Minggu, 11 Desember 2011

Spring Loaded Party Poppers (No gunpowder) - 12 pc

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters

  • In this hilarious, critically acclaimed arcade showdown, a humble novice goes head-to-head against the reigning Donkey Kong champ in a confrontation that rocks the gaming world to its processors! For over 20 years, Billy Mitchell has owned the throne of the Donkey Kong world. No one could beat his top score until now. Newcomer Steve Wiebe claims to have beaten the unbeatable, but Mitchell isn't re
AMERICAN MOVIE - DVD MovieStruggling filmmaker Mark Borchardt is the subject of American Movie, and he may also be the most determined man you'll ever meet. The straggly haired, fast-talking, Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, native lists his greatest influences as Dawn of the Dead, Night of the Living Dead, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. He began making horror movies as a gangly adolescent, and is now set on finishing Coven (which he pronounces like "woven"), the "35-! minute direct market thriller" he has worked on for two years. In the process, he steadfastly battles immense debt, the threat of losing his kids, and birds chirping gleefully through scenes set in the dead of winter. His mother would rather do her shopping than be an extra, his brother contends he's best suited for factory work, and his father just wants him to "watch the language."

Standing by him through it all is Mark's childhood buddy, Mike Schank, who is the strongest weapon against drug use a task force could ever hope for, and Uncle Bill, begrudging financier of Coven, who appears to be wasting away before our very eyes. In less perceptive hands these two could easily become caricatures--the burnt-out stoner and the crotchety old coot--but through director Chris Smith's lens we see why Mark loves them, why they love Mark, and why each of these stories is uniquely compelling.

Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival, the film h! as been compared to Spinal Tap and Waiting for Guffm! an-- two unquestionably hilarious mock-documentaries--and, indeed, American Movie has plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. But in the spoofs, we feel encouraged to point and giggle at the poor slobs trying to get a piece of the action. Smith, however, offers us a funny and overwhelmingly affectionate portrait; you may sit down expecting to laugh at Mark's pie-in-the-sky hopes, but you soon find yourself bursting with admiration. "The American dream stays with me each and every day," Mark says, and by the end, we want nothing more than for it to come true. (The DVD version includes the complete short film "Coven.") --Brangien Davis This limited edition, special collectors' DVD set celebrates 25 years of the Sundance Institute. It contains ten ground-breaking films that embody the sprit of independence, creative risk-taking, and diversity that define the Sundance Film Festival. Bonus materials include a booklet and an 11th disc with behind-the-scenes footage from the Sun! dance Institute Labs and never-before-seen interviews with filmmakers and founder Robert Redford.In this hilarious, critically acclaimed arcade showdown, a humble novice goes head-to-head against the reigning Donkey Kong champ in a confrontation that rocks the gaming world to its processors! For over 20 years, Billy Mitchell has owned the throne of the Donkey Kong world. No one could beat his top score until now. Newcomer Steve Wiebe claims to have beaten the unbeatable, but Mitchell isn't ready to renquish his crown without a fight. Go behind the barrels as the two battle it out in a vicious war to earn the title of the true King of Kong. The stuff of gladiatorial battle is here: good versus evil, right versus wrong, nerd versus... super-nerd? At any rate, it's a more entertaining showdown than most fictional movies can muster. The King of Kong is the saga of Steve Wiebe, a Redmond, Washington dweeb who sets a new record in the video game Donkey Kong, only t! o see his accomplishment challenged by the grand poobahs of th! e gaming establishment. And if you don't know how pernickety the grand poobahs of the gaming establishment can be, well, one of the pleasures of this movie is finding out about this collection of oddballs. It seems Wiebe has toppled a score that has stood since 1982, when eminent "Gamer of the Century" Billy Mitchell set it, and Mitchell isn't too happy about being overthrown. A black-mulleted showboat, Mitchell provides the perfect counterpoint to Wiebe's mild-mannered family man, and the smaller fish around him are no less colorful. This is one of those movies you watch in delighted disbelief, marveling that such people exist--and that they gladly allowed themselves to be filmed. Director Seth Gordon does an important thing in presenting this world of eccentrics: he doesn't mock them, or provide editorial nudging; he simply lets them be. The result is an ingratiating classic. --Robert Horton

Blood Diamond (Widescreen Edition)

  • An ex-mercenary turned smuggler (Leonardo DiCaprio). A Mende fisherman (Djimon Hounsou). Amid the explosive civil war overtaking 1999 Sierra Leone, these men join for two desperate missions: recovering a rare pink diamond of immense value and rescuing the fisherman's son, conscripted as a child soldier into the brutal rebel forces ripping a swath of torture and bloodshed across the alternately bea
An ex-mercenary turned smuggler (Leonardo DiCaprio). A Mende fisherman (Djimon Hounsou). Amid the explosive civil war overtaking 1999 Sierra Leone, these men join for two desperate missions: recovering a rare pink diamond of immense value and rescuing the fisherman's son, conscripted as a child soldier into the brutal rebel forces ripping a swath of torture and bloodshed across the alternately beautiful and ravaged countryside. Directed by Edward Zwick (Glory, The Last Samurai), this urgent, intense! ly moving adventure shapes gripping human stories and heart-pounding action into a modern epic of profound impact.Leonardo DiCaprio puts a handsome face on an ugly industry: In parts of Africa, diamond mining fuels civil warfare, killing thousands of innocents and drafting preteen children as vicious soldiers. DiCaprio (The Departed) plays Danny Archer, a white African soldier-turned-diamond-smuggler who gets wind of a large raw jewel found by Solomon Vandy, a native fisherman (Djimon Hounsou, In America) recently escaped from enslavement by a brutal rebel leader. Archer offers a deal: He'll help Vandy find his war-scattered family if Vandy will share the diamond with him. Drawn into this web of exploitation is journalist Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly, Little Children), who agrees to help if Archer will tell her the details of how conflict diamonds make their way into the hands of the corporations who sell them to the Western world. DiCaprio is compell! ing because he never flinches from Archer's utter ruthlessness! ; Archer ends up doing the morally justifiable thing, but only because his desperate greed has led him to it. Hounsou and Connelly, though saddled with all the moral and political speeches, rise above the cant and keep the movie's treacherously formulaic plot rooted in human characters. But in the end, the story won't stick with you as much as the dead stillness in the child soldiers' eyes; the horror of African civil strife refuses to be contained by Blood Diamond's uplifting message--and the movie is all the more potent as a result. --Bret Fetzer

Senin, 05 Desember 2011

Black Christmas (Special Edition)

  • The few remaining residents of a Canadian sorority house are celebrating the onset of Christmas vacation when a thirteen year-old girl is found dead in the park. Soon, it is discovered that one of the sorority sisters is missing, which triggers a terrifying chain of murders within the house. Director Bob Clark's (PORKY'S, A CHRISTMAS STORY) tense, effective film is a precursor to the slash
An ill-fated houseful of sorority sisters are stalked by a psychopath during the christmas season. Studio: Koch International Release Date: 12/30/2008 Starring: Olivia Hussey Margot Kidder Run time: 98 minutesYou may never have heard of this neglected 1974 gem, but you've probably seen one of its many imitators. Olivia Hussey and Margot Kidder (also look for Andrea Martin of SCTV fame) star as two residents of a sorority house that is emptying out as Christmas approaches. The atmosphere is jolly ! and carefree, except for an ongoing series of menacing telephone calls, and, oh yes, we've just seen someone climb into the attic with apparent ill intent. Kidder does some scene-stealing as the bad girl, Hussey illustrates one of the downsides to having beautiful long '70s hair, and Keir Dullea does a nice turn as the creepy boyfriend. Director Robert Clark knows that the unseen is far scarier than what can be seen and he ratchets up the tension beautifully, making good use of ominous shadows, and putting in nice touches like replacing the sound of a distraught woman's scream with the piercing ring of yet another ominous phone call. This is a terrific, well-made little movie that is genuinely sleep-with-the-lights-on scary. Don't miss it. --Ali Davis

Minggu, 04 Desember 2011

Cop Out

  • COP OUT (DVD MOVIE)
Action star Bruce Willis and ace comic Tracy Morgan play bickering-but-got-your-back Brooklyn buddy cops. Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy) directs the gritty, goofball goings-on as the guys hunt for a stolen 1952 mint-condition baseball card, a hunt plunging them into a gunslinging war with a deadly drug ring. Batter up, fans. The boys are ready to take you out to the ol’ brawl game!Fan-favorite filmmaker Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy) directs the first movie he didn't write himself: Cop Out, starring Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan (30 Rock) as mismatched cops. When a bust goes wrong, they get suspended, forcing Willis to sell a treasured baseball card in order to pay for his daughter's wedding. But while selling the card, it gets stolen, sending the pair on a wild chase featuring a parkour-loving housebreaker, a hot Latina trapped in the t! runk of a Mercedes-Benz, a 10-year-old car thief, and a lot of other goofiness. It's hard to believe that Smith didn't have a hand in the writing, as the comedy has all of his loose, ramshackle habits (and his reliance on jokes about poop and male genitalia)--though much of it also has the feel of being improvised by Willis and Morgan. Cop Out wants to mock buddy-cop movies, but it also wants to be a buddy-cop movie; these conflicting impulses are never harmonized, so the whole movie feels out of tune. The star-studded supporting cast includes Jason Lee, Michelle Trachtenberg, Seann William Scott, Fred Armisen, Kevin Pollak, Adam Brody, Rashida Jones, and Susie Essman. --Bret Fetzer

Sabtu, 03 Desember 2011

Collateral Damage [Blu-ray]

  • Surging excitement and one-man heroics fuel this powerful action thriller from the director of The Fugitive and Under Siege. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a fireman whose wife and child are killed in a terrorist bombing and who obsessively tracks the mastermind (Cliff Curtis) behind it, from Los Angeles to Colombia to Washington, DC. The fanatic plans to strike again in Washington?but how? When? Whe
Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 06/07/2011 Run time: 351 minutesARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER DELIVERS A NAIL-BITING EXCITEMENT AND BOLD ONE-MAN HEROICS AS A LOS ANGELES FIREMAN WHO SEEKS REVENGE AFTER HIS WIFE AND SON ARE KILLED IN A TERRORIST BOMBING. SCHWARZENEGGER TRACKS THE MAN RESPONSIBLE FROM COLOMBIA TOWASHINGTON, D.C. IN A RACE TO STOP HIM BEFORE HE STRIKES AGAIN.Arnold Schwarzenegger's loyal fans get what they want in this routine but rousing revenge thriller, which pits the aging acti! on star against a Colombian guerrilla terrorist. Schwarzenegger plays a Los Angeles fireman who witnesses the killing of his wife and young son, caused by the terrorist's bombing in a crowded L.A. pavilion. Despite intense scrutiny by FBI and CIA officials, Arnie infiltrates the terrorist's remote jungle compound, enlists the aid of the villain's seemingly trustworthy wife (Francesca Neri), and plots to foil another bombing in Washington, D.C. Director Andrew Davis (The Fugitive) maintains adequate plausibility even when Schwarzenegger's survival grows absurdly unlikely, and lively roles for John Turturro and John Leguizamo add welcomed spice to the movie's impressive display of military ordnance. Despite its formulaic plot and Arnold's advancing seniority, Collateral Damage still manages to pack an entertaining punch. --Jeff Shannon Through all their adventures, the bond of the Sisterhood has remained steadfast and unshakeable. But for the first time, ! the Sisterhood verges on falling apart when the ladies have to! choose between two difficult assignments. The first job guarantees a huge paycheck; the second offers a presidential pardon - and a chance to finally emerge from hiding.For the sake of their union, the gals put aside their differences and focus on a new mission. A mysterious Washington, D.C. political operative needs them to track down a computer hacker who has stolen a highly classified list of fundraisers' names. With a presidential election looming, the girls soon realise that the job is a lot more dangerous than they had anticipated. Will their client come through with his promise? And can the ladies stop fighting - and stay alive - long enough to see it happen?Surging excitement and one-man heroics fuel this powerful action thriller from the director of The Fugitive and Under Siege. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a fireman whose wife and child are killed in a terrorist bombing and who obsessively tracks the mastermind (Cliff Curtis) behind it, from Los Angeles to Colombia to Wash! ington, DC. The fanatic plans to strike again in Washington…but how? When? Where? In the scramble for answers, one thing is clear: Collateral Damage is a ticking time bomb of suspense.Arnold Schwarzenegger's loyal fans get what they want in this routine but rousing revenge thriller, which pits the aging action star against a Colombian guerrilla terrorist. Schwarzenegger plays a Los Angeles fireman who witnesses the killing of his wife and young son, caused by the terrorist's bombing in a crowded L.A. pavilion. Despite intense scrutiny by FBI and CIA officials, Arnie infiltrates the terrorist's remote jungle compound, enlists the aid of the villain's seemingly trustworthy wife (Francesca Neri), and plots to foil another bombing in Washington, D.C. Director Andrew Davis (The Fugitive) maintains adequate plausibility even when Schwarzenegger's survival grows absurdly unlikely, and lively roles for John Turturro and John Leguizamo add welcomed spice to the movie's impr! essive display of military ordnance. Despite its formulaic plo! t and Ar nold's advancing seniority, Collateral Damage still manages to pack an entertaining punch. --Jeff Shannon

Jax Women's Stretch Satin Dress,Ruby,14

  • Occasion Dressing
An all-star cast of the greatest actresses of our time - including Academy Award winner Vanessa Redgrave, Academy Award winner Meryl Streep, Toni Collette, Claire Danes, Natasha Richardson and Glenn Close - come together in this passionate and heartwarming story. As Ann (Redgrave) reflects on one beautiful and life-changing weekend with the one true love of her life, her daughters (Collette and Richardson) come to their own understanding about the power of the past and the unbreakable bonds between mothers and daughters, family, and the loves of their lives. A star-studded cast brings richness and texture to Evening, a lyrical tale of regret, unrequited love, and hope, written by novelists Susan Minot (Rapture) and Michael Cunningham (The Hours), based on Minot's book. Ann (Vanessa Redgrave) lies ill, deliriously remembering when she came to the summer h! ome of her best friend Lila to be Lila's maid of honor (her younger self is played by Claire Danes). But the young Ann is soon caught between the hungry need of Lila's brother Buddy (Hugh Dancy) and the magnetic outsider Harris (Patrick Wilson). Meanwhile, the elderly Ann is watched by her two daughters, Nina (Toni Collette) and Constance (Natasha Richardson), who wrestle with unresolved feelings towards their mother, their choices in life, and each other. Evening starts off feeling a bit stiff and literary, but gradually finds its rhythm. While the emotional peaks and precious images feel inflated and hollow, the little ephemeral moments--the heartbreaks, yearnings, disappointments, and comforts, the flash of a smile or the widening of an eye--glimmer with warmth and honesty. It's rare that such restraint can be so compelling and so rewarding; Evening is well worth watching for the accumulating emotional power of these small moments. Also featuring Glenn Clos! e and Meryl Streep. --Bret Fetzer

! Beyond Evening


Evening the novel by Susan Minot

Vanessa Redgrave Essential DVDs

More DVDs with Claire Danes

Stills from Evening (click for larger image)


!





With two novels and one short story collection published to overwhelming critical acclaim ("Monkeys takes your breath away," said Anne Tyler; "heartbreaking, exhilarating," raved the New York Times Book Re! view), Susan Minot has emerged as one of the most gifted w! riters i n America, praised for her ability to strike at powerful emotional truths in language that is sensual and commanding, mesmerizing in its vitality and intelligence. Now, with Evening, she gives us her most ambitious novel, a work of surpassing beauty. During a summer weekend on the coast of Maine, at the wedding of her best friend, Ann Grant fell in love. She was twenty-five. Forty years later--after three marriages and five children--Ann Lord finds herself in the dim claustrophobia of illness, careening between lucidity and delirium and only vaguely conscious of the friends and family parading by her bedside, when the memory of that weekend returns to her with the clarity and intensity of a fever-dream. Evening unfolds in the rushlight of that memory, as Ann relives those three vivid days on the New England coast, with motorboats buzzing and bands playing in the night, and the devastating tragedy that followed a spectacular wedding. Here, in the surge of hope and poss! ibility that coursed through her at twenty-five--in a singular time of complete surrender--Ann discovers the highest point of her life. Superbly written and miraculously uplifting, Evening is a stirring exploration of time and memory, of love's transcendence and of its failure to transcend--a rich testament to the depths of grief and passion, and a stunning achievement.As Ann Lord lies on her deathbed, her daughter delivers a balsam pillow from the attic. At first the ailing woman is confused, but suddenly the scent reminds her of the "wild tumult" she experienced 40 years earlier:
Something stole into her as she walked in the dark, a dream she'd had long ago. The air was so black she was unable to see her arms, it was a warm summer night. Above her she could make out the dark line of the tops of spruce trees and a sky lit with stars. She felt the warm tar through the soles of her shoes. The boy beside her took her hand.
In the! porous world between conscious and unconscious the protagonis! t of Evening revisits the great passions of her life, along with its considerable disappointments. The boy in the dark remains the fixed point--not so much because he is the most important man in her life, but because of the untapped possibilities he represents. Meanwhile, friends and relations come to sit by Ann Lord's side as she veers between clarity and feverish recollection.

In her third novel, Susan Minot takes some new risks--her narrative spanning seven decades of memory and her style ranging from Stegneresque particularity to the exquisite abstraction Virginia Woolf perfected in To the Lighthouse. Equal parts memory and desire, fiction and poetry, Evening is a seductive story made more so by the measured pace of details emerging, one by one, like stars. --Cristina Del SestoAn all-star cast of the greatest actresses of our time - including Academy Award winner Vanessa Redgrave, Academy Award winner Meryl Streep, Toni Collett! e, Claire Danes, Natasha Richardson and Glenn Close - come together in this passionate and heartwarming story. As Ann (Redgrave) reflects on one beautiful and life-changing weekend with the one true love of her life, her daughters (Collette and Richardson) come to their own understanding about the power of the past and the unbreakable bonds between mothers and daughters, family, and the loves of their lives. A star-studded cast brings richness and texture to Evening, a lyrical tale of regret, unrequited love, and hope, written by novelists Susan Minot (Rapture) and Michael Cunningham (The Hours), based on Minot's book. Ann (Vanessa Redgrave) lies ill, deliriously remembering when she came to the summer home of her best friend Lila to be Lila's maid of honor (her younger self is played by Claire Danes). But the young Ann is soon caught between the hungry need of Lila's brother Buddy (Hugh Dancy) and the magnetic outsider Harris (Patrick Wilson). Meanwhil! e, the elderly Ann is watched by her two daughters, Nina (Toni! Collett e) and Constance (Natasha Richardson), who wrestle with unresolved feelings towards their mother, their choices in life, and each other. Evening starts off feeling a bit stiff and literary, but gradually finds its rhythm. While the emotional peaks and precious images feel inflated and hollow, the little ephemeral moments--the heartbreaks, yearnings, disappointments, and comforts, the flash of a smile or the widening of an eye--glimmer with warmth and honesty. It's rare that such restraint can be so compelling and so rewarding; Evening is well worth watching for the accumulating emotional power of these small moments. Also featuring Glenn Close and Meryl Streep. --Bret Fetzer

Beyond Evening


Evening the novel by Susan Minot

Vanessa Redgrave Essential DVDs

More DVDs with Claire Danes

Stills from Evening (click for larger image)







A star-studded cast brings richness and texture to Evening, a lyrical tale of regret, unrequited love, and hope, written by novelists Susan Minot (Rapture) and Michael Cunningham (The Hours), based on Minot's book. Ann (Vanessa Redgrave) lies ill, deliriously remembering when she came to the summer home of her best friend Lila to be Lila's maid of honor (her younger self is played by Claire Danes). But the young Ann is soon caught between the hungry need of Lila's brother Buddy (Hugh Dancy) and the magnetic outsi! der Harris (Patrick Wilson). Meanwhile, the elderly Ann is watched by her two daughters, Nina (Toni Collette) and Constance (Natasha Richardson), who wrestle with unresolved feelings towards their mother, their choices in life, and each other. Evening starts off feeling a bit stiff and literary, but gradually finds its rhythm. While the emotional peaks and precious images feel inflated and hollow, the little ephemeral moments--the heartbreaks, yearnings, disappointments, and comforts, the flash of a smile or the widening of an eye--glimmer with warmth and honesty. It's rare that such restraint can be so compelling and so rewarding; Evening is well worth watching for the accumulating emotional power of these small moments. Also featuring Glenn Close and Meryl Streep. --Bret Fetzer

Beyond Evening


Evening the novel by Susan Minot

Vanessa Redgrave Essential DVDs

More DVDs with Claire Danes

Stills from Evening (click for larger image)







With the new edition of this proven bestseller, Photoshop users can master the power of Photoshop CS5 with internationally renowned photographer and Photoshop hall-of-famer Martin Evening by their side.  In this acclaimed reference work, Martin covers everything from the core aspects of working in Photoshop to advanced techniques for professional results. Subjects covered include organizing a digital workflow, improving cre! ativity, output, automating Photoshop, and using Camera RAW. T! he style of the book is extremely clear, with real examples, diagrams, illustrations, and step-by-step explanations supporting the text throughout. This is, quite simply, the essential reference for photographers of all levels using Photoshop.

* Learn Photoshop the Martin Evening way! Everything you need to know for superb photographic results using Photoshop CS5

* Accompanying DVD includes the images used in the book, as well as QuickTime movie tutorials that show you how to get results fast

* Packed with diagrams, step-by-steps, and over 750 color images

Wood Newton (Burt Reynolds) is a retired pro American Football player who has returned to his childhood home - the small town of Evening Shade, Arkansas. He's now the coach of the local high school Football team, which brings him closer to the other residents of the town.The sun set on Evening Shade in 1994, but it's morning again for this charmingly laid-back series set in a small Arkansas t! own populated by a gallery of colorful characters. Evening Shade gave Burt Reynolds what Look Who's Talking gave John Travolta; a career bump after his star had somewhat dimmed. Reynolds would earn a People's Choice Award, an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his tailor-made role as Wood Newton, a former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback who returns to his small town to serve as the high-school football coach. As the series begins, the team is mired in a 30 games-and-counting losing streak. His wife, Ava (Marilu Henner), whom Wood married when she was 18, no sooner launches her campaign for prosecutor, than she learns she is pregnant. Evening Shade was created by Clinton cronies Harry Thomason and Linda Bloodworth-Thomason (it is said that Hillary suggested the show's setting and title), but the show is a Red Stater's dream; a celebration of small town America and the three F's; family, friends, and faith. In the pilot, Wood bemoans the replacement of the local! eatery's jukebox and the substitution of Milli Vanilli and "M! e So Hor ny" for the cherished songs of his youth, like "Blueberry Hill." In "Gambler's Anonymous," get out your tissues when guest star Kenny Rogers sings the stirring "20 Years Ago." Reynolds anchors the series (he also directed eight episodes) and snaps one-liners with his flip panache, but he generously cedes the spotlight to the stellar ensemble of estimable character actors, including Hal Holbrook as Evan, Ava's father and the crusty publisher of the local newspaper, Ossie Davis as Blue, the sage owner of the local barbeque hangout, and whose Our Town-esque narration frames most of the episodes, Charles Durning as the outsized family physician, Michael Jeter, an Emmy-winner as the wimpy-looking math teacher who signs on as Wood's new assistant coach, and Elizabeth Ashley as southern diva Frieda, Ava's aunt. Adding more local color are Nub (Charlie Dell), the slow-witted paperboy (a character that would barely pass PC muster today), Ann Wedgeworth as Merleen, the doc's s! exy wife, and Linda Gehringer as Fontana Beausoleil, a striptease artist with a heart of gold. Evening Shade has its own easy-going rhythm, and the same smart and sassy humor the Thomasons brought to Designing Women. In the episode, "Hooray for Wood," a movie crew is in town to film a Civil War miniseries. When a producer mentions they don't have enough blacks for slaves, Blue dryly replies, "Age-old problem." --Donald LiebensonBanded satin dress

Appleseed Ex Machina [Blu-ray]

  • The next installment in the Appleseed franchise, Appleseed: Ex Machina,available on DVD! Produced by John Woo and Directed by Shinji Aramaki,and featuring next generation CG technology, Appleseed: Ex Machina isback bigger and badder! Based on the manga from reknown creator Shirow Masamune, in this movie,Deunan and Briareos are both partners and lovers. As members of ESWAT,the elite forces servi
The next installment in the Appleseed franchise Appleseed: Ex Machinaavailable on DVD! Produced by John Woo and Directed by Shinji Aramakiand featuring next generation CG technology Appleseed: Ex Machina isback bigger and badder!Based on the manga from reknown creator Shirow Masamune in this movieDeunan and Briareos are both partners and lovers. As members of ESWATthe elite forces serving Olympus they are deployed everywhere troublestrikes. The two fighters find their partnership tested in a new way by! the arrival of Tereus who uncannily resembles Briareos before thewartime injuries that led to his becoming a cyborg. At the same timeOlympus finds itself under a stealth attack . Cyborg terrorism deadlynanotech zealots and rioting citizens are just some of the threats thatDeunan must contend with as she fights to save Olympus.System Requirements:Running Time: 104 minutesFormat: BLU-RAY DISC Genre: SCI-FI/FANTASY/FANTASY Rating: PG-13 UPC: 085391200666 Manufacturer No: 120066Produced by John Woo and directed by Shinji Aramaki, Appleseed Ex Machina (2007) ranks as the most elaborate, stylish, and violent of the three adaptations of Masamune Shirow's manga. When it was released in 1988, the original Appleseed felt like a summary of anime's past, while Akira pointed the way to the future. The second Appleseed (2004), also directed by Aramaki, was an unimpressive motion-capture CG feature that borrowed elements from other sci-fi anime. In this lat! est incarnation, Deunan, Briareos, and Tereus of the E.S.W.A.T! . team a re charged with preserving the peace of the city-state of Olympus, a hi-tech paradise on a largely ruined Earth. Screenwriters Kiyoto Takeuchi and Todd W. Russell have given the story a contemporary twist, adding attacks by "cyborg terrorists" and an effort by the ruler of Olympus to control a world-wide satellite surveillance system. When cyborgs and human launch coordinated attacks on the government headquarters in Olympus, Deunan, Briareos, and Tereus swing into action against a mysterious enemy. The plot has little in common with the earlier films: the Appleseed technology that was at the core of the story isn't even mentioned. The look, tone, and characters in Ex Machina recall Shirow's Ghost in the Shell, rather than the original Appleseed. Not surprisingly, the elaborately choreographed fight scenes reflect Woo's signature style, with slo-mo martial-arts combat, close-ups of falling shells, dynamic camerawork, and all-out gun battles. But the weig! htless movements of the motion-capture characters and the limited rendering of the skin textures gives Appleseed Ex Machina the feel of an extremely elaborate computer game. Despite the limits of the mo-cap technology, Appleseed Ex Machina is a fast-past, take-no-prisoners cinematic adventure that will delight action-movie fans as well as anime lovers. (Rated PG-13: violence, violence against women, profanity, grotesque imagery, potentially offensive religious imagery.) --Charles Solomon
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