American Splendor

• Actors: Paul Giamatti, Shari Springer Berman, Harvey Pekar, Chris Ambrose, Joey Krajcar.
• Format: AC-3, Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC.
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), English (Dolby Digital 5.1). Subtitles: English, Spanish, French.
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only).
• Rated: R. Run Time: 101 minutes.

Based on the life and work of underground comic book writer Harvey Pekar- a prickly poet of the mundane who knows that all the strategizing in the world can't save a guy from picking the wrong supermarket checkout line.One of the most acclaimed films of 2003, American Splendor is also one of the most audaciously creative biographical movies ever made. Blending fact, fiction, and personal perspective from the comic books that inspired it, this marvelous portrait of Harvey Pekar--scowling curmu! dgeon, brow-beaten everyman, insightful chronicler of his own life, and frustrated file clerk at a Cleveland V.A. hospital--is an inspired amalgam of the media (comic books, TV, and film) that lifted Pekar from obscurity to the status of a pop-cultural icon. As played by Paul Giamatti in a master-stroke of casting, we see Pekar and his understanding wife (played by Hope Davis) as underdogs in a world full of obstacles, yet also infused with subtle hope and (gasp!) heartwarming perseverance. We also see the real Pekar, and this multifaceted commingling of "reel" and "real" turns American Splendor into a uniquely cinematic celebration of Pekar's life and, by extension, the tenacity of an unlikely American hero. --Jeff Shannon

Easy

• Jamie Harris (Marguerite Moreau) is a 25-year-old self-proclaimed jerk magnet. After determining not to spend the rest of her life as the easy chick, she gets involved in a romantic triangle with 2 great guys (2004 Tony winner Brian F. O Byrne and Lost s Naveen Andrews), only to discover that love is anything but easy. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: NR Age: 025192

Easy. At the ripe young age of fourteen Jessica has discovered that getting the attention she wants is just that -- easy. It's not the attention of a divorced mother who spends all of her time grieving over a broken marriage. Nor is it that of a father with a new girlfriend who's moving on with his life. It's certainly not the attention of a clueless older sister or a best friend since grade school who still acts like she's in grade school. No. For some reason being noticed by her friends and family seems to have become ! almost impossible. Boys -- and men -- are a different matter altogether. With the right clothes and attitude, Jessica realizes that she can get all the male attention she wants.

What she doesn't realize is how easy it is to get more than you're ready for.

In this compelling and often harrowing novel for teen readers, first-time author Kerry Cohen Hoffmann delves into the mind of a teenage girl as she attempts to replace the shifting relationships with friends and family with sexual exploration. With candid storytelling rooted in years of personal experience, Mrs. Hoffmann offers a searing look at how easy it is to take a wrong turn in search for the right answers.Close your eyes and imagine the smell of fresh bread wafting under your nose. Are you smiling yet? One of life's greatest pleasures is sinking your teeth into a buttery slice of crusty bread, still warm from the oven.

And yet there is, especially in the United States, almost a universal careles! sness about the quality and taste of the bread that we eat on ! a daily basis. People eat the most appalling trash imaginable, and accept it as a matter of course. The normal bread in an American household is a pasty white bread that is more air than food, devoid of nutrients, and stuffed with chemicals so it has a longer shelf life. And it tastes bad.

The recipes in this book make a homemade bread with complex flavor, no harsh yeast taste, and they require no kneading or hard work. You can have fresh, delicious bread every day, without fuss or muss.Close your eyes and imagine the smell of fresh bread wafting under your nose. Are you smiling yet? One of life's greatest pleasures is sinking your teeth into a buttery slice of crusty bread, still warm from the oven.

And yet there is, especially in the United States, almost a universal carelessness about the quality and taste of the bread that we eat on a daily basis. People eat the most appalling trash imaginable, and accept it as a matter of course. The normal bread in an America! n household is a pasty white bread that is more air than food, devoid of nutrients, and stuffed with chemicals so it has a longer shelf life. And it tastes bad.

The recipes in this book make a homemade bread with complex flavor, no harsh yeast taste, and they require no kneading or hard work. You can have fresh, delicious bread every day, without fuss or muss.Sharp and funny romantic comedy chronicles the tumultuous lovelife of Jamie (Marguerite Moreau), a sexy and smart 25-year-old girl who's become convinced she only attracts jerks. But Jamie soon realizes that when it rains it pours after she meets two good guys--Indian poet John (Naveen Andrews) and Irish stand-up comic Mick (Brian F. O'Byrne)--and is suddenly forced to choose between them. With Emily Deschanel, Caroline Goodall. 99 min. Widescreen (Enhanced); Soundtracks: English Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital stereo; filmographies.