The Black Swan: Second Edition: The Impact of the Highly Improbable: With a new section: "On Robustness and Fragility"

• ISBN13: 9780812973815
• Condition: New
• Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

“You can’t tear your eyes away” (Entertainment Weekly) from this “wicked, psychosexual thriller” (Daily Variety) starring ACADEMY AWARD® WINNER Natalie Portman* and directed by Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler ). Portman delivers “the performance of her career” (Vanity Fair ) as Nina, a stunningly talented but dangerously unstable ballerina on the verge of stardom. Pushed to the breaking point by her driven artistic director (Vincent Cassel) and the threat posed by a seductive rival dancer (Mila Kunis), Nina’s tenuous grip on reality starts to slip away â€" plunging her into a waking nightmare.Feverish worlds such as espionage and warfare have nothing on the hothouse realm of ballet, as ! director Darren Aronofsky makes clear in Black Swan, his over-the-top delve into a particularly fraught production of Swan Lake. At the very moment hard-working ballerina Nina (Natalie Portman) lands the plum role of the White Swan, her company director (Vincent Cassel) informs her that she'll also play the Black Swan--and while Nina's precise, almost virginal technique will serve her well in the former role, the latter will require a looser, lustier attack. The strain of reaching within herself for these feelings, along with nattering comments from her mother (Barbara Hershey) and the perceived rivalry from a new dancer (Mila Kunis), are enough to make anybody crack… and tracing out the fault lines of Nina's breakdown is right in Aronofsky's wheelhouse. Those cracks are broad indeed, as Nina's psychological instability is telegraphed with blunt-force emphasis in this neurotic roller-coaster ride. The characters are stick figures--literally, in the case of t! he dancers, but also as single-note stereotypes in the horror ! show: wi tchy bad mommy, sexually intimidating male boss, wacko diva (Winona Ryder, as the prima ballerina Nina is replacing). Yet the film does work up some crazed momentum (and undeniably earned its share of critical raves), and the final sequence is one juicy curtain-dropper. A good part of the reason for this is the superbly all-or-nothing performance by Natalie Portman, who packs an enormous amount of ferocity into her small body. Kudos, too, to Tchaikovsky's incredibly durable music, which has meshed well with psychological horror at least since being excerpted for the memorably moody opening credits of the 1931 Dracula, another pirouette through the dark side. --Robert Horton“You can’t tear your eyes away” (Entertainment Weekly) from this “wicked, psychosexual thriller” (Daily Variety) starring Academy Award® Winner Natalie Portman and directed by Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler). Portman delivers “the performance of her career” (Vanity Fai! r ) as Nina, a stunningly talented but dangerously unstable ballerina on the verge of stardom. Pushed to the breaking point by her driven artistic director (Vincent Cassel) and the threat posed by a seductive rival dancer (Mila Kunis), Nina’s tenuous grip on reality starts to slip away â€" plunging her into a waking nightmare.Feverish worlds such as espionage and warfare have nothing on the hothouse realm of ballet, as director Darren Aronofsky makes clear in Black Swan, his over-the-top delve into a particularly fraught production of Swan Lake. At the very moment hard-working ballerina Nina (Natalie Portman) lands the plum role of the White Swan, her company director (Vincent Cassel) informs her that she'll also play the Black Swan--and while Nina's precise, almost virginal technique will serve her well in the former role, the latter will require a looser, lustier attack. The strain of reaching within herself for these feelings, along with nattering comment! s from her mother (Barbara Hershey) and the perceived rivalry ! from a n ew dancer (Mila Kunis), are enough to make anybody crack… and tracing out the fault lines of Nina's breakdown is right in Aronofsky's wheelhouse. Those cracks are broad indeed, as Nina's psychological instability is telegraphed with blunt-force emphasis in this neurotic roller-coaster ride. The characters are stick figures--literally, in the case of the dancers, but also as single-note stereotypes in the horror show: witchy bad mommy, sexually intimidating male boss, wacko diva (Winona Ryder, as the prima ballerina Nina is replacing). Yet the film does work up some crazed momentum (and undeniably earned its share of critical raves), and the final sequence is one juicy curtain-dropper. A good part of the reason for this is the superbly all-or-nothing performance by Natalie Portman, who packs an enormous amount of ferocity into her small body. Kudos, too, to Tchaikovsky's incredibly durable music, which has meshed well with psychological horror at least since being excerpted! for the memorably moody opening credits of the 1931 Dracula, another pirouette through the dark side. --Robert HortonTyrone Power and Maureen Oâ??Hara cross romantic swords in this epic OscarÂ(r)-winning* swashbuckler about a pirate determined to reform his thieving ways â?" after he steals one last heart!

Recently reformed pirate Jamie Boy (Power) is supposed to be helping the new Governor of Jamaica, Captain Morgan, rid the Caribbean of black-hearted buccaneers. But when Jamie falls head over keel for the heavenly â?" but hotheaded â?" Lady Margaret (Oâ??Hara), he gives caution the heave-ho, kidnaps Margaret and sets sail for the adventure of a lifetime! Packed with â??action, excitement, thundering guns and a maiden in distressâ? (Variety), this â??brawny, blood-curdlingâ? (Look Magazine) high-seas saga that remains a rollicking, â??timeless pleasureâ? (Los Angeles Times)! * Best Cinematography, Color: Leon Shamroy, 1942.A black swan! is an event, positive or negative, that is deemed improbable ! yet caus es massive consequences. In this groundbreaking and prophetic book, Taleb shows in a playful way that Black Swan events explain almost everything about our world, and yet weâ€"especially the expertsâ€"are blind to them. In this second edition, Taleb has added a new essay, On Robustness and Fragility, which offers tools to navigate and exploit a Black Swan world.

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The Disappearance of Alice Creed [Blu-ray]

• DISAPPEARANCE OF ALICE CREED, THE BLU-R (BLU-RAY DISC)

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

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The Foreign Correspondent: A Novel

• ISBN13: 9780812967975
• Condition: New
• Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

From Alan Furst, whom The New York Times calls “America’s preeminent spy novelist,” comes an epic story of romantic love, love of country, and love of freedomâ€"the story of a secret war fought in elegant hotel bars and first-class railway cars, in the mountains of Spain and the backstreets of Berlin. It is an inspiring, thrilling saga of everyday people forced by their hearts’ passion to fight in the war against tyranny.

By 1938, hundreds of Italian intellectuals, lawyers and journalists, university professors and scientists had escaped Mussolini’s fascist government and taken refuge in Paris. There, amid the struggles of émigré life, they founded an Italian resistance, with an unde! rground press that smuggled news and encouragement back to Italy. Fighting fascism with typewriters, they produced 512 clandestine newspapers. The Foreign Correspondent is their story.

Paris, a winter night in 1938: a murder/suicide at a discreet lovers’ hotel. But this is no romantic tragedâ€"it is the work of the OVRA, Mussolini’s fascist secret police, and is meant to eliminate the editor of Liberazione, a clandestine émigré newspaper. Carlo Weisz, who has fled from Trieste and secured a job as a foreign correspondent with the Reuters bureau, becomes the new editor.
Weisz is, at that moment, in Spain, reporting on the last campaign of the Spanish civil war. But as soon as he returns to Paris, he is pursued by the French Sûreté, by agents of the OVRA, and by officers of the British Secret Intelligence Service. In the desperate politics of Europe on the edge of war, a foreign correspondent is a pawn, worth surveillance, or blackmail, or mur! der.

The Foreign Correspondent is the story of Carlo W! eisz and a handful of antifascists: the army officer known as “Colonel Ferrara,” who fights for a lost cause in Spain; Arturo Salamone, the shrewd leader of a resistance group in Paris; and Christa von Schirren, the woman who becomes the love of Weisz’s life, herself involved in a doomed resistance underground in Berlin.

The Foreign Correspondent is Alan Furst at his absolute bestâ€"taut and powerful, enigmatic and romantic, with sharp, seductive writing that takes the reader through darkness and intrigue to a spectacular denouement.


From the Hardcover edition.

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The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day Movie (Holding Guns) Poster Print - 24x36 Movie Poster Print, 24x36

• Poster Title: The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day Movie (Holding Guns) Poster Print - 24x36
• Size: 24 x 36 inches

From Troy Duffy, writer and director of The Boondock Saints, comes the much anticipated sequel to the tough, stylized cutting edge saga of the MacManus brothers (Norman Reedus, Sean Patrick Flanery). The two have been in deep hiding with their father, Il Duce (Billy Connolly), in the quiet valleys of Ireland, far removed from their former vigilante lives. When word comes that a beloved priest has been killed by sinister forces from deep within the mob, the brothers return to Boston to mount a violent and bloody crusade to bring justice to those responsible. With a new partner in crime (Clifton Collins Jr., Star Trek) and a sexy FBI operative (Julie Benz, TV's Dexter) hot on their trail…the Saints are back!A cult phenomenon returns with The Boondock Sai! nts II: All Saints Day. The vigilante MacManus brothers (Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus, reprising their roles from the first movie) have retired to Ireland, but a copycat killing of a Boston priest brings them back to dish out their unique brand of quasi-spiritual justice. The story line doesn't differ much from the first movie; the brothers have a new sidekick (Clifton Collins Jr., Capote) and a new pursuer, FBI agent Eunice Bloom (Julie Benz of Dexter, striving to take the place of Willem Dafoe from the original), but it's basically a series of shootouts in which the brothers pop up "unexpectedly" and blast a bunch of cartoonish criminals to pieces. The Boondock Saints was not a good movie, but it had a weird, unique energy--you couldn't tell if the movie took itself so seriously that it was ludicrous or if it was mocking itself while reveling in its absurd extravagances. All Saints Day has the same ridiculous swagger and baroque m! acho dialogue, but this time the spark is missing (with the ex! ception of Collins, who brings all his dependable live-wire energy). Some cult fans will be disappointed, but others will still find things to enjoy. Also featuring Scottish comedian Billy Connolly (reprising his role as the elder MacManus), Judd Nelson (The Breakfast Club), and Peter Fonda (Easy Rider). --Bret Fetzer


Stills from Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day (Click for larger image)

Decorate your home or office with high quality posters. The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day Movie (Holding Guns) Poster Print - 24x36 is that perfect piece that matches your style, interests, and budget.

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Amreeka

• AMREEKA (DVD MOVIE)

Amreeka chronicles the adventures of Muna, a single mother who leaves the West Bank with Fadi, her teenage son, with dreams of an exciting future in the promised land of small town Illinois. In America, as her son navigates high school hallways the way he used to move through military checkpoints, the indomitable Muna scrambles together a new life cooking up falafel burgers as well as hamburgers at the local White Castle. Told with heartfelt humor by writer-director Cherien Dabis in her feature film debut, Amreeka is a universal journey into the lives of a family of immigrants and first-generation teenagers caught between their heritage and the new world in which they now live and the bittersweet search for a place to call home. Amreeka recalls Dabis's family's memories of their lives in rural America during the first Iraq War. The film stars Haifa-trained a! ctress Nisreen Faour as Muna, and Melkar Muallen plays her 16-year-old son, Fadi. Also in the cast are Hiam Abbass, Alia Shawkat, Yussef Abu-Warda and Joseph Ziegler. Written and directed by Cherien Dabis, Amreeka was produced by Christina Piovesan and Paul Barkin. Alicia Sams, Dabis and Gregory Keever were executive producers; Liz Jarvis and Al-Zain Al-Sabah were co-producers. Amreeka made its world premiere in dramatic competition at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, and played as Opening Night of New Directors/New Films, a co-presentation of The Museum of Modern Art and The Film Society of Lincoln Center. Amreeka made its debut internationally in Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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BAD NEWS BEARS

• 1976 - Dell - 1st edition - Paperback
• The Bad News Bears - By Richard Woodley
• Stars: Walter Matthau, Tatum O'Neal
• Movie Tie In - Vg to Good Condition
• Collectible

In 1977, The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training had a moment in the sun. A glowing junk sculpture of American genres—sports flick, coming-of-age story, family melodrama, after-school special, road narrative—the film cashed in on the previous year’s success of its predecessor, The Bad News Bears. Arguing against the sequel’s dismissal as a cultural afterthought, Josh Wilker lovingly rescues from the oblivion of cinema history a quintessential expression of American resilience and joy.

Rushed into theaters by Paramount when the beleaguered film industry was suffering from Â"acute sequelitis,” the (undeniably flawed) movie miraculously transcended its limitations to beco! me a gathering point for heroic imagery drawn from American mythology. Considered in context, the film’s unreasonable optimism, rooted in its characters’ sincere desire to keep playing, is a powerful response to the political, economic, and social stresses of the late 1970s.

To Wilker’s surprise, despite repeated viewings, The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training continues to move him. Its huge heart makes it not only the ultimate fantasy of the baseball-obsessed American boy, but a memorable iteration of that barbed vision of pure sunshine itself, the American dream.

First of a trilogy of films takes an unflinching look at the underbelly of little league baseball in Southern California. Former minor leaguer Morris Buttermaker is a lazy, beer swilling swimming pool cleaner who takes money to coach the Bears, a bunch of disheveled misfits who have virtually no baseball talent. Realizing his dilemma, Coach Buttermaker brings aboard girl pitching ac! e Amanda Whurlizer, the daughter of a former girlfriend, and K! elly Lea k, a motorcycle punk who happens to be the best player around. Brimming with confidence, the Bears look to sweep into the championship game and avenge an earlier loss to their nemesis, the Yankees.This likable 1976 comedy gently skewers the whole post- Rocky mania for movies about losers who find their mettle or salvation or purpose in life in competitive sport. Walter Matthau stars as a drunk who becomes manager of a pathetic little-league baseball team. When he brings in a talented girl pitcher (Tatum O'Neal), the crew have an actual chance at winning some games and maybe a championship. But director Michael Ritchie (Downhill Racer) undercuts the romance of it all with the team's foul-mouthed tendencies and Matthau's own decadent spin on mentor-coachdom. Similarly to Ritchie's wicked comedy Smile --which lampooned the fervor surrounding beauty pageants--The Bad News Bears pokes fun at another American institution. --Tom Keogh1976 - 1st! Edition - Dell - 0823 - Paperback - The Bad News Bears - By Richard Woodley - Based on screenplay by Bill Lancaster - Movie Tie In - Paramount - Stars: Walter Matthau, Tatum O'Neal - Vg to Good Condition - Collectible

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Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd (New Line Platinum Series)

• THE MISADVENTURES OF TWO INCREDIBLY STUPID GUYS.You ll be dumbstruck. That s a good thing. Lloyd (Jim Carrey) and Harry (Jeff Daniels) deliver a delirious no-brainer (Side A s Dumb and Dumber) as they hit the road to return a misplaced briefcase to its owner (Lauren Holly). The fellas don t know the case is crammed with ransom money. But you will. And so will the mob guys trying to get the case ba

DUMB AND DUMBER DOUBLE FEATURE - DVD MovieHarry meets Lloyd and assembles a ragtag team for a high school experience unlike any other in this prequel to the hit comedy, Dumb and Dumber.A passable comedy for delinquent kids and unambitious teens with time to kill, Dumb and Dumberer does for prequels what Jerry Springer did for daytime television. With only faint connection to the 1994 hit starring Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels, this ill-conceived prequel follows the Carrey/Daniels characters, Ll! oyd and Harry, as they bungle their way through high school. The principal and his demented lunch lady (Eugene Levy and SNL alumnus Cheri Oteri) have hatched a scheme to embezzle funds intended for students with "special needs," and Harry & Lloyd unwittingly recruit a few "intellectually challenged" classmates to fuel the plot. Veteran TV director Troy Miller prefers to keep the humor low and lowerer: Scatological jokes, puerile double-entendres, and juvenile sight gags ensure that Dumb and Dumberer lives up to its title. As Lloyd and Harry, respectively, Eric Christian Olsen and Derek Richardson deliver a few laughs, but they're stuck in a movie with special needs of its own. --Jeff Shannon

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Gerber 45803 Guardian Back Up, Double Edge, Fine Edge Knife

• Double-edge blade
• Non-reflective black blade coating
• Adjustable withdraw tension sheath
• Overall Length: 7.28", Length of Blade: 3.41"
• Weight: 3 oz.

KNIFE, GUARDIAN BACK UP, DOUBLE EDGE

A professional fixed blade knife that takes a mighty serious cut at self defense, the Gerber 45803 Guardian Back Up features blackened--and therefore non-reflective--stainless steel in a 3/4" tang blade. Lightweight and compact, it's effortless to carry and agile to use. The Santoprene-covered nylon handle, and it comes with a patented sheath that lets you adjust the withdraw tension to suit your individual style. Clip it to your boot or belt or your strap, and you'll never be without a reliable back-up.

The double fine-edged, spear-style blade is constructed of high carbon stainless steel and has a fine tip. The blad! e measures 3.41 inches and it has an overall length of 7.28 inches and a 3-ounce weight. Made in the USA. Backed by a limited lifetime warranty.

 

The Gerber Guardian Back Up with aggressive lines and matte black paint job (view larger).

Gerber 45803 Guardian Back Up At a Glance: Aggressive lines and matte black paint job Blackened, non-reflective high carbon stainless steel blade Santoprene-covered nylon with soft grip inserts Patented sheath with adjustable withdraw tension Limited lifetime warranty

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