ON DVD > WATCHING AT HOME.Byline: ROB LOWMAN > ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR 'Fracture' a courtroom thriller> Of all the fine young actors around, Ryan Gosling continues to stand out. In the cat-and-mouse-game thriller "Fracture," he and wily veteran Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins play an arresting game of acting brinksmanship brink·man·ship also brinks·man·ship n. The practice, especially in international politics, of seeking advantage by creating the impression that one is willing and able to push a highly dangerous situation to the limit rather than concede. . Gosling plays lawyer Will Beachum, a star of the Los Angeles district attorney's office about to take a job with a soulless soul·less adj. Lacking sensitivity or the capacity for deep feeling. soul  less·ly adv. but
high-paying private firm. Not from the Ivy League, he's a
working-class boy who plans on making his way to the top on his smarts
and exudes all the lackadaisical lack·a·dai·si·cal adj. Lacking spirit, liveliness, or interest; languid: "There'll be no time to correct lackadaisical driving techniques after trouble develops" William J. Hampton. confidence of a bull rider who never expects to be thrown. Hopkins is Ted Crawford, the calculating, complex owner of an aviation company who seemingly instinctually knows where the stress points are in anything. A cool customer himself, Ted has cold-bloodedly shot his wife and has admitted to it. It all seems like such a slam-dunk that Will makes it his last case before moving on to greener pastures. But Ted, who has more than a few tricks up his sleeve, seems to have found Will's weak spot. The joy of the film is watching Hopkins and Gosling negotiate its twists and turns with ease, subtly mixing it up as they try to stick it to each other. Telling you any more about this slick film directed by David Hoblitt ("Primal Fear," a similarly smart courtroom drama) would take away the fun. 'Wild Hogs' hogs the road> "Wild Hogs" is about about four males having a midlife crisis midlife crisis n. A period of psychological doubt and anxiety that some people experience in middle age. midlife crisis . The buddies -- played by John Travolta, Martin Lawrence, Tim Allen and William H. Macy -- all have their masculinity problems and decide that the best remedy would be the open road and a warm motor between their legs. Like bugs on the highway, you can see the bad jokes and plotlines -- like running into real bikers and wives showing up -- coming, but there's nothing you can do about them. Splat. Down the rabbit hole in 'Inland Empire'> David Lynch takes us on another of his creepy trips again; this one's called "Inland Empire," starring one of his favorite actresses, Laura Dern. This film within a film was shot on HD video and involves an actress, Nikki (Dern), rehearsing for a film called "On High in Blue Tomorrows" with an egotist (Jeremy Irons). The film, a romantic melodrama set in the South, eventually envelopes Nikki, blurring her real and imagined lives and taking us farther down Lynch's surreal rabbit hole. "Inland" seems a weird counterpart to Lynch's last film, the weird "Mulholland Drive." Say what you will about the writer-director, he has his own artistic vision, and a good portion of the time -- as in parts of "Inland" -- it's fascinating, if still befuddling. Grace follows Sudanese refugees> "God Grew Tired of Us" is an inspirational documentary about the resettlement Re`set´tle`ment n. 1. Act of settling again, or state of being settled again; as, the resettlement of lees s>. The resettlement of my discomposed soul. - Norris. of three young men to the U.S. who were displaced as children by Sudan's civil war. A National Geographic production, "God" is directed by Christopher Quinn and narrated by Nicole Kidman, winning both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. It is hard not to be charmed by the film as it shows the young men -- noble in spirit -- coping with their new circumstances after being driven from their homes in the 1980s or risking death or sterilization sterilization Any surgical procedure intended to end fertility permanently (see contraception). Such operations remove or interrupt the anatomical pathways through which the cells involved in fertilization travel (see reproductive system). by the Islamic government. Traveling on foot for five years with little food, facing disease and possible attacks by wild animals WILD ANIMALS. Animals in a state of nature; animals ferae naturae. Vide Animals; Ferae naturae. or government forces, they finally reached a United Nations refugee camp in Kenya before being brought to America. There they faced new challenges, but faced them with grace and faith. The film doesn't go deeply into the conflict that drove them from their homeland, but the tragedy of the African country is a constant presence. Bragging on Branagh's 'Hamlet'> Shakespeare on film, ay, there's the rub. Strut and fret too much -- that is, try to make the Bard cinematic -- and suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. But if the play's the thing, you're accused of offering up the sleep of death. Tart it up -- and you might as well shuffle off this mortal coil For other uses, see Mortal coil (disambiguation). This Mortal Coil was a musical dream pop project of Ivo Watts-Russell, founder of the British 4AD Records label. The project brought together key 4AD artists, as well as others not signed to the label, under an umbrella name: . (Though when defending the purity of the Bard, some critics doth doth v. Archaic A third person singular present tense of do1. protest too much, methinks me·thinks intr.v. Past tense me·thought Archaic It seems to me. [Middle English me thinkes, from Old English m .) That leads us to Kenneth Branagh's 1996 four-hour, unabridged and lavish "Hamlet," which is all of the above and, above all, one of the best film adaptations of William the Great. Many may disagree, but the actor-director has a natural affinity for the material. But more than that, Branagh knows how to make the Bard entertaining (something Ol' Will would approve of), and while his "Hamlet" -- complete with his dyed blond hair and set in the 19th-century Danish court -- might seem over the top at times, its boldness gives it life. "Hamlet" is the jewel in the crown of "The Shakespeare Collection," which includes Hollywood's versions of "A Midsummer Night's Dream A Midsummer Night's Dream is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare written sometime in the 1590s. It portrays the adventures of four young Athenian lovers and a group of amateur actors, their interactions with the Duke and Duchess of Athens, Theseus and Hippolyta, and " (1935) and "Romeo and Juliet Romeo and Juliet star-crossed lovers die as teenagers. [Br. Lit.: Romeo and Juliet] See : Death, Premature Romeo and Juliet archetypal star-crossed lovers. [Br. Lit. " (1936), as well as Laurence Olivier in the title role of "Othello" (1965). The two Tinseltown versions of Shakespeare are interesting more for what they are than for the plays. "Dream" had Jimmy Cagney as Bottom and Dick Powell as Lysander, and both looked liked they wandered onto the wrong set. "Romeo and Juliet," directed by George Cukor, had a 34-year-old Norma Shearer and a 46-year-old Leslie Howard as the star-crossed teen-age lovers; talk about suspending reality. The filmed stage version of "Othello" is a different proposition. Olivier, another who made Shakespeare palatable for the masses (an inspiration of Branagh), plays the Moor in blackface (the makeup may have worked on stage but not on film), which makes watching it a jolt -- to say the least -- no matter how subtle or spectacular his performance. >video games Madden NFL 08 The latest incarnation of the popular football franchise emphasizes "mismatches" along with the other customary bells and whistles A slang English term for exceptional features in some product. In the computer field, it typically refers to functions in software that may be greatly appreciated by some users, even though they may not be necessary most of the time. . For Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 ($59.99) as well as PS2 ($49.99) Dungeons Dungeons may refer to:
Remember playing "Dungeons & Dragons" with your pals? Now you can do it on the PSP (PlayStation Portable) See PlayStation. . Portable geekiness! $39.99 Shin Megami Tensei Shin Megami Tensei(真・女神転生) is a console role playing game by Atlus that was released October 30 1992 on several platforms. It was originally released on the Super Famicom and was later released on the Sega CD. : Persona 3 Special Edition Guide a high-school student with mystical abilities and take on the Shadows, soul-stealing creatures that turn people into zombies Zombies Companies that continue to operate even though they are insolvent. Also known as living dead. Notes: It's advisable to avoid investing in zombies at all costs their life expectancies are highly unpredictable. . PlayStation2. $49.99 Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 The Xbox 360 hit about high-tech warfare now comes to the PlayStation3. $59.99 Bioshock In this first-person shooter, take on a twisted visionary in his underwater utopia, with strange weapons at your disposal. Xbox 360. $59.99. CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1) no caption ("Fracture") (2) no caption ("Wild Hogs") (3) no caption ("Hamlet") |
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