Happy Feet [Blu-ray]

• In the great nation of Emperor Penguins, deep in Antarctica, you're nobody unless you can sing - which is unfortunate for Mumble (ELIJAH WOOD), who is the worst singer in the world. He is born dancing to his own tune.tap dancing.As fate would have it, his one friend, Gloria (BRITTANY MURPHY), happens to be the best singer around. Mumble and Gloria have a connection from the moment they hatch, but

Family is the most important thing in the world to Kaja. She is an eternal optimist in spite of living with a man who would rather go hunting with the boys, and who refuses to have sex with her because she "isn't particularly attractive" anymore. Whatever. That s Life.

But when "the perfect couple" moves in next door, Kaja struggles to keep her emotions in check. These new neighbors open a new world to Kaja with consequences for everyone involved. And when Christmas comes around, it becomes ev! ident that nothing will ever be like before even if Kaja tries her very best.Family is the most important thing in the world to Kaja. She is an eternal optimist in spite of living with a man who would rather go hunting with the boys, and who refuses to have sex with her because she "isn't particularly attractive" anymore. Whatever. That's Life.
But when "the perfect couple" moves in next door, Kaja struggles to keep her emotions in check. These new neighbors open a new world to Kaja with consequences for everyone involved. And when Christmas comes around, it becomes evident that nothing will ever be like before even if Kaja tries her very best.In the great nation of Emperor Penguins, deep in Antarctica, you're nobody unless you can sing - which is unfortunate for Mumble (ELIJAH WOOD), who is the worst singer in the world. He is born dancing to his own tune...tap dancing. As fate would have it, his one friend, Gloria (BRITTANY MURPHY), happens to be the best singer aroun! d. Mumble and Gloria have a connection from the moment they ha! tch, but she struggles with his strange "hippity- hoppity" ways. Away from home for the first time, Mumble meets a posse of decidedly un-Emperor-like penguins - the Adelie Amigos. Led by Ramon (ROBIN WILLIAMS), the Adelies instantly embrace Mumble's cool dance moves and invite him to party with them. In Adelie Land, Mumble seeks the counsel of Lovelace the Guru (also voiced by ROBIN WILLIAMS), a crazy-feathered Rockhopper penguin who will answer any of life's questions for the price of a pebble. Together with Lovelace and the Amigos, Mumble sets out across vast landscapes and, after some epic encounters, proves that by being true to yourself, you can make all the difference in the world. For anyone who thought the Oscar-winning documentary March of the Penguins was the most marvelous cinematic moment for these nomads of the south, you haven't seen nothing yet. Happy Feet is an animated wonder about a penguin named Mumble who can't sing, but can dance up a storm. George! Miller, the driving force behind the Babe (and Mad Max) movies, takes another creative step in family entertainment with this big, beautiful, music-fueled film that will have kids and their parents dancing in the streets. From his first moment alive, Mumble (voiced Elijah Woods) feels the beat and can't stop dancing. Unfortunately, emperor penguins are all about finding their own heart song, and the dancing youngster--as cute as he is--is a misfit. Luckily, he bumps into little blue penguins and a Spanish-infused group (led by Robin Williams) and begins a series of adventures. Miller has an exceptional variety of entertainment: Busby Berkley musical numbers, amusement-park thrills, exciting chase sequences (seals and orca lovers might like think otherwise), and even an environmental message that doesn't weigh you down. Best of all, you don't know where the movie is going in the last act, a rare occurrence these days in family entertainment. A fusion of rock s! ongs, mashed-up and otherwise, are featured; this movie is as ! much a m usical as a comedy. Mumble's solo dance to a new version of Stevie Wonder's "I Wish" by Fantasia, Patti, and Yolanda may be the most joyful moment on camera in 2006. --Doug Thomas

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In the great nation of Emperor Penguins, deep in Antarctica, you're nobody unless you can sing - which is unfortunate for Mumble (ELIJAH WOOD), who is the worst singer in the world. He is! born dancing to his own tune...tap dancing. As fate would have it, his one friend, Gloria (BRITTANY MURPHY), happens to be the best singer around. Mumble and Gloria have a connection from the moment they hatch, but she struggles with his strange "hippity- hoppity" ways. Away from home for the first time, Mumble meets a posse of decidedly un-Emperor-like penguins - the Adelie Amigos. Led by Ramon (ROBIN WILLIAMS), the Adelies instantly embrace Mumble's cool dance moves and invite him to party with them. In Adelie Land, Mumble seeks the counsel of Lovelace the Guru (also voiced by ROBIN WILLIAMS), a crazy-feathered Rockhopper penguin who will answer any of life's questions for the price of a pebble. Together with Lovelace and the Amigos, Mumble sets out across vast landscapes and, after some epic encounters, proves that by being true to yourself, you can make all the difference in the world. For anyone who thought the Oscar-winning documentary March of the Penguins w! as the most marvelous cinematic moment for these nomads of the! south, you haven't seen nothing yet. Happy Feet is an animated wonder about a penguin named Mumble who can't sing, but can dance up a storm. George Miller, the driving force behind the Babe (and Mad Max) movies, takes another creative step in family entertainment with this big, beautiful, music-fueled film that will have kids and their parents dancing in the streets. From his first moment alive, Mumble (voiced Elijah Woods) feels the beat and can't stop dancing. Unfortunately, emperor penguins are all about finding their own heart song, and the dancing youngster--as cute as he is--is a misfit. Luckily, he bumps into little blue penguins and a Spanish-infused group (led by Robin Williams) and begins a series of adventures. Miller has an exceptional variety of entertainment: Busby Berkley musical numbers, amusement-park thrills, exciting chase sequences (seals and orca lovers might like think otherwise), and even an environmental message that doesn't weigh you do! wn. Best of all, you don't know where the movie is going in the last act, a rare occurrence these days in family entertainment. A fusion of rock songs, mashed-up and otherwise, are featured; this movie is as much a musical as a comedy. Mumble's solo dance to a new version of Stevie Wonder's "I Wish" by Fantasia, Patti, and Yolanda may be the most joyful moment on camera in 2006. --Doug Thomas

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Drive Me Crazy (Simon Romantic Comedies)

• ISBN13: 9781416974840
• Condition: New
• Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

Opposites attract with irresistible force in this fresh, funny, feel-good comedy about two mismatched teens who scheme to make their ex's jealous. Melissa Joan Hart (TV's "Sabrina the Teenage Witch") is "picture perfect" (CBS-TV, Fort Worth) as a peppy preppy who performs the ultimate makeover on her scruffy next-door neighbor (Adrian Grenier) - and discovers this former "frog" was a prince all along! With a screenplay by Rob Thomas (Dawson's Creek), a cast featuring today's hottest young stars, plus the smash hit songs "Crazy" (Britney Spears), and "I Want It That Way" (Backstreet Boys), "Drive Me Crazy" is "worth celebrating!" (Detroit Free Press)This conflicted teen comedy can't decide what it wants! to be. Is Drive Me Crazy a mainstream piffle about a popular girl who turns her grungy next-door neighbor into a dream date? Or is it a sneaky critique of high school conformity? Melissa Joan Hart (TV's Sabrina, the Teenage Witch) is angling to get asked to an upcoming dance by a basketball star, but when her plans go awry, she turns to a childhood friend (Adrian Grenier from The Adventures of Sebastian Cole) in the hopes of avoiding total humiliation. Grenier wants to win back his recently lost girlfriend, so he agrees to Hart's total makeover plan to induce jealousy. Naturally, the scam turns into something sparky. Teen flicks always make things too glossy and upscale, but Drive Me Crazy somehow fumbles its design and ends up looking false and square. The movie initially presents Grenier's transformation as unqualified good, with no sense that anything he was doing before--political protests, alternative music, rebellious pranks--had any valu! e. But as the plot unfolds, a few barbed twists undercut the g! ood chee r, sneakily commenting on school spirit and popularity. These themes wrestle uncomfortably with the movie's production values, resulting in a curiously provocative jumble. This confusion is probably why the movie was only a modest success in theaters, but it's actually what makes Drive Me Crazy worth looking at now. --Bret FetzerThis conflicted teen comedy can't decide what it wants to be. Is Drive Me Crazy a mainstream piffle about a popular girl who turns her grungy next-door neighbor into a dream date? Or is it a sneaky critique of high school conformity? Melissa Joan Hart (TV's Sabrina, the Teenage Witch) is angling to get asked to an upcoming dance by a basketball star, but when her plans go awry, she turns to a childhood friend (Adrian Grenier from The Adventures of Sebastian Cole) in the hopes of avoiding total humiliation. Grenier wants to win back his recently lost girlfriend, so he agrees to Hart's total makeover plan to induce j! ealousy. Naturally, the scam turns into something sparky. Teen flicks always make things too glossy and upscale, but Drive Me Crazy somehow fumbles its design and ends up looking false and square. The movie initially presents Grenier's transformation as unqualified good, with no sense that anything he was doing before--political protests, alternative music, rebellious pranks--had any value. But as the plot unfolds, a few barbed twists undercut the good cheer, sneakily commenting on school spirit and popularity. These themes wrestle uncomfortably with the movie's production values, resulting in a curiously provocative jumble. This confusion is probably why the movie was only a modest success in theaters, but it's actually what makes Drive Me Crazy worth looking at now. --Bret FetzerThis conflicted teen comedy can't decide what it wants to be. Is Drive Me Crazy a mainstream piffle about a popular girl who turns her grungy next-door neighbor into a ! dream date? Or is it a sneaky critique of high school conform! ity? Mel issa Joan Hart (TV's Sabrina, the Teenage Witch) is angling to get asked to an upcoming dance by a basketball star, but when her plans go awry, she turns to a childhood friend (Adrian Grenier from The Adventures of Sebastian Cole) in the hopes of avoiding total humiliation. Grenier wants to win back his recently lost girlfriend, so he agrees to Hart's total makeover plan to induce jealousy. Naturally, the scam turns into something sparky. Teen flicks always make things too glossy and upscale, but Drive Me Crazy somehow fumbles its design and ends up looking false and square. The movie initially presents Grenier's transformation as unqualified good, with no sense that anything he was doing before--political protests, alternative music, rebellious pranks--had any value. But as the plot unfolds, a few barbed twists undercut the good cheer, sneakily commenting on school spirit and popularity. These themes wrestle uncomfortably with the movie's production val! ues, resulting in a curiously provocative jumble. This confusion is probably why the movie was only a modest success in theaters, but it's actually what makes Drive Me Crazy worth looking at now. --Bret FetzerDisc 1: BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (MOVIE) Disc 2: DRIVE ME CRAZYThis conflicted teen comedy can't decide what it wants to be. Is Drive Me Crazy a mainstream piffle about a popular girl who turns her grungy next-door neighbor into a dream date? Or is it a sneaky critique of high school conformity? Melissa Joan Hart (TV's Sabrina, the Teenage Witch) is angling to get asked to an upcoming dance by a basketball star, but when her plans go awry, she turns to a childhood friend (Adrian Grenier from The Adventures of Sebastian Cole) in the hopes of avoiding total humiliation. Grenier wants to win back his recently lost girlfriend, so he agrees to Hart's total makeover plan to induce jealousy. Naturally, the scam turns into something sparky. ! Teen flicks always make things too glossy and upscale, but ! Drive Me Crazy somehow fumbles its design and ends up looking false and square. The movie initially presents Grenier's transformation as unqualified good, with no sense that anything he was doing before--political protests, alternative music, rebellious pranks--had any value. But as the plot unfolds, a few barbed twists undercut the good cheer, sneakily commenting on school spirit and popularity. These themes wrestle uncomfortably with the movie's production values, resulting in a curiously provocative jumble. This confusion is probably why the movie was only a modest success in theaters, but it's actually what makes Drive Me Crazy worth looking at now. --Bret FetzerAn irresistible cast of Hollywood's young faces star in this fun, sexy comedy hit about the power of attraction and the pressures of popularity! Stung when his bombshell girlfriend abruptly dumps him for a TV celebrity, big man on campus Zack Siler (Freddie Prinze Jr., SCOOBY-DOO, BOYS AND GIRLS, DOWN T! O YOU) wagers with a classmate he can quickly turn any girl -- even the school's biggest geek, Laney Boggs (Rachel Leigh Cook, TEXAS RANGERS, JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS) -- into the prom queen! He wasn't, however, betting on falling in love! After an amazing makeover, Laney is transformed from nobody to knockout ... but when she learns of Zack's deception, it could ruin any chance he had with his newfound dream girl! With a hip, modern soundtrack and a hilarious story that audiences loved, this great comedy is all that ... and more!This charming update of Pygmalion (by way of the John Hughes oeuvre, most notably Pretty in Pink) rode the crest of the late-'90s wave of immensely popular teen films (Varsity Blues, etc.), thanks primarily to the immense charisma of its two leads, Freddie Prinze Jr. and Rachael Leigh Cook. When school star Zach (Prinze)--who's a jock, smart, and popular--gets dumped by vacuous Taylor (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe) after spring brea! k, he's left dateless for the all-important prom. With a littl! e goadin g from his less-than-sensitive best friend (hunky Paul Walker), he bets that he can make any girl into prom queen a mere eight weeks before the dance. The object of their wager: misfit Laney (Cook), a gawky art student too busy with her paintings and taking care of her brother and dad to worry about school politics. However, after a couple looks from Zach, and a few dates that reveal him to be a hunk of substance, Laney's armor begins to melt--and her stock at school soars. Soon enough, she's the lone candidate for prom queen against the bitchy and relentless Taylor.

What elevates She's All That above the realm of standard teen fare is its mixture of good-natured fairy-tale romance and surprisingly clear-eyed view of high school social strata. The lines of class are demarcated as clearly as if in a Jane Austen novel, but the satire is equally deflating and affectionate. Sure, high school could be bad sometimes, but it was lots of fun too; this is a movie good-nat! ured enough to take time out for an extended hip-hop dance number at the prom. Director Robert Iscove (who also helmed the Brandy-starring TV adaptation of Cinderella) has also assembled a great young cast, including a scene-stealing Anna Paquin as Zach's no-nonsense sister, Kieran Culkin as Laney's geeky brother, and a stupidly goofy Matthew Lillard as a Real World cast member whose arrival shakes things up a little too much. And amidst all the comedy and prom drama, you'd be hard-pressed to find two teen stars as talented, attractive, and appealing as Prinze and Cook. Prinze is an approachable and sensitive jock, though it's Cook who's the true star, investing Laney with confidence, humor, and heart. Like Zach, you'll be hard-pressed not to fall in love with her. By the story's end, both Cook and the film will have charmed the socks off of you. --Mark EnglehartIn Drive Me Crazy, Kate, Sierra, and Alexis kick off the summer with a! n unforgettable road trip. But when Adam, Alexis’s cousin, h! appens t o tag along, it could mean jeopardy for the all-girls trip. Adam turns out okay, and Kate even takes a liking to him. So what does this mean for Lucas, the boy Kate was driving out to see? In Love Off-Limits, Natalie has the perfect boyfriend, or so everyone thinks. But Natalie knows she wants more. When she discovers that more equals Matt, her boyfriend’s best friend, Natalie finds herself in quite the dilemma.

Friday the 13th, Part VI: Jason Lives (Deluxe Edition)

• Condition: New
• Format: DVD
• AC-3; Color; Dolby; Dubbed; DVD; NTSC; Subtitled; Widescreen

Jason rises from the grave to wreak havoc upon a new group of unsuspecting campers in the ultra-bloody rampage Friday The 13th: Part VI: Jason Lives - Deluxe Edition. As a child, Tommy Jarvis killed mass-murderer Jason Voorhees. But now, years later, he is tormented by the fear that maybe Jason isn't really dead. Determined to finish off the infamous killer once and for all, Tommy and a friend dig up Jason's corpse in order to cremate him. Unfortunately, things go seriously awry, and Jason is instead resurrected, sparking a new chain of ruthlessly brutal murders. Now it's up to Tommy to stop the dark, devious and demented deaths that he unwittingly brought about in this terrifying horror film that will take you to the grave and back!

Frequency : Widescreen Edition

• Widescreen

A phenomenon allows police officer John Sullivan (Jim Caviezel) to save the life of his long-dead father (Dennis Quaid). But changing the past leads to a string of brutal, serial homicides. Now, they both must race across time to stop the killer.

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary
Music Only Track
Photo gallery
Theatrical Trailer

Frequency is really two different--though inextricably linked--movies. First, the emotional drama of a father and son reunited after 30 years of separation. Then there's a science fiction thriller, in which a couple of chance solar storms, occurring exactly 30 years apart, can provide the agency through which the father and son can communicate using the very same ham radio in parallel time frames of 1969 and 1999. The son is John Sullivan (Jim Caviezel), a cop, and his father is Frank (Dennis Quaid! ), a firefighter who died on the job when John was 6, which just happens to be tomorrow for Frank when he and his now-adult son begin talking across time. This is great for John, because now he can warn his dad about the upcoming fire and avert the catastrophe that left him fatherless for most of his life. Accomplishing this gives John new memories of his life with Dad, but unfortunately alters the course of a serial killer, with tragic effect on John's family history. Since John's a cop, and the case he's working on turns out to be the same unsolved case from 30 years before, he and his father work together over the ham radio to solve the case and hopefully avert the tragedy that befell their family.

Time-travel stories have always been problematic, demanding either an extra degree of credulity on the part of the audience or an extra level of explanation on the part of storytellers, which is invariably cumbersome. Frequency handles the troublesome time parado! xes by having John explain how, having altered his past, he no! w experi ences both timelines, as if he's had two pasts that converge in his present. And as changes continue to be wrought in John's past, we see him becoming more and more confused. No doubt the audience can sympathize, at least those of us who try to follow the ramifications of the rapidly accruing time fractures. Luckily, the bond between father and son is so strongly realized in the deeply felt performances of both Caviezel and Quaid that you don't even need to consider the science fiction elements in order to enjoy the film. But if you can suspend your disbelief long enough to allow for the possibility of time shifts, you'll have a far richer experience. --Jim GayBecause we see the world from a physical perspective, we often don't notice what's right in front of us â€" that our spirit, thoughts, emotions, and body are all made of energy. Inside us and everywhere around us, life is vibrating. In fact, each of us has a personal vibration that accurately communicates! who we are to the world and helps shape our reality. Frequency shows readers how to feel their personal vibration, improve it, and use it to shift their life from ordinary to extraordinary. A simple shift in frequency can change depression to peace, anger to stillness, and fear to enthusiasm.

Weaving together basic ideas from quantum physics with proven intuition development techniques, Frequency takes readers into deeper concepts only hinted at in recent popular books and DVD's featuring the Law of Attraction. By learning to refine the "conscious sensitivity" of their body, readers can improve relationships, find upscale solutions to problems, and materialize a life that contains everything they want and need to live their destiny.

Frequency gives readers a reassuring, step-by-step roadmap into a positive state of awareness that Peirce calls The Intuition Age. By learning to use "frequency principles" â€" methods based on the way energy actual! ly functions â€" readers can keep their energy level high and ! producti ve, receive subtle information directly from the environment via "empathic resonance," and quickly free themselves from negative or low "vibrations."In this fantasy thriller, a man is given an unusual opportunity to change the past and alter his future. A man whose father died 30 years ago when he was just a boy, makes a startling discovery when working with his ham radio one night: he can speak with his late father over the radio. Having inadvertently found a way to reach into the past, the man desperately struggles to warn his father of the dangers that will come his way, in hopes of changing his tragic fate.DVD Features:
Audio Commentary
Biographies
Documentaries
Interviews
Photo gallery

A renowned intuitive and visionary shows you how to know what you need to know just when you need to know it.

Intuition is not a rare gift that only a gifted few possess but an innate human capacity that can be enhanced and developed. Synthesizing insights from psychology, East- West philosophy, religion, metaphysics, and business, this hands-on workbook in the tradition of Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, can teach anyone to achieve a heightened state of perceptual vitality and integrate it into daily life. Intuition, writes Penney Peirce, is “not the opposite of logic,” but rather “a comprehensive way of knowing life that includes both left-brain analytical thinking and right-brain communication states.” On a practical level, intuition enables us to learn faster and make quicker, more inspire! d decisions. On a deeper level, it “is a powerful tool that can heal the painful split we all feel between our earthly, mundane selves and our divine, eternal selves.” Widely praised in its earlier editions, this new edition of The Intuitive Way, with a Foreword by Carol Adrienne, will introduce Penney Peirce’s pioneering work to a whole new readership.DVD

Badland

• Jerry (Jamie Draven) was an idealist when he served in the first Gulf War. But when he was later deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq, Jerry was an older man, a father of three and embittered by broken promises and unfulfilled desires. When Jerry returns from Iraq he has been transformed by horrors that cannot be forgiven. He lives a life of poverty, his children afraid of him and his wife, Nora (Vine

BADLAND - DVD Movie

Carrie

• ISBN13: 9780671039721
• Condition: New
• Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

Based on the best-selling Stephen King novel, Carrie "catches the mind, shakes it and refuses to let it go" (Time)! Starring Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie (in OscarÂ(r)-nominated* performances), John Travolta and Amy Irving, this ultimate revenge fantasy is "absolutely spellbinding" (Roger Ebert), "outrageously witty" (Los Angeles Times) and one of the all-time great horror classics! At the center of the terror is Carrie (Spacek), a tortured high-school misfit with no confidence, no friends...and no idea about the extent of her secret powers of telekinesis. But when her psychotic mother and sadistic classmates finally go too far, the once-shy teen becomes an unrestrained, vengeance-seeking powerhouse! who, with the help of her 'special gift,' causes all hell to break loose in a famed cinematic frenzy of blood, fire and brimstone! *1976: Spacek, Actress; Laurie, Supporting ActressThis terrifying adaptation of Stephen King's bestselling horror novel was directed by shock maestro Brian De Palma for maximum, no-holds-barred effect. Sissy Spacek stars as Carrie White, the beleaguered daughter of a religious kook (Piper Laurie) and a social outcast tormented by her cruel, insensitive classmates. When her rage turns into telekinetic powers, however, school's out in every sense of the word. De Palma's horrific climax in a school gym lingers forever in the memory, though the film is also built upon Spacek's remarkable performance and Piper Laurie's outlandishly creepy one. John Travolta has a small part as a thug, De Palma's future wife, Nancy Allen, is his girlfriend, and Amy Irving makes her screen debut as one of the girls giving Carrie a hard time. --Tom KeoghA moder! n classic, Carrie introduced a distinctive new voice in! America n fiction -- Stephen King. The story of misunderstood high school girl Carrie White, her extraordinary telekinetic powers, and her violent rampage of revenge, remains one of the most barrier-breaking and shocking novels of all time.

Make a date with terror and live the nightmare that is...CarrieWhy read Carrie? Stephen King himself has said that he finds his early work "raw," and Brian De Palma's movie was so successful that we feel like we have read the novel even if we never have. The simple answer is that this is a very scary story, one that works as well--if not better--on the page as on the screen. Carrie White, menaced by bullies at school and her religious nut of a mother at home, gradually discovers that she has telekinetic powers, powers that will eventually be turned on her tormentors. King has a way of getting under the skin of his readers by creating an utterly believable world that throbs with menace before finally exploding. He builds t! he tension in this early work by piecing together extracts from newspaper reports, journals, and scientific papers, as well as more traditional first- and third-person narrative in order to reveal what lurks beneath the surface of Chamberlain, Maine.

News item from the Westover (ME) weekly Enterprise, August 19, 1966: "Rain of Stones Reported: It was reliably reported by several persons that a rain of stones fell from a clear blue sky on Carlin Street in the town of Chamberlain on August 17th."

Although the supernatural pyrotechnics are handled with King's customary aplomb, it is the carefully drawn portrait of the little horrors of small towns, high schools, and adolescent sexuality that give this novel its power, and assures its place in the King canon. --Simon Leake

Casino Royale (Two-Disc Widescreen Edition)

• Condition: New
• Format: DVD
• AC-3; Closed-captioned; Color; Dolby; Dubbed; DVD; Subtitled; Widescreen; NTSC

Casino Royale introduces James Bond before he holds his license to kill. But Bond is no less dangerous, and with two professional assassinations in quick succession, he is elevated to "00" status. "M" (Judi Dench), head of the British Secret Service, sends the newly-promoted 007 on his first mission that takes him to Madagascar, the Bahamas and eventually leads him to Montenegro to face Le Chiffre, a ruthless financier under threat from his terrorist clientele, who is attempting to restore his funds in a high-stakes poker game at the Casino Royale. "M" places Bond under the watchful eye of the Treasury official Vesper Lynd. At first skeptical of what value Vesper can provide, Bond's interest in her deepens as they brave danger together. Le Chiffre's cunning and crue! lty come to bear on them both in a way Bond could never imagine, and he learns his most important lesson: Trust no one. The most successful invigoration of a cinematic franchise since Batman Begins, Casino Royale offers a new Bond identity. Based on the Ian Fleming novel that introduced Agent 007 into a Cold War world, Casino Royale is the most brutal and viscerally exciting James Bond film since Sean Connery left Her Majesty's Secret Service. Meet the new Bond; not the same as the old Bond. Daniel Craig gives a galvanizing performance as the freshly minted double-0 agent. Suave, yes, but also a "blunt instrument," reckless, and possessed with an ego that compromises his judgment during his first mission to root out the mastermind behind an operation that funds international terrorists. In classic Bond film tradition, his global itinerary takes him to far-flung locales, including Uganda, Madagascar, the Bahamas (that's more like it), and Montenegro, where he i! s pitted against his nemesis in a poker game, with hundreds of! million s in the pot. The stakes get even higher when Bond lets down his "armor" and falls in love with Vesper (Eva Green), the ravishing banker's representative fronting him the money.

For longtime fans of the franchise, Casino Royale offers some retro kicks. Bond wins his iconic Astin-Martin at the gaming table, and when a bartender asks if he wants his martini "shaken or stirred," he disdainfully replies, "Do I look like I give a damn?" There's no Moneypenny or "Q," but Dame Judi Dench is back as the exasperated M, who one senses, admires Bond's "bloody cheek." A Bond film is only as good as its villain! , and Mads Mikkelsen as Le Chiffre, who weeps blood, is a sinister dandy. From its punishing violence and virtuoso action sequences to its romance, Casino Royale is a Bond film that, in the words of one character, makes you feel it, particularly during an excruciating torture sequence. Double-0s, Bond observes early on, "have a short life expectancy." But with Craig, there is new life in the old franchise yet, as well as genuine anticipation for the next one when, at last, the signature James Bond theme kicks in following the best last line ever in any Bond film. To quote Goldie Hawn in Private Benjamin, now I know what I've been faking all these years. --Donald Liebenson

Stills from Casino Royale (click for larger image)

Beyond Casino Royale on Amazon.com

!

On Blu-ray	CD Soundtrack	Why We Love Daniel Craig
The Amazon.com James Bond Store	Where Have I Seen Daniel Craig?	Bond on Set: Filming Casino Royale Book

William Shakespeare's Hamlet (Two-Disc Special Edition)

• Hamlet has the kind of power, energy and excitement that movies can truly exploit,' award-winning actor/director Kenneth Branagh says. In this first-ever full-text film of William Shakespeare's greatest work, the power surges through every scene. The timeless tale of murder, corruption and revenge is reset in an opulent 19th-century world, using sprawling Blenheim Palace as Elsinore and st

No Description Available.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: UN
Release Date: 14-AUG-2007
Media Type: DVDIt's the greatest work of literature, but nobody had ever filmed Hamlet uncut--until Kenneth Branagh went about the task for his lavish 1996 production. The result is a sumptuous, star-studded version that scores a palpable hit on its avowed goal: to make the text as clear and urgent as possible. Branagh himself plays the melancholy son of the Danish court, c! aught in a famous muddle about whether to seek revenge against his royal father's presumed slayer… the man who now sits on the throne and shares the bed of Hamlet's mother. (Or, as the song "That's Entertainment" summarizes the plot: "A ghost and a prince meet / And everyone winds up mincemeat.") As a director, Branagh (who shot the movie in 70 mm.) uses the vast, cold interiors of a vaguely 19th-century manor to gorgeous effect; the story might scurry down this hallway, into that back chamber, or sprawl out into the enormous main room. With its endless collection of mirrors, the place is as big and empty as Citizen Kane's Xanadu.

That all works; what doesn't work is Branagh's tendency to over-direct the big dramatic moments. He indulges in quick cutting and flashbacks as though to fend off the audience's objections to the four-hour running time, and the style sometimes looks like wasted energy. The experienced Shakespearians in the cast come off nicely; Derek! Jacobi's Claudius, Richard Briers' Polonius, and Michael Malo! ney's La ertes are just terrific. Julie Christie is a suitably attractive Gertrude, and Kate Winslet makes the most of Ophelia's mad scenes. Branagh's habit of folding in unexpected American performers is on the mark, too: Billy Crystal is surprisingly good as the Gravedigger, Robin Williams predictably camps up Osric, and Charlton Heston is an inspired choice as the grandiloquent Player King. The biggest irony here is that Branagh himself is not quite spot-on as Hamlet. Of course he speaks the lines beautifully, but Branagh's screen personality radiates certainty and clarity of vision; there's little of the doubt that might make him Hamlet-esque. Still, tremendous credit for fending off slings and arrows to get the movie made. --Robert Horton