Best in Show

• The tension is palpable, the excitement is mounting and the heady scent of competition is in the air as hundreds of eager contestants from across America prepare to take part in what is undoubtedly one of the greatest events of their lives -- the Mayflower Dog Show.Running Time: 89 min. System Requirements: Starring: Jennifer Coolidge, Christopher Guest, John Michael Higgins, Michael Hitchcock

Debut feature director Jay Berman (Christopher Guest), steers cast and crew through a typically tumultuous independent film Home for Purim, an intimate period drama about a Jewish family's turbulent reunion on the occasion of the dying matriarch's favorite holiday. When Internet-generated rumors begin circulating that three of Purim's stars -- faded luminary Marilyn Hack (Catherine O'Hara), journeyman actor and former hot dog pitchman Victor Allan Miller (Harry Shearer), and ingenue Callie Webb (Parker ! Posey) -- may be perpetrating Award-worthy performances, a rumble of excitement rattles the cast. Once "Hollywood Now" anchors Chuck Porter (Fred Willard) and Cindy Martin (Jane Lynch) pick up the buzz, Award fever infects the entire production. Unit publicist Corey Taft (John Michael Higgins), talent agent Morley Orfkin (Eugene Levy), and producer Whitney Taylor Brown (Jennifer Coolidge) all smell the sudden potential for a sleeper hit. As does Sunfish Classics President Martin Gibb (Ricky Gervais), who suggests some last-minute changes to the film that he feels will broaden the film's appeal. Meanwhile, Purim's screenwriters, Lane Iverson (Michael McKean) and Philip Koontz (Bob Balaban) grow steadily more horrified as they watch the first film adaptation of their work diverge from their original story. As the hopeful Purim team careens toward the end of production and the upcoming Award season, tenuous relationships and brittle dreams play out in unexpected ways...Christo! pher Guest (director of A Mighty Wind, Best in Show, and Waiting for Guffman) and his sparkling troupe of improvisational satirists return with a sardonic look at C-list (or perhaps D- or E-list) actors driven to the brink of madness by the possibility of winning an Academy Award. Marilyn Hack (the ever-brilliant Catherine O'Hara, Beetlejuice), a modestly talented character actress, hears of an Internet rumor that she might be nominated for the dubious movie she's currently making, Home for Purim. Soon buzz is flying about all the rest of the cast (which includes Harry Shearer and Parker Posey) and everyone starts clawing for as much attention as they can get while appearing modest and unambitious. Despite the movie's target being so familiar to them, For Your Consideration is not Guest & Co.'s best work--in an effort to give everyone in the huge cast face time, few of the characters gain any comic traction or have a particularly engaging storyline; the mockery stays on a fairly surface level. Nonethe! less, some of those surfaces are pretty funny: Fred Willard and Jane Lynch are devastating as a pair of predatory infotainment hosts, while Jennifer Coolidge (Legally Blonde) turns in a daffy and surreal performance. Throughout, the movie's anchor is O'Hara; the way her character is virtually crushed by the hype has a surprising richness and depth. She remains a cinematic treasure. --Bret FetzerA new comedy from the director of Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show and a Mighty Wind. Special Features includes Commentary by Co-Writers Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy - Over 30 minutes of Hilarious Bonus Material - Home for Purim Poster Gallery - Theatrical Trailer.A BLUE RIBBON LOOK AT DOG SHOW PARTICIPANTS AND THE POOCHES WHO LOVE THEM.Christopher Guest, the man behind Waiting for Guffman, turns his comic eye on another little world that takes itself a bit too seriously: the world of competitive dog shows. Best in Show follows a clutch of dog owners as they prepare and preen their dogs to win a national competition. They include the yuppie pair (Parker Posey and Michael Hitchcock) who fear they've traumatized their Weimaraner by having sex in front of him; a suburban husband and wife (Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara) with a terrier and a long history of previous lovers on the wife's part; the Southern owner of a bloodhound (Guest himself) with aspirations as a ventriloquist; and many more. Following the same "mockumentary" format ! of Spinal Tap and Guffman, Best in Show takes in some of the dog show officials, the manager of a nearby hotel that allows dogs to stay there, and the commentators of the competition (a particularly knockout comic turn by Fred Willard as an oafish announcer). The movie manages to paint an affectionate portrait of its quirky characters without ever losing sight of the ridiculousness of their obsessive world. Almost all of the scenes were created through improvisation. While lacking the overall focus of a written script, Best in Show captures hilarious and absurd aspects of human behavior that could never be written down. The movie's success is a testament to both the talent of the actors and Guest's discerning eye. --Bret Fetzer

Abandoned: A Thriller

• ISBN13: 9780553591347
• Condition: New
• Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

There are rules for dealing with ghosts. Too bad Ree Hutchins doesn't know them.

When her favorite patient at a private mental hospital passes away, psychology student Ree Hutchins mourns the elderly woman's death. But more unsettling is her growing suspicion that something unnatural is shadowing her.

Amateur ghost hunter Hayden Priest believes Ree is being haunted. Even Amelia Gray, known in Charleston as The Graveyard Queen, senses a gathering darkness. Driven by a force she doesn't understand, Ree is compelled to uncover an old secret and put abandoned souls to restâ€"before she is locked away forever....

An ebook exclusive prequel to The Graveyard Queen series.There are rule! s for dealing with ghosts. Too bad Ree Hutchins doesn't know them.

When her favorite patient at a private mental hospital passes away, psychology student Ree Hutchins mourns the elderly woman's death. But more unsettling is her growing suspicion that something unnatural is shadowing her.

Amateur ghost hunter Hayden Priest believes Ree is being haunted. Even Amelia Gray, known in Charleston as The Graveyard Queen, senses a gathering darkness. Driven by a force she doesn't understand, Ree is compelled to uncover an old secret and put abandoned souls to restâ€"before she is locked away forever....

An ebook exclusive prequel to The Graveyard Queen series.Little Boy Lost, Book Two

Jamie is gone.

Brian's secret has been revealed.

Brian McAllister's story continues as he tries to cope with the loss of his best friend and soul mate amid the alienation and ridicule of his classmates. When hatred turns to violence, Brian narrows h! is focus to two goals: surviving and finding Jamie. Along the ! way he m eets Adam, whose life has also been shattered by violence and cruelty. Can Adam fill the hole in Brian's life left by Jamie's absence? The answer will change everything.Little Boy Lost, Book Two

Jamie is gone.

Brian's secret has been revealed.

Brian McAllister's story continues as he tries to cope with the loss of his best friend and soul mate amid the alienation and ridicule of his classmates. When hatred turns to violence, Brian narrows his focus to two goals: surviving and finding Jamie. Along the way he meets Adam, whose life has also been shattered by violence and cruelty. Can Adam fill the hole in Brian's life left by Jamie's absence? The answer will change everything.

On Christmas Eve in 1985, a hunter found a young boy's body along an icy corn field in Nebraska. The residents of Chester, Nebraska buried him as "Little Boy Blue," unclaimed and unidentified-- until a phone call from Ohio two years later led authorities to Eli Stutzman, the b! oy's father.

Eli Stutzman, the son of an Amish bishop, was by all appearances a dedicated farmer and family man in the country's strictest religious sect. But behind his quiet façade was a man involved with pornography, sadomasochism, and drugs. After the suspicious death of his pregnant wife, Stutzman took his preschool-age son, Danny, and hit the road on a sexual odyssey ending with his conviction for murder. But the mystery of Eli Stutzman and the fate of his son didn't end on the barren Nebraska plains. It was just beginning. . .

Oswald Chambers was born in Scotland and spent much of his boyhood there. His ministry of teaching and preaching took him for a time to the United States and Japan. The last six years of his life were spent as principal of the Bible Training College in London, and as chaplain to British Commonwealth troops in Egypt during World War I. After his death, at age 43, the books that bear his name were compiled by his wife from her ow! n verbatim shorthand notes of his talks.

Abandoned! junk to some, the rusty old steel shells of vehicles are treasures to others, holding memories of a bygone era, or the promise of a pristinely restored, radically customized automobile. Automotive photographer Will Shiers has captured these dreams on film for over ten years, and this volume collects his images between two covers for the first time. Here are the beautiful husks Shiers has found in the United States fields and barns, shops, and salvage yards across States. Divided into five categoriesâ€"General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Independents, and Special Vehiclesâ€"these wrecks and relics from 1910 to the 1970s come equipped with all the relevant information: history, model, location. The most comprehensive and beautifully photographed collection of abandoned cars ever published, this volume preserves for all time the exquisite skeletons of American automotive might.

Much has been written about World War II, but not often do we hear about the immeasu! rable suffering of the Germans who wanted no part of Hitler's regime. Abandoned and Forgotten is the memoir of a young girl growing up in the then-German province of East Prussia by the Baltic Sea. Orphaned at the age of nine and left to fend for herself in a hostile world, Evelyne Tannehill witnessed firsthand what happens when law and order break down and self-preservation becomes the only thing that matters. Her journey is a poignant example of how resilient the human spirit can be, even in the face of war's greatest horrors.For FBI Special Agent Smoky Barrett, her colleague’s wedding is cause for celebration. Until a woman staggers down the aisleâ€"incoherent, wearing only a white nightgown. A fingerprint check determines that she’s been missing for nearly eight years. Her coldly efficient captor toyed with her mind and body, imprisoning her, depriving her of any contact with the outside world. As Smoky fits together the pieces of what remains of the victi! m’s fractured life, a chilling picture emerges of a cerebral! psychop ath who doesn’t take murder personally, never makes a mistake, follows his own sinister logic, and has set the perfect trap.
  Cody McFadyen on Abandoned

I build my books around the bad guy. I have from the first. I remember making a conscious decision to build my bad guys a little bit outside the box--the box being the firm reality we all know and agree to be.

Why?

Because it’s a lot more fun to write about serial killers that way.

Think about it. Hannibal Lecter is a lot more interesting than Son of Sam. Hannibal is brilliant, complex, unclassifiable. He kills with finesse and precision. Son of Sam was an unhinged lunatic, blowing people away at random. As a character, Hannibal is much more interesting to write about (and read). Because true serial killers aren’! t super villains. They’re disturbed, sordid individuals, driven by hungers and needs that usually destroy them from the inside out. A lot of the time, they’re socially inept, and not very smart. Their depravity is most often senseless. Writing about what they do would be like writing about a great white shark: it eats because it is hungry and it has such big sharp teeth... you can’t sustain an entire novel on pure savagery. So I like for my bad guys to have a reason for what they do, some guiding purpose. Otherwise, all I’m doing is asking you to pull up a chair and watch the feast--and while something in our reptile brains might enjoy seeing a little bit of the feast, we shy away from the full truth of it.

So when I started thinking about Abandoned, the fourth book in my series, I started by thinking about my killer. I wanted to do something different, but what? The killers in the books earlier in the series had all been pretty "hungry;" in other! words, they were appetite driven. "So what," I thought, "abou! t a kill er with no appetite at all?"

I actually rejected it at first, but the idea kept swimming back to the forefront. There was something terrifying about the idea of someone operating with such cold clarity. It was haunting me--which is always a good sign! I thought about it a lot and finally realized what (for me at least) makes such a killer so chilling: that kind of coldness relegates us to nothing, nothing at all.

The killer who is purposefully cruel, the killer who drools with excitement, still needs our humanity, at whatever level. There is a validation of our value as sentient, emotional beings, even if that only means they need our fear and our horror. It’s a terrible kind of "mattering," but still, we matter.

In the world of the killer I envisaged, we don’t matter at all. There’s no intentional cruelty, no enjoyment of our suffering, no acknowledgement of the value of our existence. He assigns his victims numbers, because it’s a mor! e economical use of oxygen than saying their names.

I saw him, he terrified me, and then I wrote him. He lies within the pages of Abandoned. It’s my hope he’ll terrify you as well.--Cody McFadyen

---

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Hearts in Atlantis

• Based on a Stephen King novella, the film is set in the small-town Connecticut of 1960 and centers around an 11-year-old fatherless boy, whose life is changed when an eccentric man with a psychic gift boards at his home. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: PG-13 Age: 085392208128 UPC: 085392208128 Manufacturer No: 22081

Although it is difficult to believe, the Sixties are not fictional:

THEY ACTUALLY HAPPENED.

No matter the format, Stephen King's work is spellbinding because the author himself is spellbound. The first hugely popular writer of the TV generation, King published his first novel, Carrie, in 1974, the year before the last U.S. troops withdrew from Vietnam. Images from that war -- and protests against it -- had flooded America's living rooms for nearly ten years. In Hearts in Altantis, King mesmerizes readers with fiction deeply rooted in the Sixties! , and explores -- through four defining decades -- the haunting legacy of the Vietmnam War.

As the characters in Hearts in Atlantis are tested in every way, King probes and unlocks the secrets of his generation for us all. Full of danger, full of suspense, and most of all full of heart, Stephen King's new book will take some readers to a place they have never been able to leave completely.With his idiosyncratic blend of patrician airs and boyish charm, narrator William Hurt provides a wonderful complement to this wildly imaginative collection of short stories by author Stephen King. Hurt carefully weaves the disparate elements into a cohesive whole, embracing the subtle complexities of each character; one moment a wizened sadness leaks into his voice as a haunted old man, pursued by demons, asks his 11-year-old lookout, "You know everyone on this street, on this block of this street anyway? And you'd know strangers? Sojourners? Faces of those unkno! wn?" Then, in a profound yet almost imperceptible switch, he ! exposes the boy's naive enthusiasm, "I think so." Right about here your neck hairs will stand at attention. Hurt's peculiar vocal style is in perfect pitch to King's dark, surreal vision of growing up amid the monsters of post-Vietnam America. (Running time: 21 hours, 20 CDs) --George Laney Stephen King, whose first novel, Carrie, was published in 1974, the year before the last U.S. troops withdrew from Vietnam, is the first hugely popular writer of the TV generation. Images from that war -- and the protests against it -- had flooded America's living rooms for a decade. Hearts in Atlantis, King's newest fiction, is composed of five interconnected, sequential narratives, set in the years from 1960 to 1999. Each story is deeply rooted in the sixties, and each is haunted by the Vietnam War.

In Part One, "Low Men in Yellow Coats," eleven-year-old Bobby Garfield discovers a world of predatory malice in his own neighborhood. He also discovers that adults are ! sometimes not rescuers but at the heart of the terror.

In the title story, a bunch of college kids get hooked on a card game, discover the possibility of protest...and confront their own collective heart of darkness, where laughter may be no more than the thinly disguised cry of the beast.

In "Blind Willie" and "Why We're in Vietnam," two men who grew up with Bobby in suburban Connecticut try to fill the emptiness of the post-Vietnam era in an America which sometimes seems as hollow -- and as haunted -- as their own lives.

And in "Heavenly Shades of Night Are Falling," this remarkable book's denouement, Bobby returns to his hometown where one final secret, the hope of redemption, and his heart's desire may await him.

Full of danger, full of suspense, most of all full of heart, Stephen King's new book will take some readers to a place they have never been...and others to a place they have never been able to completely leave.With his idiosyncratic blend! of patrician airs and boyish charm, narrator William Hurt pr! ovides a wonderful complement to this wildly imaginative collection of short stories by author Stephen King. Hurt carefully weaves the disparate elements into a cohesive whole, embracing the subtle complexities of each character; one moment a wizened sadness leaks into his voice as a haunted old man, pursued by demons, asks his 11-year-old lookout, "You know everyone on this street, on this block of this street anyway? And you'd know strangers? Sojourners? Faces of those unknown?" Then, in a profound yet almost imperceptible switch, he exposes the boy's naive enthusiasm, "I think so." Right about here your neck hairs will stand at attention. Hurt's peculiar vocal style is in perfect pitch to King's dark, surreal vision of growing up amid the monsters of post-Vietnam America. (Running time: 21 hours, 16 cassettes) --George LaneyStephen King, whose first novel, Carrie, was published in 1974, the year before the last U.S. troops withdrew from Vietnam, is the f! irst hugely popular writer of the TV generation. Images from that war -- and the protests against it -- had flooded America's living rooms for a decade. Hearts in Atlantis, King's newest fiction, is composed of five interconnected, sequential narratives, set in the years from 1960 to 1999. Each story is deeply rooted in the sixties, and each is haunted by the Vietnam War.

In Part One, "Low Men in Yellow Coats," eleven-year-old Bobby Garfield discovers a world of predatory malice in his own neighborhood. He also discovers that adults are sometimes not rescuers but at the heart of the terror.

In the title story, a bunch of college kids get hooked on a card game, discover the possibility of protest...and confront their own collective heart of darkness, where laughter may be no more than the thinly disguised cry of the beast.

In "Blind Willie" and "Why We're in Vietnam," two men who grew up with Bobby in suburban Connecticut try to fill the emptiness of the p! ost-Vietnam era in an America which sometimes seems as hollow ! -- and a s haunted -- as their own lives.

And in "Heavenly Shades of Night Are Falling," this remarkable book's denouement, Bobby returns to his hometown where one final secret, the hope of redemption, and his heart's desire may await him.

Full of danger, full of suspense, most of all full of heart, Stephen King's new book will take some readers to a place they have never been...and others to a place they have never been able to completely leave.Bobby befriends a new lodger in the boarding house where he lives and learns that he has strange powers and is being hunted by people called the lowmen.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 3-FEB-2004
Media Type: DVDFans of The Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption will feel a similar affection for Hearts in Atlantis, a Stephen King adaptation that again finds the horror writer in more mainstream waters, with a bit of dabbling in the supernatural. Wh! en mysterious out-of-towner Ted Brautigan (Anthony Hopkins) moves into the boarding house that 11-year-old Bobby Garfield (Anton Yelchin) shares with his self-involved mother (Hope Davis), Bobby jumps at the chance to befriend an adult who talks to him straightforwardly. Ted enlists Bobby to read him the newspaper daily--and to keep an eye out for the "low men" bent on capturing Ted, who possesses a strange mind-reading power. Hopkins is in fine form, ably matched by the phenomenal young Yelchin, but director Scott Hicks (Shine) more often than not flattens out the dramatic arcs of the story, despite all the intriguing turns the film takes. Thankfully, though, the schmaltz factor is kept to a minimum, making Hearts in Atlantis a heartfelt coming-of-age drama. --Mark Englehart

"A Clockwork Orange" iPhone 4 Case by Out of Print Clothing

• Fits iPhone 4 (ATT & Verizon).
• Features classic book cover art.
• Canvas + plastic hard shell
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• Purchase of this case sends one book to a community in need.

“A brilliant novel . . . a savage satire on the distortions of the single and collective minds.” â€"New York Times

“Anthony Burgess has written what looks like a nasty little shocker, but is really that rare thing in English letters: a philosophical novel.” â€"Time

A terrifying tale about good and evil and the meaning of human freedom, A Clockwork Orange became an instant classic when it was published in 1962 and has remained so ever since. Anthony Burgess takes us on a journey to a nightmarish future where sociopathic criminals rule the night. Brilliantly told in harsh invented slang by the novel’s main characte! r and merciless droog, fifteen-year-old Alex, this influential novel is now available in a student edition.

The Norton Critical Edition of A Clockwork Orange is based on the first British edition and includes Burgess’s original final chapter. It is accompanied by Mark Rawlinson’s preface, explanatory annotations, and textual notes. A glossary of the Russian-origin terms that inspired Alex’s dialect is provided to illustrate the process by which Burgess arrived at the distinctive style of this novel.

“Backgrounds and Contexts” presents a wealth of materials chosen by the editor to enrich the reader’s understanding of this unforgettable work, many of them by Burgess himself. Burgess’s views on writing A Clockwork Orange, its philosophical issues, and the debates over the British edition versus the American edition and the novel versus the film adaptation are all included. Related writings that speak to some of the ! novel’s central issuesâ€"youthful style, behavior modificati! on, and art versus moralityâ€"are provided by Paul Rock and Stanley Cohen, B. F. Skinner, John R. Platt, Joost A. M. Meerloo, William Sargent, and George Steiner.

“Criticism” is divided into two sections, one addressing the novel and the other Stanley Kubrick’s film version. Five major reviews of the novel are reprinted along with a wide range of scholarly commentary, including, among others, David Lodge on the American reader; Julie Carson on linguistic invention; Zinovy Zinik on Burgess and the Russian language; Geoffrey Sharpless on education, masculinity, and violence; Shirley Chew on circularity; Patrick Parrinder on dystopias; Robbie B. H. Goh on language and social control; and Steven M. Cahn on freedom. A thorough analysis of the film adaptation of A Clockwork Orange is provided in reviews by Vincent Canby, Pauline Kael, and Christopher Ricks; in Philip Strick and Penelope Houston’s interview with Stanley Kubrick; and in interpretive essays by! Don Daniels, Alexander Walker, Philip French, Thomas Elsaesser, Tom Dewe Mathews, and Julian Petley.

A Selected Bibliography is also included.Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. 100% Money Back Guarantee.

The only American edition of the cult classic novel.

A vicious fifteen-year-old "droog" is the central character of this 1963 classic, whose stark terror was captured in Stanley Kubrick's magnificent film of the same title. In Anthony Burgess's nightmare vision of the future, where criminals take over after dark, the story is told by the central character, Alex, who talks in a brutal invented slang that brilliantly renders his and his friends' social pathology. A Clockwork Orange is a frightening fable about good and evil, and the meaning of human freedom. When the state undertakes to reform Alexâ€"to "redeem" himâ€"the novel asks, "At what cost?" This edition includes the controversial last chapter not published in th! e first edition and Burgess's introduction "A Clockwork Orange! Resucke d."

The only American edition of the cult classic novel.

A vicious fifteen-year-old "droog" is the central character of this 1963 classic, whose stark terror was captured in Stanley Kubrick's magnificent film of the same title. In Anthony Burgess's nightmare vision of the future, where criminals take over after dark, the story is told by the central character, Alex, who talks in a brutal invented slang that brilliantly renders his and his friends' social pathology. A Clockwork Orange is a frightening fable about good and evil, and the meaning of human freedom. When the state undertakes to reform Alexâ€"to "redeem" himâ€"the novel asks, "At what cost?" This edition includes the controversial last chapter not published in the first edition and Burgess's introduction "A Clockwork Orange Resucked."Bringing together new and critically informed essays about one of the most controversial films ever made, this collection of writings examines the literary origins of the work, ! the nature of cinematic violence, questions of gender and the film's treatment of sexuality, as well as the difficulties of adapting an invented language ("nadsat") for the screen. The volume also includes two contemporary and conflicting reviews by Roger Hughes and Pauline Kael, a detailed glossary of "nadsat" and reproductions of stills from the film.Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. 100% Money Back Guarantee.Books should always be part of the conversation. Canvas-wrapped iPhone cases with cover art from your favorite classics and fun literary interpretations. From the horrorshow 1972 Penguin softcover by David Pelham.

Masada - The Complete Epic Mini-Series

• An epic true story of Jews fleeing Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Pursued to a mountain stronghold of the Herods, they face lives enslaved, or suicide. This is the full-length television miniseries. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION Rating: NR Age: 741952648291 UPC: 741952648291 Manufacturer No: KOC-DV6482

The hilarious hi-jinks begin when a hapless group of orphans from curious backgrounds come together to embark on an adventure that takes them to a special chocolate factory where they fall into an enchanted wardrobe and wind-up in a magical land. Here, hilarity ensues when the bungling bunch run into a colorful collection of characters including a flamboyant pirate and a gang of wizardry-apprentices who they join forces with to overthrow the wicked White Bitch of Gnarnia.

By dint of the inexplicable popularity of their send-up of movie genres in the parody movies Sca! ry Movie and Date Movie, writer/director duo Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer probably got an epic-sized bucket of cash for this hastily stitched pastiche of drive-by entertainment. There's no particular variety of movie they were sent to send up this time, unless big box-office grossers has now become a genre in and of itself. If so, Epic Movie may well qualify as part of that league itself. Very little expense has been spared to make so-called "comic" references to a slew of mostly recent blockbusters--The Chronicles of Narnia, Borat, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the X-Men and Harry Potter series, Superman Returns, Nacho Libre, and The Da Vinci Code to name a few--and it's assumed we've seen them all. In a goofy thread of a story about four orphans plucked from some of the above, battle must be done through various bastardized plots from same so tha! t a prophecy can be fulfilled and they can assume their rightf! ul place as rulers of a sacred land. Lots of crotch kicks, fart, urine, and vomit jokes speed by as we pass through Willie Wonka's factory and a magical wardrobe with an unusually interesting assortment of look-alikes and name actors caught up in the gag mix (some of it legitimately funny). Darrell Hammond, Crispin Glover, David Carradine, Kevin McDonald, Carmen Electra, Kal Penn put on game (and sometimes gamy) faces, and it's definitely a hoot to watch comedy improv alums Fred Willard and Jennifer Coolidge as Aslo the Lion and the White Bitch do battle in a Narnian good vs. evil character smackdown. As lame as you already expect a movie like this to be, anything that can throw together an homage to C.S. Lewis alongside MTV's Punk'd in less than 90 minutes can't be all bad. --Ted Fry

Epic Movie Extras

Watch the writers and producer talk about how adding song and dance made Epic Movie a smash.

Beyond Epic Movie

More Comic Spoofs

More Kal Penn Films

More From 20th Century Fox

Stills from Epic Movie

The hilarious hi-jinks begin when a hapless group of orphans from curious backgrounds come together to embark on an adventure that takes them to a special chocolate factory where they fall into an enchanted wardrobe and wind-up in a magical land. Here, hilarity ensues when the bungling bunch run into a colorful collection of characters including a flamboyant pirate and a gang of wizardry-apprentices who they join forces with to overthrow the wicked White Bitch of Gnarnia.

By dint of t! he inexplicable popularity of their send-up of movie genres in the parody movies Scary Movie and Date Movie, writer/director duo Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer probably got an epic-sized bucket of cash for this hastily stitched pastiche of drive-by entertainment. There's no particular variety of movie they were sent to send up this time, unless big box-office grossers has now become a genre in and of itself. If so, Epic Movie may well qualify as part of that league itself. Very little expense has been spared to make so-called "comic" references to a slew of mostly recent blockbusters--The Chronicles of Narnia, Borat, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the X-Men and Harry Potter series, Superman Returns, Nacho Libre, and The Da Vinci Code to name a few--and it's assumed we've seen them all. In a goofy thread of a story about four orphans plucked from so! me of the above, battle must be done through various bastardiz! ed plots from same so that a prophecy can be fulfilled and they can assume their rightful place as rulers of a sacred land. Lots of crotch kicks, fart, urine, and vomit jokes speed by as we pass through Willie Wonka's factory and a magical wardrobe with an unusually interesting assortment of look-alikes and name actors caught up in the gag mix (some of it legitimately funny). Darrell Hammond, Crispin Glover, David Carradine, Kevin McDonald, Carmen Electra, Kal Penn put on game (and sometimes gamy) faces, and it's definitely a hoot to watch comedy improv alums Fred Willard and Jennifer Coolidge as Aslo the Lion and the White Bitch do battle in a Narnian good vs. evil character smackdown. As lame as you already expect a movie like this to be, anything that can throw together an homage to C.S. Lewis alongside MTV's Punk'd in less than 90 minutes can't be all bad. --Ted Fry

Epic Movie Extras

Watch the writers and producer talk about how adding song and dance made Epic Movie a smash.

Beyond Epic Movie

More Comic Spoofs

More Kal Penn Films

More From 20th Century Fox

Stills from Epic Movie

Genre: Comedy
Rating: UN
Release Date: 6-JAN-2009
Media Type: DVDEven within the subgenre of grab-bag comedy, Disaster Movie sets a new bar for free-associative lunacy. To what degree there is a plot, it's vaguely stolen from Cloverfield: A handful of twentysomethings try to rescue someone in a city assaulted by an incomprehensible threat--in t! his case, falling asteroids. But that's just a thread on which to string a long and increasingly tedious series of gestures towards recent movies (ranging from High School Musical to Enchanted to Sex and the City to Kung Fu Panda) and pop culture figures (Amy Winehouse to Flavor Flav to Dr. Phil to, of course, perpetual punching-bag Michael Jackson). No one over 30 will recognize more than a fraction of the movie's references, but the movie's bigger problem is that there are hardly any actual jokes--the filmmakers seem to think that simply alluding to Hancock or Jumper is funny in and of itself... and it just isn't. Disaster Movie will probably appeal to its primary audience of high-school students and repressed frat boys, for whom the mere mention of homosexuality prompts jittery laughter and who find generically pretty girls and studly boys in tight clothing titillating. It's a wasted opportunity; there are mo! ments that, through sheer incompetence and desperation, sugges! t a surr eal stream-of-consciousness. A filmmaker like Luis Bunuel or Federico Fellini could have turned such raw matter into a satirical aria that would genuinely critique a culture that worships Paris Hilton. Instead, we get this. Featuring, as ever, Carmen Electra.--Bret Fetzer

Spider-Man, X-Men, and the Fantastic Four will never be the same after this outrageously funny spoof of your favorite comic book movies! Drake Bell (Drake & Josh) stars as a nerdy high school student bitten by a genetically-altered dragonfly. He stumbles hilariously through the process of becoming a crime-fighter and as his new powers grow, so do the laugh! s. Sara Paxton (Aquamarine) and Christopher McDonald (Spy Kid! s 2) cos tar as the clueless damsel in distress and the comically intense super villain, along with Pamela Anderson and Leslie Nielsen. Going from superzero to superhero has never been this much fun! Adolescent fantasy meets sophomoric humor in the latest cuisinart comedy, Superhero Movie. The story of how frustrated loser Rick Riker (Drake Bell of Drake & Josh) becomes the superpowered Dragonfly is largely poking fun at Spider-Man, but there are a handful of digs at X-Men, Fantastic Four, and other Marvel Comics superhuman flicks. What's disappointing is how few of the jokes are specific to the genre--the abundance of gags about urine, feces, horniness, and especially flatulence (long, drawn-out gags about flatulence) could have been shoehorned into a parody of pretty much anything. The strong point of Superhero Movie is the above-average cast; while there are the obligatory cameos by the likes of Pamela Anderson, the cast is mostly filled ! out with actual actors like Marion Ross (Happy Days), Christopher McDonald (Thelma & Louise), Brent Spiner (Star Trek: The Next Generation), Jeffrey Tambor (Arrested Development), and Leslie Nielsen, who trots out his trademark deadpan one more time. As Dragonfly's love interest, Sara Paxton (Aquamarine) does a flawless and subtle imitation of Kirsten Dunst's sultry vocal mannerisms. And for fans of Airplane! (the movie that started the whole everything-but-the-kitchen-sink genre of comedy), there's an appropriate cameo by Robert Hays as Rick Riker's father. Superhero is a step above such recent tripe as Date Movie and Meet the Spartans... but sadly, that's not saying much. --Bret FetzerMultiple Directors - Starring Kal Penn, Adam Campbell, Jennifer Coolidge 20th Century Fox - Rated PG13 - 93 min - Parody/Spoof - Region: 1 (USA & territories, Canada) If forced to watch any entry in Aaron Seltzer and Jason Friedberg's [Fill in the Blank] Movie franchise, the best (and only) way to stay entertained is to make a game of pinpointing the most recent cultural spoof, thereby identifying just how recently they coughed out the shoddy script. In the disastrous Epic Movie, that would be a Borat joke, meaning the script was probably submitted sometime in November for a January release. Boy does it show. Even if they claim to be lampooning a particular genre, these films are more interested in a particular window of time -- hence the inclusion of decidedly non-epic films like Snakes on a Plane and Talladega Nights in Epic Movie's slate of targets. The jokes are so brainlessly simple, only by aiming them at the most recent Hollywood releases is there any chance they'd seem fresh -- and even that is quite optimistic. Simply put, this is lowest common denominator filmmaking, produced on a shoestring using actors whose hunger for a paych! eck is downright embarrassing. That Jennifer Coolidge and Fred Willard didn't learn their lesson from the abomination known as Date Movie is a sad commentary on what funny actors must do to make a living -- it's the equivalent of Eugene Levy appearing in every last straight-to-DVD American Pie sequel. Discussing this slapdash production in any detail is too generous, as it gives the false impression that the film succeeds on any level. However, to dismiss it entirely ignores its $19 million opening weekend take, which indicates there are certainly viewers content enough to guffaw over such cut-rate obviousness. If any of them remembered the sublime beginnings of the parody genre, such as Airplane!, they wouldn't give this film a dime. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie GuideIn first century A.D., Flavius Silva (Peter O’Toole), commander in Roman Palestine, leads his forces in combat against the remaining Jewish Zealots who have taken refuge in the seemingly impregnable fortress! of Masada. There, the engineering and military might of Rome ! faces th e passion and ingenuity of Eleazar Ben Yair (Peter Strauss) and his people. Based on the novel "The Antagonists" by Ernest K. Gann, this epic, 4-part mini-series was shot on location in Israel.This 1981 television miniseries, based on Ernest K. Gann's historical novel The Antagonists, is a dramatization of a documented revolt by nearly a thousand Jerusalem Jews against Roman oppressors in A.D. 72 to 73. Following a city-wide siege by Rome's soldiers, Jewish Zealots move into a fortress in the mountains of Masada, from which they present a defense strong enough to convince the enemy to negotiate. Peter O'Toole, in all his golden dignity, plays Cornelius Flavius Silva, commander of the Roman legions, and Peter Strauss is Zealot leader Eleazar ben Yair. Both are outstanding as representatives from each side trying, in good faith, to find a way out of the deadlocked situation. Unfortunately, neither realizes that Rome has no intention of yielding, resulting in one of! the greatest tragedies in Jewish history. A strong cast of character actors--David Warner, Barbara Carrera, Timothy West, and Anthony Quayle--is rewardingly watchable, the action and sets are persuasive without overwhelming the story's human dimension, and direction by Boris Sagal (The Omega Man) is crisp and enthralling. This was a pleasure to watch when it was first broadcast, and it holds up very well today. --Tom Keogh"A victory? What have we won?" laments a breathtaking Peter O'Toole as the Roman warrior Flavius Silva. "We've won a rock in the middle of a wasteland, on the shores of a poisoned sea." Thus does Masada, the epic 1981 miniseries about a horrific battle in ancient Palestine, echo the terrible toll of war in general, and of the brutal conflicts in today's Middle East in particular. Masada, from the golden age of miniseries (Roots, Shogun), is a transportive viewing event--shot on location, and apparently no exp! ense spared.

The film retells (with some dramatic license)! the tru e story of an uprising in Palestine of a ragtag band of Jews, in a fortress called Masada, who refuse to surrender to the governing Romans. O'Toole, as Flavius Silva, is the brilliant commander who, over the course of several years of trying, and failing, to breach Masada, comes to regard the leader of his foes, Eleazar ben Yair (the charismatic Peter Strauss), with a certain amount of respect and awe. If left to Flavius, he might have simply leave the holdout fortress and return to the Italy he so longs for; but the Roman emperor demands victory--at any cost.

The performances are uniformly crisp and believable; the direction by Boris Sagal, economical; the screenplay, sharp and incisive. David Warner, who won an Emmy for his performance, plays the brutal Roman henchman Falco with seething determination. The location shooting is nothing short of spectacular. There is sorrow in the story of Masada, but an uplifting message in the ability of true believers to creat! e their own destiny. --A.T. Hurley

House of Flying Daggers [Blu-ray]

• Condition: New
• Format: Blu-ray
• AC-3; Color; Dolby; Dubbed; Subtitled; Widescreen

THE ILL-FATED ROMANCE BETWEEN AN IMPERIAL BODYGUARD & A PRINCETAKES THE LOVERS ON A DANGEROUS JOURNEY WHERE ROYAL FAMILYSECRETS ARE REVEALED.Curse of the Golden Flower, a fictionalized historical glimpse into the brutally complicated politics of Emperor Ping's (Chow Yun Fat) reign during the Tang Dynasty, shows the viewer just how far a megalomaniac must go to gain and retain power in medieval China. Lavish sets, massive ceremonial displays, and perversely fascinating battle scenes impress similarly to the special effects Americans have come to love and expect from Chinese action films like Zhang Yimou's previous House of Flying Daggers and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. An intricate plot involving the Emperor's wife, Empress Phoenix (Gong Li) and their three sons, Crown Prin! ce Xiang, Prince Jie, and Prince Cheng, most closely follows the Empress's secret plan to force abdication upon her corrupt husband as revenge for his slowly poisoning her with Black Fungus tea. Opening on the eve of the Chysanthemum Festival, 928 A.D., the Empress obsessively embroiders gold chysanthemums to adorn her army's uniforms while hatching plans with Jai to overthrow the Crown Prince for control of the throne. Meanwhile, a side plot develops as the Emperor's ex-wife and mother to Crown Prince Yu reemerges as Yu's lover. By the time the Festival occurs, family members are pitted against each other in a King Lear-ian web of lies that can only result in demise. The most sophisticated narrative aspect of Curse of the Golden Flower is that as the royal family crumbles, the Emperor's death grip on China remains unwavering. Gorgeous scenes set in the palace and costume design displaying China's upper class decadence cannot fail to entertain. The paradox bet! ween good and evil, here, is highlighted by how the Emperor su! ccessful ly rules despite, and because of, his utter cruelty. --Trinie DaltonFrom the director of Hero and House of Flying Daggers comes the martial arts epic masterpiece whose savage beauty and exquisite elegance has mesmerized and captivated audiences around the world. Set in the lavish and breathtakingly colorful world hidden from the eyes of mere mortals behind the walls of the Forbidden City, a tale of a royal family divided against itself builds to a mythic climax as lines are crossed, trust is betrayed, and family blood is spilled in the quest for redemption and revenge. Starring Chow Yun Fat of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon as the embattled Emperor and Gong Li of Memoirs of a Geisha as his poisoned Empress, Curse of the Golden Flower grants you entry into a dazzling and spectacular world of betrayal, vengeance and passion that will change the way you think of martial arts forever.Curse of the Golden Flower, a fictionalized his! torical glimpse into the brutally complicated politics of Emperor Ping's (Chow Yun Fat) reign during the Tang Dynasty, shows the viewer just how far a megalomaniac must go to gain and retain power in medieval China. Lavish sets, massive ceremonial displays, and perversely fascinating battle scenes impress similarly to the special effects Americans have come to love and expect from Chinese action films like Zhang Yimou's previous House of Flying Daggers and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. An intricate plot involving the Emperor's wife, Empress Phoenix (Gong Li) and their three sons, Crown Prince Xiang, Prince Jie, and Prince Cheng, most closely follows the Empress's secret plan to force abdication upon her corrupt husband as revenge for his slowly poisoning her with Black Fungus tea. Opening on the eve of the Chysanthemum Festival, 928 A.D., the Empress obsessively embroiders gold chysanthemums to adorn her army's uniforms while hatching plans with Jai to overthrow th! e Crown Prince for control of the throne. Meanwhile, a side pl! ot devel ops as the Emperor's ex-wife and mother to Crown Prince Yu reemerges as Yu's lover. By the time the Festival occurs, family members are pitted against each other in a King Lear-ian web of lies that can only result in demise. The most sophisticated narrative aspect of Curse of the Golden Flower is that as the royal family crumbles, the Emperor's death grip on China remains unwavering. Gorgeous scenes set in the palace and costume design displaying China's upper class decadence cannot fail to entertain. The paradox between good and evil, here, is highlighted by how the Emperor successfully rules despite, and because of, his utter cruelty. --Trinie DaltonCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Named "Best Picture of the Year" by over 100 critics nationwide! Two master warriors (Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh) are faced with their greatest challenge when the treasured Green Destiny sword is stolen. A young aristocrat (Zhang Ziyi) prepares for an arr! anged marriage, but soon reveals her superior fighting talents and her deeply romantic past. As each warrior battles for justice, they come face to face with their worst enemy - and the inescapable, enduring power of love. Set against 19th-century China's breathtaking landscape, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is the action-packed, box office smash from acclaimed director Ang Lee (Sense and Sensibility, The Ice Storm) featuring stunning martial arts choreography by Yuen Wo Ping (The Matrix).

Curse of the Golden Flower
From the director of Hero and House of Flying Daggers comes the martial arts epic masterpiece whose savage beauty and exquisite elegance has mesmerized and captivated audiences around the world. Set in the lavish and breathtakingly colorful world hidden from the eyes of mere mortals behind the walls of the Forbidden City, a tale of a royal family divided against itself builds to a mythic clima! x as lines are crossed, trust is betrayed, and family blood is! spilled in the quest for redemption and revenge. Starring Chow Yun Fat of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon as the embattled Emperor and Gong Li of Memoirs of a Geisha as his poisoned Empress, Curse of the Golden Flower grants you entry into a dazzling and spectacular world of betrayal, vengeance and passion that will change the way you think of martial arts forever.

House of Flying Daggers
"Prepare your eyes for popping," in this "martial-arts fireball that throws in a lyrical love story, head spinning fights and dazzling surprises" (Rolling Stone). "A gorgeous entertainment" (A.O. Scott, New York Times). Mei is an exotic, beautiful blind dancer, associated with a dangerous revolutionary gang, known as the House of Flying Daggers. Captured by officers of the decadent Tang Dynasty, Mei finds herself both threatened - and attracted - to the most unusual circumstances. Here, her heart and loyalties battle each other, amid warriors in the t! reetops and dazzling combat - the likes of which have never before been seen!great film .A pair of police deputies at the end of China's Tang Dynasty attempt to save a beautiful dancer, with revolutionary ties, from capture.
Genre: Feature Film-Action/Adventure
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 1-JAN-2007
Media Type: DVDNo one uses color like Chinese director Zhang Yimou--movies like Raise the Red Lantern or Hero, though different in tone and subject matter, are drenched in rich, luscious shades of red, blue, yellow, and green. House of Flying Daggers is no exception; if they weren't choreographed with such vigorous imagination, the spectacular action sequences would seem little more than an excuse for vivid hues rippling across the screen. Government officers Leo and Jin (Asian superstars Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro) set out to destroy an underground rebellion called the House of Flying Daggers (named for their weapo! n of choice, a curved blade that swoops through the air like a! boomera ng). Their only chance to find the rebels is a blind women named Mei (Ziyi Zhang, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) who has some lethal kung fu moves of her own. In the guise of an aspiring rebel, Jin escorts Mei through gorgeous forests and fields that become bloody battlegrounds as soldiers try to kill them both. While arrows and spears of bamboo fly through the air, Mei, Jin, and Leo turn against each other in surprising ways, driven by passion and honor. Zhang's previous action/art film, Hero, sometimes sacrificed momentum for sheer visual beauty; House of Flying Daggers finds a more muscular balance of aesthetic splendor and dazzling swordplay. --Bret Fetzer"Prepare your eyes for popping," in this "martial-arts fireball that throws in a lyrical love story, head spinning fights and dazzling surprises" (Rolling Stone). "A gorgeous entertainment" (A.O. Scott, New York Times). Mei is an exotic, beautiful blind dancer, associated with a dangerous re! volutionary gang, known as the House of Flying Daggers. Captured by officers of the decadent Tang Dynasty, Mei finds herself both threatened - and attracted - to the most unusual circumstances. Here, her heart and loyalties battle each other, amid warriors in the treetops and dazzling combat - the likes of which have never before been seen!No one uses color like Chinese director Zhang Yimou--movies like Raise the Red Lantern or Hero, though different in tone and subject matter, are drenched in rich, luscious shades of red, blue, yellow, and green. House of Flying Daggers is no exception; if they weren't choreographed with such vigorous imagination, the spectacular action sequences would seem little more than an excuse for vivid hues rippling across the screen. Government officers Leo and Jin (Asian superstars Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro) set out to destroy an underground rebellion called the House of Flying Daggers (named for their weapon of choice, ! a curved blade that swoops through the air like a boomerang). ! Their on ly chance to find the rebels is a blind women named Mei (Ziyi Zhang, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) who has some lethal kung fu moves of her own. In the guise of an aspiring rebel, Jin escorts Mei through gorgeous forests and fields that become bloody battlegrounds as soldiers try to kill them both. While arrows and spears of bamboo fly through the air, Mei, Jin, and Leo turn against each other in surprising ways, driven by passion and honor. Zhang's previous action/art film, Hero, sometimes sacrificed momentum for sheer visual beauty; House of Flying Daggers finds a more muscular balance of aesthetic splendor and dazzling swordplay. --Bret Fetzer