College Road Trip
- COLLEGE ROAD TRIP (DVD MOVIE)
When asked by the Paris Review what compelled him to rewrite the ending of A Farewell to Arms 39 times, Ernest Hemingway replied, "Getting the words right." His answer echoes what every successful writer knows: The secret to all good writing is revision.
For more than twenty years, Getting the Words Right has helped writers from all professions rewrite, revise, and refine their writing. In this new edition, author Theodore Cheney offers 39 targeted ways you can improve your writing, including how to:
Directed by Renny Harlin, the 1990 sequel, Die Hard 2 (unofficially referred to as Die Harder), doesn't match the level of the original, but it's still an exciting thrill ride with some terrific action sequences. One year after the Nakatomi incident, McClane (Willis) is awaiting his wife's (Bedelia) plane to arrive at Dulles Airport when he stumbles onto a plot to paralyze the entire airport, including all the planes trying to land. It's up to McClane to take on the cadre of bad guys despite all the bureaucrats standing in his way, and before the planes run out of fuel and crash to the ground. The cast includes William Sadler as rogue military man Col. Stuart, Dennis Franz as the latest bureaucratic cop to get in McClane's way, Richard Thornburg as the annoying reporter from the original movie, John Amos as a special-forces commander, early-in-their-career John Leguizamo and Robert P! atrick as terrorists, and future politician and Law and Ord! er a ctor Fred Thompson as the head of air traffic control.
The third film in the series, Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995), was again directed by John McTiernan and uses a different concept. The villain (played by Jeremy Irons) claims to have planted bombs all over New York City and gives John McClane (Willis), now alchoholic and separated, a series of clues to try to track them down. Along the way, he's aided by, and eventually teams up with, a Harlem shopkeeper named Zeus Carver (Samuel L. Jackson). The interplay between Willis and Jackson is engaging, but better suited to the Lethal Weapon franchise it was previously considered for, and not till the end does the movie return to the familiar McClane-vs.-villains-showdown format.
Twelve years after Die Hard with a Vengeance, the third and previous film in the Die Hard franchise, Live Free or Die Hard finds John McClane (Bruce Willis) a few years older, not any happier, and just as kick-ass as ! ever. Right after he has a fight with his college-age daughter (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), a call comes in to pick up a hacker (Justin Long, a.k.a. the "Apple guy") who might help the FBI learn something about a brief security blip in their systems. Now any Die Hard fan knows that this is when the assassins with foreign accents and high-powered weaponry show up, telling McClane that once again he's stumbled into an assignment that's anything but routine. Once that wreckage has cleared, it is revealed that the hacker is only one of many hackers who are being targeted for extermination after they helped set up a "fire sale," a three-pronged cyberattack designed to bring down the entire country by crippling its transportation, finances, and utilities. That plan is now being put into action by a mysterious team (Timothy Olyphant, Deadwood, and Maggie Q, Mission: Impossible 3) that seems to be operating under the government's noses. Live Free or Die Hard uses some of the cat-and-mouse elements of Die Hard wit! h a Veng eance along with some of the pick-'em-off-one-by-one elements of the now-classic original movie. And it's the most consistently enjoyable installment of the franchise since the original, with eye-popping stunts (directed by Len Wiseman of the Underworld franchise), good humor, and Willis's ability to toss off a quip while barely alive. There was some controversy over the film's PG-13 rating--there might be less blood than usual, and McClane's famous tag line is somewhat obscured--but there's still has plenty of action and a high body count. Yippee-ki-ay! --David HoriuchiDisc 1: **"Die Hard" Widescreen Feature with optional Commentary by director John McTiernan and production designer Jackson DeGovia **Additional scene-specific commentary by special effects supervisor Richard Edlund **Subtitled commentary by various cast and crew **Branching version with the extended power shutdown scene **DVD-ROM - script-to- screen comparison
Disc 2: **"Die Harder" Wid! escreen Feature **Directors commentary
Disc 3: **"Die Hard with a Vengeance" Widescreen Feature **Directors commentary
Disc 4 Bonus Disc: **Inside Look: LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD **Wrong Guy, Wrong Place, Wrong Time: A Look Back At Die Hard **The Continuing Adventures of John McClane Die Hard is the movie franchise that made a movie star out of TV star Bruce Willis, and created an entire action-movie genre of its own. In the original 1988 film, Willis plays wisecracking New York cop John McClane, who arrives at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles to meet up with his estranged wife, Holly (Bonny Bedelia), at her office Christmas party. As luck would have it, the company ends up in the middle of a terrorist plot led by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) and his gang of expert killers, and with little help coming from outside, McClane has to pick off his enemies one by one. Thus was born the "Die Hard genre," epitomized by such films as Under Siege ("Di! e Hard on a ship"), Passenger 57 ("Die Hard ! on a pla ne"), Speed ("Die Hard on a bus"), and Cliffhanger ("Die Hard on a mountain"). But few measure up to the explosive brilliance of Die Hard. Director John McTiernan develops the action at a fast and furious pace, culminating in some fantastic set-pieces on the top of the building, in the elevator shaft, and in the building's outer plaza. Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza's script, based on Roderick Thorp's novel Nothing Lasts Forever, is smart, funny, and full of memorable lines (among them "Welcome to the party, pal!" and of course "Yippee ki-ay, motherf*****"), and the cast is perfection, especially Rickman as the cunningly evil villain, and Willis, whose McClane character--bloodied, beaten, bruised, and barely breathing, as he battles both bad guys and bureaucrats--is someone audiences could genuinely cheer for.
Directed by Renny Harlin, the 1990 sequel, Die Hard 2 (unofficially referred to as Die Harder), does! n't match the level of the original, but it's still an exciting thrill ride with some terrific action sequences. One year after the Nakatomi incident, McClane (Willis) is awaiting his wife's (Bedelia) plane to arrive at Dulles Airport when he stumbles onto a plot to paralyze the entire airport, including all the planes trying to land. It's up to McClane to take on the cadre of bad guys despite all the bureaucrats standing in his way, and before the planes run out of fuel and crash to the ground. The cast includes William Sadler as rogue military man Col. Stuart, Dennis Franz as the latest bureaucratic cop to get in McClane's way, Richard Thornburg as the annoying reporter from the original movie, John Amos as a special-forces commander, early-in-their-career John Leguizamo and Robert Patrick as terrorists, and future politician and Law and Order actor Fred Thompson as the head of air traffic control.
The third film in the series, Die Hard with a Vengeanc! e (1995), was again directed by John McTiernan and uses a ! differen t concept. The villain (played by Jeremy Irons) claims to have planted bombs all over New York City and gives John McClane (Willis), now alchoholic and separated, a series of clues to try to track them down. Along the way, he's aided by, and eventually teams up with, a Harlem shopkeeper named Zeus Carver (Samuel L. Jackson). The interplay between Willis and Jackson is engaging, but better suited to the Lethal Weapon franchise it was previously considered for, and not till the end does the movie return to the familiar McClane-vs.-villains-showdown format.
The 2007 Die Hard Collection is a four-disc set that comes up short when compared to the previous six-disc Ultimate Collection , which is now out of print. That 2001 set had two discs for each film (plus, Die Hard was a Five Star Collection release). This set does away with all of the second discs, though it retains the features that were on the movie-only discs, including director com! mentaries and the seamlessly branched version of the first film with a scene added back in. There's also a brand-new fourth disc, but it's pretty minor. "Wrong Guy, Wrong Place, Wrong Time" is a 40-minute retrospective of the original movie. Wide-ranging but rather dull, it collects interviews with director John McTiernan, cinematographer Jan De Bont, screenwriters Jeb Stuart and Steven E. De Souza, other crew, and actors Reginald Veljohnson, Hart Bochner, and William Atherton. Also from 2007, "The Continuing Adventures of John McClane" looks at the second and third movies in the series. It's a mere 13 minutes and only interviews the two directors, Renny Harlin and (in new and old footage) John McTiernan. Last, three trailers for the 2007 film, Live Free or Die Hard, make this set look like something that was released merely to have something on the shelves while the new film was in theaters. --David HoriuchiBruce Willis stars as New York City Detective J! ohn McClane, newly arrived in Los Angeles to spend the Christm! as holid ay with his estranged wife (Bonnie Bedelia). As Mclane waits for his wife's office party to break up, terrorists take control of the building. While the terrorist leader, Hans Gruber (Alexander Godunov) round up hostages, McClane slips away unnoticed. Armed with only a service revolver and his cunning, McClane launches his own one-man war. A crackling thriller from beginning to end, Die Hard explodes with heart-stopping suspense.This seminal 1988 thriller made Bruce Willis a star and established a new template for action stories: "Terrorists take over a (blank), and a lone hero, unknown to the villains, is trapped with them." In Die Hard, those bad guys, led by the velvet-voiced Alan Rickman, assume control of a Los Angeles high-rise with Willis's visiting New York cop inside. The attraction of the film has as much to do with the sight of a barefoot mortal running around the guts of a modern office tower as it has to do with the plentiful fight sequences and the bond ! the hero establishes with an LA beat cop. Bonnie Bedelia plays Willis's wife, Hart Bochner is good as a brash hostage who tries negotiating his way to freedom, Alexander Godunov makes for a believable killer with lethal feet, and William Atherton is slimy as a busybody reporter. Exceptionally well directed by John McTiernan. --Tom KeoghJohn McClane takes on an Internet-based terrorist organization who is systematically shutting down the United States.
Twelve years after Die Hard with a Vengeance, the third and previous film in the Die Hard franchise, Live Free or Die Hard finds John McClane (Bruce Willis) a few years older, not any happier, and just as kick-ass as ever. Right after he has a fight with his college-age daughter (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), a call comes in to pick up a hacker (Justin Long, a.k.a. the "Apple guy") who might help the FBI learn something about a brief security blip in their systems. Now any Die Hard fan knows th! at this is when the assassins with foreign accents and high-po! wered we aponry show up, telling McClane that once again he's stumbled into an assignment that's anything but routine. Once that wreckage has cleared, it is revealed that the hacker is only one of many hackers who are being targeted for extermination after they helped set up a "fire sale," a three-pronged cyberattack designed to bring down the entire country by crippling its transportation, finances, and utilities. That plan is now being put into action by a mysterious team (Timothy Olyphant, Deadwood, and Maggie Q, Mission: Impossible 3) that seems to be operating under the government's noses.
Live Free or Die Hard uses some of the cat-and-mouse elements of Die Hard with a Vengeance along with some of the pick-'em-off-one-by-one elements of the now-classic original movie. And it's the most consistently enjoyable installment of the franchise since the original, with eye-popping stunts (directed by Len Wiseman of the Underworld franchise), go! od humor, and Willis's ability to toss off a quip while barely alive. There was some controversy over the film's PG-13 rating--there might be less blood than usual, and McClane's famous tag line is somewhat obscured--but there's still has plenty of action and a high body count. Yippee-ki-ay! --David Horiuchi
Beyond Live Free or Die Hard
| Live Free or Die Hard on Blu-Ray | Top U.S. Box Office of 2007 | More from Fox |
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Twelve years after Die Hard with a Vengeance, the third and previous film in the Die Hard franchise, Live Free or Die Hard finds John McClane (Bruce Willis) a few years older, not any happier, and just as kick-ass as ever. Right after he has a fight with his college-age daughter (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), a call comes in to pick up a hacker (Justin Long, a.k.a. the "Apple guy") who might help the FBI learn something about a brief security blip in their systems. Now any Die Hard fan knows that this is when the assassins with foreign accents and high-powered weaponry show up, telling McClane that once again he's stumble! d into an assignment that's anything but routine. Once that wreckage has cleared, it is revealed that the hacker is only one of many hackers who are being targeted for extermination after they helped set up a "fire sale," a three-pronged cyberattack designed to bring down the entire country by crippling its transportation, finances, and utilities. That plan is now being put into action by a mysterious team (Timothy Olyphant, Deadwood, and Maggie Q, Mission: Impossible 3) that seems to be operating under the government's noses.
Live Free or Die Hard uses some of the cat-and-mouse elements of Die Hard with a Vengeance along with some of the pick-'em-off-one-by-one elements of the now-classic original movie. And it's the most consistently enjoyable installment of the franchise since the original, with eye-popping stunts (directed by Len Wiseman of the Underworld franchise), good humor, and Willis's ability to toss off a quip while bare! ly alive. There was some controversy over the film's PG-13 rat! ing--the re might be less blood than usual, and McClane's famous tag line is somewhat obscured--but there's still has plenty of action and a high body count. Yippee-ki-ay! --David Horiuchi
Stills from Live Free or Die Hard (click for larger image)
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Feared by pitchers and loved by baseball fans of all stripes, David âBig Papiâ Ortiz wields a big bat, a huge smile, and an even bigger heart. In this blockbuster biography, Ortiz tells his tale: Growing up poor in the Dominican Republic, struggling through the minor leagues in an unfamiliar country, and ultimately finding success as a late-inning hero for the Boston Red Sox . . . and helping his team make the greatest comeback in sports history by winning the 2004 World Series. In 2006 he broke the team record with 54 home runs and started the All-Star game for the third straight year in 2007.
Along the way he shares his hard-won wisdom, sidesplitting laughs from the clubhouse, thoughts about his famous teammates and opponents, and some remarkably candid opinions. Big Papi is a! n unforgettable story about a sports hero that will have readers cheering with every page.
He's just a regular guinea pig with a fondness for Fruity-Nut Buffetâ"and dreams of the big time.
Now he's leaving the only home he's ever known and heading for the coast. Stardom awaits himâ"but is it all he hoped it would be?
Denise Brunkus and Deborah Blumenthal are proud to present a new star who's ready for his close-up. Charlie's debut is what Hollywood hits are made ofâ"humor, adventure, and a good dose of love.
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Get children's imaginations brewing with Cook & Play Potsy! Learn about opposites, listen to music and rhymes and explore counting, colors and more!
Parents can connect to the online LeapFrog® Learning Path for customized learning insights and ideas to expand the learning.
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| Potsy features two interactive modes - cooking mode and learning mode. View larger. |
| Potsy comes with several accessories, including an assortment of toy foods. View larger. |
Whenever the broccoli, peas, tomato, cheese, or carrots are dropped into Potsy, or the spoon is stirred in his pot, he'll react with sounds, songs, or phrases that will delight your child. Playing with Potsy encourages the use of motor skills and pretend play, whether your chil! d follows Potsy's directions or devises her own imaginative recipes.
Cleaning up after play is a breeze--put all the accessories in Potsy, close the lid, and put him away until the next cooking session. Potsy can be wiped down with a damp cloth for cleaning, but shouldn't be filled with, or submerged in, water.
"Cooking, Counting, Colors--Oh Yeah!"
Battery operated Potsy is playable in two modes. In the Cooking mode, stirring the spoon or adding food pieces to the pot triggers sound effects, facts about food and nutrition, and songs delivered in Potsy's colorfully infectious tone. The Learning mode teaches kids about colors and gives them an opportunity to practice counting.
Removing Potsy's lid during either mode teaches kids about opposites, such an on/off and open/closed. Potsy also encourages open-ended pretend play with interactive prompts.
Visit Leapfrog Online
Through LeapFrog's Learning Path you'll find information about the ski! lls your child is developing through play. You can also regist! er Potsy online, and sign up for updates and product news. The Learning Path is a great way to learn about tailoring your child's learning experience through play.
What's in the Box
Cook and Play Potsy with three AA batteries, spoon, and five food blocks.