Home Alone Collection [Blu-ray]

• Condition: New
• Format: Blu-ray
• Color; Widescreen

Eight-year-old Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) has become the man of the house, overnight! Accidentally left behind when his family rushes off on a Christmas vacation, Kevin gets busy decorating the house for the holidays. But he's not decking the halls with tinsel and holly. Two bumbling burglars are trying to break in, and Kevin's rigging a bewildering battery of booby traps to welcome them!Now and forever a favorite among kids, this 1990 comedy written by John Hughes (The Breakfast Club) and directed by Chris Columbus (Mrs. Doubtfire) ushered Macaulay Culkin onto the screen as a troubled 8-year-old who doesn't comfortably mesh with his large family. He's forced to grow a little after being accidentally left behind when his folks and siblings fly off to Paris. A good-looking boy, Culkin lights up the scree! n during several funny sequences, the most famous of which finds him screaming for joy when he realizes he's unsupervised in his own house. A bit wooden with dialogue, the then-little star's voice could grate on the nerves (especially in long, wise-child passages of pure bromide), but he unquestionably carries the film. Billie Bird and John Candy show up as two of the interesting strangers Culkin's character meets. Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern are entertainingly cartoonish as thieves, but the ensuing violence once the little hero decides to keep them out of his house is over-the-top. --Tom Keogh Home Alone
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
Home Alone 3
Home Alone 4Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) is back! But this time he's in New York City with enough cash and credit cards to turn the Big Apple into his own playground! But Kevin won't be alone for long. The notorious Wet Bandits, Harry and Marv (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern)! , still smarting from their last encounter with Kevin, are bou! nd for N ew York too, plotting a huge holiday heist. Kevin's ready to welcome them with a battery of booby traps the bumbling bandits will never forget!This somewhat unpleasant 1992 sequel to the blockbuster Home Alone revisits the first film's gimmick by stranding Macaulay Culkin's character in New York City while his family ends up somewhere else. Again, the little guy meets up with colorful people on the margins of society (including a pigeon woman played by Brenda Fricker) and again he gets into a prop-heavy battle with Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern. The latter sequence is even worse than the first film in terms of violence inflicted on the two villains (director Chris Columbus, who also made the first film, can't seem to emphasize the slapstick over the graphic effects of the fight). The best running joke finds a concierge (Tim Curry) at the swank hotel where Culkin is staying trying and failing to prove that the boy is on his own. --Tom Keogh Eight-year-old Kevin Mc! Callister (Macaulay Culkin) has become the man of the house, overnight! Accidentally left behind when his family rushes off on a Christmas vacation, Kevin gets busy decorating the house for the holidays. But he's not decking the halls with tinsel and holly. Two bumbling burglars are trying to break in, and Kevin's rigging a bewildering battery of booby traps to welcome them!Now and forever a favorite among kids, this 1990 comedy written by John Hughes (The Breakfast Club) and directed by Chris Columbus (Mrs. Doubtfire) ushered Macaulay Culkin onto the screen as a troubled 8-year-old who doesn't comfortably mesh with his large family. He's forced to grow a little after being accidentally left behind when his folks and siblings fly off to Paris. A good-looking boy, Culkin lights up the screen during several funny sequences, the most famous of which finds him screaming for joy when he realizes he's unsupervised in his own house. A bit wooden with dialogue, the! then-little star's voice could grate on the nerves (especiall! y in lon g, wise-child passages of pure bromide), but he unquestionably carries the film. Billie Bird and John Candy show up as two of the interesting strangers Culkin's character meets. Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern are entertainingly cartoonish as thieves, but the ensuing violence once the little hero decides to keep them out of his house is over-the-top. --Tom Keogh Contains Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York

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Hilary and Jackie Movie Emily Watson Rachel Griffiths Original Poster- 27x40 custom fit with RichAndFramous Black 27 inch Poster Hangers

• Poster Hanger framing is economical and attractive
• No metal clips to damage posters! Hangers included EZ-Hang 8mm hole on back-side.
• Includes Poster with 2 custom fit Poster Hangers for hanging
• Premium Quality RichAndFramous Poster Hangers in matte black to match any decor
• Poster Hangers made in USA of strong, lightweight resin for years of use

HILARY AND JACKIE - DVD MovieIt earned Oscar nods, yet this cinematic look at a genius--that of English cellist Jacqueline du Pré, who enraptured audiences with her bold, emblazoned, and wholly unconventional playing style, and who died at age 42--was criticized for its "lapses" in truth by people who purportedly knew du Pré. Some of the controversy revolved around the other main character in Anand Tucker's gorgeous, involving movie--du Pré's sister, Hilary, whose book, A Genius in the Family (cowritt! en with brother Piers), dished some dirt on Jackie's sleeping with Hilary's husband. But don't let that deter you from this ebullient movie experience. The film is a bisected story (each sister's tale is told in the same amount of screen time) teeming with heartfelt drama that belies the cheap shots it received from its detractors. It's stirring, reckless, loving, involving, and rife with unconventional passion; passion for music, life, art, and the delicate relationship between these two synchronous, extraordinary sisters as played by brilliant actors Emily Watson and Rachel Griffiths (both of whom earned Oscar nods). Though Watson got the juicy, showy role as Jackie, it's Griffiths who provides the heart, soul, and spine of the film. And director Tucker has that gift of being able to explain through the visual medium what is happening inside of his character's heads. He's helped by a fine screenplay by Frank Boyce Cottrell. No matter what the truth of Hilary ! and Jackie might really be, this is an exceptional, rare film! that is defined and graced by fine acting and writing. --Paula NechakIt earned Oscar nods, yet this cinematic look at a genius--that of English cellist Jacqueline du Pré, who enraptured audiences with her bold, emblazoned, and wholly unconventional playing style, and who died at age 42--was criticized for its "lapses" in truth by people who purportedly knew du Pré. Some of the controversy revolved around the other main character in Anand Tucker's gorgeous, involving movie--du Pré's sister, Hilary, whose book, A Genius in the Family (cowritten with brother Piers), dished some dirt on Jackie's sleeping with Hilary's husband. But don't let that deter you from this ebullient movie experience. The film is a bisected story (each sister's tale is told in the same amount of screen time) teeming with heartfelt drama that belies the cheap shots it received from its detractors. It's stirring, reckless, loving, involving, and rife with unconventional passion; p! assion for music, life, art, and the delicate relationship between these two synchronous, extraordinary sisters as played by brilliant actors Emily Watson and Rachel Griffiths (both of whom earned Oscar nods). Though Watson got the juicy, showy role as Jackie, it's Griffiths who provides the heart, soul, and spine of the film. And director Tucker has that gift of being able to explain through the visual medium what is happening inside of his character's heads. He's helped by a fine screenplay by Frank Boyce Cottrell. No matter what the truth of Hilary and Jackie might really be, this is an exceptional, rare film that is defined and graced by fine acting and writing. --Paula NechakFrom the moment Jacqueline du Pré first held a cello at the age of five, it was clear she had an extraordinary gift. At sixteen, when she made her professional debut, she was hailed as one of the world's most talented and exciting musicians. But ten years later, she stopped playing ! virtually overnight, when multiple sclerosis removed the feeli! ng in he r hands just before a concert. It took fourteen more years for the crippling disease to take its final toll.

In this uniquely revealing biography, Hilary and Piers du Pré have re-created the life they shared with their sister in astonishing personal detail, unveiling the private world behind the public face. With warmth and candor they recount Jackie's blissful love of the cello, her marriage to the conductor Daniel Barenboim, her compulsions, her suffering, and, above all, the price exacted by her talent on the whole family. For proud as they were of Jackie's enormous success, none of them was prepared for the profound impact her genius would have on each of their lives. . . .Jacqueline du Pré saw the outlines of her short, brilliant, and tragic life when she was still very young. The first time she heard a cello (she was 4 years old), she said, "Mummy, I want to make that sound." She got a cello for her 5th birthday and made her professional debut at age 16. S! he went on to become one of the century's most amazing musicians for 10 years. Then her career was ended by multiple sclerosis. She seems to have foreseen that crippling illness, which killed her at age 42 after years of slow deterioration. She was 9 years old when she confided in her sister, Hilary (who coauthored this biography with their brother, Piers), "Don't tell Mum, but... when I grow up, I won't be able to walk or move." Before she was stricken down, Jacqueline du Pré led a life of unusual richness and complexity. Here that life is examined by her siblings in loving but realistic terms, including the flaws and conflicts as well as the achievements.

The biography formed the basis for the 1998 film starring Emily Watson. It is a sad chronicle of the pitiless disease that twisted Jackie's personality and sanity as well as her body, but also a joyful book about music, the tenderness and rivalries of family life, and above all a singular, tormented! , but buoyant personality. --Joe McLellan As might be! expecte d, the soundtrack to Hilary and Jackie plays a highly prominent role in this film about the emotionally fraught relationship between two gifted sisters, one of whom is the brilliant cellist Jacqueline Du Pré. Certainly composer Barrington Pheloung--whose credits include the Inspector Morse series and the evocative score to Truly, Madly, Deeply--faced a heady challenge in writing music to be heard alongside Du Pré's rhapsodic, signature interpretation of the Edward Elgar Cello Concerto, not to mention other classical selections. Even so, the resonantly autumnal, neo-Romantic flavor of his score aptly mirrors the narrative's flashback-oriented technique. His insistence on the cello's urgent high register (played by soloist Caroline Dale) creates a poignant musical portrait of its tragically stricken protagonist. Most of the CD, however, is given to the entire Elgar concerto--an especially effective choice as against the usual potpourri of classica! l snippets. This charged, elegiac, and easily accessible work--Elgar's own valedictory composition for orchestra--becomes a sort of musical metaphor for Du Pré's emotional journey and gains from being heard in its full context. While the performance featured here is conducted by husband Daniel Barenboim, you'll probably be inspired to try Du Pré's never-bettered version of the Elgar on EMI with John Barbirolli. --Thomas MayThe subject of the 1998 film "Hilary and Jackie" and gracing the cover of the August 2004 issue of Gramophone Magazine, the cellist Jacqueline du Pré remains as vibrant a figure in the public mind as she had been at the pinnacle of her career â€" before it was cruelly short by illness in 1973 when she was only 28 years old. The tragedy of her death is still felt by people all over the world, because this great cellist had ways of touching the heart that are given to very, very few.

Jacqueline du Pré and the Elgar Cello Concerto, a documenta! ry by award-winning film maker Christopher Nupen, explores the! artisti c personality of one of the finest performing musicians of the twentieth century, with the recurring theme of her special relationship with the Elgar’s melancholy Cello Concerto. The film begins with an account of what she did after the onset of her illness when she could no longer perform in public. It ends, at her own request, with a re-edited version of the original portrait film which sketches her childhood and the development of her musical talent, her meeting with Daniel Barenboim and their marriage in 1967, her special relationship with the Elgar concerto and, finally, a complete performance of the work with The New Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Daniel Barenboim; a performance which has become legendary.

This DVD portrait also includes Nupen's film The Ghost, which features a performance of Beethoven's Piano Trio No. 5. This is the first in a series of Christopher Nupen films on DVD.

Future titles will include Schubert's The Trout with Jacqueline du Pr! é and Andrés Segovia in Portrait.

Picture Format: 4:3/16:9 • Subtitles: GB, D, F • Sound Format: LPCM Stereo, DD 5.1, DTS 5.1It earned Oscar nods, yet this cinematic look at a genius--that of English cellist Jacqueline du Pré, who enraptured audiences with her bold, emblazoned, and wholly unconventional playing style, and who died at age 42--was criticized for its "lapses" in truth by people who purportedly knew du Pré. Some of the controversy revolved around the other main character in Anand Tucker's gorgeous, involving movie--du Pré's sister, Hilary, whose book, A Genius in the Family (cowritten with brother Piers), dished some dirt on Jackie's sleeping with Hilary's husband. But don't let that deter you from this ebullient movie experience. The film is a bisected story (each sister's tale is told in the same amount of screen time) teeming with heartfelt drama that belies the cheap shots it received from its detractors. It's stirring, re! ckless, loving, involving, and rife with unconventional passi! on; pass ion for music, life, art, and the delicate relationship between these two synchronous, extraordinary sisters as played by brilliant actors Emily Watson and Rachel Griffiths (both of whom earned Oscar nods). Though Watson got the juicy, showy role as Jackie, it's Griffiths who provides the heart, soul, and spine of the film. And director Tucker has that gift of being able to explain through the visual medium what is happening inside of his character's heads. He's helped by a fine screenplay by Frank Boyce Cottrell. No matter what the truth of Hilary and Jackie might really be, this is an exceptional, rare film that is defined and graced by fine acting and writing. --Paula NechakAddresses issues of concern in the area of women's studies, aiming to offer fresh perspectives on sexuality, paid work, the development process, equal opportunities legislation, lesbian history and women's writing. The book is also concerned with the politics and practice of women's stud! ies.Addresses issues of concern in the area of women's studies, aiming to offer fresh perspectives on sexuality, paid work, the development process, equal opportunities legislation, lesbian history and women's writing. The book is also concerned with the politics and practice of women's studies.Hilary and Jackie is a 1998 British biographical film directed by Anand Tucker. The screenplay by Frank Cottrell Boyce is based on the memoir A Genius in the Family by Piers and Hilary du Pré, which chronicles the life and career of their late sister, cellist Jacqueline du Pré. The film attracted controversy and criticism for allegedly distorting details in Jacqueline's life, although Hilary du Pré publicly defended her version of the story.

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Goody Simple Styles Modern Updo Maker

• Simple styles modern updo help helps create a 1/2 for full frech twist
• No need for additional pins or clips
• For all hair types
• Assorted colors, dark and light
• 1 Piece count

Goody Simple Styles is a line of easy to use hair accessories that allow women to create trend-right looks at home, on their own.

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Brother DR510 20000 Page Drum Unit

• Laser Toner Drum Unit
• Genuine Original
• Brother OEM Replacement

Captain Sam Cahill (Maguire) is embarking on his fourth tour of duty, leaving behind his beloved wife (Portman) and two daughters. When Sam’s Blackhawk helicopter is shot down in the mountains of Afghanistan, the worst is presumed, leaving an enormous void in the family. Despite a dark history, Sam’s charismatic younger brother Tommy (Gyllenhaal) steps in to fill the family void.Screenwriter David Benioff (The 25th Hour) didn't have to do much to relocate Brothers from Denmark to America. The story remains the same: Captain Sam Cahill (Tobey Maguire) loves his family, but he's equally devoted to his career. Just as his ne'er-do-well brother, Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal), exits prison, where he did time for robbery, the Marines deploy Sam to Afghanistan. Tommy starts looking in on his wary sister-in! -law, Grace (Natalie Portman), but then Sam's helicopter crashes in the mountains, and the military informs Grace that her husband has died. Unbeknownst to the Cahill clan, the Taliban has taken Sam hostage and tortures him to elicit information. Sam resists, but his colleague caves, leading to an unthinkable act. Back in New Mexico, Grace and Tommy grow closer, stopping just short of a full-blown affair (in Susanne Bier's original, they take the plunge). Even Tommy's disapproving Vietnam vet father, Hank (Sam Shepard), sees his son in a new light after Tommy renovates Grace's kitchen. But when Sam is rescued by his company, he returns a broken man and is convinced that his wife has fallen in love with his brother. Even his daughters are afraid of him (Bailee Madison impresses as the eldest). As in Bier's film, Jim Sheridan (In America) elevates redemption and forgiveness over tragedy and loss, and his well-meaning remake gets off to a solid start, but it loses ste! am by the end. Brothers offers a compelling scenario,! but the telling is too overstated to capture the full heartbreak of the situation. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Stills from Brothers (Click for larger image)

When Jared Dillian joined Lehman Brothers in 2001, he fulfilled a life-long dream to make it on Wall Streetâ€"but he had no idea how close to the edge the job would take him.

Like Michael Lewis’s classic Liar’s Poker, Jared Dillian’s Street Freak takes readers behind the scenes of the legendary Lehman Brothers, exposing its outrageous and often hilarious corporate culture.

In this ultracompetitive Ivy League world where men would flip over each other’s ties to check out the labels (also known as the “Lehman Handshake”), Dillian was an outsider as an ex-military, working-class guy in a Men’s Wearhouse suit. But he was scrappy and determined; in interviews he told potential managers that, “Nobody can work harder than me. Nobody is willing to put in the hours I will put in. I am insane.” As it turned out, on Wall Street insanity is not an undesirable qualit! y.

Dillian rose from green associate, checking IDs at the e! ntrance to the trading floor in the paranoid days following 9/11, to become an integral part of Lehman’s culture in its final years as the firm’s head Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) trader. More than $1 trillion in wealth passed through his hands, but at the cost of an untold number of smashed telephones and tape dispensers. Over time, the exhilarating and explosively stressful job took its toll on him. The extreme highs and lows of the trading floor masked and exacerbated the symptoms of Dillian’s undiagnosed bipolar and obsessive compulsive disorders, leading to a downward spiral that eventually landed him in a psychiatric ward.

Dillian put his life back together, returning to work healthier than ever before, but Lehman itself had seemingly gone mad, having made outrageous bets on commercial real estate, and was quickly headed for self-destruction.

A raucous account of the final years of Lehman Brothers, from 9/11 at its World Financial Center offices through the firm’s ! bankruptcy, including vivid portraits of trading-floor culture, the financial meltdown, and the company’s ultimate collapse, Street Freak is a raw, visceral, and wholly original memoir of life inside the belly of the beast during the most tumultuous time in financial history. In his electrifying and fresh voice, Dillian takes readers on a wild ride through madness and back, both inside Lehman Brothers and himself.Drum Cartridge - 20000 Page

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High School Musical 3: Senior Year (Extended Edition)

• It's time to celebrate as Disney's phenomenal HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL hits new heights in HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3: SENIOR YEAR! Fresh from the big screen, this motion picture extravaganza delivers nonstop entertainment from start to finish! It's almost graduation day for high school seniors Troy, Gabriella, Sharpay, Chad, Ryan and Taylor -- and the thought of heading off in separate directio

This must-have junior novel with an 8-page full-color insert retells the story of the much-anticipated theatrical release of High School Musical 3, which finds high school seniors Troy and Gabriella facing the prospect of being separated from one another as they head off to different colleges. Joined by the rest of the Wildcats, they stage an elaborate spring musical reflecting their experiences, hopes, and fears about the future. High Sch! ool Musical 3 will be released in theaters in Fall 2008.

The High School Musical phenomenon leaps onto the big screen with the much-anticipated theatrical release of High School Musical 3, which finds high school seniors Troy and Gabriella facing the prospect of being separated from one another as they head off to different colleges. Joined by the rest of the Wildcats, they stage an elaborate spring musical reflecting their experiences, hopes, and fears about the future. High School Musical 3 will be released in theaters in October 24, 2008 and on DVD February 24, 2009!

 

Timed to the DVD release, two early readers are available for young fans of the film. Color photos and simple text that retells part of the film makes these titles perfect for newly independent readers.

It's time to celebrate as Disney's phenom! enal High School Musical hits new heights in High! School Musical 3: Senior Year! Fresh from the big screen, this motion picture extravaganza delivers non-stop entertainment from start to finish! It's almost graduation day for high school seniors Troy, Gabriella, Sharpay, Chad, Ryan and Taylor - and the thought of heading off in separate directions after leaving East High has these Wildcats thinking they need to do something they ll remember forever. Together with the rest of the Wildcats, they stage a spring musical reflecting their hopes and fears about the future and their unforgettable experiences growing up together. But with graduation approaching and college plans in question, what will become of the dreams, romances, and friendships of East High's senior Wilcats?
Find out what happens to all your favorite characters in the big screen musical sensation, High School Musical 3: Senior Year! It's a fabulous celebration the whole family will love!

Disc 1:

• ! Extended version includes extra scenes integrated back into the theatrical movie
• Bonus Features include: Cast Goobyes, Bloopers, Deleted Scenes, Night of Nights, It's All in the Dress, Sing-Along Mode

Disc 2:

• DisneyFile Digital Download Copy Disc: Watch your DVD in the living room and your DisneyFile digital copy on the go!
  

High School Musical 3: Senior Year is the third film in Disney's record-smashing series, and the first to debut in theaters rather than on the Disney Channel, and while many of the elements are the same, the film is at times bigger to accommodate the big screen. All the usual characters are back, but not for long: it's senior year, and the classmates are all facing the prospect of leaving East High in separate directions. Troy (Zac Efron) is ready to play hoops at the University of Albuquerque with best friend Chad (Corbin Bleu), but doesn't want to be a thousand ! miles away from Stanford-bound Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens). Ta! ylor (Mo nique Coleman) is headed to Yale, while Sharpay (Ashley Tisdale), brother Ryan (Lucas Grabeel), and the school's pianist-composer Kelsi (Olesya Rulin) are all in the running for a single scholarship to Juilliard. The showcase for them will be Ms. Darbus' new musical, Senior Year, which will recap the academic careers of the students themselves. (So if the original HSM was a retelling of Grease, HSM3 is more A Chorus Line.)

There are a few new characters: Sharpay's personal assistant Tiara Gold (Jemma McKenzie-Brown), and Troy's hangers-on, Rocket Man (Matt Prokop) and Donny Dion (Justin Martin), who may give the franchise life beyond its original cast (if they make some headway in the likability department). But it's all about the songs and the dances. Ryan and Sharpay sizzle in a classic-musical tribute "I Want It All"; Troy and Gabriella share a rooftop waltz in "Can I Have This Dance"; and Troy and Chad blow off steam in a sa! lvage yard in "The Boys Are Back." "Now or Never" is this film's "sports song," and Troy and Gabriella have their big duet "Just Wanna Be With You" and their own showcases, in "Scream" and "Walk Away," respectively. If the closing anthem, "High School Musical," seems on the self-congratulatory side, it's a rare misstep in a series that has made a generation of tweens (especially girls) sing and dance and realize they can be whatever they want to be. --David Horiuchi




Stills from High School Musical 3: Senior Year (Click for larger image)

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First Knight (Special Edition) [Blu-ray]

• Condition: New
• Format: Blu-ray
• Anamorphic; Color; Dolby; Subtitled; Widescreen

New, in original shrink wrap!1995 had already seen the box-office success of sword-wielding heroes in Rob Roy and Braveheart when along came this glossy revision of the Arthurian legend, in which Lady Guinevere (Julia Ormond) is torn between her love for the noble King Arthur (Sean Connery) and the passionate knight Sir Lancelot (Richard Gere). As the story opens, Guinevere's lands are under attack by the evil knight Malagant (Ben Cross), and she must choose between marriage to Arthur and the security of Camelot, or encouraging the affections of Lancelot, who has heroically rescued her from a potentially lethal attack. Anyone looking for meticulous medieval authenticity won't find it here, but director Jerry Zucker (Ghost) keeps the action moving with exuberant spirit and glorio! us production values. Even if you don't completely believe Richard Gere as a somewhat too-contemporary Lancelot, the performances of Ormond and especially Connery are effortlessly appealing. --Jeff ShannonTogether, Sean Connery, Richard Gere, Julia Ormond (Legends of the Fall, Sabrina) and Jerry Zucker,the director of Ghost, bring you a new vision of King Arthur's Camelot. A vision of breathtaking battles, of heart-pounding courage, of the undeniable love that brought an entire kingdom to its knees... and of the undying passion that made it live forever.1995 had already seen the box-office success of sword-wielding heroes in Rob Roy and Braveheart when along came this glossy revision of the Arthurian legend, in which Lady Guinevere (Julia Ormond) is torn between her love for the noble King Arthur (Sean Connery) and the passionate knight Sir Lancelot (Richard Gere). As the story opens, Guinevere's lands are under attack by the! evil knight Malagant (Ben Cross), and she must choose between! marriag e to Arthur and the security of Camelot, or encouraging the affections of Lancelot, who has heroically rescued her from a potentially lethal attack. Anyone looking for meticulous medieval authenticity won't find it here, but director Jerry Zucker (Ghost) keeps the action moving with exuberant spirit and glorious production values. Even if you don't completely believe Richard Gere as a somewhat too-contemporary Lancelot, the performances of Ormond and especially Connery are effortlessly appealing. --Jeff Shannon

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National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, Fifth Edition

• ISBN13: 9780792253143
• Condition: New
• Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

A New York Times Book of the Year
A National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist
Winner of the Salon Book Award
A Village Voice Book of the Year

Birds of America is the celebrated collection of twelve stories from Lorrie Moore, one of the finest authors at work today.
 
“Fluid, cracked, mordant, colloquial…. Stand[s] by itself as one of our funniest, most telling anatomies of human love and vulnerability.” â€"The New York Times Book Review

“A marvelous collection…. Her stories are tough, lean, funny, and metaphysical…. Birds of America has about it a wild beauty that simply makes one feel more connected t! o life.” â€"The Boston Globe
 
“At once sad, funny, lyrical and prickly, Birds of America attests to the deepening emotional chiaroscuro of her wise and beguiling work.” â€"The New York Times
 
“Stunning…. There’s really no one like Moore; in a perfect marriage of art form and mind, she has made the short story her own.” â€"Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
 
“Birds of America stands as a major work of American short fiction…. Absolutely mastered.” â€"Elle
 
“Wonderful…. These stories impart such terrifying truths.” â€"Philadelphia Inquirer
 
“Lorrie Moore soars with Birds of America.... A marvelous, fiercely funny book.” â€"Newsweek
 
“Fifty years from now, it may well turn out that the work of very few American writers has as much to say about what it means to be alive in our time as that of Lorrie Moore.â€!  â€"Harper’s MagazineLorrie Moore made her debut in ! 1985 wit h Self-Help, which proved that she could write about sadness, sex, and the single girl with as much tenderness--and with considerably more wit--than almost any of her contemporaries. She followed this story collection with another, Like Life, as well as two fine novels, Anagrams and Who Will Run the Frog Hospital? Yet Moore's rapid-fire alternation of mirth and deep melancholy is so perfectly suited to the short form that readers will greet Birds of America with an audible sigh of relief--and delight. In "Willing," for example, a second-rate Hollywood starlet retreats into a first-rate depression, taking shelter in a Chicago-area Days Inn. The author's eye for the small comic detail is intact: her juice-bar-loving heroine initially drowns her sorrows in "places called I Love Juicy or Orange-U-Sweet." Yet Moore seldom satisfies herself with mere pop-cultural mockery. She's too interested in the small and large devastations of ! life, which her actress is experiencing in spades. "Walter leaned her against his parked car," Moore relates. "His mouth was slightly lopsided, paisley-shaped, his lips anneloid and full, and he kissed her hard. There was something numb and on hold in her. There were small dark pits of annihilation she discovered in her heart, in the loosening fist of it, and she threw herself into them, falling." Elsewhere, the author serves up a similar mixture of one-liners and contemporary grief, lamenting the death of a housecat in "Four Calling Birds, Three French Hens" and the death of a marriage in "Which Is More Than I Can Say About That." And her hilarious account of a nuclear family undergoing a meltdown in "Charades" will make you want to avoid parlor games for the rest of your natural life. --James Marcus Subtitled The Audubon Society baby elephant folio , this spectacular new edition reproduces all 435 of Audubon's hand-colored engravings from the original p! lates of the Audubon Society's archival copy of the Double ele! phant fo lio . Reorganized and annotated by the famed Roger Tory Peterson (who also

From the National Wildlife Federation® comes the most up-to-date, all-photographic field guide to North American birds. Birders will find it indispensable: this single, portable volume features more than 750 species, along with more than 2,000 stunning images by leading nature photographers showing birds in their natural habitats. Captions highlight important field marks, and comprehensive species accounts describe habitats, behavior, flight, migration, songs, and plumages. Other features include: more than 600 maps showing bird distribution in every season; strategies for watching and identifying birds; a complete species index plus a quick-flip index; a glossary of terms; and a checklist of birds. The guide’s unique waterproof cover makes it especially valuable for use in the field.

Essential for the estimated 62 million Americans who watch and feed birds in their backyardsâ€"from the ex! perts at National Geographic and co-author of the popular and perennial best seller Field Guide to the Birds of North America.
 
No matter where you liveâ€"in the country, city, a high-rise or houseâ€"this handy guide will quench your curiosity about the feathered creatures in your midst. It features 150 of the most common and interesting birds likely to be observed at backyard feeders, nesting nearby or just migrating through. An indispensable visual index of all 150 species appears on the inside front and back laminated covers, making identification a snap.
 
Beginning with Backyard Basics, an easy-to-follow, richly illustrated presentation on observing and identifying birdsâ€"with tips on attracting and feeding your favorite birds, birdhouses, and bird-friendly landscapes to entice nestingâ€"the book is full of National Geographic’s iconic field guide images and maps.
 
Core species on everyone’s listâ€"such as robins, woodpeckers, bluebi! rds and chickadeesâ€"are featured in two-page spreads includin! g practi cal tips with additional imagery. Sidebars captivate with interesting and little known facts.
 
Backyard Guide to Birds is linked to even more content, including audio of each of the book’s 150 birds’ songs and calls at nationalgeographic.com/birding.Birding is the fastest growing wildlife-related activity in the U.S., and even conservative estimates put the current number of U.S. birders at 50 million. According to the New York Times, some authorities predict that by 2050 there will be more than 100 millionâ€"and the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America will be the essential reference for field identification and the cornerstone of any birder's library. This is the ultimate, indispensable bird field guideâ€"comprehensive, authoritative, portable, sturdy, and easier than ever to use.

Among the the new edition's key elements and practical improvements: Every North American speciesâ€"more than 960, including a ! new section on accidental birdsâ€"classified according to the latest official American Ornithologists' Union checklist 4,000 full-color illustrations by the foremost bird artists at work todayand newly updated range maps that draw on the latest data New durable cover for added protection against adverse weather, plus informative quick-reference flaps that double as placemarkers New reader-friendly features like thumbtabs that make locating key sections faster and easier, and a quick-find index to direct users straight to the information they need.

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The Disappearance of Alice Creed

• DISAPPEARANCE OF ALICE CREED, THE (DVD MOVIE)

On a suburban street, two masked men seize a young woman. They bind and gag her and take her to an abandoned, soundproofed apartment. She is Alice Creed (Gemma Arterton), daughter of a millionaire. Her kidnappers, the coldly efficient Vic (Eddie Marsan) and his younger accomplice Danny (Martin Compston), have worked out a meticulous plan. But Alice is not going to play the perfect victim â€" she’s not giving in without a fight. In a tense power-play of greed, duplicity and survival we discover that sometimes disappearances can be deceptive…The British thriller The Disappearance of Alice Creed is a taut exercise in psychological manipulation, driven by three forceful performances, most notably actress Gemma Arteton (Clash of the Titans) as the titular abductee. On the surface, Disappearance seems to be cut from familiar ! cloth: ex-cons Eddie Marsan (Sherlock Holmes) and Martin Compston plot out and then execute the kidnapping of Arteton, the daughter of a wealthy businessman, for a sizable ransom. But as the minutes tick by in their dreary holding cell of a flat, relationships develop in unexpected ways, as do shifts in allegiances and motivations. To reveal these seismic changes would be to unleash spoilers of epic proportions, but suffice it to say that few will have expected the film's frenzied conclusion. Directed by first-timer J Blakeson with an eye towards pacing and atmosphere, The Disappearance of Alice Creed should please fans of adult suspense pictures with its smart scripting (by Blakeson) and fearless turns by its cast, especially Arteton in a role that requires her to play, by turns, victim and perpetrator; the DVD includes commentary by Blakeson, who discusses his influences (among them, Alien, interestingly enough), as well as two extended scenes with co! mmentary and a collection of comic outtakes. A five-minute sto! ryboard comparison, which shows preproduction sketches of the opening alongside the finished product, and the stateside trailer round out the extras. --Paul Gaita

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