Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Act of God

  • This particular album has all the elements I've come to expect from acapella, great voices, good lyrics, and catchy tunes that are uplifting, sad, and comforting.
Is being hit by lightning a random natural occurrence or a predestined event? Accidents, chance, fate and the elusive quest to make sense out of tragedy underpin director Jennifer Baichwal's (Manufactured Landscapes) captivating new work, an elegant cinematic meditation on the metaphysical effects of being struck by lightning. To explore these profound questions, Baichwal sought out riveting personal stories around the world--from a former CIA assassin and a French storm chaser, to writer Paul Auster and improvisational musician Fred Frith. The philosophical anchor of the film, Auster witnessed his friend get struck dead by lightning as a teenager, and has been wrestling with its import on destiny ever since. In a neurologica! l experiment, Frith improvises with his guitar to demonstrate the ubiquity of electricity in our bodies and the universe. Visually dazzling and aurally seductive, ACT OF GOD singularly captures the harsh beauty of the skies and the lives of those who have been forever touched by their fury.


On a dark, foggy San Francisco evening, Jeremy Fullerton, a hot shot California senator with his eye on the presidency, is found murdered in the front seat of his car after speaking at a political fundraiser. The police arrest a young black male found fleeing the scene. The youth, a medical student, says that he tried to help the senator, but ran because he was afraid of the police. However, all the evidence says otherwise. The only lawyer willing to take the case, fraught with political and social ramifications, is an outsider -- and Joseph Antonelli leaves his Portland, Oregon, practice in search of justice. As he begins to prepare his defense, he finds himself lost in a wor! ld ruled by backroom politics and old money. He digs deeper an! d uncove rs a chain of deceit, betrayal, and naked ambition -- and soon discovers just how much one person will risk in order to leave behind a legacy.Track Listings 1. He's Gonna Let You Know 2. Get To The Point 3. Act Of God 4. House Of Praise 5. And They Praise God 6. Gotta Grow Up 7. Let There Be Love 8. Teaching The Truth In Love 9. Let's Show And Tell 10. Walking The Line

Hatchet (Unrated Director's Cut) [Blu-ray]

  • HATCHET BLU-RAY (BLU-RAY DISC)
Studio: Mpi Home Video Release Date: 02/01/2011 Rating: NrThere's probably no better visceral creep-out than a close-up eye gouging (just ask Luis Buñuel). Director Adam Green learned this well by using the old thumb-in-socket shot as the climax of his 2006 cult hit Hatchet, and he repeats it as the opener of Hatchet II. This micro-budget sequel picks up just as the original ends, with the aforementioned eye still belonging to the deformed swamp monster Victor Crowley (again played by ace stuntman and Friday the 13th alumni Kane Hodder). The thumb belongs to demure Marybeth (Danielle Harris), who turns out to be the sole survivor of the first film's tour-boat cruise through Louisiana's most disgusting swamp. She escapes Crowley's one-eyed clutches and finds her way back to New Orleans and the lair of voodoo conman Reverend Zombie (Tony To! dd, of Candyman fame), where a posse of redneck morons is quickly assembled to return to the swamp and squash the innards and legend of Victor Crowley for good.

All this Victor Crowley and innards-squashing business will be familiar to fans of Hatchet, of which there are legions. Indeed, it feels as though Green has made Hatchet II as a love letter to them, raising the bloody-disgusting body count and creative means of murder--outboard motor, super-size chainsaw, belt sander--strictly to satisfy an urge felt only by the supremely devoted. Billed as an unrated director's cut, the DVD version will surely send them swooning with even more latex guts and buckets of Kool-Aid-colored blood than they might remember from midnight theatrical shows. Even the commentary tracks and making-of documentary are filled with backslaps dedicated to the exclusive Hatchet groupie club. Green is intentionally riffing on slasher films not only with the comic dialo! gue and dopey characters, but also by employing icons of the g! enre as actors. In addition to Hodder and Todd, Tom Holland, director of fanboy favorites Fright Night and Child's Play, turns up in another key role. Unfortunately, Green's sense of insider humor and commitment to a limited demographic seems to have clouded what could have been a more interesting movie. But you're probably not watching Hatchet II to see an interesting movie. You're watching to see a giddy homage to the glory days of practical gore effects and enjoy the goofy fun of howling at senseless characters that lose their heads and countless other body parts in ever more creative ways. --Ted FryStudio: Mpi Home Video Release Date: 02/01/2011 Rating: NrThere's probably no better visceral creep-out than a close-up eye gouging (just ask Luis Buñuel). Director Adam Green learned this well by using the old thumb-in-socket shot as the climax of his 2006 cult hit Hatchet, and he repeats it as the opener of Hatchet II. This micro-budget s! equel picks up just as the original ends, with the aforementioned eye still belonging to the deformed swamp monster Victor Crowley (again played by ace stuntman and Friday the 13th alumni Kane Hodder). The thumb belongs to demure Marybeth (Danielle Harris), who turns out to be the sole survivor of the first film's tour-boat cruise through Louisiana's most disgusting swamp. She escapes Crowley's one-eyed clutches and finds her way back to New Orleans and the lair of voodoo conman Reverend Zombie (Tony Todd, of Candyman fame), where a posse of redneck morons is quickly assembled to return to the swamp and squash the innards and legend of Victor Crowley for good.

All this Victor Crowley and innards-squashing business will be familiar to fans of Hatchet, of which there are legions. Indeed, it feels as though Green has made Hatchet II as a love letter to them, raising the bloody-disgusting body count and creative means of murder--outboard motor, ! super-size chainsaw, belt sander--strictly to satisfy an urge ! felt onl y by the supremely devoted. Billed as an unrated director's cut, the DVD version will surely send them swooning with even more latex guts and buckets of Kool-Aid-colored blood than they might remember from midnight theatrical shows. Even the commentary tracks and making-of documentary are filled with backslaps dedicated to the exclusive Hatchet groupie club. Green is intentionally riffing on slasher films not only with the comic dialogue and dopey characters, but also by employing icons of the genre as actors. In addition to Hodder and Todd, Tom Holland, director of fanboy favorites Fright Night and Child's Play, turns up in another key role. Unfortunately, Green's sense of insider humor and commitment to a limited demographic seems to have clouded what could have been a more interesting movie. But you're probably not watching Hatchet II to see an interesting movie. You're watching to see a giddy homage to the glory days of practical gore effects ! and enjoy the goofy fun of howling at senseless characters that lose their heads and countless other body parts in ever more creative ways. --Ted FryGet ready for one of the most talked-about, red- blooded American horror movies of the past 20 years: When a group of New Orleans tourists take a cheesy haunted swamp tour, they slam face-first into the local legend of deformed madman Victor Crowley. What follows is a psycho spree of seat-jumping scares, eye- popping nudity, skull-splitting mayhem and beyond. Joel David Moore (DODGEBALL), Deon Richmond (SCREAM 3) and Mercedes McNab (BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER) star â€" along with horror icons Tony ‘Candyman’ Todd, Robert ‘Freddy Krueger’ Englund and Kane ‘Jason’ Hodder â€" in this screamingly funny carnage classic that Fangoria hails as “a no-hold-barred homage to the days when slasher films were at their reddest and wettest!”Adam Green's Hatchet is a goofy, gory gas that pays tribute to the slasher ! boom of the 1980s by placing more hapless teens in the path of! an inde structible maniac. Said killer is Victor Crowley (Kane Hodder, Jason in many of the later Friday the 13th entries), a deformed Louisiana swamp dweller who returns from an apparent fiery death to lay waste to a mixed bag of tourists and Mardi Gras revelers who've wandered into his turf on a "haunted swamp" tour. Hatchet doesn't exactly surpass the movies it's spoofing; Green's characters are dopey ciphers, and Crowley's indiscriminate killing spree negates his sympathetic origins. But the dialogue is glib and the performances funny (especially Parry Shen as the tour's unlikely guide and Joel David Moore as the lovelorn hero), and '80s horror aficionados will appreciate John Carl Buechler's outrageously gross effects (which get more screen time in this unrated cut). There are also cameos by genre vets Robert Englund and Tony Todd, as well as Joshua Leonard from The Blair Witch Project. The widescreen DVD includes commentary by Green and several of his play! ers, as well as featurettes on the making of the film, its villain and his elaborate makeup, and a scene breakdown of one of the film's most jaw-dropping effects. A gag reel and a conversation between Green and Twisted Sister frontman and horror fan Dee Snider rounds out the commentary. -- Paul GaitaStudio: Tcfhe/anchor Bay/starz Release Date: 09/07/2010 Run time: 84 minutes Rating: NrAdam Green's Hatchet is a goofy, gory gas that pays tribute to the slasher boom of the 1980s by placing more hapless teens in the path of an indestructible maniac. Said killer is Victor Crowley (Kane Hodder, Jason in many of the later Friday the 13th entries), a deformed Louisiana swamp dweller who returns from an apparent fiery death to lay waste to a mixed bag of tourists and Mardi Gras revelers who've wandered into his turf on a "haunted swamp" tour. Hatchet doesn't exactly surpass the movies it's spoofing; Green's characters are dopey ciphers, and Crowley's i! ndiscriminate killing spree negates his sympathetic origins. B! ut the d ialogue is glib and the performances funny (especially Parry Shen as the tour's unlikely guide and Joel David Moore as the lovelorn hero), and '80s horror aficionados will appreciate John Carl Buechler's outrageously gross effects (which get more screen time in this unrated cut). There are also cameos by genre vets Robert Englund and Tony Todd, as well as Joshua Leonard from The Blair Witch Project. The widescreen DVD includes commentary by Green and several of his players, as well as featurettes on the making of the film, its villain and his elaborate makeup, and a scene breakdown of one of the film's most jaw-dropping effects. A gag reel and a conversation between Green and Twisted Sister frontman and horror fan Dee Snider rounds out the commentary. -- Paul Gaita

Appaman Boys 2-7 Grand Prix Long Sleeve Tee, Vintage Black, 2T

  • Made of 100% cotton
  • Vintage race car screen on the front
  • Extra duty stitching to last the test of time and play
  • Appaman logo on the bottom front right hand corner
  • Banded cuffs

The Farmhouse: New Inspiration for the Classic American Home

  • ISBN13: 9781561588749
  • Condition: New
  • Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
Farmhouses evoke nostalgic memories--real or imagined--of a simpler life and a deep, nourishing connection to the seasons and the land. While most of us don't live that way anymore, we all share a longing for the values that this classic American house form represents.
So what makes a true American farmhouse? A farmhouse is intimately connected to the land and all its seasons, dominates a community of buildings, and is built to last using natural, indigenous materials. These are the core qualities of the farmhouse style, whether old or new.
From a working farm on Martha's Vineyard to a horse ranch in Washington State, this remarkable collec! tion of 20 new and remodeled farmhouses celebrates the best American farmhouses built in the past five years. Over 300 photographs beautifully illustrate these homes, and the accompanying site and floor plans, historical sidebars, and up-close details add depth to this rich collection.
With this ground breaking book, America's quintessential house style is reinvented for the 21st-century family.

Exiled

  • The time is 1998. The setting is Macau. Every living soul jumps at every chance to make quick money before the Portuguese colony ushers in a new era under the Chinese rule. For the jaded hit men, they wonder where this journey will end. Against this background of fin-de-si cle malaise come two hit men from Hong Kong sent to take out a renegade member trying to turn over a new leaf with his wife an
Chase Williams is a demon hunter in the Circle, or at least he was supposed to be. On his fifteenth birthday, Chase stepped up to the altar to claim his elemental power, but it never came. Elemental magic is passed down to a hunter through the bloodline, but on Chase's birthday, the bloodline stopped. Exiled without the Circle's protection, Chase has spent two years trying to survive a world riddled with half-demons and magic. When he has a run in with a frightened and seemingly innocent demon,! he learns the Circle's agenda has changed: the Circle plans to unlock a portal and unleash pure-blood demons into the world. Vowing to stop them, and knowing he can't do it alone, Chase forms a reluctant alliance with Rayna - a sexy witch with an attitude and a secret. In their attempt to stop them, Chase and Rayna find themselves in the middle of the Circle's plan, leaving one of them to decide what their friendship is worth, and the other's life depending on it.The time is 1998. The setting is Macau. Every living soul jumps at every chance to make quick money before the Portuguese colony ushers in a new era under the Chinese rule. For the jaded hit men they wonder where this journey will end. Against this background of fin-de-si cle malaise come two hit men from Hong Kong sent to take out a renegade member trying to turn over a new leaf with his wife and newborn baby. They soon find themselves in the throes of a dilemma when two of their former associates also show up in! tent on thwarting them at every cost.System Requirements:Runni! ng Time: 109 minutes Language: Cantonese Subtitles: English / SpanishFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/KILLERS Rating: R UPC: 876964000987 Manufacturer No: 10098

Disturbia [Blu-ray]

  • UK Import
  • Blu-ray
  • Region-Free
After his father’s accidental death, Kale (Shia LaBeouf) remains withdrawn and troubled. When he lashes out at a well-intentioned but insensitive teacher, he finds himself under a court-ordered house arrest. His mother continues to cope, working extra shifts to support herself and her son, as she tries in vain to understand the changes in his personality. The walls of his house begin to close in on Kale as he takes chances to extend the boundaries both physical and emotional â€" of his confinement. His interests turn outside the windows of his suburban home toward those of his neighbors, including a mutual attraction to the new girl next door (Sarah Roemer). Together, they begin to suspect that another neighbor is a serial killer. Are their suspicions merely the product of Kale’s cabin fever and vivid imagination? Or have they unwittingly! stumbled across a crime that could cost them their lives?Alfred Hitchcock fans may experience déjà vu upon exposure to this voyeuristic thriller. That's because director DJ Caruso (The Salton Sea) and co-writer Carl Ellsworth (Red Eye) use Rear Window as a jumping-off point before cherry-picking from more recent scare fare, like The Blair Witch Project. In the prologue, 17-year-old Kale (Shia LaBeouf, Holes) loses his beloved father to a car crash. A year passes, and he's still on edge. When a teacher makes a careless remark about his dad, Kale punches him out, and is sentenced to house arrest. After his mom (Carrie-Anne Moss, Memento) takes away his Xbox and iTunes privileges, the suburban slacker spies on his neighbors to pass the time. In the process, he develops a crush on Ashley (Sarah Roemer, The Grudge 2), the hot girl next door, and becomes convinced that another, the soft-spoken Mr. Turner (David Morse, The Gre! en Mile), is a serial killer. With the help of the flirtat! ious Ash ley, practical joke-playing pal Ronnie (Aaron Yoo), and an array of high-tech gadgets, like cell-phone cameras and digital camcorders, Kale sets out to solve a major case without leaving his yard (a feat that would prove more challenging for a less affluent sleuth). In the end, it's pretty familiar stuff, but there are plenty of scares once Turner realizes he's being watched, and rising star LaBeouf, who next appears in Michael Bay's Transformers, makes for an engaging leading man--despite his character’s propensity for slugging Spanish instructors. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Beyond Disturbia


Why We Love Shia LaBeouf

The Soundtrack

Rear Window

Stills from Disturbia (click for larger image)










After his father’s accidental death, Kale (Shia LaBeouf) remains withdrawn and troubled. When he lashes out at a well-intentioned but insensitive teacher, he finds himself under a court-ordered house arrest. His mother continues to cope, working extra shifts to support herself and her son, as she tries in vain to understand the changes in his personality. The walls of hi! s house begin to close in on Kale as he takes chances to extend the boundaries both physical and emotional â€" of his confinement. His interests turn outside the windows of his suburban home toward those of his neighbors, including a mutual attraction to the new girl next door (Sarah Roemer). Together, they begin to suspect that another neighbor is a serial killer. Are their suspicions merely the product of Kale’s cabin fever and vivid imagination? Or have they unwittingly stumbled across a crime that could cost them their lives?Alfred Hitchcock fans may experience déjà vu upon exposure to this voyeuristic thriller. That's because director DJ Caruso (The Salton Sea) and co-writer Carl Ellsworth (Red Eye) use Rear Window as a jumping-off point before cherry-picking from more recent scare fare, like The Blair Witch Project. In the prologue, 17-year-old Kale (Shia LaBeouf, Holes) loses his beloved father to a car crash. A year passes, ! and he's still on edge. When a teacher makes a careless remark! about h is dad, Kale punches him out, and is sentenced to house arrest. After his mom (Carrie-Anne Moss, Memento) takes away his Xbox and iTunes privileges, the suburban slacker spies on his neighbors to pass the time. In the process, he develops a crush on Ashley (Sarah Roemer, The Grudge 2), the hot girl next door, and becomes convinced that another, the soft-spoken Mr. Turner (David Morse, The Green Mile), is a serial killer. With the help of the flirtatious Ashley, practical joke-playing pal Ronnie (Aaron Yoo), and an array of high-tech gadgets, like cell-phone cameras and digital camcorders, Kale sets out to solve a major case without leaving his yard (a feat that would prove more challenging for a less affluent sleuth). In the end, it's pretty familiar stuff, but there are plenty of scares once Turner realizes he's being watched, and rising star LaBeouf, who next appears in Michael Bay's Transformers, makes for an engaging leading man--despite his c! haracter’s propensity for slugging Spanish instructors. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Beyond Disturbia


Why We Love Shia LaBeouf

The Soundtrack

Rear Window

Stills from Disturbia (click for larger image)










After his father’s accidental death, Kale (Shia LaBeouf) remains withdrawn and troubled. When he lashes out at a well-intentioned but insensitive teacher, he finds himself under a court-ordered house arrest. His mother continues to cope, working extra shifts to support herself and her son, as she tries in vain to understand the changes in his personality. The walls of his house begin to close in on Kale as he takes chances to extend the boundaries both physical and emotional â€" of his confinement. His interests turn outside the windows of his suburban home toward those of his neighbors, including a mutual attraction to the new girl next door (Sarah Roemer). Together, they begin to suspect that another neighbor is a serial killer. Are their suspicions merely the product of Kale’s cabin fever and vivid imagination? Or have they unwittingly stumbled across a crime! that could cost them their lives?Alfred Hitchcock fans may ex! perience déjà vu upon exposure to this voyeuristic thriller. That's because director DJ Caruso (The Salton Sea) and co-writer Carl Ellsworth (Red Eye) use Rear Window as a jumping-off point before cherry-picking from more recent scare fare, like The Blair Witch Project. In the prologue, 17-year-old Kale (Shia LaBeouf, Holes) loses his beloved father to a car crash. A year passes, and he's still on edge. When a teacher makes a careless remark about his dad, Kale punches him out, and is sentenced to house arrest. After his mom (Carrie-Anne Moss, Memento) takes away his Xbox and iTunes privileges, the suburban slacker spies on his neighbors to pass the time. In the process, he develops a crush on Ashley (Sarah Roemer, The Grudge 2), the hot girl next door, and becomes convinced that another, the soft-spoken Mr. Turner (David Morse, The Green Mile), is a serial killer. With the help of the flirtatious Ashley, practical joke-playi! ng pal Ronnie (Aaron Yoo), and an array of high-tech gadgets, like cell-phone cameras and digital camcorders, Kale sets out to solve a major case without leaving his yard (a feat that would prove more challenging for a less affluent sleuth). In the end, it's pretty familiar stuff, but there are plenty of scares once Turner realizes he's being watched, and rising star LaBeouf, who next appears in Michael Bay's Transformers, makes for an engaging leading man--despite his character’s propensity for slugging Spanish instructors. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Beyond Disturbia


Why We Love Shia LaBeouf

The Soundtrack
!
Rear Window

Stills from Disturbia (click for larger image)






!




After his father’s accidental death, Kale (Shia LaBeouf) remains withdrawn and troubled. When he lashes out at a well-intentioned but insensitive teacher, he finds himself under a court-ordered house arrest. His mother continues to cope, working extra shifts to support herself and her son, as she tries in vain to understand the changes in his personality. The walls of his house begin to close i! n on Kale as he takes chances to extend the boundaries both ph! ysical a nd emotional â€" of his confinement. His interests turn outside the windows of his suburban home toward those of his neighbors, including a mutual attraction to the new girl next door (Sarah Roemer). Together, they begin to suspect that another neighbor is a serial killer. Are their suspicions merely the product of Kale’s cabin fever and vivid imagination? Or have they unwittingly stumbled across a crime that could cost them their lives?Alfred Hitchcock fans may experience déjà vu upon exposure to this voyeuristic thriller. That's because director DJ Caruso (The Salton Sea) and co-writer Carl Ellsworth (Red Eye) use Rear Window as a jumping-off point before cherry-picking from more recent scare fare, like The Blair Witch Project. In the prologue, 17-year-old Kale (Shia LaBeouf, Holes) loses his beloved father to a car crash. A year passes, and he's still on edge. When a teacher makes a careless remark about his dad, Kale punches him ! out, and is sentenced to house arrest. After his mom (Carrie-Anne Moss, Memento) takes away his Xbox and iTunes privileges, the suburban slacker spies on his neighbors to pass the time. In the process, he develops a crush on Ashley (Sarah Roemer, The Grudge 2), the hot girl next door, and becomes convinced that another, the soft-spoken Mr. Turner (David Morse, The Green Mile), is a serial killer. With the help of the flirtatious Ashley, practical joke-playing pal Ronnie (Aaron Yoo), and an array of high-tech gadgets, like cell-phone cameras and digital camcorders, Kale sets out to solve a major case without leaving his yard (a feat that would prove more challenging for a less affluent sleuth). In the end, it's pretty familiar stuff, but there are plenty of scares once Turner realizes he's being watched, and rising star LaBeouf, who next appears in Michael Bay's Transformers, makes for an engaging leading man--despite his character’s propensity ! for slugging Spanish instructors. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Beyond Disturbia


Why We Love Shia LaBeouf

The Soundtrack

Rear Window

Stills from Disturbia (click for larger image)

!










Even on this quiet tree-lined street, no one is safe . . . especially from the savage killer next door. Welcome to Disturbia, "a cool thriller with big scares" (Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper).

Living under three months' house arrest, Kale Brecht (Shia LaBeouf, Transformers) passes his days spying on the neighbors. It's all fun and games until things take a horrifying turn for the worse. Kale is convinced his neighbor next door is a serial killer - but he can't prove anything, can't convince anyone and can't leave his house without triggering an alarm. Enlisting the help of his friends, Kale is determined to expose the truth - but have they all taken on more than they bargained for with a cold-blooded murderer on the loose?

With nowhere to run and nowhere to hide, Kale and his friends are in a race for their lives in this electrifying thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Genre: Action/Adventure
Rating! : PG13
Release Date: 27-DEC-2008
Media Type: DVDThe "cell phone thriller" is becoming a genre unto itself, and Eagle Eye should be considered a key example of the form. Frankly preposterous but compulsively watchable, this movie puts Shia LaBeouf in a mess of trouble instigated by a mysterious telephone voice. If he doesn't follow orders, dire things will happen--although when he does follow orders, the consequences are pretty dire, anyway. Also being blackmailed is a single mom (Michelle Monaghan) receiving similar phone calls. Why are they being jerked around by the purring female voice, and why is the road leading to Washington, D.C.? Actually, you won't have time to contemplate these questions, because director D.J. Caruso (who guided LaBeouf in Disturbia) keeps the action going at the customary breakneck pace. This is a wise move, because the real questions you'd likely be asking have to do with the plausibility of events on a minu! te-by-minute basis (most notably: how could Mysterious Phone V! oice pos sibly know that the two pigeons would survive the hoops she makes them fly through, each one more death-defying than the last?). The actors tumble through this mayhem like scattering bowling pins, including Billy Bob Thornton and Rosario Dawson as government agents. Nobody has time to make much of an impression, and LaBeouf has much less room for puppydog charm than he did in Disturbia. Even that would be all right within the movie's berserk parameters, but the really irritating thing is the way the tacked-on final scenes reverse what would have been a heroic climax. No guts, no glory. --Robert Horton




Stills from Eagle Eye (Click for larger image)











fter his father's accidental death, Kale (Shia LaBeouf) remains withdrawn and troubled. When he lashes out at a well-intentioned but insensitive teacher, he finds himself under a court-ordered house arrest. His mother continues to cope, working extra shifts to support herself and her son, as she tries in vain to understand the changes in his personality. The walls of his house begin to close in on Kale as he takes chances to extend the boundaries both physical and emotional - of his confinement. His interests turn outside the windows of his suburban home toward those of his neighbors, inclu! ding a mutual attraction to the new girl next door (Sarah Roemer). Together, they begin to suspect that another neighbor is a serial killer. Are their suspicions merely the product of Kale's cabin fever and vivid imagination? Or have they unwittingly stumbled across a crime that could cost them their lives?Alfred Hitchcock fans may experience déjà vu upon exposure to this voyeuristic thriller. That's because director DJ Caruso (The Salton Sea) and co-writer Carl Ellsworth (Red Eye) use Rear Window as a jumping-off point before cherry-picking from more recent scare fare, like The Blair Witch Project. In the prologue, 17-year-old Kale (Shia LaBeouf, Holes) loses his beloved father to a car crash. A year passes, and he's still on edge. When a teacher makes a careless remark about his dad, Kale punches him out, and is sentenced to house arrest. After his mom (Carrie-Anne Moss, Memento) takes away his Xbox and iTunes privileges, the su! burban slacker spies on his neighbors to pass the time. In the! process , he develops a crush on Ashley (Sarah Roemer, The Grudge 2), the hot girl next door, and becomes convinced that another, the soft-spoken Mr. Turner (David Morse, The Green Mile), is a serial killer. With the help of the flirtatious Ashley, practical joke-playing pal Ronnie (Aaron Yoo), and an array of high-tech gadgets, like cell-phone cameras and digital camcorders, Kale sets out to solve a major case without leaving his yard (a feat that would prove more challenging for a less affluent sleuth). In the end, it's pretty familiar stuff, but there are plenty of scares once Turner realizes he's being watched, and rising star LaBeouf, who next appears in Michael Bay's Transformers, makes for an engaging leading man--despite his character’s propensity for slugging Spanish instructors. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Beyond Disturbia


Why We Love Shia LaBeouf

The Soundtrack

Rear Window

Stills from Disturbia (click for larger image)











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