Alone in the Dark

• A New Inventory System ¿ Players utilize the pockets of protagonist Edward Carnby to hold items which they can view, switch and combine without leaving the game.
• Narrative intensity ¿ Taking its cues from blockbuster TV dramas, the story is told in a TV season style narrative structure based around episodes that deliver maximum intensity throughout and keep the player hooked.
• A Captivating Story ¿ Centered in iconic Central Park long-time series protagonist and paranormal specialist Edward Carnby returns to delve into the frightening events occurring in the Big Apple.
• Real World Rules ¿ In-Game movement has been designed to allow players to do almost anything that is physically possible in the real world.
• Photographic Rendering ¿ Game developer Eden¿s Propriety ¿Twilight¿ technology creates a lavishly detailed game world with highly realistic and advanced cinema! tographic effects.

Alone in the Dark X360There?s something strange and frightening happening in the middle of New York City?s Central Park; something whispered to have been intentionally kept secret; something that players are compelled to explore in Alone in the Dark.

Known today as a safe haven for New Yorkers yearning for relief from the stresses of their chaotic metropolis, history records that Central Park was built on a useless swamp, yet as the New York City skyline hurtled towards the sky over the last 150 years, making the city the most expensive real estate in the world, the park has remained untouched. Why? Civic pride? Perhaps, but the recent strange happenings in and around the park are casting doubt on that, doubts that require investigating.

The return of! an icon ic series

Paranormal PI Edward Carnby. View larger.

Stunningly spooky views of NYC. View larger.

The odd wildlife of Central Park. View larger.

A whole new inventory system. View larger.

Enter Edward Carnby, Paranormal Investigator
Despite the title, Alone in the Dark is actually the fifth game in a series that dates back to 1992 and centers around the experiences of Edward "the reptile" Carnby. A paranormal investigator by trade, Carnby is looking for answers to the strange events and horrific creatures reported in and around the park, but gets more than he bargained for when all the mysteries and terrors of the park spill out over the course of one apocalyptic night. It?s the player?s task to avoid the new frightening dangers of the park as you search for the answers to what these supernatural occurrences mean and why they are happening.

Gameplay Based on Full Player Immersion
Packed full of action and vivid in its realism Alone in t! he Dark goes to the extreme to keep players engaged and im! mersed b y plunging them into the heart of the action in real-time at every turn and challenging them to survive using full movement control. The goal here is to allow players to do or at least feel that they can do more or less whatever is possible in real life, within the game.

Need to avoid a blast of steam or an eruption of fire that has shot up in your path? You can simply side-step it or you can handle the obstacle with a little more panache by using the environment around you, for example by swinging around it using reachable pipes or wires. In another situation you may be challenged by attacking monsters. No problem. You can take the path of least resistance, again by side-stepping them or placing an obstacle between yourself and them, but if you are feeling like taking out a little aggression you can pick up a board, chair, box, etc. and have at it. Nearly anything that you come across that would be usable in real life is usable in game and can be wielded in several diffe! rent ways.

In addition, game developer Eden Studios has done away with a few in-game conventions in favor of real life upgrades. Instead of old-fashioned health bars Alone in the Dark uses realistic body damage and physiological effects to show players how much damage has been done to Carnby by the new dangerous nightlife of Central Park. Basically this means if Carnby has been taking a licking he?s going to be a little bloody. Monsters use sensory perception of all kinds to find their victims, so players need to keep aware of Carnby?s physical state, as well as the impact he has on his surroundings. Also gone are traditional inventory systems that take players out of the game while you switch or check items in your possession, replaced by an in-game inventory system where items are carried in the folds of Carnby?s trench coat. This allows you to stay in the action the whole time. Sticking with the realism theme, the number of items that Carnby can carry is limite! d, but since ingenuity is built into the system, items can be ! combined or their uses altered, mostly with tape, so players can adjust as challenges arise.

TV Style Intensity That Keeps You Hooked
Built around a unique television style episodic narrative game structure, the storyline of Alone in the Dark is split into a number of distinct 30-40 minute episodes, doled out one at a time as you play. This new way to progress through the storyline ensures that players can enjoy the game regardless of the amount of time they have available without ever feeling lost. Each time a saved game is launched, the episode will begin with a video summary of the previous episode to quickly re-immerse the player in the story, removing the need to remember where you were or what you were doing at the end of your last play session. In addition, every episode will also close with a nail-biting, cliff-hanger ending to rattle players? nerves. And when you choose to leave the game, a video teaser of the next episode will play to leave players alw! ays wanting more.

Vivid Photographic Rendering
Even on a bad day, and this will be a bad one, Central Park and New York City are something to see. With Game developer Eden?s proprietary Twilight technology and rendering engine, players can expect to see everything from the City?s famous landmarks to the manifestations of the evil that have been festering in Central Park come to life as if you were there. This lavishly detailed game world takes advantage of highly realistic and advanced cinematographic effects including depth of field, camera focus, numerous light sources, moisture, reflections and High Dynamic Range effects.

Whether it?s the innovative game play, the unique episodic game structure, the advanced physics or the return of a ground-breaking protagonist recast in the modern era, Alone in the Dark holds something for players willing to take on the mysteries and dangers at the heart of Central Park.

Read more »

Beowulf

• ISBN13: 9780192723697
• Condition: New
• Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

This is the story of a young man who travelled far across the sea to fight two terrifying monsters-one who could rip a man apart and drink his blood, the other who lived like a sea-wolf at the bottom of a dark, blood-stained lake. The young hero's name was Beowulf, and his story, first written in Anglo-Saxon in the eighth century, has become one of the world's most famous epics. Kevin Crossley-Holland retells the story for children in quick-paced, rhythmical prose accompanied by Charles Keeping's striking illustrations. Together they bring to life the beauty and power of one of the first great English poems.

Read more »

Conventioneers

• Two former friends, one a Republican the other a Democrat, meet in New York during the Republican National Convention in this comedy romp. But when they begin an affair they both discover that their political differences may be too difficult to juggle. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR Age: 881394101920 UPC: 881394101920 Manufacturer No: CLS1019

Two former friends, one a Republican the other a Democrat, meet in New York during the Republican National Convention in this comedy romp. But when they begin an affair they both discover that their political differences may be too difficult to juggle.

Read more »

Blood Diamond (Widescreen Edition)

• An ex-mercenary turned smuggler (Leonardo DiCaprio). A Mende fisherman (Djimon Hounsou). Amid the explosive civil war overtaking 1999 Sierra Leone, these men join for two desperate missions: recovering a rare pink diamond of immense value and rescuing the fisherman's son, conscripted as a child soldier into the brutal rebel forces ripping a swath of torture and bloodshed across the alternately bea

An ex-mercenary turned smuggler (Leonardo DiCaprio). A Mende fisherman (Djimon Hounsou). Amid the explosive civil war overtaking 1999 Sierra Leone, these men join for two desperate missions: recovering a rare pink diamond of immense value and rescuing the fisherman's son, conscripted as a child soldier into the brutal rebel forces ripping a swath of torture and bloodshed across the alternately beautiful and ravaged countryside. Directed by Edward Zwick (Glory, The Last Samurai), this urgent, intense! ly moving adventure shapes gripping human stories and heart-pounding action into a modern epic of profound impact.Leonardo DiCaprio puts a handsome face on an ugly industry: In parts of Africa, diamond mining fuels civil warfare, killing thousands of innocents and drafting preteen children as vicious soldiers. DiCaprio (The Departed) plays Danny Archer, a white African soldier-turned-diamond-smuggler who gets wind of a large raw jewel found by Solomon Vandy, a native fisherman (Djimon Hounsou, In America) recently escaped from enslavement by a brutal rebel leader. Archer offers a deal: He'll help Vandy find his war-scattered family if Vandy will share the diamond with him. Drawn into this web of exploitation is journalist Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly, Little Children), who agrees to help if Archer will tell her the details of how conflict diamonds make their way into the hands of the corporations who sell them to the Western world. DiCaprio is compell! ing because he never flinches from Archer's utter ruthlessness! ; Archer ends up doing the morally justifiable thing, but only because his desperate greed has led him to it. Hounsou and Connelly, though saddled with all the moral and political speeches, rise above the cant and keep the movie's treacherously formulaic plot rooted in human characters. But in the end, the story won't stick with you as much as the dead stillness in the child soldiers' eyes; the horror of African civil strife refuses to be contained by Blood Diamond's uplifting message--and the movie is all the more potent as a result. --Bret Fetzer

Read more »

Farce of the Penguins : Widescreen Edition

• Widescreen

It's mating season...

Meet Carl (Bob Saget) and Jimmy (Lewis Black), two cold penguins on a desperate mission to get themselves some hot booty. After years of empty one-night stands, Carl wants more than a piece of penguin tail. He wants the love of the beautiful Melissa (Christina Applegate). Now it's up to Jimmy to help his neurotic friend win her heart and find his dream girl. The only thing that stands in their way is...a seventy-mile trek across Antarctica. It's a road trip like no other, as these two best bros make their way to a penguin island paradise. From director and comedian Bob Saget, comes a raunchy, yet heart-warming comedy like no other.

Get ready for a stiff and dirty ride! May the FARCE be with you...Between Snakes On A Plane and Farce of the Penguins, one really wonders what Samuel Jackson has been smoking. This Jackson-narrated m! ockmentary of March of the Penguins, written and directed by Bob Saget (America's Funniest Home Videos), highlights the penguins' lascivious side, as the male's march inland to find mating partners. Overdubbed with human voices, Farce stars three penguins, Carl (Bob Saget), a neurotic, insecure bird whose search for true love has so far been in vain, Jimmy (Lewis Black), a mobster-like father figure who encourages Carl to keep up hope, and Marcus (Tracy Morgan), a smooth, African American penguin with a self-professed huge penis. Miles away, as the men journey inward, fighting off seals and engaging in therapy sessions with snowy owls along the way, Vicky (Mo'nique) tells Melissa (Christina Applegate) that someday her Prince Charming will come, which, predictably, he does. Watching penguins discussing the meaning of life, questioning their annual masochistic hike through tundra, or wondering if they have eating disorders is funny for about ten minutes. ! Samuel Jackson, the ultimate omniscient narrator, furthering t! he story between scenes is also odd and laughable. But Farce of The Penguins relies on its lewd humor for laughs, and though it is disarming to see waddling birds cuss, Farce's one-liner gets old. Yes, penguins have sex. Farce of the Penguins is a fun idea perhaps taken too far. Nonetheless, there is always something pleasing about anthropomorphizing animals, especially for lovers of crude sex jokes. --Trinie DaltonStudio: Lions Gate Home Ent. Release Date: 02/05/2008 Run time: 80 minutes Rating: RBetween Snakes On A Plane and Farce of the Penguins, one really wonders what Samuel Jackson has been smoking. This Jackson-narrated mockmentary of March of the Penguins, written and directed by Bob Saget (America's Funniest Home Videos), highlights the penguins' lascivious side, as the male's march inland to find mating partners. Overdubbed with human voices, Farce stars three penguins, Carl (Bob Saget), a neurotic, insecure! bird whose search for true love has so far been in vain, Jimmy (Lewis Black), a mobster-like father figure who encourages Carl to keep up hope, and Marcus (Tracy Morgan), a smooth, African American penguin with a self-professed huge penis. Miles away, as the men journey inward, fighting off seals and engaging in therapy sessions with snowy owls along the way, Vicky (Mo'nique) tells Melissa (Christina Applegate) that someday her Prince Charming will come, which, predictably, he does. Watching penguins discussing the meaning of life, questioning their annual masochistic hike through tundra, or wondering if they have eating disorders is funny for about ten minutes. Samuel Jackson, the ultimate omniscient narrator, furthering the story between scenes is also odd and laughable. But Farce of The Penguins relies on its lewd humor for laughs, and though it is disarming to see waddling birds cuss, Farce's one-liner gets old. Yes, penguins have sex. Farce of the Pen! guins is a fun idea perhaps taken too far. Nonetheless, th! ere is a lways something pleasing about anthropomorphizing animals, especially for lovers of crude sex jokes. --Trinie Daltondvd

Read more »

Five Minutes of Heaven

• FIVE MINUTES OF HEAVEN (DVD MOVIE)

From the Oscar®-nominated director of DOWNFALL, the BAFTA-winning screenwriter of OMAGH and star Liam Neeson comes a startling new thriller inspired by true events: In 1975, 17-year-old Irish-Protestant Alistair Little assassinated 19-year-old Catholic Jim Griffin in his Ulster home. The murder was witnessed by Griffin s 11-year-old brother Joe. Thirty years later, Little (Neeson) has been rehabilitated and released from prison, while Joe Griffin (James Nesbitt of BLOODY SUNDAY and JECKYLL) remains traumatized and bitter. But when a television talk show decides to bring them together for a live on-air reconciliation, two men haunted by one moment must come face-to-face with their own worlds of pain, violence and vengeance. Anamaria Marinca of 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS & 2 DAYS co-stars in this must-see drama that dares to explore both sides of Northern Ireland s tr! oubled past as it comes to terms with its still uncertain future.

Read more »

The Big Bang Theory: The Complete First Season

• Condition: Used, Very Good
• Format: DVD
• AC-3; Box set; Color; Dolby; DVD; Subtitled; Widescreen; NTSC

This season the Big Bang gang’s romantic universe expands. On the rebound from Penny, Leonard falls into the arms of Raj’s sister Priya. Sheldon gets a girlfriend, or rather a friend who is a girl: Amy, a dour neurobiologist who declares herself besties with Penny. Howard and Bernadette heat up. And so do Raj and Bernadette (at least in Raj’s Bollywood daydream). All in the furtherance of award-winning genius comedy. The superb sitcom The Big Bang Theory launches into its fourth season with an expanded cast and a whole new set of social dynamics to go with it. It's a little unsteady at first: Sheldon (the ever-inspired Jim Parsons) denies having a girlfriend in the similarly intellectual Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik, a long way away from Blossom), which l! eads to several Sheldon-dominated episodes--and as marvelous a character as Sheldon is, he can be too much of a good thing. Fortunately, things soon take a clever turn: Penny (Kaley Cuoco), Howard's girlfriend Bernadette (Melissa Rauch), and Amy become, ever so awkwardly, friends, providing an ingenious counterpoint to the socially hapless quartet of Sheldon, Leonard (Johnny Galecki), Howard (Simon Helberg), and Raj (Kunal Nayyar). Amy's emotional disconnection but fervent curiosity provides a delicious variation on Sheldon (without in any way replacing him) that gooses the show up to a new level. But episodes without her are still enjoyable--this is one of the best-written and -acted comedies on television. Though there is an odd increase in bodily function humor (perhaps the writers are trying to counter the jokes about comic books and theoretical physics), inventive stories abound: Sheldon becoming obsessed with cats; Amy's complete bafflement at becoming aroused by one ! of Penny's ex-boyfriends; grappling with Wil Wheaton over 21 e! xtra sec onds of Raiders of the Lost Ark; the plundering of Sheldon's World of Warcraft account; Leonard getting involved with Raj's sister Priya (Aarti Mann), much to Raj's discomfort; and much, much more. The balance of the ensemble grows increasingly skillful over the episode, giving everyone a chance to shine. --Bret FetzerUniversity physicists Leonard and Sheldon know whether to use an integral or a differential to solve the area under a curve. But they don’t have a clue about girls. Or dating. Or clothes. Or parties. Or having fun. Or, basically, life. So when a pretty blonde named Penny moves in the apartment across the hall, the guys decide to get an education outside of the classroom. Boys, you have a lot to learn. With series creators Chuck Lorre (Two and a Half Men) and Bill Prady (The Gilmore Girls) concocting the right mix of logic and lunacy and stars Johnny Galecki (Roseanne) and Jim Parsons (Judging Amy) turning geekd! om into Phi Beta fun, The Big Bang Theory is big on laughs. And life.The delightful sitcom The Big Bang Theory revolves around a character type rarely seen on television: The alpha geek. Physicists Leonard (Johnny Galecki) and Sheldon (Jim Parsons) get their lives shaken up when an attractive young woman named Penny (Kaley Cuoco) moves in to the apartment across from theirs. The key to the show, though, is not that they both fall haplessly in love--Leonard does, but Sheldon remains impermeably aloof and caustic about anything resembling romance or human relationships in general. While the push and pull of Leonard's yearning for Penny motivates much of the series' ongoing plot, the show's real drive comes from Sheldon's fantastic combination of obsessive-compulsive neurosis and grandiose obliviousness. He's a brilliant comic creation, imperious and dorky, a seamless collaboration of clever writing and an inspired performance by Parsons. Whether Sheldon loses hi! s job for insulting his new boss, or finds his ego bruised by ! a child prodigy, or finds himself unable to bear being part of a lie that Leonard has told, he attacks the world with a relentless need to assert his supremacy--and the results are deeply funny.

The triumph of The Big Bang Theory is that everyone is written with genuine affection; what could have been a lifeless parade of stereotypes--Two Nerds and a Hot Chick--becomes instead a charming collision of cultures. The familiar stuff (computer games, comic books, social incompetence) has the grit of specificity; the show understands the difference between Halo and Halo 3, knows what the Bottle City of Kandor is, and grasps the infinite variety of ways in which a conversation can go terribly awry. (Penny gets less nuance, but Cuoco still gives her a distinctive personality.) Kudos as well to supporting players Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar, who bring their own variations on geekiness to the table, and to great appearances by some of Galecki's former cohorts on Rosean! ne--Sara Gilbert as geekette Leslie and Laurie Metcalf as Sheldon's fundamentalist mother. All in all, one of the most winning sitcoms in years. --Bret Fetzer

Read more »

The Girl from Purple Mountain: Love, Honor, War, and One Family's Journey from China to America

• ISBN13: 9780312302702
• Condition: New
• Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

Krutin Patel's award-winning film ABCD ("American Born Confused Desi") is the story of an Indian family living in suburban New Jersey. Madhur Jaffrey (Cotton Mary) stars as Anju, a widow tugging on tradition and reluctant to accept the mores of North American society. Her main goal in life is to see her two children get married to respectable Indian partners. Raj (Faran Tahir) and Nina (Sheetal Sheth) are polar opposites; Raj is the "good son," engaged to a devoted and traditional Indian girl; and Nina is the wild child, rebelling against her mother and all aspects of Indian custom, including only sleeping with white men. Both of their lives change dramatically when they find themselves attracted ! to the person who they least expected. With a mix of humor and poignancy, Patel presents a compelling look at the emotional consequences of growing up without a firm cultural identity.

A family memoir set against the shifting tides of twentieth-century China, The Girl from Purple Mountain begins with a mystery: the Chai family matriarch, Ruth Mei-en Tsao Chai, dies unexpectedly and her grieving husband discovers that she had secretly arranged to be buried aloneâ€"rather than in the shared plots they had purchased together years ago.

For many years, Ruth's family remained shocked by her decision and could not begin to fathom her motivations. Over time, they would fully understand her extraordinary story. Ruth was born in China at the beginning of the 20th century, during the reign of the last emperor. Educated by American missionaries, she was one of the first women admitted into a Chinese university, during an era when most Chinese women were illiterate ! and had bound feet. She would defy tradition and refuse to mar! ry the m an her family had chosen for her, instead choosing his younger brother as her husband. Later, as the Japanese Army advanced across China during World War II, her foresight and quick thinking kept her family alive as she, her husband, and their three sons were forced to flee from city to city. In war-torn Chungking, she was Lady Mountbatten's interpreter as the Allies struggled to help China. After the war, the Chais immigrated to the U.S. to what seemed, until Ruth's death, a happier and more peaceful life.

In this extraordinary family epic, Ruth's first-born son, Winberg, and his daughter May-lee explore family history to reconstruct her life as they seek to understand her fateful decision. As Winberg writes: "It is my duty to try to understand my mother, to seek answers. To ignore the past is too much like forgetting . . . I hope my memories are enough to fulfill a son's obligations."

Read more »