Triple Feature: French Kiss, Never Been Kissed, One Fine Day

• 5.1 Dolby Surround
• Widescreen

Meg Ryan ("Sleepless in Seattle") and Kevin Kline ("Dave") star in this bouncy romantic comedy about life, love and larceny. When her fiancé is smitten by a beautiful Frenchwoman, Kate (Ryan) flies to Paris determined to win him back. However, nothing prepares her for Luc (Kline), a cunning sexy Frenchman with a gift for gab and a fondness for thievery. A self-proclaimed expert on affairs of the heart, Luc promises to help Kate win back her man. But one star-crossed misadventure after another sweeps them across France, ultimately changing them in ways they never dreamed possible.Meg Ryan emerges bloodied but unbowed from this botched comedy by Lawrence Kasdan (The Big Chill). Ryan plays a woman whose fiancé (Timothy Hutton) leaves her for a Parisian beauty. She jets over to the City of Lights to fight for her man, but an incapacitating fear of! flying forces her to seek help from a fellow passenger, a French thief played by Kevin Kline, who then tutors her in the ways of getting her beau back. Kasdan seems incapable of pacing the story, let alone getting a firm grip on its comic tone and intentions. The production sputters and regroups and stalls repeatedly, forcing Ryan, particularly, to find the boundaries of her own screwball performance. --Tom KeoghMeg Ryan ("Sleepless in Seattle") and Kevin Kline ("Dave") star in this bouncy romantic comedy about life, love and larceny. When her fiancé is smitten by a beautiful Frenchwoman, Kate (Ryan) flies to Paris determined to win him back. However, nothing prepares her for Luc (Kline), a cunning sexy Frenchman with a gift for gab and a fondness for thievery. A self-proclaimed expert on affairs of the heart, Luc promises to help Kate win back her man. But one star-crossed misadventure after another sweeps them across France, ultimately changing them in ways th! ey never dreamed possible.Meg Ryan emerges bloodied but unbowe! d from t his botched comedy by Lawrence Kasdan (The Big Chill). Ryan plays a woman whose fiancé (Timothy Hutton) leaves her for a Parisian beauty. She jets over to the City of Lights to fight for her man, but an incapacitating fear of flying forces her to seek help from a fellow passenger, a French thief played by Kevin Kline, who then tutors her in the ways of getting her beau back. Kasdan seems incapable of pacing the story, let alone getting a firm grip on its comic tone and intentions. The production sputters and regroups and stalls repeatedly, forcing Ryan, particularly, to find the boundaries of her own screwball performance. --Tom KeoghFRENCH KISS & SHE'S THE ONE 2PK - DVD Movie

French Kiss: Meg Ryan emerges bloodied but unbowed from this botched comedy by Lawrence Kasdan (The Big Chill). Ryan plays a woman whose fiancé (Timothy Hutton) leaves her for a Parisian beauty. She jets over to the City of Lights to fight for her man, but an inca! pacitating fear of flying forces her to seek help from a fellow passenger, a French thief played by Kevin Kline, who then tutors her in the ways of getting her beau back. Kasdan seems incapable of pacing the story, let alone getting a firm grip on its comic tone and intentions. The production sputters and regroups and stalls repeatedly, forcing Ryan, particularly, to find the boundaries of her own screwball performance. --Tom Keogh

She's the One: Following the success of his spunky, 1995 directorial debut, The Brothers McMullen, Edward Burns suffers a little sophomore slump with this comedy about a pair of rivalrous brothers who get into bizarre relationships with women in a fierce but immature pursuit of happiness. When they find they both have a complicated interest in the same woman (Cameron Diaz), things come to a head. The film is a little overwritten, undershot, bulky, slow, and static, but it is also funny and inventive--further pr! oof that Burns knows his New York City beat as well as Woody A! llen doe s. With Jennifer Aniston, Maxine Bahns, and John Mahoney. --Tom KeoghMeg Ryan emerges bloodied but unbowed from this botched comedy by Lawrence Kasdan (The Big Chill). Ryan plays a woman whose fiancé (Timothy Hutton) leaves her for a Parisian beauty. She jets over to the City of Lights to fight for her man, but an incapacitating fear of flying forces her to seek help from a fellow passenger, a French thief played by Kevin Kline, who then tutors her in the ways of getting her beau back. Kasdan seems incapable of pacing the story, let alone getting a firm grip on its comic tone and intentions. The production sputters and regroups and stalls repeatedly, forcing Ryan, particularly, to find the boundaries of her own screwball performance. --Tom Keogh

Read more »

Before Sunrise

• BEFORE SUNRISE (DVD MOVIE)

BEFORE SUNSET - DVD MovieIn 1994, director Richard Linklater (Dazed and Confused, Waking Life) made Before Sunrise, a gorgeous poem of a movie about two strangers (played by Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy) wandering around Vienna, talking, and falling in love. Ten years later, Linklater, Hawke, and Delpy have returned with Before Sunset, which reunites the same characters after Hawke has written a book about that night. Delpy appears at the final book reading of his European tour; they have less than two hours before Hawke has to catch a flight to New York...and in that time, they walk around Paris, talk, and fall in love all over again. It sounds simple, perhaps dull, but it's written with such skill and care and acted with such richness that it's a miracle of filmmaking. On its own, Before Sunset is moving and wonderful; seen right ! after Before Sunrise, it will break your heart. --Bret FetzerA heartbroken young Texas journalist meets a beautiful French student on a train bound for Paris, and invites her to share his last night in Vienna.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: R
Release Date: 6-NOV-2001
Media Type: DVDThis romantic, witty, and ultimately poignant glimpse at two strangers (Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy) who share thoughts, affections, and past experiences during one 14-hour tryst in Vienna somehow remains writer/director Richard Linklater's (Dazed and Confused, Slacker) most overlooked gem. Delpy, a stunning, low-key Parisian, meets the stammering American Hawke, as the two share a Eurorail seat--she's starting school in Paris, he's finishing a vacation. Their mutual attraction leads to an awkward meeting (beautifully played by each performer), and Hawke suggests that Delpy spend his remaining 14 hours in Vienna with him.

! Typically, this skeleton is as much plot as Linklater provide! s; as us ual, he's more interested in concentrating his talents on observing the casual, playful conversations between his leads. His tight time frame allows the characters to say anything to one another, and topics ranging from politics to past romances to fears of the future flow with subtle finesse. The short time frame is also cruel, however, because beneath this love affair lies the painful reality that the two most likely will never see each other again and will be left only with memories--an idea Linklater drives home with an effective snapshot conclusion.

Hardly the trite Gen-X bitch session that many '90s films using this approach become, the film feels more like a Bresson or Rohmer piece, containing sharp perceptions--and flawed humans rather than stereotypes. The protagonists' frank revelations and heated exchanges flow in a stream-of-consciousness style, and its no accident that Linklater set the film in Vienna, where Freud invented and practiced psychotherapy. --! Dave McCoyStudio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 11/09/2010This romantic, witty, and ultimately poignant glimpse at two strangers (Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy) who share thoughts, affections, and past experiences during one 14-hour tryst in Vienna somehow remains writer/director Richard Linklater's (Dazed and Confused, Slacker) most overlooked gem. Delpy, a stunning, low-key Parisian, meets the stammering American Hawke, as the two share a Eurorail seat--she's starting school in Paris, he's finishing a vacation. Their mutual attraction leads to an awkward meeting (beautifully played by each performer), and Hawke suggests that Delpy spend his remaining 14 hours in Vienna with him.

Typically, this skeleton is as much plot as Linklater provides; as usual, he's more interested in concentrating his talents on observing the casual, playful conversations between his leads. His tight time frame allows the characters to say anything to one another, and topic! s ranging from politics to past romances to fears of the futur! e flow w ith subtle finesse. The short time frame is also cruel, however, because beneath this love affair lies the painful reality that the two most likely will never see each other again and will be left only with memories--an idea Linklater drives home with an effective snapshot conclusion.

Hardly the trite Gen-X bitch session that many '90s films using this approach become, the film feels more like a Bresson or Rohmer piece, containing sharp perceptions--and flawed humans rather than stereotypes. The protagonists' frank revelations and heated exchanges flow in a stream-of-consciousness style, and its no accident that Linklater set the film in Vienna, where Freud invented and practiced psychotherapy. --Dave McCoy

Read more »

Wrath of Gods

• Director's Cut, 72 minutes
• 2 hours of bonus material
• 1 hour exclusive interview with Gerard Butler
• Additional and extended scenes & exclusive interviews with the people behind Beowulf & Grendel
• Subtitles: Spanish, German, French, Icelandic, Polish + Version for the hearing impaired

This touching and humorous movie has earned the raves of critics and won the hearts of audiences everywhere! To spare the feelings of her fatherless boy, Lizzie (Emily Mortimer -- Disney's THE KID) secretly authors letters from his "father" that detail seafaring adventures from around the world. But she cannot maintain this illusion forever. Torn between exposing the truth and protecting her son, Lizzie gets more than anyone bargained for when she hires a handsome stranger (Gerald Butler -- THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, LARA CROFT TOMB RAIDER: THE CRADLE OF LIFE) to play the role of a li! fetime! Winner at both the Heartland Film Festival and the Seattle International Film Festival, this entertaining motion picture is sure to touch your heart!Driven by intelligent, constantly surprising and moving performances from the film's leads, Dear Frankie stars Emily Mortimer (Lovely and Amazing) as Lizzie, Scottish mother of Frankie (Jack McElhone), a deaf and highly intelligent 9-year-old. Constantly uprooting themselves and relocating from town to town, Lizzie and Frankie are on the run from the latter's abusive father, a fact unknown to the boy, who believes his dad is a busy seaman sending letters full of adventure and love. In fact, Lizzie is writing those missives, but she is faced with a challenge when Frankie discovers his father's ship will dock nearby. Lizzie hires a kind, handsome stranger (Gerard Butler) to play Frankie's dad, creating an odd situation in which ever-growing lies become a conduit for love, and Lizzie's repressed desires come ! to the fore with a man posing as her husband. The moral tangle! s are of interest in director Shona Auerbach's charmingly paced, quietly insightful drama-comedy, but so is the glorious feeling of watching these characters come fully alive. --Tom KeoghDriven by intelligent, constantly surprising and moving performances from the film's leads, Dear Frankie stars Emily Mortimer (Lovely and Amazing) as Lizzie, Scottish mother of Frankie (Jack McElhone), a deaf and highly intelligent 9-year-old. Constantly uprooting themselves and relocating from town to town, Lizzie and Frankie are on the run from the latter's abusive father, a fact unknown to the boy, who believes his dad is a busy seaman sending letters full of adventure and love. In fact, Lizzie is writing those missives, but she is faced with a challenge when Frankie discovers his father's ship will dock nearby. Lizzie hires a kind, handsome stranger (Gerard Butler) to play Frankie's dad, creating an odd situation in which ever-growing lies become a conduit for love, and Lizz! ie's repressed desires come to the fore with a man posing as her husband. The moral tangles are of interest in director Shona Auerbach's charmingly paced, quietly insightful drama-comedy, but so is the glorious feeling of watching these characters come fully alive. --Tom KeoghUnited Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada: LANGUAGES: English ( Dolby Digital 5.1 ), English ( Subtitles ), WIDESCREEN (1.85:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Cast/Crew Interview(s), Commentary, Deleted Scenes, Interactive Menu, Short Film, Trailer(s), SYNOPSIS: The title character in this bowl of Scottish blarney is a sweet nine-year-old deaf boy (Jack McElhone) who lives a fugitive existence with his beautiful mother (Emily Mortimer) and his chain-smoking grandmother (Mary Riggans). The family is forced to move every few months to avoid being tracked down by Frankie's violent, abusive father. Th! e happiness of the boy, who is too young to remember the his f! ather re volves around bogus letters penned by his mother posing as his devoted but absent dad, supposedly a merchant seaman. When a ship that coincidentally has the same name as the one his mother invented docks, she hires an impersonator (Gerard Butler) to play his seafaring dad. Although sensitively acted, the movie is a fraudulent mawkish yarn riddled with plot holes and improbabilities. SCREENED/AWARDED AT: BAFTA Awards, European Film Awards, Montreal World Film Festival, ...Dear FrankieWinner of 6 international film festival awards, this entertaining documentary tells the dramatic story behind the making of the epic movie Beowulf & Grendel, starring Gerard Butler, Stellan Skarsgard, Sarah Polley and Ingvar Sigurdsson. When Canadian director Sturla Gunnarsson and his cast and crew, including Gerard Butler and Stellan Skarsgård, set upon Iceland to film Beowulf & Grendel in 2004, they expected the usual complications involved in making a major motion picture. What they encountered was a ruthless Icelandic winter on a foreboding landscape, financing complications and a bizarre run of bad luck that led some of them to believe they were in an epic battle with the Norse gods themselves. Filmmaker Jon Gustafsson was along for the ride. Hired to play one of Beowulf's warriors, he's one set with his camera as the crew battles hurricane force winds and he's in the backroom as the producers scramble to shore up a collapsing deal, creating an intimate portrait of filmmakers fighting the odds in pursuit of a vision. If you liked "Lost in la Mancha" or "Burden of Dreams" you will probably like this one. DVD Special Features: 2 hours of bonus features, 1 hour exclusive interview with Gerard Butler, exclusive interviews with producers of Beowulf & Grendel, additional & extended scenes, chapter selection, Subtitles: Spanish, German, French, Icelandic, Polish, English, version for the hearing impaired.

Read more »

Big Daddy [VHS]

• Condition: Used - Very Good

BIG DADDY - DVD MovieGosh--kids. You gotta love 'em, right? Well, not necessarily-- particularly if you're Adam Sandler. But Big Daddy is about paternal devotion in its own oblique way. Sandler plays Sonny Koufax, a law-school grad who has been milking an accident settlement to cover his living expenses, while he continues to slack his way through life. But when his girlfriend threatens to dump him, he decides to show her he's serious about their relationship and pretends to adopt a little boy (in fact, his roommate's son from a one-night stand several years earlier, who shows up on their doorstep just after the roommate leaves town on a job). But after taking care of the tyke for a couple of days, Sonny finds that it's a little like feeding that stray dog that followed you home: Before you know it, you've grown attached to the little fella--and then what ar! e you going to do? By turns crude and maudlin, Big Daddy has its share of laughs and will certainly entertain fans who like Adam Sandler best when he plays the case of arrested development with a smart-aleck retort for everything. --Marshall FineStudio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 02/15/2011 Run time: 93 minutes Rating: Pg13Gosh--kids. You gotta love 'em, right? Well, not necessarily-- particularly if you're Adam Sandler. But Big Daddy is about paternal devotion in its own oblique way. Sandler plays Sonny Koufax, a law-school grad who has been milking an accident settlement to cover his living expenses, while he continues to slack his way through life. But when his girlfriend threatens to dump him, he decides to show her he's serious about their relationship and pretends to adopt a little boy (in fact, his roommate's son from a one-night stand several years earlier, who shows up on their doorstep just after the roommate leaves town on a job)! . But after taking care of the tyke for a couple of days, Sonn! y finds that it's a little like feeding that stray dog that followed you home: Before you know it, you've grown attached to the little fella--and then what are you going to do? By turns crude and maudlin, Big Daddy has its share of laughs and will certainly entertain fans who like Adam Sandler best when he plays the case of arrested development with a smart-aleck retort for everything. --Marshall FineSANDLER COLLECTION - DVD MovieGuaranteed to work or your money back - PLEASE NOTE ALL MONIES FROM THIS SALE GO TO A 501 (C)3 NO KILL ANIMAL SHELTERGosh--kids. You gotta love 'em, right? Well, not necessarily-- particularly if you're Adam Sandler. But Big Daddy is about paternal devotion in its own oblique way. Sandler plays Sonny Koufax, a law-school grad who has been milking an accident settlement to cover his living expenses, while he continues to slack his way through life. But when his girlfriend threatens to dump him, he decides to show her he's serious about t! heir relationship and pretends to adopt a little boy (in fact, his roommate's son from a one-night stand several years earlier, who shows up on their doorstep just after the roommate leaves town on a job). But after taking care of the tyke for a couple of days, Sonny finds that it's a little like feeding that stray dog that followed you home: Before you know it, you've grown attached to the little fella--and then what are you going to do? By turns crude and maudlin, Big Daddy has its share of laughs and will certainly entertain fans who like Adam Sandler best when he plays the case of arrested development with a smart-aleck retort for everything. --Marshall Fine

Read more »

The Astronaut Farmer

• All systems are "Go" for Charles Farmer. He's faced bank foreclosure, neighborhood naysayers and a government alarmed by his huge purchase of high-grade fuel, but now he's ready to blast into space inside the homemade rocket he built in his barn. Just be home in time for dinner, Charlie.Billy Bob Thornton portrays Charlie in this charmer about chasing dreams.and about what it means to be a family

This digital document is an article from Winnipeg Free Press, published by Thomson Gale on February 17, 2007. The length of the article is 989 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Billy Bob blasts off; Thornton plays DIY spaceman in The Astronau! t Farmer.(Movies - Articles)
Author: Gale Reference Team
Publication: Winnipeg Free Press (Magazine/Journal)
Date: February 17, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Page: c1

Distributed by Thomson GaleAll systems are "Go" for Charles Farmer. He's faced bank foreclosure, neighborhood naysayers and a government alarmed by his huge purchase of high-grade fuel, but now he's ready to blast into space inside the homemade rocket he built in his barn. Just be home in time for dinner, Charlie. Billy Bob Thornton portrays Charlie in this charmer about chasing dreams...and about what it means to be a family. 10,000 pounds of rocket fuel alone can't lift Charlie into the heavens. He needs a launch/recovery crew, and he has one of the best: his wife (Virginia Madsen) and children, dreamers all. They have liftoff. Our spirits have uplift. Gravity cannot hold down our dreams. The ! Astronaut Farmer is that kind of movie.

DVD Features:!
F eaturette
Outtakes

If you can give The Astronaut Farmer the big, bounding leap of faith it requires, you'll probably enjoy this good-natured film about the importance of holding on to your dreams. The title character (and the dreamer in question) is Charlie Farmer (Billy Bob Thornton), a Texas ranch owner and former aeronautics engineer who's got a homemade rocket in his barn and a dream to blast into space. Even though Charlie's deeply in debt and threatened with foreclosure, his wife (Virginia Madsen) and kids are deeply supportive of Charlie's Earth-orbit mission, even when he attracts the glaring attention of a seasoned Air Force colonel (played by Bruce Willis, in an uncredited role), the FAA, the FBI, and the national media. "If we don't have our dreams, we have nothing," says Charlie at a particularly desperate impasse, and this loopy, offbeat, and unabashedly sentimental drama embraces that message with disarming sincerity.

Suspension o! f disbelief is a challenge when the movie glosses over so many of its logistical details (like, where does one buy an old NASA space capsule?), and in trying for a kind of Capra-esque, eccentrically Western spin on the American dream, the Polish twins--director Michael and cowriter/actor Mark (making their mainstream debut after such indie hits as Twin Falls, Idaho and Northfork)--are only marginally successful in making Charlie's ambition genuinely believable. The film works much better as a kind of post space-age fable for families, and it's just involving enough to make its climax emotionally rewarding, mostly because Thornton, Madsen, and their costars (including Bruce Dern and Tim Blake Nelson) handle the delicate material with the earnestness it needs to be marginally convincing. Elton John's "Rocket Man" is predictably heard over the closing credits (accordingly, Charlie's launch-time is "zero hours, nine a.m."), and at a time when several adventurous e! ntrepreneurs (including Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos) are gra! dually d eveloping a civilian space-flight industry, The Astronaut Farmer is an admirable yet forgivably flawed reminder that we should never stop reaching for the stars. --Jeff Shannon

Read more »

The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman

• The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman [Hardcover]

Thinner, bigger, faster, stronger... which 150 pages will you read?

Is it possible to:
Reach your genetic potential in 6 months?
Sleep 2 hours per day and perform better than on 8 hours?
Lose more fat than a marathoner by bingeing?

Indeed, and much more. This is not just another diet and fitness book.

The 4-Hour Body is the result of an obsessive quest, spanning more than a decade, to hack the human body. It contains the collective wisdom of hundreds of elite athletes, dozens of MDs, and thousands of hours of jaw-dropping personal experimentation. From Olympic training centers to black-market laboratories, from Silicon Valley to South Africa, Tim Ferriss, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The 4-Hour Workweek, fixated on o! ne life-changing question:

For all things physical, what are the tiniest changes that produce the biggest results?

Thousands of tests later, this book contains the answers for both men and women. From the gym to the bedroom, it’s all here, and it all works.

You Will Learn (in less than 30 minutes each):
* How to lose those last 5-10 pounds (or 100+ pounds) with odd combinations of food and safe chemical cocktails.
* How to prevent fat gain while bingeing (X-mas, holidays, weekends)
* How to increase fat-loss 300% with a few bags of ice
* How Tim gained 34 pounds of muscle in 28 days, without steroids, and in four hours of total gym time
* How to sleep 2 hours per day and feel fully rested
* How to produce 15-minute female orgasms
* How to triple testosterone and double sperm count
* How to go from running 5 kilometers to 50 kilometers in 12 weeks
* How to reverse “permanent” injuries
* How to add ! 150+ pounds to your lifts in 6 months
* How to pay for a b! each vac ation with one hospital visit
       
And that's just the tip of the iceberg.  There are more than 50 topics covered, all with real-world experiments, many including more than 200 test subjects.

You don't need better genetics or more discipline. You need immediate results that compel you to continue.

That’s exactly what The 4-Hour Body delivers.

Read more »

Chicken Run

• Special Edition
• From the Creators for Wallace and Gromit

CHICKEN RUN - DVD MovieThere were a lot of disappointments in the 2000 summer movie season, but Chicken Run wasn't one of them. Made by Aardman Animations, which produced the Oscar-winning Wallace & Gromit shorts, this is a dazzling stop-motion animation film that is both deftly funny and surprisingly touching. The concept is simple: The Great Escape--with chickens. But directors Peter Lord and Nick Park take it much further than that (and remember: there's a whole generation out there that has no idea who Steve McQueen is). Julia Sawalha voices Ginger, a plucky English hen who has been trying to escape from Tweedy's chicken farm, where the vicious Mrs. Tweedy (Miranda Richardson) fries up any chicken who doesn't produce enough eggs. When egg profits slump, Mrs. Tweedy decides to turn her farm into a chicken-pie fa! ctory, giving new urgency to Ginger's plan. Enter Rocky the Flying Rooster (Mel Gibson), a brash American who has escaped from a circus and promises to teach the chickens to fly to safety. The film is filled with innumerable visual touches and the animation has a tactile quality that makes you want to reach out and touch these funny fowl. Above all, it's played with intelligence, wit, and heart--a rare combination in any film. While Chicken Run is being marketed to a youth audience, it truly is a family film that operates on both a child and an adult level. It would be a shame if grownups skipped it because they thought it was strictly for kids. --Marshall Fine

Read more »