Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Dig!

  • Running Time 107 Min System Requirements: Filmed over seven years (1996-2002) and culled from over 1500 hours of footage by rising director Ondi Timoner, DIG! plunges into the underbelly of rock n roll unearthing an amazing true tale of success, self destruction, friendship, and the ultimate rivalry between two up-and-coming bands; Brian Jonestown Massacre led by the tormented, self-destructi
Seven years in the making and culled from over 1500 hours of footage, DIG! plunges into the underbelly of rock ‘n’ roll, unearthing an incredible true story of success and self-destruction. Anton A. Newcombe of the Brian Jonestown Massacre and Courtney Taylor of the Dandy Warhols are star-crossed friends and bitter rivals â€" DIG! is the story of their loves and obsessions, gigs and recordings, arrests and death threats, uppers and downers, and the delicate balance between art and commerce.

Italian fabulist Italo Calvino observed that there are two kinds of artists--those who are prolific and successful, and the tortured geniuses, each gazing at the other in deep jealousy and admiration. The two rock bands chronicled in the documentary DiG! fall easily into this equation. On the side of the tortured geniuses is the Brian Jonestown Massacre, led by the psychedelic and volatile Anton Newcombe. Portland's the Dandy Warhols, fronted by Courtney Taylor, fulfill the role of the artists who, while unable to plumb the artistic depths of their friendly rivals, achieve a fair degree of popular acclaim (in Europe, anywa! y). Shot over seven years and containing some astonishingly in! timate f ootage, the film represents a labor of love for director Ondi Timoner, who befriended, lived, and traveled with the bands. DiG! will likely be most remembered for a remarkable scene of rock and roll implosion--a show in LA's Viper Room after which the Brian Jonestown Massacre were expected to ink a record deal. Instead, the band erupted in a fist fight onstage. Among themselves.

Does it go uphill or downhill from here? Depends on your definition of the terms. While! dooming their careers, the Brian Jonestown Massacre manage to crank out an insane number of self-distributed albums--including three records in a single year. Courtney Taylor and the Dandies regard the musical output of their peers worshipfully and find themselves virtually ignored stateside but huge stars across the pond. While tens of thousands of fans in Germany and the UK sing along to every word at sold-out festivals headlined by the Dandies, Newscombe leads his crew in a nine-hour set in a dingy club for an audience of ten. Throughout the film there are controlled substances imbibed, clothing shed, sitars broken, punches thrown, arrests made. Taylor performs double duty as narrator of the film, begging the question of whether to accept his assertion that he fronts "the most well-adjusted band in America" at face value. The destined-for-greater-things Joel Gion, BJM's tambourine player, is the thief of every scene in which he appears, playing Flavor Flav to Newscombe'! s Chuck D. For those who want even more immersion, the DVD inc! ludes th e option to "zoom," or expand, various scenes--a very cool feature. Those responsible for the hilarious excesses of DiG! have made a movie worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as This Is Spinal Tap, as mixed an honor as that might be.

DVD Features

The second of this set's two discs is practically its own sequel. Director Ondi Timoner had 1500 hours of footage to work with, so there was plenty of good material left on the cutting-room floor that found its way onto this supplemental disc. The deleted scenes include an unintentionally haunting pre-9/11 interview on a New York! rooftop with BJM's Anton Newcombe; the twin towers loom behind the singer as he attempts to justify singing about love yet engaging in violence, drawing tenuous parallels between himself and militant prophets throughout history. This, and Newcombe's delight in listening to Charles Manson's musical recordings, is about as heavy as it gets, though. Other extras include various videos by the bands, with the conspicuous absence of the Dandy Warhol's David LaChapelle-directed "Not if You Were the Last Junkie on Earth." (The omission is understandable in light of the Dandies' sour grapes over the $400,000 video.) The Where Are They Now features find various members of the bands a little older and reflective, with new families and new gigs, reminiscing fondly on the seven years spent under Timoner's watchful spycam. As is the case with the film proper, the mood picks up whenever Joel Gion appears. When is this guy going to get his own talk show? For fans of Timoner's commentary o! n disc 1 there is--get this--footage of the director and her p! artners recording that commentary. Why there's no footage of Timoner watching and commenting on the footage of herself recording the commentary is anyone's guess. --Ryan Boudinot

Dig These Discs by the Brian Jonestown Massacre


Tepid Peppermint Wonderland: A Retrospective

Strung Out in Heaven

Bravery Repetition & Noise

And This Is Our Music

Thank God for Mental Illness

Bringing It All Back Home Again

Dig These Discs by the Dandy Warhols


Welcome to the Monkey House

Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia

The Dandy Warhols Come Down

Dig These Documentaries (and One Classic Mockumentary) on DVD

!


This Is Spinal Tap (Special Edition)

Metallica: Some Kind of Monster

Hype

X (The Band): The Unheard Music

End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones

Gimme Shelter


Sunday, December 4, 2011

Cheri

  • Brand new DVD
Stephen Frears… makes thoroughly professional and immensely entertaining stories that pay particular attention to characters, their flaws, emotions and deepest desires. In Cheri, he has another dandy.  The chemistry between Pfeiffer and Friend is positively combustible. One feels the hunger in each, the rising physical passion and emotional vulnerability in two people who, if asked, would scorn love as a human weakness.

Darius Khondji’s mood-catching cinematography, Consolata Boyle’s eye-catching costumes and Alan MacDonald’s gorgeous sets are all entertainment in themselves. But the greatest contribution comes from composer Alexandre Desplat whose nostalgic, romantic, melancholy score evokes the period perfectly.
                                                                  !                                           - Kirk Honeycutt, The Hollywood Reporter

Filled with luxurious gowns and lush grounds, Stephen Frears's Colette adaptation depicts an affair too perfect to last. Parisian courtesan Lea de Lonval (Michelle Pfeiffer) retains her good looks and has invested her earnings wisely, so her colleague, Madame Peloux (Kathy Bates), persuades Lea to celebrate the inception of her retirement by teaching the Madame’s self-centered son, Chéri (Rupert Friend, recalling T.Rex's tousle-haired Marc Bolan), how to treat a lady. Lea, who has known Chéri his entire life, has genuine affection for the unformed lad, although, as she quips, "I can't criticize his character, mainly because he doesn't seem to have one." To her surprise, their weekend in Normandy turns into a six-year-relationship. Then, Madame Peloux announces that she has found an appropriate 18-year-old bride for her now-reformed 25-ye! ar-old boy. Afraid to admit the depth of their feelings for ea! ch other , the duo grudgingly goes along with the plan since Belle Époque society demands that a proper gentleman marry a proper lady, and Lea realizes that matrimony to a man half her age isn't an option. But real love--even the co-dependent kind--can't be banished quite so easily as a bad habit. Frears and Oscar-winning screenwriter Christopher Hampton, adapting Chéri and The Last of Chéri, previously collaborated with Pfeiffer on Dangerous Liaisons, but their reunion is a comparatively somber affair that comes recommended more for fans of the actress, who gives the role her all, than for fans of the filmmaker, whose direction feels perfunctory, particularly during the blink-and-you'll-miss-it epilogue. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

American History X

  • Edward Norton's Academy Award nominated role as a White Supremist who sees the error of his ways while jailed for murder. Unfortunately, he leaves prison to find his brother (Edward Furlong) heading down the same path.Running Time: 119 min. System Requirements: Directed by Tony Kaye Writing credits David McKenna Cast overview, first billed only: Edward Norton, Edward Furlong, Beverly D Angelo,
Edward Norton's Academy Award nominated role as a White Supremist who sees the error of his ways while jailed for murder. Unfortunately, he leaves prison to find his brother (Edward Furlong) heading down the same path.

DVD Features:
Biographies
Deleted Scenes
Filmographies
Interactive Menus
Production Notes
Scene Access
Theatrical Trailer

Perhaps the highest compliment you can pay to Edward Norton is that his Oscar-nom! inated performance in American History X nearly convinces you that there is a shred of logic in the tenets of white supremacy. If that statement doesn't horrify you, it should; Norton is so fully immersed in his role as a neo-Nazi skinhead that his character's eloquent defense of racism is disturbingly persuasive--at least on the surface. Looking lean and mean with a swastika tattoo and a mind full of hate, Derek Vinyard (Norton) has inherited racism from his father, and that learning has been intensified through his service to Cameron (Stacy Keach), a grown-up thug playing tyrant and teacher to a growing band of disenfranchised teens from Venice Beach, California, all hungry for an ideology that fuels their brooding alienation.

The film's basic message--that hate is learned and can be unlearned--is expressed through Derek's kid brother, Danny (Edward Furlong), whose sibling hero-worship increases after Derek is imprisoned (or, in Danny's mind, martyred) for the! killing of two black men. Lacking Derek's gift of rebel rheto! ric, Dan ny is easily swayed into the violent, hateful lifestyle that Derek disowns during his thoughtful time in prison. Once released, Derek struggles to save his brother from a violent fate, and American History X partially suffers from a mix of intense emotions, awkward sentiment, and predictably inevitable plotting. And yet British director Tony Kaye (who would later protest against Norton's creative intervention during post-production) manages to juggle these qualities--and a compelling clash of visual styles--to considerable effect. No matter how strained their collaboration may have been, both Kaye and Norton can be proud to have created a film that addresses the issue of racism with dramatically forceful impact. --Jeff Shannon

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Werewolf: The Forsaken

  • ISBN13: 9781588463241
  • Condition: New
  • Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
It's been four months since Alex gave everything to save Jessica. Life should be perfect; she has Alex, she's been freed of the nightmares, and most of all- she's alive. But some things have changed, some things haven't. That's the problem. Alex still hasn't asked "the question". Jessica can't see the reason why and it's tearing her apart. He's keeping something from her. Alex isn't the only one who has changed though. Something is different about Jessica but she doesn't understand what's happened. She just knows something's wrong, that she feels different than she used to, on a skin deep level. And it may keep her and Alex apart. Forever. But while Alex and Jessica struggle to stay together, Cole is n! ot about to be forgotten. There are a few things he didn't tell Jessica, about his past and her future. There are reasons why he came after her, reasons that are tied to his history that is darker than she could have ever realized.Corvinus Black is dying. His daughter Nisha is desperate to save him, but how far is she willing to go? She must risk everything to steal a powerful talisman that could stop the curse, but only if she finds it in time. A short story of just over 3,400 words, Forsaken is set in the world of the novel 'The Guardian's Apprentice.'Corvinus Black is dying. His daughter Nisha is desperate to save him, but how far is she willing to go? She must risk everything to steal a powerful talisman that could stop the curse, but only if she finds it in time. A short story of just over 3,400 words, Forsaken is set in the world of the novel 'The Guardian's Apprentice.'A DEMON hires the assassin to kill an Angel from a rival gang. It’s not the first time the hit ma! n’s had an employer from Hell, so he checks the fine print b! efore se tting bloody quill to parchment. Just one stipulation: he’ll have to make it quick if he wants to avoid the End of the World. Powerful forces battle for mastery over the coming darkness. The Forsaken returns us to the World of Change fifty years after the events described in When Graveyards Yawn. The Apocalypse Trilogy continues in this epic blend of horror, mystery and humor conjured from the glory days of pulp fiction.A DEMON hires the assassin to kill an Angel from a rival gang. It’s not the first time the hit man’s had an employer from Hell, so he checks the fine print before setting bloody quill to parchment. Just one stipulation: he’ll have to make it quick if he wants to avoid the End of the World. Powerful forces battle for mastery over the coming darkness. The Forsaken returns us to the World of Change fifty years after the events described in When Graveyards Yawn. The Apocalypse Trilogy continues in this epic blend of horror, mystery and humor conjured from! the glory days of pulp fiction.**Forsaken By Shadow is also included in the omnibus Genesis, along with Devil's Eye and Blindsight. Buy all three and save!**

A Novella of the Mirus (1.1):

Cade Shepherd is on top of the world as this year’s Ultimate Fighting Champion. He doesn’t even remember his life as Gage Dempsey, a Shadow Walker with the ability to magically transport himself from shadow to shadow. In fact, he can’t remember anything before waking up in a cheap motel room ten years ago with mysterious burns on his handsâ€"not even the woman he almost died for.

Embry Hollister has picked up the pieces of her life, learned to control her ability to generate flame, and now works an enforcer for the Council of Races. But when her father is captured by the human military and the Council refuses mount a rescue mission, Embry has no choice but to go rogue. All she has to do is find the man with the new name and new life who was completel! y wronged by her people, give him back the memories they stole! , convin ce him to join her on what’s probably a suicide mission, and hope that after ten years of living as a regular guy he still remembers what her father taught him.

And after that, she just has to leave him. Again.

EXCERPT:

“Do you have any idea how many rules Adan violated with you? Bringing a human into our world?” The demand came from the Walker on the left. His dark face was barely differentiated from the shadows in which he stood. The outlines of his broad body were still blurred.

“I know he gave me my life.” Gage edged backward, trying to push Embry into a corner.

“A mistake we intend to rectify before it destroys him,” said the wraith.

“No!” The heat behind him was instant, scorching.

Gage turned toward her, shouting, “Embry, no!” But the fireballs were already flying from her hands toward the two flanking Walkers. They phased out even as Matthias dove forward and caught Gag! e around the waist.

Matthias was the bigger man, but Gage was younger, faster. He twisted and threw the Walker into a wall, already scrambling toward Embry.

She was a living flame, more than ever the child of her fire elemental mother. Heat and light pulsed off her in waves, expanding, beating in a terrifying rhythm as the nimbus grew and grew.

If she went nova, she’d kill them all.

Gage dove into the light, feeling no burn, no pain, just desperation to save her. If he could drag her out of the light and into the shadows, he could get her away to safety. Drawing on the darkness, he reached out for her. “You have to shut it off!”

“No, you don’t understâ€"”

His hands closed around her arms. For a heartbeat everything stilled. Then, agony ripped through him, an insatiable inferno of pain as everything she was projecting shot into his body and ripped him apart.
***
Looking for fabulous and i! nventive YA? Try Susan Bischoff!**Forsaken By Shadow is also i! ncluded in the omnibus Genesis, along with Devil's Eye and Blindsight. Buy all three and save!**

A Novella of the Mirus (1.1):

Cade Shepherd is on top of the world as this year’s Ultimate Fighting Champion. He doesn’t even remember his life as Gage Dempsey, a Shadow Walker with the ability to magically transport himself from shadow to shadow. In fact, he can’t remember anything before waking up in a cheap motel room ten years ago with mysterious burns on his handsâ€"not even the woman he almost died for.

Embry Hollister has picked up the pieces of her life, learned to control her ability to generate flame, and now works an enforcer for the Council of Races. But when her father is captured by the human military and the Council refuses mount a rescue mission, Embry has no choice but to go rogue. All she has to do is find the man with the new name and new life who was completely wronged by her people, give him back the memories they stole, convince him to joi! n her on what’s probably a suicide mission, and hope that after ten years of living as a regular guy he still remembers what her father taught him.

And after that, she just has to leave him. Again.

EXCERPT:

“Do you have any idea how many rules Adan violated with you? Bringing a human into our world?” The demand came from the Walker on the left. His dark face was barely differentiated from the shadows in which he stood. The outlines of his broad body were still blurred.

“I know he gave me my life.” Gage edged backward, trying to push Embry into a corner.

“A mistake we intend to rectify before it destroys him,” said the wraith.

“No!” The heat behind him was instant, scorching.

Gage turned toward her, shouting, “Embry, no!” But the fireballs were already flying from her hands toward the two flanking Walkers. They phased out even as Matthias dove forward and caught Gage around the waist.

Matthias was ! the bigger man, but Gage was younger, faster. He twisted and t! hrew the Walker into a wall, already scrambling toward Embry.

She was a living flame, more than ever the child of her fire elemental mother. Heat and light pulsed off her in waves, expanding, beating in a terrifying rhythm as the nimbus grew and grew.

If she went nova, she’d kill them all.

Gage dove into the light, feeling no burn, no pain, just desperation to save her. If he could drag her out of the light and into the shadows, he could get her away to safety. Drawing on the darkness, he reached out for her. “You have to shut it off!”

“No, you don’t understâ€"”

His hands closed around her arms. For a heartbeat everything stilled. Then, agony ripped through him, an insatiable inferno of pain as everything she was projecting shot into his body and ripped him apart.
***
Looking for fabulous and inventive YA? Try Susan Bischoff!The City of San Francisco is locked in a grip of fear. A series of occult murders has led, Inspector Thomas! James, to a crime scene similar to a murder committed 90 years ago in the once grand Aleris Hotel. A place where power barons of the early 20th Century engaged in witchcraft. And silent film stars indulged in the most wicked of sins.

A place where no one questions the black smoke that rises from the hotel's incinerators in the middle of the night.The City of San Francisco is locked in a grip of fear. A series of occult murders has led, Inspector Thomas James, to a crime scene similar to a murder committed 90 years ago in the once grand Aleris Hotel. A place where power barons of the early 20th Century engaged in witchcraft. And silent film stars indulged in the most wicked of sins.

A place where no one questions the black smoke that rises from the hotel's incinerators in the middle of the night.This autumn, curl up with a dark debut novel that early readers are calling "Beautifully written" -- "A 'Must Read'" -- "Super creepy" -- "Amazing!"
For art professor Daniel Rineheart, life's a dream. His ch! ildren's laughter fills the halls of his home, and his wife's embrace lulls him to sleep. But summer's end heralds the arrival of three disturbing omens. A lost bird, thousands of miles from home. A beautiful student with whom he shares an insidious past.

...and a mysterious painting, dripping with malignant secrets.

It wasn't the strangest creation he'd ever seen, but close. A girl with a wounded, sack-like face; a boy with pinhole eyes and a cruel sneer; and a distant shadow peering out from behind a dying tree, all stared back at him from that perfect painted canvas.

Yet it wasn't only the subjects that challenged him, but the riddle that came with it.

"Here in Art, Denial."

Four words shrouding a secret that awakens a surreal nightmare. Where objects from his past manifest in canvas and oil. Where painted clocks tick-tock away in the dark hours before dawn, and a missing dog whimpers from between the walls. Where th! e painted children leave the canvas to stalk the halls of his once quiet and happy home.

And where all answers lead back to a blind artist and an impossible creation, one that threatens to destroy his family and devour his sanity.

Fans of Stephen King, Clive Barker, and Peter Straub will find this debut novel written for them.  FORSAKEN is a throwback to the haunted tales that seep beneath the skin and slowly come to a boil, sticking with the reader long after the cover is closed and the story is over.

It's a dark descent from a happy home next door into a world of painted madness that blends the line between the psychological and the supernatural, where the blind see far beyond the living veil, and where an artist's creation births an evil from the cold Nether beyond.

This autumn, take a journey into the surreal with FORSAKEN.This autumn, curl up with a dark debut novel that early readers are calling "Beautifully writ! ten" -- "A 'Must Read'" -- "Super creepy" -- "Amazing!"
For art professor Daniel Rineheart, life's a dream. His children's laughter fills the halls of his home, and his wife's embrace lulls him to sleep. But summer's end heralds the arrival of three disturbing omens. A lost bird, thousands of miles from home. A beautiful student with whom he shares an insidious past.

...and a mysterious painting, dripping with malignant secrets.

It wasn't the strangest creation he'd ever seen, but close. A girl with a wounded, sack-like face; a boy with pinhole eyes and a cruel sneer; and a distant shadow peering out from behind a dying tree, all stared back at him from that perfect painted canvas.

Yet it wasn't only the subjects that challenged him, but the riddle that came with it.

"Here in Art, Denial."

Four words shrouding a secret that awakens a surreal nightmare. Where objects from his past manifest in canvas and oil. Where painted clocks tick-tock away in the dark hours before dawn, and a missing do! g whimpers from between the walls. Where the painted children leave the canvas to stalk the halls of his once quiet and happy home.

And where all answers lead back to a blind artist and an impossible creation, one that threatens to destroy his family and devour his sanity.

Fans of Stephen King, Clive Barker, and Peter Straub will find this debut novel written for them.  FORSAKEN is a throwback to the haunted tales that seep beneath the skin and slowly come to a boil, sticking with the reader long after the cover is closed and the story is over.

It's a dark descent from a happy home next door into a world of painted madness that blends the line between the psychological and the supernatural, where the blind see far beyond the living veil, and where an artist's creation births an evil from the cold Nether beyond.

This autumn, take a journey into the surreal with FORSAKEN.A remarkable piece of forgotten history- the never-before-told sto! ry of Americans lured to Soviet Russia by the promise of jobs ! and bett er lives, only to meet tragic ends

In 1934, a photograph was taken of a baseball team. These two rows of young men look like any group of American ballplayers, except perhaps for the Russian lettering on their jerseys. The players have left their homeland and the Great Depression in search of a better life in Stalinist Russia, but instead they will meet tragic and, until now, forgotten fates. Within four years, most of them will be arrested alongside untold numbers of other Americans. Some will be executed. Others will be sent to "corrective labor" camps where they will be worked to death. This book is the story of lives-the forsaken who died and those who survived.

Based on groundbreaking research, The Forsaken is the story of Americans whose dreams were shattered and lives lost in Stalinist Russia.Pastor Jerome Tyler "JT" Thomas is charismatic behind the pulpit, charming to all he comes in contact with, and lethal to those who linger too long. Si! nce the age of twenty-two, when he prayed for God to keep him out of prison, JT knew he would preach the gospel. Bishop Turner makes it possible; but there are strings attached, and now JT isn't sure he can stay tied down.


Cutting loose causes more problems than JT anticipated. When an old friend from his days on the streets resurfaces and his "extracurricular activity" comes knocking on his front door, JT's life and the lives of those close to him spiral out of control. Now he will need divine intervention to make things right. But how much help can a man hope to receive when he feels he's been forsaken by God?Full Moon Rising

The world is in shadow. To one side stretches the forest, to the other the city. Your claws are stained with blood. Your senses whisper of prey that runs before you, and of predators who stalk even the likes of you. You hear the howls of your brothers and sisters. Luna rises. Your blood boils. It is time to hunt.

Wolves a! t the Door

Werewolf: The Forsaken - the game of bes! tial vio lence and supernatural terror - is the second core setting sourcebook intended for use with White Wolf's new Storytelling System . Werewolves are creatures of original sin, tainted by ancestral crimes and driven to hunt by the shame of being abandoned. This book details what it is to be Forsaken, one of the Tribes of the Moon. Create your own werewolf pack and seek redemption or give in to your savage nature. Hardcover. For use with the World of Darkness Rulebook.

Elektra (Widescreen Edition)

  • TESTED
ELEKTRA (DIRECTOR'S CUT) - Blu-Ray MovieWhile 2003's Daredevil was a conventional superhero movie, the 2005 spinoff, Elektra, is more of a wuxia-styled martial arts/fantasy flick. Elektra (Jennifer Garner) has returned to her life as a hired assassin, but she balks at an assignment to kill a single father (Goran Visnjic, ER) and his teenage daughter (Kirsten Prout). That makes her the target of the Hand, an organization of murderous ninjas, scheming corporate types, and a band of stylish supervillains seeking to eliminate Elektra and tip the balance of power in the ongoing battle of good vs. evil.

As the star of Alias, Garner has proven that she can kick butt with the best of them, and some of the visual effects are impressive, but the action sequences tend to be anticlimactic, and there's not much to the story. Fans will notice numerous refe! rences to Frank Miller's comic books, but there's very little resemblance to Miller's cold-blooded killer (Elektra with an agent? Elektra referring to herself as a "soccer mom"?).

Is Elektra better than Daredevil? Not really, even with the distinct advantage of having all Garner and no Ben Affleck. That could be the spinoff's greatest disappointment: after Spider-Man 2 raised the bar for comic-book movies, Elektra lowered it back to Daredevil's level. Directed by Rob Bowman (the X-Files movie), and featuring Terence Stamp as the mysterious mentor Stick, Will Yun Lee (Die Another Day) as the chief villain, and NFL-player-turned-mixed-martial-arts-champion Bob Sapp as the immovable Stone. --David HoriuchiFROM THE FORCES THAT BROUGHT YOU X-MEN AND DAREDEVIL?Superstar Jennifer Garner proves that looks can kill as the sexiest action hero ever to burst from the pages of Marvel Comics. Restored to life after sust! aining mortal wounds in Daredevil, an icy, solitary Elektra (G! arner) n ow lives only for death as the world?s most lethal assassin. Using her bone-crunching martial arts skills and Kimagure?the ability to see into the future?Elektra is on a collision course with darkness? until her latest assignment forces her to make a choice that will lead either to her redemption or destruction in the ultimate battle between good and evil!While 2003's Daredevil was a conventional superhero movie, the 2005 spinoff, Elektra, is more of a wuxia-styled martial arts/fantasy flick. Elektra (Jennifer Garner) has returned to her life as a hired assassin, but she balks at an assignment to kill a single father (Goran Visnjic, ER) and his teenage daughter (Kirsten Prout). That makes her the target of the Hand, an organization of murderous ninjas, scheming corporate types, and a band of stylish supervillains seeking to eliminate Elektra and tip the balance of power in the ongoing battle of good vs. evil.

As the star of Alias, ! Garner has proven that she can kick butt with the best of them, and some of the visual effects are impressive, but the action sequences tend to be anticlimactic, and there's not much to the story. Fans will notice numerous references to Frank Miller's comic books, but there's very little resemblance to Miller's cold-blooded killer (Elektra with an agent? Elektra referring to herself as a "soccer mom"?).

Is Elektra better than Daredevil? Not really, even with the distinct advantage of having all Garner and no Ben Affleck. That could be the spinoff's greatest disappointment: after Spider-Man 2 raised the bar for comic-book movies, Elektra lowered it back to Daredevil's level. Directed by Rob Bowman (the X-Files movie), and featuring Terence Stamp as the mysterious mentor Stick, Will Yun Lee (Die Another Day) as the chief villain, and NFL-player-turned-mixed-martial-arts-champion Bob Sapp as the immovable Stone.

DVD features
Ben Affleck's much-rumored cameo is on! e of the deleted scenes on the Elektra DVD. It's a one-minute throwaway, and while he's supposedly appearing as Matt Murdock (who romanced Elektra in Daredevil), the barrage of celebrity gossip makes it impossible to see him as anything other than Jennifer Garner's real-life boyfriend. There's also a making-of featurette, which is mostly promotional hype other than a few interesting effects shots; four editing featurettes; and Jennifer Garner's videotaped message to ComicCon. --David Horiuchi

More on Elektra


Elektra: The Album (Soundtrack CD)

Elektra: The Movie (Comic Adaptation)

Frank Miller Comic Books

Daredevil (Director's Cut) (DVD)

Jennifer Garner stars in Alias (DVD)

More Superhero DVDs

Goodbye My Lover (Piano Vocal, Sheet music.)

  • Published by Hal Leonard 12 Pages
  • (James Blunt)
  • Artist: James Blunt
Overlooked and underrated, "Goodbye Lover" is a tawdry, tasty film noir with a soft spot for its scheming antiheroine. With her platinum Lulu bob, a killer wardrobe, and a "Sound of Music" fetish that inspires her to "climb every mountain" of bad-girl ambition, Patricia Arquette is perfectly cast as Sandra, the sweet but lethal wife of Jake (Dermot Mulroney), who works in a top-drawer ad agency with his brother Ben (Don Johnson). Weary stud Ben falls prey to simultaneous affairs with Sandra and his devoted secretary (Mary-Louise Parker), and the cynical Detective Pompano (Ellen DeGeneres) unravels the murder-for-insurance plot while her clueless Mormon partner (Ray McKinnon) tries to keep pace. Combining mordant humor and rampant depravity, this deliciously dark comedy starts fast and never lets up, liberating! director Roland Joff?© ("The Killing Fields") from the sobriety of his previous work. The entire cast is great, but it's DeGeneres who makes this a recommended sleeper. "--Jeff Shannon"Overlooked and underrated, Goodbye Lover is a tawdry, tasty film noir with a soft spot for its scheming antiheroine. With her platinum Lulu bob, a killer wardrobe, and a Sound of Music fetish that inspires her to "climb every mountain" of bad-girl ambition, Patricia Arquette is perfectly cast as Sandra, the sweet but lethal wife of Jake (Dermot Mulroney), who works in a top-drawer ad agency with his brother Ben (Don Johnson). Weary stud Ben falls prey to simultaneous affairs with Sandra and his devoted secretary (Mary-Louise Parker), and the cynical Detective Pompano (Ellen DeGeneres) unravels the murder-for-insurance plot while her clueless Mormon partner (Ray McKinnon) tries to keep pace. Combining mordant humor and rampant depravity, this deliciously dark comedy starts fast! and never lets up, liberating director Roland Joffé (The ! Killing Fields) from the sobriety of his previous work. The entire cast is great, but it's DeGeneres who makes this a recommended sleeper. --Jeff Shannon GOODBYE MY LOVER Series: Piano Vocal Artist: James Blunt Sheet music.

Fever 1793

  • ISBN13: 9780689848919
  • Condition: New
  • Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
During the summer of 1793, Mattie Cook lives above the family coffee shop with her widowed mother and grandfather. Mattie spends her days avoiding chores and making plans to turn the family business into the finest Philadelphia has ever seen. But then the fever breaks out.

Disease sweeps the streets, destroying everything in its path and turning Mattie's world upside down. At her feverish mother's insistence, Mattie flees the city with her grandfather. But she soon discovers that the sickness is everywhere, and Mattie must learn quickly how to survive in a city turned frantic with disease.On the heels of her acclaimed contemporary teen novel Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson surprises her fans ! with a riveting and well-researched historical fiction. Fever 1793 is based on an actual epidemic of yellow fever in Philadelphia that wiped out 5,000 people--or 10 percent of the city's population--in three months. At the close of the 18th century, Philadelphia was the bustling capital of the United States, with Washington and Jefferson in residence. During the hot mosquito-infested summer of 1793, the dreaded yellow fever spread like wildfire, killing people overnight. Like specters from the Middle Ages, gravediggers drew carts through the streets crying "Bring out your dead!" The rich fled to the country, abandoning the city to looters, forsaken corpses, and frightened survivors.

In the foreground of this story is 16-year-old Mattie Cook, whose mother and grandfather own a popular coffee house on High Street. Mattie's comfortable and interesting life is shattered by the epidemic, as her mother is felled and the girl and her grandfathe! r must flee for their lives. Later, after much hardship and ! terror, they return to the deserted town to find their former cook, a freed slave, working with the African Free Society, an actual group who undertook to visit and assist the sick and saved many lives. As first frost arrives and the epidemic ends, Mattie's sufferings have changed her from a willful child to a strong, capable young woman able to manage her family's business on her own. (Ages 12 and older) --Patty Campbell

Blade Trinity (Unrated Version)

  • The final battle begins and the trinity comes to an end! Blade is back and his enemies have grown in number since they resurrected their king, Dracula. Together with a new group of vampire hunters, called the Nightstalkers, led by Whistler's strong but beautiful daughter Abigail and the wise-cracking Hannibal, they must finally defeat the vampires or face inevitable extinction.Running Time: 123 mi
Even skeptical fans of the Blade franchise will enjoy sinking their teeth into Blade: Trinity. The law of diminishing returns is in full effect here, and the franchise is wearing out its welcome, but let's face it: any movie that features Jessica Biel as an ass-kicking vampire slayer and Parker Posey--yes, Parker Posey!--as a vamping vampire villainess can't be all bad, right? Those lovely ladies bring equal measures of relief and grief to Blade, the half-human, half-vampire once again! played, with tongue more firmly in stone-cold cheek, by Wesley Snipes. With series writer David S. Goyer in the director's chair, the film is calculated for mainstream appeal, trading suspenseful horror for campy humor and choppy, nonsensical action. The franchise still offers some intriguing ideas, however, including Drake (Dominic Purcell), the original vampire, whose blood contains the secret that could destroy all blood-suckers in a plot that incorporates a sinister "blood farm" where humans are held--and drained--in suspended animation. And Biel's wise-cracking sidekick (Ryan Reynolds) in her cadre of "Nightstalkers" provides comic relief in a series that's grown increasingly dour. All of which makes Blade: Trinity a love-it-or-hate-it sequel... supposedly the last in a trilogy, but the ending suggests otherwise. --Jeff ShannonThe final battle begins and the trinity comes to an end! Blade is back and his enemies have grown in number since they resurrecte! d their king, Dracula. Together with a new group of vampire hu! nters, c alled the Nightstalkers, led by Whistler's strong but beautiful daughter Abigail and the wise-cracking Hannibal, they must finally defeat the vampires or face inevitable extinction.Even skeptical fans of the Blade franchise will enjoy sinking their teeth into Blade: Trinity. The law of diminishing returns is in full effect here, and the franchise is wearing out its welcome, but let's face it: any movie that features Jessica Biel as an ass-kicking vampire slayer and Parker Posey--yes, Parker Posey!--as a vamping vampire villainess can't be all bad, right? Those lovely ladies bring equal measures of relief and grief to Blade, the half-human, half-vampire once again played, with tongue more firmly in stone-cold cheek, by Wesley Snipes. With series writer David S. Goyer in the director's chair, the film is calculated for mainstream appeal, trading suspenseful horror for campy humor and choppy, nonsensical action. The franchise still offers some intriguing ideas, ho! wever, including Drake (Dominic Purcell), the original vampire, whose blood contains the secret that could destroy all blood-suckers in a plot that incorporates a sinister "blood farm" where humans are held--and drained--in suspended animation. And Biel's wise-cracking sidekick (Ryan Reynolds) in her cadre of "Nightstalkers" provides comic relief in a series that's grown increasingly dour. All of which makes Blade: Trinity a love-it-or-hate-it sequel... supposedly the last in a trilogy, but the ending suggests otherwise. --Jeff Shannon

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