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.

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Diminished Capacity

• ISBN13: 9780312387037
• Condition: New
• Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

dvd

Dimished Capacity by Sherwood Kiraly, author of three other novels including California Rush, Big Babies and Who's Hot, Who's Not, is a humorous story about an unlikely trio who hatch a plan to sell a rare baseball card, and is the basis for the motion picture starring Matthew Broderick, Alan Alda, and Virginia Madsen.

 

The townsfolk once voted him the strangest man in Missouri, but he turned the honor down, claiming it was "just a popularity contest." He has baited hooks connected to the keys of an old typewriter by the side of the Mississippi, so the local fish can write poetry. He keeps stacks of old newspapers piled up to his bed! room ceiling, and he doesn't know why. They don't get much more eccentric than old Rollie Zerbs of LaPorte, Missouri. But he does have one thing going for him--a rare 1909 Chicago Cubs tobacco baseball card, one of the most valuable cards in existence. And even though he can't remember where he just put it, he's on his way to Chicago to see what the card will bring...

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Ace Ventura Deluxe Double Feature (Pet Detective / When Nature Calls)

• Actors: Jim Carrey, Courteney Cox, Sean Young, Tone Loc, Dan Marino.
• Format: Widescreen, DVD, NTSC.
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (DTS 5.1). Subtitles: English, Spanish, French.
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only).
• Rated PG-13. Run Time: 250 minutes.

Allllll righty then. Let's get to it. As Ace Ventura Pet Detective, Jim Carrey instantly soared to stardom while tearing decorum to pieces. The award-winning actor plays the screwloose sleuth determined to sniff out the Miami Dolphins' missing mascot and quarterback Dan Marino. Jim Carrey returns in Ace Ventura When Nature Calls as the alligator-wrasslin,' elephant-calling, monkeyshining, loogie-launching, burning coals-crossing, disguise-mastering pet detective. Includes a bonus DVD with specially selected cartoons from the hit TV show Ace Ventura The Animated Series.

DVD Features:Audio Commentary:Commentary by Director Tom Shadyac
TV Spot
Theatrical Trailer
TV Spot
Theatrical Trailer

The Ace Ventura Deluxe Double Feature offers both Pet Detective and When Nature Calls in anamorphic widescreen with soundtracks in Dolby 5.1 and (not indicated on the packaging) DTS. The original DVD of Pet Detective was full-screen (1.33 aspect ratio) only, though it had a scene with Ace masquerading as Hans Kissvelvet, the dolphin trainer, that was dropped from the theatrical release. The deluxe edition is missing this scene. The deluxe edition also has a third disc with three episodes (about 70 minutes total) from the 1995-96 Ace Ventura animated series with Michael Hall as the voice of Ace. --David Horiuchi

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective was the 1994 box-office hit that turned comedy maniac Jim Carrey into Hollywood's first $20-million man. This gag-filled! no-brainer stars Carrey as the titular rubber-faced gumshoe w! ho track s down lost pets for his heartbroken clients. Ace's latest case involves the apparent kidnapping of the Miami Dolphins' team mascot, Snowflake the dolphin (natch), and his investigation is a source of constant irritation for Miami police lieutenant Lois Einhorn (Sean Young). Friends fans will appreciate the presence of Courtney Cox, who remains admirably straight-faced as the Dolphins' publicist and Ace's would-be girlfriend, but of course it's Carrey who steals the show with shameless abandon. --Jeff Shannon

In When Nature Calls, the inevitable sequel, the disappearance of a rare African white bat, draws Ace (Carrey again) out of his spiritual retreat at a Tibetan monastery following the tragic outcome of his previous case. That traumatic experience, which makes for a hilarious opening-scene send-up of the Stallone thriller Cliffhanger, prompts Ace to venture to Africa, where he goes native with the tribe that hired him to find their symbolic! bat. From that point anything goes, with Carrey pushing the boundaries of good taste (what, you were expecting good taste?) up to and including his now-infamous "birth" scene from the backside of a mechanical rhinoceros. Lighten up, and don't be ashamed if you find yourself laughing. --Jeff Shannon

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Thunderpants

• An 11-year-old boy's amazing ability to break wind leads him to fame as he fulfills his ambition of becoming an astronaut. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: CHILDREN Rating: R Age: 796019803458 UPC: 796019803458 Manufacturer No: 80345

Oscar® nominee Laura Linney (Kinsey) stars as Laura Marshall, an overzealous, evangelical Christian do-gooder who fills her home with down-and-out boarders, including a senile, cross-dressing murderous mute. Desperate to expand his horizons, Laura’s shy teenage son Ben (Rupert Grint, of Harry Potter fame) lands a job tending to self-proclaimed "Dame" Evie Walton (Oscar® nominee Julie Walters, Billy Elliot), an over-the-hill actress with the mouth of a drunken sailer and an insatiable lust for life. The battle for Ben’s soul begins as Evie shanghais Ben away from his repressive roots and takes him on an adventure that transforms him from boy to ma! n. A winning entry at the 2006 Moscow International Film Festival, Driving Lessons is an experience Stephen Farber of Movieline calls "a delightful coming-of-age story."More down-to-earth than Auntie Mame, Driving Lessons imparts the same simple, but enduring messageâ€"be yourself. In the directorial debut from screenwriter Jeremy Brock (Mrs. Brown), 17-year-old Ben (Harry Potter's Rupert Grint, sluggish yet sympathetic) lives with his vicar father, Robert (Nicholas Farrell), and pious mother, Laura (Laura Linney doing a passable, but inconsistent British accent), in a tree-shaded London suburb. Soft-spoken Ben writes poems and looks forward to passing his driver's test. When his mother encourages him to get a job, he becomes an assistant to retired actress Evie Walton (Billy Elliot's Julie Walters, hunched up to look elderly). He finds her overbearing at first. Still, Evie is preferable to Laura, who may do volunteer work with her husband! 's parishioners, including bizarre boarder Mr. Fincham (Jim No! rton), b ut also cheats on him with Reverend Peter (Oliver Milburn) and engages her resentful son in the subterfuge. Then Evie tricks Ben into driving her to Edinburgh for a poetry reading, where he learns to assert himself and she learns to put the dramatics on holdâ€"at least for a few minutes. Ben also loses his virginity to a woman he just met, sending a secondary message some parents might not appreciate (the film's sprinklings of profanity earned it a PG-13). Driving Lessons itself seems stranded between coming-of-age story and character study. Ironically, Farrell gives the most convincing performance as Ben's bird-loving father. Engaging if uneven, this parable about hypocrisy and self-expression might have been more interesting if presented from his perspective. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Stills from Driving Lessons (click for larger image)

Beyond Driving Lessons at Amazon.com

More Films about Coming of Age

The Films o! f Julie Walters

Learn to Drive

They share the same birth month, so the orphanage calls them December Boys. But these teens â€" Maps, Spit, Spark and Misty â€" have much more in common. With no hopes of ever joining a family, they form their own familial bonds. Then the unexpected news comes that a young couple may adopt one of them, and the long-time pals suddenly share something else: a rivalry to be the chosen one.

When Steve Friedman was a child growing up in the suburbs of St. Louis, the game of golf was, to him, mysterious and dark. His father’s passion for it caused friction in his marriage and eluded the interest of his youngest son, who was devoted instead to basketball. For that and many other reasons, the two failed to bond, ultimately leading to an awkward and unhappy relationship.

 

But Friedman never forgot the love his father had for golf, and after many years, when he was in his
forties, he reached out and asked his dad to teach him the game. He thought that perhaps he could
learn something about his old man’s view of life and thereby find a way to communicate with him.

This small volume is the sweet yet unsentimental story of that experienceâ€"the tale of two men using
the game of golf to find a way to connect with each other across decades of disagreement and misunderstanding. For anyone who is a golfer, a father, or a son, this book will be a treasure.

Take dead aim at action-packed laughs with this killer comedy featuring an all-star cast. Emily Blunt steals the show as Rose, a free-spirited thief who finds herself in the cross hairs of a world-class assassin named Victor (Bill Nighy). But when Victor spares Rose’s life, the lonely hearted hitman sets off an outrageous chain of ev! ents that turn both their worlds upside down. Joined by a gun-! toting a pprentice (Rupert Grint), the unlikely trio teams up to thwart the murderous intentions of Victor’s unhappy client. An 11-year-old boy's amazing ability to break wind leads him to fame as he fulfills his ambition of becoming an astronaut.

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Patriotic Steel Garage Door Magnets Set - Independence Day 4th of July

• Die cut plastic decorations cover most steel garage doors.
• Reusable; easy application and removal.
• UV protected and guaranteed not to fade.
• Will not interfere with the normal use of your garage door.
• Set includes letters, shapes, magnets, and instructions.

From the director of the ground-breaking film I, Robot comes this hip, sexy comedy about a garage band with everything it takes to make it to the top?except talent. Waiting for their big break, a group of young rockers and their clueless manager can't keep their heads on straight -- or their hands off each other. Loaded with sex, drugs and rock-n-roll, GARAGE DAYS proves you don?t have to be a rock star to party like one!Alex Proyas, director of sci-fi dramas Dark City and I, Robot, took a detour toward a modified retro-'60s, upbeat rock & roll comedy with 2002's lightly engaging Garage Days. Set in a Sydney, Australia suburb, the film is a quirky variation on the story of a misfit band trying to get a break with successful managers, clubs, recording studios, lovers, etc. Singer-guitarist Freddy (Kick Gurry) desperately maneuvers his group toward stardom, but his bandmates' internal struggles and the capriciousness of a powerful record executive (Marton Csokas) prove major stumbling blocks. So, too, is Freddy's deepening attraction to Kate (Maya Stange), girlfriend of his lead guitarist Joe (Brett Stiller), who in turn may be having a nervous breakdown via a dangerous side romance with a suicidal beauty (Yvette Duncan). Proyas enjoys his patches of darkness in Garage Days, but for the most part he's making his own, devil-may-care A Hard Day's Night. --Tom KeoghFestive die-cut plastic decorations cover most steel garage doors.

Easy application and removal so you can reuse them year after year! UV protected and guaranteed not to ! fade.
Will not interfere with the normal use of your gara! ge door.

Set includes letters, shapes, magnets, and instructions.

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Celebrity

• A reporter (Kenneth Branagh) assigned to the celebrity beat finds himself on a collision course with four of the most outrageous people he"s ever met: a sensuous starlet (Melanie Griffith), an-out-of-control movie star (Leonardo DiCaprio), an aspiring actress (Winona Ryder) and a sexy supermodel (Charlize Theron). Together they"re going to take him for an unforgettable walk on the wild side of fam

Woody Allen roared back at his detractors with Deconstructing Harry, a bitterly funny treatise about the creative process. Known to mine his often tumultuous personal life for his movies, the embattled writer-director-star didn't bother to make his alter ego likable in this movie: Harry Block (Allen) pops pills, frequents prostitutes, and cheats on the women in his life, then writes about their foibles in thinly disguised fiction. No wonder they're all furious with him. As Harry journeys to h! is alma mater with a hooker, ill pal, and kidnapped son, a series of flashbacks unravel, juxtaposing Harry's relationships with their "slightly exaggerated" fictional counterparts. There are amusing cameos throughout, including a humorous turn by Demi Moore as a fictitious ex-wife who "became Jewish with a vengeance," and Billy Crystal as the devil who found Hollywood too nasty for his liking. The humor is dark and caustic, but well worth it; Deconstructing Harry is a near-brilliant mediation on the sometimes queasy relationship between art, creator, and critic. --Diane GarrettWoody Allen roared back at his detractors with Deconstructing Harry, a bitterly funny treatise about the creative process. Known to mine his often tumultuous personal life for his movies, the embattled writer-director-star didn't bother to make his alter ego likable in this movie: Harry Block (Allen) pops pills, frequents prostitutes, and cheats on the women in his life, then writ! es about their foibles in thinly disguised fiction. No wonder ! they're all furious with him. As Harry journeys to his alma mater with a hooker, ill pal, and kidnapped son, a series of flashbacks unravel, juxtaposing Harry's relationships with their "slightly exaggerated" fictional counterparts. There are amusing cameos throughout, including a humorous turn by Demi Moore as a fictitious ex-wife who "became Jewish with a vengeance," and Billy Crystal as the devil who found Hollywood too nasty for his liking. The humor is dark and caustic, but well worth it; Deconstructing Harry is a near-brilliant mediation on the sometimes queasy relationship between art, creator, and critic. --Diane GarrettWoody Allen roared back at his detractors with Deconstructing Harry, a bitterly funny treatise about the creative process. Known to mine his often tumultuous personal life for his movies, the embattled writer-director-star didn't bother to make his alter ego likable in this movie: Harry Block (Allen) pops pills, frequents prostitutes, and! cheats on the women in his life, then writes about their foibles in thinly disguised fiction. No wonder they're all furious with him. As Harry journeys to his alma mater with a hooker, ill pal, and kidnapped son, a series of flashbacks unravel, juxtaposing Harry's relationships with their "slightly exaggerated" fictional counterparts. There are amusing cameos throughout, including a humorous turn by Demi Moore as a fictitious ex-wife who "became Jewish with a vengeance," and Billy Crystal as the devil who found Hollywood too nasty for his liking. The humor is dark and caustic, but well worth it; Deconstructing Harry is a near-brilliant mediation on the sometimes queasy relationship between art, creator, and critic. --Diane GarrettWoody Allen roared back at his detractors with Deconstructing Harry, a bitterly funny treatise about the creative process. Known to mine his often tumultuous personal life for his movies, the embattled writer-director-star did! n't bother to make his alter ego likable in this movie: Harry ! Block (A llen) pops pills, frequents prostitutes, and cheats on the women in his life, then writes about their foibles in thinly disguised fiction. No wonder they're all furious with him. As Harry journeys to his alma mater with a hooker, ill pal, and kidnapped son, a series of flashbacks unravel, juxtaposing Harry's relationships with their "slightly exaggerated" fictional counterparts. There are amusing cameos throughout, including a humorous turn by Demi Moore as a fictitious ex-wife who "became Jewish with a vengeance," and Billy Crystal as the devil who found Hollywood too nasty for his liking. The humor is dark and caustic, but well worth it; Deconstructing Harry is a near-brilliant mediation on the sometimes queasy relationship between art, creator, and critic. --Diane GarrettWith an incredible all-star cast, this critically acclaimed comedy takes a hysterical look at the pleasures and pitfalls of fortune and fame! Following their divorce, the lives of a restless! writer and his inhibited ex-wife take off in outrageously unpredictable directions! While Lee (Kenneth Branagh -- HAMLET, OTHELLO) explores the wilder side of his newfound freedom, Robin (Judy Davis -- DECONSTRUCTING HARRY) begins an improbable transformaiton from neurotic schoolteacher to high-profile T.V. talk show host! Whether it's partying with supermodels, sexy encounters with movie stars, or interviews with the cream of high society, CELEBRITY offers you a riotous excuse to rub shoulders with the kind of people we all love to celebrate!Woody Allen's portrait of the celebrity life--as seen through the eyes of a newly divorced couple--is a black-and-white, New York-style La Dolce Vita that's a chillier flip side to Allen's earlier New York valentine, Manhattan. Despite a few missteps, though, it's an admirable (if dark) and worthy addition to the Allen pantheon. Kenneth Branagh and Judy Davis (both boasting American accents) star as the once-marrieds, e! ach struggling to build new, separate lives in a media-saturat! ed, cele brity-driven world. He tries his hands at celebrity profiles (while peddling a screenplay to any star that will listen) and falls into the lap of a bosomy starlet (Melanie Griffith), the first in a long line of briefly attainable women. She runs into a producer (Joe Mantegna) who offers her a job as a TV personality as well as a loving relationship. This seemingly simple double plot is punctuated with twists and turns in the form of flashbacks and innumerable side trips, all ravishingly photographed in black and white by the legendary Sven Nykvist, and populated by one of Allen's largest casts ever; if you blink you'll miss countless cameos by Isaac Mizrahi, Donald Trump, Hank Azaria, and a host of others.

While Davis is splendid as usual (aside from the requisite nervous breakdown scene she's done one too many times), somebody should have told Branagh to put a kibosh on his Woody Allen imitation, which is so impeccable as to become irritating. His failure in the role, ! however, isn't entirely his fault, as it's also another in a long line of unlikable male protagonists that Allen has created, as if daring audiences to hate his main characters after loving them in such movies as Manhattan and Annie Hall. He's never more unlikable than in a painful sequence in which he tags along with a spoiled, temperamental teen idol (a shrewd and clever Leonardo DiCaprio) and proves himself the quintessential noodge. Far more enjoyable misadventures with Branagh include Charlize Theron in the film's best performance as a libidinous supermodel with a penchant for echinacea; a stunning Famke Janssen as a successful book editor Branagh almost moves in with; and Winona Ryder, acting like an adult for the first time, as an aspiring actress who catches Branagh's eye more than once. All manage to slip through Branagh's fingers by the end of the film.

Despite the film's lack of focus, Allen aficionados will want this film for at least two wond! erful moments, one in which Davis seeks solace from a streetwi! se fortu ne teller after she's fleeing her own wedding, and a beautiful nighttime scene in which Branagh romances a captivated Ryder at a subway kiosk. Both episodes prove that Allen, despite the fitful period he's moved into, still has that movie magic. --Mark Englehart

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