CONNOR Street Sign Great Gift Idea 100's of names to choose from!

• Sign Size: 4"x 18"
• Brand New, Top Quality Sign
• Great for Indoors or Outdoors
• Proudly Manufactured in the U.S.A.
• Makes a Great Gift!

When 15-year-old Owen (Alex Linz) meets Congressman Lawrence Connor (Steven Weber) at his middle-school graduation, the bookish, friendless boy is flattered to be offered a junior position with Connor`s senatorial campaign. Owen befriends the congressman`s young nephew, Caleb, and as his involvement in the campaign grows, Owen`s innocence is shattered as he discovers the dark underbelly of politics, where business and politics share more than financial interests, and idealism and innocence rarely go unpunished.

Are you a frustrated parent trying to bring up an adolescent?
Are you a frustrated adolescent trying to bring up your parent?

When Shit Happens!!! Learn how to move through the limiting thoughts and into your ! own power with the intent to prosper.
Take control of your life. You are the key to unlocking your creative free will. Take command of the only thing you can, in an uncertain world, YOU.

Now is your chance to help create your own world.

Quit the struggle

Understand the reason why shit happens

Find your self choosing to create your own reality

Can you feel that the structures of the old society are being rocked!! There are real changes in how we see ourselves fitting into the new world. Now is the time to embrace the changes and choose your future!

Change is inevitable you can choose to
This
     Sink
Or that
     Swim

"Are you a frustrated parent trying to bring up an adolescent?Are you a frustrated adolescent trying to bring up your parent?
When Shit Happens!!! Learn how to move through the limiting thoughts and into your own power with the intent to ! prosper. Take control of your life. You are the key to unlocki! ng your creative free will. Take command of the only thing you can, in an uncertain world, YOU.
Now is your chance to help create your own world.
Quit the struggle
Understand the reason why shit happens
Find your self choosing to create your own reality
Can you feel that the structures of the old society are being rocked!! There are real changes in how we see ourselves fitting into the new world. Now is the time to embrace the changes and choose your future!
Change is inevitable you can choose to This     Sink Or that     Swim"
"Are you a frustrated parent trying to bring up an adolescent?Are you a frustrated adolescent trying to bring up your parent?
When Shit Happens!!! Learn how to move through the limiting thoughts and into your own power with the intent to prosper. Take control of your life. You are the key to unlocking your creative free will. Take command of the only thing you can, in an uncertain world, YOU.
Now is your chance! to help create your own world.
Quit the struggle
Understand the reason why shit happens
Find your self choosing to create your own reality
Can you feel that the structures of the old society are being rocked!! There are real changes in how we see ourselves fitting into the new world. Now is the time to embrace the changes and choose your future!
Change is inevitable you can choose to This     Sink Or that     Swim"
This sign is 4"x18" and made with an exterior grade PVC plastic and printed with the best inks in the industry. Perfect for outdoor use for over 5 years or will look great inside. No rusting or fading indoors or out. The sign come with round corners and 2 holes for easy mounting. We carry 1000's of different signs to choose from. You can't go wrong with a ZANYSIGNS Street Sign, the ultimate gift for any occasion!

Conan O'Brien Poster - Can't Stop 2011 Movie Teaser Flyer 11x17 - CS

• Teaser Flyer to promote the Conan O'Brien Movie Can't stop
• Conan O'Brien Movie Can't Stop Promo Flyer
• Size 11 x 17 inches approx (28 x 43 cm)
• Window display/ Telephone Pole Flyer sized Poster

After a much publicized departure from hosting NBC's "Tonight Show," Conan O'Brien hit the road with a 32-city music-and-comedy show. "The Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television Tour" was O'Brien's answer to a contractual stipulation that banned his appearance on television, radio and the internet for six months following his last show. Filmmaker Rodman Flender's resulting documentary, CONAN O'BRIEN CAN T STOP, is an intimate portrait of an artist trained in improvisation, captured at the most improvisational time of his career.Even if Conan O'Brien were "Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television"--the official name of the 2010 tour featured in the documentary Conan O'Brien Can't Stop, he'd happily be a scofflaw. Longtime TV director Rodman Flender (Ugly Betty) captures both O'Brien's spontaneous humor in his standup comic tour around the United States, but also his rage. O'Brien briefly replaced Jay Leno as host of NBC's The Tonight Show, but ratings for the show plummeted. So NBC dropped O'Brien, and O'Brien got his revenge by selling out shows in 32 cities, featuring equal parts standup, monologue, and screed against NBC. "If there's ever been a time in my life when I could say 'the hell with it,' it would be now," O'Brien says early in the film, setting up his rage as well as finding a pretty good outlet for it. Those who wonder if there's a healthy--or even unhealthy--dose of anger behind most standup comics will see the answer in a largely unguarded O'Brien, captured with raw honesty by Flender, in Conan O'Brien Can't Stop. O'Brien is also joined at various points of the tour by Jim Carrey, Andy R! ichter, Steve Kroft of 60 Minutes (who gets an earful),! Eddie V edder, and others. And O'Brien does manage to be pretty funny, mostly in off-the cuff moments. But Conan O'Brien Can't Stop is notable mostly for O'Brien's willingness to be shown as the pot lid is starting to blow off the boiling pan. And that makes for incredibly gripping viewing. --A.T. HurleyAfter a much publicized departure from hosting NBC's "Tonight Show," Conan O'Brien hit the road with a 32-city music-and-comedy show. "The Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television Tour" was O'Brien's answer to a contractual stipulation that banned his appearance on television, radio and the internet for six months following his last show. Filmmaker Rodman Flender's resulting documentary, CONAN O'BRIEN CAN T STOP, is an intimate portrait of an artist trained in improvisation, captured at the most improvisational time of his career.Even if Conan O'Brien were "Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television"--the official name of the 2010 tour featured in the do! cumentary Conan O'Brien Can't Stop, he'd happily be a scofflaw. Longtime TV director Rodman Flender (Ugly Betty) captures both O'Brien's spontaneous humor in his standup comic tour around the United States, but also his rage. O'Brien briefly replaced Jay Leno as host of NBC's The Tonight Show, but ratings for the show plummeted. So NBC dropped O'Brien, and O'Brien got his revenge by selling out shows in 32 cities, featuring equal parts standup, monologue, and screed against NBC. "If there's ever been a time in my life when I could say 'the hell with it,' it would be now," O'Brien says early in the film, setting up his rage as well as finding a pretty good outlet for it. Those who wonder if there's a healthy--or even unhealthy--dose of anger behind most standup comics will see the answer in a largely unguarded O'Brien, captured with raw honesty by Flender, in Conan O'Brien Can't Stop. O'Brien is also joined at various points of the tour by Jim Car! rey, Andy Richter, Steve Kroft of 60 Minutes (who gets ! an earfu l), Eddie Vedder, and others. And O'Brien does manage to be pretty funny, mostly in off-the cuff moments. But Conan O'Brien Can't Stop is notable mostly for O'Brien's willingness to be shown as the pot lid is starting to blow off the boiling pan. And that makes for incredibly gripping viewing. --A.T. HurleyConan O'Brien Movie Can't stop flyer

Matthew Barney: No Restraint

• From 1995 to 2002, avant-garde artist Matthew Barney wrote, directed, and starred in the Cremaster Cycle, five offbeat films featuring unusual situations and bizarre characters. Since 1987, he has also been working on the Drawing Restraint series, in which he uses physical weights and barriers to make the creation of his art more difficult--and more rewarding in the end. In 2005 he released DRAWIN

Japanese only SHM-CD (Super High Material CD - playable on all CD players) paper sleeve pressing. Universal. 2008.When Björk became romantically involved with art-world darling Matthew Barney, the universe seemed to be uniting two of the most idiosyncratic artistic temperaments of the 21st century. The first major artistic product of this union, Drawing Restraint 9, music composed by Björk for Barney's film of the same name, finds their sensibilities eerily complementary. Barney's previous ! films, the megaton, five-part Cremaster Cycle, astounded audiences with a personal mythology inspired by the biological process of prenatal sexual differentiation, touching themes as unsettlingly diverse as speed metal, auto racing, Freemasonry, and Harry Houdini. Barney, a former model and football player, has always been interested in expressions of physical strain and release. This coincides quite nicely with the work Björk has produced lately, namely her album Medúlla, which was composed entirely of human voices--singing, coughing, grunting, and beatboxing. The intersection of these two artistic geniuses comes at precisely the right time, when Björk has cast off the last vestiges of her dance-floor self. To understand how remarkable a transformation this is, one might try to imagine what it would have been like if Donna Summers had turned into Yoko Ono.

There are instances of Björk's vocal soundscapes on this album, in the unsettling "Pearl" and th! e rainy and overdubbed opening of "Storm." Other tracks, fille! d to ove rflowing with bells and chimes, recall her most beautiful work on Vespertine. It used to be that Björk could chill the spine with a howl. Now she does it with a whisper, and these soft and haunting moments are what reward repeat listenings. With the music she produced for the soundtrack to Dancer in the Dark, Björk followed a more or less traditional narrative thread, stringing the songs together in such a way that one could follow a story even without having seen the movie. It's not quite that simple with Drawing Restraint 9. Without seeing the film, the music suggests a fascination with oceans, Japanese ritual, and the hidden powers of nature. It's spellbinding and confusing music, hinting at greater art to come from two artists of intense creativity and passion. --Ryan Boudinot

More Björk and Matthew Barney at Amazon.com

Medúlla	Vespertine	Selmasongs: Dancer in the Dark
The Cremaster Cycle: The Order (DVD)	Matthew Barney: The Cremaster Cycle (hardback book)	Matthew Barney: The Cremaster Cycle (paperback book)

Released in 2005, Drawing Restraint 9 feature! s compos itions Björk wrote for her film collaboration with Matthew Barney. Featured highlights include "Ambergris March," "Storm," and "Holographic Entrypoint." The DualDisc’s DVD side includes the album tracks plus the bonus track "Petrolatum." Deluxe package features the original CD in remastered stereo on Side 1 and on Side 2, the entire album in Advanced Resolution 5.1 Surround Sound plus bonus videos!Documentary ) World renowned artist and filmmaker, Matthew Barney plowed the waters off the coast of Nagasaki to film his massive endeavor, DRAWING RESTRAINT 9. This documentary journeys with Barney and his collaborator Björk, as the visual artist creates a "narrative sculpture" telling a fantastical love story of two characters.

Blue Collar Comedy Tour

• A feature film version of America's hit comedy concert tour, "Blue Collar Comedy Tour - The Movie" stars renowned comedians Jeff Foxworthy and Bill Engvall and fellow Blue Collar comics Ron White and Larry The Cable Guy. The film features live stand-up performances filmed at Phoenix's Dodge Theater as well as behind-the-scenes sequences highlighting the individual comedians. The number one comedy

For the first time ever, all three Blue Collar Comedy Tour movies are available to own in one complete set!A feature film version of America's hit comedy concert tour, "Blue Collar Comedy Tour - The Movie" stars renowned comedians Jeff Foxworthy and Bill Engvall and fellow Blue Collar comics Ron White and Larry The Cable Guy. The film features live stand-up performances filmed at Phoenix's Dodge Theater as well as behind-the-scenes sequences highlighting the individual comedians. The number one comed! y tour of the last two years, The Blue Collar Comedy Tour has grossed more than $12 million to date and produced a best-selling live album, The Blue Collar Comedy Tour Live, released in November 2001.It had to happen: A national tour of redneck comedians culminating in this frequently funny concert film, shot in Phoenix. Ron White's scotch-and-tobacco-fueled, fatalistic world view gets things off to a good start. ("That last engine had just enough power to get us to our crash site.") Larry the Cable Guy's creepy-silly persona helps deliver a set long on gross-out humor. ("I've been seein' a good-lookin' girl. But now I lost my binoculars.") Bill Engvall balances the tone with his family-man shtick. ("There needs to be a teenage driver's lane lined with tires and mattresses.") Main event champ Jeff Foxworthy offers fresh material about the act of ice-fishing as an out-of-body experience for fish, describes the bizarre sight of a leaf blower among items confiscated by airport! security and, of course, renders his trademark re-re-re-defin! itions o f what constitutes a redneck ("a glorious absence of sophistication"). Lots to enjoy here. --Tom Keogh

Grizzly Man

• wildlife
• widescreen
• documentary
• true
• nonfiction

In his mesmerizing new film, GRIZZLY MAN, acclaimed director Werner Herzog explores the life and death of amateur grizzly bear expert and wildlife preservationist Timothy Treadwell. Treadwell lived unarmed among the bears for thirteen summers, and filmed his adventures in the wild during his final five seasons. In October 2003, Treadwell’s remains, along with those of his girlfriend, Amie Huguenard, were discovered near their campsite in Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Reserve. They had been mauled and devoured by a grizzly, the first known victims of a bear attack in the paGrizzly Man could easily have been sensational and exploitative, but in the hands of Werner Herzog, it becomes something extraordinary. Herzog was granted exclusive access to over 100 hours of video shot by amateur naturalist, w! ildlife advocate and troubled loner Timothy Treadwell, who spent 13 summers in Alaska's Katmai National Park, where he grew to know and love the grizzly bears that lived there. He was also killed by one of them, in October 2003, along with his girlfriend Amie Huguenard, and that seemingly inevitable fate informs every minute of Herzog's riveting combination of Treadwell's video with his own expert filmmaking and unique vision of nature and man. Whereas Treadwell was a naïve nature-lover and social outcast whose sanity was slowly slipping away, Herzog is a pragmatic mythologist who views nature primarily in terms of "chaos, hostility, and murder," and the disparity of their vision results in a magnetic attraction that makes the sum of Grizzly Man greater than its parts. We come to admire the dreamer, the idealist, the failed actor and recovered alcoholic man-child that was Treadwell, and we equally admire the seeker of truth and wisdom that is Herzog. They belong tog! ether, in some world beyond our world, where visionaries join ! forces t o create life after death. --Jeff ShannonRenowned nonfiction director Werner Herzog chronicles the tragic and untimely death of outdoorsman Timothy Treadwell, who devoted his life to studying grizzly bears living in the Alaskan wilderness -- only to have one of them maul him to death. Pieced together mainly from Treadwell's own video footage, this fascinating documentary goes deep into the wilderness of one man's mind to uncover how he spent his final days.

Dr. T and the Women

• 100% pre-shrunk cotton
• Wash warm; dry low
• Imported
• Listed in junior sizes
• By Ripple Junction

Dr. Sullivan Travis, a successful Dallas gynecologist, finds his life disrupted by the women in his life; his wife suffers a nervous breakdown, his eldest daughter plans to marry despite being a lesbian, his youngest daughter is a conspiracy freak, his se
Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: R
Release Date: 21-OCT-2003
Media Type: DVDLoose-limbed and casual even for a Robert Altman movie, Dr. T & the Women has a sly, offhanded wit that makes up for its ramshackle structure. Richard Gere's eponymous gynecologist seems the model of success: his office is packed daily with the cream of Dallas's society matrons clamoring for an appointment, his home life is blessed with loving wife Farrah Fawcett and daughters Tara Reid and Ka! te Hudson, and when he needs a break from the estrogen congestion there are always weekends to be spent with his trio of hunting buddies. But on a trip to the mall to shop for Hudson's upcoming nuptials, Fawcett strips naked and leaps about in a waterfall. Her subsequent incarceration in a mental hospital (she's diagnosed with the fictional "Hestia complex," suffering from receiving too much affection) along with the ongoing preparations for the wedding barely make a dent in Gere's charming, compassionate demeanor. Then his golf course hires a new female pro who's everything the other women in his life are not--independent, self-confident, Helen Hunt--and Dr. T finds himself with yet another woman to love. Though the minor characters are mostly nasty little caricatures, the film is not the bitter misogynistic rant its detractors claim it is; the problems in Dr. T's life are placed squarely on his own inability to see that women don't need his genteel protection, and Gere pe! rfectly captures this sweet yet condescending blind spot. -! -Bruce R eidIn director Robert Altman's star-studded new ensemble comedy, Richard Gere is a frantically overworked, socially in-demand gynecologist whose life is coming apart at the seams. His wife (Farrah Fawcett) has regressed into a childlike state, while one daughter (Tara Reid) is raising suspicions about the relationship between his soon-to-be-married other daughter (Kate Hudson) and her maid of honor (Liv Tyler). Meanwhile, just as his champagne-loving sister-in-law (Laura Dern) arrives with three nieces in tow, the doctor falls for the sexy new golf pro (Helen Hunt). As complications mount, the good doctor's life rapidly approaches the force of a Texas tornado!Loose-limbed and casual even for a Robert Altman movie, Dr. T & the Women has a sly, offhanded wit that makes up for its ramshackle structure. Richard Gere's eponymous gynecologist seems the model of success: his office is packed daily with the cream of Dallas's society matrons clamoring for an appointment, ! his home life is blessed with loving wife Farrah Fawcett and daughters Tara Reid and Kate Hudson, and when he needs a break from the estrogen congestion there are always weekends to be spent with his trio of hunting buddies. But on a trip to the mall to shop for Hudson's upcoming nuptials, Fawcett strips naked and leaps about in a waterfall. Her subsequent incarceration in a mental hospital (she's diagnosed with the fictional "Hestia complex," suffering from receiving too much affection) along with the ongoing preparations for the wedding barely make a dent in Gere's charming, compassionate demeanor. Then his golf course hires a new female pro who's everything the other women in his life are not--independent, self-confident, Helen Hunt--and Dr. T finds himself with yet another woman to love. Though the minor characters are mostly nasty little caricatures, the film is not the bitter misogynistic rant its detractors claim it is; the problems in Dr. T's life are placed squarel! y on his own inability to see that women don't need his gentee! l protec tion, and Gere perfectly captures this sweet yet condescending blind spot. --Bruce ReidThis fitted tee features the one and only Dr. Frank-N-Furter from The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

I Can't Think Straight

• I CAN'T THINK STRAIGHT (DVD MOVIE)

Winner of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival Audience Award, CIRCUMSTANCE is a provocative coming-of-age story that cracks open the hidden, underground world of Iranian youth culture filled with sex, drugs and defiance. From newcomer Maryam Keshavarz, this suspenseful tale of love and defiance unfolds as a wealthy family struggles to contain their teenage daughter’s growing sexual rebellion and her brother’s dangerous obsession.In another place and time, the young women of Circumstance might have a bright future ahead of them, but in Tehran, they must pretend to be something they're not. Sixteen-year-old orphan Shireen (Sarah Kazemy) lives with her strict uncle, while Atafeh's loving parents have provided a comfortable home. Nonetheless, Atafeh's brother, Mehran (Reza Sixo Safai), has traded his classical music career for a crack habit. After a stint! in rehab, though, Mehran rejects Western art, embraces Islam, helps out at a mosque--and spies on his family. While he struggles to stay clean and secure a wife, Shireen and Atafeh (Nikohl Boosheri) sneak out to drink and dance to rock and hip-hop with a couple of like-minded male friends. It gradually emerges that the feelings between the girls go deeper than friendship, and the two even participate in a project to dub Gus Van Sant's Milk into Farsi in hopes that other Iranian youth will see the film and agitate for equal rights. After they get in trouble with the law, though, everything changes: Shireen's uncle pressures her to marry, and Atafeh finds her friend slipping away, so she comes up with a plan to solve all their problems at once. Filmed in Beirut, American-born writer-director Maryam Keshavarz's feature-film debut is pitched somewhere between My Son the Fanatic and No One Knows About Persian Cats. If less overtly political, she's equally s! ympathetic towards her protagonists and just as critical of th! e indivi duals and institutions that would stand in their way. --Kathleen C. FennessyJulia Jarmond (Kristin Scott Thomas), an American journalist married to a Frenchman, is commissioned to write an article about the notorious Vel d’Hiv round up, which took place in Paris, in 1942. She stumbles upon a family secret which will link her forever to the destiny of a young Jewish girl, Sarah. Julia learns that the apartment she and her husband Bertrand plan to move into was acquired by Bertrand’s family when its Jewish occupants were dispossessed and deported 60 years before. She resolves to find out what happened to the former occupants: Wladyslaw and Rywka Starzynski, parents of 10-year-old Sarah and four-year-old Michel. The more Julia discovers - especially about Sarah, the only member of the Starzynski family to survive - the more she uncovers about Bertrand’s family, about France and, finally, herself.

Sarah’s Key is based on the book by Tatiana d! e Rosnay.An intrepid journalist brings the past to life in this gripping drama. An American based in Paris, Julia Jarmond (Tell No One's Kristin Scott Thomas) has been working on a piece about a French atrocity while planning to move into an apartment that belongs to her husband Bertrand's family. During the course of her research, she finds that 10-year-old Sarah Starzynski (Mélusine Mayance, a sparky presence) lived in the same Marais flat until 1942 when French authorities wrenched Jewish citizens from their homes during the notorious Vél d'Hiver Roundup (Julia's daughter is only a year older). Unbeknownst to anyone but her parents, Sarah locked up her 4-year-old brother in a hidden closet in hopes of returning to set him free him later, but the trio ends up in a transit camp en route to Auschwitz. Sarah will eventually escape, but the years to come will not be easy. In adapting Tatiana de Rosnay's novel, director Gilles Paquet-Brenner, the son of a deportee, mo! ves back and forth between Sarah and Julia, who finds out she'! s pregna nt in the midst of trips to Florence and New York, but Bertrand doesn't share her joy. A French farmer (A Prophet's Niels Arestrup) and a food writer (Aidan Quinn) also figure into Sarah's story, which merges with Julia's as she finds a way to carry on her legacy. Much as in Julie and Julia, the past proves more compelling than the present, though Scott Thomas holds the narrative together with the force of her talent. --Kathleen C. FennessyWhile preparing for her wedding, Tala meets Leyla, a shy Muslim. Although they come from different worlds, the attraction is immediate and Tala must decide whether to stay true to her culture or to her heart. Starring Lisa Ray, Sheetal Sheth and Nina Wadia.

The Ugly Truth (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Book 5)

• ISBN13: 9780810984912
• Condition: New
• Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

Greg Heffley is in big trouble. School property has been damaged, and Greg is the prime suspect. But the crazy thing is, he’s innocent. Or at least sort of.

The authorities are closing in, but when a surprise blizzard hits, the Heffley family is trapped indoors. Greg knows that when the snow melts he’s going to have to face the music, but could any punishment be worse than being stuck inside with your family for the holidays?

Amazon Exclusive: A Q&A with Jeff Kinney

Question: Given all the jobs that you have--game designer, fatherhood, Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie work, etc.,--do you have a certain time that you set aside to write?

Kinney: I still treat writing like a hobby, working mostly at night and sometimes on weekends. But when a deadline looms my hobby time gets extended into the wee hours of the night. It's not uncommon for me to work until 4:00 a.m., and I'm usually back at work by 9:00 a.m.

Q: Did you get to choose which character you would play in the Wimpy Kid films (Mr. Hills)? What do you enjoy most about working on the movies?

Kinney: I never any real desire to appear in the Wimpy Kid films, but one day my wife encouraged me to be an extra in one of the crowd scenes. So I walked onto the set, ready to ask the assistant director to put me somewhere in the back. It happened that right at that moment the ! director was looking for someone to play the role of Mr. Hills! , Holly Hills's father. What I didn't realize was that I'd be front and center in the church scene, and in the new movie, I'm even more prominent. I'm incredibly self-conscious so appearing on-camera was a real stretch for me.

Q: In 2009 Time magazine named you as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World--what’s the first thing you did after you found out?

Kinney: I thought it was a practical joke, so I tried to track down the source of the joke. I eventually reached a voicemail of a reporter who said they worked for Time, and at that point I thought it was just a well-planned practical joke. It took me a while to realize it was for real. It was a big honor, but I don't take it very seriously. I'm the fourth most influential person in my own house.

Q: Would you ever consider making Wimpy Kid into a newspaper comic strip or creating another one? Do you have any favorite comic strips that you currently r! ead?

Kinney: I've considered it. I set out to become a newspaper cartoonist but failed to break in. But I like the freedom books give me, so it would be tough to cram my ideas into three or four panels.

Q: What is (or could be) you motto in life?

Kinney: I was inspired to write by a Benjamin Franklin quote: "Well done is better than well said." But I always encourage kids to "create something great," because the tools to create something original and find an audience are available to them like never before.

Q: What was your favorite year in school, and why?

Kinney: Fifth grade was my favorite year. I had a great teacher, Mrs. Norton, who encouraged me to be funny and challenged me to be a better artist and joke-teller than I was. I liked it that she didn't coddle me.

Q: Kids now ask for a book that is “like Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” and with this series you’v! e created a whole new subset of books for young readers--how d! oes it f eel to be the person behind such massive book enjoyment, reaching reluctant readers, and spawning any number of titles that aspire to be “the next Wimpy Kid?”

Kinney: I'm happy that kids are reading. I think graphical books reach kids who might otherwise see books as work. Books should be fun!

Greg Heffley has always been in a hurry to grow up. But is getting older really all it’s cracked up to be?

 

Greg suddenly finds himself dealing with the pressures of boy-girl parties, increased responsibilities, and even the awkward changes that come with getting olderâ€"all without his best friend, Rowley, at his side. Can Greg make it through on his own? Or will he have to face the “ugly truth”?

Burn After Reading

• Condition: New
• Format: DVD
• AC-3; Color; Dolby; Dubbed; DVD; Subtitled; Widescreen; NTSC

Genre: Comedy
Rating: R
Release Date: 23-DEC-2008
Media Type: DVDAfter the dark brilliance of No Country for Old Men, Burn After Reading may seem like a trifle, but few filmmakers elevate the trivial to art quite like Joel and Ethan Coen. Inspired by Stansfield Turner's Burn Before Reading, the comically convoluted plot clicks into gear when the CIA gives analyst Osborne Cox (John Malkovich) the boot. Little does Cox know his wife, Katie (Tilda Swinton, riffing on her Michael Clayton character), is seeing married federal marshal Harry (George Clooney, Swinton's Clayton co-star, playing off his Syriana role). To get back at the Agency, Cox works on his memoirs. Through a twist of fate, fitness club workers ! Linda (Frances McDormand) and Chad (Brad Pitt in a pompadour that recalls Johnny Suede) find the disc and try to wrangle a "Samaratin tax" out of the surly alcoholic. An avid Internet dater, Linda plans to use the money for plastic surgery, oblivious that her manager, Ted (The Visitor's Richard Jenkins), likes her just the way she is. Though it sounds like a Beltway remake of The Big Lebowski, the Coen entry it most closely resembles, this time the brothers concentrate their energies on the myriad insecurities endemic to the mid-life crisis--with the exception of Chad, who's too dense to share such concerns, leading to the funniest performance of Pitt's career. If Lebowski represented the Coen's unique approach to film noir, Burn sees them putting their irresistibly absurdist stamp on paranoid thrillers from Enemy of the State to The Bourne Identity. --Kathleen C. Fennessy


Stil! ls from Burn After Reading (Click for larger image)< /span>

Forget Paris

• The romantic life of NBA referee Billy Crystal is on the rebound when he falls for airline employee Debra Winger. Crystal also directs this transatlantic comedy slam dunk with top-notch supporting cast of comedy pros, including Joe Mantegna, Cathy Moriarty and William Hickey.Running Time: 103 min. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: PG-13 Age: 053939250121 UPC: 0

The romantic life of NBA referee Billy Crystal is on the rebound when he falls for airline employee Debra Winger. Crystal also directs this transatlantic comedy slam dunk with top-notch supporting cast of comedy pros, including Joe Mantegna, Cathy Moriarty and William Hickey.Billy Crystal plays Mickey, a basketball referee who has to accompany his estranged father's body to France, where the old man requested to be buried with the other members of his D-Day platoon. Unfortunately for Mickey, the airline loses his body. Fortu! nately for Mickey, this leads him to meet Ellen (Debra Winger), an airline executive who takes personal charge of the case and even joins him at the funeral. A whirlwind Paris romance leads to marriage, but that's when the complications begin... The story of Mickey and Ellen's marriage is recounted by their friends (played by Joe Mantegna, Cynthia Stevenson, Julie Kavner, Richard Masur, John Spencer, and Cathy Moriarty) as they wait for Mickey and Ellen to arrive at a dinner party. And of course these friends have their own stories, which are played out in witty shorthand as they bicker about who's going to tell the next part of the Mickey/Ellen saga. Forget Paris is uneven (unsurprisingly, Winger is stronger in the dramatic sections and Crystal in the comic parts, a schism that takes its toll on their chemistry), but its best parts hold up, even if the whole is shaky. Plus, the movie's theme (that romantic memories aren't what makes a marriage work, you have to live! in the present) is explored with conviction and tenderness. --Bret Fetzer