Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Biography: Amelia Earhart - Queen of the Air

  • She was an uncommon heroine, a legendary aviator, and the focus of one of the greatest mysteries of all time. A daredevil of unimaginable proportions, Amelia Earhart was destined to make her mark on history. Even as she was wowing the world by annihilating existing aviation records, her unconventional short hair, pants, and leather jacket had already made her an undisputed icon. Her mysterious dis
Two-time Academy Award® Winner Hilary Swank delivers an unforgettable performance as Amelia Earhart, the legendary American aviatrix who boldly flew into the annals of history. Richard Gere co-stars as her charismatic business partner and adoring husband George Putnam. Bound by ambition and love, their enduring marriage could not be broken by Amelia's determination to fly -- nor her passionate affair with Gene Vidal (Ewan McGregor). Equal parts gripping drama, stirring romance and epic adventure,! Amelia will take your breath away and send your spirit soaring!
  • Audio: English: 5.1 Dolby Digital
  • Language: Dubbed: English / Subtitled: English, French & Spanish
  • Theatrical Aspect Ratio: Widescreen: 2.35:1
With her lanky Middle-America looks and her toothy grin, Hilary Swank is a natural fit for the adventurous figure of Amelia Earhart, the world's most famous aviatrix. Amelia ticks through the major achievements of Earhart's career: her 1928 flight across the Atlantic (as a passenger, not a pilot), which made her the first airborne woman to make the trip; more triumphantly, her 1932 solo transatlantic journey; her marriage to publisher George Putnam; and of course the mysterious 1937 around-the-world flight that ended in her vanishing, with engineer Fred Noonan, somewhere near Howland Island in the mid Pacific. With Swank in her pilot togs and director Mira Nair at the helm, the project would seem to have ! the ingredients for success, but the resulting film is a truly! dull, a lmost featureless affair. The big flights themselves have innate appeal, but otherwise the emphasis is on Amelia's love life, shared between Putnam (Richard Gere) and the dashing Gene Vidal (Ewan McGregor)--who, the film clumsily keeps reminding us, is the father of Gore Vidal, seen here as a precocious tyke. A smidgen of Amelia's proto-feminist attitude is included, including her intriguing take on her marriage agreement, but nothing actually cuts deep or generates interest. After a while Amelia becomes a series of events, told with less excitement than the average documentary on the same subject, albeit with prettier photography. --Robert HortonWhen Amelia's mom givs her a journal for her ninth birthday, Amelia has a place to share her truest feelings at last!Two-time Academy Award® Winner Hilary Swank delivers an unforgettable performance as Amelia Earhart, the legendary American aviatrix who boldly flew into the annals of history. Richard Gere co-stars! as her charismatic business partner and adoring husband George Putnam. Bound by ambition and love, their enduring marriage could not be broken by Amelia's determination to fly -- nor her passionate affair with Gene Vidal (Ewan McGregor). Equal parts gripping drama, stirring romance and epic adventure, Amelia will take your breath away and send your spirit soaring!
  • Audio: English: 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio
  • Language: Dubbed: English / Subtitled: English, French & Spanish
  • Theatrical Aspect Ratio: Widescreen: 2.35:1
With her lanky Middle-America looks and her toothy grin, Hilary Swank is a natural fit for the adventurous figure of Amelia Earhart, the world's most famous aviatrix. Amelia ticks through the major achievements of Earhart's career: her 1928 flight across the Atlantic (as a passenger, not a pilot), which made her the first! airborne woman to make the trip; more triumphantly, her 1932 ! solo tra nsatlantic journey; her marriage to publisher George Putnam; and of course the mysterious 1937 around-the-world flight that ended in her vanishing, with engineer Fred Noonan, somewhere near Howland Island in the mid Pacific. With Swank in her pilot togs and director Mira Nair at the helm, the project would seem to have the ingredients for success, but the resulting film is a truly dull, almost featureless affair. The big flights themselves have innate appeal, but otherwise the emphasis is on Amelia's love life, shared between Putnam (Richard Gere) and the dashing Gene Vidal (Ewan McGregor)--who, the film clumsily keeps reminding us, is the father of Gore Vidal, seen here as a precocious tyke. A smidgen of Amelia's proto-feminist attitude is included, including her intriguing take on her marriage agreement, but nothing actually cuts deep or generates interest. After a while Amelia becomes a series of events, told with less excitement than the average documentary on t! he same subject, albeit with prettier photography. --Robert HortonEveryone's favorite literal-minded housekeeper, Amelia Bedelia, celebrates her 40th Anniversary in a three-book I Can Read box set.The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Domestic fiction; Didactic fiction; England - Social life and customs - 18th century; Married women - England; Fiction / General; Fiction / Literary; Fiction / General; Fiction / Classics; Fiction / Sagas; Fiction / Literary; Fiction / MysteryJoin Amelia on a year full of fifth-grade adventures, from stealing the show in the Thanksgiving play, to unravelling a Valentine's mystery, to being a junior bridesmaid!Nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Original Screenplay, this magical comedy earned overwhelming acclaim nationwide! A painfully shy waitress working at a tin! y Paris cafe, Amélie makes a surprising discovery and sees he! r life d rastically changed for the better! From then on, Amélie dedicates herself to helping others find happiness ... in the most delightfully unexpected way! But will she have the courage to do for herself what she has done for others?Perhaps the most charming movie of all time, Amélie is certainly one of the top 10. The title character (the bashful and impish Audrey Tautou) is a single waitress who decides to help other lonely people fix their lives. Her widowed father yearns to travel but won't, so to inspire the old man she sends his garden gnome on a tour of the world; with whispered gossip, she brings together two cranky regulars at her café; she reverses the doorknobs and reprograms the speed dial of a grocer who's mean to his assistant. Gradually she realizes her own life needs fixing, and a chance meeting leads to her most elaborate stratagem of all. This is a deeply wonderful movie, an illuminating mix of magic and pragmatism. Fans of the director's previous fi! lms (Delicatessen, The City of Lost Children) will not be disappointed; newcomers will be delighted. --Bret FetzerWith Amelia's great ideas, advice, and just plain fun doodles, you'll never be bored again.

100% Ameliea guaranteed.She was an uncommon heroine, a legendary aviator, and the focus of one of the greatest mysteries of all time. A daredevil of unimaginable proportions, Amelia Earhart was destined to make her mark on history. Even as she was wowing the world by annihilating existing aviation records, her unconventional short hair, pants, and leather jacket had already made her an undisputed icon. Her mysterious disappearance while attempting to fly around the world has long been at the center of great debate. What really happened to one of the world s most promising aviators? Drawing on extensive archival footage, interviews, and newly discovered evidence, BIOTM examines Earhart s dramatic story, providing an unforgettable look at the life an! d legend of the courageous and groundbreaking aviator

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The Last Song

  • LAST SONG (DVD MOVIE)
John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill and Oscar® Winner Marisa Tomei star in this quirky, hilarious story about love, family and cutting the cord. Not-so-recently divorced John (Reilly) thinks he’s finally found the perfect woman when he meets the sweet and sexy Molly (Tomei). There’s just one problem â€" Molly’s son Cyrus (Hill) clings to his mom like lint on a T-shirt, and he’s not about to let another man come between them. It’s one hysterically awkward moment after another as John and Cyrus fight for the right to be Molly’s #1 man. Mumblecore auteurs the Duplass brothers (Baghead, The Puffy Chair) dip their toes in the precarious waters of Hollywood by casting well-known actors in Cyrus. But their devotion to clumsy, uncomfortable people remains: John (John C. Reilly, Step Brothers) has barely left his apartment in the seven years sinc! e Jamie (Catherine Keener, Lovely & Amazing) divorced him, so Jamie demands he come to a party--where, miraculously, he meets Molly (Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler), who seems like the woman of his dreams. Unfortunately, Molly comes with some baggage: her 22-year-old son, Cyrus (Jonah Hill, Superbad). To say Molly and Cyrus are close is an understatement, and John finds himself in a battle of wills with Molly as the prize. The Duplass brothers seek a kind of cinematic simplicity--to call it purity would be too highbrow for these aggressively pedestrian filmmakers--and when it works, it brings the viewer in intimate contact with life in its ordinary, essential glory. When it doesn't work, it's just dull. Despite its flatfooted plot, Cyrus works pretty well. The higher caliber of the cast helps--Reilly, Tomei, Hill, and Keener are all excellent, and much of the movie is genuinely funny. Don't expect elegance, but sometimes, something plain can please. ! --Bret FetzerJohn C. Reilly, Jonah Hill and Oscar® Win! ner Mari sa Tomei star in this quirky, hilarious story about love, family and cutting the cord. Not-so-recently divorced John (Reilly) thinks he’s finally found the perfect woman when he meets the sweet and sexy Molly (Tomei). There’s just one problem â€" Molly’s son Cyrus (Hill) clings to his mom like lint on a T-shirt, and he’s not about to let another man come between them. It’s one hysterically awkward moment after another as John and Cyrus fight for the right to be Molly’s #1 man. Mumblecore auteurs the Duplass brothers (Baghead, The Puffy Chair) dip their toes in the precarious waters of Hollywood by casting well-known actors in Cyrus. But their devotion to clumsy, uncomfortable people remains: John (John C. Reilly, Step Brothers) has barely left his apartment in the seven years since Jamie (Catherine Keener, Lovely & Amazing) divorced him, so Jamie demands he come to a party--where, miraculously, he meets Molly (Marisa Tomei, T! he Wrestler), who seems like the woman of his dreams. Unfortunately, Molly comes with some baggage: her 22-year-old son, Cyrus (Jonah Hill, Superbad). To say Molly and Cyrus are close is an understatement, and John finds himself in a battle of wills with Molly as the prize. The Duplass brothers seek a kind of cinematic simplicity--to call it purity would be too highbrow for these aggressively pedestrian filmmakers--and when it works, it brings the viewer in intimate contact with life in its ordinary, essential glory. When it doesn't work, it's just dull. Despite its flatfooted plot, Cyrus works pretty well. The higher caliber of the cast helps--Reilly, Tomei, Hill, and Keener are all excellent, and much of the movie is genuinely funny. Don't expect elegance, but sometimes, something plain can please. --Bret FetzerAmbitious television reporter Maria Sanchez (Danielle Harris of Rob Zombie's Halloween, Hatchet 2) is investigating the disappearance of o! ver 200 Midwestern University students when a local man (Lance! Henriks en of Aliens) contacts her with information that reveals details of the serial killer and his crimes: His name is Cyrus (a chilling performance by Brian Krause of ''Charmed'') and the murders themselves were brutal. What happened next was horrific but the worst is still to come. Based on shocking true events, this bloody and brutal story of the 'The County Line Cannibal' will leave a taste in your mouth that you'll never forget.
In 1906, a stilted English translation of Xenophon of Athens' story about Cyrus the Great's military campaigns was published. Now, a century later, a much more accessible edition of one of history's most extraordinary and successful leaders is emerging.
Among his many achievements, this great leader of wisdom and virtue founded and extended the Persian Empire; conquered Babylon; freed 40,000 Jews from captivity; wrote mankind's first human rights charter; and ruled over those he had conquered with respect and benevolence.!
According to historian Will Durant, Cyrus the Great's military enemies knew that he was lenient, and they did not fight him with that desperate courage which men show when their only choice is "to kill or die." As a result the Iranians regarded him as "The Father," the Babylonians as "The Liberator," the Greeks as the "Law-Giver," and the Jews as the "Anointed of the Lord."
By freshening the voice, style and diction of Cyrus, Larry Hedrick has created a more contemporary Cyrus. A new generation of  readers, including business executives and managers, military officers, and government officials, can now learn about and benefit from Cyrus the Great's extraordinary achievements, which exceeded all other leaders' throughout antiquity.
Miley Cyrus shines as the star of this heartwarming coming-of-age movie that will strike your emotional chords. Based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks (Dear John, The Notebook), The Last Song follows R! onnie (Cyrus) and her estranged father as he tries to restore ! the lovi ng relationship they once had. But reconnecting with his rebellious daughter isn’t easy, so he chooses the one thing they still have in common â€" music. Complete with not-to-be-missed bonus features â€" the Miley Cyrus music video “When I Look At You,” exclusive interviews with the actress and more â€" this uplifting and touching drama about family, first loves and second chances is a heartfelt story to you won’t soon forget.
This romantic tearjerker from writer Nicholas Sparks (Dear John, The Notebook) can be formulaic at times, but it stays interesting thanks to pacing and snappy dialogue. Miley Cyrus sulks through The Last Song as troubled teen Ronnie, who resents her father (Greg Kinnear) for divorcing Mom (Kelly Preston) and leaving the family. A piano prodigy, Ronnie refuses to play after her father leaves, and she snubs admission to Julliard. Ronnie and her wisecracking brother Jonah (Bobby Coleman) are sent to spend the summer with ! their father in a small Georgia beach town. Handsome townie Will (Liam Hemsworth) strikes up a tense relationship with Ronnie and, true to romance formula, they fall in love. Ronnie softens her attitude and the ice between father and daughter begins to melt away. But Dad has a tragic secret, and in the end, music helps Ronnie open her heart and heal. Cyrus gives a predictable performance as the all-attitude Ronnie, but she's helped along by Coleman's cute-little-brother shtick (which can be a bit heavy-handed, but the youngster is a scene-stealer). Veteran actors Preston and Kinnear are one-dimensional, but The Last Song is a harmless teen romance--who's watching the adults, anyway? --Francine Ruley

Casa de Los Babys 20x26 Framed and Double Matted Movie Poster - Style A

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Acclaimed filmmaker John Sayles captures six American women at one of the most emotionally charged moments of their liveseach on the verge of adopting a babyin this "compelling" (Chicago Tribune) drama set against the backdrop of a Latin-American town. Featuring an "inspired" (The Miami Herald) all-star cast, this poignant look at fate, maternity and clashing cultures is "as rich in ideas as it is in fine acting" (Los Angeles Daily News).John Sayles brings observant compassion and calm insight to Casa de los Babys, a fiercely independent film with a peerless ensemble cast. Dispensing with traditional storytelling to focus instead on the turbulent emotions surrounding the adoption of bab! ies by American women in an unnamed South American country (filmed in Acapulco, Mexico), Sayles takes an unobtrusive approach to their dilemmas, listening (and filming) like an understanding friend to these hopeful women, who are either bound or separated by their disparate personalities. Sayles also covers both sides of the adoption equation by including a Latina mother (Vanessa Martinez), certain that her baby will enjoy a better life with adoptive American parents, but still struggling with the anguish of her sacrifice. This isn't on par with Sayles's best work (and reviews were predictably mixed), but there's not a false note anywhere, and the cast (including Daryl Hannah, Marcia Gay Harden, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Lili Taylor, Susan Lynch and Mary Steenburgen) is uniformly superb. Sayles isn't playing social commentator here, and that's to his credit. Instead, Casa de los Babys is a sensitive film about a sensitive subject, allowing viewers to draw their own conclusi! ons. --Jeff ShannonDirector John Sayles has long excell! ed in fi lms driven by character-rich interpersonal relationships, and this tale of six disparate women who find themselves thrown together in a South American motel waiting for bureaucrats to process their adoption papers for a local orphanage is no exception. Sayles obviously handpicked this diverse collection of songs and styles to underscore the tropical mood and rich emotional tenor of his story, but his selections also display a playful delight in willfully debunking various Latin music sterotypes as well. The retro doo-wop of Las Zafiras, sultry ballads of Broadway star Rita Moreno and spare modernism of Lhasa prove that influences migrate freely both ways across the equator, while Carlos Puebla and Ruben Blades display the compassion beneath their oft-politicized music. The collaborations of Mason Daring and Claudio Ragazzi (including the Moreno-performed "Quien Sera") further underscore the sense of pan-American richness that informs this compelling soundtrack from fir! st cut to last. -- Jerry McCulleyAcclaimed filmmaker John Sayles captures six American women at one of the most emotionally charged moments of their lives--each on the verge of adopting a baby--in this compelling drama set against the backdrop of a Latin American town. Featuring an inspired all-star cast, this poignant look at fate, maternity and clashing cultures is as rich in ideas as it is in fine acting.Hephaestus Books represents a new publishing paradigm, allowing disparate content sources to be curated into cohesive, relevant, and informative books. To date, this content has been curated from Wikipedia articles and images under Creative Commons licensing, although as Hephaestus Books continues to increase in scope and dimension, more licensed and public domain content is being added. We believe books such as this represent a new and exciting lexicon in the sharing of human knowledge. This particular book is a collaboration focused on Films directed by John ! Sayles.

Flightplan (Widescreen Edition)

  • DVD Details: Actors: Jodie Foster, Peter Sarsgaard, Sean Bean, Robert Schwentke, Alec Hammond
  • Directors: Robert Schwentke, Karen Inwood Somers
  • Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
  • Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1; Number of discs: 1; Studio: Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Touchstone
  • DVD Release Date: January 24, 2006; Run Time: 98 minutes
Academy Award(R) winner Jodie Foster (Best Actress, THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, 1991) gives an outstanding performance in the heart-pumping action thriller FLIGHTPLAN. Flying at 40,000 feet in a state-of-the art aircraft that she helped design, Kyle Pratt's (Foster) 6-year-old daughter Julia vanishes without a trace. Or did she? No one on the plane believes Julia was ever onboard. And now Kyle, desperate and alone, can only count on her own wits to unravel the mystery and save her daughter! . From the producer of APOLLO 13 and A BEAUTIFUL MIND, FLIGHTPLAN is an intense, suspense-filled thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat the entire flight.Like a lot of stylishly persuasive thrillers, Flightplan is more fun to watch than it is to think about. There's much to admire in this hermetically sealed mystery, in which a propulsion engineer and grieving widow (Jodie Foster) takes her 6-year-old daughter (and a coffin containing her husband's body) on a transatlantic flight aboard a brand-new jumbo jet she helped design, and faces a mother's worst nightmare when her daughter (Marlene Lawston) goes missing. But how can that be? Is she delusional? Are the flight crew, the captain (Sean Bean) and a seemingly sympathetic sky marshal (Peter Sarsgaard) playing out some kind of conspiratorial abduction? In making his first English-language feature, German director Robert Schwentke milks the mother's dilemma for all it's worth, and Foster's intense yet su! btly nuanced performance (which builds on a fair amount of pos! t-9/11 p aranoia) encompasses all the shifting emotions required to grab and hold your attention. Alas, this upgraded riff on Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes (not to mention Otto Preminger's Bunny Lake is Missing) is ultimately too preposterous to hold itself together. Flightplan gives us a dazzling tour of the jumbo jet's high-tech innards, and its suspense is intelligently maintained all the way through to a cathartic conclusion, but the plot-heavy mechanics break down under scrutiny. Your best bet is to fasten your seatbelt and enjoy the thrills on a purely emotional level -- a strategy that worked equally well with Panic Room, Foster's previous thriller about a mother and daughter in peril. --Jeff Shannon

Berkley Gulp! Alive! Jumbo Leech/Minnow Assortment Bucket 12.7 Ounce, 5-Inch/3-Inch, Assortment

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A small time crook doesn't realize he is the bait in a sneaky government scheme to capture a killer.
Genre: Feature Film-Action/Adventure
Rating: R
Release Date: 4-FEB-2003
Media Type: DVDWhen petty thief and hustler Alvin Sanders (Jamie Foxx from Any Given Sunday and The Wood) gets arrested for stealing shrimp, the worst of his problems would seem to be going to jail. Unfortunately, he ends up sharing a cell with a guy who, while stealing $42 million in gold from the Federal Reserve, double-crossed his partner--a partner with a knack for computers and a long memory. While being interrogated by a hardball Treasury agent (David Morse from The Green ! Mile), the double-crosser dies from heart failure. All the feds have are an incomprehensible message that was left with Alvin, so they decide to release him and use him as bait to catch the partner by secretly implanting a combination tracking device and electronic bug into Alvin's jaw. From that moment on, a surveillance team can follow Alvin's every move and hear his every word. Unfortunately, Alvin has a talent for getting into trouble--which means that the feds have to become his guardian angels so that he can serve his purpose. Bait certainly has its problems (there's a lot of fancy editing for no good reason, a few plot holes you could drive a truck through, and the actor playing the bad guy really wishes he was John Malkovich)--but even though it's nonsense, it's not predictable. The clever story moves along with surprising efficiency and has some successful comic bits. The characters can't be called well developed, but they aren't clichés; the movie does! n't require any great acting, but the cast is consistently eng! aging. I n fact, Bait is one of the more enjoyable action movies of the past few years. --Bret Fetzer Diego has gotten into trouble because of his temper before. But when he punches out a guy at school who was looking at him funny, he finds himself in juvenile court, facing the possibility of probation, or worseâ€"juvenile jail. Diego doesn’t trust or like Mr. Vidas, his assigned probation officer. But it’s either talk to Mr. Vidas, or end up in worse trouble. When Diego eventually opens up to Mr. Vidas, he begins to understand that the source of his anger is buried in his pastâ€"and to move beyond it, he must stop running from his personal demons.From one of the most popular voices in women's fiction comes a compulsively gripping novel of suspense about the mind games between an innocent woman and the unstoppable killer she's forced to outwit-and outrun.From one of the most popular voices in women's fiction comes a compulsively gripping novel of suspense about the ! mind games between an innocent woman and the unstoppable killer she's forced to outwit-and outrun.The Jumbo Leech and Minnow assortment has a natural presentation in action, scent and taste, Gulp! Alive! Bait absorbs up to 20% more fish attractant by weight, assorted colors match a variety of fishing conditions, "recharge" bait by placing used bait back in powerful Gulp! Alive! attractant

The Cat in the Hat

  • Hardcover
  • Juvenile beginning reading
  • Stories with verses
  • Rhymed verses.
  • English


Features include:

•MPAA Rating: PG
•Format: DVD
•Runtime: 82 minutes
The Cat in the Hat is a marketing ploy disguised as a wildly designed movie for hyperactive kids, and it could use a dose of Ritalin. It hardly matters, though, because kids will surely enjoy the rampant romp that occurs when the top-hatted feline convinces young Sally (Dakota Fanning) and Conrad (Spencer Breslin) to wreak havoc in the home their mother (Kelly Preston) has neatly prepared for an upcoming party. It's all in the name of fun, and while Seuss's classic rhymes are relegated to voice-over narration, director Bo Welch capitalizes on his background as one of Hollywood's most gifted production designers (with credits including Edward Scissorhands and! Men in Black), turning the Seussian town of "Anville" into a playful pastiche of pastels. As played by Mike Myers under layers of fur and latex, Dr. Seuss's mischievous Cat is mayhem personified, and the movie suffers from his anything-goes approach to getting a laugh. And though Myers delivers a few laughs while channeling voices from his own comedic repertoire (including "Coffee Talk" maven Linda Richman), a little of this Cat goes a long way, and he nearly wears out his welcome. --Jeff ShannonPoor Dick and Sally. It's cold and wet and they're stuck in the house with nothing to do . . . until a giant cat in a hat shows up, transforming the dull day into a madcap adventure and almost wrecking the place in the process! Written by Dr. Seuss in 1957 in response to the concern that "pallid primers [with] abnormally courteous, unnaturally clean boys and girls' were leading to growing illiteracy among children, The Cat in the Hat (the first Ra! ndom House Beginner Book) changed the way our children learn h! ow to re ad.
He may be an old standby, but he never lets us down. When in doubt, turn to the story of the cat that transformed a dull, rainy afternoon into a magical and just-messy-enough adventure. There's another, hidden adventure, too: this book really will help children learn to read. With his simple and often single-vowel vocabulary, the good Doctor knew what he was doing: hear it, learn it, read it--laughing all the way. The Cat in the Hat is a must for any child's library.

Dan in Real Life

  • Steve Carell (THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN, TV's THE OFFICE), Hollywood's leading funnyman, stars in the hilarious comedy that's bursting with charm -- a movie you'll watch again and again. Advice columnist Dan Burns (Carell) is an expert on relationships, but somehow struggles to succeed as a brother, a son and a single parent to three precocious daughters. Things get even more complica
n/aSteve Carell’s best film performance to date can be found in the fitfully engaging Dan In Real Life, where his long-suffering persona suits a character who lets his long-dormant hopes rise for a moment, only to be shot down again. Carell plays Dan Burns, a newspaper columnist who writes about family issues and relationships. As a widower with three growing girls to raise, however, the difference between Dan’s printed wisdom and his struggles with fatherhood and loneliness is often vast. He’s put to ! a severe test when he packs up the kids for a cabin holiday with his parents and siblings, then falls for the exotic, if elusive, Marie (Juliette Binoche) during a solo excursion to a bookstore. Stirred by a woman for the first time since his late wife, Dan is shocked to find that Marie is actually dating his brother Mitch (Dane Cook), and that she’ll be spending the vacation with him in the midst of his family. From that point, the script, co-written by director Peter Hedges (Pieces of April), pretty much becomes a parade of difficult circumstances under which both Dan and Marie have to keep their attraction to one another secret. Certain scenes work better than others, but there is an overall monotony to the movie that isn’t helped by a lack of onscreen chemistry between Binoche and Carell. Both actors are fine on their own terms, but whatever is supposed to be clicking between Marie and Dan isn’t compelling enough to make one truly care that they get togethe! r somehow. Still, this is a film with plenty of moments to lik! e, espec ially when Carell gets to broaden his previous range of emotions in a movie. --Tom Keogh

Blow

  • There?s no money in a ?real job.? So George Jung deals pot. Lots of it. The blue-collar kid dubbed Boston George spirals up from there, into the riches and excesses of the huge cocaine cartels. And crashes hard. Johnny Depp portrays George, the ambitious outlaw who, perhaps more than any American, transformed powder cocaine from relative obscurity in the U.S. into a 1970s/80s feeding frenzy. Penel
Based on a true story, Blow gives us a fast-paced look at the quick rise and fall of George Jung (Johnny Depp) who became a premier importer of Colombian cocaine, in the turbulent 1970's, forever changing the face of drugs in America.A briskly paced hybrid of Boogie Nights and Goodfellas, Blow chronicles the three-decade rise and fall of George Jung (Johnny Depp), a normal American kid who makes a personal vow against poverty, builds a marijuana empire in the '60s, multiplies hi! s fortune with the Colombian Medellín cocaine cartel, and blows it all with a series of police busts culminating in one final, long-term jail sentence. "Your dad's a loser," says this absentee father to his estranged but beloved daughter, and he's right: Blow is the story of a nice guy who made wrong choices all his life, almost single-handedly created the American cocaine trade, and got exactly what he deserved. As directed by Ted Demme, the film is vibrantly entertaining, painstakingly authentic... and utterly aimless in terms of overall purpose.

We can't sympathize with Jung's meteoric rise to wealth and the wild life, and Demme isn't suggesting that we should idolize a drug dealer. So what, exactly, is the point of Blow? Simply, it seems, to present Jung's story as the epitome of the coke-driven glory days, and to suggest, ever so subtly, that Jung isn't such a bad guy, after all. Anyone curious about his lifestyle will find this film amazing, and th! ere's plenty of humor mixed with the constant threat of violen! ce and p aranoid anxiety. Demme has also populated the film with a fantastic supporting cast (although Penélope Cruz grows tiresome as Jung's hedonistic wife), and this is certainly a compelling look at the other side of Traffic. Still, one wishes that Blow had a more viable reason for being; like a wild party, it leaves you with a hangover and a vague feeling of regret. --Jeff Shannon

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