Saturday, November 12, 2011

Film Noir Classic Collection, Vol. 3 (Border Incident / His Kind of Woman / Lady in the Lake / On Dangerous Ground / The Racket)

  • Five more film noirics lined up with genre stars such as Robert Mitchum, Robert Montgomery, Robert Ryan, and Jane Russell, are now available in Volume 3 of the Film Noir Classics Collection series. The new 6-Disc DVD set is only available as a collection and includes a bonus documentary disc on the Noir genre. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION Rating: NR Age: 012569761247
Genre: LGBT Action/Adventure
Dangerous Ground; Previous Book: Old Poison

Special Agents for the Department of Diplomatic Security, Taylor MacAllister and Will Brandt have been partners forever and lovers for three months, but their new relationship is threatened when Will is offered a plum two-year assignment in Paris.

Will believes the posting only means postponing what they both want. Taylor fears that kind of separation will mean the end of their new and still-fragile relationship. It’s a! bad time to find themselves in the middle of the New Mexico wilderness responsible for the health and welfare of a suspected terrorist. Especially when everyone else they run into seems determined to see their prisoner -- and them -- dead.

Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: Male/male sexual practices.Genre: LGBT Action/Adventure
Dangerous Ground; Previous Book: Old Poison

Special Agents for the Department of Diplomatic Security, Taylor MacAllister and Will Brandt have been partners forever and lovers for three months, but their new relationship is threatened when Will is offered a plum two-year assignment in Paris.

Will believes the posting only means postponing what they both want. Taylor fears that kind of separation will mean the end of their new and still-fragile relationship. It’s a bad time to find themselves in the middle of the New Mex! ico wilderness responsible for the health and welfare of a sus! pected t errorist. Especially when everyone else they run into seems determined to see their prisoner -- and them -- dead.

Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: Male/male sexual practices.Ice Cube and Elizabeth Hurley in the tale of a South African freedom fighter who returns home after 14 years in exile for his father's funeral. Apartheid is over, but now the drug wars are destroying his people...and his brother is missing in action.An odd combination of consciousness-raising and run-of-the-mill action, Dangerous Ground features Ice Cube, mostly unbelievably, as a one-time South African native named Vusi. Vusi came to America at age 14 to escape police repression, and eventually reinvented himself as an American scholar and community-oriented volunteer. Called back to the old country to bury his father, Vusi discovers the new South Africa under Mandela, but also gets! a snootful of the nation's surge in crime and drug usage. Sent to Johannesburg to retrieve a long-missing brother, Vusi allies himself with a coke-addicted stripper (Elizabeth Hurley) who knows the vanished man. The script and direction by Darrell James Roodt (Cry, the Beloved Country) seems to be serving various masters: viewers interested in epochal changes in South Africa, and viewers who want to kick back and watch a suspense movie about drugs, a hooker, and a nasty crime lord (Ving Rhames). The result is unwieldy, and Cube's thumping performance doesn't do much to bridge the gap. --Tom KeoghGenre: LGBT Action/Adventure Suspense
Series: Dangerous Ground; Previous Book: Blood Heat

Like your heroes tall, dark and dangerous? Meet Loose Id's Men of Mystery.

The boys are back in town -- and Paris is burning!

For Special Agents of the Department of Diplomatic Security, Taylor MacAllister and Will Brandt, the strain ! of a long distance relationship is beginning to tell after ele! ven mont hs of separation. A romantic holiday could be just the thing to bridge the ever-growing distance, but when Taylor spots a terrorist from the 70s, long believed dead but very much alive, it’s c’est la vie.

Now instead of sipping wine and seeing the sights, the boys are chasing a wily and deadly foe through the graveyards and catacombs of Paris.

Of course, it could always be worse -- and soon it is.

Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: male/male sexual practices.Genre: LGBT Action/Adventure Suspense
Series: Dangerous Ground; Previous Book: Blood Heat

Like your heroes tall, dark and dangerous? Meet Loose Id's Men of Mystery.

The boys are back in town -- and Paris is burning!

For Special Agents of the Department of Diplomatic Security, Taylor MacAllister and Will Brandt, the strain of a long distance relationship is begi! nning to tell after eleven months of separation. A romantic holiday could be just the thing to bridge the ever-growing distance, but when Taylor spots a terrorist from the 70s, long believed dead but very much alive, it’s c’est la vie.

Now instead of sipping wine and seeing the sights, the boys are chasing a wily and deadly foe through the graveyards and catacombs of Paris.

Of course, it could always be worse -- and soon it is.

Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: male/male sexual practices.
Somethings hot in Seattle, and its not just the espresso.

The Seattle Steam series.

 Madisons needs are simple. All she wants are two things: Make Ooo La Latt the newest trend in espresso, and seduce the sexiest cop in Seattle. But things arent going exactly as planned. First, Gabes a little hung up on the fact that shes his best friends! little sister, and hes determined to keep his hands off. Seco! nd, her shop gets robbed by the increasingly violent Espresso Bandit, and now shes the only one who can identify him. Gabe whisks her into hiding for her own protection, but soon finds his heart is under assault by the lusciousand persistentMadison. But no matter where they hide, danger follows. On such dangerous grounds, the trick will be to live long enough to keep the flame alive.


Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.


It took almost another hour before she slipped into a light sleep, and instead of being comforted, she found herself reliving the robbery. Except this time, the robber pulled the trigger.

She jerked upright with a cry, dragging the sheets around her. A moment later her door burst open and Gabe's silhouette filled the doorway.

"Maddie?" He shut the door and came over to the bed. "What's wrong? I heard you cry out."

She turned her head away before he could see the shine of tears in! her eyes.

The dream had been too real.

"Did you dream about him?" Gabe asked, his voice soft. "It's all right, Maddie. It's normal. I haven't seen you break down once yet."

"I'm not the type to break down," she mumbled. She urged herself to regain control and not lose it. But the back of her throat burned from choking back the tears, and soon she stopped fighting.

The tears ran down her cheeks and she kept her face averted, trying to hide them.

"Maddie..." He pulled her unresisting body into his arms, sliding back against the bedpost to support them. She buried her head against his chest.

"It's just sexual tension combined with the post-traumatic stress." She tried to laugh and it came out choked. "Nothing to worry about. It'd all go away if you'd just have sex with me."

"You don't need to make it a joke, Maddie," he murmured. "It's nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about."

Wasn't i! t? She hated that she was crying on Gabe's shoulder. He was al! ways so controlled and seemed so kept together. And now, in between pathetic attempts to seduce him, she sat here bawling her eyes out on his chest. His naked chest. Hmm. She hadn't noticed that before.

She blinked the last of her tears away and became quite aware of the rapid pounding of Gabe's heart.

Maybe he wasn't as controlled as he'd have her believe.

She kept her head against his chest. "You're not immune to me, Gabe."

His hand that had been stroking her hair stilled, and then resumed its comforting movements.

"I never said I was."

"Then why--"

"Just sleep, Maddie," he interrupted, his voice gentle. "I'll stay here with you, if you'd like. But only to sleep."

Madison considered her options. Having Gabe in bed with her would be a major temptation to attempt to seduce him again. It'd be better just to send him back to his own bed. But then the thought of being alone, with the possibility o! f more nightmares, made it an obvious choice.

"I'd like you to stay, and I promise not to touch you. Tonight. Deal?"

He gave a soft laugh and maneuvered them so that they were lying down next to each other.

"Deal."Something's hot in Seattle, and it's not just the espresso. Madison's needs are simple. All she wants are two things: Make Ooo La Latte the newest trend in espresso, and seduce the sexiest cop in Seattle. But things aren't going exactly as planned.

First, Gabe's a little hung up on the fact that she's his best friend's little sister, and he's determined to keep his hands off. Second, her shop gets robbed by the increasingly violent Espresso Bandit, and now she's the only one who can identify him.

Gabe whisks her into hiding for her own protection, but soon finds his heart is under assault by the luscious--and persistent--Madison. But no matter where they hide, danger follows. On such dangerous grounds, the trick ! will be to live long enough to keep the flame alive.

Someth! ing's ho t in Seattle, and it's not just the espresso. Madison's needs are simple. All she wants are two things: Make Ooo La Latte the newest trend in espresso, and seduce the sexiest cop in Seattle. But things aren't going exactly as planned.

First, Gabe's a little hung up on the fact that she's his best friend's little sister, and he's determined to keep his hands off. Second, her shop gets robbed by the increasingly violent Espresso Bandit, and now she's the only one who can identify him.

Gabe whisks her into hiding for her own protection, but soon finds his heart is under assault by the luscious--and persistent--Madison. But no matter where they hide, danger follows. On such dangerous grounds, the trick will be to live long enough to keep the flame alive.

The USS Memphis, a dilapidated submarine that that should have been mothballed decades ago, has been given one last mission by the newly elected president. The task: To sneak illegally into Russia's co! astal waters and recon the leaking nuclear fuel containers hidden on the floor of the Arctic Ocean. More than just an environmental nightmare, this radioactive burial ground houses enough nuclear capability to destroy most of America's major cities.
The Memphis's commander, Lowell Hardy, had been looking forward to flag rank and pleasant duty upon the sub's decommissioning. Now he is trapped in an inconceivably dangerous and illegal mission which could easily end his career, if not his life and the lives of his crew. But it's the crew who feel Hardy's tension as he tyrannizes everyone on board to ensure they'll be ready for anything:
Jerry Mitchell: a former naval pilot with political connections, he is a novice submariner, unprepared for his demanding job as a weapons officer. Central to the Memphis's mission, Mitchell may be its greatest liability . . . or its ultimate salvation.
Dr. Joanna Patterson: The senior civilian scientist, appointed by and reporting to! the president, she is a world-class expert on nuclear fuel co! ntaminat ion--and every bit as demanding as Hardy. Patterson and her partner, Dr. Emily Davis, soon find themselves battling flaring tempers, faulty machinery, lethal radioactivity, and the raging arctic seas.
The submariners: Seething with rage at their Captain Bligh-like commander and the equally domineering Joanna Patterson, they are also at war with Jerry Mitchell, and one another. Like the captain, they feel they deserve better, not this antiquated relic, not this hostile scientist, not this novice weapons officer, and definitely not this disastrously dangerous mission.
Nor is the mission what it seems. Lurking beneath the frigid, black, radioactive waters is a secret far more deadly than anything naval command could imagine--a secret so menacing the Russian Fleet is hell-bent on destroying the Memphis and all who sail in her.

JEAN BUTLER as GRANIA
COLIN DUNNE as DIARMUID
TONY KEMP as FINN McCOOL

This thrilling Irish dance drama features Riverd! ance stars Jean Butler and Colin Dunne, who also devised and choreographed the show. Based on the ancient Irish myth of Diarmuid and Grania, it is a dramatic Celtic love story of bravery, betrayal and vengeance. 'Jean Butler and Colin Dunne were the best thing about Riverdance: the Show...Now these superlative dancers have returned to Radio City with their own and infinitely more creative spectacle Dancing on Dangerous Ground...They have come up with one terrific show, filled with a consistent integrity that does not look down on popular appeal.' THE NEW YORK TIMES

'The effect of 28 dancers rapping out intricate rhythms at high volume generates a real theatrical thrill. Tim Hatley's futuristic marble and steel set also creates an ingenious
architecture within which the dancers constantly change formation. Butler and Dunne are without doubt a class act.' THE GUARDIAN, London

Composer SEAMUS EGAN
Director JEREMY STURT
Original Direction LINDSAY DOLANSet and Costumes TIM HATLEY

DARE TO DANCE: Also inc! ludes th e documentary Dare to Dance, the making of Dancing on Dangerous Ground. The artists and producers talk candidly about the creation of the show.
The USS Memphis, a dilapidated submarine that that should have been mothballed decades ago, has been given one last mission by the newly elected president. The task: To sneak illegally into Russia's coastal waters and recon the leaking nuclear fuel containers hidden on the floor of the Arctic Ocean. More than just an environmental nightmare, this radioactive burial ground houses enough nuclear capability to destroy most of America's major cities.
The Memphis's commander, Lowell Hardy, had been looking forward to flag rank and pleasant duty upon the sub's decommissioning. Now he is trapped in an inconceivably dangerous and illegal mission which could easily end his career, if not his life and the lives of his crew. But it's the crew who feel Hardy's tension as he tyrannizes everyone on board to ensure they'll be ready for any! thing:
Jerry Mitchell: a former naval pilot with political connections, he is a novice submariner, unprepared for his demanding job as a weapons officer. Central to the Memphis's mission, Mitchell may be its greatest liability . . . or its ultimate salvation.
Dr. Joanna Patterson: The senior civilian scientist, appointed by and reporting to the president, she is a world-class expert on nuclear fuel contamination--and every bit as demanding as Hardy. Patterson and her partner, Dr. Emily Davis, soon find themselves battling flaring tempers, faulty machinery, lethal radioactivity, and the raging arctic seas.
The submariners: Seething with rage at their Captain Bligh-like commander and the equally domineering Joanna Patterson, they are also at war with Jerry Mitchell, and one another. Like the captain, they feel they deserve better, not this antiquated relic, not this hostile scientist, not this novice weapons officer, and definitely not this disastrously dangero! us mission.
Nor is the mission what it seems. Lurking ben! eath the frigid, black, radioactive waters is a secret far more deadly than anything naval command could imagine--a secret so menacing the Russian Fleet is hell-bent on destroying the Memphis and all who sail in her.

The USS Memphis, a dilapidated submarine that that should have been mothballed decades ago, has been given one last mission by the newly elected president. The task: To sneak illegally into Russia's coastal waters and recon the leaking nuclear fuel containers hidden on the floor of the Arctic Ocean. More than just an environmental nightmare, this radioactive burial ground houses enough nuclear capability to destroy most of America's major cities.
The Memphis's commander, Lowell Hardy, had been looking forward to flag rank and pleasant duty upon the sub's decommissioning. Now he is trapped in an inconceivably dangerous and illegal mission which could easily end his career, if not his life and the lives of his crew. But it's the crew who feel Har! dy's tension as he tyrannizes everyone on board to ensure they'll be ready for anything:
Jerry Mitchell: a former naval pilot with political connections, he is a novice submariner, unprepared for his demanding job as a weapons officer. Central to the Memphis's mission, Mitchell may be its greatest liability . . . or its ultimate salvation.
Dr. Joanna Patterson: The senior civilian scientist, appointed by and reporting to the president, she is a world-class expert on nuclear fuel contamination--and every bit as demanding as Hardy. Patterson and her partner, Dr. Emily Davis, soon find themselves battling flaring tempers, faulty machinery, lethal radioactivity, and the raging arctic seas.
The submariners: Seething with rage at their Captain Bligh-like commander and the equally domineering Joanna Patterson, they are also at war with Jerry Mitchell, and one another. Like the captain, they feel they deserve better, not this antiquated relic, not this hostile scientist, n! ot this novice weapons officer, and definitely not this disast! rously d angerous mission.
Nor is the mission what it seems. Lurking beneath the frigid, black, radioactive waters is a secret far more deadly than anything naval command could imagine--a secret so menacing the Russian Fleet is hell-bent on destroying the Memphis and all who sail in her.

Loretta Brown is mad at herself for not telling her best friend Xavier Johnson about the feelings she has for him; she’s been led to believe that he’s engaged. With the help of her friend Cookie she’ll prove to Xavier that she’s the woman for him.

Xavier has been trying to break out of the “friend zone” with Loretta, for every step she takes toward him she takes two steps back. He understands that she was in an abusive marriage and careful with her feelings, but he’s determined to breach that wall she’s built around her heart.

Unknown to Loretta her life is in danger from a mad man who blames her for his son’s death. Xavier uses all of his cont! acts in high places to ensure her safety, except that one man in question demands something from Xavier that may damage his relationship with Loretta or claim his life.

Excerpt:
Loretta locked the door as soon as she got inside her house. Loretta kicked her shoes off before she made her way into the kitchen. Just as she was reaching for a glass on the shelf she heard a knock at the front door. Who could it be at this time of night?

Loretta walked over to the front door; however, she didn’t open it. “Who is it?”

“It‘s me Loretta, open up.”

Loretta would recognize Xavier’s voice anywhere. She opened the door and let him in. “Xavier what are you doing here at this hour?”

Xavier barely got in the door good before he started talking about her date. “Did you enjoy your date tonight Loretta?” Xavier towered over her as if he was trying to intimidate her.

Loretta put her hands on her hips.! “Xavier I don’t have to ask you or anyone else for permis! sion to go out on a date.”

Xavier realized that he couldn’t intimidate Loretta, so tried another approach. “You know you don’t want him.”

“Since when have you become an authority on my wants and needs? For a man who’s suppose to be getting married, you sure are paying a lot of attention to my dating habits... ”

Xavier cut off Loretta’s tirade by kissing her thoroughly. When Loretta responded, Xavier wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to his body. “Whatever you’re looking for you don’t have to go chasing all over the city I got what you need.”

Loretta was momentarily disoriented. “Xavier I won’t be the other woman.”

“Loretta, you’re the only woman.”

(For Adult Audiences, Sexually Explicit, Romance, Mystery)Loretta Brown is mad at herself for not telling her best friend Xavier Johnson about the feelings she has for him; she’s been led to believe that he’s engaged.! With the help of her friend Cookie she’ll prove to Xavier that she’s the woman for him.

Xavier has been trying to break out of the “friend zone” with Loretta, for every step she takes toward him she takes two steps back. He understands that she was in an abusive marriage and careful with her feelings, but he’s determined to breach that wall she’s built around her heart.

Unknown to Loretta her life is in danger from a mad man who blames her for his son’s death. Xavier uses all of his contacts in high places to ensure her safety, except that one man in question demands something from Xavier that may damage his relationship with Loretta or claim his life.

Excerpt:
Loretta locked the door as soon as she got inside her house. Loretta kicked her shoes off before she made her way into the kitchen. Just as she was reaching for a glass on the shelf she heard a knock at the front door. Who could it be at this time of night?

Loretta walked! over to the front door; however, she didn’t open it. “Who! is it?â €

“It‘s me Loretta, open up.”

Loretta would recognize Xavier’s voice anywhere. She opened the door and let him in. “Xavier what are you doing here at this hour?”

Xavier barely got in the door good before he started talking about her date. “Did you enjoy your date tonight Loretta?” Xavier towered over her as if he was trying to intimidate her.

Loretta put her hands on her hips. “Xavier I don’t have to ask you or anyone else for permission to go out on a date.”

Xavier realized that he couldn’t intimidate Loretta, so tried another approach. “You know you don’t want him.”

“Since when have you become an authority on my wants and needs? For a man who’s suppose to be getting married, you sure are paying a lot of attention to my dating habits... ”

Xavier cut off Loretta’s tirade by kissing her thoroughly. When Loretta responded, Xavier wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to his bod! y. “Whatever you’re looking for you don’t have to go chasing all over the city I got what you need.”

Loretta was momentarily disoriented. “Xavier I won’t be the other woman.”

“Loretta, you’re the only woman.”

(For Adult Audiences, Sexually Explicit, Romance, Mystery)Five more film noir classics lined up with genre stars such as Robert Mitchum, Robert Montgomery, Robert Ryan, and Jane Russell, are now available in Volume 3 of the Film Noir Classics Collection series. The new 6-Disc DVD set is only available as a collection and includes a bonus documentary disc on the Noir genre.Two peak achievements by as many top noir directors ... a customized vehicle for one of noir's premier icons ... an oddball experiment in making a truly "private eye" movie ... and a Howard Hughes remake of his earliest contribution to the gangster genre. Such are the five titles corralled for Warner Home Video's third box set of film noir classics.

For ey! e-popping dynamism coupled with ferocious intensity, no noir d! irector matched Anthony Mann. Border Incident (1949) was Mann's and cinematographer John Alton's first film for MGM following a string of darkly dazzling low-budget beauties at Eagle-Lion (T-Men, Raw Deal, The Black Book, et al.). In structure it's virtually a remake of T-Men, transposed from the shadowy city where a Secret Service team battled counterfeiters, to California's Imperial Valley where the Immigration Service sets out to infiltrate a gang exploiting--and often murdering--Mexicans eager to work the farms. From the opening night scene of three laborers trying to recross the border and meeting a grisly end, the movie relentlessly imagines ways the human body can merge with the earth. Visually stunning, and replete with memorable villains (headed by Howard Da Silva, a past master at making affability lethal), this is one of Mann's strongest noirs and surely his most inventive. Its neglect can be explained only by people's assumption th! at nothing worthwhile could come of a movie top-billing Ricardo Montalban and George Murphy (as the government agents). Wrong, wrong, wrong.

After a scalding first reel in big-city night streets, Nicholas Ray's On Dangerous Ground (RKO, 1951) likewise forsakes familiar noir terrain for the countryside--the mountains and snowfields where city cop Robert Ryan seeks a psychotic killer. For both the actor and the director, Ryan's character is an exemplary creation: a man with personal demons whose overzealous pursuit of criminals has pushed him into sadism. His passage from urban darkness into the silent white mountain country becomes a redemptive journey, thanks largely to his interaction with a blind woman (Ida Lupino) in an isolated farmhouse whose younger brother may be the quarry he's after. Ray developed the screenplay with A.I. Bezzerides under the supervision of producer John Houseman (for whom Ray had made his feature debut, They Live By Night). T! he film boasts a thrilling music score by Bernard Herrmann, an! ticipati ng his great soundtrack for North by Northwest.

His Kind of Woman (also RKO, 1951) is a vehicle for both RKO's reigning bad boy, Robert Mitchum, and Howard Hughes' definitive coup of distaff engineering, Jane Russell. Their characters cross paths en route to a seaside Mexican resort, where she aims to continue her gold-digger pursuit of Hollywood ham Vincent Price, and Mitchum will figure in a plot to get deported mobster Raymond Burr back into the U.S.A. The slow-brewing romance between this dauntingly tall, broad-shouldered pair gives off little heat, but the players' good-natured, weary-pro rapport as they go through their mostly preposterous paces makes for very good fun. Still more is supplied by Price, who just about steals the movie when he gets to extend his subâ€"Errol Flynn screen heroism into real life--all the while supplying his own florid running commentary on the action. The urbane director John Farrow filled the movie with one delicious,! what-the-hell-is-going-on-here scene after another (highlight: a bored Mitchum ironing his money), but that wasn't enough for studio boss Hughes. Richard Fleischer was brought in to stretch the climactic melodrama aboard Burr's yacht in the harbor, and the picture grew to an overblown two hours in length. Not that you're likely to regret a minute of it.

Robert Montgomery directed and played Phillip Marlowe in Lady in the Lake (MGM, 1947), Raymond Chandler's novel as adapted by Steve Fisher (I Wake Up Screaming). The gimmick is that, apart from a few scenes of private detective Marlowe chatting us up in his office, everything is viewed through his eyes, with Marlowe himself remaining unseen unless he glances in a mirror. This literal-minded conceit is more curious than compelling; the camera simply doesn't see the way the human eye does, and the artificiality constantly calls attention to itself. Montgomery, a suave actor who enjoyed pla! ying it coarse and obnoxious on occasion, makes his screen Mar! lowe mor e smartass than any other ("dumb, brave, and cheap"). With him cracking wise off-camera, much of the movie is really carried by Audrey Totter, a swell late-'40s dame who has to stand up under more relentless scrutiny than even her shifty character deserves.

The Racket (RKO, 1951) is the second film version of a 1920s play about municipal corruption, gangsterism, and the attempt to squash an honest police precinct captain. John Cromwell had acted in the original Broadway production, which may help explain why, as director, he let so much of this movie turn back into a play. Eventually studio boss Howard Hughes, who had produced the 1928 film version (directed by Lewis Milestone), once again called in another director to do salvage work.

That was Nicholas Ray, whose scenes include police captain Robert Mitchum's pursuit of the man who has just bombed his home. Mitchum's fellow cast members include Robert Ryan as the ultra-paranoid gangster; husky-voiced noir! blonde Lizabeth Scott as a nightclub thrush romanced by Ryan's brother; future Perry Mason D.A. William Talman as a dedicated street cop; and Ray Collins and William Conrad as two municipal officials negotiating a delicate dance with morality and expediency. --Richard T. Jameson

Be Cool

  • ISBN13: 9780060777067
  • Condition: Used - Very Good
  • Notes: 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Starring an unbelievably hip all-star cast, including John Travolta, Uma Thurman, André 3000, Steven Tyler and The Rock, and bursting with the hottest music in the biz, Be Cool is the wildly hilarious tale about a gangster turned music mogul and what it takes to be number one with a bullet. When Chili Palmer (Travolta) decides to try his hand in the music industry, he romances thesultry widow (Thurman) of a recently whacked music exec, poaches a hot young singer (Christina Milian) from a rival label and discovers that the record industry is packin' a whole lot more than a tune!Be Cool takes its own advice: It's slick, Hollywood entertainment that kills two amusing hours with relative ease and comfort. Bett! er than leftovers but not as tasty as a full-course meal, this sequel to 1995's hit comedy Get Shorty (and based on Elmore Leonard's 1999 sequel novel) finds former loan shark Chili Palmer (John Travolta) itching to get out of the movie business, so he hooks up with a newly widowed music executive (Uma Thurman) to launch the career of an up-'n-coming Beyoncé-like singer (newcomer Christina Milian). A mock-black manager (Vince Vaughn), his sleazy boss (Harvey Keitel), and an upscale gangsta-rap executive (Cedric the Entertainer) all have a competing stake in the fast-rising pop diva's future, and this sets the plot rolling in a fun but rather hand-me-down fashion that lacks the savvy panache of Get Shorty but still provides plenty of lightweight humor. The Rock and Outkast's André Benjamin provide the best laughs in supporting roles that effortlessly relieve the movie from the symptoms of sequelitis. --Jeff ShannonStudio: Tcfhe/mgm Release Date: 07/05! /2011 Rating: Pg13Starring an unbelievably hip all-star cast,! includi ng John Travolta, Uma Thurman, André 3000, Steven Tyler and The Rock, and bursting with the hottest music in the biz, Be Cool is the wildly hilarious tale about a gangster turned music mogul and what it takes to be number one with a bullet. When Chili Palmer (Travolta) decides to try his hand in the music industry, he romances thesultry widow (Thurman) of a recently whacked music exec, poaches a hot young singer (Christina Milian) from a rival label and discovers that the record industry is packin' a whole lot more than a tune!Be Cool takes its own advice: It's slick, Hollywood entertainment that kills two amusing hours with relative ease and comfort. Better than leftovers but not as tasty as a full-course meal, this sequel to 1995's hit comedy Get Shorty (and based on Elmore Leonard's 1999 sequel novel) finds former loan shark Chili Palmer (John Travolta) itching to get out of the movie business, so he hooks up with a newly widowed music executive (Uma Thurm! an) to launch the career of an up-'n-coming Beyoncé-like singer (newcomer Christina Milian). A mock-black manager (Vince Vaughn), his sleazy boss (Harvey Keitel), and an upscale gangsta-rap executive (Cedric the Entertainer) all have a competing stake in the fast-rising pop diva's future, and this sets the plot rolling in a fun but rather hand-me-down fashion that lacks the savvy panache of Get Shorty but still provides plenty of lightweight humor. The Rock and Outkast's André Benjamin provide the best laughs in supporting roles that effortlessly relieve the movie from the symptoms of sequelitis. --Jeff ShannonDisc 1: GET SHORTY Disc 2: BE COOL

The sequel to Chili Palmer's hit movie Get Leo tanked and now Chili's itching for a comeback. So when a power lunch with record-label executive and former associate Tommy Athens ends in a mob hit, he soon finds himself in an unlikely alliance with organized-crime detective Darryl Holmes and the likely next ! target of Russian gangsters. But where others see danger, Chil! i Palmer sees story possibilities.

Enter Linda Moon, a singer with aspirations that go further than her current gig in a Spice Girls cover band. Chili takes over as Linda's manager, entering the world of rock stars, pop divas, and hip-hop gangstas. As he wings his way to success in the music business with his trademark cool, Chili manipulates his adversaries and advances his friends, all the while basing the plot of his new film on the action that results. Be Cool is rife with drama, jealousy, and betrayal, and all Chili needs to do is survive to make a new box-office hit.

The film Get Shorty was a success on many fronts. It introduced a new style of hip gangster that revised the stereotype of the Godfather series. It also helped relaunch the career of John Travolta. And it brought Elmore Leonard's impressive body of fiction to larger public attention. In Hollywood, such a triumph usually spawns a sequel--a film that rehashes the great jokes an! d cool scenes of the first film, but with none of the panache that initially inspired audiences.

In the beginning of Be Cool, the sequel to the novel Get Shorty, readers are reminded that Chili Palmer--like his creator--scored a huge success with a gangster film (his was entitled Get Leo). But the sequel, Get Lost, was a predictable dud. Rather than follow that sordid story, however, Leonard takes Chili into a totally new direction. He places Chili on a murder investigation (in which he is a prime suspect) and then traces Chili's entry into the music business. Meanwhile, Leonard reveals a whole new cast of fresh, funny, and flaky characters to populate Chili's world, characters like Elliot the gigantic, gay, Samoan bodyguard who lives to be on the stage. Throughout, the voice of John Travolta rings in Chili's every speech (word has it that Travolta has already been cast to reprise the role) as Leonard pokes fun at the Hollywood ! apparatus and the task of a sequel writer.

Be Cool surp asses its original because it is so self-consciously a novel about sequels, about the sometimes cowardice that limits the creativity of the American film industry. It is hard to imagine how Leonard could top the multilayered satire/crime novel/exposé. One only hopes for a sequel. Fans of Be Cool might want to check out music from The Stone Coyotes, the band that served as Leonard's model in the book. --Patrick O'Kelley

"F" is for Fugitive (Kinsey Millhone Mysteries)

  • ISBN13: 9780312939045
  • Condition: New
  • Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

Forever altered by his experience in Furnace Penetentiary, Alex has done the impossible and escaped. But the battle for freedom is only just beginning. Charged with his superhuman abilities, Alex must uncover the last of Furnace’s secretsâ€"the truth about the man who built the prison, the man known as Alfred Furnace. And to do that he must stop running and finally confront his greatest fears.

When Kinsey Millhone first arrives in Floral Beach, California, it's hard for her to picture the idyllic coastal town as the setting of a brutal murder. Seventeen years ago, the body of Jean Timberlake--a troubled teen who had a reputation with the boys--was found on the beach.! Her boyfriend Bailey Fowler was convicted of her murder and imprisoned, but he escaped.

After all this time, Bailey's finally been captured. Believing in his son's innocence, Bailey's father wants Kinsey to find Jean's real killer. But most of the residents in this tight-knit community are convinced Bailey strangled Jean. So why are they so reluctant to answer Kinsey's questions? If there's one thing Kinsey's got plenty of it's persistence. And that's exactly what it's going to take to crack the lid on this case.

As Kinsey gets closer to solving Jean's murder, the more dirty little secrets she uncovers in a town where everyone has something to hide--and a killer will kill again to keep the past buried...

The Encyclopedia of Small Business Forms and Agreements: A Complete Kit of Ready-to-Use Business Checklists, Worksheets, Forms, Contracts, and Human Resource Documents With Companion CD-ROM

  • ISBN13: 9781601382481
  • Condition: New
  • Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

Those who wish they had a resource in which every possible small business form and agreement they have ever encountered was located can breathe a sigh of relief. The Encyclopedia of Small Business Forms and Agreements is the answer, as it will provide small business owners with ready-to-use checklists, worksheets, forms, contracts, and human resource documents. Inside these pages you will find over 250 essential documents for all your hiring, firing, intellectual property, Internet, technology, legal, merger, acquisition, money, fundraising, sales, marketing, and starting a business needs. In essence, this book is a small business survival kit packed with materials you can use for every aspect of yo! ur job.

This encyclopedia and companion CD-ROM focuses on the issues, situations, and tasks that you, as a small business owner, face every day when running your business, such as incorporation, board and shareholder resolutions, partnership agreements, business plans, insurance, employee applications, employment policies, termination, job descriptions, employee benefits, sales and service contracts, bills of sale, invoices, press releases, raising capital, venture capital, license agreements, confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements, letters of intent, term sheets, domain names, e-commerce contracts, release forms, demand letters, litigation, and arbitration.

Included in this comprehensive book are hundreds of easy-to-implement tools, contracts, forms, and checklists that will help you organize your business and make it easier to manage while increasing your bottom line. With its professionally organized format, this book takes you step by step through t! he valuable forms, which may be easily printed out and customi! zed, tha nks to the convenient companion CD-ROM. <\p>

Armageddon

  • When an asteroid the size of Texas is headed for Earth, the worlds best deep core drilling team is sent to nuke the rock from the inside.Starring: Ben Affleck, Steve Buscemi, Keith David, Will Patton, PeterStormare, Billy Bob Thornton, Liv Tyler, and Bruce Willis.Directed By: Michael BayRunning Time: 2 hrs. 31 mins.This film is presented in "Widescreen" format.Copyright 1999 Buena Vista Format
In DEEP IMPACT, Leo Beiderman (Elijah Wood), joins a field study for his high school's Astronomy Club and discovers a new comet that unfortunately is headed for Earth. While scientists build a cave to prevent the extinction of the human race, they estimate that only 800,000 people can be selected to survive the "Deep Impact." The threat of a comet ending the world quickly sends Americans into a panic until the president announces a plan to send astronauts on a mission to destroy the comet before it rea! ches earth.A great big rock hits the earth, and lots of people die. That's pretty much all there is to it, and most of that was in the trailer. Can a major Hollywood movie really squeak by with such a slender excuse for a premise? The old disaster-movie king, cheese-meister Irwin Allen (The Poseidon Adventure, Earthquake), would have made a kitsch classic out of this, with Charlton Heston, rather than a resigned and mumbly Robert Duvall, as the veteran astronaut who risks several lives trying to blow up the comet that's headed right this way! As stiffly directed by Mimi Leder, this thick slice of ham errs on the side of solemnity. It may the be most earnest end-of-the-world picture since Stanley Kramer's atomic-doom drama On the Beach. There are a couple of classic melodramatic flourishes: an estranged father and daughter who share a tearful reconciliation as a Godzilla-sized tidal wave looms on the horizon; and an astronaut, communicating on vi! deo with his loved ones back on Earth, who follows whispered i! nstructi ons from a buddy lurking just off camera--so that his little boy won't realize that he's been struck blind. With Morgan Freeman as the president of the United States. --David ChuteDEEP IMPACT - Blu-Ray MovieA great big rock hits the earth, and lots of people die. That's pretty much all there is to it, and most of that was in the trailer. Can a major Hollywood movie really squeak by with such a slender excuse for a premise? The old disaster-movie king, cheese-meister Irwin Allen (The Poseidon Adventure, Earthquake), would have made a kitsch classic out of this, with Charlton Heston, rather than a resigned and mumbly Robert Duvall, as the veteran astronaut who risks several lives trying to blow up the comet that's headed right this way! As stiffly directed by Mimi Leder, this thick slice of ham errs on the side of solemnity. It may the be most earnest end-of-the-world picture since Stanley Kramer's atomic-doom drama On the Beach. There are a! couple of classic melodramatic flourishes: an estranged father and daughter who share a tearful reconciliation as a Godzilla-sized tidal wave looms on the horizon; and an astronaut, communicating on video with his loved ones back on Earth, who follows whispered instructions from a buddy lurking just off camera--so that his little boy won't realize that he's been struck blind. With Morgan Freeman as the president of the United States. --David ChuteA great big rock hits the earth, and lots of people die. That's pretty much all there is to it, and most of that was in the trailer. Can a major Hollywood movie really squeak by with such a slender excuse for a premise? The old disaster-movie king, cheese-meister Irwin Allen (The Poseidon Adventure, Earthquake), would have made a kitsch classic out of this, with Charlton Heston, rather than a resigned and mumbly Robert Duvall, as the veteran astronaut who risks several lives trying to blow up the comet that's ! headed right this way! As stiffly directed by Mimi Lede! r, this thick slice of ham errs on the side of solemnity. It may the be most earnest end-of-the-world picture since Stanley Kramer's atomic-doom drama On the Beach. There are a couple of classic melodramatic flourishes: an estranged father and daughter who share a tearful reconciliation as a Godzilla-sized tidal wave looms on the horizon; and an astronaut, communicating on video with his loved ones back on Earth, who follows whispered instructions from a buddy lurking just off camera--so that his little boy won't realize that he's been struck blind. With Morgan Freeman as the president of the United States. --David ChuteA great big rock hits the earth, and lots of people die. That's pretty much all there is to it, and most of that was in the trailer. Can a major Hollywood movie really squeak by with such a slender excuse for a premise? The old disaster-movie king, cheese-meister Irwin Allen (The Poseidon Adventure, Earthquake), would have made a kitsch c! lassic out of this, with Charlton Heston, rather than a resigned and mumbly Robert Duvall, as the veteran astronaut who risks several lives trying to blow up the comet that's headed right this way! As stiffly directed by Mimi Leder, this thick slice of ham errs on the side of solemnity. It may the be most earnest end-of-the-world picture since Stanley Kramer's atomic-doom drama On the Beach. There are a couple of classic melodramatic flourishes: an estranged father and daughter who share a tearful reconciliation as a Godzilla-sized tidal wave looms on the horizon; and an astronaut, communicating on video with his loved ones back on Earth, who follows whispered instructions from a buddy lurking just off camera--so that his little boy won't realize that he's been struck blind. With Morgan Freeman as the president of the United States. --David ChuteFrom the blockbuster-making team who produced and directed PEARL HARBOR and THE ROCK (Jerry Bruckheimer and ! Michael Bay) comes the biggest movie of 1998 -- ARMAGEDDON! St! arring t he explosive talents of Bruce Willis (DIE HARD), Academy Award(R)-winners Ben Affleck (GOOD WILL HUNTING) and Billy Bob Thornton (SLING BLADE), Liv Tyler (INVENTING THE ABBOTTS), Steve Buscemi (CON AIR), and Will Patton (INVENTING THE ABBOTTS), ARMAGEDDON is a meteor storm of action-adventure moviemaking that has you on the edge of your seat forgetting to breathe! When NASA's executive director, Dan Truman (Thornton), realizes the Earth has 18 days before it's obliterated by a meteor the size of Texas, he has only one option -- land a ragtag team of roughneck oil drillers on the asteroid and drop a nuclear warhead into its core. Spectacular special effects, laugh-out-loud humor, great characters, riveting storytelling, and heartfelt emotion make ARMAGEDDON an exhilarating thrill ride you'll want to experience like there's no tomorrow.The latest testosterone-saturated blow-'em-up from producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Michael Bay (The Rock, Bad Boys) conti! nues Hollywood's millennium-fueled fascination with the destruction of our planet. There's no arguing that the successful duo understands what mainstream American audiences want in their blockbuster movies--loads of loud, eye-popping special effects, rapid-fire pacing, and patriotic flag waving. Bay's protagonists--the eight crude, lewd, oversexed (but lovable, of course) oil drillers summoned to save the world from a Texas-sized meteor hurling toward the earth--are not flawless heroes, but common men with whom all can relate. In this huge Western-in-space soap opera, they're American cowboys turned astronauts. Sci-fi buffs will appreciate Bay's fetishizing of technology, even though it's apparent he doesn't understand it as anything more than flashing lights and shiny gadgets. Smartly, the duo also tries to lure the art-house crowd, raiding the local indie acting stable and populating the film with guys like Steve Buscemi, Billy Bob Thornton, Owen Wilson, and Michael Dunc! an, all adding needed touches of humor and charisma. When Bay ! applies his sledgehammer aesthetics to the action portions of the film, it's mindless fun; it's only when Armageddon tackles humanity that it becomes truly offensive. Not since Mississippi Burning have racial and cultural stereotypes been substituted for characters so blatantly--African Americans, Japanese, Chinese, Scottish, Samoans, Muslims, French ... if it's not white and American, Bay simplifies it. Or, make that white male America; the film features only three notable females--four if you count the meteor, who's constantly referred to as a "bitch that needs drillin'," but she's a hell of a lot more developed and unpredictable than the other women characters combined. Sure, Bay's film creates some tension and contains some visceral moments, but if he can't create any redeemable characters outside of those in space, what's the point of saving the planet? --Dave McCoyThe 1998 testosterone-saturated blow-'em-up from producer Jerry Bruckheimer and direct! or Michael Bay (The Rock, Bad Boys) continues Hollywood's millennium-fueled fascination with the destruction of our planet. There's no arguing that the successful duo understands what mainstream American audiences want in their blockbuster movies--loads of loud, eye-popping special effects, rapid- fire pacing, and patriotic flag waving. Bay's protagonists--the eight crude, lewd, oversexed (but lovable, of course) oil drillers summoned to save the world from a Texas-sized meteor hurling toward the earth--are not flawless heroes, but common men with whom all can relate. In this huge Western-in-space soap opera, they're American cowboys turned astronauts. Sci-fi buffs will appreciate Bay's fetishizing of technology, even though it's apparent he doesn't understand it as anything more than flashing lights and shiny gadgets. Smartly, the duo also tries to lure the art-house crowd, raiding the local indie acting stable and populating the film with guys like Steve Bus! cemi, Billy Bob Thornton, Owen Wilson, and Michael Duncan, all! adding needed touches of humor and charisma. When Bay applies his sledgehammer aesthetics to the action portions of the film, it's mindless fun; it's only when Armageddon tackles humanity that it becomes truly offensive. Not since Mississippi Burning have racial and cultural stereotypes been substituted for characters so blatantly--African Americans, Japanese, Chinese, Scottish, Samoans, Muslims, French ... if it's not white and American, Bay simplifies it. Or, make that white male America; the film features only three notable females--four if you count the meteor, who's constantly referred to as a "bitch that needs drillin'," but she's a hell of a lot more developed and unpredictable than the other women characters combined. Sure, Bay's film creates some tension and contains some visceral moments, but if he can't create any redeemable characters outside of those in space, what's the point of saving the planet? --Dave McCoy

Warning: Beware of the Embalmer Mousepad

  • Typically ships the NEXT business day!
  • 9.3"L x 7.8"W x 0.3"H
  • This is Machine Washable. Colors will Not Fade, Run, or Discolor
  • This smooth mousepad is made with a Polyester Surface
  • This fun mouse pad is made with a neoprene Rubber Backing to prevent mouse pad from slipping.
Combines the 1996 'There Was Blood Everywhere' 7" EP & the 1993 'Rotting Remains' demo for the first time on CD.A CRAZED KILLER IS ON THE LOOSE IN THE CATACOMBS OF VENICE, ITALY. HE STALKS BEAUTIFUL WOMEN, DRAGS THEM TO HIS UNDERGROUND LAIR, KILLS THEM, THEN STUFFS THEM AND ADDS THEM TO HIS 'COLLECTION.'A drama series from the creator of Doll centered around an embalmer in Japan. As with all Mitsukazu Mihara manga, The Embalmer features some creative episodic stories, this time around with a life and death theme.The Embalmer is about one man’s journey to overcome his Claustrophobic disease ! so that he can support his wife and kids. After obtaining a job at a funeral home Tome Sindler experiences what no claustrophobic person would ever envision happening to them â€" love, sacrifice and betrayal.
The Embalmer is about one man’s journey to overcome his Claustrophobic disease so that he can support his wife and kids. After obtaining a job at a funeral home Tome Sindler experiences what no claustrophobic person would ever envision happening to them â€" love, sacrifice and betrayal.
The Embalmer is the official publication of the British Institute of Embalmers.The Design/Saying is printed on the mouse pad, we use the newest & best technology to print the design with great inks that are cured into the product. This new high tech way of producing garments and mouse pads is very fade resistant. WE DO NOT USE TRANSFERS. It is great, since you dont have that thick transfer feeling. The feel is very smooth. T-ShirtFrenzy offers over 30,000 designs on tons ! of products to offer millions of variations. You can search o! ur store for something for everyone on your gift list or shop for yourself (our personal favorite). Please contact us with questions.

Creation [Blu-Ray]

  • UK Import
  • Region-Free
  • Blu-ray
From director Jon Amiel ("The Singing Detective," ENTRAPMENT) and writer John Collee (MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD) comes CREATION. A psychological, heart-wrenching love story starring Paul Bettany (A BEAUTIFUL MIND, MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD) as Charles Darwin, the film is based on “Annie’s Box,” a biography penned by Darwin’s great-great-grandson Randal Keynes using personal letters and diaries of the Darwin family. We take a unique and inside look at Darwin, his family and his love for his deeply religious wife, played by Jennifer Connelly (A BEAUTIFUL MIND, REQUIEM FOR A DREAM), as, torn between faith and science, Darwin struggles to finish his legendary book “On the Origin of Species,” which goes on to become the foundation for evolutionary biology. The film co-stars Toby Jones (FROST/NIX! ON, INFAMOUS) and Jeremy Northam (GOSFORD PARK, AMISTAD), and was produced by Jeremy Thomas (THE LAST EMPEROR, SEXY BEAST) at Recorded Picture Company with BBC Films and Ocean Pictures.More than 150 years after its publication, Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species and its theory of natural selection remain the subject of much debate; the divide between those who accept Darwin's ideas as incontrovertible science and those who consider them blasphemous may be wider now than ever. Released in 2009, director Jon Amiel's Creation goes right to the heart of the matter--indeed, right to the heart of Darwin himself. As portrayed by Paul Bettany, the Darwin who has returned to England following his voyage aboard HMS Beagle is a man for whom "deeply conflicted" is a barely adequate description. Well aware his theory is "perhaps the most powerful idea ever to occur to a human mind," he is caught between the scientists who insist that he has "killed God" and t! he religious conservatives, including his wife Emma (Jennifer ! Connelly ), who counter that his very soul will be in peril if he finishes and publishes his book. What's more, he is haunted, sometimes literally, by the death of his favorite child, Annie (seen in frequent flashbacks), and its effect on his marriage--in fact, it is this personal angle that dominates the film. But while the toll his work has taken on his health, his faith, his family, and his very sanity is obvious, he also knows that it is far too important to ignore. Creation is not a documentary; liberties have been taken, and there are multiple sequences, including Darwin's nightmarish fever dreams, that are clearly the invention of the filmmakers. But Bettany and Connelly, who are a real-life couple, are both superb; the cinematography is gorgeous; and various scenes illustrating the notion of "survival of the fittest" in nature are riveting (there won't be a dry eye in the house when Darwin tells his dying daughter about the fate of an orangutan captured in Borneo). And! while the tone of the film would seem to favor science over religion, the DVD includes numerous bonus features in which both sides have their say. This one is not to be missed. --Sam Graham

Stills from Creation (Click for larger image)



A sweeping novel of politics, war, philosophy, and adventureâ€"in a restored edition, featuring never-before-published material from Gore Vidal’s original manuscriptâ€"Creation offers a captivating grand tour of the ancient world.
Cyrus Spitama, grandson of the prophet Zoroaster and lifelong friend of Xerxes, spent most of his life as Persian ambassador for the great king Darius. He traveled to India, where he discussed nirvana with Buddha, and to the warring states of Cathay, where he learned of Tao from Master Li and fished on the riverbank with Confucius. Now blind and aged in Athensâ€"the Athens of Pericles, Sophocles, Thucydides, Herodotus, and Socratesâ€"Cyrus recounts his days as he strives to resolve the fundamental questions that have guided his life’s journeys: how the universe was created, and why evil was created with good. In revisiting the fifth century b! .c.â€"one of the most spectacular periods in historyâ€"Gore Vidal illuminates the ideas that have shaped civilizations for millennia.
In 445 B.C., Cyrus Spitama, the grandson of the prophet Zoroaster, is the Persian ambassador to the city of Athens. He has a rather caustic appreciation of his situation: "I am blind. But I am not deaf. Because of the incompleteness of my misfortune, I was obliged yesterday to listen for nearly six hours to a self-styled historian whose account of what the Athenians like to call 'the Persian Wars' was nonsense of a sort that were I less old and more privileged, I would have risen to my seat at the Odeon and scandalized all Athens by answering him." Having thus dismissed Herodotus, Cyrus then dictates his life story to his nephew, Democritus, with similar disdain for the Greeks--whom we in the modern world have come to view as the progenitors of civilization, but whom Cyrus considers to be bad-smelling rabble.

Of co! urse, Cyrus Spitama speaks with a very modern, ironic voice s! upplied to him by Gore Vidal--and the political intrigues in which Cyrus finds himself immersed are likewise familiar territory for fans of Vidal's historical fiction. But the narrator's delightfully wicked observations are the icing on a narrative of truly epic scope--out of his desire to understand the origins of the world, Cyrus undertakes journeys to India, where he encounters disciples of the Buddha, and China, where he engages Confucius in philosophical conversation while the great sage fishes by the riverside. Creation offers insights into classical history laced with scintillating wit and narrative brio. Real-life couple Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly star as Charles Darwin and his wife in this biographical drama. Set before the publication of "On The Origin Of Species", 'Creation' finds Darwin grieving over the death of his daughter and feeling far away from his wife.More than 150 years after its publication, Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species! and its theory of natural selection remain the subject of much debate; the divide between those who accept Darwin's ideas as incontrovertible science and those who consider them blasphemous may be wider now than ever. Released in 2009, director Jon Amiel's Creation goes right to the heart of the matter--indeed, right to the heart of Darwin himself. As portrayed by Paul Bettany, the Darwin who has returned to England following his voyage aboard HMS Beagle is a man for whom "deeply conflicted" is a barely adequate description. Well aware his theory is "perhaps the most powerful idea ever to occur to a human mind," he is caught between the scientists who insist that he has "killed God" and the religious conservatives, including his wife Emma (Jennifer Connelly), who counter that his very soul will be in peril if he finishes and publishes his book. What's more, he is haunted, sometimes literally, by the death of his favorite child, Annie (seen in frequent fla! shbacks), and its effect on his marriage--in fact, it is this ! personal angle that dominates the film. But while the toll his work has taken on his health, his faith, his family, and his very sanity is obvious, he also knows that it is far too important to ignore. Creation is not a documentary; liberties have been taken, and there are multiple sequences, including Darwin's nightmarish fever dreams, that are clearly the invention of the filmmakers. But Bettany and Connelly, who are a real-life couple, are both superb; the cinematography is gorgeous; and various scenes illustrating the notion of "survival of the fittest" in nature are riveting (there won't be a dry eye in the house when Darwin tells his dying daughter about the fate of an orangutan captured in Borneo). And while the tone of the film would seem to favor science over religion, the DVD includes numerous bonus features in which both sides have their say. This one is not to be missed. --Sam Graham

Stills from Creation (Click f! or larger image)