Grosse Pointe Blank

• Here is the killer comedy hit that is loaded with outrageous fun! For Martin Blank (John Cusack -Con Air), a hit man stuck in a career rut, attending his 10-year high school reunion is about the last thing he is in the mood for! But when the prospects of rekindling an old flame (Minnie Driver -Good Will) and pulling off one final job convince him to go, things are looking up.that is, until Martin

Here's the killer comedy hit that's loaded with outrageous fun! For Martin Blank (John Cusack -- HIGH FIDELITY, SERENDIPITY), a hit man stuck in a career rut, attending his 10-year high school reunion is about the last thing he's in the mood for! But when the prospects of rekindling an old flame (Minnie Driver -- GOOD WILL HUNTING) and pulling off one final job convince him to go, things are looking up ... that is, until Martin's arch rival (Dan Aykroyd) shows up aiming to blow the competition away! ! For hilarious comedy entertainment that's packed with action, GROSSE POINTE BLANK is a surefire knockout!Hit man Martin Q. Blank (John Cusack) is in an awkward situation. Several of them, actually. He's attending his high school reunion on an assignment; he's got a rival hit man (Dan Aykroyd) on his tail; and he's going to have to explain to his old girlfriend (Minnie Driver) why he stood her up on prom night. This amiable black comedy, cowritten by Cusack and directed by Jonathan Demme protégé George Armitage (Miami Blues), has the feel of Demme's Something Wild and Married to the Mob--which is to say its humor is dark and brightly colored at the same time. Cusack and Driver are utterly charming--as is the leading man's sister, Joan, who plays his secretary. (Ms. Cusack received an Oscar nomination for her next role, in In & Out.) Alan Arkin is also very funny as Martin's psychiatrist. --Jim Emerson

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

• Everyone in 1880s America knows Jesse James. Hes the nations most notorious criminal, hunted by the law in 10 states. Hes also the lands greatest hero, lauded as a Robin Hood by the public. Robert Ford? No one knows him. Not yet. But the ambitious 19-year-old aims to change that. Hell befriend Jesse, ride with his gang. And if that doesnt bring Ford fame, hell find a deadlier way.Friendship become

Jesse James was a fabled outlaw, a charismatic, spiritual, larger-than-life bad man whose bloody exploits captured the imagination and admiration of a nation hungry for antiheroes. Robert Ford was a young upstart torn between dedicated worship and murderous jealousy, the "dirty little coward" who coveted Jesse's legend. The powerful, strange, and unforgettable story of their interweaving pathsâ€"and twin destinies that would collide in a rain of blood and betrayalâ€"is a story of America in all ! her rough, conflicted glory and the myths that made her.

Hansen re-creates the real West with his imaginative telling of the life of the most famous outlaw of them all, Jesse James, and of his death at the hands of the upstart Robert Ford. James, a charismatic, superstitious, and moody man, holds sway over a ragged gang who fear his temper and quick shooting. Robert Ford, a young gang member torn between worshipping Jesse and taking his place, guns him down in cold blood and lives out his days tormented by the killing.

Jesse James was a fabled outlaw, a charismatic, spiritual, larger-than-life bad man whose bloody exploits captured the imagination and admiration of a nation hungry for antiheroes. Robert Ford was a young upstart torn between dedicated worship and murderous jealousy, the "dirty little coward" who coveted Jesse's legend. The powerful, strange, and unforgettable story of their interweaving pathsâ€"and twin destinies that would collide in a rain of blood ! and betrayalâ€"is a story of America in all her rough, conflic! ted glor y and the myths that made her.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford study guide includes the following sections: Plot Summary, Chapter Summaries & Analysis, Characters, Objects/Places, Themes, Style, Quotes, and Topics for Discussion.The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford study guide includes the following sections: Plot Summary, Chapter Summaries & Analysis, Characters, Objects/Places, Themes, Style, Quotes, and Topics for Discussion.Everyone in 1880s America knows Jesse James. He’s the nation’s most notorious criminal, hunted by the law in 10 states. He’s also the land’s greatest hero, lauded as a Robin Hood by the public. Robert Ford? No one knows him. Not yet. But the ambitious 19-year-old aims to change that. He’ll befriend Jesse, ride with his gang. And if that doesn’t bring Ford fame, he’ll find a deadlier way. Friendship becomes rivalry and the quest for fame becomes obsession in this virile epic produced in! part by Ridley Scott and featuring gripping portrayals by Brad Pitt (winner of the Venice Film Festival Best Actor Award) as Jesse and Casey Affleck as the youth drawn closer to his goal…and farther from his own humanity.Of all the movies made about or glancingly involving the 19th-century outlaw Jesse Woodson James, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is the most reflective, most ambitious, most intricately fascinating, and indisputably most beautiful. Based on the novel of the same name by Ron Hansen, it picks up James late in his career, a few hours before his final train robbery, then covers the slow catastrophe of the gang's breakup over the next seven months even as the boss himself settles into an approximation of genteel retirement. But in another sense all of the movie is later than that. The very title assumes the audience's familiarity with James as a figure out of history and legend, and our awareness that he was--will be--murder! ed in his parlor one quiet afternoon by a backshooting crony. The film--only the second to be made by New Zealandâ€"born writer-director Andrew Dominik--reminds us that Dominik's debut film, Chopper (2000), was the cunningly off-kilter portrait of another real-life criminal psychopath who became a kind of rock star to his society. The Jesse James of this telling is no Robin Hood robbing the rich to give to the poor, and that train robbery we witness is punctuated by acts of gratuitous brutality, not gallantry. Nineteen-year-old Bob Ford (Casey Affleck) seeks to join the James gang out of hero worship stoked by the dime novels he secretes under his bed, but his glam hero (Brad Pitt) is a monster who takes private glee in infecting his accomplices with his own paranoia, then murdering them for it. In the careful orchestration of James's final moments, there's even a hint that he takes satisfaction in his own demise.

Affleck and Pitt (who co-produced with Ridley Scott, among others) are mesmerizing in the title roles, but the movie! is enriched by an exceptional supporting cast: Sam Shepard as Jesse's older, more stable brother Frank; Sam Rockwell as Bob Ford's own brother Charlie, whose post-assassination descent into madness is astonishing to behold; Paul Schneider, Garret Dillahunt, and Jeremy Renner as three variously doomed gang members; and Mary-Louise Parker, who as Jesse's wife Zee has few lines yet manages with looks and body language to invoke a wellnigh-novelistic backstory for herself. There are also electrifying cameos by James Carville, doing solid actorly work as the governor of Missouri; Ted Levine, as a lawman of antic spirit; and Nick Cave, composer of the film's score (with Warren Ellis) and screenwriter of the Aussie "Western" The Proposition, suddenly towering over a late scene to perform the folk song that set the terms for the book and movie's title.

Still, the real costar is Roger Deakins, probably the finest cinematographer at work today. The landscapes of the movie! (mostly in Alberta and Manitoba) will linger in the memory as! long as the distinctive faces, and we seem to feel the sting of its snows on our cheeks. Interior scenes are equally persuasive. Few Westerns have conveyed so tangibly the bleakness and austerity of the spaces people of the frontier called home, and sought in vain to warm with human spirit. --Richard T. Jameson

The Fantasticks: The Complete Illustrated Text Plus the Official Fantasticks Scrapbook and History of the Musical

• Published by Applause Books 168 Pages
• by Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones
• Author: Tom Jones

"Richly illustrated, it is ideal for fans of the show, as well as admirers of musical theatre." - Variety * "Anybody who has seen the show (who hasn't?) should read the book" - Entertainment Today * "The perfect present for any Fantasticks fans." - Cleveland Plain Dealer * "A valuable resource. Recommended for all collections." - Choice