Fled : Widescreen Edition
- Widescreen
AN ART-HOUSE TAKE ON THE CLASSIC ZOMBIE GENRE
You wake up in the rubble and see a ragged, desperate one-armed man greeting you. He takes you underground to a safe space, feeds you, offers you a place to sleep. And then announces that heâll take the first watch. Itâs not long before the peril of the jagged landscape has located you and your newfound protector and is scratching at the door. What transpires is a moment-to-moment struggle for survivalâ"The Road meets Dawn of! the Dead. Daybreak is seen through the eyes of a silent observer as he follows his protector and runs from the shadows of the imminent zombie threat. Brian Ralph slowly builds the tension of the zombies on the periphery, letting the threatâ"rather than the actual carnageâ"be the driving force. The postapocalyptic backdrop features tangles of rocks, lumber, I beams, and overturned cars that are characters in and of themselves.
Ralphâs stunning debut was the wordless graphic novel Cave-In, created while he was one of the founding members of the influential Fort Thunder art collective. Drawing inspiration from zombies, horror movies, television, and first-person shooter video games, Daybreak departs from zombie genre in both content and format, achieving a living-dead masterwork of literary proportions.
Witless Protection also benefits from some oddball casting. Yaphet Kotto costars as FBI Agent Alonzo Mosely (the name of his character in the classic Midnight Run). Peter Stormare, the silent, creepy kidnapper in Fargo, portrays a corrupt businessman with an unaccountable British accent. In a baffling cameo, Joe Mantegna seems to be channeling Strother Mar! tin, while Jenny McCarthy serves up some sass as Larry's waitress girlfriend, nuff said, and a game Eric Roberts is a goon who butts heads with Larry in an epic fight scene. Some jokes are stale (Larry dredges up Regis Philbin's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire catch-phrase), while others are current enough to reference Michael Vick and Angelina Jolie. It is a sign of artistic growth that Larry does not utter his own signature catch-phrase, so we won't either. Witless Protection was released theatrically during Oscar weekend, when Hollywood celebrates supreme achievement in film. This is what is known in the business as counter-programming. --Donald LiebensonLarry The Cable Guy plays a big city health inspector who's happy with his usual beat of greasy spoon diners. His easygoing life is turned upside down when he's saddled with a straight arrow rookie partner. When his unorthodox methods cost him his job, Larry has to go undercover to bring the conspir! ators to justice and "Git-R-Done!"The redneck rube from the Blue Co llar Comedy Tour franchise plays a character much like himself in this feature, which balances Larry the Cable Guy's occasional excesses in toilet humor with strong comic performances from the supporting cast. Larry plays a dedicated health inspector who gets in over his head when the city mayor (Joe Pantoliano) personally appoints him to investigate a rash of food poisonings at five-star restaurants. Larry's ignorance of anything cultural that doesn't involve his truck or MoonPies proves a handicap, but his knowledge of vermin and disarmingly unabashed way of interviewing witnesses and suspects slowly gets him where he needs to go. For the most part, the movie gives the comedian plenty of room to indulge his gross-out shtick. But it helps to have some other talent on board, notably Tom Wilson as Larry's exasperated boss, Iris Bahr as a dreary new partner Larry thinks is a man, David Koechner as a halfwit friend, Joanna Cassidy as a restaurant owner, and Megyn Price as L! arry's shy but headstrong girlfriend. --Tom KeoghStudio: Lions Gate Home Ent. Release Date: 09/02/2008 Run time: 85 minutes Rating: PgBait Shop stars the eternally affable yet exasperated comedian Bill Engvall as Bill Dugan, owner of a homey but smalltime bait shop. Bill's job and self-respect are threatened when arrogant fishing celebrity Hot Rod Johnson (Billy Ray Cyrus, better known as Miley's dad) opens a massive fishing superstore right next door. Only by challenging Hot Rod in a bass fishing tournament can Bill set things right! Bait Shop is a bundle of clumsy cliches made somewhat tolerable by a likable cast (including outlaw country music singer Billy Joe Shaver as Bill's mentor) and an enthusiastic performance by Cyrus, who clearly enjoys being the bad guy for once. High points include Bill having a bar fight while dressed in a fish costume and Bill wrestling an obviously rubber bass into his boat. There are many declarations about how fishi! ng used to be more pure and how friendship is the most importa! nt thing in life. Extras include a standard-issue making-of documentary, some beautiful shots of the local landscape (which, inexplicably, never got used in the movie itself), some understandably deleted scenes and some scenes of the cast goofing around. All in all, not much effort was put into making either the movie or the DVD. --Bret Fetzer
"Trout, Salmon, flounder, perch,
I'll ride my minibike into church.
Dace, tuna, haddock, trout,
Wait'll you hear the minister shout."
How to Eat Fried Worms is a ghastly gastronomical treat that will dazzle young listeners. (Running time: two hours, two cassettes) --Naomi GesingerThis is a unit study only. It does NOT include the novel.
We recommend you read this on a 1 font
This unit study offers many wonderful activities to use while having students read the
book. There are between 6 and 10 lessons. Activities in this lesson include Fill in the Blank, Multiple Choice, True and False, Comprehension, Encyclopedia Skills Activity, Journal Activity, Vocabulary, Sequencing, Handwriting, Main Idea, Prediction, Comparison
Literature Skills Activities including: Main Character, Main Setting, Main Problem, Possible Solutions, Character Traits,! Character Interaction, Cause and Effect, Description, Pyramid of Importance, Villain vs. Hero.
Creative Writing Activities including: Letter, Fairy Tale, Mystery, Science Fiction, Fable, Dream or Nightmare, Tall Tale, Memoir, Newberry Award, A Different Ending.
Writing Skills Activities including: Description, Expository, Dialogue, Process, Point of View, Persuasion, Compare and Contrast, Sequel, Climax and Plot Analysis.
Poetry Skills Activities including: Couplet, Triplet, Quinzain, Haiku, Cinquain, Tanka, Diamanté, Lantern and Shape Poem.
Create a Newspaper Layout Activities including: Editorial, Travel, Advice Column, Comics, Society News, Sports, Obituary, Weddings, Book Review, Want Ads, Word Search.
Poster Board Activities including: Collage, Theater Poster, Wanted Poster, Coat of Arms, Story Quilt, Chalk Art, Silhouette, Board Game Construction, Door Sign, Jeopardy.
We also offer an extended versio! n of this unit which comes in a PDF format and offers Lapbook ! instruct ions, Hands on Art and Creative Art activities. If you purchase this unit study and let us know by sending us proof of purchase, we will download the extended version of this full unit with the additional activities in PDF version to you for $1 more. Send proof of purchase to www.hshighlights.com.
This is a unit study only. It does NOT include the novel.
We recommend you read this on a 1 font
This unit study offers many wonderful activities to use while having students read the
book. There are between 6 and 10 lessons. Activities in this lesson include Fill in the Blank, Multiple Choice, True and False, Comprehension, Encyclopedia Skills Activity, Journal Activity, Vocabulary, Sequencing, Handwriting, Main Idea, Prediction, Comparison
Literature Skills Activities including: Main Character, Main Setting, Main Problem, Possible Solutions, Character Traits, Character Interaction, Cause and Effect, Description, Pyramid of Importance, Villain! vs. Hero.
Creative Writing Activities including: Letter, Fairy Tale, Mystery, Science Fiction, Fable, Dream or Nightmare, Tall Tale, Memoir, Newberry Award, A Different Ending.
Writing Skills Activities including: Description, Expository, Dialogue, Process, Point of View, Persuasion, Compare and Contrast, Sequel, Climax and Plot Analysis.
Poetry Skills Activities including: Couplet, Triplet, Quinzain, Haiku, Cinquain, Tanka, Diamanté, Lantern and Shape Poem.
Create a Newspaper Layout Activities including: Editorial, Travel, Advice Column, Comics, Society News, Sports, Obituary, Weddings, Book Review, Want Ads, Word Search.
Poster Board Activities including: Collage, Theater Poster, Wanted Poster, Coat of Arms, Story Quilt, Chalk Art, Silhouette, Board Game Construction, Door Sign, Jeopardy.
We also offer an extended version of this unit which comes in a PDF format and offers Lapbook instructions, Hands on Art and Creative Art act! ivities. If you purchase this unit study and let us know by se! nding us proof of purchase, we will download the extended version of this full unit with the additional activities in PDF version to you for $1 more. Send proof of purchase to www.hshighlights.com.
Features include:
â¢MPAA Rating: PG
â¢Format: DVD
â¢Runtime: 98 minutes