes that allow the characters to sort out the vaguely mystical and rather convoluted plot. Kusanagi's final quote from I Corinthians suggests that electronic evolution may compliment and eventually supplant organic evolution. The minor nudity, profanity, and considerable violence would earn Ghost in the Shell at least a PG rating. --Charles SolomonThe skillful blending of drawn animation and computer-generated imagery excited anime fans when this science fiction mystery was released in 1995: many enthusiasts believe Ghost suggests what the future of anime will be, at least in the short term. The film is set in the not-too-distant future, when an unnamed government uses lifelike cyborgs or "enhanced" humans for undercover work. One of the key cyborgs is The Major, Motoko Kusanagi, who resembles a cross between The Terminator and a Playboy centerfold. She finds herself caught up in a tangled web of espionage and counterespionage as! she searches for the mysterious superhacker known as "The Pup! pet Mast er."

Mamoru Oshii directs with a staccato rhythm, alternating sequences of rapid-fire action (car chases, gun battles, explosions) with static dialogue scenes that allow the characters to sort out the vaguely mystical and rather convoluted plot. Kusanagi's final quote from I Corinthians suggests that electronic evolution may compliment and eventually supplant organic evolution. The minor nudity, profanity, and considerable violence would earn Ghost in the Shell at least a PG rating. --Charles SolomonThe Smash First Season Anime Extravaganza in one complete set.

Major Motoko Kusanagi is a beautiful but deadly cyborg that is squad leader of Section 9; the Japanese government's clandestine unit assigned to battle terrorism and cyber warfare. Surrounded by an expertly trained team, Motoko faces her ultimate challenge- the Laughing Man- a terrorist who orchestrated a kidnapping and extortion plot many years ago and has suddenly reappeared. In order to! discover the identity of this enigmatic criminal, Motoko and Section 9 are drawn into a deadly labyrinth and they'll have to use all their expertise to survive. This acclaimed anime series from Production I.G (Kill Bill) and features the amazing music if Yoko Kanno (Cowboy Behop) with stories by Kenji Kamiyama (Blood, Jin-Roh) and Dai Soto (Eureka SeveN).Studio: Starz/sphe Release Date: 09/15/2009 Run time: 660 minutes

The Big Bad Swim

  • An adult swim sets the stage for this charming comedy-drama about love, loss, and second chances. Three strangers inextricably connected through personal heartbreak find themselves entering deep water as they learn that life isn't always about diving right in it's about getting your feet wet once in awhile. Starring Jeff Branson (TV's All My Children) and Paget Brewster (TV's Criminal Minds).Not R
Elizabeth Halsey (Cameron Diaz) is a foulmouthed, ruthless, and inappropriate teacher. She drinks, gets high, and can’t wait to marry a meal ticket to get out of her bogus day job. When she’s dumped by her fiancé, she sets her sights on a rich, handsome substitute (Justin Timberlake) while shrugging off the advances of the school gym teacher (Jason Segel). The consequences of her wild and outrageous schemes give her students, coworkers, and even herself an education like no other! As any kid w! ho's ever forcibly shot milk through their nasal passages can testify, the key to a great gross joke isn't so much the content as it is the delivery. The proudly crass Bad Teacher certainly has great big gobs of greasy, grimy potential, chief among them its central performance by an exceedingly game Cameron Diaz, but it occasionally fails to nail the dismount. This film from director Jake Kasdan (Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story) is exactly what the title says: after getting dumped by her rich boyfriend, a lying, cheating, and perpetually boozing middle-school teacher (Diaz) hatches a scheme to con her school out of enough money to pay for cosmetic surgery, while squaring off against the aggressively cheerful teacher across the hall (a very funny Lucy Punch). Lessons are not learned, thankfully. Although the title and attitude recall the effortlessly filthy Bad Santa, Bad Teacher feels more like a spiritual sequel to Diaz's earlier Sweetest Thin! g, a women-can-be-gross-too comedy that spent more time co! ngratula ting itself on how far it was willing to go instead of actually going there. While Bad Teacher certainly has its number of belly laughs and worthy outrages (particularly during a hilariously awkward love scene between Diaz and a nerded-up Justin Timberlake), it's hard not to end up with a general feeling of missed opportunities. Too often, it toes the bad-taste line, when it should be jumping over it with a rocket cycle. --Andrew WrightSee dvd for synopsis Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 10/18/2011 Run time: 98 minutes Rating: Pg13As any kid who's ever forcibly shot milk through their nasal passages can testify, the key to a great gross joke isn't so much the content as it is the delivery. The proudly crass Bad Teacher certainly has great big gobs of greasy, grimy potential, chief among them its central performance by an exceedingly game Cameron Diaz, but it occasionally fails to nail the dismount. This film from director Jake Kasdan (Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story) is exactly what the title says: after getting dumped by her rich boyfriend, a lying, cheating, and perpetually boozing middle-school teacher (Diaz) hatches a scheme to con her school out of enough money to pay for cosmetic surgery, while squaring off against the aggressively cheerful teacher across the hall (a very funny Lucy Punch). Lessons are not learned, thankfully. Although the title and attitude recall the effortlessly filthy Bad Santa, Bad Teacher feels more like a spiritual sequel to Diaz's earlier Sweetest Thing, a women-can-be-gross-too comedy that spent more time congratulating itself on how far it was willing to go instead of actually going there. While Bad Teacher certainly has its number of belly laughs and worthy outrages (particularly during a hilariously awkward love scene between Diaz and a nerded-up Justin Timberlake), it's hard not to end up with a general feeling of missed opportunities. T! oo often, it toes the bad-taste line, when it should be jumpin! g over i t with a rocket cycle. --Andrew WrightElizabeth Halsey (Cameron Diaz) is a foulmouthed, ruthless, and inappropriate teacher. She drinks, gets high, and can’t wait to marry a meal ticket to get out of her bogus day job. When she’s dumped by her fiancé, she sets her sights on a rich, handsome substitute (Justin Timberlake) while shrugging off the advances of the school gym teacher (Jason Segel). The consequences of her wild and outrageous schemes give her students, coworkers, and even herself an education like no other!As any kid who's ever forcibly shot milk through their nasal passages can testify, the key to a great gross joke isn't so much the content as it is the delivery. The proudly crass Bad Teacher certainly has great big gobs of greasy, grimy potential, chief among them its central performance by an exceedingly game Cameron Diaz, but it occasionally fails to nail the dismount. This film from director Jake Kasdan (Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story) is exactly what the title says: after getting dumped by her rich boyfriend, a lying, cheating, and perpetually boozing middle-school teacher (Diaz) hatches a scheme to con her school out of enough money to pay for cosmetic surgery, while squaring off against the aggressively cheerful teacher across the hall (a very funny Lucy Punch). Lessons are not learned, thankfully. Although the title and attitude recall the effortlessly filthy Bad Santa, Bad Teacher feels more like a spiritual sequel to Diaz's earlier Sweetest Thing, a women-can-be-gross-too comedy that spent more time congratulating itself on how far it was willing to go instead of actually going there. While Bad Teacher certainly has its number of belly laughs and worthy outrages (particularly during a hilariously awkward love scene between Diaz and a nerded-up Justin Timberlake), it's hard not to end up with a general feeling of missed opportunities. Too often, it toes the bad-taste l! ine, when it should be jumping over it with a rocket cycle. --Andre w WrightA sexually-charge comedy about love, loss, and second chances. Audience Award Best Feature Film Winner at the Tallgrass Film Festival. Best American Independent Winner at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival. Best Feature Film Winner ath the Annapolis Film Festival. Bonus Features include: Filmmaker's Commentary, Cinematographer's Video Journal, and Deleted Scenes.

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