About this product: Almost Famous is the movie Cameron Crowe has been waiting a lifetime to tell. The fictionalization of Crowe's days as a teenage reporter for Creem and Rolling Stone has all the well-written characters and wonderful "movie moments" that we expect from Crowe (Jerry Maguire), but the film has an intangible something extra--an insider's touch that will turn the film into the ode to '70s rock & roll for years to come. We are introduced to Crowe's alter ego, William Miller (Patrick Fugit), at home, where his progressive mom (Frances McDormand, just superb) has outlawed rock music and sister Anita (Zooey Deschanel) has slipped him LPs that will "set his mind free." Following the wisdom of Creem's disheveled editor, Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman in an instant-classic performance), Miller gets on the inside with the up-and-coming band Stillwater (a fictionalized mixture of the Allman Brothers, Led Zeppelin, and others). A simple visit with the band turns into a three-week, life-altering odyssey into the heyday of American rock. Of the characters he meets on the road, the two most important are groupie extraordinaire Penny Lane (Kate Hudson in a star-making performance) and Stillwater's enigmatic lead guitarist (Billy Crudup), who keeps stringing Miller along for an interview. From the handwritten credits (done by Crowe) to the bittersweet finale, Crowe's comedic valentine is an indelible, heartbreaking romance of music, women, and the privilege of youth. --Doug Thomas
About this product: Almost Famous is the movie Cameron Crowe has been waiting a lifetime to tell. The fictionalization of Crowe's days as a teenage reporter for Creem and Rolling Stone has all the well-written characters and wonderful "movie moments" that we expect from Crowe (Jerry Maguire), but the film has an intangible something extra--an insider's touch that will turn the film into the ode to '70s rock & roll for years to come. We are introduced to Crowe's alter ego, William Miller (Patrick Fugit), at home, where his progressive mom (Frances McDormand, just superb) has outlawed rock music and sister Anita (Zooey Deschanel) has slipped him LPs that will "set his mind free." Following the wisdom of Creem's disheveled editor, Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman in an instant-classic performance), Miller gets on the inside with the up-and-coming band Stillwater (a fictionalized mixture of the Allman Brothers, Led Zeppelin, and others). A simple visit with the band turns into a three-week, life-altering odyssey into the heyday of American rock. Of the characters he meets on the road, the two most important are groupie extraordinaire Penny Lane (Kate Hudson in a star-making performance) and Stillwater's enigmatic lead guitarist (Billy Crudup), who keeps stringing Miller along for an interview. From the handwritten credits (done by Crowe) to the bittersweet finale, Crowe's comedic valentine is an indelible, heartbreaking romance of music, women, and the privilege of youth. --Doug Thomas
About this product: Discover the dark secrets of the lifestyles of the Illuminati rich and famous as you visit and peek inside the luxurious homes and mansions of the Rockefellers, the Rothschilds, the Astors, the Vanderbilts, the Morgans, the DuPonts, the Gettys, and other storied dynasties. Yes, they live in sumptuous estates brimming with luxurious columns, statuaries, and art, and outfitted with the richest woods, marble, and brass. But behind the thick walls and iron gates of their dwellings also lurk sinister things: Evidence of covert satanic activity, Masonic architecture, devils in stone, gargoyles, occult presences, ancient Mystery Religion beasts and deities, and more. Truly, the rich are different than you and me in more ways than simply the size of their bank accounts.
About this product: Born in Austria, Haydn was one of the greatest composers of the Classical Period in music. He is renowned for taking the established forms of the symphony and string quartet and shaping them into the powerful media for musical expression that they became thereafter. He brought symphonic traits to piano sonata and was a master of chamber music. His majestic masses and endearing choral works also continue as standards in the concert repertory, and his operas are still highly valued. Haydn and Mozart maintained a friendship which was symbiotically influential and productive for both composers. He also briefly taught Beethoven in Vienna, but their conflicting personalities made this experience unrewarding. Beethoven was nevertheless a great admirer of Haydn’s works. The twelve symphonies that he composed for his London concert series represent the pinnacle of his symphonic work. The Creation is his best loved choral work.
About this product: The idea of pairing two of the hottest contemporary actresses with a Golden Age Hollywood director--in a remake of an old Bette Davis vehicle, no less--makes Rich and Famous a curiosity straddling two ages. Jacqueline Bisset, then at the height of her sex-symbol status, stars with Candice Bergen, who was morphing from glamourpuss to comedienne in the wake of her hilarious Starting Over turn. They play the roles first essayed by Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins in the 1943 Old Acquaintance: Bisset is the serious writer, Bergen the flighty married pal whose trashy novels become bestsellers. The friendship between the two women, rivals and confidantes, remains as their professional and romantic circumstances change. George Cukor, who directed his share of similarly themed "women's pictures" during his long Hollywood career, made his final film here, creating a civilized tone to support the conversations between the two women (and indulging in one cheeky "Mile High Club" sequence on a plane). The movie played like a breath of fresh air in 1981, especially in the way it gave a couple of underappreciated actresses a chance to shine, although it does look a bit dated now. In particular, the males in the film (David Selby as Bergen's hubby, Hart Bochner as a Rolling Stone reporter) are notably underwhelming compared to the leading ladies. (A young Meg Ryan pops up for a while as Bergen's daughter.) The memorable final sequence feels earned, even more by the actresses than by the movie itself --Robert Horton
About this product: UK All Region Blu-Ray pressing. Writer-director Cameron Crowe brings the 1970s music scene to life with his semi-autobiographical story of a teen journalist who goes on the road with a rock band. Uncool 15-year-old William Miller (Patrick Fugit) is living every teenager's dream. He's touring with Stillwater, an up-and-coming rock band featuring lead singer Jeff Bebe (Jason Lee) and charismatic lead guitarist Russell Hammond (Billy Crudup) and writing about it for Rolling Stone magazine, whose editors are unaware of his young age. Though Miller's mentor, legendary rock critic Lester Bangs--portrayed with humour and heart by Philip Seymour Hoffman--cautions him not to befriend the musicians, Miller takes it a step further and befriends both the band and the Band-Aids--the girls who hang around with the band because they love the music. Newcomer Fugit is the perfect William Miller: baby-faced, slightly gawky, and an awestruck observer. Kate Hudson sparkles as Penny Lane, the leader of the Band-Aids, and Frances McDormand delivers a stellar performance as Elaine, Miller's protective and mildly paranoid mother. In the tradition of Say Anything and Jerry Maguire, Crowe's coming-of-age tale is intelligent, well written, and infused with humour in unlikely places.
About this product: "Drawing on old maps, contemporary drawings and paintings, portraits and other archive material, the excellent Famous Authors series not only presents a factual outline of the writers’ lives, but also conveys a clear visual picture of the social and historical background to their writing. Recommended for all ages." —THE GOOD BOOK GUIDE
English novelist, critic, and essayist, Virginia Woolf is known as an innovator in novel writing. She emphasized the psychological realms occupied by her characters over plot or action, infusing her work with symbolism and poetic qualities. Many of her novels are concerned with time, its passage, and the difference between external and internal time. Woolf was reared in an atmosphere of literature and learning, receiving her education in her father’s own library and meeting many of the outstanding literary figures of the day. Aside from her literary accomplishments including Jacob’s Room, To the Lighthouse, and Mrs. Dalloway, Woolf helped to establish the "Bloomsbury Group" of artists and writers at Cambridge University as well as Hogarth Press, a successful publishing house.
MAJOR WORKS: The Voyage Out (1915) Night and Day (1919) Jacob’s Room (1922) The Common Reader (1925) Mrs. Dalloway (1925) To the Lighthouse (1927) Orlando (1928) The Waves (1931) Flush (1933) The Years (1937) Three Guineas (1938) Between the Acts (1941)
About this product: George Frideric Handel, was one of the greatest composers of the late baroque period and, during his lifetime, perhaps the most internationally famous of all musicians. Throughout his life Handel avoided the rigorous contrapuntal techniques of his compatriot and exact contemporary Johann Sebastian Bach and achieved his effects through the simplest of means, trusting always his own innate musicianship. Handel’s legacy lies in the dramatic power and lyrical beauty inherent in all his music. His operas move from the rigid use of conventional schemes toward a more flexible and dramatic treatment of recitative, aria, and chorus. His ability to build large scenes around a single character was further extended in the dramatic scenes of composers such as Mozart and Rossini. Handel’s greatest gift to posterity was undoubtedly the creation of the dramatic oratorio genre, partly out of existing operatic traditions and partly by force of his own musical imagination. Although today, as in the 19th century, Handel is best known for only a few of his works, such as Water Music and Messiah, more and more attempts are being made to bring his other compositions, especially his operas, before the public. Handel’s rich and unique musical genius deserves to be remembered in the extraordinary fullness of its entirety.
About this product: One of the greatest composers of the 19th century, Franz Schubert is widely regarded as the world’s finest songwriter. He had written two of his best songs, Gretchen am Spinnrade and Erlkönig, nearly 200 other songs, 3 masses, 3 symphonies, and much piano and chamber music all before his 19th birthday. He was immensely prolific in all musical genres; only his operas were not successful. His existence rested on the support of his friends and the occasional sale of his compositions. Schubert was not a concert performer and most of his works were written for intimate gatherings which were later called "Schubertaids." Schubert’s long list of accomplishments includes more than 300 sonatas for trios, quartets, and quintets, over 600 songs called "Lieder," and nine symphonies. Two of these, the Great and the Unfinished were performed after he died tragically at the age of 31.
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