Code Name - The Cleaner

• The laughs fly like bullets in this action comedy about a man with amnesia who can't remember whether he's a super spy.or a janitor.Jake Rogers (Cedric the Entertainer) just woke up in a hotel room next to a dead CIA agent and a briefcase full of money. Things go from bad to worse when his blonde bombshell wife (Nicollette Sheridan) arrives to inform him that he's a Special Forces Operative entan

The laughs fly like bullets in this action comedy about a man with amnesia who can't remember whether he's a super spy...or a janitor. Jake Rogers (Cedric the Entertainer) just woke up in a hotel room next to a dead CIA agent and a briefcase full of money. Things go from bad to worse when his blonde bombshell wife (Nicollette Sheridan) arrives to inform him that he's a Special Forces Operative entangled in a high-level Government conspiracy. But nothing seems to add up as Jake digs deeper into the ca! se. Teaming up with another beauty from a past he can't remember (Lucy Liu), this custodian of comedy needs to get a clue before the bad guys take him out with the trash!Code Name: The Cleaner squeaks by in living up to the reputation of its star, Cedric the Entertainer. The movie does entertain, but just barely and pretty much only because of the skill we've come to expect from Cedric as an entertainer. In another actor's hands, this freewheeling spy spoof could easily have turned into a schizophrenic dud. The movie still has a little split-personality problem between its aspirations to be a tense, Bourne Identity-like thriller or out-and-out comic caper. Fortunately, the entertainer in him gives Cedric the credibility to juggle both genres with only a few dropped balls. When Cedric, as ordinary Joe (maybe) Jake Rodgers, wakes up in a hotel room with amnesia, a dead FBI agent, and a bag stuffed with cash, at least two people show unusual interest in a ! prized missing microchip, the money, and him -- in that order.! Nicolle tte Sheridan is a bit too desperate in claiming to be his housewife as she whisks him "home" to their huge mansion. Showing the first shades of skepticism (and comic brilliance), the still-amnesiac Jake wonders, "I'm rich, I live in a big house and I'm married to a white woman. Am I Lionel Richie?" He also wonders if the gun-toting, butt-kicking Lucy Liu really is his mistress, as she claims to be. It all seems to good to be true. But the bad guys who just want the microchip don't care, and the genuine thriller mayhem and laugh riot gags that fly by don't give Jake much time to think that maybe he is just an ordinary janitor who has wrong-manned his way into a massive spy vs. spy cliche. There are a couple of fantastically funny supporting roles for additional distraction. DeRay Davis steals the spotlight as Jake's wannabe-rapper janitor pal, and Niecy Nash (of Reno 911! fame) also chomps hard on the scenery as a sex-crazed security guard. Food Network fans will get a! n unintended chuckle from seeing Mark Dacascos, the suave and sybaritic "Kitchen Stadium Chairman" from Iron Chef America playing head cheese of the bad guy contingent. In all, it's not worth the audience spending too much time thinking all this through either, especially when Cedric's doing his thing (the clog dance and grandma-spanking scenes are highlights). Maybe someday they'll let Cedric off the thinking leash altogether -- perhaps in Code Name: The Entertainer? --Ted Fry

April's Shower

• Trish Doolan s debut feature is a charming comedy that questions how far one would go for true love. On the morning of April s wedding shower, we meet Alex (Trish Doolan), a chef put out by her attempt to host the perfect shower while struggling with her tangled relationship with the bride-to-be. One by one, eclectic guests trickle into Alex s house, bringing their own hilarious insecurities and p

A look inside a tragedy through the eyes of a survivor. Based on actual events, April Showers is about picking up the pieces in the direct aftermath of school violence. Set in a middle class suburban neighborhood, April Showers focuses on the lives of a handful of teachers and students as they attempt to make sense of a world that has just been turned upside down by one of their own. With the community and an entire nation caught up in the 'story', the students of Jefferson High must turn to one ano! ther for answers. In the wake atrocity, the rifts caused by misinformation and a frenzied media prove difficult to overcome. Lost and lonely under the international spotlight, one young man navigates his way through his almost indiscernible home. From quaint suburban town to battlefield turned media circus, Jefferson High provides the backdrop for Sean's struggle to cope with the loss of his friend April. [US Import, NTSC Region 1]There has never been an April shower like this one. From first page to last, the rhythmic prose and the hilarious dancing frogs invite young readers to join in the fun. Rain or shine, its a joyous romp any day of the year. Watercolor illustrations.Trish Doolan's debut feature is a charming comedy that questions how far one would go for true love. On the morning of April's wedding shower, we meet Alex (Trish Doolan), a chef put out by her attempt to host the perfect shower while struggling with her tangled relationship with the bride-to-be. One ! by one, eclectic guests trickle into Alex's house, bringing th! eir own hilarious insecurities and peculiar life situations with them. When bride-to-be April arrives, it becomes clear that the secret Alex is hiding will affect the course of her life, and the future of almost everyone at the shower.

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The Big Squeeze takes a fresh, probing, and often shocking look at the stresses and strains faced by tens of millions of American workers as wages have stagnated, health and pension benefits have grown stingier, and job security has shriveled.

Going behind the scenes, Steven Greenhouse tells the stories of software engineers in Seattle, hotel housekeepers in Chicago, call center workers in New York, and janitors in Houston, as he explores why, in the world’s most affluent nation, so many corporations are intent on squeezin! g their workers dry. We meet all kinds of workers: white collar and blue collar, high tech and low tech, middle income and low income; employees who stock shelves during a hurricane while locked inside their store, get fired after suffering debilitating injuries on the job, face egregious sexual harassment, and get laid off when their companies move high-tech operations abroad. We also meet young workers having a hard time starting out and seventy-year-old workers with too little money saved up to retire.

The book explains how economic, business, political, and social trendsâ€"among them globalization, the influx of immigrants, and the Wal-Mart effectâ€"have fueled the squeeze. We see how the social contract between employers and employees, guaranteeing steady work and good pensions, has eroded over the last three decades, damaged by massive layoffs of factory and office workers and Wall Street’s demands for ever-higher profits. In short, the postâ€"World War II so! cial contract that helped build the world’s largest and most! prosper ous middle class has been replaced by a startling contradiction: corporate profits, economic growth, and worker productivity have grown strongly while worker pay has languished and Americans face ever-greater pressures to work harder and longer.

Greenhouse also examines companies that are generous to their workers and can serve as models for all of corporate America: Costco, Patagonia, and the casino-hotels of Las Vegas among them. Finally, he presents a series of pragmatic, ready-to-be-implemented suggestions on what government, business, and labor should do to alleviate the squeeze.

A balanced, consistently revealing exploration of a major American crisis.2002 compilation includes for the initial pressing a bonus limited edition B-sides disc with 19 tracks, 'Suites From Five Strangers', 'Squabs On Forty Fab', 'Model', 'Spanish Guitar', 'Elephant Girl', 'Trust', 'Yap Yap Yap', 'Fortnight Saga', 'Wedding BeWhy, in the world's most affluent nation, are so many! corporations squeezing their employees dry? In this fresh, carefully researched book, New York Times reporter Steven Greenhouse explores the economic, political, and social trends that are transforming America's workplaces, including the decline of the social contract that created the world's largest middle class and guaranteed job security and good pensions. We meet all kinds of workersâ€"white-collar and blue-collar, high-tech and low-tech, middle-class and low-incomeâ€"as we see shocking examples of injustice, including employees who are locked in during a hurricane or fired after suffering debilitating, on-the-job injuries.

With pragmatic recommendations on what government, business and labor should do to alleviate the economic crunch, The Big Squeeze is a balanced, consistently revealing look at a major American crisis.


From the Trade Paperback edition.Why, in the world's most affluent nation, are so many corpor! ations squeezing their employees dry? In this fresh, carefully! researc hed book, New York Times reporter Steven Greenhouse explores the economic, political, and social trends that are transforming America's workplaces, including the decline of the social contract that created the world's largest middle class and guaranteed job security and good pensions. We meet all kinds of workersâ€"white-collar and blue-collar, high-tech and low-tech, middle-class and low-incomeâ€"as we see shocking examples of injustice, including employees who are locked in during a hurricane or fired after suffering debilitating, on-the-job injuries.

With pragmatic recommendations on what government, business and labor should do to alleviate the economic crunch, The Big Squeeze is a balanced, consistently revealing look at a major American crisis.


From the Trade Paperback edition.Combining the thermal properties of an insulated vacuum bottle with the lightweight, flexible features of a plastic bottle, the Polar Bottle is the ! ideal choice for active people.