Saturday, December 3, 2011

Flipped [Blu-ray]

  • FLIPPED BLU-RAY/DVD/DIGI (BLU-RAY DISC)
When second-graders Bryce and Juli first meet, Juli knows it’s love. Bryce isn’t so sure. In the days and years ahead, Bryce (Callan McAuliffe) does all he can to keep his wannabe girlfriend at arm’s length â€" and the smart, independent-minded Juli (Madeline Carroll) continues to give him the benefit of the doubt. This tender coming-of-age romantic comedy from director Rob Reiner takes the pair from grade school to junior high, through triumph and disaster, family drama and first love, as they make discoveries that will define who they are â€" and who they are to each other.Even if you're not a child of the early '60s, Flipped's tale will resonate with your heart. Director Rob Reiner treats viewers to a sweet but honest glimpse into the lives of a young girl and boy during the early 1960s as they maneuver through first crushes and heartbre! ak. Reiner once again shows he understands how to put together a compelling, yet simple, human story. We meet Juli Baker (Madeline Carroll) and Bryce Loski (Callan McAuliffe) on the day Bryce's family moves across the street from Juli's. Told by "flipping" between Juli and Bryce's voices, a tale of early childhood love emerges. Juli loves Bryce's baby blues from the first moment she sees them and she just knows he's holding onto her first kiss. Bryce thinks Juli, who raises chickens and loves the neighborhood sycamore tree, is weird. The story doesn't merely flip between the two stories, though. In 1963, the year eighth grade comes around, Juli begins to wonder if there's any substance behind those baby blues… just as Bryce starts to see Juli's eccentricities as endearing instead of embarrassing. Sweetly reminiscent without a saccharine aftertaste, the overall story is perhaps a tad predictable but is skillfully directed and acted--the families are played by a supporting ! cast of recognizable names, including Aidan Quinn, Anthony Edw! ards, Re becca De Mornay, Penelope Ann Miller, and John Mahoney--so that you don't mind getting exactly what you expect. Based on the novel of the same name by Wendelin Van Draanen. --Jill CorddryStudio: Castle Rock Hm Video Release Date: 11/23/2010 Rating: PgEven if you're not a child of the early '60s, Flipped's tale will resonate with your heart. Director Rob Reiner treats viewers to a sweet but honest glimpse into the lives of a young girl and boy during the early 1960s as they maneuver through first crushes and heartbreak. Reiner once again shows he understands how to put together a compelling, yet simple, human story. We meet Juli Baker (Madeline Carroll) and Bryce Loski (Callan McAuliffe) on the day Bryce's family moves across the street from Juli's. Told by "flipping" between Juli and Bryce's voices, a tale of early childhood love emerges. Juli loves Bryce's baby blues from the first moment she sees them and she just knows he's holding onto her first kiss. Bry! ce thinks Juli, who raises chickens and loves the neighborhood sycamore tree, is weird. The story doesn't merely flip between the two stories, though. In 1963, the year eighth grade comes around, Juli begins to wonder if there's any substance behind those baby blues… just as Bryce starts to see Juli's eccentricities as endearing instead of embarrassing. Sweetly reminiscent without a saccharine aftertaste, the overall story is perhaps a tad predictable but is skillfully directed and acted--the families are played by a supporting cast of recognizable names, including Aidan Quinn, Anthony Edwards, Rebecca De Mornay, Penelope Ann Miller, and John Mahoney--so that you don't mind getting exactly what you expect. Based on the novel of the same name by Wendelin Van Draanen. --Jill Corddry

Beowulf

Hurley Juniors Beach And Only Short Sleeve Tee, Black, Small

French Connection Women's Sydney Knits Strip Sweater, Black, 2

Friday, December 2, 2011

Dear Wendy

The Dukes of Hazzard: The Complete First Season

  • Actors: Tom Wopat, John Schneider, Catherine Bach, Denver Pyle, James Best.
  • Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC.
  • Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono). Subtitles: English, Spanish, French.
  • Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only).
  • Not Rated. Run Time: 637 minutes.
Join Luke and Bo Duke--a couple of good old boys--and their cousin Daisy Duke as they stay just ahead of the sheriff in their souped-up 1969 Dodge Charger, The General Lee, and have fun thwarting the plots of the corrupt county boss.

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary:Commentary by John Schneider and Catherine Bach {episode: One Armed Bandits}
Documentary:The 20th Anniversary Hazzard County Barbeque {reunion documentary RT 30:00}
Featurette:Dukes Driving 101: A High Octane Salute {featurette including interviews w/ professional race car drive! rs RT 8:00}
Other:The Dukes of Hazzard : The Return of the General Lee video game trailer

The Dukes of Hazzard was part of America's redneck fetish in the mid-to-late 1970s, otherwise evident in popular songs, movies, and television shows highlighting fast cars, truckers, citizens' band radio, moonshine, irreverent hicks, and clueless lawmen. Created by writer-producer Gy Waldron and inspired by his own 1975 bootlegging comedy, Moonrunners, Dukes milked seven seasons of material from the tale of a Deep South family of reformed whiskey-makers and their running feud with a greedy impresario and his chief lackey, a buffoonish, venal sheriff.

This three-disc set includes all 13 initial episodes of Dukes from 1979, a period fans fondly recall because some of the programs were shot on location in Covington, Georgia, rather than a Burbank backlot. Also noteworthy is that a couple of key characters, particularly Hazzard County's co! rrupt lawman, Roscoe P. Coltrane (James Best), hadn't gelled y! et into permanent hayseed stereotypes and were arguably more interesting at the beginning. At the center of the action is Sheriff Coltrane's nemeses, cousins Bo Duke (John Schneider) and Luke Duke (Tom Wopat), a couple of wild boys buzzing through the backwoods in the "General Lee," a souped-up Dodge Charger. Bo and Luke are good at heart but have to behave themselves while on indefinite probation, complicating but not halting their efforts to vex Roscoe and his patron, diminutive bigwig Boss Hogg (Sorrell Booke). The enmity runs both ways: Roscoe and Boss Hogg, with the aid of witless Deputy Enos Strate (Sonny Shroyer), dream up ways of eliminating the Dukes--including their wise old Uncle Jesse (Denver Pyle)--but their efforts always backfire.

While every episode is a variation on the previous one, predictability is a virtue in Dukes. The series pilot, "One Armed Bandits," finds Luke and Bo, with help from their sexy cousin, Daisy (Catherine Bach), diverting slot machi! nes (smuggled into Hazzard County by Roscoe and Boss Hogg) to sundry watering holes where they can raise money for Bo's girlfriend's charity. In "Money to Burn," Boss Hogg tries to frame Bo and Luke for robbing an armored truck, while in "Deputy Dukes," the unarmed guys are forced by Roscoe to escort a deadly prisoner from one town to another. The Dukes hit back in "Daisy's Song," investigating a scam that took Daisy for $50 and implicates, of course, Boss Hogg and Roscoe.

Yes, it's a show about rubes, car stunts, and a legacy of moonshine, but there's something comforting about it, in a tongue-in-cheek way. --Tom Keogh

Bullet

  • BulletMickey Rourke and rap music star Tupac Shakur, in one of his final film roles, star in this gritty urban thriller about what it takes to survive on the street. Also starring Ted Levine, it's a stylish mix of brutality and revenge, it journeys into the dark and underground world of two men who share a bitter hatred and grudging respect. Like Pulp Fiction it is one of the new breed of action f
A classic example of a good idea ruined by Hollywood formulas. Jim Belushi and Tupac Shakur (in his last performance) are two corrupt cops with an effective scheme: they rob and kill drug dealers. Unfortunately, one of their victims turns out to be an undercover agent for the DEA, and the two bad cops have to scramble to find a suspect to pin the murder on. Soon they're caught in a web of missing evidence, false witnesses, and frayed nerves--Gang Related could have been a lean film noir, slow! ly tightening until the men break under the pressure. Unfortunately, this isn't the 1940s, and suddenly the plot takes an absurd twist into the most melodramatic coincidence imaginable. It's too bad. Also featuring the lovely Lela Rochon, James Earl Jones, David Paymer, and a surprise performance by Dennis Quaid. --Bret Fetzer Two killers are hiding where no one will ever find them...behind their badges! Tupac Shakur (in hisfinal and most riveting performance) and James Belushi are two corrupt police detectives caught in a dangerous web of deceit in this "gritty, smart and tough" (CBS-TV) action thriller that will hold you in its grip from start to finish. Detectives Divinci (Belushi) and Rodriguez (Shakur) practice their own deadly brand of street justice: They set up drug deals, seize the money for themselves and then murder the dealers. It's a lucrative racket that has worked without a hitch for months. But when they discover that their latest victim was an under! cover officer with the Drug Enforcement Agency, the two corrup! t cops a re forced to initiate a dangerous scheme to save their own lives. And as their "foolproof" plan begins to spin madly out of control, Divinci and Rodriguez are trapped in a tornado of suspicion, betrayal and murder in which they can trust no one...not even each other.A classic example of a good idea ruined by Hollywood formulas. Jim Belushi and Tupac Shakur (in his last performance) are two corrupt cops with an effective scheme: they rob and kill drug dealers. Unfortunately, one of their victims turns out to be an undercover agent for the DEA, and the two bad cops have to scramble to find a suspect to pin the murder on. Soon they're caught in a web of missing evidence, false witnesses, and frayed nerves--Gang Related could have been a lean film noir, slowly tightening until the men break under the pressure. Unfortunately, this isn't the 1940s, and suddenly the plot takes an absurd twist into the most melodramatic coincidence imaginable. It's too bad. Also featuring the! lovely Lela Rochon, James Earl Jones, David Paymer, and a surprise performance by Dennis Quaid. --Bret Fetzer When their friend Cookie o.d.'s, best buddies and musicians Spoon (Tupac Shakur) and Stretch (Tim Roth) decide it's time to kick their drug habit by putting themselves into detox. But they soon discover that the road to rehab is paved with reams of social service red tape. Spoon and Stretch are just trying to stay alive until they can get treatment. But, between the angry drug dealers, the cops who have mistaken them for murderers, and the people with forms and clipboards, this turns into a task of epic proportions. Thus enfolds their comic adventure to sobriety- a hilarious, action-packed journey from A to Z and back again. Starring: Tim Roth, Tupac Shakur, Thandie Newton Directed by: Vondie Curtis-HallBritish actor Tim Roth and the rapper Tupac Shakur are an unexpectedly charismatic and refreshing duo in this off-beat buddy movie. Closer than two brot! hers, these junkie musicians vow to kick their habits after a ! soul-sha ttering New Year's Eve. Gridlock'd is fueled by characterization, of which there is plenty, as the two play off one another with such finesse you would never know Shakur had been a relative novice to the acting profession. Off-beat humor lightens a bleak reality as these outcasts run smack against a brutal bureaucracy. Except for a tired subplot meant to jazz up the action, director Vondie Curtis-Hall employs an inventive approach in this sadly ignored theatrical release. --Rochelle O'Gorman Bullet Mickey Rourke and rap music star Tupac Shakur, in one of his final film roles, star in this gritty urban thriller about what it takes to survive on the street. Also starring Ted Levine, it's a stylish mix of brutality and revenge, it journeys into the dark and underground world of two men who share a bitter hatred and grudging respect. Like Pulp Fiction it is one of the new breed of action films-powerful, violent and real. Mickey Rourke is Butch "Bullet" Stein and th! e late Tupac Shakur is Tank in this stylish, Julien Temple-directed crime drama. Narrative is secondary to atmosphere in the violent, yet sensitive tale of an ex-con (Rourke) attempting to adjust to life on the outside. The minute Bullet emerges from the pen, however, the blood and profanity begin to flow just as freely as the references to Dali and Picasso (his younger brother is an artist). His drug problem is bad enough, but the biggest threat comes from the Kangol-sporting, eye-patched Tank, who intends to get his revenge for the eye Bullet took from him. Classical music and opera, meanwhile, bump up against hip-hop and Barry White. Despite the billing, this is Rourke's show all the way and Tupac's part is quite small in comparison. Ted Levine (The Silence of the Lambs) and Adrien Brody (The Pianist) star as Bullet's eccentric brothers. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Eight Below (Full Screen Edition)

  • Inspired by a true story and the hit Japanese film NANKYOKU MONOGATARI, Frank Marshall s (ALIVE, CONGO) EIGHT BELOW captures a rugged world of ice, snow, and threatening weather that few will ever experience in person. As a guide for a National Science Foundation Research Base in Antarctica, Jerry Shepard (Paul Walker) is perfectly content to spend his time exploring the wilderness with his sled d
Walt Disney Pictures presents EIGHT BELOW, the thrilling tale of incredible friendship between eight amazing sled dogs and their guide Jerry (Paul Walker). Stranded in Antarctica during the most unforgiving winter on the planet, Jerry's beloved sled dogs must learn to survive together until Jerry â€" who will stop at nothing -- rescues them. Driven by unwavering bonds of friendship, enormous belief in one another, and tremendous courage, Jerry and the dogs make an incredible journey to reunite in th! is triumphant and inspiring action-adventure the whole family will treasure.Despite a likable cast of humans, it's the canine stars who steal the show in Eight Below, a terrific live-action adventure in the time-honored Disney tradition. Based on a true story that was previously filmed (much differently) as the 1983 Japanese hit Antarctica, this above-average family film takes place in 1993 and focuses on a dog-sled guide at an Antarctic research station (Paul Walker) who is forced by a severe storm to abandon eight beloved sled dogs for the duration of a harsh Antarctic winter. Left to fend for themselves, the rugged and resourceful dogs encounter danger at every turn, surviving for nearly six months while Walker and his closest colleagues (engagingly played by Bruce Greenwood, Moon Bloodgood, and American Pie's Jason Biggs) join forces to mount a daring rescue mission. Having endured similarly extreme conditions on his 1993 film Alive, director! Frank Marshall brings an abundance of natural splendor (and m! inimum u se of digital wizardry) to spectacularly arctic locations in Norway, Greenland and Canada, and Walker (star of The Fast and the Furious) lends an amiable sincerity to his compassionate role. For most viewers, however, it's the remarkable dogs (six Siberian huskies and two malamutes) who make Eight Below so thoroughly entertaining. It's not quite an instant family classic, but it comes pretty doggone close. --Jeff Shannon