Blindness

• TESTED

A driver waiting at the traffic lights goes blind. An opthamologist tries to diagnose his distinctive white blindness, but is affected before he can read the textbooks. It becomes a contagion, spreading throughout the city. Trying to stem the epidemic, the authorities herd the afflicted into a mental asylum where the wards are terrorized by blind thugs. And when fire destroys the asylum, the inmates burst forth and the last links with a supposedly civilized society are snapped. No food, no water, no government, no obligation, no order. This is not anarchy, this is blindness.In an unnamed city in an unnamed country, a man sitting in his car waiting for a traffic light to change is suddenly struck blind. But instead of being plunged into darkness, this man sees everything white, as if he "were caught in a mist or had fallen into a milky sea." A Good Samaritan offers to drive him home (an! d later steals his car); his wife takes him by taxi to a nearby eye clinic where they are ushered past other patients into the doctor's office. Within a day the man's wife, the taxi driver, the doctor and his patients, and the car thief have all succumbed to blindness. As the epidemic spreads, the government panics and begins quarantining victims in an abandoned mental asylum--guarded by soldiers with orders to shoot anyone who tries to escape. So begins Portuguese author José Saramago's gripping story of humanity under siege, written with a dearth of paragraphs, limited punctuation, and embedded dialogue minus either quotation marks or attribution. At first this may seem challenging, but the style actually contributes to the narrative's building tension, and to the reader's involvement.

In this community of blind people there is still one set of functioning eyes: the doctor's wife has affected blindness in order to accompany her husband to the asylum. As the number of! victims grows and the asylum becomes overcrowded, systems beg! in to br eak down: toilets back up, food deliveries become sporadic; there is no medical treatment for the sick and no proper way to bury the dead. Inevitably, social conventions begin to crumble as well, with one group of blind inmates taking control of the dwindling food supply and using it to exploit the others. Through it all, the doctor's wife does her best to protect her little band of blind charges, eventually leading them out of the hospital and back into the horribly changed landscape of the city.

Blindness is in many ways a horrific novel, detailing as it does the total breakdown in society that follows upon this most unnatural disaster. Saramago takes his characters to the very edge of humanity and then pushes them over the precipice. His people learn to live in inexpressible filth, they commit acts of both unspeakable violence and amazing generosity that would have been unimaginable to them before the tragedy. The very structure of society itself alters to suit! the circumstances as once-civilized, urban dwellers become ragged nomads traveling by touch from building to building in search of food. The devil is in the details, and Saramago has imagined for us in all its devastation a hell where those who went blind in the streets can never find their homes again, where people are reduced to eating chickens raw and packs of dogs roam the excrement-covered sidewalks scavenging from corpses.

And yet in the midst of all this horror Saramago has written passages of unsurpassed beauty. Upon being told she is beautiful by three of her charges, women who have never seen her, "the doctor's wife is reduced to tears because of a personal pronoun, an adverb, a verb, an adjective, mere grammatical categories, mere labels, just like the two women, the others, indefinite pronouns, they too are crying, they embrace the woman of the whole sentence, three graces beneath the falling rain." In this one woman Saramago has created an enduring, full! y developed character who serves both as the eyes and ears of ! the read er and as the conscience of the race. And in Blindness he has written a profound, ultimately transcendent meditation on what it means to be human. --Alix WilberIn Blindness, a city is overcome by an epidemic of blindness that spares only one woman. She becomes a guide for a group of seven strangers and serves as the eyes and ears for the reader in this profound parable of loss and disorientation. We return to the city years later in Saramago’s Seeing, a satirical commentary on government in general and democracy in particular. Together here for the first time, this beautiful edition will be a welcome addition to the library of any Saramago fan.

A city is hit by an epidemic of "white blindness" which spares no one. Authorities confine the blind to an empty mental hospital, but there the criminal element holds everyone captive, stealing food rations and raping women. There is one eyewitness to this nightmare who guides seven strangers-amo! ng them a boy with no mother, a girl with dark glasses, a dog of tears-through the barren streets, and the procession becomes as uncanny as the surroundings are harrowing. A magnificent parable of loss and disorientation and a vivid evocation of the horrors of the twentieth century, Blindness has swept the reading public with its powerful portrayal of man's worst appetites and weaknesses-and man's ultimately exhilarating spirit. The stunningly powerful novel of man's will to survive against all odds, by the winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize for Literature

 

The e-book includes a sample chapter from the late Nobel Prize winner's final work, Cain.In an unnamed city in an unnamed country, a man sitting in his car waiting for a traffic light to change is suddenly struck blind. But instead of being plunged into darkness, this man sees everything white, as if he "were caught in a mist or had fallen into a milky sea." A Good Samaritan offers to drive him h! ome (and later steals his car); his wife takes him by taxi to ! a nearby eye clinic where they are ushered past other patients into the doctor's office. Within a day the man's wife, the taxi driver, the doctor and his patients, and the car thief have all succumbed to blindness. As the epidemic spreads, the government panics and begins quarantining victims in an abandoned mental asylum--guarded by soldiers with orders to shoot anyone who tries to escape. So begins Portuguese author José Saramago's gripping story of humanity under siege, written with a dearth of paragraphs, limited punctuation, and embedded dialogue minus either quotation marks or attribution. At first this may seem challenging, but the style actually contributes to the narrative's building tension, and to the reader's involvement.

In this community of blind people there is still one set of functioning eyes: the doctor's wife has affected blindness in order to accompany her husband to the asylum. As the number of victims grows and the asylum becomes overcrowded, systems begin! to break down: toilets back up, food deliveries become sporadic; there is no medical treatment for the sick and no proper way to bury the dead. Inevitably, social conventions begin to crumble as well, with one group of blind inmates taking control of the dwindling food supply and using it to exploit the others. Through it all, the doctor's wife does her best to protect her little band of blind charges, eventually leading them out of the hospital and back into the horribly changed landscape of the city.

Blindness is in many ways a horrific novel, detailing as it does the total breakdown in society that follows upon this most unnatural disaster. Saramago takes his characters to the very edge of humanity and then pushes them over the precipice. His people learn to live in inexpressible filth, they commit acts of both unspeakable violence and amazing generosity that would have been unimaginable to them before the tragedy. The very structure of society itself alters ! to suit the circumstances as once-civilized, urban dwellers be! come rag ged nomads traveling by touch from building to building in search of food. The devil is in the details, and Saramago has imagined for us in all its devastation a hell where those who went blind in the streets can never find their homes again, where people are reduced to eating chickens raw and packs of dogs roam the excrement-covered sidewalks scavenging from corpses.

And yet in the midst of all this horror Saramago has written passages of unsurpassed beauty. Upon being told she is beautiful by three of her charges, women who have never seen her, "the doctor's wife is reduced to tears because of a personal pronoun, an adverb, a verb, an adjective, mere grammatical categories, mere labels, just like the two women, the others, indefinite pronouns, they too are crying, they embrace the woman of the whole sentence, three graces beneath the falling rain." In this one woman Saramago has created an enduring, fully developed character who serves both as the eyes and ears of th! e reader and as the conscience of the race. And in Blindness he has written a profound, ultimately transcendent meditation on what it means to be human. --Alix Wilber

A city is hit by an epidemic of "white blindness" which spares no one. Authorities confine the blind to an empty mental hospital, but there the criminal element holds everyone captive, stealing food rations and raping women. There is one eyewitness to this nightmare who guides seven strangers-among them a boy with no mother, a girl with dark glasses, a dog of tears-through the barren streets, and the procession becomes as uncanny as the surroundings are harrowing. A magnificent parable of loss and disorientation and a vivid evocation of the horrors of the twentieth century, Blindness has swept the reading public with its powerful portrayal of man's worst appetites and weaknesses-and man's ultimately exhilarating spirit. The stunningly powerful novel of man's will to survive against all odds,! by the winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize for Literature

  

The e-book includes a sample chapter from the late Nobel Prize winner's final work, Cain.From acclaimed director Fernando Meirelles (The Constant Gardener) comes this extraordinarily intense and gritty thriller that will change your vision of the world forever. Led by a powerful all-star cast featuring Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo and Danny Glover, this unflinching story begins when a plague of blindness strikes and threatens all of humanity. One woman (Moore) feigns the illness to share an uncertain fate in quarantine, where society is breaking down as fast as their crumbling surroundings. Based on Nobel Prize-winning Jos‚ Saramago's novel -- let Blindness lead you on a journey where the only thing more terrifying than being blind is being the only one who can see.

The Banger Sisters

• Condition: New
• Format: DVD
• Closed-captioned; Color; Dolby; DVD; Widescreen; NTSC

The last thing Phoenix wife and mother Susan Sarandon expected was for former best friend Goldie Hawn to show up at her door. And for Hawn, still embracing the hedonistic ways that made them legendary rock groupies in the '60s, it was to see Sarandon's prim suburban lifestyle. The now-mismatched duo's clash of values and ultimate reconciliation give this buddy comedy its bang. With Geoffrey Rush, Erika Christensen, Eva Amurri. 98 min. Standard and Widescreen; Soundtracks: English Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital Surround, Spanish Dolby Digital Surround; Subtitles: English, Spanish; audio commentary; featurette; bloopers; theatrical trailer.For thinly scripted fluff, The Banger Sisters sure is a lot of fun. With Goldie Hawn and Susan Sarandon as former groupies now settling into the! ir fifties, this predictable comedy gets a zesty boost of vitality and unsentimental nostalgia. Trouble is, Lavinia (or Vinnie, played by Sarandon) is an uptight Phoenix housewife with a lawyer husband, two spoiled daughters, and a calendar full of charity benefits. Free-spirited Suzette (Hawn) remained true to their past as the notorious rocker-lovin' Banger Sisters, and when she visits Vinnie after decades apart, it's not long before Vinnie rediscovers the lively self she'd buried under her drably expensive wardrobe. It's conspicuously formulaic, with Geoffrey Rush as another buttoned-up character liberated by Suzette's fun-loving wisdom. And yet, as Goldie channels the "Penny Lane" vibe that her daughter, Kate Hudson, brought to Almost Famous, this light and laugh-worthy movie reminds us that it's never too late to indulge a bit of rock & roll abandon. --Jeff Shannon

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The Big Lebowski

• ISBN13: 9780571193356
• Condition: New
• Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

In 1998 the Academy Award®-winning Coen brothers released the film The Big Lebowski—the hilariously quirky comedy-thriller about bowling, avant-garde art, nihilistic Austrians and a guy named . . . the Dude. Starring Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, and John Turturro, The Big Lebowski has grown into a cult classic more than a decade after its original release.

Now Achievers everywhere can enjoy The Big Lebowski Kit—a boxful of fun, Lebowski-style, with:

• Oriental-rug mousepad that Â"really ties your desk together”
• Severed big toe—with polish! (rubber)
• Magnet with the classic phrase, Â"The Dude Abides”
• Little Lebowski U! rban Achievers Certificate
• Â"the Dude” embroidered bowling-shirt patch
• 32-page book with trivia and images from the film

It’s great fun for everyone—even nihilists!

The ultimate fan's guide to the Coen Brothers' cult classic, with an introduction by the Dude himself, Jeff Bridges.
 
To some The Big Lebowski is just a movie, to others it's THE MOVIE. Over the past several years the movie has developed a massive and passionate cult following, led by the creation of Lebowski Fest, a traveling festival celebrating all things Lebowski. Held in a bowling alley, it features bowling, costume and trivia contests, live music, a screening of the movie, White Russians, and what-have-you. Attendance has grown exponentially and the Fest has been featured in virtually every national media outlet, from NPR to the New York Times. The Associated Press called it "kind of a 'Star Trek' convention, but without all! the geeks." SPIN Magazine called it one of the "19 eve! nts you can't miss!" Now, at last, comes the book that the legion of Lebowski fans (aka Achievers) has been waiting for. I'm a Lebowski, You're a Lebowski is a treasure trove of trivia and commentary, hilarious throughout and illustrated with photos from the film, including dozens taken on the set by Jeff Bridges. It includes interviews with virtually every major and minor cast member including John Goodman, Julianne Moore and John Turturro, as well as the real-life individuals who served as inspiration for the characters such as Jeff Dowd and John Milius. Fellow Achievers Patton Oswalt, Tony Hawk and Powerpuff Girls creator Craig McCracken give their thoughts on the movie and the phenomenon that surrounds it. The book features a handy guide to speaking Achiever, tips on how to Dude-ify your car, office, and living space, Lebowski Fest highlights and so much more.

A massive underground sensation, The Big Lebowski has been hailed as the first cult fi! lm of the internet age. In this book, 21 fans and scholars address the film's influencesâ€"westerns, noir, grail legends, the 1960s, and Fluxusâ€"and its historical connections to the first Iraq war, boomers, slackerdom, surrealism, college culture, and of course bowling. The Year's Work in Lebowski Studies contains neither arid analyses nor lectures for the late-night crowd, but new ways of thinking and writing about film culture.

(2009)Celebrate the Dude with an abiding look at the philosophy behind The Big Lebowski

Is the Dude a bowling-loving stoner or a philosophical genius living the good life? Naturally, it's the latter, and The Big Lebowski and Philosophy explains why. Enlisting the help of great thinkers like Plato and Nietzsche, the book explores the movie's hidden philosophical layers, cultural reflection, and political commentary. It also answers key questions, including: The Dude abides, but is abiding a virtue? Is the Dude an America! nized version of the Taoist way of life? How does The Big L! ebowski< /i> illustrate the Just War Theory? How does bowling help Donny, Walter, and the Dude oppose nihilism? Yes, the Dude is deep, and so is this book. Don't watch the movie—or go to Lebowski Fest—without it.

• Explores many of The Big Lebowski's key themes, such as nihilism, war and politics, money and materialism, idealism and morality, history, and more
• Gives you new perspective on the movie's charactersâ€"the Dude, the Big Lebowski, Walter Sobchak, Donny, Maude Lebowski, Bunny Lebowski, and others
• Helps you appreciate the Coen Brothers classic even more with the insights of Aristotle, Epicurus, Kant, Derrida, and other philosophical heavyweights

Winners of two Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay and for Best Actress for their odd and wonderful Fargo, the Coen Brothers present their new film: The Big Lebowski, starring Jeff Bridges and John Goodman.

Ethan and Joel Coen have carved out their niche as Ame! rica's preeminent independent filmmakers. Their films are quirky, arresting, comic, and intelligent. Not given to talking publicly about their work, they have given access to William Preston Robertson and Tricia Cooke to interview the cast and crew of their latest film, The Big Lebowski. In a prose style that complements the Coens's filmic one, the book discusses the Coens's oeuvre, the themes of their films, their atypical brand of humor, their craft and their artistic vision. Several scenes of The Big Lebowski are examined closely to see how the movie goes from idea to reality, making this an ideal book for fans, filmmakers, and filmmaking students.

The Big Lebowski is a razor-sharp comedy thriller of mistaken identity, gangsters, bowling, kidnapping, and money gone astray, written by the Coens, directed by Joel Coen, and produced by Ethan Coen. In addition to Jeff Bridges and John Goodman, the film stars Steve Buscemi, Julianne M! oore, John Turturro, Willem DaFoe, Sam Elliot, and Ben Gazzara! .
32 full-color photographs and 130 black-and-white photographs and illustrationsSince their debut with Blood Simple in 1984, Joel and Ethan Coen have created a unique body of work that seems to project their combined imaginations directly onto the movie screen. By concentrating on the filming of their homage to Raymond Chandler, The Big Lebowski, this book provides a great deal of insight into the way that these extraordinary filmmakers take an idea and transform it into a movie.

Text and illustrations combine to reveal the Coens' combination of quirkiness and craft, and the ways that the singular (or is it binary?) vision of the brothers combines with actors and crew in the group effort necessary to produce a finished film. This book doesn't attempt a critical analysis of the work of Joel and Ethan Coen--the complexity of their vision resists such an approach. Instead, we're treated to a fly-on-the-wall view of the creative process, and it's ! enough to get the most casual film lover to grab a notebook, rent a camera, and start making movies! --Simon Leake

The Big Lebowski begins with a case of mistaken identity which escalates when Jeffrey Lebowski-alias The Dude-attempts to seek recompense for the despoliation of his ratty-ass little rug, and then finds himself entangled in a kidnapping caper as a bagman-a situation that goes from bad to worse due to the interference of his hapless bowling partners.

In this film the Coen brothers have taken on the preoccupations of Raymond Chandler, but have given them a postmodern spin, while at the same time leaving Philip Marlowe's ethos intact as The Dude wanders through the fractured world of nineties L.A. trying to do the right thing. Like the award winning Fargo, The Big Lebowski is suffused with a droll humor and a verbal felicity that is as delightful as it is startling.

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Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father

• When their mother needs to leave in order to find their estranged father, six-year-old Jin and her younger sister, Bin, are left to live with their Big Aunt for the summer. With only a small piggy bank and their mother s promise to return when it is full, the two young girls are forced to acclimate to changes in their family life. Counting the days, and the coins, the two bright-eyed young girls e

The shocking 2001 murder of 28-year-old Pennsylvanian Dr. Andrew Bagby forms the basis of this deeply emotional documentary helmed by Kurt Kuenne, his oldest friend. Chronicling the circumstances that led to his killing and the bizarre legal battles that followed, Kuenne shines an accusing spotlight on Bagby's ex-girlfriend Dr. Shirley Turner, who fled to Canada carrying his unborn child. 95 min. Soundtrack: English.

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Dracula Movie Bela Lugosi 1931 Poster Print - 11x17

• decorate your walls with this brand new poster
• ships quickly and safely in a sturdy protective tube
• measures 11.00 by 17.00 inches
• high quality full color poster with white border

DRACULA:THE LEGACY COLLECTION - DVD MovieDRACULA - DVD MovieWhen Universal Pictures picked up the movie rights to a Broadway adaptation of Dracula, they felt secure in handing the property over to the sinister team of actor Lon Chaney and director Tod Browning. But Chaney died of cancer, and Universal hired the Hungarian who had scored a success in the stage play: Béla Lugosi. The resulting film launched both Lugosi's baroque career and the horror-movie cycle of the 1930s. It gets off to an atmospheric start, as we meet Count Dracula in his shadowy castle in Transylvania, superbly captured by the great cinematographer Karl Freund. Eventually Dracula and his blood-sucking devotee (Dwig! ht Frye, in one of the cinema's truly mad performances) meet their match in a vampire-hunter called Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan). If the later sections of the film are undeniably stage bound and a tad creaky, Dracula nevertheless casts a spell, thanks to Lugosi's creepily lugubrious manner and the eerie silences of Browning's directing style. (After a mood-enhancing snippet of Swan Lake under the opening titles, there is no music in the film.) Frankenstein, which was released a few months later, confirmed the horror craze, and Universal has been making money (and countless spin-off projects) from its twin titans of terror ever since. Certainly the role left a lasting impression on the increasingly addled and drug-addicted Lugosi, who was never quite able to distance himself from the part that made him a star. He was buried, at his request, in his black vampire cape. --Robert HortonThe legend of Dracula continues in this gripping, masterful 2-disc edit! ion of cinema's most ominous vampire, digitally remastered for! the 75t h Anniversary Edition. Relive the horror, the mystery, and the intrigue of the original 1931 vampire masterpiece starring Bela Lugosi and directed by Tod Browning. The inspiration for hundreds of subsequent remakes and adaptations, this classic film launched the Hollywood horror genre with its eerie passion, shadowy atmosphere, and thrilling cinematography. The children of the night are callingWhen Universal Pictures picked up the movie rights to a Broadway adaptation of Dracula, they felt secure in handing the property over to the sinister team of actor Lon Chaney and director Tod Browning. But Chaney died of cancer, and Universal hired the Hungarian who had scored a success in the stage play: Béla Lugosi. The resulting film launched both Lugosi's baroque career and the horror-movie cycle of the 1930s. It gets off to an atmospheric start, as we meet Count Dracula in his shadowy castle in Transylvania, superbly captured by the great cinematographer Karl Freund. Event! ually Dracula and his blood-sucking devotee (Dwight Frye, in one of the cinema's truly mad performances) meet their match in a vampire-hunter called Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan). If the later sections of the film are undeniably stage bound and a tad creaky, Dracula nevertheless casts a spell, thanks to Lugosi's creepily lugubrious manner and the eerie silences of Browning's directing style. (After a mood-enhancing snippet of Swan Lake under the opening titles, there is no music in the film.) Frankenstein, which was released a few months later, confirmed the horror craze, and Universal has been making money (and countless spin-off projects) from its twin titans of terror ever since. Certainly the role left a lasting impression on the increasingly addled and drug-addicted Lugosi, who was never quite able to distance himself from the part that made him a star. He was buried, at his request, in his black vampire cape. --Robert HortonWhen Universal Picture! s picked up the movie rights to a Broadway adaptation of Dr! acula, they felt secure in handing the property over to the sinister team of actor Lon Chaney and director Tod Browning. But Chaney died of cancer, and Universal hired the Hungarian who had scored a success in the stage play: Béla Lugosi. The resulting film launched both Lugosi's baroque career and the horror-movie cycle of the 1930s. It gets off to an atmospheric start, as we meet Count Dracula in his shadowy castle in Transylvania, superbly captured by the great cinematographer Karl Freund. Eventually Dracula and his blood-sucking devotee (Dwight Frye, in one of the cinema's truly mad performances) meet their match in a vampire-hunter called Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan). If the later sections of the film are undeniably stage bound and a tad creaky, Dracula nevertheless casts a spell, thanks to Lugosi's creepily lugubrious manner and the eerie silences of Browning's directing style. (After a mood-enhancing snippet of Swan Lake under the opening titles, there is no mus! ic in the film.) Frankenstein, which was released a few months later, confirmed the horror craze, and Universal has been making money (and countless spin-off projects) from its twin titans of terror ever since. Certainly the role left a lasting impression on the increasingly addled and drug-addicted Lugosi, who was never quite able to distance himself from the part that made him a star. He was buried, at his request, in his black vampire cape. --Robert HortonThe vampire has always had audience appeal. What is amazing is that Hollywood shunned the King of Vampires for years fearing the story was too gruesome of any movie audience's palette. When Universal finally decided to make a screen production of the classic novel and successful Broadway play, they were not originally going to pursue Bela Lugosi for the part even though he had stunned audiences with his performance in the Broadway role for years. This MagicImage Filmbook traces the long trail of t! he classic 1931 production from legend to screenplay to film.! Includ es treatments, preliminary scripts even, for the first time anywhere, reproductions of some of Bram Stoker's original handwritten and typed draft manuscript for the novel. Special Introduction by Bela Lugosi and Preface by Carla Laemmle. Boris Karloff stars as the screen's most memorable monster in what many consider to be the greatest horror film ever made. Dr. Frankenstein (Colin Clive) dares to tamper with life and death by creating a human monster (Karloff) out of lifeless body parts. It's director James Whale's adaptation of the Mary Shelley novel blended with Karloff's compassionate portrayal of a creature groping for identity that makes Frankenstein a masterpiece not only of the genre, but for all time.Dracula Movie Bela Lugosi 1931 Poster Print - 11x17

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Dreamcatcher Double Ring with Beads & Feathers 19.5-inch (1-pc in Random Color)

• Double Ring dreamcatcher
• Decorated with beads and feathers
• Makes an excellent gift
• Includes 1 dreamcatcher in random color
• 6.5inch wide, 19.5inch long

Double ring dreamcatcher that is decorated with beads and feathers. Each dreamcatcher is 6.5inch wide and 19.5inch long. Makes a great gift. Sold in random color. Includes 1 dreamcatcher.

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And Soon the Darkness

• AND SOON THE DARKNESS (DVD MOVIE)

Stephanie (Amber Heard) and Ellie’s (Odette Yustman) vacation to an exotic village in Argentina is a perfect ‘girl’s getaway’ to bask in the sun, shop and flirt with the handsome locals. After a long night of bar-hopping, the girls get into an argument, and Stephanie heads out alone in the morning to cool off. But when she returns, Ellie has disappeared. Finding signs of a struggle, Stephanie fears the worst, and turns to the police for help. But the local authorities have their hands full already - with a string of unsolved kidnappings targeting young female tourists. Skeptical of the sheriff’s competency, she enlists help from Michael (Karl Urban), an American ex-pat staying at their hotel. Together they go on a frantic search for Ellie, but Stephanie soon realizes that trusting his seemingly good intentions may drag her farther from the! truth. With danger mounting, and time running out, Stephanie must find her friend before darkness falls.

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Annapolis (Full Screen Edition)

• Working-class tough guy Jake Huard (James Franco) gets a chance to make good when he's accepted into the famed Annapolis Naval Academy, but his buddies and dad back at the shipyard doubt he'll last a month. The film moves through his first year at the academy, culminating in the big boxing tournament, which is Huard's chance to get revenge against his stoic-beyond-the-call-of-duty seni

Filled with intense action, ANNAPOLIS is an inspirational tale of courage and honor that will keep you riveted. As hard as it is to get into the most elite military academy in the country, surviving behind its walls is beyond belief. Young Jake Huard (James Franco) has always known he has what it takes to make the grade. But once inside, everything Jake thought he knew is challenged in ways he never could have imagined. Standing between him and his lifelong ambition of becoming an officer in the U.S. Navy is hi! s company commander -- Midshipman Lt. Cole (Tyrese Gibson), a relentless and merciless battle-seasoned Marine. Thrilling and exhilarating, ANNAPOLIS reaffirms the power of believing in your dreams.A boxing movie done up in Naval Academy drag, Annapolis stars James Franco (Spider-Man, Tristan & Isolde) as Jake Huard, a shipbuilder's son who wants to prove to his father--and to himself--that he can cut it as a Naval officer. But at the Academy he runs afoul of a hard-nosed training officer named Cole (Tyrese Gibson, Four Brothers), who does all he can to drive Huard out of the school. They end up settling their differences in the boxing ring during the Academy's annual competition. Annapolis is a bundle of cliches, from Huard's interracial mix of roommates to the lessons he learns about teamwork, but it's an efficient and vigorous bundle of cliches. Director Justin Lin (Better Luck Tomorrow) keeps the pace swift and the visuals snappy, parti! cularly in the boxing scenes. Franco and Gibson work hard to o! utdo eac h other's burning gazes; both are handsome men of modest acting talent, but they suit their roles reasonably well. Also featuring Jordana Brewster (The Fast and the Furious), Donnie Wahlberg (Saw II), and the always charming Chi McBride (Roll Bounce). --Bret Fetzer

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