Tuesday, November 22, 2011

First Kid

  • Sinbad plays wisecracking Secret Service agent Sam Simms, assigned to protect the President's rebellious 14-year-old son Luke (THE MIGHTY DUCKS' Brock Pierce). Simms would much rather be protecting the President, and Luke would prefer to be just a regular kid without a watchdog trailing him everywhere he goes. But a genuine friendship develops between the two when Simms volunteers to teach
Sinbad plays wisecracking Secret Service agent Sam Simms, assigned to protect the President's rebellious 14-year-old son Luke (THE MIGHTY DUCKS' Brock Pierce). Simms would much rather be protecting the President, and Luke would prefer to be just a regular kid without a watchdog trailing him everywhere he goes. But a genuine friendship develops between the two when Simms volunteers to teach Luke how to deal with a school bully (HOME IMPROVEMENT'S Zachery Ty Bryan), and to untie his tongue so that he can win ! over a cute girl in class. But when Luke's mysterious Internet buddy convinces him to ditch his bodyguard in a crowded mall, the fun and games suddenly become a matter of life and death! The votes are in from both audiences and critics -- "Sinbad is hilarious" (KNX Radio/CBS Radio) in this "laugh-a-minute" comedy (Sneak Previews).An underrated actor, Sinbad is very good in this comedy-drama about a Secret Service agent who gets the thankless detail of guarding the president's bratty son. In time, the two become touchingly close, with Sinbad's character providing the kind of surrogate fathering the boy's ultra-busy dad can't give. The plot takes an inevitable turn toward greater drama when the young man is kidnapped, but director David Mickey Evans handles the whole thing very well, and the resolution makes for fairly satisfying action. But Sinbad's presence is an agreeably warm one--though he is also quite funny and original in early sequences when the prez's son is torment! ing him--and makes this film surprisingly watchable. --Tom! Keogh

Apocalypse Now (Apocalypse Now / Apocalypse Now Redux / Hearts of Darkness) (Three-Disc Full Disclosure Edition) [Blu-ray]

  • Condition: New
  • Format: Blu-ray
  • AC-3; Closed-captioned; Color; Dolby; DTS Surround Sound; Special Edition; Subtitled; Widescreen
Digitally remastered with 49 minutes of previously unseen footage, Apocalypse Now Redux is the reference standard of Francis Coppola's 1979 epic. A metaphorical hallucination of the Vietnam War, the film was reconstructed by Coppola and editor Walter Murch to enrich themes and clarify the ending. On that basis Redux is a qualified success, more coherent than the original while inviting the same accusations of directorial excess. The restored "French plantation" sequence adds ghostly resonance to the war's absurdity, and Willard's theft of Colonel Kurtz's beloved surfboard adds welcomed humor to the film's nightmarish upriver journey. An encounter with Playboy Playmates seems superfluous compared to the enhanced interplay between Willard ! and his ill-fated boat crew, but compensation arrives in the hellish Kurtz compound, where Willard's mission--and the performances of Martin Sheen and Marlon Brando--reach even greater heights of insanity, thus validating Redux as the rightful heir to Coppola's triumphantly rampant ambition. --Jeff Shannon APOCALYPSE NOW REDUX - DVD MovieApocalypse Now / Apocalypse Now: Redux
In the tradition of such obsessively driven directors as Erich von Stroheim and Werner Herzog, Francis Ford Coppola approached the production of Apocalypse Now as if it were his own epic mission into the heart of darkness. On location in the storm-ravaged Philippines, he quite literally went mad as the project threatened to devour him in a vortex of creative despair, but from this insanity came one of the greatest films ever made. It began as a John Milius screenplay, transposing Joseph Conrad's classic story "Heart of Darkness" into the horrors of the Vietnam Wa! r, following a battle-weary Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) on ! a secret upriver mission to find and execute the renegade Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando), who has reverted to a state of murderous and mystical insanity. The journey is fraught with danger involving wartime action on epic and intimate scales. One measure of the film's awesome visceral impact is the number of sequences, images, and lines of dialogue that have literally burned themselves into our cinematic consciousness, from the Wagnerian strike of helicopter gunships on a Vietnamese village to the brutal murder of stowaways on a peasant sampan and the unflinching fearlessness of the surfing warrior Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore (Robert Duvall), who speaks lovingly of "the smell of napalm in the morning." Like Herzog's Aguirre: The Wrath of God, this film is the product of genius cast into a pit of hell and emerging, phoenix-like, in triumph. Coppola's obsession (effectively detailed in the riveting documentary Hearts of Darkness, directed by Coppola's wife, Eleanor) informs every! scene and every frame, and the result is a film for the ages. --Jeff Shannon

Hearts of Darkness
Hearts of Darkness is an engrossing, unwavering look back at Francis Coppola's chaotic, catastrophe-plagued Vietnam production, Apocalypse Now. Filled with juicy gossip and a wonderful behind-the-scenes look at the stressful world of moviemaking, the documentary mixes on-location home movies shot in the Philippines by Eleanor Coppola, the director's wife, with revealing interviews with the cast and crew, shot 10 years later. Similar to Burden of Dreams, Les Blank's absorbing portrait of Werner Herzog's struggle to make Fitzcarraldo, the film chronicles Coppola's eventual decent into obsessive psychosis as everything that could go wrong does go wrong. Storms destroy sets, money evaporates, the Philippine government continually harasses the director, Coppola has romantic affairs, and he can't write the story's ending. Everything is c! aptured on film. In the most disturbing scene, we watch Martin! Sheen h ave a drunken nervous breakdown while his director goads him on (he eventually suffered a heart attack, but finished the film).

Other incredible footage is not visual, but aural as the film includes tapes Eleanor Coppola recorded without Francis's knowledge. In them, he truly sounds like a madman as he confesses his fears about making a bomb of a movie. But while Hearts of Darkness is an amazing, voyeuristic experience, its importance lies in the personal reflections offered by those involved. Sheen, Coppola, and Dennis Hopper speak frankly without embarrassment, offering us an essential piece of film history. --Dave McCoyFrancis Ford Coppola's timeless classic comes to Blu-ray for the first time!

This 3-Disc Deluxe Edition includes Apocalypse Now and Apocalypse Now Redux in stunning new transfers supervised by Francis Ford Coppola - and presented for the first time in their original 2.35:1 theatrical aspect ratios. Also included is the feature-length! making-of documentary Hearts of Darkness, presented in a new 1080p HD transfer.

Additional features include a 48-page collectible booklet with never-before-seen archives from the set, over 9 hours of bonus features, plus a storyboard gallery, image galleries, marketing archives and an original script excerpt from John Milius featuring hand-written notes from Coppola.Apocalypse Now / Apocalypse Now: Redux
In the tradition of such obsessively driven directors as Erich von Stroheim and Werner Herzog, Francis Ford Coppola approached the production of Apocalypse Now as if it were his own epic mission into the heart of darkness. On location in the storm-ravaged Philippines, he quite literally went mad as the project threatened to devour him in a vortex of creative despair, but from this insanity came one of the greatest films ever made. It began as a John Milius screenplay, transposing Joseph Conrad's classic story "Heart of Darkness" into the h! orrors of the Vietnam War, following a battle-weary Captain Wi! llard (M artin Sheen) on a secret upriver mission to find and execute the renegade Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando), who has reverted to a state of murderous and mystical insanity. The journey is fraught with danger involving wartime action on epic and intimate scales. One measure of the film's awesome visceral impact is the number of sequences, images, and lines of dialogue that have literally burned themselves into our cinematic consciousness, from the Wagnerian strike of helicopter gunships on a Vietnamese village to the brutal murder of stowaways on a peasant sampan and the unflinching fearlessness of the surfing warrior Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore (Robert Duvall), who speaks lovingly of "the smell of napalm in the morning." Like Herzog's Aguirre: The Wrath of God, this film is the product of genius cast into a pit of hell and emerging, phoenix-like, in triumph. Coppola's obsession (effectively detailed in the riveting documentary Hearts of Darkness, directed by Coppola's wife! , Eleanor) informs every scene and every frame, and the result is a film for the ages. --Jeff Shannon

Hearts of Darkness
Hearts of Darkness is an engrossing, unwavering look back at Francis Coppola's chaotic, catastrophe-plagued Vietnam production, Apocalypse Now. Filled with juicy gossip and a wonderful behind-the-scenes look at the stressful world of moviemaking, the documentary mixes on-location home movies shot in the Philippines by Eleanor Coppola, the director's wife, with revealing interviews with the cast and crew, shot 10 years later. Similar to Burden of Dreams, Les Blank's absorbing portrait of Werner Herzog's struggle to make Fitzcarraldo, the film chronicles Coppola's eventual decent into obsessive psychosis as everything that could go wrong does go wrong. Storms destroy sets, money evaporates, the Philippine government continually harasses the director, Coppola has romantic affairs, and he can't write the story's! ending. Everything is captured on film. In the most disturbin! g scene, we watch Martin Sheen have a drunken nervous breakdown while his director goads him on (he eventually suffered a heart attack, but finished the film).

Other incredible footage is not visual, but aural as the film includes tapes Eleanor Coppola recorded without Francis's knowledge. In them, he truly sounds like a madman as he confesses his fears about making a bomb of a movie. But while Hearts of Darkness is an amazing, voyeuristic experience, its importance lies in the personal reflections offered by those involved. Sheen, Coppola, and Dennis Hopper speak frankly without embarrassment, offering us an essential piece of film history. --Dave McCoy

Jazwares Astro Boy The Movie 3 3/4 Inch Action Figure Astro Boy

  • Astro Boy shirtless action figure measures ~3.75 inches tall
  • Inspired by the Astro Boy movie released in 2009
  • Figure has interchangeable feet, rocket feet and regular shoes
  • Figure has posable arms, elbows, legs, and knees
  • For ages 4 and up
et in futuristic Metro City, Astro Boy is about a young robot with incredible powers created by a brilliant scientist in the image of the son he has lost. Unable to fulfill the grieving man's expectations, our hero embarks on a journey in search of acceptance, experiencing betrayal and a netherworld of robot gladiators, before he returns to save Metro City and reconcile with the father who had rejected him.Are heroes born or made? How does one go about finding one's true destiny? Dr. Tenma (Nicolas Cage), a revered scientist on the floating paradise known as Metro City, has recently created a technologically advanced robot in! the image of his late son Toby in an effort to assuage his overwhelming grief. Far from an average robot, his creation (Freddie Highmore) is a thinking, feeling robot endowed with the memories and emotions of the real Toby and powered by a unique blue core energy recently discovered by Dr. Tenma's good friend Dr. Elefun (Bill Nighy). Despite his efforts, Dr. Tenma quickly discovers that his new creation will never replace his human son, and he coldly casts him aside. Being a thinking, feeling robot, the robot boy sets off in search of a place where he might fit in, and his journey lands him below Metro City, on the surface of the wasteland known as Earth, where he is befriended first by a trio of rebellious robots who dub him Astro Boy and later by a group of human orphans led by the robot repairman Dr. Hamegg (Nathan Lane). Although Astro Boy fully intends to confess his robotic origins to the humans, circumstances prevent the disclosure, and his first real friendships ar! e tainted by the underlying deception. Meanwhile, back in Metr! o City, President Stone (Donald Sutherland) launches a campaign to destroy Astro Boy in an effort to steal the blue core energy and use it with its opposing and very unstable red core energy to guarantee his reelection. In the end, Astro Boy's real ancestry comes to light, and his relationships with the humans and his very existence are threatened. It also falls to Astro Boy to save Metro City from certain destruction at the hands of President Stone. Based on the 1950s Japanese manga and the 1960s Astro Boy Japanese animated television series commonly credited as the first anime cartoon, Astro Boy is an engaging, action-packed film about self-discovery and pursuing one's destiny. While there's a healthy amount of violence and peril in the film, it's generally appropriate for ages 7 and older. --Tami HoriuchiSet in futuristic Metro City, Astro Boy is about a young robot with incredible powers created by a brilliant scientist in the image of the son he has lost. U! nable to fulfill the grieving man's expectations, our hero embarks on a journey in search of acceptance, experiencing betrayal and a netherworld of robot gladiators, before he returns to save Metro City and reconcile with the father who had rejected him.Are heroes born or made? How does one go about finding one's true destiny? Dr. Tenma (Nicolas Cage), a revered scientist on the floating paradise known as Metro City, has recently created a technologically advanced robot in the image of his late son Toby in an effort to assuage his overwhelming grief. Far from an average robot, his creation (Freddie Highmore) is a thinking, feeling robot endowed with the memories and emotions of the real Toby and powered by a unique blue core energy recently discovered by Dr. Tenma's good friend Dr. Elefun (Bill Nighy). Despite his efforts, Dr. Tenma quickly discovers that his new creation will never replace his human son, and he coldly casts him aside. Being a thinking, feeling robot, the r! obot boy sets off in search of a place where he might fit in, ! and his journey lands him below Metro City, on the surface of the wasteland known as Earth, where he is befriended first by a trio of rebellious robots who dub him Astro Boy and later by a group of human orphans led by the robot repairman Dr. Hamegg (Nathan Lane). Although Astro Boy fully intends to confess his robotic origins to the humans, circumstances prevent the disclosure, and his first real friendships are tainted by the underlying deception. Meanwhile, back in Metro City, President Stone (Donald Sutherland) launches a campaign to destroy Astro Boy in an effort to steal the blue core energy and use it with its opposing and very unstable red core energy to guarantee his reelection. In the end, Astro Boy's real ancestry comes to light, and his relationships with the humans and his very existence are threatened. It also falls to Astro Boy to save Metro City from certain destruction at the hands of President Stone. Based on the 1950s Japanese manga and the 1960s Astro Boy ! Japanese animated television series commonly credited as the first anime cartoon, Astro Boy is an engaging, action-packed film about self-discovery and pursuing one's destiny. While there's a healthy amount of violence and peril in the film, it's generally appropriate for ages 7 and older. --Tami HoriuchiComplete episodes of the new 2003 version of the 60s television program about a robot boy who is sent to a robot circus by the man who creates him.
Genre: Children's Video
Rating: NR
Release Date: 4-APR-2006
Media Type: DVDWhen Osamu Tezuka created Tetsuwan Atom (literally Iron-arm Atom) a.k.a. Astro Boy, he set his birthdate as April 7, 2003--51 years after the initial manga and 40 years after the groundbreaking television series debuted. Sony produced this third incarnation in 2003, and a few episodes aired on American TV in 2004. A combination of drawn and computer-generated animation, the new version is! far more lavish than the initial black-and-white series or th! e 1980 c olor remake. The artists strive to preserve Tezuka's drawing style, keeping Astro's outsized eyes and Dr. O'Shay's pickle nose. Spaceships and other robots float effortlessly by, but Astro's legs shoot old-fashioned rocket flairs.

The newly born Astro is a complete innocent, but as he explores various aspects of the world, he develops a strong sense of purpose, aiding those in need. His state-of-the-art brain includes kokoro, which can be translated as "heart," "spirit," or "will," which makes him more human. The conflict between humans and robots--which some critics have interpreted as a metaphor for racism distinguishes--escalates into a battle at the city of Robotonia in Antarctica. Astro strives to make peace between the hostile factions, although many of the conflicts were sparked by Dr. Tenma, who originally created him. Although visually appealing, this lush reinterpretation lacks the gritty charm of Tezuka's low-budget original. The only extra is a ! short "remaking of"; the dialogue is dubbed in English, Spanish, and Portuguese--but not Japanese. (Unrated, suitable for ages 8 and older: cartoon violence) --Charles SolomonAstro Boy shirtless action figure measures approx. 3.75 inches tall. Figure has interchangeable feet, rocket feet and regular shoes. Figure has posable arms, elbows, legs, and knees. Inspired by the Astro Boy movie released in 2009. Age 4+

Fifth Sun Angry Birds Tough Guy Womens Tee - WHITE, M

  • Officially Licensed Angry Birds Apparel
  • New Reduced Prices!
  • Design is printed on a heavyweight 100% cotton tee.
Grab this Angry Birds T-Shirt while supplies last.  Don't get caught this summer without your favorite Angry Bird Shirt. This Angry Bird Headphone shirt is a sure bet with your friends and family.

Elsa & Fred

  • Elsa & Fred is a story about two people who, at the end of the road, discover that it s never too late to love or to dream. Elsa is 82 years-old, while Alfredo is a bit younger than her. After losing his wife, Alfredo feels disturbed and confused so his daughter suggests him it would be best if he moved into a smaller apartment. There he ll meet Elsa. From that moment on, everything changes. Elsa
Elsa & Fred is a story about two people who, at the end of the road, discover that it s never too late to love... or to dream. Elsa is 82 years-old, while Alfredo is a bit younger than her. After losing his wife, Alfredo feels disturbed and confused so his daughter suggests him it would be best if he moved into a smaller apartment. There he ll meet Elsa. From that moment on, everything changes. Elsa bursts into his life like a whirlwind, determined to teach him that the time he has left to live - be ! it more or less - is precious and that he should enjoy it as he pleases.


Elsa & Fres es la historia de dos personas que al final del camino descubren que nunca es demasiado tarde para amar....o soñar. Elsa tiene 82 años, mientras que Alfredo es un poco más joven que ella. Después de perder a su esposa, Alfredo se siente perturbado y confundido por lo que su hija le sugiere mudarse a un departamento más pequeño. Ahí conocerá a Elsa. Desde ese momento todo cambia completamente. Elsa irrumpe en su vida como un torbellino dispuesta a demostrarle que el tiempo que le queda de vida, mucho o poco, es precioso y puede disfrutarlo como le plazca.

Aliens of the Deep

  • Take a once-in-a-lifetime journey with Academy Award(R)-winning director James Cameron (Best Director, TITANIC, 1997) in ALIENS OF THE DEEP, and make contact with another world. This incredible underwater adventure gives you extraordinary glimpses of unbelievable creatures that live in an alien world in the deepest depths of the sea. Could these alien life forms be clues to life in outer space? It
Take a once-in-a-lifetime journey with Academy Award(R)-winning director James Cameron (Best Director, TITANIC, 1997) in ALIENS OF THE DEEP, and make contact with another world. This incredible underwater adventure gives you extraordinary glimpses of unbelievable creatures that live in an alien world in the deepest depths of the sea. Could these alien life forms be clues to life in outer space? It's an exciting exploration you'll not soon forget.~~(c)Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc. and Walden M! edia, LLC ~~James Cameron takes another foray into the depths with a new deep-sea documentary. Following the shipwreck of Ghosts of the Abyss, Cameron focuses his abundant energies on where life is not powered by sunlight. These implications are taken a bit further, thanks to some dandy effects, on how life may develop in the ice-covered waters of Jupiter's moons. Some of the newly seen creatures are truly amazing: a fish with feet, shrimp that can swim between boiling hot steam and icy currents. Plus there's a cute creature that looks like something from an animator's portfolio: an albino octopus with fins. Like Ghosts, this film is significantly different on DVD. Both were presented in IMAX 3-D but are only 2-D on DVD; however, also included are extended versions, doubling the original's 45-minute run time. The added footage gets you more in-depth coverage of the crew and the missions. Cameron is also an expert host, showing his enthusiasm for the project ("! I love this stuff!") while letting his younger scientist co-st! ars lead the way. (Ages 6 and older) --Doug Thomas

Friends & Lovers

  • Condition: New
  • Format: DVD
  • Color; Dolby; DVD; Full Screen; NTSC
Erin Snyder has given up on men. Once she has sex with them, they never call her again. She has to be doing something wrong, but has no idea what. She decides only her best friend Luke Duvall can help her.

Luke can’t believe Erin’s suggestion that they have sex. No matter how alluring or attractive he finds her, he doesn’t want to mess up their friendship by bringing sex into it.

A combination of a hot evening, a cool swimming pool, and steamy conversation breaks down Luke’s reservations. He and Erin have the wildest, most earth-shattering sex either of them have ever experienced.

Doubts plague both of them the next morning. If they take a risk on falling in love, it will either change their friendship into something more precious, or destroy it forever.

Approxim! ately 14,000 words.
Erin Snyder has given up on men. Once she has sex with them, they never call her again. She has to be doing something wrong, but has no idea what. She decides only her best friend Luke Duvall can help her.

Luke can’t believe Erin’s suggestion that they have sex. No matter how alluring or attractive he finds her, he doesn’t want to mess up their friendship by bringing sex into it.

A combination of a hot evening, a cool swimming pool, and steamy conversation breaks down Luke’s reservations. He and Erin have the wildest, most earth-shattering sex either of them have ever experienced.

Doubts plague both of them the next morning. If they take a risk on falling in love, it will either change their friendship into something more precious, or destroy it forever.

Approximately 14,000 words.
Six minority lesbians navigate their way through life s challenges with attitude and a fabulous sense of style! Since its debut! in 2008, THE LOVERS & FRIENDS SHOW, with its honest and often! humorou s depiction of urban lesbian life, has opened the eyes of people within and outside of the LBGT community. Charming, funny, bright, seductive and mischievous are just a few of the words describing the characters: Lisa (Kendall Starr), a med student new to the world of lesbianism; Kai (Marlaina Law), the best friend with the heart of gold who is dealing with her psycho ex-girlfriend; Tori (Nicole Pina), the entertainment columnist who falls in love with her boss; Yasmin (BeBe Brunswick), an outspoken political firecracker; Mercedes (Christy Rodriguez), the social climbing magazine editor and Dre (Shakelia Tharpe), the bad boy sweet talker who keeps a flock of women.Reed Lewis thinks his best friend, Paige Thomas, is engaged to the wrong man, so he devises a holiday ruse to make her see things his way. Celebrate the season with a light-hearted holiday romp about two friends on the path to becoming so much more, and the grandmother who helps them get there.

REVI! EWS
". . .a sham engagement between two longtime attorney friends leads to the real thing just in time for New Year's Eve in Angela D. Benson's funny and engaging 'Friend and Lover'." -Library Journal

"This was a hilarious story of two people with truly a loving friendship. . .If you have not read this one, then you must read it. It is not only funny, but touching. I am sure that you will enjoy it." --Reader from Baton Rouge, LAReed Lewis thinks his best friend, Paige Thomas, is engaged to the wrong man, so he devises a holiday ruse to make her see things his way. Celebrate the season with a light-hearted holiday romp about two friends on the path to becoming so much more, and the grandmother who helps them get there.

REVIEWS
". . .a sham engagement between two longtime attorney friends leads to the real thing just in time for New Year's Eve in Angela D. Benson's funny and engaging 'Friend and Lover'." -Library Journal

"This was a hilarious! story of two people with truly a loving friendship. . .If you! have no t read this one, then you must read it. It is not only funny, but touching. I am sure that you will enjoy it." --Reader from Baton Rouge, LAWhat happens when friends cross the line and become lovers? Lies fly, emotions erupt, and the stage is set for a totally uncensored, hilarious, and outrageously entertaining adventure in seduction, betrayal, heartbreak, revenge, and oh-so-sweet true love. Shelby Daniels and her best friend Debra Mitchell have just gotten off the sex-before-marriage merry-go-round with men. Each has gone looking for love, found love, lost love, and at this point, sworn off men forever-- until Debra meets Leonard DuBois, an aspiring stand-up comedian who tries to laugh his way into her heart. But the laughter stops when he is forced to confront some hurdles of his own. Debra has devoted her mind, body, heart and soul to God, so if he wants to ride with her, he'll have to produce the ring. In the meantime, feisty, nosy, attitude-packing flight attendant She! lby keeps intervening in Debra's business. Needing someone to run interference and get rid of Shelby, Leonard calls on his best buddy, Tyrel, a sexy and charming computer software designer unable to design the perfect woman. On the rebound, Shelby keeps her heart locked away, but when Tyrel finds the key, the attraction is instant and so are the consequences. Their relationship moves at warp speed, leaving Shelby confronting a decision that could turn her whole life around and break both of their hearts. As a result, friendships fall by the wayside, jealousy come into play, and sisterhood is torn apart. It takes tragedy on a grand scale to reunite lovers destined for each other and teach both couples that friendship is perhaps the most valuable gift they've been given in this hilarious tale of friendship, love, and faith that speaks directly to the heart. Based on the best-selling novel by Eric Jerome Dickey (EJD).

Here on Earth: A Natural History of the Planet

  • ISBN13: 9780802119766
  • Condition: New
  • Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
The bestselling author of Turtle Moon and Practical Magic tells her most seductive and mesmerizing tale yet--the story of March Murray, who returns to her small Massachusetts hometown after nineteen years, encountering her childhood sweetheart...and discovering the heartbreaking and complex truth about their reckless and romantic love.

"A sound addition to an impressive body of work."--Boston Globe

"Sumptuous prose."--Denver Post

"Here on Earth is Hoffman's twelfth novel, and the spell she casts is stronger than ever."--Orlando Sentinel

* Includes a Reader's Guide

The New York Times bestseller and Oprah's Book Club selection...with a Reade! r's Guide included.Oprah Book Club® Selection, March 1998: Here on Earth is set in motion when March Murray and her teenage daughter travel from their California home to New England. Their stay is to be brief. Judith Dale, her childhood housekeeper-cum-foster mother, has died, and March must set things to right and get out of gloomy Jenkintown as quickly as possible. "Five days tops," she reassures her scientist husband. Instead, she is pulled back into the arms of Hollis, her first love--an avaricious, Heathcliff-like individual who radiates sulfur and cruelty. "She left and didn't come back, not even when he called her, and yet here she is, on this dark night; here and no place else." In this deep fable of loss and control, love and fear, Alice Hoffman allows us into her characters' cores and makes us wish their fortunes were happier. Here on Earth is filled with wisdom, what-ifs, and animals who seem, if not to know more than human bei! ngs, at least to know how to shy from danger.Chris Klein ("Ame! rican Pi e") and Leelee Sobieski ("Never Been Kissed") star in a "heartfelt story of romance, friendship and true love." (JUMP Magazine). Rich kid Kelley Morse (Klein) thought he had it all - money, good looks and a new Mercedes. But after a reckless car race destroys a roadside diner, Kelley finds himself sentenced to a summer of manual labor in a small town. That's where he meets and falls in love with Samantha, a girl from the other side of the tracks. But everything changes when Samantha's long-time boyfriend Jasper (Josh Hartnett, "The Faculty") uncovers their secret romance. This "sweet and romantic" (YM Magazine) tale of first love will capture your heart.Slumming among the locals of a small New York town, Kelley Morse (Chris Klein), graduating senior at a posh prep school and all-around insufferable rich kid, engages the testosterone of one of the hicks (Josh Hartnett) when he flirts with the guy's girlfriend, Samantha (LeeLee Sobieski). A car chase ensues, resulting in Sama! ntha's family's diner getting blown up, which in turn lands the boys in hot water with the law. The upshot is the snotty rich kid is sentenced to help the locals rebuild the diner. A romance develops between Kelley and Samantha, apparently because they like a particular Robert Frost poem. So now they're deep, see. But then their love is tested when Samantha contracts Ali MacGraw disease. You know, that's the sudden disease Ali McGraw gets in Love Story--really an excuse to emphasize the strength of the characters' love. You don't know what you got till it's gone, right? This film would be pretty bad if the performances weren't so engaging, especially LeeLee Sobieski's, who seems to be channeling Helen Hunt in this movie. Though Chris Klein never makes us believe for an instant that his arrogant character could make the changes he does, or that his and Sobieski's characters could ever really get together. The script is too thin to support any motivations, and the film! falls into formula weepy territory to appeal to teen tear duc! ts. Love rs of weepies might overlook the film's plot weaknesses in favor of the strong performances and the prospect of a good cry. --Jim Gay
Beginning at the moment of creation with the Big Bang, Here on Earth explores the evolution of Earth from a galactic cloud of dust and gas to a planet with a metallic core and early signs of life within a billion years of being created. In a compelling narrative, Flannery describes the formation of the Earth’s crust and atmosphere, as well as the transformation of the planet’s oceans from toxic brews of metals (such as iron, copper, and lead) to life-sustaining bodies covering 70 percent of the planet’s surface. Life, Flannery shows, first appeared in these oceans in the form of microscopic plants and bacteria, and these metals served as catalysts for the earliest biological processes known to exist. From this starting point, Flannery tells the fascinating story of the evolution of our own species, exploring several ear! ly human species—from the diminutive creatures (the famed hobbits) who lived in Africa around two million years ago to Homo erectus—before turning his attention to Homo sapiens. Drawing on Charles Darwin’s and Alfred Russell Wallace’s theories of evolution and Lovelock’s Gaia hypothesis, Here on Earth is a dazzling account of life on our planet.

The Foreign Correspondent: A Novel

  • ISBN13: 9780812967975
  • Condition: New
  • Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
From Alan Furst, whom The New York Times calls “America’s preeminent spy novelist,” comes an epic story of romantic love, love of country, and love of freedomâ€"the story of a secret war fought in elegant hotel bars and first-class railway cars, in the mountains of Spain and the backstreets of Berlin. It is an inspiring, thrilling saga of everyday people forced by their hearts’ passion to fight in the war against tyranny.

By 1938, hundreds of Italian intellectuals, lawyers and journalists, university professors and scientists had escaped Mussolini’s fascist government and taken refuge in Paris. There, amid the struggles of émigré life, they founded an Italian resistance, with an unde! rground press that smuggled news and encouragement back to Italy. Fighting fascism with typewriters, they produced 512 clandestine newspapers. The Foreign Correspondent is their story.

Paris, a winter night in 1938: a murder/suicide at a discreet lovers’ hotel. But this is no romantic tragedâ€"it is the work of the OVRA, Mussolini’s fascist secret police, and is meant to eliminate the editor of Liberazione, a clandestine émigré newspaper. Carlo Weisz, who has fled from Trieste and secured a job as a foreign correspondent with the Reuters bureau, becomes the new editor.
Weisz is, at that moment, in Spain, reporting on the last campaign of the Spanish civil war. But as soon as he returns to Paris, he is pursued by the French Sûreté, by agents of the OVRA, and by officers of the British Secret Intelligence Service. In the desperate politics of Europe on the edge of war, a foreign correspondent is a pawn, worth surveillance, or blackmail, or mur! der.

The Foreign Correspondent is the story of Carlo W! eisz and a handful of antifascists: the army officer known as “Colonel Ferrara,” who fights for a lost cause in Spain; Arturo Salamone, the shrewd leader of a resistance group in Paris; and Christa von Schirren, the woman who becomes the love of Weisz’s life, herself involved in a doomed resistance underground in Berlin.

The Foreign Correspondent is Alan Furst at his absolute bestâ€"taut and powerful, enigmatic and romantic, with sharp, seductive writing that takes the reader through darkness and intrigue to a spectacular denouement.


From the Hardcover edition.

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