Solitary Man
 Ben (Michael Douglas) once ruled a car-dealership empire vast enough to fuel a glossy Manhattan lifestyle and endow a library at an East Coast university. But by the time he arrives at the college with his girlfriend’s daughter, Allyson (Imogen Poots), who is a prospective student, his world has collapsed around his ears. A business scandal has cost him his income and his marriage to Nancy (Susan Sarandon). His ever-present lust for every passing attractive woman threatens to take what little Ben has left. Even his new relationship with Jordan (Mary-Louise Parker) oscillates with tension. When Ben takes Allyson to tour the school, his motives are more than mixed.Michael Douglas has spent the second half of his career perfecting playing charming, morally flawed rakes (Fatal Attraction, Wall Street, Wonder Boys). So his performance in Solitary Man–as a morally flawed rake who is somehow ingratiating, if not exactly charming–is a subtle but real revelation of Douglas’s acting skills. His character in Solitary Man, Ben, shows elements of his roles in the other films, yet Ben is no master of the universe; he’s one step away from pathetic–and just enough so that viewers will be invested in finding out how his story plays out, even if at the same time they’d like to see Ben get some comeuppance. Douglas’s Ben gets a late start on his midlife crisis, at roughly age 60, when his doctor suggests further tests on a heart irregularity. In the aftermath of that shocking news, Ben’s tidy life (beautiful wife Nancy, played by Susan Sarandon; thoughtful daughter Susan, played by Jenna Fischer) has come undone, rent by divorce, a giant fall from his career as a successful car dealer, and a string of rather nauseatingly inappropriate liaisons with far younger women. Ben should have “hit bottom” by the time Solitary Man picks up his story, some six years later, and in many ways he has–broke, despondent, lonely. Yet somehow Ben can still charm the thongs off the ladies (and this is one area that Solitary Man just doesn’t ring true in; Ben may be a good salesman, but no unemployed 65-year-old is that good a salesman). The supporting cast is outstanding, especially Sarandon and Fischer, whose characters should have given up on Ben long ago, and yet still remain invested, even bailing him out, sometimes unwisely. Mary-Louise Parker is also splendid as Jordan, Ben’s wealthy girlfriend, who also keeps him afloat financially. The lovely Imogen Poots plays Allyson, Jordan’s teenage daughter, whom Jordan entrusts to Ben’s care on a trip to check out his alma mater. (Bad idea.) “You can’t cheat death, no matter how many 19-year-olds you talk into your bed,” Nancy tells Ben, who seems to be listening–yet this old dog may not have it in himself to learn the new tricks he’ll really need to make his life work. It’s to Douglas’s enormous credit, and to the script’s, that Solitary Man, and Ben, manage to come off as human and real–even sympathetic. –A.T. Hurley
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 DON’T SAY A WORD: When psychiatrist Nathan Conrad discovers that his daughter has been kidnapped, the only way he can get her back is to pry critical information from the mind of a seriously disturbed teenager with a secret stuck deep in a blocked memory. The Conrads are the prototypical happy family: Nathan, a successful doctor (Michael Douglas); his loving wife, Aggie (Famke Janssen), who is bedridden with a broken leg suffered in a skiing accident; and eight-year-old Jessie (Skye McCole Bartusiak), an extremely intelligent and well-loved young girl. But late one night Jessie is abducted and used as collateral for a dangerous group of men who will stop at nothing to recover a stolen ten-million-dollar jewel.Gary Fleder (KISS THE GIRLS) has crafted an excellent thriller shot on the streets of New York City, getting help from a fine supporting cast, including Oliver Platt as one of Dr. Conrad’s medical colleagues, Jennifer Esposito as a cop out to get to the bottom of a series of unexplained murders, and Sean Bean as a violent criminal who will kill anyone who gets in his way. But this is Douglas’s movie, starring as a loving family man and dedicated doctor who has to compromise his ethics in order to save his daughter’s life and free a teenager from a dangerous psychosis.WALL STREET: Oliver Stone opened fire on the greed decade of the 1980s with this morality tale set on Wall Street. It stars Charlie Sheen as Bud Fox, an ambitious rookie stockbroker from a blue-collar background who is mesmerized by Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas), a Mephistophelean superbroker who specializes in corporate takeovers. Despite his initial resistance to Bud’s entreaties, Gekko finally takes on the eager beaver as his protégé, schooling him in the kind of slash-and-burn maneuvers that have taken Gekko to the top. This style is far more attractive to Fox than the more prosaic but principled approach to investing preached by veteran Lou Mannheim (Hal Holbrook). And, at first, it’s impossible to dispute his preference; as Bud’s life moves into the fast lane, he quickly acquires an upscale apartment and a girlfriend to match, interior designer Darien (Darryl Hannah). But when Gekko demands that Bud not only break the law but directly undermine his union-leader father, Carl (Martin Sheen), and jeopardize the jobs and lives of his friends and family, he realizes that the cost of success might be more than he’s willing to pay. WALL STREET is a riveting, testosterone-fueled tour of the Street’s upper echelons, featuring standout performances by Michael Douglas and Martin Sheen.WAR OF THE ROSES: Danny DeVito directs this black comedy about a long-married couple in the throes of divorce at the height of the materialistic 1980s, and his second feature far surpasses his first effort, THROW MOMMA FROM THE TRAIN, in style, substance, and comic impact. Barbara and Oliver Rose were the perfect couple: he was a prominent Washington lawyer, she had a wildly successful cate Michael Douglas Celebrity Pack [3 Discs] |
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STAR CHAMBER prsskt Michael Douglas Sharon Gless 8pics!
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Michael Douglas Cancer Diagnosis
Long-time smoker being treated for throat cancer |
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Belarusian-American Jews: Noam Chomsky, Irving Berlin, Kirk Douglas, Michael Douglas, Meyer Lansky, Leonard Chess, Immanuel Velikovsky Belarusian-American Jews: Noam Chomsky, Irving Berlin, Kirk Douglas, Michael Douglas, Meyer Lansky, Leonard Chess, Immanuel Velikovsky |
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 Shining Through  In this romantic espionage thriller set against the backdrop of World War II, a secretary from Queens is transformed into a govern… |
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NEW DVD: FALLING DOWN Robert Duvall/Michael Douglas
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231 A PERFECT MURDER 8X10 PHOTO MICHAEL DOUGLAS GWYNETH PALTROW
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This is an 8×10 photo, perfect for framing or autographs!
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Decca 78 RPM Record Michael Douglas w 4 Hits & a Miss
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King of California
- At the age of sixteen, Miranda (Evan Rachel Wood) has already had to live with her share of disappointments. Abandoned by her mother, she s dropped out of school and has been supporting herself as an employee at McDonald s while her father Charlie (Michael Douglas) resides in a mental institution. When Charlie is released and sent back to their home, Miranda finds the relatively peaceful existe
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At the age of sixteen Miranda (Evan Rachel Wood) has already had to live with her share of disappointments. Abandoned by her mother she s dropped out of school and has been supporting herself as an employee at McDonald s while her father Charlie (Michael Douglas) resides in a mental institution.When Charlie is released and sent back to their home Miranda finds the relatively peaceful existence she s built for herself completely disrupted. Charlie has become obsessed with the notion that the long-lost treasure of Spanish explorer Father Juan Florismarte Garces is buried somewhere near their suburban California housing unit. Armed with a metal detector and a stack of treasure-hunting books Charlie soon finds reason to believe that the gold resides underneath the local Costco and encourages Miranda to get a job there so that they can plan a way to excavate after hours.Initially skeptical Miranda soon finds herself joining in Charlie s questionable antics in an effort to give him one last shot at accomplishing his dreams in this darkly funny exciting and surprisingly hopeful take on the modern family and the American dream.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY/ROMANTIC COMEDY UPC: 687797117793 Manufacturer No: FLP-11779Amazon.com
Michael Douglas is such a great dramatic actor (not to mention villain) that it’s worth remembering what a strong comedic performer he can be (War of the Roses, Romancing the Stone). In King of California, he digs into his offbeat lighter role with relish and vigor. Yet he softens the scene-chewing with appropriate poignancy, given that he’s playing a mentally ill deadbeat who’s essentially left his daughter to raise herself–and him. Douglas plays Charlie, a troubled yet good-humored musician who’s just been released from institutional care. Evan Rachel Wood is his wise-beyond-her-years daughter, Miranda, who pays the bills, keeps house, and even buys a car as an unlicensed 15-year-old. The film examines the bond between troubled dad and grounded teen, and it’s to both actors’ credit that the slight (and slightly incredulous) plot doesn’t diminish the impact of their love or anguish.
Charlie’s convinced a buried Spanish treasure lies beneath the local Costco (one of many companies given costar billing; others include McDonald’s, Petco, Target, and Chuck E. Cheese). The plot follows Charlie’s single-minded, impossible-dream journey, while the world-weary Miranda is resigned to following (“Time to get on that old bipolar pony and ride,” she mutters). But along the way, dad and daughter find true ways to reconnect, and therein lies the true majesty of King of California –A.T. Hurley
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Decca 78 RPM Record Michael Douglas w 4 Hits & a Miss
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Who Let the Dogs Out arr. Michael Sweeney
- Published by Hal Leonard
- Band Grade Level 2 arr. Michael Sweeney
- Composer: Anslem Douglas Artist: Baha Men Arranger: Michael Sweeney
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This recent hit by the Baha Men has been heard at just about every sporting event across the country. The optional vocals will help you get the crowd really involved.
Songs: Who Let The Dogs Out
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Michael Douglas reads a landmine statistic
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Change Wars
Product Description
Change Wars is the third book in the Leading Edge™ series. The Leading Edge series unites education authorities from around the globe and asks them to confront the important issues that affect teachers and administrators the issues that profoundly impact student success. The experts contributing to this anthology do not prescribe one method to transact change. They embrace the mission, trusting that teachers and administrators the true change leaders will venture to the Leading Edge to embrace the challenges and opportunities that will guarantee the success of their students.
In today’s era of educational change where reforms proliferate, initiatives abound, legal responsibilities are constantly expanding, and both teachers and leaders complain constantly of overload, the challenge is no longer just how to implement particular changes, but how to choose between changes, prioritize them, and create coherence among all of them. This is a challenge for the teacher in the classroom, the principal in the office, and for policymakers in government. How do we do the right things well, not get distracted by the wrong things, involve and include everyone who is affected, keep the momentum and the impact going, and prevent burnout by ensuring the change agenda is manageable and coherent?
The 13 contributors to Change Wars tackle these difficult questions by offering their own theories-in-action of educational change the changes they want, why they want them, and how they believe they can be brought about and sustained so readers can reflect on change in their own situations and perhaps find areas of broad agreement. Change Wars provides a comprehensive view of the challenges of education reform from system, district, and classroom standpoints and examines the many perspectives of effective reform and implementation. Change Wars contains more theory than On Common Ground and Ahead of the Curve. The contributors are largely researchers and not practitioners. The majority of the contributors focus on system change from a broader perspective than the classroom level.
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Star Chamber
- Star Chamber
- Michael Douglas
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Michael Douglas
Star Chamber
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Basic Instinct Gold Wood-Mounted Poster Michael Douglas Sharon Stone – 27″ x 38″
- You are looking at a great poster, that comes mounted on gold colored wood.
- Wood mounting, or plaquing is a stylish and affordable way of protecting your prints and posters.
- This poster, which measures approx. 27.00 by 38.00 inches.
- In this process, your print is laminated directly to a board and the edges are finished with a bevel
- Your plaqued print will be protected against moisture, UV light, smudges and scratches.
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Basic Instinct Gold Wood-Mounted Poster Michael Douglas Sharon Stone – 27″ x 38″ $69.99 – @ Amazon
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The Michael Douglas Collection
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Each pack has 3 Hit Titles with all-new thinpack packaging in a slipcase.
Disc 1: DON’T SAY A WORD Disc 2: WALL STREET Disc 3: WAR OF THE ROSES
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The Michael Douglas Collection $14.00 – @ Amazon
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