Casshern Sins: Part 1

• Salvation is the ruin of man and machine.Casshern a cybernetic assassin with no memory of his past awakens in a corrosive wasteland where nothing survives for long. A plague known as the Ruin sweeps across this once-vibrant world, reducing everything in its path to rubble and scattering any chance for salvation. Robots and humans alike or what little remains of them seek vengeance against Casshern

After 50 years of bitter warfare in the late 21st century, a new crisis looms. A threat to the future and the overall existence of mankind. But, there is hope a savior will emerge… Casshern. Casshern is an action-packed, sci-fi thriller that blends Japanamation and manga-inspired live action to create a new hybrid form of filmmaking that is both visually stunning and thought provoking.Kiriya Kazuaki’s spectacular Casshern is an impressive marriage of live action drama and animated effe! cts that, taken together, look like something both very old and very new in cinema. A wild, science fiction tale with an echo or two of Bladerunner, Casshern is set in a dystopian future following a 50-year-long war between Europe and Asia. The latter wins, calling the resulting Eurasia the "Eastern Federation," but the high-tech weapons used in the battle have affected the whole of mankind through widespread devastation and illness. A geneticist whose son, Tetsuya (Yusuke Iseya), has gone off to fight terrorists, promises the military his work on "neo cells" will result in the cultivation of spare human parts for the wounded and afflicted. But two unexpected results occur: a small band of superhuman mutants rise up out of the scientist’s chemical muck, and Tetsuya--killed in battle--is brought back to life with his own superpowers. While the mutants rise up against the human race, Tetsuya, now known as "Casshern," takes them on against a fascinating psychol! ogical backdrop with Oedipal overtones. The film’s look of h! yperreal , pop culture pastiche (in which action often evokes the look of 1930s movie serials blended with a whirl of dreamy, free-associating images) is reaching for the same thing as Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. But it is much grander in its effort. --Tom KeoghCasshern â€" a cybernetic assassin with no memory of his past â€" awakens in a corrosive wasteland where nothing survives for long. A plague known as the Ruin sweeps across this once-vibrant world, reducing everything in its path to rubble and scattering any chance for salvation. Robots and humans alike â€" or what little remains of them â€" seek vengeance against Casshern for the life he took and the role he played in their Ruin. A machine built to kill, Casshern murdered the last hope for this world, but now, lost in a future he does not recognize, he will fight to save the dying.Based on the classic Manga. Casshern is Anime meets the matrix in style.Casshern â€" a cybernetic assassin with no memory ! of his past â€" awakens in a corrosive wasteland where nothing survives for long. A plague known as the Ruin sweeps across this once-vibrant world, reducing everything in its path to rubble and scattering any chance for salvation. Robots and humans alike â€" or what little remains of them â€" seek vengeance against Casshern for the life he took and the role he played in their Ruin. A machine built to kill, Casshern murdered the last hope for this world, but now, lost in a future he does not recognize, he will fight to save the dying.Casshern Sins (2008) is a reboot of Tatsuo Yoshida's Casshan Robot Hunter (1973), which was adapted to an OAV in 1993 and a live-action feature in 2004. Sins contains almost nothing of the original story, in which cybernetic hero Casshan fought the robot-soldiers of the evil Braiking Boss in a postapocalyptic landscape. Casshern isn't sure if he's a robot, a human, or a cyber-combination. He has no memories of who he is or w! hat he's done, but everyone he meets insists he killed Luna, "! the Sun Named Moon." As a result, Earth is staggering to its end. All that remains are a few people and three types of robots: human-looking ones who express emotions; puppetlike semi-humans; and big, nasty warrior-bots. In every episode, Casshern performs gymnastic flips and spins as he pounds the evil robots into so much scrap metal. But all the robots are succumbing to "the Ruin," a sort of mechanical plague that causes them to crumble into rusty flakes. As Casshern roams the wastelands and ruined cities with his robot-dog Friender, he hears rumors that Luna may still exist---and any otaku worth their salt can guess which supporting character she'll turn out to be. Director Shigeyasu Yamauchi choreographs the fights scenes skillfully, using a combination of CG and drawn animation to present the acrobatic battles. But Casshern's amnesia means other characters deliver endless expository speeches, trying to untangle the needlessly complicated plot. (Rated TV MA: violence, vio! lence against women, grotesque imagery) --Charles Solomon

(1. At the End of the World, 2. A World Replete with Death Throes, 3. To the Ends of Agony, 4. The Angel of Ruin, 5. The Man Who Killed the Sun Named Moon, 6. Reunited with Fate, 7. The Woman of the Tall Tower, 8. A Hymn of Hope, 9. The Flower That Blooms in the Valley of Ruin, 10. The Man Entrapped by the Past, 11. By One's Calling, 12. Turn the Time Lived to Color)

Job One: Experiences of New Professionals in Student Affairs (American College Personnel Association Series)

• ISBN13: 9780761827849
• Condition: New
• Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

"I wonder how long it will be before someone misses me, and I try to remember if I have any appointments this week. I don't think so. Then I wonder if Teresa or my landlady would sense something wrong if I didn't answer the telephone. I doubt that, too. Then I begin to hope that perhaps Quick has really "put someone on me," and I remember telling Casey that Quick saw all. But I know that no one really does, except perhaps God, so I pray a little. I imagine myself as the condemned man with his life flashing, but I do not know what I have been condemned for - or by whom." While scenes of the war in Afghanistan and Iraq dominate today's news, this elegant novel provides an insight into an ear! lier attempt by America to install a democracy in a formerly totalitarian state that is undergoing a revolution. Sectarian violence, language problems, CIA and State Department goofs all contribute to the occasionally lovely but ultimately sad experiences of a well-meaning American professor who becomes intimately and tragically involved with a lovely woman and the deteriorating political scene. "John Clark Pratt wrote one of the truly great Vietnam War novels, The Laotian Fragments, and now he has written a comparably great novel that resonates strongly into our present unsettled times. American Affairs is worldly wise and richly moody and absolutely compelling reading. Pratt is a worthy descendant of Graham Greene." --ROBERT OLEN BUTLER, novelist and Pulitzer Prizewinner. "American Affairs is superb. It is a timeless tale of love and upheaval with tragic results. Having been an American Foreign Service Officer in Portugal, I can attest that! John Pratt's graceful novel of the last Cold War struggle ! captures a poignant vignette of this century." --CRESCENCIO ARCOS, former US Ambassador and Regional Vice-President of International Affairs to South America.In Job One, editors Peter Magolda and Jill Carnaghi place new professionals' stories "center stage." The book focuses on nine narratives written by new professionals about their introduction and transitions into Student Affairs work. These stories document the joys and angst felt as new professionals prepare to transition from graduate school-to-work, search for their first Student Affairs position, assimilate campus norms, formulate a professional identity, satisfy supervisors' expectations, mediate cultural conflicts, and remain true to their personal and professional values. This book is a useful resource inviting new professionals, supervisors, and faculty to think differently about the on-going education and needs of new professionals, while offering a new perspective for optimizing new professionals' ! experiences. Co-published with American College Personnel Association.

Billabong Odyssey

• An extreme sports adventure! Top professional surfers scour the world's oceans to ride the biggest waves on the planet. Experience the thrills and spills of action-packed big wave surfing.Running Time: 92 min. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: SPORTS/GAMES Rating: PG Age: 085393431921 UPC: 085393431921 Manufacturer No: 34319

No Description Available.
Genre: Sports Highlights
Rating: NR
Release Date: 20-APR-2004
Media Type: DVDIn addition to boasting one of the most astonishing opening sequences in the history of extreme-sports filmmaking, Billabong Odyssey offers a breathtaking survey of big-wave surfing at a pivotal stage in its evolution. With the advent of Jet-Ski Waverunners used for "tow-in" access to gigantic waves that paddle-surfers could never reach, this three-year, globe-trotting quest for the world's biggest waves is nothing less than spe! ctacular. As documentaries go it's a bit cruder than 2003's other surfing movie, Step Into Liquid, and many of the same world-class surfers appear in both films (including 49-year-old Ken Bradshaw, still going strong). But Billabong is unrivaled in its abundance of jaw-dropping footage--most of it shot from helicopters hovering in close proximity--showing the sheer, terrifying scale of breaking "tubes"--some reaching 100 feet--at the most challenging big-wave locations on the planet, including Maverick's at Santa Cruz, California; Cortes Bank off the Pacific Coast; "Cyclops" in Australia; Mundaka, Spain; and the treacherous "Jaws" reef on the coast of Maui, Hawaii.

While touching on various hot topics such as safety training, serious wipe-outs, swell-tracking technology, female surfers (like the great Layne Beachley), and hydrofoil surfboards (billed as "the future of the sport"), director Philip Boston applies a casual, competitive structure that's too di! ffuse and lightweight to have much impact. But when the film f! ocuses o n the climactic "Jaws" showdown between Carlos Burle and Mike Parsons, Billabong Odyssey achieves a state of raw power and spiritual intensity, culminating in Parsons' best-ever 10-point ride on a massive tube that constantly threatens to consume him. As dozens of adrenaline-junkie surfers strive for new horizons of unprecedented skill, Billabong Odyssey chronicles their efforts with amazing bird's-eye cinematography. For surfers and non-surfers alike, this movie must be seen to be believed. --Jeff Shannon

The Beach Boys - Good Timin' - Live at Knebworth, England 1980

• Featuring: The Beach Boys.
• Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, Special Edition, NTSC.
• Language: English.
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only).
• Run Time: 70 minutes.

Get your paws on this "irresistible" (The Philadelphia Inquirer) family adventure starring Molly Shannon, Liam Aiken and Kevin Nealon! Featuring a hilarious four-legged cast Ã"â?" with voices by Matthew Broderick, Delta Burke, Donald Faison, Cheech Marin, Brittany Murphy, Vanessa Redgrave and Carl Reiner Ã"â?" this heartwarming tale is a "furry romp that both kids and parents can laugh at together" (The Seattle Times)! Twelve-year-old Owen (Aiken) has a new dog, Hubble (Broderick), who can not only sit, stay and roll over he can also speak Ã"â?" literally! Turns out Hubble is an interplanetary agent from the dog star Sirius. Now Owen is about to discover that Hubble and all his canine buddies are o! n a mission to rule the world!A young boy named Owen learns the startling truth about dogs: They're actually from outer space, sent here to rule mankind. A canine agent from the star Sirius (voiced by Matthew Broderick) gets rescued from the pound by Owen (Liam Aiken) and named Hubble. As Hubble desperately tries to train a motley crew of dogs from Owen's neighborhood to behave like conquerors before the Greater Dane arrives and decides the planet's fate, the outer space pooch slowly bonds with Owen and discovers why dogs may have joined forces with humans instead of dominating them. Good Boy! will charm dog lovers in particular, but the movie has enough clever touches to engage most viewers, and it manages a sweet tone without turning cloyingly saccharine. Featuring the voices of Carl Reiner, Brittany Murphy, Delta Burke, Donald Faison, and--of all people--Vanessa Redgrave as the Greater Dane. --Bret FetzerThis DVD was recorded at the Beach Boys historic con! cert at Knebworth House on June 21st 1980. It proved to be th! e last t ime that the original Beach Boys: Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson and Alan Jardine, would appear together on any stage.

The Beach Boys are one of the most successful groups of all time, selling over 10 million records in the U.S, with Pet Sounds being generally regarded as one of the all time great albums.

The DVD includes virtually all the Beach Boys classics such as Fun, Fun, Fun, Help Me Rhonda, Sloop John B, Lady Lynda, I Get Around, Barbara Ann, Wouldn't It Be Nice, Surfin' USA, California Girls and of course Good Vibrations.

Track Listing:
1. Good Timin'
2. California Girls
3. Sloop John B
4. Darlin'
5. School Days
6. God Only Knows
7. Be True to Your School
8. Do it Again
9. Little Deuce Coupe
10. Cotton Fields/Heroes and Villains
11. Heroes and Villains
12. Keepin' the Summer Alive
13. Lady Lynda
14. Surfer Girl
15. Help Me ! Rhonda
16. Rock & Roll Music
17. I Get Around
18. Surfin' USA
19. You Are So Beautiful
20. Good Vibrations
21. Barbara Ann
22. Fun, Fun, FunIt's entertaining, nostalgic, even poignant... not much more one could ask for from a Beach Boys concert. This 70-minute concert was the last time the complete group (brothers Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson, Al Jardine, Mike Love, and Bruce Johnston, plus backing musicians) would appear in the U.K., performing a mix of oldies ("California Girls," "Help Me Rhonda," "Fun, Fun, Fun," etc.) and some newer material. And if the show itself is somewhat pedestrian, it's still marvelous to see the three Wilsons together onstage, especially in view of the subsequent deaths of Dennis (in '83) and Carl (in '98), and Brian's eventual triumphant recovery from mental and emotional problems. To hear Carl sing so beautifully on "God Only Knows," or Dennis play drums with such power and emotion, or Brian, v! acant but game, contribute a few lines to "Surfer Girl"... wel! l, it mi ght just bring a tear to your eye. --Sam GrahamThis career-crossing comp rides from '62 ( Surfin' Safari ) to '88 ( Kokomo ). In between: Be True to Your School; Little Deuce Coupe; Fun, Fun, Fun; I Get Around; Surfin' U.S.A.; Help Me, Rhonda; California Girls; Barbara Ann; Wouldn't It Be Nice; Sloop John B , and more!The three-volume Good Vibrations series is designed with the hits-hungry fan in mind. Eschewing a strict chronological approach, the best-of sets are arranged according to charting position. Thus the initial collection is laden with the group's trademark tunes, ranging from the California boys' first top 10 charter, 1962's "Surfin' Safari," to their last, 1988's "Kokomo," a stray, post-Brian Wilson success. "Kokomo" is by far the newest selection included here; nothing else dates past 1966's No. 1 smash, "Good Vibrations." With the likes of "Fun, Fun, Fun," "I Get Around," "California Girls," and the incandescent "God Only Knows" rounding out the ! set, Greatest Hits Volume 1 is the ideal first pick for anyone looking for the Beach Boys at their commercial peak. --Steven StolderFrom Miramax Films, the studio that brought you the Academy Award winning Life is Beautiful (Best Foreign Language Film, 1998) comes The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Based on the best selling novel by John Boyne, it's an unforgettable motion picture experience powerful and moving beyond words (Pete Hammond, Hollywood.com). Bored and restless in his new home, Bruno, an innocent and naive eight year old, ignores his mother and sets off on an adventure in the woods. Soon he meets a young boy, and a surprising friendship develops. Set during World War II, this remarkable and inspiring story about the power of the human spirit will capture your heart and engage your mind.
Bonus Features include Deleted Scenes With Optional Commentary by Writer, Director Mark Herman and Author John Boyne, Friendship Beyond the Fen! ce Featurette, Feature Commentary by Writer, Director Mark Her! man and Author John BoyneThe innocence of childhood savagely collides with the Holocaust in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Bruno (Asa Butterfield) knows that his father is a soldier and that they have to move to a new house in the country... a house near what he thinks is a farm. But his father isn't just a soldier; he's a high-ranking officer in Hitler's elite SS troops who's just been placed in command of Auschwitz. As Bruno explores the woods around the house, he discovers the concentration camp's perimeter fence. On the other side sits a boy his own age, with whom Bruno strikes up a friendship--a friendship that will have tragic consequences. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is most powerful in the details: The casual brutality of a Nazi lieutenant; the uncomfortable juxtaposition of the family's domestic life with glimpses of the treatment of the imprisoned Jews; a ghastly propaganda film suggesting that life at Auschwitz was like a holiday. But more than anyth! ing else, Butterfield's performance makes this film compelling. The young actor perfectly conveys Bruno's limited perspective even as the film carefully unveils the larger, darker reality. The movie's ending will undoubtedly spark arguments, but only because of the emotional complexity of what happens--The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is made with great skill and compassion. Also featuring David Thewlis (Naked) and Vera Farmiga (The Departed) as Bruno's parents. --Bret FetzerAwesome. 5 CDs, 141 songs, 40 unreleased, including 30 minutes of the most legendary unreleased album in rock: Smile . In between all the collector manna (including an entire "bootleg" disc of unreleased stuff), and in chronological order starting with their earliest demos (of Surfin' U.S.A. , etc.), are all the hits from the Capitol, Caribou, Brother and Colpix labels in original mono or stereo, all documented by a 60-page, full-color booklet.From "Surfin'" to "Kokomo,! " the first four discs of this box chart the Beach Boys' inimi! table 30 -year course. Here are all the hits and key album tracks, and an assortment of unreleased material that illuminates Brian Wilson and company's immense contribution to the development of pop music. (Especially fascinating are the assembled fragments from Wilson's abandoned 1966 masterwork, Smile.) A fifth disc features demos, radio spots, live tracks, and studio goodies for the hardcore fan. The set confirms Brian's hardworking genius, but also gives each member his due, especially the late Carl Wilson. Rock & roll music grew up with the Beach Boys, and this box is rock's best family album. --Ben EdmondsMovie stars Tommy Lee Jones, Sissy Spacek, Sam Shepard and Wilford Brimley. Movie takes place in the early 1900's.Digitally remastered and expanded edition of this 1971 classic from the UK Pop/Prog pioneers featuring two bonus tracks: 'The Story In Your Eyes' (Original Version) and 'The Dreamer'. Previously released as an SACD disc, this regular CD issue featur! es sleeve notes and rare photographs. 11 tracks. The Beach Boys live in concert at Knebworth Park, Hertfordshire on 21st June 1980 was the last time all six Beach Boys - Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson, Alan Jardine and Bruce Johnston would appear together, singing and playing, on a UK stage. This special DVD+CD collectors' edition captures this memorable event.DVD TRACKLISTING :
Intro (Good Timin')
California Girls
Sloop John B
Darlin'
School Days
God Only Knows'
Be True To Your School
Do It Again
Little Deuce Coupe
Cotton Fields /
Heroes and Villains
Keepin' The Summer Alive
Lady Lynda
Surfer Girl
Help Me Rhonda
Rock & Roll Music
I Get Around
Surfin' USA
You Are So Beautiful
Good Vibrations
Barbara Ann
Fun, Fun, Fun

CD TRACKLISTING:
INTRO
California Girls
Sloop John B
Darlin'
School Days
God Only Knows
Be True To Your School
D! o It Again
Little Deuce Coupe
Cotton Fields /
Hero! es And V illains
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRIAN
Keepin' The Summer Alive
Lady Lynda
Surfer Girl
Help Me Rhonda
Rock & Roll Music
I Get Around
Surfin' USA
You Are So Beautiful
Good Vibrations
Barbara Ann
Fun, Fun, Fun

Also includes
The Beach Boys
On The Beach Boys Songs
Contemporary comments from the band on some of the songs performed at Knebworth.It's entertaining, nostalgic, even poignant... not much more one could ask for from a Beach Boys concert. This 70-minute concert was the last time the complete group (brothers Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson, Al Jardine, Mike Love, and Bruce Johnston, plus backing musicians) would appear in the U.K., performing a mix of oldies ("California Girls," "Help Me Rhonda," "Fun, Fun, Fun," etc.) and some newer material. And if the show itself is somewhat pedestrian, it's still marvelous to see the three Wilsons together onstage, especially in view of the subsequent deaths of Dennis (in '83) an! d Carl (in '98), and Brian's eventual triumphant recovery from mental and emotional problems. To hear Carl sing so beautifully on "God Only Knows," or Dennis play drums with such power and emotion, or Brian, vacant but game, contribute a few lines to "Surfer Girl"... well, it might just bring a tear to your eye. --Sam Graham

Hotel for Dogs (Widescreen Edition)

• Hotel For Dogs is a funny, heartwarming and inspiring animal adventure that shows how far love and
• When 16-year old, Andi (Roberts), and her younger brother Bruce (Austin) find themselves in a
• When they stumble into an abandoned hotel, they realize they can transform it into the perfect
• What began as a crusade to save one dog becomes a high stakes adventure as everyone around them

Hotel For Dogs is a funny, heartwarming and inspiring animal adventure that shows how far love and imagination can take you. When 16-year old, Andi (Roberts), and her younger brother Bruce (Austin) find themselves in a foster home with a strict “no pets” policy, they must use their quick wit to find a new home for their dog, Friday. When they stumble into an abandoned hotel, they realize they can transform it into the perfect place for Friday- as well as all the strays in the city. What b! egan as a crusade to save one dog becomes a high stakes adventure as everyone around them starts to wonder- who let the dogs in?Everyone deserves a loving family, but foster kids Andi (Emma Roberts) and Bruce (Jake T. Austin) have been placed with a flaky couple who care more for their aspiring rock careers than their foster children. Even though Andi and Bruce's mischievous tendencies repeatedly get them into trouble, the siblings are essentially good kids who care deeply for one another and their secretly adopted dog Friday. After a close call with the local pound, the kids end up searching for Friday in an abandoned old hotel where they find several stray dogs seeking shelter. The kids' compassion for the homeless dogs compels them to begin caring for the strays and they soon join forces with three other local kids to take in strays from across the city. Bruce is a clever inventor whose innovative gadgets ensure top-notch care and constant entertainment for all the dogs ! (as well as a multitude of laughs from the audience). Unfortun! ately, B ruce's and Andi's devotion to the dogs eventually causes them to pass up what may be their last chance for a better foster home. When the police storm the hotel and take all the dogs to the pound, the kids make a daring attempt to rescue the dogs that will likely land them in separate group homes. Can social worker Bernie (Don Cheadle) somehow convince the authorities, and perhaps a loving family, that the children were just doing what was right? Hotel for Dogs is a funny family film based on Lois Duncan's book of the same name and is appropriate for most ages 5 and older in spite of its PG rating for mild thematic elements, language, and some crude humor. --Tami Horiuchi




Stills from Hotel For Dogs (Click for larger image)

Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire

• Condition: Used, Very Good
• Format: DVD
• AC-3; Closed-captioned; Color; Dolby; DVD; Subtitled; Widescreen; NTSC

Chris Rock visits beauty salons and hairstyling battles, scientific laboratories and Indian temples to explore the way hairstyles impact the activities, pocketbooks, sexual relationships, and self-esteem of the black community in this exposé of comic proportions that only he could pull off. A raucous adventure prompted by Rock’s daughter approaching him and asking, "Daddy, how come I don’t have good hair?”, GOOD HAIR shows Chris Rock engaging in frank, funny conversations with hair-care professionals, beauty shop and barbershop patrons, and celebrities including Ice-T, Nia Long, Paul Mooney, Raven Symoné, Dr. Maya Angelou, Salt-N-Pepa, Eve and Reverend Al Sharpton â€" all while he struggles with the task of figuring out how to respond to his daughter's question! .When one of Chris Rock's young daughters asked him an innocent question about having "good hair," the comedian probably had no idea just how complicated the answer would be. Fortunately for us, he decided to find out, and the result is this funny, informative, and highly entertaining documentary of the same name. Turns out that for a great many African-American women (and quite a few men, too), "good hair" means "white hair"--i.e., straight and lanky--while the natural or "nappy" look is bad. And oh, the lengths and expense women will go to in order to get "good hair"! In the course of the film, which was directed by Jeff Stilson and cowritten by Rock and several others, Rock first travels to Atlanta, home of the Bronner Brothers Hair Show, where thousands of folks buy and learn how to use new products (the show is also the site of the outrageous and climactic Hair Battle Royale, in which four stylists compete for money and fame). It's there that he learns about sodium hyd! roxide, better known as hair "relaxer," the "nap antidote," or! the "cr eamy crack" (as effective as the chemical substance is for straightening hair, it can also be highly dangerous). In Harlem and Los Angeles, he investigates the extraordinary popularity of hair weaves, which can cost tens of thousands of dollars annually to create and maintain; Rock even goes to Madras, India, source of most of the hair used in weaves (for Indian women, tonsure, or shaving their heads, is a ritual act of self-sacrifice). Along the way, Rock interviews a great many young women with fabulous hair (including actresses Nia Long, Raven-Symoné, and Kerry Washington, and rappers Salt-N-Pepa), but he also talks to the esteemed poet Maya Angelou, as well as men like rapper-actor Ice-T and the Reverend Al Sharpton. Sharpton, who is very amusing (he's referred to as "the Dalai Lama of relaxed hair"), is about the only celeb who touches on racial issues, pointing out that while it's African Americans who use the overwhelming majority of these hair products, the companie! s who sell them tend to be owned by Asians. Some viewers may object to the film's lack of a strong socio-political stance, but others will no doubt prefer the lighter touch, including a hilarious discussion at a barber shop about dating women with hair weaves (basically, it's "hands off the hair, pal"). --Sam Graham

When one of Chris Rock's young daughters asked him an innocent question about having "good hair," the comedian probably had no idea just how complicated the answer would be. Fortunately for us, he decided to find out, and the result is this funny, informative, and highly entertaining documentary of the same name. Turns out that for a great many African-American women (and quite a few men, too), "good hair" means "white hair"--i.e., straight and lanky--while the natural or "nappy" look is bad. And oh, the lengths and expense women will go to in order to get "good hair"! In the course of the film, which was directed by Jeff Stilson and cowritten by Rock and several others, Rock first travels to Atlanta, home of the Bronner Brothers Hair Show, where thousands of folks buy and learn how to use new products (the show is also the site of the outrageou! s and climactic Hair Battle Royale, in which four stylists compete for money and fame). It's there that he learns about sodium hydroxide, better known as hair "relaxer," the "nap antidote," or the "creamy crack" (as effective as the chemical substance is for straightening hair, it can also be highly dangerous). In Harlem and Los Angeles, he investigates the extraordinary popularity of hair weaves, which can cost tens of thousands of dollars annually to create and maintain; Rock even goes to Madras, India, source of most of the hair used in weaves (for Indian women, tonsure, or shaving their heads, is a ritual act of self-sacrifice). Along the way, Rock interviews a great many young women with fabulous hair (including actresses Nia Long, Raven-Symoné, and Kerry Washington, and rappers Salt-N-Pepa), but he also talks to the esteemed poet Maya Angelou, as well as men like rapper-actor Ice-T and the Reverend Al Sharpton. Sharpton, who is very amusing (he's referred to as "the ! Dalai Lama of relaxed hair"), is about the only celeb who touc! hes on r acial issues, pointing out that while it's African Americans who use the overwhelming majority of these hair products, the companies who sell them tend to be owned by Asians. Some viewers may object to the film's lack of a strong socio-political stance, but others will no doubt prefer the lighter touch, including a hilarious discussion at a barber shop about dating women with hair weaves (basically, it's "hands off the hair, pal"). --Sam Graham

Janet Jackson, Thandie Newton, and Whoopi Goldberg head up an all-star cast in a vibrant world where friends and strangers dream, fear, cry, love, and laugh out loud in an attempt to find their true selves. Adapted by writer/director Tyler Perry from Ntozake Shange's acclaimed choreopoem, this gripping film paints an unforgettable portrait of what it means to be a woman of color in the modern world.Tyler Perry breaks through to a new level of achievement as a writer and director in his remake of For Colored Girls (based on the groundbreaking 1970s play For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf, by Ntozak! e Shange). The cast is superb, especially Kimberly Elise and P! hylicia Rashad. And the rest of the cast is just as compelling, including a low-key Janet Jackson, Loretta Devine, singer Macy Gray, Thandie Newton, Whoopi Goldberg, Kerry Washington, and Anika Noni Rose. For Colored Girls follows each actress/character as she faces prejudice, economic challenges, male abandonment, role upheaval--and all the emotions that go along with them. The original play was performed as poetry, and while the editing of For Colored Girls is a little uneven, Perry lets Shange's poetry truly shine through. Any person of color, any woman, and anyone who cares about them, will be drawn in to the deepest dramas a woman of color can experience--in the '70s or today. Viewers will get goose bumps when Newton's character, Tangie, says, "Being alive and being a woman is all I got, but being colored is a metaphysical dilemma I haven't conquered yet." And Elise as Crystal is utterly heartbreaking, with a performance reminiscent of her unforgettable turn in Beloved. The soundtrack of For Colored Girls is as unforgettable as the film, with performances by Gray, Sharon Jones, and others, including Estelle, in a showstopping version of "All Day Long (Blue Skies)." The blues may be wrenching--but in For Colored Girls, they make up the poetry of life. --A.T. HurleyPrecious Jones, an inner-city high school girl, is illiterate, overweight, and pregnant…again. Naïve and abused, Precious responds to a glimmer of hope when a door is opened by an alternative-school teacher. She is faced with the choice to follow opportunity and test her own boundaries. Prepare for shock, revelation and celebration.Not every movie can survive the kind of hype--multiple awards at Sundance and other festivals, rapturous reviews, nominated for six Academy Awards and winner of two, for Best Supporting Actress and Best Screenplay--that greeted the release of Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire, but this extraor! dinary piece of work is more than up to the task. What's parti! cularly notable about the film's success and acclaim is that in the beginning, at least, it presents one of the grimmest scenarios imaginable. The scene is Harlem, New York, in 1987. Teenager Clarisse Precious Jones (played by newcomer Gabourey Sibide in an absolutely fearless performance) is dirt poor, morbidly obese, semiliterate, and pregnant for the second time--both courtesy of her own father (the first baby was born with Down syndrome). Her home life is several levels below Hell, as her bitter, vengeful welfare mother, Mary (Mo'Nique, in a role that has generated legitimate Oscar® buzz), abuses her both physically and otherwise (telling Precious she should have aborted her is only the worst of a relentless flood of insults and vitriol). Yet somehow, the young woman still has hopes and dreams (depicted in a series of delightful fantasy sequences). She enrolls in an alternative school, where a young teacher (Paula Patton) takes her under her wing and even into her home, and vis! its a social worker (an excellent Mariah Carey; fellow pop star Lenny Kravitz is also effective as a male nurse) who further helps bring Precious out of the darkness. Incredibly, Precious's circumstances deteriorate even more before showing the slightest sign of improvement, and a climactic confrontation with her mother is one of the more wrenching scenes in recent memory. But against all odds, director Lee Daniels, screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher (working from Sapphire's novel), and especially the wondrously affecting Sibide have managed to make Precious a film that will lift the viewer far higher up that one might ever have thought possible. --Sam Graham

Don't Come Knocking Poster B 27x40 Sam Shepard Jessica Lange Tim Roth

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A TALE OF A WASHED UP HOLLYWOOD STAR THAT FINDS A RAY OF HOPE WHEN HE DISCOVERS THAT HE MIGHT HAVE A GROWN UP CHILD INMONTANA.With Don't Come Knocking, Wim Wenders revisits territory, both literal and metaphorical, first explored in Paris, Texas. Not only does he return to the Southwest, but Sam Shepard is back as co-writer. This time, he's also the star. His Howard Spence is a movie cowboy who's had enough. One day while working in Monument Valley, he takes off his boots and hops a train to Nevada to see his mother (Eva Marie Saint, lovely as! ever). Little does he know that Sutter (Tim Roth), a by-the-books bondsman, is hot on his trail. Next, Spence travels to Montana where a sad young woman named Sky (Sarah Polley) is recovering from a recent death, while an angry young man named Earl (Gabriel Mann), who sounds much like Chris Isaak, plies the troubadour trade. Spence doesn't know it yet, but they're the results of a rambunctious past that will soon "come knocking," as it were. While in Butte, he also catches up with Doreen (Jessica Lange), a lover from many moons ago. Clearly, Don't Come Knocking is Wenders and Shepard in a reflective mood, even more so than in Paris, Texas, as Spence is older and has more regrets than Harry Dean Stanton's Travis. It doesn't leave as much of an impression, but the film is a worthy addition to the post-modern Western canon. Shot by Franz Lustig, it's frames are filled with intense hues--fiery reds, glowing greens--and a plaintive score by T-Bone Burnett. --Ka! thleen C. FennessyThis digital document is an article from! Nationa l Catholic Reporter, published by Thomson Gale on April 14, 2006. The length of the article is 879 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Deadbeats in action: 'L'Enfant' and 'Don't Come Knocking' make challenging viewing.(MOVIES)(Movie review)
Author: Joseph Cunneen
Publication: National Catholic Reporter (Magazine/Journal)
Date: April 14, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 42 Issue: 24 Page: 15(1)

Article Type: Movie review

Distributed by Thomson GaleGive your vehicle a touch of style and individuality with this high quality premium license plate frame made of po! lished steel. This frame has a durable metal construction and a shiny chrome finish, which gives it a unique and expensive look. The eye-catching sturdy construction of this frame puts feeble plastic frames to shame. It weights about 1 pound and measures about 12.5 x 6.5 inches outside. The distance between two holes is about 7 inches. The frame fits all standard USA and Canada 12x6 license plates and can be used for the front or the back of a car. This frame is brand new and well packaged.The lettering and artwork are done with weather and car wash resistant vinyl that is waterproof and won't fade and will last for many years. This frame also makes a great gift. Sophisticated and trendy, your frame will be the perfect finishing touch on any vehicle.Don't Come Knocking by Jason C feat. Denna-Marie

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Endgame, Vol. 1: The Problem of Civilization

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Greece isn't the only country drowning in debt. The Debt Supercycleâ€"when the easily managed, decades-long growth of debt results in a massive sovereign debt and credit crisisâ€"is affecting developed countries around the world, including the United States. For these countries, there are only two options, and neither is goodâ€"restructure the debt or reduce it through austerity measures. Endgame details the Debt Supercycle and the sovereign debt crisis, and shows that, while there are no good choices, the worst choice would be to ignore the deleveraging resulting from the credit crisis. The book:

• Reveals why the world economy is in for an extended period of sluggis! h growth, high unemployment, and volatile markets punctuated by persistent recessions
• Reviews global markets, trends in population, government policies, and currencies

Around the world, countries are faced with difficult choices. Endgame provides a framework for making those choices.

Q&A with Authors John Mauldin and Jonathan Tepper

Author John Mauldin

What is the debt supercycle?
Over a period of about sixty years, debt levels grew faster than incomes. This increase in debt became particularly pronounced in the 1980s, 90s a! nd finally went parabolic after the Federal Reserve lowere! d intere st rates to 1% after the Nasdaq crash. The increase in debt was not just a US phenomenon. As interest rates fell structurally with the fall in inflation from 1982 onwards, people took on more debt because it became more manageable. However, by 2008 the burden of debt became too much to bear and the debt supercycle came to an end. People started deleveraging and banks started collapsing due to low levels of capital and large losses from loans people couldn't pay back.

How does the sovereign debt crisis play into this?
The rapid contraction in debt levels due to default and deleveraging lead to a fall in economic activity as people started saving and cutting spending. Governments immediately stepped in and backed bank debt with explicit guarantees. Governments also started borrowing and spending to transfer money to the private sector, for example via unemployment insurance. So in a very real sense, private borrowing was replaced wit! h public borrowing. Debt was added onto more debt. Rather than free itself of debt, the system now has more debt. The sovereign debt crisis is the recognition that most of this debt will not be paid back, and governments are making promises to pay debt and other obligations, for example general spending and pensions, that they simply lack the ability to fulfill.

What is the impact of the end of the debt supercycle?

Author Jonathan Tepper

The end of the debt supercycle and the beginning of the sovereign debt crisis present problems and challenges for investors and governments. Governments will need to either 1) inflate, 2) default or 3) d! evalue, which is similar to inflate. That is the way governme! nts have historically dealt with too much debt. Some countries will experience deflation and others inflation, depending on what choices governments make. Currently governments have only bad and worse choices. Let's hope they can choose wisely.

What do you predict for the next ten years?
Central banks globally have shown a predisposition to print money to solve problems. We forsee rising inflation in many parts of the world, reductions in real income as people lose purchasing power due to higher food and fuel prices and more macroeconomic volatility. Some countries that do not control their own money supply or are running pegs may experience deflation as they are forced to delever and cannot increase the money supply to counteract the weight of deleveraging.

You cite the events in Greece as an example of a country continuing to run massive deficits. Is there an example of a country making a better choice?
The UK is making some of the right steps to control spending, but even the UK could be more draconian. In nominal and real terms, government spending in aggregate will not be cut in the UK. Also, Iceland has made positive steps by defaulting on its debt effectively. Default is a good way to cure too much debt.
Endgame is acclaimed biographer Frank Brady’s decades-in-the-making tracing of the meteoric ascentâ€"and confounding descentâ€"of enigmatic genius Bobby Fischer.  Only Brady, who met Fischer when the prodigy was only 10 and shared with him some of his most dramatic triumphs, could have written this book, which has much to say about the nature of American celebrity and the distorting effects of fame.  Drawing from Fischer family archives, recently released FBI files, and Bobby’s own emails, this account is unique in that it limns Fischer’s entire lifeâ€"an odyssey that took the Brooklyn-raised chess champion from a! n impoverished childhood to the covers of Time, Life an! d New sweek to recognition as “the most famous man in the world” to notorious recluse.
 
At first all one noticed was how gifted Fischer was.  Possessing a 181 I.Q. and remarkable powers of concentration, Bobby memorized hundreds of chess books in several languages, and he was only 13 when he became the youngest chess master in U.S. history.   But his strange behavior started early.  In 1972, at the historic Cold War showdown in Reykjavik, Iceland, where he faced Soviet champion Boris Spassky, Fischer made headlines with hundreds of petty demands that nearly ended the competition.
 
It was merely a prelude to what was to come.
 
Arriving back in the United States to a hero’s welcome, Bobby was mobbed wherever he wentâ€"a figure as exotic and improbable as any American pop culture had yet produced.  No player of a mere “board game” had ever ascended to such heights.  Commercial sponsorship offers poured in, ultimately topping $10 mil! lionâ€"but Bobby demurred.  Instead, he began tithing his limited money to an apocalyptic religion and devouring anti-Semitic literature. 
 
After years of poverty and a stint living on Los Angeles’ Skid Row, Bobby remerged in 1992 to play Spassky in a multi-million dollar rematchâ€"but the experience only deepened a paranoia that had formed years earlier when he came to believe that the Soviets wanted him dead for taking away “their” title.  When the dust settled, Bobby was a wanted manâ€"transformed into an international fugitive because of his decision to play in Montenegro despite U.S. sanctions.  Fearing for his life, traveling with bodyguards, and wearing a long leather coat to ward off knife attacks, Bobby lived the life of a celebrity fugitive â€" one drawn increasingly to the bizarre.  Mafiosi, Nazis, odd attempts to breed an heir who could perpetuate his chess-genius DNAâ€"all are woven into his late-life tapestry.
 
And yet, as B! rady shows, the most notable irony of Bobby Fischer’s strang! e descen t â€" which had reached full plummet by 2005 when he turned down yet another multi-million dollar paydayâ€"is that despite his incomprehensible behavior, there were many who remained fiercely loyal to him.  Why that was so is at least partly the subject of this bookâ€"one that at last answers the question: “Who was Bobby Fischer?”Amazon Best Books of the Month, February 2011: There may be no one more qualified than Frank Brady to write the definitive biography of Bobby Fischer. Brady's Profile of a Prodigy (originally published in 1969) chronicled the chess icon's early years, a selection of 90 games, and (in later editions) his 1972 World Championship match with Boris Spassky. With Endgame, published two years after Fischer's death, Brady's on-and-off proximity to Fischer lends new depth to the latter's full and twisted life story. Though Fischer's pinnacle artistry on the chessboard may often be discussed in the same br! eath with his eventual paranoia and outspoken anti-Semitism, the particular turns and travels of his post-World Championship years (half his life) lend his story most of its vexing oddity: the niggling insistence on seemingly arbitrary conditions for his matches, the years on the lam after flagrantly disregarding U.S. economic sanctions, his incarceration in Japan, his eventual citizenship and quiet demise in Iceland. All told, Fischer's life was like none other, and told through the lens of Brady's personal familiarity and access to new source material, results in an utterly engaging read. --Jason Kirk

Guest Reviewer: Dick Cavett

Dick Cavett is the host of ! “The Dick Cavett Show”---which aired on ABC from 1968 to 1! 975 and on public television from 1977 to 1982---Dick Cavett is the author, most recently, of Talk Show: Confrontations, Pointed Commentary, and Off-Screen Secrets. The co-author of Cavett (1974) and Eye on Cavett (1983), he has also appeared on Broadway in Otherwise Engaged and Into the Woods, and as narrator in The Rocky Horror Show, and has made guest appearances in movies and on TV shows including Forrest Gump and The Simpsons. His column appears in the Opinionator blog on The New York Times website. Mr. Cavett lives in New York City and Montauk, N.Y.

Even if you don’t give a damn about chess, or Bobby Fischer, you’ll find yourself engrossed by Frank Brady‘s book about Fischer, which reads like a novel.

The facts of Bobby’s life (I knew him from several memorable appearances on “The Dick Cavett Show” on both sides of the Big Tournament) are presented in page-turne! r fashion. Poor Bobby was blessed and cursed by his genius, and his story has the arc of a Greek tragedy---with a grim touch of mad King Lear at the end.

The brain power and concentrated days and nights Bobby spent studying the game left much of him undeveloped, unable to join conversations on other subjects. Later in his life, unhappy with his limited knowledge of things beyond the chess board, he compensated with massive study---applying that same hard-butt dedication to other fields: politics, classics, religion, philosophy and more. He found a hide-away nook in a Reykjavic bookstore---barred from his homeland, Iceland had welcomed him back---where he read in marathon sessions. (After he was recognized, he never went back to his cozy cul de sac.)

In Brady’s telling the high drama of the Spassky match quickens the pulse; the contest that made America a chess-crazed land was seen by more people than the Superbowl. People skipped school and played sick ! in vast numbers, glued to watching Shelby Lyman explain what w! as happe ning. The fanaticism was worldwide. The match was seen as a Cold War event, with the time out of mind chess-ruling Russian bear vanquished.

Arguably the best known man on the planet at his triumphant peak, Bobby is later seen in this account riding buses in Los Angeles, able to pay his rent in a dump of an apartment only because his mother sent him her social-security checks. The details of all this are stranger than fiction, as is nearly everything in the life of this much-rewarded, much-tortured genius.

I liked him immensely, knowing only the tall, broad-shouldered, athletically strong and handsome six-foot-something articulate and yes, witty, youth that Bobby was before the evil times set in, with deranged anti-Semitic outbursts and other mental strangeness preceding his too early end at age 64.

I can’t ever forget the moment on the show when in amiable conversation I asked him what, in chess, corresponded to the thrill in another sort of event;! like, say, hitting a homer in baseball. He said it was the moment when you “break the other guy’s ego.” There was a shocked murmur from the audience and the quote went around the world.

Frank Brady’s Endgame is one of those books that makes you want your dinner guests to go the hell home so you can get back to it.

The long-awaited companion piece to Derrick Jensen's immensely popular and highly acclaimed works A Language Older Than Words and The Culture of Make Believe. Accepting the increasingly widespread belief that industrialized culture inevitably erodes the natural world, Endgame sets out to explore how this relationship impels us towards a revolutionary and as-yet undiscovered shift in strategy. Building on a series of simple but increasingly provocative premises, Jensen leaves us hoping for what may be inevitable: a return to agrarian communal life via the disintegration of civilization itself.