The City of Ember (Books of Ember)
- ISBN13: 9780385736282
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
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A brazen mixture of stand-up comedy, political commentary, CEO confrontations, and shenanigans with Random House tour escorts, The Big One (1997) follows Moore's book tour to promote Downsize This. In cities like Des Moines, Minneapolis, St. Louis, and Portland, Moore's lighthearted-sounding but deeply biting humor speaking before boo! kstore patrons is juxtaposed with painful-to-watch confrontati! ons with security personnel at companies such as Procter & Gamble and PayDay. Moore speaks clandestinely with Borders employees organizing a union; a woman laid off from Ford attends Moore's Rockford, Illinois, bookstore visit the same day. Though slow in spots, frustrating if not depressing in others, it's intensely funny the rest of the time. The Big One is fundamental viewing.
On the bonus disc is a 13-minute featurette, "39 Cities in 23 Days." On the tour for his book Dude, Where's My Country?, Moore enthralls and amuses enthusiastic college crowds with points about the Bush-Saudi connections, voting machines, and "weapons of mass balloonery."Acclaimed filmmaker Michael Moore (Fahrenheit 9/11) takes aim at Americ'love affair with guns and violence in this Oscar winning film that "demand attention" (People)! Mixing riveting footage, hilarious animation and candid interviews with everyone from the NR's Charlton Heston to shock-rocker Marilyn Manson, Bowling for ! Columbine is brilliant.Michael Moore's superb documentary (following in the footsteps of Roger & Me and The Big One) tackles a meaty subject: gun control. Moore skillfully lays out arguments surrounding the issue and short-circuits them all, leaving one impossible question: why do Americans kill each other more often than people in any other democratic nation? Moore focuses his quest around the shootings at Columbine High School and the shooting of one 6-year-old by another near his own hometown of Flint, Michigan. By approaching the headquarters of K-Mart (where the Columbine shooters bought their ammo) and going to Charlton Heston's own home, Moore demands accountability from the forces that support unrestricted gun sales in the U.S. His arguments are conducted with the humor and empathy that have made Moore more than just a gadfly; he's become a genuine voice of reason in a world driven by fear and greed. --Bret Fetzer
Director Joel Schumacher, no stranger to visual spectacle, seems ! to have found a good match in Lloyd Webber's larger-than-life vision of Gaston LeRoux's Gothic horror-romance. His weakness is cuing too many audience-reaction shots and showing too much of the lurking Phantom, but when he calms down and lets Rossum sings "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" alone in a silent graveyard, it's exquisite.
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DVD Features
The special edition of The Ph! antom of the Opera has two major extras. "Behind the Mask: The Story of The Phantom of the Opera" is an hourlong documentary tracing the genesis of the stage show, with interviews of composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, director Harold Prince, producer Cameron Macintosh, lyricists Richard Stilgoe and Charles Hart, choreographer Gillian Lynne, and others. Conspicuously absent are stars Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford. Both do appear in video clips, including Brightman performing with Colm Wilkinson at an early workshop, and Crawford is the subject of a casting segment. Other brief scenes from the show are represented by a 2001 production. The other major feature is the 45-minute making-of focusing on the movie, including casting and the selection of director Joel Schumacher Both are well-done productions by Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group.
The deleted scene is a new song written by Lloyd Webber and Charles Hart, "No One Would Listen," sung by the Phantom toward the! end of the movie. It's a beautiful song that, along with Madame Giry's story, makes him a more sympathetic character. But because that bit of backstory already slowed down the ending, it was probably a good move to cut the song. --David Horiuchi
More on The Phantom of the Opera
The Phantom of the Opera (Special Extended Edition Soundtrack) (CD) | The Phantom of the Opera (2004 Movie Soundtrack) (CD) | The Phantom of the Opera (Original 1986 London Cast) (CD) |
| ! Evita (DVD) | Andrew Lloyd Weber: The Royal Albert Hall Celebration (DVD) | More Broadway DVDs |
--Andrew Wright
Vin Diesel and Paul Walker reteam with Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster for the ultimate chapter of the franchise built on speed! From big rig heists to precis! ion tunnel crawls, Fast & Furious takes you back into the high! -octane world to race through crowded city streets and across international lines!Fast & Furious is high octane torque-er porn that puts the franchise back on course after drifting in Tokyo. With the original cast once again in the driver's seat, we are good to go with a this-time-it's-personal plot and spectacular race and chase set-pieces that exceed the promise of the stripped-down title, beginning with an awesome highway hijacking of an oil truck led by former street racer Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel, at his glowering and gravel-voiced best). Dom is a fugitive in the Dominican Republic, but after a devastating personal loss, he is driven by revenge to return to Los Angeles to bring down an elusive drug smuggler. He is reunited with Brian O'Connor (Paul Walker), the undercover FBI agent who let him go eight years earlier. Brian, also on the case, must come to terms with Dom and make amends with Dom's sister (Jordana Brewster), whom he betrayed in his original pursuit of Dom. Fast & F! urious is just the ticket for putting your mind on cruise control. From a see-what-you've-got racing challenge through the streets of L.A. to the illicit kicks of the street-racing subculture (this is extreme PG-13), there is nothing cheap about these thrills. A record-shattering opening weekend at the box office could mean faster and more furious action to come, but if this is the franchise's last time around the block, it goes out a winner. --Donald Liebenson But this novel isn't solely about Anna's progression towards enlightenment, since she doesn't come alone to the holy man's door--she is accompanied by her skeptical husband, Errol, and their two children. They, too, have spiritual journeys to make, and in so doing enrich and instruct both Anna and her mentor. The Holy Man is a charming read and an uplifting one that never veers into the sentimental or trite. --Lucas LoBlack, Amazon.co.uk
In ! Fast, Ch eap & Out of Control, documentarian Errol Morris proves that the weird and obscure are just as interesting as the rich and famous. Morris tries to add depth to his subjects with his out-of-control editing technique, which after a while becomes an annoying distraction; these guys are fascinating enough all by themselves. The blare of the background music is also a bit much. Despite these shortcomings, though, if you like taking a voyeuristic peek into other people's lives, Fast, Cheap & Out of Control gives you plenty to look at. --Luanne BrownGeorge, Dave, Ray, and Rodney. Not a singing group, but four real-life individuals dedicated to controlling the entities that don't take kindly to their efforts. George Mendonca is a topiary gardener who spends his time taming tendrils of plant life into animal shapes. Why? Because he can, and apparently it's no easy job. One slip of the clipper and a green and leafy body part can go bye-bye for years. Dave Hoover tak! es on big cats under the big top. An admirer of the famous lion tamer, Clyde Beatty, Dave comes out of the lion ring covered with sweat. Not from working hard, but from hand-trembling fear. Ray Mendez, a mole-rat expert, waxes eloquently about the social structure of these sightless, hairless natural wonders who wear their teeth on the outside of their lips. But if you want to see a real wacko at work, watch Rodney Brooks, a robotics expert who is convinced our extinction will be the first step in a takeover of tin men.
In Fast, Cheap & Out of Control, documentarian Errol Morris proves that the weird and obscure are just as interesting as the rich and famous. Morris tries to add depth to his subjects with his out-of-control editing technique, which after a while becomes an annoying distraction; these guys are fascinating enough all by themselves. The blare of the background music is also a bit much. Despite these shortcomings, though, if you like taking a voyeur! istic peek into other people's lives, Fast, Cheap & Out of ! Control< /I> gives you plenty to look at. --Luanne BrownAdobe Photoshop Lightroom v.3.0 65064073 Graphic Design SoftwareAdobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 software helps you bring out the best in your photography, whether you're perfecting one image, searching for ten, processing hundreds, or organizing thousands. Create incredible images that move your audience. Experiment fearlessly with state-of-the-art nondestructive editing tools, including world-class noise reduction. Easily manage all your images. And showcase your work in elegant print layouts, slide show videos with music, and on popular photo-sharing sites. All from within one fast, intuitive application.
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