- In this hilarious series set in a real Australian high school, actor/comedian Chris Lilley stars as three different characters: a vain drama teacher, a self-absorbed boy, and a haughty female exchange student. Hysterical, absurd and frequently shocking, Summer Heights High reveals a world where small issues become huge, social groups are critical, young minds are molded, hopes are shattered and dr
Powerful ensemble drama set in New York City shows how fate links the lives of five people over the course of a day. As a photographer faces doubt over her upcoming wedding, her lovelorn mother and lawyer fiance, a young actor, and a journalist encounter each other, each begins to question their uncertain future. Glenn Close, Elizabeth Banks, James Marsden, Jesse Bradford, John Light, Isabella Rossellini, and Rufus Wainwright star. 98 min. Widescreen (Enhanced); Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital 5.1! ; Subtitles: French, Spanish, Portuguese.With wit and sympathy,
Heights traces the crossed paths and messy lives of New York theater people, journalists, and artists. At the middle of everything is Isabel (Elizabeth Banks,
The Sisters), a struggling photographer whose mother, Diana (Glenn Close,
Dangerous Liaisons), is the grand dame of the theater world. Isabel's fiance, Jonathan (James Marsden,
X-Men), is being pursued by a writer for Vanity Fair about his relationship with a lionized photographer. Meanwhile, Diana, though married, casts her eye on a young actor named Alec (Jesse Bradford,
Happy Endings), who lives in the same building as Isabel... This only begins to unravel the tangle, but a clever script, clean direction, and nicely pitched performances keep
Heights from tripping over its own plot lines or sagging into soap opera. Close, in particular, has a blast doing an uncanny Meryl Streep impression, and deft supporting pe! rformances by Isabella Rosselini (
Blue Velvet), Eric Bo! gosian (
Talk Radio), George Segal (
California Split), and musician Rufus Wainwright keep the edges of the stories lively.
Heights doesn't achieve the emotional fullness of the best of Robert Altman's ensemble movies, but it stakes a claim in that cinematic territory.
--Bret FetzerThis is a beautifully designed, 6"x9" large edition of Emily BrontÃÆ'«'s classic WUTHERING HEIGHTS.
From the author of The Works: Anatomy of a City comes a gorgeous graphic tour through the inner workings of skyscrapers.
The skyscraper is perhaps the most recognizable icon of the modern urban landscape. Providing offices, homes, restaurants, and shopping to thousands of inhabitants, modern skyscrapers function as small cities- with infrastructure not unlike that hidden beneath our streets. Clean water is provided to floors thousands of feet in the sky; elevators move people swiftly and safely throughout the building; and telecom networks all! ow virtual meetings with people on other continents. How are these services-considered essential, but largely taken for granted- possible in such a complex structure? What does it really take to sustain human life at such enormous heights?
Exploring the interconnected systems that make life livable in the sky is the task of Kate Ascher's stunningly illustrated The Heights: Anatomy of a Skyscraper. Ascher examines skyscrapers from around the world to learn how these incredible structures operate. Just how do skyscrapers sway in the wind, and why exactly is that a good idea? How can a modern elevator be as fast as an airplane? Why are skyscrapers in Asia safer than those in the United States? Have new safeguards been designed to protect skyscrapers from terrorism?
What happens when the power goes out in a building so tall? Why are all modern skyscrapers seemingly made of glass, and how can that be safe? How do skyscrapers age, and how can they be! maintained over decades of habitation? No detail is too smal! l, no di fficulty too big to escape Ascher's encyclopedic eye.
Along the way, The Heights introduces the reader to every type of person involved in designing, building, and maintaining a skyscraper: the designers who calculate how weight and weather will affect their structures, the workers who dig the foundations and raise the lightning rods, the crews who clean the windows and maintain the air ducts, and the firefighters-whose special equipment allows blazes to be fought at unprecedented heights.
More than a technical survey, Ascher's work is a triumphant ode to the most monumental aspect of modern civilization. Saturated with vivid illustrations and unforgettable anecdotes, The Heights is the ultimate guide to the way things work in the skyscraper.
A Look Inside The Heights
(Click on Images to Enlarge) In this hilari! ous seri es set in a real Australian high school, actor/comedian Chris Lilley stars as three different characters: a vain drama teacher, a self-absorbed boy, and a haughty female exchange student. Hysterical, absurd and frequently shocking, Summer Heights High reveals a world where small issues become huge, social groups are critical, young minds are molded, hopes are shattered and dreams are realized.
DVD Features:
Deleted Scenes
Outtakes
Australian writer/performer Chris Lilley specializes in the comedy of narcissism. All three of his characters in the mockumentary series
Summer Heights High are blindly, maddeningly self-absorbed: Mr. G, a drama teacher who writes and directs his own musicals; Ja'mie, a preening 16-year-old from a wealthy private school who views her year at public school as purgatory; and Jonah, a Tongan juvenile delinquent who's been previously expelled from two other schools. The series' 8 episodes follow these three ! as they seek to find some form of fame and adulation.Mr. G struggles to create a musical about a student who recently died of a drug overdose... only it becomes increasingly about a heroic drama teacher whose dog dies in an accident; Ja'mie desperately wants to stage a formal dance and will lie, bribe, and manipulate to do it; and Jonah wants to do breakdancing with his posse, but he's simply incapable of keeping himself from insulting his teachers and getting into fights with other students. While Mr. G and Ja'mie are blinkered monsters, Jonah verges on tragic, as he stumbles towards increasing self-destruction. The thoroughness of Lilley's creations is impressive, as the comedian loses himself fully in these characters. Still, some viewers may find them more aggravating than funny; just a hint of self-awareness might have made them a little easier to spend time with. But for anyone who connects with Lilley's humor,
Summer Heights High will be a feast of juicy, un! filtered, rampaging egomania.
--Bret Fetzer !
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Stills from Summer Heights High (Click for larger image) 
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