Tuesday, November 22, 2011

The Cat in the Hat

  • Hardcover
  • Juvenile beginning reading
  • Stories with verses
  • Rhymed verses.
  • English


Features include:

•MPAA Rating: PG
•Format: DVD
•Runtime: 82 minutes
The Cat in the Hat is a marketing ploy disguised as a wildly designed movie for hyperactive kids, and it could use a dose of Ritalin. It hardly matters, though, because kids will surely enjoy the rampant romp that occurs when the top-hatted feline convinces young Sally (Dakota Fanning) and Conrad (Spencer Breslin) to wreak havoc in the home their mother (Kelly Preston) has neatly prepared for an upcoming party. It's all in the name of fun, and while Seuss's classic rhymes are relegated to voice-over narration, director Bo Welch capitalizes on his background as one of Hollywood's most gifted production designers (with credits including Edward Scissorhands and! Men in Black), turning the Seussian town of "Anville" into a playful pastiche of pastels. As played by Mike Myers under layers of fur and latex, Dr. Seuss's mischievous Cat is mayhem personified, and the movie suffers from his anything-goes approach to getting a laugh. And though Myers delivers a few laughs while channeling voices from his own comedic repertoire (including "Coffee Talk" maven Linda Richman), a little of this Cat goes a long way, and he nearly wears out his welcome. --Jeff ShannonPoor Dick and Sally. It's cold and wet and they're stuck in the house with nothing to do . . . until a giant cat in a hat shows up, transforming the dull day into a madcap adventure and almost wrecking the place in the process! Written by Dr. Seuss in 1957 in response to the concern that "pallid primers [with] abnormally courteous, unnaturally clean boys and girls' were leading to growing illiteracy among children, The Cat in the Hat (the first Ra! ndom House Beginner Book) changed the way our children learn h! ow to re ad.
He may be an old standby, but he never lets us down. When in doubt, turn to the story of the cat that transformed a dull, rainy afternoon into a magical and just-messy-enough adventure. There's another, hidden adventure, too: this book really will help children learn to read. With his simple and often single-vowel vocabulary, the good Doctor knew what he was doing: hear it, learn it, read it--laughing all the way. The Cat in the Hat is a must for any child's library.

Feeling Minnesota

  • Dolby Digital
  • Interactive Menus
Includes Widescreen and Fullscreen Versions. Original Theatrical Trailer. Filmographies.In his debut effort, director/writer Steven Baigleman put together an interesting premise and collected a talented cast to execute it. Unfortunately, he never sets the tone, so we are caught between a wildly black comedy and an emotionally brutal drama. A firmer footing in either genre would have better defined our reactions to it. Keanu Reeves plays Jjaks, a man so badly trod upon by fate that his very name is the result of a typo. He arrives back at his mother's house in a lower working-class Minnesota neighborhood to witness the marriage of his older brother (Vincent D'Onofrio) to an obviously reluctant bride (Cameron Diaz). By the time Jjaks is on his way, he's stolen a car, a dog, and his brother's wife. You have to give Baigleman credit for serving up intriguin! g characters. Unfortunately, he spins the story in circles instead of moving it along. Reeves and Diaz attempt to leave Minnesota, but never quite make it. Reeves repeatedly returns to a boyhood home he hates, always stumbling into his brother's angry clutches. What does work are the performances. Diaz is both sad and strong as the tough cookie who happens to be the smartest character in the movie. D'Onofrio's stupid nastiness is offset by his crushing love for her and an uncontrollable jealousy of Jjaks. Most surprising is Reeves, who makes us feel for his angry, unhappy loser by revealing flashes of decency under a toughened exterior. --Rochelle O'Gorman

Eden Lake

  • EDEN LAKE (DVD MOVIE)
Like a bad dream turned worst nightmare, Eden Lake is a "relentlessly tense and immaculately paced" (Twitch Film) horror-thriller about modern youth gone wild. When a young couple goes to a remote wooded lake for a romantic getaway, their quiet weekend is shattered by an aggressive group of local kids. Rowdiness quickly turns to rage as the teens terrorize the couple in unimaginable ways, and a weekend outing becomes a bloody battle for survival. Eden Lake is "fierce, thought-provoking ... and genuinely shocking" (Time Out London).British director James Watkins’s directorial debut is an overtly moralistic thriller centering around a couple who are trapped and taunted lakeside by a gang of teenage bullies, led by a boy named Brett (Jack O’Connell). Warning signs to stay out of this camping area abound, in the spirit of myriad camping-trip-gone-awry tales, like the cla! ssic Friday the 13th. The challenge, here, is to subvert those warning signs in order to harness some minor sympathy for the alleged victims to be. However, Steve (Michael Fassbender) and Jenny (Kelly Reilly) are too wrapped up in puppy love to turn around, even when their GPS signal advises them to do so. As a gang of wayward kids pick fights with Steve and Kelly, the couple attempts escape... at first. But Steve’s desire for revenge impels him to search for the delinquents’ parents, which becomes the couple’s downfall. A good portion of Eden Lake is devoted to the chase, during which Steve and Kelly look increasingly swampy under caked on layers of blood and mud. These scenes are well done, fast-paced, and here, enacting fear, Kelly Reilly is at her best. But as the film progresses, one sees so many connections between the teens’ violence and the abhorrent behavior of their parents, that Eden Lake leaves no character interpretation up to the v! iewer. Yes, bad parents usually make bad teens. But a deeper i! nvestiga tion into Brett’s inner mind, or his ability to follow through with torture and the sadistic control he exhibits over his gang, would result in less obvious, and possibly more interesting explanations for criminal action. Though many Dimension Extreme films are cutting edge in the horror genre (see Inside), Eden Lake is not one of them. --Trinie Dalton

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After the Sunset (Widescreen New Line Platinum Series)

  • Condition: New
  • Format: DVD
  • AC-3; Closed-captioned; Color; Dolby; DVD; Subtitled; Widescreen; NTSC
Pierce Brosnan plays a master thief who, after an incredibly successful heist, moves to the Bahamas with his beautiful partner in crime. But the cat and mouse games begins again when an FBI agent, his old nemesis, returns convinced he is going for the biggest score of all, the famous Napoleon diamond.

DVD Features:
DVD ROM Features:Content- Script to Screen
Documentaries:"Before, During and After the Sunset" & "Interview with a Jewel Thief"
Gag Reel:Blooper Reel
Music Video:
Other:Deleted/Alternate Scenes

After the Sunset may not be the greatest jewel-heist caper comedy ever made, but it sure is easy on the eyes. Shifting back into his crowd-pleasing Rush Hour mode, director Brett Ratner kicks off th! e action with a rousing chase scene that pretty much describes the entire film: utter nonsense, but adequately enjoyable. Things get very sunny thereafter, when FBI agent Woody Harrelson lands in the Bahamas to track down ace diamond thief Pierce Brosnan and his lovely accomplice Salma Hayek, whom he suspects of planning their next big heist on a cruise ship. A Bahamian gangster (Don Cheadle) wants in on the action, and the whole thing's about as fluffy as an Elmo doll and just as harmless, especially when you consider Hayek's revealing wardrobe (which, thankfully, distracts from Brosnan's less-than-Bond-like physique). There's an abundance of witty banter between everyone, and the tropical locations make After the Sunset a balmy, vicarious vacation. Critics weren't exactly kind to this breezy dose of popcorn entertainment, but it's an agreeable time-killer and an instant cure for seasonal affective disorder, even if the comedic chemistry leaves something to be desir! ed. --Jeff Shannon

The Ballad of Jack and Rose Poster Movie 11x17 Daniel Day-Lewis Camilla Belle Catherine Keener

  • Approx. Size: 11 x 17 Inches - 28cm x 44cm
  • Size is provided by the manufacturer and may not be exact
  • The Amazon image in this listing is a digital scan of the poster that you will receive
  • The Ballad of Jack and Rose 11 x 17 Inches Style A Mini Poster
  • Packaged with care and shipped in sturdy reinforced packing material
From the award-winning writer-director of Personal Velocity comes a startling drama about the nature of family and the meaning of ideals

In his first role since Gangs of New York, Daniel Day-Lewis plays Jack Slavin, an engineer who over thirty years ago walked away from the mainstream to live out a more deliberate life. But the island commune he began in hopes of a better future has long since imploded and he is now its final resident. Jack's only other companion is his 16-year-old daughter Ro! se (Camilla Belle), whom he has deliberately sheltered from the outside world. Now, beset by terminal illness, encroaching developers, and Rose's emerging womanhood, Jack faces troubling questions about the days ahead. In an attempt to provide his daughter with the kind of family she's never known, Jack invites Kathleen (Catherine Keener), the woman he's been secretly seeing on the mainland, and her sons to live with them. But rather than comforted, Rose feels betrayed and lashes out with a willful and deliberate retribution that places her innocence on the battlefield and Kathleen's safety in danger. His carefully constructed world flung out of control, Jack finds himself trapped between two headstrong women and forced to take action. With The Ballad of Jack and Rose, award-winning filmmaker Rebecca Miller has
created a powerful and poetic third feature about a man who has cut himself off from a society that refuses to live up to his standards, and a young girl's! sudden coming-of-age.

From the award-win! ning wri ter-director of Personal Velocity comes a startling drama about the nature of family and the meaning of ideals

In his first role since Gangs of New York, Daniel Day-Lewis plays Jack Slavin, an engineer who over thirty years ago walked away from the mainstream to live out a more deliberate life. But the island commune he began in hopes of a better future has long since imploded and he is now its final resident. Jack's only other companion is his 16-year-old daughter Rose (Camilla Belle), whom he has deliberately sheltered from the outside world. Now, beset by terminal illness, encroaching developers, and Rose's emerging womanhood, Jack faces troubling questions about the days ahead. In an attempt to provide his daughter with the kind of family she's never known, Jack invites Kathleen (Catherine Keener), the woman he's been secretly seeing on the mainland, and her sons to live with them. But rather than comforted, Rose feels b! etrayed and lashes out with a willful and deliberate retribution that places her innocence on the battlefield and Kathleen's safety in danger. His carefully constructed world flung out of control, Jack finds himself trapped between two headstrong women and forced to take action. With The Ballad of Jack and Rose, award-winning filmmaker Rebecca Miller has
created a powerful and poetic third feature about a man who has cut himself off from a society that refuses to live up to his standards, and a young girl's sudden coming-of-age.

From the award-winning writer-director of Personal Velocity comes a startling drama about the nature of family and the meaning of ideals

In his first role since Gangs of New York, Daniel Day-Lewis plays Jack Slavin, an engineer who over thirty years ago walked away from the mainstream to live out a more deliberate life. But the island commune he began in hopes of a b! etter future has long since imploded and he is now its final r! esident. Jack's only other companion is his 16-year-old daughter Rose (Camilla Belle), whom he has deliberately sheltered from the outside world. Now, beset by terminal illness, encroaching developers, and Rose's emerging womanhood, Jack faces troubling questions about the days ahead. In an attempt to provide his daughter with the kind of family she's never known, Jack invites Kathleen (Catherine Keener), the woman he's been secretly seeing on the mainland, and her sons to live with them. But rather than comforted, Rose feels betrayed and lashes out with a willful and deliberate retribution that places her innocence on the battlefield and Kathleen's safety in danger. His carefully constructed world flung out of control, Jack finds himself trapped between two headstrong women and forced to take action. With The Ballad of Jack and Rose, award-winning filmmaker Rebecca Miller has
created a powerful and poetic third feature about a man who has cut himself off from a society th! at refuses to live up to his standards, and a young girl's sudden coming-of-age.

Oscar(r) winner* Daniel Day-Lewis (Gangs of New York) is "a joy to watch" (Newsday) as a defiant idealist in this "moving, often hilariouscoming-of-age story" (Vogue) from writer-director Rebecca Miller (Personal Velocity). Catherine Keener (Being John Malkovich), Camilla Belle (Practical Magic), Beau Bridges (The Fabulous Baker Boys), Jason Lee (Almost Famous) and Jena Malone (Saved!) co-star. Jack (Day-Lewis) and his 16-year-old daughter Rose (Belle) live in relative isolation on a beautiful island off the East Coast. When he invites his mainland girlfriend (Keener) and her two teenage sons to come live with them, it is Rose's first exposure to society - and sexuality. As worlds collide, the consequences will threaten not only Jack and Rose's way of life but also their unusually close bond. *1989: Actor, My Left Foot.Soured radical Jack (Daniel Day-Lewis) and his adoring daughter! Rose (Camilla Belle) have formed an unsettling degree of happ! y intima cy in an abandoned commune. But Jack's heart condition leaves him fearful of what will happen to Rose when he dies; to create a family, he invites home his secret girlfriend Kathleen (Catherine Keener, Lovely and Amazing) and her two sons, one overweight and neurotic (Ryan McDonald), the other an aspiring thug (Paul Dano). The collision of cultures and personalities leads to disaster--but this movie is so honestly written and vividly acted that it's impossible not to be drawn in. Great work from Day-Lewis and Keener is no surprise, but Belle matches them as a near wild-child confronting the compromises and conflicting desires of adult life. The perfectly pitched cast also includes Jena Malone (Saved), Jason Lee (Mumford), and Beau Bridges (The Fabulous Baker Boys). Writer/director Rebecca Miller (Personal Velocity) has a gift for both hope and heartbreak. This is only the third film of what promises to be a long and rich career. --Bret F! etzerOscar(r) winner* Daniel Day-Lewis (Gangs of New York) is "a joy to watch" (Newsday) as a defiant idealist in this "moving, often hilariouscoming-of-age story" (Vogue) from writer-director Rebecca Miller (Personal Velocity). Catherine Keener (Being John Malkovich), Camilla Belle (Practical Magic), Beau Bridges (The Fabulous Baker Boys), Jason Lee (Almost Famous) and Jena Malone (Saved!) co-star. Jack (Day-Lewis) and his 16-year-old daughter Rose (Belle) live in relative isolation on a beautiful island off the East Coast. When he invites his mainland girlfriend (Keener) and her two teenage sons to come live with them, it is Rose's first exposure to society - and sexuality. As worlds collide, the consequences will threaten not only Jack and Rose's way of life but also their unusually close bond. *1989: Actor, My Left Foot.Soured radical Jack (Daniel Day-Lewis) and his adoring daughter Rose (Camilla Belle) have formed an unsettling degree of happy intimacy in an abando! ned commune. But Jack's heart condition leaves him fearful of ! what wil l happen to Rose when he dies; to create a family, he invites home his secret girlfriend Kathleen (Catherine Keener, Lovely and Amazing) and her two sons, one overweight and neurotic (Ryan McDonald), the other an aspiring thug (Paul Dano). The collision of cultures and personalities leads to disaster--but this movie is so honestly written and vividly acted that it's impossible not to be drawn in. Great work from Day-Lewis and Keener is no surprise, but Belle matches them as a near wild-child confronting the compromises and conflicting desires of adult life. The perfectly pitched cast also includes Jena Malone (Saved), Jason Lee (Mumford), and Beau Bridges (The Fabulous Baker Boys). Writer/director Rebecca Miller (Personal Velocity) has a gift for both hope and heartbreak. This is only the third film of what promises to be a long and rich career. --Bret FetzerSoured radical Jack (Daniel Day-Lewis) and his adoring daughter Rose (Camill! a Belle) have formed an unsettling degree of happy intimacy in an abandoned commune. But Jack's heart condition leaves him fearful of what will happen to Rose when he dies; to create a family, he invites home his secret girlfriend Kathleen (Catherine Keener, Lovely and Amazing) and her two sons, one overweight and neurotic (Ryan McDonald), the other an aspiring thug (Paul Dano). The collision of cultures and personalities leads to disaster--but this movie is so honestly written and vividly acted that it's impossible not to be drawn in. Great work from Day-Lewis and Keener is no surprise, but Belle matches them as a near wild-child confronting the compromises and conflicting desires of adult life. The perfectly pitched cast also includes Jena Malone (Saved), Jason Lee (Mumford), and Beau Bridges (The Fabulous Baker Boys). Writer/director Rebecca Miller (Personal Velocity) has a gift for both hope and heartbreak. This is only the third film ! of what promises to be a long and rich career. --Bret Fetze! rThe Ballad of Jack and Rose reproduction Approx. Size: 11 x 17 Inches - 28cm x 44cm Style A mini poster print

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Alien Anthology [Blu-ray]

  • Condition: New
  • Format: Blu-ray
  • AC-3; Box set; Dolby; DTS Surround Sound; Dubbed; Subtitled; Widescreen
Brace yourself for a whole new breed of Blu-ray: Four powerful films...eight thrilling versions...in dazzling, terrifying, high-def clarity with the purest digital sound on the planet. Two bonus dics and over 65 hours of archival and never-before-seen content, including the totally immersive MU-TH-UR mode feature, makes this definitive Alien collection!Review of Alien
A landmark of science fiction and horror, Alien arrived in 1979 between Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back as a stylishly malevolent alternative to George Lucas's space fantasy. Partially inspired by 1958's It! The Terror from Beyond Space, this instant classic set a tone of its own, offering richly detailed sets, ominous atmosphere, relentless suspense, and a flawless ! ensemble cast as the crew of the space freighter Nostromo, who fall prey to a vicious creature (designed by Swiss artist H.R. Giger) that had gestated inside one of the ill-fated crew members. In a star-making role, Sigourney Weaver excels as sole survivor Ripley, becoming the screen's most popular heroine in a lucrative movie franchise. To measure the film's success, one need only recall the many images that have been burned into our collective psyche, including the "facehugger," the "chestburster," and Ripley's climactic encounter with the full-grown monster. Impeccably directed by Ridley Scott, Alien is one of the cinema's most unforgettable nightmares. --Jeff Shannon

Review of Aliens
Aliens is one of the few cases of a sequel that far surpassed the original. Sigourney Weaver returns as Ripley, who awakens on Earth only to discover that she has been hibernating in space so long that everyone she knows is dead. Then she i! s talked into traveling (along with a squad of Marines) to a p! lanet un der assault by the same aliens that nearly killed her. Once she gets there, she finds a lost little girl who triggers her maternal instincts--and she discovers that the company has once again double-crossed her, in hopes of capturing one of the aliens to study as a military weapon. Directed and written by James Cameron, this is one of the most intensely exciting (not to mention intensely frightening) action films ever, with a large ensemble cast that includes Bill Paxton, Lance Henriksen, Paul Reiser, and Michael Biehn. Weaver defined the action woman in this film and walked away with an Oscar nomination for her trouble. --Marshall Fine

Review of Alien 3
The least successful film in this series was directed by stylemaster (and content-underachiever) David Fincher. Ripley, the only survivor of her past mission, awakens on a prison planet in the far corners of the solar system. As she tries to recover, she realizes that not on! ly has an alien gotten loose on the planet, the alien has implanted one of its own within her. As she battles the prison authorities (and is aided by the prisoners) in trying to kill the alien, she must also cope with a distinctly shortened lifespan that awaits her. But the striking imagery makes for muddled action and the script confuses it further. The ending looks startling but it takes a long time--and a not particularly satisfying journey--to get there. --Marshall Fine

Review of Alien Resurrection
Perhaps these films are like the Star Trek movies: The even-numbered episodes are the best ones. Certainly this film (directed by French stylist Jean-Pierre Jeunet) is an improvement over Alien 3, with a script that breathes exciting new life into the franchise. This chapter is set even further in the future, where scientists on a space colony have cloned both the alien and Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), who died! in Alien 3; in doing so, however, they've mixed alien DNA wit! h Ripley 's human chromosomes, which gives Ripley surprising power (and a bad attitude). A band of smugglers comes aboard only to discover the new race of aliens--and when the multi-mouthed melonheads get loose, no place is safe. But, on the plus side, they have Ripley as a guide to help them get out. Winona Ryder is on hand as the smugglers' most unlikely crew member (with a secret of her own), but this one is Sigourney's all the way. --Marshall Fine

DOGMA INCLUDES BONUS DIGITAL COPY

  • DVD
  • comedy
  • thrilling
  • fantasy
  • angels
When two banished angels find a loophole that will allow them back into heaven at the cost of humankind an unsuspecting mortal woman two prophets and the thirteenth apostle are the only ones who can stop them. Special features: subtitles in english spanish and french talent files and murch more. Studio: Ingram Entertainment Release Date: 07/26/2005 Starring: Ben Affleck Matt Damon Run time: 130 minutes Rating: R Director: Kevin SmithKevin Smith is a conundrum of a filmmaker: he's a writer with brilliant, clever ideas who can't set up a simple shot to save his life. It was fine back when Smith was making low-budget films like Clerks and Chasing Amy, both of which had an amiable, grungy feel to them, but now that he's a rising director who's attracting top talent and tackling bigger themes, it might behoove ! him to polish his filmmaking. That's the main problem with Dogma--it's an ambitious, funny, aggressively intelligent film about modern-day religion, but while Smith's writing has matured significantly (anyone who thinks he's not topnotch should take a look at Chasing Amy), his direction hasn't. It's too bad, because Dogma is ripe for near-classic status in its theological satire, which is hardly as blasphemous as the protests that greeted the movie would lead you to believe.

Two banished angels (Ben Affleck and Matt Damon) have discovered a loophole that would allow them back into heaven; problem is, they'd destroy civilization in the process by proving God fallible. It's up to Bethany (Linda Fiorentino), a lapsed Catholic who works in an abortion clinic, to save the day, with some help from two so-called prophets (Smith and Jason Mewes, as their perennial characters Jay and Silent Bob), the heretofore unknown 13th apostle (Chris Rock), and a sexy,! heavenly muse (the sublime Salma Hayek, who almost single-han! dedly st eals the film). In some ways Dogma is a shaggy dog of a road movie--which hits a comic peak when Affleck and Fiorentino banter drunkenly on a train to New Jersey, not realizing they're mortal enemies--and segues into a comedy-action flick as the vengeful angels (who have a taste for blood) try to make their way into heaven. Smith's cast is exceptional--with Fiorentino lending a sardonic gravity to the proceedings, and Jason Lee smirking evilly as the horned devil Azrael--and the film shuffles good-naturedly to its climax (featuring Alanis Morissette as a beatifically silent God), but it just looks so unrelentingly... subpar. Credit Smith with being a daring writer but a less-than-stellar director. --Mark EnglehartWHEN TWO BANISHED ANGELS FIND A LOOPHOLE THAT WILL ALLOW THEM BACK INTO HEAVEN AT THE COST OF HUMANKIND, AN UNSUSPECTINGMORTAL WOMAN, TWO PROPHETS AND THE THIRTEENTH APOSTLE ARE THE ONLY ONES WHO CAN STOP THEM. SPECIAL FEATURES: SUBTITLES IN EN! GLISH, SPANISH AND FRENCH, TALENT FILES AND MURCH MORE.Kevin Smith is a conundrum of a filmmaker: he's a writer with brilliant, clever ideas who can't set up a simple shot to save his life. It was fine back when Smith was making low-budget films like Clerks and Chasing Amy, both of which had an amiable, grungy feel to them, but now that he's a rising director who's attracting top talent and tackling bigger themes, it might behoove him to polish his filmmaking. That's the main problem with Dogma--it's an ambitious, funny, aggressively intelligent film about modern-day religion, but while Smith's writing has matured significantly (anyone who thinks he's not topnotch should take a look at Chasing Amy), his direction hasn't. It's too bad, because Dogma is ripe for near-classic status in its theological satire, which is hardly as blasphemous as the protests that greeted the movie would lead you to believe.

Two banished angels (Ben Affleck ! and Matt Damon) have discovered a loophole that would allow th! em back into heaven; problem is, they'd destroy civilization in the process by proving God fallible. It's up to Bethany (Linda Fiorentino), a lapsed Catholic who works in an abortion clinic, to save the day, with some help from two so-called prophets (Smith and Jason Mewes, as their perennial characters Jay and Silent Bob), the heretofore unknown 13th apostle (Chris Rock), and a sexy, heavenly muse (the sublime Salma Hayek, who almost single-handedly steals the film). In some ways Dogma is a shaggy dog of a road movie--which hits a comic peak when Affleck and Fiorentino banter drunkenly on a train to New Jersey, not realizing they're mortal enemies--and segues into a comedy-action flick as the vengeful angels (who have a taste for blood) try to make their way into heaven. Smith's cast is exceptional--with Fiorentino lending a sardonic gravity to the proceedings, and Jason Lee smirking evilly as the horned devil Azrael--and the film shuffles good-naturedly to its climax (featu! ring Alanis Morissette as a beatifically silent God), but it just looks so unrelentingly... subpar. Credit Smith with being a daring writer but a less-than-stellar director. --Mark EnglehartOne of the most talked-about movies of the year is also one of the funniest! In this hilarious comic fantasy from writer/director Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy) two banished angels (Ben Affleck and Matt Damon) find a loophole that would get them back into Heaven. The only snag? They'll be destroying existence in the process. In an effort to stop them, The overworked Voice of God (Alan Rickman)taps cynical mortal Bethany (Linda Fiorentino) to save the world by preventing the angels from reaching their unholy destination: New Jersey! Throw in two unlikely prophets named Jay and Silent Bob (Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith), the quick-witted yet little-known thirteenth apostle (Chris Rock) and a sexy, former muse with a case of writer's block (Selma Hayek) and you! 've got an hysterical and thrilling race against time packed w! ith an a ll-star cast.Kevin Smith is a conundrum of a filmmaker: he's a writer with brilliant, clever ideas who can't set up a simple shot to save his life. It was fine back when Smith was making low-budget films like Clerks and Chasing Amy, both of which had an amiable, grungy feel to them, but now that he's a rising director who's attracting top talent and tackling bigger themes, it might behoove him to polish his filmmaking. That's the main problem with Dogma--it's an ambitious, funny, aggressively intelligent film about modern-day religion, but while Smith's writing has matured significantly (anyone who thinks he's not topnotch should take a look at Chasing Amy), his direction hasn't. It's too bad, because Dogma is ripe for near-classic status in its theological satire, which is hardly as blasphemous as the protests that greeted the movie would lead you to believe.

Two banished angels (Ben Affleck and Matt Damon) have discovered a loophole ! that would allow them back into heaven; problem is, they'd destroy civilization in the process by proving God fallible. It's up to Bethany (Linda Fiorentino), a lapsed Catholic who works in an abortion clinic, to save the day, with some help from two so-called prophets (Smith and Jason Mewes, as their perennial characters Jay and Silent Bob), the heretofore unknown 13th apostle (Chris Rock), and a sexy, heavenly muse (the sublime Salma Hayek, who almost single-handedly steals the film). In some ways Dogma is a shaggy dog of a road movie--which hits a comic peak when Affleck and Fiorentino banter drunkenly on a train to New Jersey, not realizing they're mortal enemies--and segues into a comedy-action flick as the vengeful angels (who have a taste for blood) try to make their way into heaven. Smith's cast is exceptional--with Fiorentino lending a sardonic gravity to the proceedings, and Jason Lee smirking evilly as the horned devil Azrael--and the film shuffles good-na! turedly to its climax (featuring Alanis Morissette as a beatif! ically s ilent God), but it just looks so unrelentingly... subpar. Credit Smith with being a daring writer but a less-than-stellar director. --Mark EnglehartImaginative theology and a bigger-than-usual budget make Kevin Smith's (CHASING AMY, CLERKS) fourth film a kind of post-Catholic fantasy that only a comic-book enthusiast of his caliber could dream up. It concerns banished angels, Loki (Matt Damon) and Bartleby (Ben Affleck) who, after a few millennia in Wisconsin, discover a loophole in Catholic doctrine that would allow them back into heaven--but prove the fallibility of God and destroy the universe. As they make their way to New Jersey to receive a plenary indulgence, God dispatches a seraphim (Alan Rickman) to recruit lapsed-Catholic Bethany (Linda Fiorentino) to stop the angels. She finds help in muses, prophets (Jay and Silent Bob), and the forgotten 13th apostle, Rufus (Chris Rock). Before long, all hell breaks loose (literally), and God (Alanis Morrisette) ! has to put in an appearance of her own. Smith's controversial (and very funny) film is powered by his trademark dialogue, ripe with observations on pop culture, religion, and bodily functions Included bonus digital copy for your PC & PSP must be redeemed by 06/17/09

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