Tuesday, November 15, 2011

The Secret Life of the American Teenager: Season Two

  • Experience the ABC Family series that has become a cultural phenomenon from coast to coast. THE SECRET LIFE OF THE AMERICAN TEENAGER is more engaging than ever in its sensational second season. As Amy's due date approaches, her secret marriage to Ben complicates matters even further. Watch as their relationship twists and turns, and discover what the future holds for Ricky, Jack and the rest of yo
Experience the ABC Family series that has become a cultural phenomenon from coast to coast. The Secret Life of the American Teenager is more engaging than ever in its sensational second season. As Amy's due date approaches, her secret marriage to Ben complicates matters even further. Watch as their relationship twists and turns, and discover what the future holds for Ricky, Jack and the rest of your favorite characters. Enjoy every episode of the celebrated series as it tackles the issues of ! today with humor and heart. Complete with exciting bonus material, The Secret Life of the American Teenager is even better on DVD!High school is challenging enough for most teenagers--doubly so for a pregnant 15-year-old. Amy (Shailene Woodley) and Ben (Ken Baumann) start the year by planning a wedding at the same time her mother, Anne (Molly Ringwald, who sings the pop-tastic theme song), looks for work and files for divorce from the obnoxious George (Mark Derwin), leaving Amy out of luck in the childcare department. It almost plays like a sequel to Saved!, except the comedy isn't quite so edgy. Amy's friends include good girl Grace (Megan Park) and bad girl Adrian (Francia Raisa), with whom she has something in common: "troubled narcissistic underachiever" Ricky (Darren Kagasoff), the father of her baby, who dates Grace by day and sleeps with Adrian by night.

The Secret Life is, essentially, a teen soap, an impression reinforced by the presence ! of Beverly Hills 90210's Jason Priestley in the directo! r’s ch air and Melrose Place's Josie Bissett as Grace's mom (another familiar primetime face, John Schneider, plays her father), but it still bears comparison to Brenda Hampton's 7th Heaven, since there are several well adjusted Christian characters, like the Bowmans (Grace's family) and the Stones (Grace's sometime-boyfriend Jack's family).

As the second season swings into full gear, Anne meets a new man, Adrian falls for her stepbrother, Amy's sarcastic 13-year-old sister, Ashley (India Eisley), gets her first boyfriend, and Amy finally decides whether to keep the baby or not. Supplemental materials include the featurette "Character Secrets," in which the actors discuss their roles, and "Cast Close-ups," in which they reveal information about themselves. Ringwald, for instance, cites The Breakfast Club as the top pick from her filmography, while Baumann acknowledges that he used to be a department-store-catalog model. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Heat [Blu-ray]

  • When Al Pacino and Robert De Niro squarer off, HEAT sizzles. A tale of a brilliant L.A. cop (Pacino) following the trail from a deadly armed robbery to a crew headed by an equally brilliant master thief (De Niro). Val Kilmer, Jon Voight, Tom Sizemore, Ashley Judd and Natalie Portman co-star. Format: BLU-RAY DISC Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: R Age: 883929073337 UPC:&nb
When Al Pacino and Robert De Niro squarer off, HEAT sizzles. A tale of a brilliant L.A. cop (Pacino) following the trail from a deadly armed robbery to a crew headed by an equally brilliant master thief (De Niro). Val Kilmer, Jon Voight, Tom Sizemore, Ashley Judd and Natalie Portman co-star.Having developed his skill as a master of contemporary crime drama, writer-director Michael Mann displayed every aspect of that mastery in this intelligent, character-driven thriller from 1995, which also marked the first onscreen pairi! ng of Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. The two great actors had played father and son in the separate time periods of The Godfather, Part II, but this was the first film in which the pair appeared together, and although their only scene together is brief, it's the riveting fulcrum of this high-tech cops-and-robbers scenario. De Niro plays a master thief with highly skilled partners (Val Kilmer and Tom Sizemore) whose latest heist draws the attention of Pacino, playing a seasoned Los Angeles detective whose investigation reveals that cop and criminal lead similar lives. Both are so devoted to their professions that their personal lives are a disaster. Pacino's with a wife (Diane Venora) who cheats to avoid the reality of their desolate marriage; De Niro pays the price for a life with no outside connections; and Kilmer's wife (Ashley Judd) has all but given up hope that her husband will quit his criminal career. These are men obsessed, and as De Niro and Pacino know,! they'll both do whatever's necessary to bring the other down.! Mann's brilliant screenplay explores these personal obsessions and sacrifices with absorbing insight, and the tension mounts with some of the most riveting action sequences ever filmed--most notably a daylight siege that turns downtown Los Angeles into a virtual war zone of automatic gunfire. At nearly three hours, the film qualifies as a kind of intimate epic, certain to leave some viewers impatiently waiting for more action, but it's all part of Mann's compelling strategy. Heat is a true rarity: a crime thriller with equal measures of intense excitement and dramatic depth, giving De Niro and Pacino a prime showcase for their finely matched talents. --Jeff Shannon

The Man with No Name Trilogy (A Fistful of Dollars / For a Few Dollars More / The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly) [Blu-ray]

  • Condition: New
  • Format: Blu-ray
  • AC-3; Box set; Color; Dolby; DTS Surround Sound; Dubbed; Full Screen; Restored; Subtitled; Widescree
Sergio Leone “spaghetti westerns” did not simply add a new chapter to the genre…they reinvented it. From his shockingly violent and stylized breakthrough, A Fistful of Dollars, to the film Quentin Tarantino calls “the best-directed movie of all time,” The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Leone’s vision did for westerns what talkies did for all movies back in the 1920s: it elevated them to an entirely new art form. Fully restored, presented in high definition with their best-ever audio, and including audio commentaries, featurettes and more, these films are much more than the definitive Leone collection...they are the most ambitious and influential westerns ever made.

A Fistfull Of Dollars
Clint Eastwood’s legendary “M! an With No Name” makes his powerful debut in this thrilling, action-packed classic in which he manipulates two rival bands of smugglers and sets in motion a plan to destroy both in a series of brilliantly orchestrated setups, showdowns and deadly confrontations.

For A Few Dollars More
Oscar® Winner Clint Eastwood** continues his trademark role in this second installment of the trilogy, this time squaring off with Indio, the territory’s most treacherous bandit. But his ruthless rival, Colonel Mortimer (Lee Van Cleef, High Noon), is determined to bring Indio in first...dead or alive!

The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
The invincible “Man With No Name” (Eastwood) aligns himself with two gunslingers (Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach) to pursue a fortune in stolen gold. But teamwork doesn’t come naturally to such strong-willed outlaws, and they soon discover that their greatest challenge may be to stay focused â€" and stay alive â€" in a! country ravaged by war.Review for A Fistful of Do! llars:
A Fistful of Dollars launched the spaghetti Western and catapulted Clint Eastwood to stardom. Based on Akira Kurosawa's 1961 samurai picture Yojimbo, it scored a resounding success (in Italy in 1964 and the U.S. in 1967), as did its sequels, For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The advertising campaign promoted Eastwood's character--laconic, amoral, dangerous--as the Man with No Name (though in the film he's clearly referred to as Joe), and audiences loved the movie's refreshing new take on the Western genre. Gone are the pieties about making the streets safe for women and children. Instead it's every man for himself. Striking, too, was a new emphasis on violence, with stylized, almost balletic gunfights and baroque touches such as Eastwood's armored breastplate. The Dollars films had a marked influence on the Hollywood Western--for example, Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch--but their most enduring legacy is Clint Eastwood himse! lf. --Edward Buscombe

Review for The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly:
If you think of A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More as the tasty appetizers in Sergio Leone's celebrated "Dollars" trilogy of Italian "Spaghetti" Westerns, then The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is a lavish full-course feast. Readily identified by the popular themes of its innovative score by Ennio Morricone (one of the bestselling soundtracks of all time), this cinematic milestone eclipsed its influential predecessors with a $1.2 million budget (considered extravagant in the mid-1960s), greater production values to accommodate Leone's epic vision of greed and betrayal, and a three-hour running time for its wide-ranging plot about the titular trio of mercenaries ("Good" Blondie played by rising star Clint Eastwood, "Bad" Angel Eyes played by Lee Van Cleef, and "Ugly" Tuco played by Eli Wallach) in a ruthless Civil War-era! quest for $200,000 worth of buried Confederate gold. Virtuall! y all of Leone's stylistic attributes can be found here in full fruition, from the constant inclusion of Roman Catholic iconography to a climactic circular shoot-out, along with Leone's trademark use of surreal landscapes, brilliant widescreen compositions and extreme close-ups of actors so intimate that they burn into the viewer's memory. And while some Leone fans may favor the more scaled-down action of For a Few Dollars More or the masterful grandiosity of Once Upon a Time in the West, it was The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly that cemented Leone's reputation as a world-class director with a singular vision. --Jeff Shannon

Arctic Tale

  • Awe-inspiring adventure
This heartbreaking documentary puts a face on the sad statistics of global warming--and though it's not a human face, it's the perhaps even more effective face of an adorable polar bear cub, Nanu, along with her mother, her brother, and her natural enemy, the equally heart-melting Seela the walrus. With breathtaking footage of life on the arctic tundra, the directors spin a highly emotional tale of the melting ice caps and the effect of their disappearance on every species in the ecosystem. Since the film is essentially aimed at children, the cuteness factor is off the charts, aided by the slightly grating use of sound effects, a slangy voiceover by Queen Latifah, and a kid-friendly pop/folk soundtrack. And, as in a National Geographic special, viewers learn some interesting and neutral facts about polar bears, walruses, narwhals, foxes, and other northern creatures. T! he narrative, however, returns repeatedly to the grim conditions that are killing off our planet's wildlife, one family at a time. The directors take pains to create a hopeful ending, with a sweet pair of life-goes-on epilogues and a closing credit sequence featuring conservation tips, but the message of the film is sobering and hits its mark with kids and adults alike.The frozen Arctic is home to polar bears and walruses, two very different types of animals whose struggle to survive against the elements is only being made more difficult by a changing climate. Directors Adam Ravetech and Sarah Robertson filmed walruses and polar bears in the Arctic for 15 years in order to create this amazing story about the lives of Nanu the baby polar bear and a newborn walrus dubbed Seelah. Striking footage from land and sea is combined with effective narration by Queen Latifa and pop music by Joby Talbot to chronicle these creatures' lives from the babies' first days of existence, thr! ough two years of training in hunting and fighting by their re! spective mothers and the changes in the icy world that are necessitating new adaptations by these animals, and a contemplation of the chances of both species' continued survival. Like March of the Penguins, the footage of the animals of the Arctic and the formation and breaking up of the ice is exquisite, but perhaps even more striking is the clear evidence of climate change in the delayed formation of the ice in the autumn and its progressively earlier thawing and breaking up each spring. The polar bears' and walruses' resilience and instinctual ability to adapt and change in the face of the negative effects of global warming in order to survive is stressed, and viewers are left pondering why man cannot similarly adapt and change his ways in order to positively affect the world. Bonus features include an interesting "making of" featurette with Adam Ravetech and Sarah Robertson that describes their travels, trials, and enormous gratitude for the assistance of the Intuit pe! ople and a fun Are We There Yet? World Adventure: Polar Bear Spotting mini-adventure for kids in which Molly and Sam go looking for polar bears in a tundra buggy. (Ages 5 and older) --Tami Horiuchi

The Secret Life of the American Teenager: Season Two

  • Experience the ABC Family series that has become a cultural phenomenon from coast to coast. THE SECRET LIFE OF THE AMERICAN TEENAGER is more engaging than ever in its sensational second season. As Amy's due date approaches, her secret marriage to Ben complicates matters even further. Watch as their relationship twists and turns, and discover what the future holds for Ricky, Jack and the rest of yo
Experience the ABC Family series that has become a cultural phenomenon from coast to coast. The Secret Life of the American Teenager is more engaging than ever in its sensational second season. As Amy's due date approaches, her secret marriage to Ben complicates matters even further. Watch as their relationship twists and turns, and discover what the future holds for Ricky, Jack and the rest of your favorite characters. Enjoy every episode of the celebrated series as it tackles the issues of ! today with humor and heart. Complete with exciting bonus material, The Secret Life of the American Teenager is even better on DVD!High school is challenging enough for most teenagers--doubly so for a pregnant 15-year-old. Amy (Shailene Woodley) and Ben (Ken Baumann) start the year by planning a wedding at the same time her mother, Anne (Molly Ringwald, who sings the pop-tastic theme song), looks for work and files for divorce from the obnoxious George (Mark Derwin), leaving Amy out of luck in the childcare department. It almost plays like a sequel to Saved!, except the comedy isn't quite so edgy. Amy's friends include good girl Grace (Megan Park) and bad girl Adrian (Francia Raisa), with whom she has something in common: "troubled narcissistic underachiever" Ricky (Darren Kagasoff), the father of her baby, who dates Grace by day and sleeps with Adrian by night.

The Secret Life is, essentially, a teen soap, an impression reinforced by the presence ! of Beverly Hills 90210's Jason Priestley in the directo! r’s ch air and Melrose Place's Josie Bissett as Grace's mom (another familiar primetime face, John Schneider, plays her father), but it still bears comparison to Brenda Hampton's 7th Heaven, since there are several well adjusted Christian characters, like the Bowmans (Grace's family) and the Stones (Grace's sometime-boyfriend Jack's family).

As the second season swings into full gear, Anne meets a new man, Adrian falls for her stepbrother, Amy's sarcastic 13-year-old sister, Ashley (India Eisley), gets her first boyfriend, and Amy finally decides whether to keep the baby or not. Supplemental materials include the featurette "Character Secrets," in which the actors discuss their roles, and "Cast Close-ups," in which they reveal information about themselves. Ringwald, for instance, cites The Breakfast Club as the top pick from her filmography, while Baumann acknowledges that he used to be a department-store-catalog model. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

The Complete Conversations with God

  • ISBN13: 9780399153297
  • Condition: New
  • Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Conversations with God Book 1 began a series that has been changing millions of lives for more than ten years. Finally, the bestselling series is now a movie, starring Henry Czerny (The Pink Panther and Clear and Present Danger) and Ingrid Boulting (The Last Tycoon). Produced and directed by Stephen Simon (producer of Somewhere in Time and What Dreams May Come) and distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Films and Fox Home Entertainment, the theatrical release is set for October 27, 2006. The movie is the true account of Walsch (played by Cierny), who went from an unemployed homeless man to an "accidental spiritual messenger" and author of the bestselling bookBlasphemy! ! Heresy! Who does this man think he is, claiming to speak directly to God?! Jesus did it, Muhammad did it, the Jewish prophets did it, but none of their Gods had the sardonic wit or raw verve of Prophet Walsch's God. Neale Donald Walsch isn't claiming to be the Messiah of a new religion, just a frustrated man who sat down one day with pen in his hand and some tough questions in his heart. As he wrote his questions to God, he realized that God was answering them... directly... through Walsch's pen. The result, far from the apocalyptic predictions or cultic eccentricities you might expect, turns out to be matter-fact, in-your-face wisdom on how to get by in life while remaining true to yourself and your spirituality.For the first time, Books 1, 2, and 3 in the multi-million copy bestselling Conversations with God trilogy are brought together in one special gift edition.

To mark the tenth anniversary of the publication of Conversations with God, Boo! k 1, all three of the most essential books in Neale Donald! Walsch' s seminal trilogy are brought together in one beautiful volume just in time for the gift-giving season.

Conversations with God, Book 1 was the start of Neale Donald Walsch's ongoing dialogue with God. The trilogy contains the most essential truths and lessons for spiritual seekers, and these books are the bestselling of all the author's works. Featuring a new foreword by the author, printed throughout in two colors, and inserted in a fully enclosed full-color box, this remarkable book will be a Christmas gift to treasure.

Hunter - After The Fall (Book One)

  • Twenty-First Century Civilization Will Soon Collapse
  • Just One In Ten Thousand Will Survive The Apocalypse
  • You Have Been Chosen To Escape The Great Purging
  • Welcome To The Future...
Praise for Maureen F. McHugh:

"Gorgeously crafted stories."-Nancy Pearl, NPR

"Hauntingly beautiful."-Booklist

"Unpredictable and poetic work."-The Plain Dealer

In her new collection, Story Prize finalist Maureen F. McHugh delves into the dark heart of contemporary life and life five minutes from now and how easy it is to mix up one with the other. Her stories are post-bird flu, in the middle of medical trials, wondering if our computers are smarter than us, wondering when our jobs are going to be outsourced overseas, wondering if we are who we say we are, and not sure what we'd do to survive the coming zombie plague.

Maureen! F. McHugh has lived in New York; Shijiazhuang, China; Ohio; Austin, Texas; and now lives in Los Angeles, California. She is the author of a Story Prize finalist collection, Mothers & Other Monsters, and four novels, including Tiptree Award-winner China Mountain Zhang and New York Times editor's choice Nekropolis. McHugh has also worked on alternate reality games for Halo 2, The Watchmen, and Nine Inch Nails, among others.<
This science fiction collection contains three stories: After Things Went Bad, Mr. Tinker, and At Home on Wintebury Circle.

From SIFT BOOK REVIEWS: "Even more than the distinctive voices, impeccable writing, and well-wrought characters, the dark captivating atmosphere will wrap around you and linger long after you have finished reading. These two are clearly talented writers with wicked imaginations. I believe each story has something important to say about humanity and packs a punch ! the reader will feel for a while." -- Sarah NicolasThis scienc! e fictio n collection contains three stories: After Things Went Bad, Mr. Tinker, and At Home on Wintebury Circle.

From SIFT BOOK REVIEWS: "Even more than the distinctive voices, impeccable writing, and well-wrought characters, the dark captivating atmosphere will wrap around you and linger long after you have finished reading. These two are clearly talented writers with wicked imaginations. I believe each story has something important to say about humanity and packs a punch the reader will feel for a while." -- Sarah NicolasThe apocalypse was yesterday. These stories are today.

In her new collection, Story Prize finalist Maureen F. McHugh delves into the dark heart of contemporary life and life five minutes from now and how easy it is to mix up one with the other. Her stories are post-bird flu, in the middle of medical trials, wondering if our computers are smarter than us, wondering when our jobs are going to be outsourced overseas, wondering if we are who we say we ! are, and not sure what we'd do to survive the coming zombie plague.

Table of Contents

The Naturalist

Special Economics

Useless Things

The Lost Boy: A Reporter at Large

The Kingdom of the Blind

Going to France

Honeymoon

The Effect of Centrifugal Forces

After the Apocalypse

Praise for Maureen F. McHugh:

"Gorgeously crafted stories."â€"Nancy Pearl, NPR

"Hauntingly beautiful."â€"Booklist

"Unpredictable and poetic work."â€"The Plain Dealer

“Poignant and sometimes heartwrenching.”â€"Publishers Weekly

Maureen F. McHugh has lived in New York; Shijiazhuang, China; Ohio; Austin, Texas; and now lives in Los Angeles, California. She is the author of a Story Prize finalist collection, Mothers & Other Monsters, and four novels, including Tiptree Award-winner China Mountain Zhang and New York Times! editor's choice Nekropolis. McHugh has also worked! on alte rnate reality games for Halo 2, The Watchmen, and Nine Inch Nails, among others.The apocalypse was yesterday. These stories are today.

In her new collection, Story Prize finalist Maureen F. McHugh delves into the dark heart of contemporary life and life five minutes from now and how easy it is to mix up one with the other. Her stories are post-bird flu, in the middle of medical trials, wondering if our computers are smarter than us, wondering when our jobs are going to be outsourced overseas, wondering if we are who we say we are, and not sure what we'd do to survive the coming zombie plague.

Table of Contents

The Naturalist

Special Economics

Useless Things

The Lost Boy: A Reporter at Large

The Kingdom of the Blind

Going to France

Honeymoon

The Effect of Centrifugal Forces

After the Apocalypse

Praise for Maureen F. McHugh:

"Gorgeously crafted stories."â€"Nancy Pearl, NPR

"Haun! tingly beautiful."â€"Booklist

"Unpredictable and poetic work."â€"The Plain Dealer

“Poignant and sometimes heartwrenching.”â€"Publishers Weekly

Maureen F. McHugh has lived in New York; Shijiazhuang, China; Ohio; Austin, Texas; and now lives in Los Angeles, California. She is the author of a Story Prize finalist collection, Mothers & Other Monsters, and four novels, including Tiptree Award-winner China Mountain Zhang and New York Times editor's choice Nekropolis. McHugh has also worked on alternate reality games for Halo 2, The Watchmen, and Nine Inch Nails, among others.In volume one of his epic post-apocalyptic adventure saga, master storyteller John Phillip Backus brings this not-so-distant vision of the future to life with intriguing characters, gifted narrative, believable settings and mythic heroes and villains. Driven by a riveting storyline brilliantly illustrated by Asheville, NC artist, Chad Scho! enauer, the author weaves his linguistic magic until the reade! r is utt erly immersed in this brave new world and dare not fail to turn the next page for fear of missing out. On his own in the Wyoming wilderness, fourteen years after the End War and its aftermath nearly wiped out the human race, self-exiled survivor, Hunter Macintosh, is suddenly faced with more than he bargained for-three sisters and a child crossing the uncharted wilds alone. Suspicious at first, Hunter soon discovers they've traveled more than three hundred miles to find him, at the request of their father, Adam Planchet-Hunter's former commander and comrade-in-arms-whose besieged Colorado community is at risk of being overrun by lawless hordes! Honor-bound by a pledge made many years earlier, Hunter agrees to return with Elise Planchet to help turn the tide before all is lost. Set against the majestic backdrop of the North American Rockies, Hunter - After The Fall is an engrossing tale of adventure, betrayal and hope, where the true character of an individual is thoroughly tested and the outcome uncertain at best. Join Hunter and Elise as they battle bands of outlaws, enraged grizzlies, numbing blizzards, armed militias and their own stubborn hearts in an epic tale of good-versus-evil in a potential future all too easy to conceive!

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