Saturday, November 5, 2011

Ed Wood (Special Edition)

  • From Tim Burton, acclaimed director of BIG FISH, EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, and BATMAN, and the producer of THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, comes the hilarious, true-life story of the wackiest filmmaker in Hollywood history, Ed Wood! Johnny Depp (PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL, CHOCOLAT, EDWARD SCISSORHANDS) stars as the high-spirited movieman who refuses to let unfinished scenes
From Tim Burton, acclaimed director of BIG FISH, EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, and BATMAN, and the producer of THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, comes the hilarious, true-life story of the wackiest filmmaker in Hollywood history, Ed Wood! Johnny Depp (PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL, CHOCOLAT, EDWARD SCISSORHANDS) stars as the high-spirited movieman who refuses to let unfinished scenes, terrible reviews, and hostile studio executives derail his big-screen dreams. With an oddball collecti! on of showbiz misfits, Ed takes the art of bad moviemaking to an all-time low! The all-star cast features Bill Murray (LOST IN TRANSLATION, THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS), Sarah Jessica Parker (TV's SEX AND THE CITY), Patricia Arquette (STIGMATA, LITTLE NICKY), and an Academy Award(R)-winning performance by Martin Landau (Best Supporting Actor, 1994) as Bela Lugosi. Hailed by critics everywhere, this laugh-packed comedy hit is sure to entertain everyone!Edward D. Wood Jr. was an actor writer-director-producer, occasionally in drag, who combined meager bursts of talent with an undying optimism to create some of the most bizarrely memorable "B" movies to ever come out of Tinseltown. Though Wood died in obscurity as an alcoholic in 1978, his films have been considered cult classics for years. He is consistently voted the worst director who ever lived. You would think this an odd subject, but director Tim Burton harnesses the undying hopefulness that made Wood such a character. Shot in ! black and white, just like Wood's creations, this stylized, wi! tty prod uction captures the poetic absurdity of Wood's films and his unconventional life. Burton's recreation of Wood's wonderfully awful Plan 9 from Outer Space looks much better than the original low-budget quickie. Burton tackled an extremely strange subject matter for a biopic, but Wood is presented as naive almost to the point of delusion, so the story works. The pace sags in the middle, as the weirdness starts to wear thin, but Depp proves himself an adroit actor, even while wearing angora and a blonde wig. Wood's unconventional repertoire company is faithfully reproduced, including an Academy Award-winning Martin Landau as Bela Lugosi. Landau is pathetic, droll, and charismatic as the elderly junkie who made his last screen appearances in Wood's films. --Rochelle O'Gorman

Lifetime Collective Men's Crazy Horse Button Up Shirt, Dark Blue, Small

  • Contrast, jersey-lined hood
  • Chest Pockets
Neither sex has cornered the market for crazy. But in these seven reprinted essays by bestselling author Diana Estill, the competition is brutal. Determining which behaviors are most insane often depends on who’s making the call. Both genders will relate to these funny vignettes about the ways men and women inadvertently drive each other bonkers.

Diana Estill is a ForeWord Book of the Year finalist and the author of Stilettos No More, Deedee Divine’s Totally Skewed Guide to Life, and Driving on the Wrong Side of the Road.

6,000 words

The seven essays included in You Can’t Change Crazy are a thematic collection assembled from works previously published by this author.
Neither sex has cornered the market for crazy. But in these seven reprinted essays by bestselling author Diana Estill, the competition ! is brutal. Determining which behaviors are most insane often depends on who’s making the call. Both genders will relate to these funny vignettes about the ways men and women inadvertently drive each other bonkers.

Diana Estill is a ForeWord Book of the Year finalist and the author of Stilettos No More, Deedee Divine’s Totally Skewed Guide to Life, and Driving on the Wrong Side of the Road.

6,000 words

The seven essays included in You Can’t Change Crazy are a thematic collection assembled from works previously published by this author.
A crossover shirt that's part hoodie and part chambray button up. We've added a contrast hood lining and a white drawstring for some eye-catching accents that keep the clean look going.

Flashbacks Of A Fool [Blu-ray]

  • FLASHBACKS OF A FOOL BLU-RAY (BLU-RAY DISC)
Daniel Craig delivers a startling performance as Joe Scott, a washed-up Hollywood star adrift in a haze of sex, drugs and squandered fame. But when he receives news of the sudden death of his childhood best friend, Joe flashes back to his younger self (played by Harry Eden of Oliver Twist) in his small English seaside village and the summer of innocence and tragedy that would change his life forever. Olivia Williams (The Sixth Sense), Claire Forlani (CSI:NY) and Eve co-star in this powerful drama about love, loss and one man’s journey to redemption, executive produced by Daniel Craig and featuring songs by Scott Walker, David Bowie and Roxy Music.Leading man Daniel Craig apparently made Flashbacks of a Fool (he was also one of the executive producers) in between stints as James Bond, and you can see why he was attract! ed to it; Joe Scott, the character he portrays in this film, could hardly be less like the suave, ever-resourceful 007. Ensconced in a fab, oceanfront Malibu crib, Joe is a movie star on the skids. Hooked on coke and drink, engaging in group gropes with dumb Hollywood bimbos, he’s sunk so low that his sassy assistant (Eve) calls him "a disgrace to white folks," and even his agent is sick of him, which is somewhat akin to a parasite dissing its host (it’s a measure of writer-director Baillie Walsh’s script’s lack of depth that we never really see what made Joe so great in the first place, or so bad now). When a call comes that a childhood friend has died, Joe decides to return to his native England for the funeral, whereupon an extended flashback kicks in. Young Joe (Harry Eden), it seems, was as randy and hopelessly naïve as a lot of teenage boys. Though he had the hots for the sexiest young thang in town (a coastal village that’s as lovely in its way as the Cali! fornia setting, both of them handsomely photographed by cinema! tographe r John Mathieson; the locations, in fact, are probably the most attractive element of the film), he also wasn’t immune to the advances of Evelyn (Jodhi May), the older married woman who lives next door. And when a tragedy involving Evelyn’s daughter struck while she and Joe were in flagrante, Joe handled it by leaving town, never to return--until now, that is. He discovers that his late pal’s widow is the same young girl Joe’d had his eye on, but otherwise his homecoming is a strangely muted affair; not a lot happens, which pretty much applies to the film overall. In the end, Flashbacks of a Fool has its touching moments, but it might have turned out better had it been both shaken and stirred. --Sam Graham

Stills from Flashbacks of a Fool (Click for larger image)











Daniel Craig delivers a startling performance as Joe Scott, a washed-up Hollywood star adrift in a haze of sex, drugs and squandered fame. But when he receives news of the sudden death of his childhood best friend, Joe flashes back to his younger self (played by Harry! Eden of Oliver Twist) in his small English seaside village and the summer of innocence and tragedy that would change his life forever. Olivia Williams (The Sixth Sense), Claire Forlani (CSI:NY) and Eve co-star in this powerful drama about love, loss and one man s journey to redemption, executive produced by Daniel Craig and featuring songs by Scott Walker, David Bowie and Roxy Music.Leading man Daniel Craig apparently made Flashbacks of a Fool (he was also one of the executive producers) in between stints as James Bond, and you can see why he was attracted to it; Joe Scott, the character he portrays in this film, could hardly be less like the suave, ever-resourceful 007. Ensconced in a fab, oceanfront Malibu crib, Joe is a movie star on the skids. Hooked on coke and drink, engaging in group gropes with dumb Hollywood bimbos, he’s sunk so low that his sassy assistant (Eve) calls him "a disgrace to white folks," and even his agent is sick of him, which is somewhat! akin to a parasite dissing its host (it’s a measure of writ! er-direc tor Baillie Walsh’s script’s lack of depth that we never really see what made Joe so great in the first place, or so bad now). When a call comes that a childhood friend has died, Joe decides to return to his native England for the funeral, whereupon an extended flashback kicks in. Young Joe (Harry Eden), it seems, was as randy and hopelessly naïve as a lot of teenage boys. Though he had the hots for the sexiest young thang in town (a coastal village that’s as lovely in its way as the California setting, both of them handsomely photographed by cinematographer John Mathieson; the locations, in fact, are probably the most attractive element of the film), he also wasn’t immune to the advances of Evelyn (Jodhi May), the older married woman who lives next door. And when a tragedy involving Evelyn’s daughter struck while she and Joe were in flagrante, Joe handled it by leaving town, never to return--until now, that is. He discovers that his late pal’s widow is! the same young girl Joe’d had his eye on, but otherwise his homecoming is a strangely muted affair; not a lot happens, which pretty much applies to the film overall. In the end, Flashbacks of a Fool has its touching moments, but it might have turned out better had it been both shaken and stirred. --Sam Graham

Stills from Flashbacks of a Fool (Click for larger image)












Batman Begins [Blu-ray]

  • Condition: New
  • Format: Blu-ray
  • AC-3; Color; Dolby; Dubbed; Subtitled; Widescreen
Batman Begins explores the origins of the Batman legend and the Dark Knight's emergence as a force for good in Gotham. In the wake of his parents' murder, disillusioned industrial heir Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) travels the world seeking the means to fight injustice and turn fear against those who prey on the fearful. He returns to Gotham and unveils his alter-ego: Batman, a masked crusader who uses his strength, intellect and an array of high tech deceptions to fight the sinister forces that threaten the city.Batman Begins discards the previous four films in the series and recasts the Caped Crusader as a fearsome avenging angel. That's good news, because the series, which had gotten off to a rousing start under Tim Burton, had gradually dissolved into self-parody by 1997's Batman & ! Robin. As the title implies, Batman Begins tells the story anew, when Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) flees Western civilization following the murder of his parents. He is taken in by a mysterious instructor named Ducard (Liam Neeson in another mentor role) and urged to become a ninja in the League of Shadows, but he instead returns to his native Gotham City resolved to end the mob rule that is strangling it. But are there forces even more sinister at hand?

Co-written by the team of David S. Goyer (a veteran comic book writer) and director Christopher Nolan (Memento), Batman Begins is a welcome return to the grim and gritty version of the Dark Knight, owing a great debt to the graphic novels that preceded it. It doesn't have the razzle dazzle, or the mass appeal, of Spider-Man 2 (though the Batmobile is cool), and retelling the origin means it starts slowly, like most "first" superhero movies. But it's certainly the best Bat-film since Burt! on's original, and one of the best superhero movies of its tim! e. Bale cuts a good figure as Batman, intense and dangerous but with some of the lightheartedness Michael Keaton brought to the character. Michael Caine provides much of the film's humor as the family butler, Alfred, and as the love interest, Katie Holmes (Dawson's Creek) is surprisingly believable in her first adult role. Also featuring Gary Oldman as the young police officer Jim Gordon, Morgan Freeman as a Q-like gadgets expert, and Cillian Murphy as the vile Jonathan Crane. --David Horiuchi

Appleseed [Blu-ray]

  • Street Date 31 May 2011.
  • Studio EAGLE ROCK.
  • Region A Americas, E Asia.
  • Display 1.78 1 (Alternate Wide Screen), Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV.
  • SubTitles English, French, German, Spanish.
APPLESEED - Blu-Ray MovieThe 2004 Appleseed feature is a reworking of the earlier video based on the manga by Masamune Shirow (Ghost in the Shell). In 2131, most of humanity has withdrawn to the glittering city of Olympus after a devastating war. When the curvaceous Deunan Knute comes to Olympus, she encounters her former comrade Briareos, now a cyborg, and the lovely android Hitomi. The fate of Hitomi, Olympus, and humanity rest on the lost "Appleseed" technology that Deunan's mother helped to develop. A standard series of chases, mecha battles, and confrontations leads to a predictable ending. When the original Appleseedappeared in 1988! , it felt like a summary of anime's past, while Akira pointed the way to the future. This new version feels like a mishmash of Ghost in the Shell, Akira, Jin-Roh, Evangelion, and other, more exciting works. The motion-capture CG is typically weightless, and the mecha look oddly squat. (Rated R: violence) --Charles Solomon

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