Based On Chetan Bhagat's International Best Seller "One Night @ The Call Centre" Synopsis; Hello... is a tale about the events that...... more

Based On Chetan Bhagat's International Best Seller "One Night @ The Call Centre" Synopsis; Hello... is a tale about the events that happen one night at a call center. Told through the views of the protagonist, Shyam, it is a story of almost lost love, thwarted ambitions, absence of family affection, pressures of a patriarchal set up, and the work environment of a globalized office. Shyam is losing his girl friend because his career is going nowhere as he trudges his way around in a call center. His girl friend, Priyanka, is also an agent like him at the call center who is about to be snatched by an NRI technogeek. There is also the aspiring model, Esha, who is hoping for the break that seems to be always already eluding her and the man about town, Vroom, who is into well, things. The housewife, Radhika, who is constantly at the receiving end of her mother-in-law and a beleaguered grandfather, Military Uncle, who has been barred from interacting with his grandchild make up the rest of the call agents who see their worlds crumbling around them as the decisions of right sizing are conveyed by Bakshi, the boss. It is a night when dreams will finally crumble. Or will it? For there is that call from God. Narrated as a tale within a tale as a beautiful woman meets the auteur narrator and promises him a story on the condition that he has to narrate it further, Hello, based on Chetan Bhagat's one night @ the call center, is the one remarkable story from Tales from a Thousand and One globalizing, urban, Indian Nights.

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Matt Wilson has come a long way in a short time, being heralded one of the brightest lights of the new brigade by all the prognosticators of repute, and...... more

Matt Wilson has come a long way in a short time, being heralded one of the brightest lights of the new brigade by all the prognosticators of repute, and all in just a scant two years. He's joined here by a venerable supporting crew, featuring Andrew D'Angelo (alto, bass clarinet), Joel Frahm (tenor and soprano sax), and Yosuke Inoue (acoustic and electric bass). The group rips through an invigorating mix of originals and "standards"--only these standards are slightly left-of-center in their own right (despite the sterling reputations of their original purveyors): Coltrane's "Grand Central" and Monk's "Boo Boo's Birthday" are mutated slightly (including a sardonic reference to "Take Five" in the latter). Meanwhile there's a version of "Strangers in the Night" that, while falling short of the pathos David S. Ware evoked on a similar tangling of "The Way We Were," comes from the same realm of postmodern redefinition. Like a lot of new modern jazz, Wilson seems to be influenced by ideas first wrought by the Art Ensemble, Miles Davis, and Anthony Braxton, among others. These influences, and others, are put to good use on the original compositions: Wilson's own "Wooden Eye" sounds like one of Albert Ayler's parade-type two-steps (with similar in-out movements from Frahm). Meanwhile, on D'Angelo's "Big Butt," Wilson takes propulsive rim shots throughout, and the whole band performs with a bashing intensity. "Making Babies" has the group doing a collective count-off and coming off as perhaps a bit too much the pranksters because of it. Similarly, on "Go Team Go" (which, as its name implies, is somewhat of a free-for-all) Frahm actually blows a cavalry call at one point. In the hands of lesser men, this type of cheeky humor might prove annoying, but Wilson and crew display a vibrancy that never comes off as self-serving. This band is for real. --Joe S. Harrington

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Verve's legendary songbook editions are among Ella Fitzgerald's very best repertoire. The singer, who was stylistically at home in every genre, from jazz, to...... more

Verve's legendary songbook editions are among Ella Fitzgerald's very best repertoire. The singer, who was stylistically at home in every genre, from jazz, to the evergreens of the Great American Songbooks, to pop songs, is to this day one of the most versatile interpreters of the American vocal scene. Her recording of the Harold Arlen Songbook, made in 1960 and '61, is, along with similar projects with songs by Rodgers and Hart, Cole Porter, George Gershwin and Duke Ellington, the very best of its kind. Harold Arlen discovered his propensity for jazz as a pianist, orchestrator and musical producer of the Cotton Club shows over many years. So it is not surprising that much of what flowed from his pen had a distinct jazz leaning. Ella is the only vocalist who manages to sing even the most complicated phrases of my songs with poise and lightness, he stated upon completion of the production. The musical quality of the 26 refurbished audiophile tracks, including two bonus tracks, make this re-release a timeless work of reference of American easy listening. The superb big band, along with the brilliant arrangements and conducting of Billy May, provides the perfect backing. Track Listing: 1. Blues In The Night 2. Let's Fall In Love 3. Stormy Weather 4. Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea 5. My Shining Hour 6. Hooray For Love 7. Sing My Heart 8. This Time The Dream's On Me 9. That Old Black Magic 10. I've Got The World On A String 11. Let's Take A Walk Around The Block 12. Ill Wind (You're Blowin' Me No Good) 13. Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive 14. When The Sun Comes Out 15. Come Rain Or Come Shine 16. As Long As I Live 17. Happiness Is A Thing Called Joe 18. It's Only A Paper Moon 19. The Man That Got Away 20. One For My Baby (And One More For The Road) 21. It Was Written In The Stars 22. Get Happy 23. I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues 24. Out Of This World 25. Over The Rainbow 26. Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead

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Dreamgirls The spirit of Motown runs through the long-awaited film adaption of the Broadway musical Dreamgirls, which centres around a young female singing trio...... more

Dreamgirls The spirit of Motown runs through the long-awaited film adaption of the Broadway musical Dreamgirls, which centres around a young female singing trio who burst upon the music scene in the '60s, complete with bouffant hairdos, glitzy gowns, and a soul sound new to the white-bread American music charts. Sound familiar? You aren't the first one to draw comparisons to the meteoric rise of the Supremes, and despite any protests to the contrary, this is most definitely a thinly veiled reinterpretation of that success story. The Dreamettes--statuesque Deena (Beyonce Knowles), daffy Lorell (Anika Noni Rose) and brassy Effie (Jennifer Hudson)--are a girl group making the talent-show rounds when they're discovered by car salesman and aspiring music manager Curtis Taylor Jr. (Jamie Foxx). Sensing greatness (as well as a new marketing opportunity) Curtis signs the Dreamettes as backup singers for R&B star James "Thunder" Early (Eddie Murphy). But when Early's mercurial ways and singing style don't mesh with primarily white audiences, Curtis moves the newly-renamed Dreams to center stage--with Deena as lead singer in place of Effie. And that's not the only arena in which Effie is replaced, as Curtis abandons their love affair for a relationship with star-in-the-making Deena. Besides the Supremes comparison, one can't talk about Dreamgirls now without revisiting its notorious Oscar snub; though it received eight nominations, the most for any film from 2006, it was shut out of the Best Picture and Director races entirely. Was the oversight justified? While Dreamgirls is certainly a handsomely mounted, lovingly executed and often vibrant film adaptation, it inspires more respect than passion, only getting under your skin during the musical numbers, which become more sporadic as the film goes on. Writer-director Bill Condon is definitely focused on recreating the Motown milieu (down to uncanny photographs of Knowles in full Diana Ross mode), he often forgets to flesh out his characters, who even on the Broadway stage were underwritten and relied on powerhouse performances to sell them to audiences. (Stage fans will also note that numerous songs are either truncated or dropped entirely from the film.) Condon has assembled a game cast, as Knowles does a canny riff on the essence of Diana Ross' glamour (as opposed to an all-out impersonation) and Rose makes a peripheral character surprisingly vibrant; only Foxx, who never gets to pour on the charisma, is miscast. Still, there are two things even the most cranky viewers will warm to in Dreamgirls: the performances of veteran Eddie Murphy and newcomer Jennifer Hudson. Murphy is all sly charm and dazzling energy as the devilish Early, who's part James Brown, part Little Richard, and all showman. And Hudson, an American Idol contestant who didn't even make the top three, makes an impressive debut as the larger-than-life Effie, whose voice matches her passions and stubbornness. Though she sometimes may seem too young for the role, Hudson nails the movie's signature song, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going," with a breathtaking power that must be seen and heard to believe. And for those five minutes, if not more, you will be in Dreamgirls' thrall. --Mark EnglehartGrease Riding the strange '50s nostalgia wave that swept through America during the late 1970s (caused by TV shows like Happy Days and films like American Graffiti), Grease became not only the word in 1978, but also a box-office smash and a cultural phenomenon. Twenty years later, this entertaining film adaptation of the Broadway musical received another successful theatrical release, which included visual remastering and a shiny new Dolby soundtrack. While this 2002 DVD release contains retrospective interviews with the cast and director Randal Kleiser, it's unfortunately full screen. As a result, the widescreen dance numbers are instead panned and scanned, destroying the symmetrical, lively choreography. A widescreen version is also available and is highly recommended because without the vibrant colors, unforgettably campy and catchy tunes (like "Greased Lightning," "Summer Nights," and "You're the One That I Want"), and fabulously choreographed, widescreen musical numbers, the film has to rely on a silly, cliché-filled plot that we've seen hundreds of times. As it is, the episodic story about the romantic dilemmas experienced by a group of graduating high school seniors remains fresh, fun, and incredibly imaginative. The young, animated cast also deserves a lot of credit, bringing chemistry and energy to otherwise bland material. John Travolta, straight from his success in Saturday Night Fever, knows his sexual star power and struts, swaggers, sings, and dances appropriately, while Olivia Newton-John's portrayal of virgin innocence is the only decent acting she's ever done. And then there's Stockard Channing, spouting sexual double-entendres as Rizzo, the bitchy, raunchy leader of the Pink Ladies, who steals the film from both of its stars. --Dave McCoyGrease 2 Too often, sequels to popular films simply rehash the original film; call it the carbon-copy syndrome. Grease 2 suffers from no such malady, having almost nothing to do with the original film. Sure, it focuses on teens at Rydell High, the imaginary school from the first film, which starred John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. But other than a few of the teachers, all of the characters are new and so are the songs--and more's the pity. By the time Grease hit the big screen, it already had had almost a decade as a theatrical musical, more than enough time to hone its mock-rock & roll score. But this sequel, which stars among others a then-unknown Michelle Pfeiffer, Maxwell Caulfield, and Lorna Luft (Judy Garland's daughter), has music that's neither fish nor fowl, neither rock nor Broadway. Meanwhile, the plot is a reversal of the first film, in which a cool guy fell for a square girl. In this one, the square is newcomer Caulfield, who catches the eye of tough girl Pfeiffer and her Pink Lady gang. The appearance of such pseudo-stars of the '50s, like Tab Hunter, is supposed to lend a nostalgic kick, but let's just say that Grease 2 slides almost instantly into obscurity. --Marshall Fine

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Matt Wilson has come a long way in a short time, being heralded one of the brightest lights of the new brigade by all the prognosticators of repute, and...... more

Matt Wilson has come a long way in a short time, being heralded one of the brightest lights of the new brigade by all the prognosticators of repute, and all in just a scant two years. He's joined here by a venerable supporting crew, featuring Andrew D'Angelo (alto, bass clarinet), Joel Frahm (tenor and soprano sax), and Yosuke Inoue (acoustic and electric bass). The group rips through an invigorating mix of originals and "standards"--only these standards are slightly left-of-center in their own right (despite the sterling reputations of their original purveyors): Coltrane's "Grand Central" and Monk's "Boo Boo's Birthday" are mutated slightly (including a sardonic reference to "Take Five" in the latter). Meanwhile there's a version of "Strangers in the Night" that, while falling short of the pathos David S. Ware evoked on a similar tangling of "The Way We Were," comes from the same realm of postmodern redefinition. Like a lot of new modern jazz, Wilson seems to be influenced by ideas first wrought by the Art Ensemble, Miles Davis, and Anthony Braxton, among others. These influences, and others, are put to good use on the original compositions: Wilson's own "Wooden Eye" sounds like one of Albert Ayler's parade-type two-steps (with similar in-out movements from Frahm). Meanwhile, on D'Angelo's "Big Butt," Wilson takes propulsive rim shots throughout, and the whole band performs with a bashing intensity. "Making Babies" has the group doing a collective count-off and coming off as perhaps a bit too much the pranksters because of it. Similarly, on "Go Team Go" (which, as its name implies, is somewhat of a free-for-all) Frahm actually blows a cavalry call at one point. In the hands of lesser men, this type of cheeky humor might prove annoying, but Wilson and crew display a vibrancy that never comes off as self-serving. This band is for real. --Joe S. Harrington

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Amazon Exclusive: Emily Rubin Reviews PharmacologyEmily Rubin is the author of Stalina, the International Book Award Finalist. She divides her time between New...... more

Amazon Exclusive: Emily Rubin Reviews PharmacologyEmily Rubin is the author of Stalina, the International Book Award Finalist. She divides her time between New York City and Columbia County, New York, with her husband and their dog. Read her exclusive guest review of Christopher Herz's Pharmacology:I have had many memories and stories of the great city of San Francisco, and now to add to that list is Christopher Herzs latest novel, Pharmacology, set in that gem of the West coast. Herz uses the city as a playing field for this fast paced novel with bohemian beauty and a gaggle of eccentric inhabitants on the verge of a revolution. The upheaval is technological, and he catapults us back to the early 1990s when the Internet was about to change the tools of communication forever.Pharmacology follows Sarah Striker, a writer/artist transplant from Kansas City, who comes to San Francisco with a fire in her belly for all things activist and literary. On her nights off from pushing caffeine at a hip coffeehouse, she produces an underground lit mag called Luddite. She uses the journal to rage against the machine. The irony of producing the magazine at the local Kinkos is not lost on the radical, yet very practical, Sarsah.When her barista days are over, Sarah is wooed by an ad agency with a roster of clients from the pharmaceutical industry. Attention Deficit Disorder is the illness of the hour and the ad agencys job is to instill panic for this scourge on the nations youth--as well as promote the latest FDA approved drug designed to quell the epidemic.Sarah spends her days "focused on finding ways to spread the word on how the Internet and Ecstasy were causing the youth of America to develop ADD." At night she continues to produce Luddite, fueled by her desire to expose the greed and lies at the center of the corporate greed machine. Her crisis of conscience is ameliorated by the popularity of the underground journal, and by sending home money from her day job to help pay for her beloved fathers cancer treatment.Herzs incisive look into the early days of the internet and his skewering of the fear tactics used by the pharmaceutical conglomerates includes some of the most eccentric supporting characters I have ever encountered. Sarah comes home to a house filled with cross-dressed, perpetually high, vampire teeth-implanted housemates who level the playing field and add a dose of reality to this brutally honest look at our not-too-distant past. Pharmacology is a Tales of the City for an Internet-savvy generation. This novel takes off from the bedrooms and back stairs of Maupins classic stories, pulls us right to the teetering edge of cyberspace, and pulls us through with lots of literary angst and discoveries, sexy encounters, wobbly high heels, and the dreams that come with new beginnings.--Emily RubinA Letter from Shaden PharmaceuticalsThe following letter came to the publishers just before the release of this book. We felt it only right to present the Pharmaceutical Industrys side of the story. While we fully stand behind Sarah Striker, everyone deserves a chance to speak.Dear Reader,We at Shaden Pharmaceuticals are fighting the publication and distribution of this book. Who knows what lies Ms. Sarah Striker and her friends came up with when originally publishing the stories in her zine, Luddite?I, myself, met Ms. Striker when her advertising company was prepping the campaign for one of our products. The office was filled with less than desirable workers skateboarding around and making more money than they should have been. When the internet went boom in the early 90s, companies like ours fell under the incorrect assumption that being young and whimsical equated with talent.The pharmaceutical industry often times comes across as being unjust and focused only making money. I assure you we have only the best interest of people who pay for our medication in mind. We work hand in hand with insurance companies and regulatory boards to ensure our products are affordable and reach those who need them.The files Ms. Striker stole from us and interpreted into her Zines -- which have now been turned into this book, are pure fiction. I urge you not to read this book, but also understand the publics need to have a good villain to turn their anger on.Deep inside, you must realize were just trying to help you.We thank you. We are thinking of you. We are creating only for you.Best,Kimberly Most Product Manager Shaden Pharmaceuticals

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Book 7: Pillars of Creation Tormented her entire life by inhuman voices, a young woman named Lauren seeks to end her intolerable agony. She at last discovers a...... more

Book 7: Pillars of Creation Tormented her entire life by inhuman voices, a young woman named Lauren seeks to end her intolerable agony. She at last discovers a way to silence the voices. For everyone else, the torment is about to begin. With winter descending and the paralyzing dread of an army of annihilation occupying their homeland, Richard Rahl and his wife Kahlan must venture deep into a strange and desolate land. Their quest turns to terror when they find themselves the helpless prey of a tireless hunter. Meanwhile, Lauren finds herself drawn into the center of a struggle for conquest and revenge. Worse yet, she finds her will seized by forces more abhorrent than anything she ever envisioned. Only then does she come to realize that the voices were real. Staggered by loss and increasingly isolated, Richard and Kahlan must stop the relentless, unearthly threat that has come out of the darkest night of the human soul. To do so, Richard will be called upon to face the demons stalking among the Pillars of Creation. Book 8: Naked Empire Richard has been poisoned. Saving an empire from annihilation is the price of the antidote. With the shadow of death looming near, the empire crumbling before the invading hordes, and time running out, Richard is offered not only his own life but the salvation of a people, in exchange for delivering his wife, Kahlan, into bondage to the enemy. Book 9: Chainfire After being gravely injured in battle, Richard awakes to discover Kahlan missing. To his disbelief, no one remembers the woman he is frantically trying to find. Worse, no one believes that she really exists, or that he was ever married. Alone as never before, he must find the woman he loves more than life itself....if she is even still alive. If she was ever even real.

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Can films change the world? In a word, no. But Israeli writer and director Eran Kolirin's utterly charming and engaging The Band's Visit suggests that if we...... more

Can films change the world? In a word, no. But Israeli writer and director Eran Kolirin's utterly charming and engaging The Band's Visit suggests that if we could somehow put aside the politics and the religion, stifle the governments and the rhetoric and mix in a little Gershwin, maybe even people with a history of cross-cultural suspicion and hostility really can get along. Not that the film has such pretensions--far from it. This is a simple tale involving a group of Egyptian musicians, the Alexandria Police Ceremonial Orchestra, who arrive in Israel for a concert. Things don't go well: There's no one to meet them at the airport, and they mistakenly end up in a small, drab desert town called Bet Hatikva, a place whose own residents refer to it as "bloody nowhere". But the people, especially café owner Dina (a marvellous performance by Ronit Elkabetz), are friendly and welcoming, and when they urge the band members to stay overnight before heading to their proper destination the next day, strait-laced leader Tewfiq (Sasson Gabai) finally relents. What follows is a series of plain but lovely scenes, as the Egyptians and Israelis (speaking English, their common language) tentatively search for common ground. Khaled (Saleh Bakri), the ladies man of the group ("Do you like Chet Baker?" is his favourite pick-up line), accompanies two young couples to a roller rink, where he comically helps the painfully timid Papi (Shlomi Avraham) connect with his date. Meanwhile, the dignified but taciturn Tewfiq gradually warms to Dina's manifest charms, and the other musicians share a rousing chorus of "Summertime" with their Israeli hosts. The Band's Visit is filled with moments of humour, tenderness, tension, sadness, regret and, as one character puts it, "tons of loneliness," every one of them delivered without the slightest bit of pretension or manipulation (not to mention political or religious overtones). And when, at the end, we finally hear the orchestra perform, we only wish we could spend more time with all of these delightful characters. --Sam GrahamStills from The Bands Visit (click for larger image)Product Description This heartwarming and poignant winner of the Cannes Film Festival Un Certain Regard prize is the mesmerizing and witty story of strangers in a strange land. A fading Egyptian police band arrives in Israel to play at the Arab Cultural Center. When they take the wrong bus, the band members find themselves in a desolate Israeli village. With no other option than to spend the night with the local townspeople, the two distinctly different cultures realize the universal bonds of love, music and life. Set against a breathtaking desert landscape, this cross-cultural comedy proves that getting lost is sometimes the best way to find yourself.

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Can films change the world? In a word, no. But Israeli writer and director Eran Kolirin's utterly charming and engaging The Band's Visit suggests that if we...... more

Can films change the world? In a word, no. But Israeli writer and director Eran Kolirin's utterly charming and engaging The Band's Visit suggests that if we could somehow put aside the politics and the religion, stifle the governments and the rhetoric and mix in a little Gershwin, maybe even people with a history of cross-cultural suspicion and hostility really can get along. Not that the film has such pretensions--far from it. This is a simple tale involving a group of Egyptian musicians, the Alexandria Police Ceremonial Orchestra, who arrive in Israel for a concert. Things don't go well: There's no one to meet them at the airport, and they mistakenly end up in a small, drab desert town called Bet Hatikva, a place whose own residents refer to it as "bloody nowhere". But the people, especially café owner Dina (a marvellous performance by Ronit Elkabetz), are friendly and welcoming, and when they urge the band members to stay overnight before heading to their proper destination the next day, strait-laced leader Tewfiq (Sasson Gabai) finally relents. What follows is a series of plain but lovely scenes, as the Egyptians and Israelis (speaking English, their common language) tentatively search for common ground. Khaled (Saleh Bakri), the ladies man of the group ("Do you like Chet Baker?" is his favourite pick-up line), accompanies two young couples to a roller rink, where he comically helps the painfully timid Papi (Shlomi Avraham) connect with his date. Meanwhile, the dignified but taciturn Tewfiq gradually warms to Dina's manifest charms, and the other musicians share a rousing chorus of "Summertime" with their Israeli hosts. The Band's Visit is filled with moments of humour, tenderness, tension, sadness, regret and, as one character puts it, "tons of loneliness," every one of them delivered without the slightest bit of pretension or manipulation (not to mention political or religious overtones). And when, at the end, we finally hear the orchestra perform, we only wish we could spend more time with all of these delightful characters. --Sam GrahamStills from The Bands Visit (click for larger image)Product Description This heartwarming and poignant winner of the Cannes Film Festival Un Certain Regard prize is the mesmerizing and witty story of strangers in a strange land. A fading Egyptian police band arrives in Israel to play at the Arab Cultural Center. When they take the wrong bus, the band members find themselves in a desolate Israeli village. With no other option than to spend the night with the local townspeople, the two distinctly different cultures realize the universal bonds of love, music and life. Set against a breathtaking desert landscape, this cross-cultural comedy proves that getting lost is sometimes the best way to find yourself.

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A weight loss Slimpod for ladies who can visualise themselves in a pair of jeans that's two sizes or more smaller - rather than a smaller dress. Listen for 10...... more

A weight loss Slimpod for ladies who can visualise themselves in a pair of jeans that's two sizes or more smaller - rather than a smaller dress. Listen for 10 minutes a day and the weight drops away, 100 per cent safely and naturally. No diet. No calorie counting. No gimmicks. No willpower. One of the Thinking Slimmer weight loss range. IMPORTANT INFO: After buying you should go to the Thinking Slimmer website so you can claim your personal handbook, plus your password for free no-obligation membership of our online VIP weight loss club. In the website's Info Zone you'll find a page called For Amazon Buyers. It explains what you should do next. With a Slimpod you listen every day for at least 21 days in a row for the changes to begin, then you keep listening for as often and as long as it takes until you feel your weight is reducing at a comfortable rate and getting close to your weight loss goal. Comes with a free bonus track worth £17.99, The Chillpod stressbuster.

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Dreamgirls The spirit of Motown runs through the long-awaited film adaption of the Broadway musical Dreamgirls, which centres around a young female singing trio...... more

Dreamgirls The spirit of Motown runs through the long-awaited film adaption of the Broadway musical Dreamgirls, which centres around a young female singing trio who burst upon the music scene in the '60s, complete with bouffant hairdos, glitzy gowns, and a soul sound new to the white-bread American music charts. Sound familiar? You aren't the first one to draw comparisons to the meteoric rise of the Supremes, and despite any protests to the contrary, this is most definitely a thinly veiled reinterpretation of that success story. The Dreamettes--statuesque Deena (Beyonce Knowles), daffy Lorell (Anika Noni Rose) and brassy Effie (Jennifer Hudson)--are a girl group making the talent-show rounds when they're discovered by car salesman and aspiring music manager Curtis Taylor Jr. (Jamie Foxx). Sensing greatness (as well as a new marketing opportunity) Curtis signs the Dreamettes as backup singers for R&B star James "Thunder" Early (Eddie Murphy). But when Early's mercurial ways and singing style don't mesh with primarily white audiences, Curtis moves the newly-renamed Dreams to center stage--with Deena as lead singer in place of Effie. And that's not the only arena in which Effie is replaced, as Curtis abandons their love affair for a relationship with star-in-the-making Deena. Besides the Supremes comparison, one can't talk about Dreamgirls now without revisiting its notorious Oscar snub; though it received eight nominations, the most for any film from 2006, it was shut out of the Best Picture and Director races entirely. Was the oversight justified? While Dreamgirls is certainly a handsomely mounted, lovingly executed and often vibrant film adaptation, it inspires more respect than passion, only getting under your skin during the musical numbers, which become more sporadic as the film goes on. Writer-director Bill Condon is definitely focused on recreating the Motown milieu (down to uncanny photographs of Knowles in full Diana Ross mode), he often forgets to flesh out his characters, who even on the Broadway stage were underwritten and relied on powerhouse performances to sell them to audiences. (Stage fans will also note that numerous songs are either truncated or dropped entirely from the film.) Condon has assembled a game cast, as Knowles does a canny riff on the essence of Diana Ross' glamour (as opposed to an all-out impersonation) and Rose makes a peripheral character surprisingly vibrant; only Foxx, who never gets to pour on the charisma, is miscast. Still, there are two things even the most cranky viewers will warm to in Dreamgirls: the performances of veteran Eddie Murphy and newcomer Jennifer Hudson. Murphy is all sly charm and dazzling energy as the devilish Early, who's part James Brown, part Little Richard, and all showman. And Hudson, an American Idol contestant who didn't even make the top three, makes an impressive debut as the larger-than-life Effie, whose voice matches her passions and stubbornness. Though she sometimes may seem too young for the role, Hudson nails the movie's signature song, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going," with a breathtaking power that must be seen and heard to believe. And for those five minutes, if not more, you will be in Dreamgirls' thrall. --Mark EnglehartGrease Riding the strange '50s nostalgia wave that swept through America during the late 1970s (caused by TV shows like Happy Days and films like American Graffiti), Grease became not only the word in 1978, but also a box-office smash and a cultural phenomenon. Twenty years later, this entertaining film adaptation of the Broadway musical received another successful theatrical release, which included visual remastering and a shiny new Dolby soundtrack. While this 2002 DVD release contains retrospective interviews with the cast and director Randal Kleiser, it's unfortunately full screen. As a result, the widescreen dance numbers are instead panned and scanned, destroying the symmetrical, lively choreography. A widescreen version is also available and is highly recommended because without the vibrant colors, unforgettably campy and catchy tunes (like "Greased Lightning," "Summer Nights," and "You're the One That I Want"), and fabulously choreographed, widescreen musical numbers, the film has to rely on a silly, cliché-filled plot that we've seen hundreds of times. As it is, the episodic story about the romantic dilemmas experienced by a group of graduating high school seniors remains fresh, fun, and incredibly imaginative. The young, animated cast also deserves a lot of credit, bringing chemistry and energy to otherwise bland material. John Travolta, straight from his success in Saturday Night Fever, knows his sexual star power and struts, swaggers, sings, and dances appropriately, while Olivia Newton-John's portrayal of virgin innocence is the only decent acting she's ever done. And then there's Stockard Channing, spouting sexual double-entendres as Rizzo, the bitchy, raunchy leader of the Pink Ladies, who steals the film from both of its stars. --Dave McCoyGrease 2 Too often, sequels to popular films simply rehash the original film; call it the carbon-copy syndrome. Grease 2 suffers from no such malady, having almost nothing to do with the original film. Sure, it focuses on teens at Rydell High, the imaginary school from the first film, which starred John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. But other than a few of the teachers, all of the characters are new and so are the songs--and more's the pity. By the time Grease hit the big screen, it already had had almost a decade as a theatrical musical, more than enough time to hone its mock-rock & roll score. But this sequel, which stars among others a then-unknown Michelle Pfeiffer, Maxwell Caulfield, and Lorna Luft (Judy Garland's daughter), has music that's neither fish nor fowl, neither rock nor Broadway. Meanwhile, the plot is a reversal of the first film, in which a cool guy fell for a square girl. In this one, the square is newcomer Caulfield, who catches the eye of tough girl Pfeiffer and her Pink Lady gang. The appearance of such pseudo-stars of the '50s, like Tab Hunter, is supposed to lend a nostalgic kick, but let's just say that Grease 2 slides almost instantly into obscurity. --Marshall Fine

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Greys Anatomy: Season 1Just when you wanted to say "Oh no, not another hospital drama," Grey's Anatomy turns into one of the most addicting series on...... more

Greys Anatomy: Season 1Just when you wanted to say "Oh no, not another hospital drama," Grey's Anatomy turns into one of the most addicting series on television. With no big stars and no hype, the ABC series debuted as a mid-season replacement and became a bonafide smash in its nine-episode season. The series, a hybrid of House's medical detectives and Dawson's Creek's hormones and catchy pop-rock soundtrack, follows five competitive surgical interns at the fictional Seattle Grace Hospital. There's optimistic ex-model Izzie (Katherine Heigl), bumbling do-gooder George (T.R. Knight), competitive glacier Cristina (Sandra Oh), cocky womanizer Alex (Justin Chambers), and the show's namesake, Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), whose medical career is complicated by her famous surgeon mother who now lives with Alzheimer's, and her frowned-upon relationship with another surgeon, Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey, enjoying the best career revival since Rob Lowe). The doctors juggle romance and foster friendships while trying not to stab each other in the back over surgeries. Grey's Anatomy's first season, while entertaining, went a little far trying to find its groove, overdosing on Meredith's overly simplistic voice-overs ("At the end of the day... faith is a funny thing"), and musical montages. It has the usual trappings of a hospital drama (unusual cases, such as the patient with the 70-pound tumor, and trysts in the on-call room), but with more warm fuzzies and light touches. Pompeo, who can sound just like Renee Zellweger if you close your eyes, is likeable but not strong enough of a presence compared to her co-stars. Luckily the quirky dialogue and stellar acting by the ethnically diverse cast, particularly by Chandra Wilson (Dr. Bailey, aka "the Nazi") and Oh, who won a Golden Globe for best supporting actress, more than make up for it. --Ellen A. KimGreys Anatomy: Season 2For viewers bored or distressed by the constant gore and breakneck speed of hospital dramas like ER, Grey's Anatomy comes as a breath of fresh air. Unlike other shows set in the world of medicine, this series is just as concerned with its characters' personal lives as with their medical careers, and thrives by stressing the way in which the two intertwine. After all, for surgical interns who have chosen to dedicate their lives to medicine, the hospital largely becomes their home. Extremely well-written, the series mixes serious issues like mortality with funny storylines and wit. Each character is well developed and individualized, coming off as real rather than stereotypical. Rather than standing on its own, each medical challenge sheds some light on the doctors' personal experiences, bringing the hospital environment to a refreshingly relevant level. While the series may not be the most realistic medical drama on television, it is certainly the most compelling and entertaining, containing such juicy plotlines as love triangles, affairs between co-workers, and secret romances. This release contains every episode from the show's well received second season, picking up right where the first left off, with Meredith discovering that her boyfriend, Derek, has been hiding the fact that he's married. Shocked and betrayed, Meredith embarks on a messy healing process that involves angry shouting matches and a string of one-night stands. As usual, the show avoids taking itself too seriously by interjecting serious themes with light-hearted dialogue and humorous medical emergencies. Rounding out the already impressive ensemble cast are new characters like Derek's wife (Kate Walsh) and new love interests for most of the cast. While the season contains plenty of laughs, it keeps the intensity up as well, and ends on a decidedly sombre note.Greys Anatomy: Season 3In the third season of Grey's Anatomy, one medical intern will get married to a superior while another is left standing at the altar. Two interns will lose their parents. And one main character will try to commit suicide--or not fight very hard to save her own life. There will be multiple hook-ups, infidelity, and trust issues. In between the soap opera-style drama that attracts millions of viewers in the US each week, interns Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh), Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl), Alex Karev (Justin Chambers), and George O'Malley (T.R. Knight) will also perform some medical miracles. At the end of season 2, Izzie was distraught over the death of her fiancé, Denny. Now she finds that her very rich boyfriend has left her millions of dollars. Instead of putting the money into the bank and allowing it to accrue interest until she decides what she wants to do with it--as sensible Dr. Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) suggests--Izzie mopes around the house in an irritating stupor. Actually, irritating is an apt description for several of the main characters. It takes a leap of faith to believe that sexy, spectacular, and rich orthopedic surgeon Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez) would be even vaguely interested in wishy-washy George. Previously, he'd convinced himself that he was in love with Meredith. Now he's pining for his other roommate, Izzie, even though he's already got Callie. And rather than welcoming her into their fold, Izzie and Meredith (and to a lesser extent Cristina) give Callie the mean-girls treatment. They may have rebuffed him at one point, but they don't want Callie to have him, either. There is something very needy about this group of interns who have no one to turn to but each other when a crisis occurs. Viewers get some insight into "dark and twisty" Meredith's upbringing, as she spends more time with her cold and demanding mother, who is suffering from Alzheimer's, and her milquetoast father, who didn't fight very hard to have contact with her as a child after her mum kicked him out of their house. It's no wonder Meredith ended up emotionally damaged and unwilling to completely open up to Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) ... a.k.a. McDreamy. Though the show's title implies that Meredith is the most important character, it's not true. The ensemble cast, which also includes James Pickens Jr. as Dr. Richard Webber (who had a long and complicated affair with Meredith's mother) and Kate Walsh as Derek's ex-wife Addison, is fantastic. And it's difficult to outshine Oh, who has some of this season's funniest and emotional moments as she navigates a relationship with Preston Burke (Isaiah Washington), who is far more romantic and traditional than she is. Though not as compelling as the show's debut season, this third year still packs a strong emotional punch. --Jae-Ha KimGreys Anatomy: Season 4Season four of the hit ABC medical drama was on shaky ground from the season premiere, which left Cristina (Sandra Oh) at the altar by Burke (Isaiah Washington, fired after the press-frenzied third season); Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) and Derek (Patrick Dempsey) downgraded to no-relationship-just-sex status; and George (T.R. Knight) pondering divorce from Callie (Sara Ramirez) to pursue love with his best friend, Izzie (Katherine Heigl). That last pairing made for one of the worst decisions in the series thus far; George and Izzie always worked so well as friends without the will-they-won't-they element, but suddenly throwing them into bed and watching them fumble their way to coupledom (an attempt that mercifully doesn't last) was painful to watch, in particular because Heigl, who had won an Emmy for the previous season, was reduced to a lot of whining and fretting. Meanwhile, Meredith's family issues come to a head when her half-sister Lexie (Chyler Leigh) begins her internship at Seattle Grace and instantly tries too hard to bond. And as she once again drives away Derek with her trust issues, Meredith finally gets smart and enters therapy (one of the redeeming elements of the season, with Amy Madigan as the hard-nosed counselor) to "get healed." The writers' strike became a welcome blessing for the show, which had seriously derailed before its hiatus; during the strike, creator Shonda Rimes has said she reexamined the direction of the show, making for an ultimately satisfying second half of the season. Standout episodes include "Forever Young," in which a high school bus crash leaves the staff pontificating their own adolescent cliques; "Lay Your Hands on Me," with a standout performance by Chandra Wilson as Bailey, whose crumbling marriage comes front and center when her toddler gets in an accident; and the season finale "Freedom," in which Meredith and Derek save two brain-tumor patients in love (Jurnee Smollett and Marshall Allman), leading to their own (lasting?) reunion, Bailey heads up an effort to rescue a guy who lay in concrete to impress a girl; and Callie finds herself attracted to the new cardiac surgeon, Erica Hahn (Brooke Smith). --Ellen A. KimGreys Anatomy: Season 5Season 5 is a pivotal one for the riveting Grey's Anatomy. The doctors at Seattle Grace Hospital bloom and show new layers, the drama meets and exceeds that of previous seasons, and the show marks an important milestone--its 100th episode--with developments that, as with all the great Grey's episodes, brim with belly laughs and moving tears.The season gets off to a slow start, with perhaps a bit more relationship angst than even diehard fans would prefer. Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) and Derek "McDreamy" (Patrick Dempsey) start out with the familiar push-pull of their love affair--but a resolution, at last, is in their future. Callie (the excellent, and newly glamorous, Sara Ramirez) wrestles with her sexual orientation. Cristina (Sandra Oh, never better) is still picking up the pieces from her ruined engagement to the departed Burke (Isaiah Washington). To help her, or maybe to throw her for another loop, the series introduces the gruff, macho military doc, Owen (one of TV's sexiest hunks, Kevin McKidd).Yet series creator and still active writer Shonda Rhimes unveils story arcs about midway through the season which have the surgeons' operating room dramas intersecting with the characters' private lives--with waves of heartbreaking results. Fans may take issue with "Dead Denny" (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and his endless visitations--complete with sex--with Izzie (Katherine Heigl)--but as the season builds, Izzie's mystery illness, and her deep love for Alex (Justin Chambers) are treated with delicacy and respect, and Denny's character both reacts and ultimately supports. There's a wedding--a fairy-tale one--celebrating the show's 100th episode, and the love of the characters, and the pain they've overcome to get there--are equal parts of the very human, very lovely, result. The season finale is among the show's best ever, with the fate of two beloved characters, George (T.R. Knight) and Izzie, left unknown and laden with sorrow. --A.T. Hurley

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Verve's legendary songbook editions are among Ella Fitzgerald's very best repertoire. The singer, who was stylistically at home in every genre, from jazz, to...... more

Verve's legendary songbook editions are among Ella Fitzgerald's very best repertoire. The singer, who was stylistically at home in every genre, from jazz, to the evergreens of the Great American Songbooks, to pop songs, is to this day one of the most versatile interpreters of the American vocal scene. Her recording of the Harold Arlen Songbook, made in 1960 and '61, is, along with similar projects with songs by Rodgers and Hart, Cole Porter, George Gershwin and Duke Ellington, the very best of its kind. Harold Arlen discovered his propensity for jazz as a pianist, orchestrator and musical producer of the Cotton Club shows over many years. So it is not surprising that much of what flowed from his pen had a distinct jazz leaning. Ella is the only vocalist who manages to sing even the most complicated phrases of my songs with poise and lightness, he stated upon completion of the production. The musical quality of the 26 refurbished audiophile tracks, including two bonus tracks, make this re-release a timeless work of reference of American easy listening. The superb big band, along with the brilliant arrangements and conducting of Billy May, provides the perfect backing. Track Listing: 1. Blues In The Night 2. Let's Fall In Love 3. Stormy Weather 4. Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea 5. My Shining Hour 6. Hooray For Love 7. Sing My Heart 8. This Time The Dream's On Me 9. That Old Black Magic 10. I've Got The World On A String 11. Let's Take A Walk Around The Block 12. Ill Wind (You're Blowin' Me No Good) 13. Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive 14. When The Sun Comes Out 15. Come Rain Or Come Shine 16. As Long As I Live 17. Happiness Is A Thing Called Joe 18. It's Only A Paper Moon 19. The Man That Got Away 20. One For My Baby (And One More For The Road) 21. It Was Written In The Stars 22. Get Happy 23. I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues 24. Out Of This World 25. Over The Rainbow 26. Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead

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Amazon Exclusive: Emily Rubin Reviews PharmacologyEmily Rubin is the author of Stalina, the International Book Award Finalist. She divides her time between New...... more

Amazon Exclusive: Emily Rubin Reviews PharmacologyEmily Rubin is the author of Stalina, the International Book Award Finalist. She divides her time between New York City and Columbia County, New York, with her husband and their dog. Read her exclusive guest review of Christopher Herz's Pharmacology:I have had many memories and stories of the great city of San Francisco, and now to add to that list is Christopher Herzs latest novel, Pharmacology, set in that gem of the West coast. Herz uses the city as a playing field for this fast paced novel with bohemian beauty and a gaggle of eccentric inhabitants on the verge of a revolution. The upheaval is technological, and he catapults us back to the early 1990s when the Internet was about to change the tools of communication forever.Pharmacology follows Sarah Striker, a writer/artist transplant from Kansas City, who comes to San Francisco with a fire in her belly for all things activist and literary. On her nights off from pushing caffeine at a hip coffeehouse, she produces an underground lit mag called Luddite. She uses the journal to rage against the machine. The irony of producing the magazine at the local Kinkos is not lost on the radical, yet very practical, Sarsah.When her barista days are over, Sarah is wooed by an ad agency with a roster of clients from the pharmaceutical industry. Attention Deficit Disorder is the illness of the hour and the ad agencys job is to instill panic for this scourge on the nations youth--as well as promote the latest FDA approved drug designed to quell the epidemic.Sarah spends her days "focused on finding ways to spread the word on how the Internet and Ecstasy were causing the youth of America to develop ADD." At night she continues to produce Luddite, fueled by her desire to expose the greed and lies at the center of the corporate greed machine. Her crisis of conscience is ameliorated by the popularity of the underground journal, and by sending home money from her day job to help pay for her beloved fathers cancer treatment.Herzs incisive look into the early days of the internet and his skewering of the fear tactics used by the pharmaceutical conglomerates includes some of the most eccentric supporting characters I have ever encountered. Sarah comes home to a house filled with cross-dressed, perpetually high, vampire teeth-implanted housemates who level the playing field and add a dose of reality to this brutally honest look at our not-too-distant past. Pharmacology is a Tales of the City for an Internet-savvy generation. This novel takes off from the bedrooms and back stairs of Maupins classic stories, pulls us right to the teetering edge of cyberspace, and pulls us through with lots of literary angst and discoveries, sexy encounters, wobbly high heels, and the dreams that come with new beginnings.--Emily RubinA Letter from Shaden PharmaceuticalsThe following letter came to the publishers just before the release of this book. We felt it only right to present the Pharmaceutical Industrys side of the story. While we fully stand behind Sarah Striker, everyone deserves a chance to speak.Dear Reader,We at Shaden Pharmaceuticals are fighting the publication and distribution of this book. Who knows what lies Ms. Sarah Striker and her friends came up with when originally publishing the stories in her zine, Luddite?I, myself, met Ms. Striker when her advertising company was prepping the campaign for one of our products. The office was filled with less than desirable workers skateboarding around and making more money than they should have been. When the internet went boom in the early 90s, companies like ours fell under the incorrect assumption that being young and whimsical equated with talent.The pharmaceutical industry often times comes across as being unjust and focused only making money. I assure you we have only the best interest of people who pay for our medication in mind. We work hand in hand with insurance companies and regulatory boards to ensure our products are affordable and reach those who need them.The files Ms. Striker stole from us and interpreted into her Zines -- which have now been turned into this book, are pure fiction. I urge you not to read this book, but also understand the publics need to have a good villain to turn their anger on.Deep inside, you must realize were just trying to help you.We thank you. We are thinking of you. We are creating only for you.Best,Kimberly Most Product Manager Shaden Pharmaceuticals

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