Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Full Metal Jacket

  • The story of an 18-year-old marine recruit named Private Joker - from his carnage-and-machismo boot camp to his climactic involvement in the heavy fighting in Hue during the 1968 Tet Offensive. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: R Age: 085391163114 UPC: 085391163114 Manufacturer No: 116311
The story of an 18-year-old marine recruit named Private Joker - from his carnage-and-machismo boot camp to his climactic involvement in the heavy fighting in Hue during the 1968 Tet Offensive.Stanley Kubrick's 1987, penultimate film seemed to a lot of people to be contrived and out of touch with the '80s vogue for such intensely realistic portrayals of the Vietnam War as Platoon and The Deer Hunter. Certainly, Kubrick gave audiences plenty of reason to wonder why he made the film at all: essentially a two-part drama that begins on a Parris Island boot camp for rookie Marines a! nd abruptly switches to Vietnam (actually shot on sound stages and locations near London), Full Metal Jacket comes across as a series of self-contained chapters in a story whose logical and thematic development is oblique at best. Then again, much the same was said about Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, a masterwork both enthralled with and satiric about the future's role in the unfinished business of human evolution. In a way, Full Metal Jacket is the wholly grim counterpart of 2001. While the latter is a truly 1960s film, both wide-eyed and wary, about the intertwining of progress and isolation (ending in our redemption, finally, by death), Full Metal Jacket is a cynical, Reagan-era view of the 1960s' hunger for experience and consciousness that fulfilled itself in violence. Lee Ermey made film history as the Marine drill instructor whose ritualized debasement of men in the name of tribal uniformity creates its darkest angel in a murdero! us half-wit (Vincent D'Onofrio). Matthew Modine gives a smart ! and savv y performance as Private Joker, the clowning, military journalist who yearns to get away from the propaganda machine and know firsthand the horrific revelation of the front line. In Full Metal Jacket, depravity and fulfillment go hand in hand, and it's no wonder Kubrick kept his steely distance from the material to make the point. --Tom Keogh

Crimson Flower Gold Finish Metal Bottle Stopper

  • Dimensions: 2" x 3"
  • Gold finish
  • Rubberized seal
  • Rhinestones and faux pearl
Award-winning filmmaker Jafar Panahi's (The White Balloon, The Circle) latest triumph is an intimate and absorbing drama about the ways in which the hypocrisies and slights of daily life can push otherwise reasonable people over the edge. Based on true events and written by acclaimed director Abbas Kiarostami (A Taste of Cherry), CRIMSON GOLD is the story of Hussein, a humble pizza deliveryman who feels continually humiliated by the injustices he sees all around him. When his friend Ali finds a receipt for a stranger's necklace purchase, Hussein is stunned by its exceptionally high cost. He knows that his pitiful salary will never be enough to afford such a luxury. Soon after, he and Ali are refused entry to an uptown jewelry store because of their scruffy appearances; his rage over this slight ! sets off a series of events. But Hussein will taste the luxurious life for one night before his deep feelings of humiliation push him over the edge. DVD extras include: 5.1, trailer, subtitle control, weblinks, Interview with director Jafar PanahiTwo master filmmakers, Abba Kiarostami (A Taste of Cherry) and Jafar Panahi (The Circle), team up as writer and director, respectively (as they did on 1996's The White Balloon), on Crimson Gold, a subtle tragedy about class conflict in Iran. Hussein (Hossain Emadeddin) is a lumbering veteran swollen by cortisone (for war-induced pain) and reduced to delivering pizzas at night. (He is frequently lost in a mental semi-fog during the days.) Witness to the rewards and vanities of the wealthy, insulted when a jewelry shop owner won't allow him in his store, and under pressure to get married, Hussein awkwardly aspires for higher ground but is more familiar with a life of marginal importance. When an eccentric! socialite gives him a taste of luxury, something desperate is! unleash ed. Panahi brings his feel for and vision of the expansive ordinary, for the near-invisible forces churning within characters in seemingly throwaway circumstances. A haunting film. --Tom Keogh
She wanted out.

She wanted a new life.

She wanted a trophy worthy of a master thief.

She wanted to find the source of the treasured crimson gold.

She wanted to face an undead emperor on his home ground and live to tell the tale.

Careful what you wish for.

The Crimson Gold is the third title in this ongoing Forgotten Realms series focusing specifically on the shadowed life of the iconic character class of the rogue. Each novel in the series is a stand-alone adventure, allowing readers an easy entry point into the Forgotten Realms world.

The '25, '61, '78, '79, and '92 national championships, the first game under Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant, the Alabama-Tennessee rivalry, the Alabama-Auburn rivalry, and tw! elve more power-packed memorable moments make up the legend of Alabama Football. Eli Gold brings these memories to life with the same clarity and fervor that fans have come to love as they listen to football on the radio.

Featured are legendary Alabama players and coaches including Joe Namath, Johnny Musso, Kenny Stabler, Gene Stallings, Harry Gilmer, Don Hutson, and other names that are still part of everyday conversation in Alabama, regardless of when they attended the university. So much of what was great at Alabama is because of the leadership and influence of Bear Bryant, and his story is told as well as his part in the story of every one of these important moments.

Set roughly in chronological order with photographs throughout, Crimson Nation is a journey back through time that every true Alabama fan must own.

The '25, '61, '78, '79, and '92 national championships, the first game under Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant, the Alabama-Tennessee rivalry, t! he Alabama-Auburn rivalry, and twelve more power-packed memora! ble mome nts make up the legend of Alabama Football. Eli Gold brings these memories to life with the same clarity and fervor that fans have come to love as they listen to football on the radio.

Featured are legendary Alabama players and coaches including Joe Namath, Johnny Musso, Kenny Stabler, Gene Stallings, Harry Gilmer, Don Hutson, and other names that are still part of everyday conversation in Alabama, regardless of when they attended the university. So much of what was great at Alabama is because of the leadership and influence of Bear Bryant, and his story is told as well as his part in the story of every one of these important moments.

Set roughly in chronological order with photographs throughout, Crimson Nation is a journey back through time that every true Alabama fan must own.

This classic gold finish crimson flower metal bottle stopper with rubber seal. Features inlaid crimson enamel with rhinestones and faux pearl.

A Bug's Life (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)

  • Journey inside the miniature world of bugs for bigger-than-life fun and adventure under every leaf! Crawling with imaginative characters, hilarious laughs, and colorful animation, Disney and Pixar's A BUG'S LIFE will "delight everyone -- young, old, or six-legged" ("People" magazine). On behalf of "oppressed bugs everywhere" an inventive ant named Flik hires "warrior bugs" to defend his co
In an anthill with millions of inhabitants, Z 4195 is a worker ant. Feeling insignificant in a conformity system, he accidentally meets beautiful Princess Bala, who has a similar problem on the other end of the social scale. In order to meet her again, Z switches sides with his soldier friend Weaver - only to become a hero in the course of events. By this he unwillingly crosses the sinister plans of ambitious General Mandible (Bala's fiancé, by the way), who wants to divide the ant society into a superior,! strong race (soldiers) and an inferior, to-be-eliminated race (the workers). But Z and Bala, both unaware of the dangerous situation, try to leave the oppressive system by heading for Insectopia, a place where food paves the streets. --Written by Julian ReischlWoody Allen as a worker ant with an inferiority complex? Sylvester Stallone as an affable soldier ant who discovers that digging tunnels is cool? The animation playground we all knew so well is turning into a theme park full of in-jokes for grownups. Antz explores age-old topics (one person--err, insect--can make a difference, individuality and social responsibility must exist side by side, war is hell) with comic asides and Woody Allen's funniest quips this side of PG (adults will chuckle at the socialist slogans bandied about as he campaigns for workers' rights). Sharon Stone voices the rebellious princess with a fun-loving streak that doesn't quite overcome her royal bearing and court training, but she can ! learn. Gene Hackman is all teeth (ants have teeth?) and menaci! ng grins as the Army general plotting insect-icide. This bug's-eye view of life on Earth gives Allen's neurotic nonconformist an epic adventure of microscopic proportions: a devastating war with a termite colony, an odyssey to the fabled land of plenty (a picnic ground), and a race to save his fellow workers from certain death. Other voices include Anne Bancroft as the Queen, Christopher Walken, Jennifer Lopez, Danny Glover, Dan Aykroyd, Jane Curtin, and John Mahoney. The computer animation isn't exactly realistic but feels as solid and contoured as puppet animation with the smoothness and slickness of traditional cel cartoons, and the character designs and animation offer a marvelous range of expressions. The PG rating includes a gritty battle sequence that may frighten youngsters. --Sean AxmakerEarth, that shining beacon of human magnificence, of human achievement, the very birthplace of mankind itself, now falls in line for Antz invasion.

I want to thank my re! aders. I know I'm not the best writer in the world but I strive to tell a good story. I do write a few run on sentences, I'll admit, but it's to pack as much information into each line as possible. To keep the story moving along. The story is why the reader is here. My greatest achievement is when people tell me they couldn't put my book down. They couldn't stop turning the pages because they wanted to know what was going to happen next. All the way through the book. That's my greatest achievement.

You may expect to see the next installment of this series in December (this December). All further installments will be full length, as Winter is here and I will have the time to write full time.
Thank you and enjoy.Earth, that shining beacon of human magnificence, of human achievement, the very birthplace of mankind itself, now falls in line for Antz invasion.

I want to thank my readers. I know I'm not the best writer in the world but I strive to tell a! good story. I do write a few run on sentences, I'll admit, bu! t it's t o pack as much information into each line as possible. To keep the story moving along. The story is why the reader is here. My greatest achievement is when people tell me they couldn't put my book down. They couldn't stop turning the pages because they wanted to know what was going to happen next. All the way through the book. That's my greatest achievement.

You may expect to see the next installment of this series in December (this December). All further installments will be full length, as Winter is here and I will have the time to write full time.
Thank you and enjoy.Mankind has expanded unimpeded across the Galaxy. Expansionist and Imperialistic before space travel, one nation against the next, later the corporations, but man was many more times so after. After space travel. First men fought over the moon and mars, and then quickly onward as fast as the fuel of greed could compel them. The Corporations owned space.
Corporate expansion into the Galaxy did! n't last long. It only lasted long enough for them to have the first alien contact, and a devastating financial loss, and mankind suddenly found itself under attack by the first alien race it had made contact with.
Since that time man has marched across the Galaxy and over every sentient race he encountered, exterminating them down to specimens and even less in most cases. Man has grown strong and numerous and now sits quiescently in control of all he purveys. Until the day an unknown intruder exits Jump without warning and breaks through the Protected Zone.
Mankind has always been the most industrious, the most technological, the fiercest, the most numerous, whatever it took to prevail, but this new enemy outnumbers man millions to one and mankind finds itself in the unusual position of having either to prevail, or face complete annihilation.
The Hswgi have been marching across the Universe for millions of years. The Hswgi are vegetarian, but their larv! ae required meat. No longer planet dwellers, truly the nomads ! they had been designed to be, they continued to raid as they always had. Mankind seemed an an easy meal.
P.S. This book has received a new full edit as of 10/27/2011.
The next installment of this series will be coming in December 2011.
Thank you and enjoy!Mankind has expanded unimpeded across the Galaxy. Expansionist and Imperialistic before space travel, one nation against the next, later the corporations, but man was many more times so after. After space travel. First men fought over the moon and mars, and then quickly onward as fast as the fuel of greed could compel them. The Corporations owned space.
Corporate expansion into the Galaxy didn't last long. It only lasted long enough for them to have the first alien contact, and a devastating financial loss, and mankind suddenly found itself under attack by the first alien race it had made contact with.
Since that time man has marched across the Galaxy and over every sentient race he encountered, exterminat! ing them down to specimens and even less in most cases. Man has grown strong and numerous and now sits quiescently in control of all he purveys. Until the day an unknown intruder exits Jump without warning and breaks through the Protected Zone.
Mankind has always been the most industrious, the most technological, the fiercest, the most numerous, whatever it took to prevail, but this new enemy outnumbers man millions to one and mankind finds itself in the unusual position of having either to prevail, or face complete annihilation.
The Hswgi have been marching across the Universe for millions of years. The Hswgi are vegetarian, but their larvae required meat. No longer planet dwellers, truly the nomads they had been designed to be, they continued to raid as they always had. Mankind seemed an an easy meal.
P.S. This book has received a new full edit as of 10/27/2011.
The next installment of this series will be coming in December 2011.
Thank you and enjoy!Bo! ok Two of the Antz series finds mankind being swept from his o! wn world s, put to flight and scattered like cosmic dust. The Fleet has been routed. They can't stand toe to toe with the enemy. The only hope is that mankind can hold her worlds, but they will have to be held from the ground, and they were on their own. It has been a long time since man has been hunted by anything other than his own fellow men, but the instincts were still there.Book Two of the Antz series finds mankind being swept from his own worlds, put to flight and scattered like cosmic dust. The Fleet has been routed. They can't stand toe to toe with the enemy. The only hope is that mankind can hold her worlds, but they will have to be held from the ground, and they were on their own. It has been a long time since man has been hunted by anything other than his own fellow men, but the instincts were still there.Woody Allen as a worker ant with an inferiority complex? Sylvester Stallone as an affable soldier ant who discovers that digging tunnels is cool? The animation playgroun! d we all knew so well is turning into a theme park full of in-jokes for grownups. Antz explores age-old topics (one person--err, insect--can make a difference, individuality and social responsibility must exist side by side, war is hell) with comic asides and Woody Allen's funniest quips this side of PG (adults will chuckle at the socialist slogans bandied about as he campaigns for workers' rights). Sharon Stone voices the rebellious princess with a fun-loving streak that doesn't quite overcome her royal bearing and court training, but she can learn. Gene Hackman is all teeth (ants have teeth?) and menacing grins as the Army general plotting insect-icide. This bug's-eye view of life on Earth gives Allen's neurotic nonconformist an epic adventure of microscopic proportions: a devastating war with a termite colony, an odyssey to the fabled land of plenty (a picnic ground), and a race to save his fellow workers from certain death. Other voices include Anne Bancroft as t! he Queen, Christopher Walken, Jennifer Lopez, Danny Glover, Da! n Aykroy d, Jane Curtin, and John Mahoney. The computer animation isn't exactly realistic but feels as solid and contoured as puppet animation with the smoothness and slickness of traditional cel cartoons, and the character designs and animation offer a marvelous range of expressions. The PG rating includes a gritty battle sequence that may frighten youngsters. --Sean AxmakerWoody Allen as a worker ant with an inferiority complex? Sylvester Stallone as an affable soldier ant who discovers that digging tunnels is cool? The animation playground we all knew so well is turning into a theme park full of in-jokes for grownups. Antz explores age-old topics (one person--err, insect--can make a difference, individuality and social responsibility must exist side by side, war is hell) with comic asides and Woody Allen's funniest quips this side of PG (adults will chuckle at the socialist slogans bandied about as he campaigns for workers' rights). Sharon Stone voices the rebellious! princess with a fun-loving streak that doesn't quite overcome her royal bearing and court training, but she can learn. Gene Hackman is all teeth (ants have teeth?) and menacing grins as the Army general plotting insect-icide. This bug's-eye view of life on Earth gives Allen's neurotic nonconformist an epic adventure of microscopic proportions: a devastating war with a termite colony, an odyssey to the fabled land of plenty (a picnic ground), and a race to save his fellow workers from certain death. Other voices include Anne Bancroft as the Queen, Christopher Walken, Jennifer Lopez, Danny Glover, Dan Aykroyd, Jane Curtin, and John Mahoney. The computer animation isn't exactly realistic but feels as solid and contoured as puppet animation with the smoothness and slickness of traditional cel cartoons, and the character designs and animation offer a marvelous range of expressions. The PG rating includes a gritty battle sequence that may frighten youngsters. --Sean AxmakerThey came 34,000 years ago. They came to claim Earth. They c! ame to c laim mankind.

Excerpt;
Steel rang on steel as both my blades danced intricately amongst the weaving, slashing blades of the Others. For the moment I could think of them as nothing else. The name by which I have called them for thirty-four thousand years. In the heat of the battle they were the Others, my old hated rivals, and I could think of them in no other vein.
Those around us were all juvenile to us by many degrees. It was like slaughtering incompetent novices. They were all well trained, even Masters, within the art of the weapon each carried, but they could not perceive the blinding speed with which we attacked. I parried an attack from my left and then stabbed the Palag through its neck before it realized its blade had even been deflected. Then I quickly yanked it free, coated in black blood, before the Palag I had stabbed in the neck even began to fall, dead, parried another blade among the mass either chopping or stabbing at me, and anothe! r and another and another, much faster than the thought, operating on muscle memory alone, before finding the barest sliver of a moment to strike back. While my Cumosachi Katana wove a defensive ring of steel around me to my right, and my cane sword danced the same caper to those on my left, as I swung the cane sword back to parry yet another attack I let my arm slip out to its farthest reach and the tip of the blade opened the great black teardrop shaped eye of one of the Palag whose blades I had just parried there. As the Palag staggered back my cane sword cavorted on, and the opening the Palag had left in the ring around us was filled with the next eager attacker. They came blithely on.
My Cumosachi Katana, though longer and heavier, moved with a grace that seemed to be animated by the blade itself. The balance of the Cumosachi was unmatched by any weapon I had ever held, excepting only possibly, the blade I had given my son, and it moved as with a life of its own,! floating, weaving and buoyant among the blades besieging me, ! occasion ally darting out to sever hands, nick the great black tear drop shaped eyes, or even liberate completely their overlarge heads with a deft slice at their thin, scrawny appearing necks.
Sonafi, smaller and more nimble than I, and fighting with her shorter weapons, was often away from my back as she literally danced among the attacking Palag, I trying to maintain our proximity only to find her once again beside me and expecting me to parry blades that were descending on her as she slipped under one or another of my arms to slice the unsuspecting Palag in front of me.
No two humans could have fought the way we did. We could not view all of our attackers all at once. They came from everywhere all at once but not in a coordinated attack that we might fight them in a systematic manner. We picked our targets on a most imperative basis, but it was all instinctual, autonomous and reflexive. We did not have time to think, to calculate. We had to act in the now. Their blade! s fell from every direction, and we fought them like the demented beings that we were.
This was a chaotic time and words are unequal to the task of fully describing the events which occurred herein. Even though I was a participant myself, I was purely acting and could not recount every blow that fell within the heat of that battle. It was even to me little more than a blur of swinging blades, splashing black blood and Palag corpses piling up around us and Sonafi was now forced to remain at my back rather than moving freely at her will, but the corpses....They came 34,000 years ago. They came to claim Earth. They came to claim mankind.

Excerpt;
Steel rang on steel as both my blades danced intricately amongst the weaving, slashing blades of the Others. For the moment I could think of them as nothing else. The name by which I have called them for thirty-four thousand years. In the heat of the battle they were the Others, my old hated rivals, and I could thi! nk of them in no other vein.
Those around us were all juve! nile to us by many degrees. It was like slaughtering incompetent novices. They were all well trained, even Masters, within the art of the weapon each carried, but they could not perceive the blinding speed with which we attacked. I parried an attack from my left and then stabbed the Palag through its neck before it realized its blade had even been deflected. Then I quickly yanked it free, coated in black blood, before the Palag I had stabbed in the neck even began to fall, dead, parried another blade among the mass either chopping or stabbing at me, and another and another and another, much faster than the thought, operating on muscle memory alone, before finding the barest sliver of a moment to strike back. While my Cumosachi Katana wove a defensive ring of steel around me to my right, and my cane sword danced the same caper to those on my left, as I swung the cane sword back to parry yet another attack I let my arm slip out to its farthest reach and the tip of the blade opened the! great black teardrop shaped eye of one of the Palag whose blades I had just parried there. As the Palag staggered back my cane sword cavorted on, and the opening the Palag had left in the ring around us was filled with the next eager attacker. They came blithely on.
My Cumosachi Katana, though longer and heavier, moved with a grace that seemed to be animated by the blade itself. The balance of the Cumosachi was unmatched by any weapon I had ever held, excepting only possibly, the blade I had given my son, and it moved as with a life of its own, floating, weaving and buoyant among the blades besieging me, occasionally darting out to sever hands, nick the great black tear drop shaped eyes, or even liberate completely their overlarge heads with a deft slice at their thin, scrawny appearing necks.
Sonafi, smaller and more nimble than I, and fighting with her shorter weapons, was often away from my back as she literally danced among the attacking Palag, I trying to main! tain our proximity only to find her once again beside me and e! xpecting me to parry blades that were descending on her as she slipped under one or another of my arms to slice the unsuspecting Palag in front of me.
No two humans could have fought the way we did. We could not view all of our attackers all at once. They came from everywhere all at once but not in a coordinated attack that we might fight them in a systematic manner. We picked our targets on a most imperative basis, but it was all instinctual, autonomous and reflexive. We did not have time to think, to calculate. We had to act in the now. Their blades fell from every direction, and we fought them like the demented beings that we were.
This was a chaotic time and words are unequal to the task of fully describing the events which occurred herein. Even though I was a participant myself, I was purely acting and could not recount every blow that fell within the heat of that battle. It was even to me little more than a blur of swinging blades, splashing black blood and Palag corps! es piling up around us and Sonafi was now forced to remain at my back rather than moving freely at her will, but the corpses....Journey inside the world of bugs in this epic of miniature proportions. Crawling with imaginative characters, hilarious laughs, and colorful animation, Walt Disney Pictures Presentation of A Pixar Animation Studios Film, A BUG'S LIFE, will "delight everyone -- young, old, or six-legged." (People Magazine) In this 2-disc set you'll step behind the scenes for a look at the innovation and teamwork that resulted in this ingenious film. Loaded with bonus features â€" including animation not seen in theaters, abandoned sequences, and multiple surprises â€" A BUG'S LIFE COLLECTOR'S EDITION offers something for everyone from families to film lovers!There was such a magic on the screen in 1995 when the people at Pixar came up with the first fully computer-animated film, Toy Story. Their second feature film, A Bug's Life, may miss the bull's-! eye but Pixar's target is so lofty, it's hard to find the film! anythin g less than irresistible.

Brighter and more colorful than the other animated insect movie of 1998 (Antz), A Bug's Life is the sweetly told story of Flik (voiced by David Foley), an ant searching for better ways to be a bug. His colony unfortunately revolves around feeding and fearing the local grasshoppers (lead by Hopper, voiced with gleeful menace by Kevin Spacey). When Flik accidentally destroys the seasonal food supply for the grasshoppers he decides to look for help ("We need bigger bugs!"). The ants, led by Princess Atta (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), are eager to dispose of the troublesome Flik. Yet he finds help--a hearty bunch of bug warriors--and brings them back to the colony. Unfortunately they are just traveling performers afraid of conflict.

As with Toy Story, the ensemble of creatures and voices is remarkable and often inspired. Highlights include wiseacre comedian Denis Leary as an un-ladylike ladybug, Joe Ranft as the German-accen! ted caterpillar, David Hyde Pierce as a stick bug, and Michael McShane as a pair of unintelligible pillbugs. The scene-stealer is Atta's squeaky-voiced sister, baby Dot (Hayden Panettiere), who has a big sweet spot for Flik.

More gentle and kid-friendly than Antz, A Bug Life's still has some good suspense and a wonderful demise of the villain. However, the film--a giant worldwide hit--will be remembered for its most creative touch: "outtakes" over the end credits à la many live-action comedy films. These dozen or so scenes (both "editions" of outtakes are contained here) are brilliant and deserve a special place in film history right along with 1998's other most talked-about sequence: the opening Normandy invasion in Saving Private Ryan.

The video also contains Pixar's delightful Oscar-winning short, Geri's Game. Box art varies. --Doug Thomas

Bloodline

  • Nate and Marcus are half brothers born and raised in the ghetto of South Florida by their unstable, single mother. During a playground fight, Marcus defends his brother by stabbing a bully who is threatening his brother s life. When Marcus father finds out about his son s behavior, he removes Marcus from his mother s home. Years later, the brothers are reunited on the streets of Miami, but on diff
A killer is on the loose. The victims: children whose mothers can't protect them.

The past is coming back to haunt the people of London: a murderer is targeting the children of victims of Raymond Garvey, an infamous serial killer from London's past.

When Murder Squad veteran Detective Tom Thorne, who solves the London Police Department's most difficult cases, is called into what seems like, for once, an ordinary domestic murder, he thinks he's caught a break. A woman has been! murdered by someone she knows. A positive pregnancy test found on the floor beside her. Thorne plans to question the husband, arrest him and return home to deal with his own deteriorating personal life.

But when a mysterious sliver of bloodstained X-ray that was found clutched in the victim's fist is replicated at other crime scenes around the city, Thorne realizes that this is not a simple case. As the bits of X-ray begin to come together to form a picture, it becomes clear that the killer knows his prey all too well and is moving through a list that was started long ago.

As Thorne attempts to protect those still alive, nothing and nobody are what they seem. Not when Thorne is dealing with one of the most twisted killers he has ever hunted.The first book in Richelle Mead's brand-new teen fiction series - set in the same world as Vampire Academy.

When alchemist Sydney is ordered into hiding to protect the life of Moroi princess Jill Dragomir, th! e last place she expects to be sent is a human private school ! in Palm Springs, California. But at their new school, the drama is only just beginning.

Populated with new faces as well as familiar ones, Bloodlines explores all the friendship, romance, battles and betrayals that made the #1 New York Times bestselling Vampire Academy series so addictive - this time in a part-vampire, part-human setting where the stakes are even higher and everyone's out for blood.

From Richelle Mead: A Letter to Fans

Richelle Mead

A lot of people ask me if I’m sad that the Vampire Academy series ended. And honestly…I’m not. There are a couple reasons for this. One of the biggest is that I’ve always known how Rose’s story was going to wrap up, and it was time for her to get a little hap! piness. She’s had a rough time in the series!

The other reason I’m not sad about Vampire Academy ending is because…well, it hasn't.

Technically, Bloodlines is the first book in a new series (which is also called Bloodlines), but it picks up almost right after Last Sacrifice ended. Fans aren’t going to have to wait long to find out what’s going in the Moroi world--and that’s the key point here. We’re still in the Moroi world. Bloodlines takes place around all the Moroi, dhampirs, and other supernatural intrigue and romance we loved in the first six books. We even get to see how a lot of familiar characters are doing--including Rose and Dimitri.

The biggest difference is that Sydney, the Alchemist we first met in Blood Promise, has taken over as our narrator. She’s telling the story now--and with good reason. Things have gotten a bit crazy in the Moroi world, and Sydney finds herself dragged into the he! art of it. Jill Mastrano, the young Moroi girl who learned abo! ut her r oyal status at the end of Last Sacrifice, is being targeted by assassins who want to remove her sister from the throne. To keep her safe, Jill is sent off into hiding--at a human school in Palm Springs, California.

To say this is a bit of culture shock for Jill is an understatement, but it’s just as difficult for Sydney. Sydney has to go undercover with Jill, posing as her sister, in order to make sure things run smoothly with a vampire hiding out in a human society. Eddie Castile, the well-intentioned dhampir always getting into trouble for Rose, also comes along to work as Jill’s bodyguard. Rounding out the cast is the notorious Adrian Ivashkov. He’s not posing as a student, but he has “helpfully” invited himself along to keep a brotherly eye on Jill--and torment Sydney with his constant jokes and party boy habits.

Rose was a great narrator, and Sydney’s fun in a lot of different ways. She gives us a human take on the Moroi world, whi! ch isn’t something we’ve really seen yet. Vampire life, through Rose’s eyes, is a very normal thing. For Sydney? Not so. It’s made worse because she’s been raised to believe vampires and dhampirs are wrong and unnatural, but spending time with them in Palm Springs begins to change her mind. The Alchemists don’t look favorably on those questioning their beliefs.

What’s also interesting is that Sydney has a much more analytic view of the world than Rose. Sydney overthinks where Rose rushes in, and both styles are fun to watch. Sydney’s super smart and can memorize reams of materialâ€"but is a little oblivious to how a normal social life works. That’s never been an issue while she was working as a field Alchemist, but in the midst of a high schoolâ€"with guys who want to ask her out? Yeah. There are a few complications! Roll in the fact that sinister, supernatural activities are going on in Palm Springs, and Sydney suddenly finds her mission a lot m! ore complicated than even she expected.

All in all, ! I think readers who loved the Vampire Academy series are going to adore Bloodlines. I purposely left a lot of questions at the end of Last Sacrifice…and those are going to get answered. And like I said, Vampire Academy hasn’t really ended. It’s just going to go on in a different form and give us a look at the vampire world in a new way. Fans of Sydney, Jill, Eddie, and especially Adrian are going to love learning more about them. So, have fun, and get ready for the story to continue!

--Richelle MeadNate and Marcus are half brothers born and raised in the ghetto of South Florida by their unstable, single mother. During a playground fight, Marcus defends his brother by stabbing a bully who is threatening his brother’s life. When Marcus’ father finds out about his son’s behavior, he removes Marcus from his mother’s home. Years later, the brothers are reunited on the streets of Miami, but on different sides of the law! Marcus has become a police offi! cer, while Nate has become a local drug dealer. The promise to stay brothers forever puts Nate and Marcus’ relationship to the test.

Black and White

  • ISBN13: 9780618636877
  • Condition: New
  • Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Four stories are told simultaneously, with each double-page spread divided into quadrants. The stories do not necessarily take place at the same moment in time, but are they really one story? You’ll have to read this award winner and find out.
Black and White is an interesting title for a book that aims to prove there's no such thing as black and white. But read on and you will see that irony and playful deception are running themes in this multidimensional, nonlinear picture story, which was awarded the 1991 Caldecott Medal. In it, a normal-looking cow contains a robber literally pointing at one of the plot's various possible outcomes, which remain tentative as long as they are formu! lated by young readers. Seeing new angles and clues every time they open the book, these readers will probably astound adult onlookers with their excitement and ease at navigating the unknown in a literary medium akin to interactive multimedia.

Bandidas : Widescreen Edition

  • Widescreen
Salma Hayek and Penelope Cruz have never been sexier as they team up for this hilarious, action-packed western! Determined to avenge the deaths of their fathers, Sara Sandoval (Hayek) and Maria Alvarez (Cruz) vow to seize the ill-gotten gains of robber baron Tyler Jackson (Dwight Yoakam). So, with help from a retired bank robber (Sam Shepard) and a jittery criminologist (Steve Zahn), these two beauties become unlikely outlaws, blazing a trail of larceny and laughter across Mexico!First screened in Europe and scheduled for limited release in the U.S., Bandidas can now be viewed by all fans of the visually stunning duo, Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayek. Set in Mexico 1888, Bandidas is a Western spoof about two women, Maria Alvarez (Penelope Cruz) and Sara Sandoval (Salma Hayek), who seek! to avenge the tragedies befallen both their fathers under robber baron, Tyler Jackson (Dwight Yoakam). Jackson, employed by the Bank of New York, is sent to Mexico to buy land and open banks to the detriment of local culture. Jackson kills Sara's corrupt father, Don Diego, while bandits burn down Maria's home. The two ladies band together for the community's cause. Under the tutelage of Bill Buck (Sam Sheperd), Sara and Maria develop bank robbery skills. When criminologist, Quentin Cooke (Steve Zahn), hunts them, they convert him with their strong moral sense and good looks. Like any Thelma and Louise-ish tale of women who take charge, Maria and Sara are foil characters who eventually become an invincible, sisterly team. This comedy is built around their bickering. For Sara, with European education and penchant of designer clothing, Maria is a hick who lacks refinement, yet Maria, horse whisperer, can fire a gun. The slapstick is overkill, for example when Sara wond! ers whether a bandana is Gucci or Prada. However, viewers will! love Pe nelope Cruz on horseback and the two actresses practice-kissing their foe in a brothel. Bandidas is a light film with some laughs and mucho sex appeal. -- Trinie Dalton

Beyond Bandidas


More Films from Salma Hayek



More Films from Penelope Cruz

More Comic Westerns
Stills from Bandidas







dvd

The Fantasticks: The Complete Illustrated Text Plus the Official Fantasticks Scrapbook and History of the Musical

  • Published by Applause Books 168 Pages
  • by Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones
  • Author: Tom Jones
"Richly illustrated, it is ideal for fans of the show, as well as admirers of musical theatre." - Variety * "Anybody who has seen the show (who hasn't?) should read the book" - Entertainment Today * "The perfect present for any Fantasticks fans." - Cleveland Plain Dealer * "A valuable resource. Recommended for all collections." - Choice

High Heels and Low Lifes

  • Minne Driver (Good Will Hunting) and Mary McCormack (Mystery, Alaska) star as best friends who take on low-life thieves in this hilarious high-energy action-comedy. It all starts when Shannon (Driver), a nurse at a London emergency room, and Frances (McCormack), a struggling American actress, overhear bank robbers on a radio scanner making off with a fortune. They make contact and demand a cut at
Minnie Driver (GOOD WILL HUNTING) and Mary McCormack (GUN SHY) star as best friends who take on low-live thieves in this hilarious high-energy action-comedy. It all starts when Shannon (Drier), a nurse at a London emergency room, and Frances (McCormack), a struggling American actress, overhear bank robbers on a radio scanner making off with a fortune. They make contact and demand a cut of the loot. But when the stubborn felons refuse to hand over a penny and threaten their lives in return, the girls ! decide to raise the stakes and give the thugs a run for their money! Packed with daring heists, double-crossings, and high-speed hilarity, HIGH HEELS AND LOW LIFES is the most fun you can have this side of the law.Supremely silly and entirely entertaining, High Heels and Low Lifes begins with a high-tech bank robbery--into the middle of which stumble Shannon (Minnie Driver) and Frances (Mary McCormack), who have gone out and gotten drunk because Shannon's boyfriend forgot her birthday. Thanks to this same boyfriend's surveillance equipment (on which he was creating his "urban noise symphony installation"), they end up with a cell phone number belonging to one of the thieves and decide to experiment with blackmail--an experiment that soon gets them into deep trouble. None of this is remotely plausible, but the breezy script keeps taking surprising twists, Driver and McCormack are an engaging duo (and they run to and fro in tight, stylish outfits), and the mo! vie is directed with flair. Fun, frivolous, and unexpected. --Bret Fetzer

Munchkin 'White Hot' Duck Bath Toy

  • White Hot Safety Disc reveals the word ?HOT? when bath water is too hot for baby
  • Fun, easy-to-grasp size and shape
  • Water-tight to prevent sinking, squirting, and mildew
0+ months. White hot - prevent bath time burns. A Bath Ducky with a safety indicator on the bottom - so only the ducky needs to tell you when its bottom is too hot. Made in China.

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