Catherine Bell

Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice
$24.95
A very smart woman; a poorly executed book. This book is intended for nobody to read. Bell's inexcusable writing style can only be described as pretentious. She challened no ideas, fronts or philosophies on her own. I also read all 223 pages, and I agree with another reviewer that there are so many references she fails in creating a position for herself. Many references she cites have the same positions, so why read something that is poorly written.

Thrill Seekers
$14.99
Some dvd movies are hard to find,as they are not made any more, this I think is one of them. This film was not a block buster but good. People were going back in time to see disasters as they happen in real time. They had to be very carful not to do anything to upset the flow of time or it could alternate history. I was lucky to get my hands on this film.

Men of War
$14.99
The story: Nick Gunar (Dolph Lundgren, Universal Soldier) is an ex-Special Ops soldier who's agreed to lead a mission to an island in the South China Sea, where he's to strong-arm the natives into signing over the rights of their land to a mining corporation. Accompanied by several of his military comrades - including Tom Wright (Marked for Death), Anthony Denison ("The Closer"), Tim Guinee ("Impostor"), Don Harvey (Casualties of War), Tiny Lister ("Little Nicky"), and Catherine Bell ("J.A.G.") - Lundgren finds it morally difficult to carry out his mission in light of his friendship with an English-speaking inhabitant (B.D. Wong, "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"), and thus causes his team to split their allegiance between him and a new order led by the psychopathic mercenary Keefer (Trevor Goddard, Mortal Kombat).

As far as action goes, there's not much to see within the film's first 75 minutes besides a bar fight and a bit of inter-soldier scuffles; its final 25 minutes, however, is a nonstop firefight between the two opposing teams. Few films effectively use the build-up style of action anymore, where dramatic tension is played up to the breaking point until exploding into an all-out guilty pleasure. I am greatly disappointed that director Perry Lang (Little Vegas [VHS]) had very limited work within the action genre following "Men of War", because the man really knows how to maximize guns and explosions: the action is comparable to that of Commando or Predator. There are few martial arts encounters to be seen, but the climatic, lengthy fistfight between Nick and Keefer is very satisfying: Trevor Goddard demonstrates his boxing knowledge to extents that were sorely lacking in "Mortal Kombat" and Lundgren proves that he does not need roundhouse kicks to topple an enemy.

Don't expect to find Oscar nominations in store for too many of the cast, but know that just about everybody pulls their dramatic load to create a memorable bunch of characters (with the exception of Anthony Denison and Tim Guinee, whom we rarely see). Kevin Tighe (Another 48 HRS.) rounds off the cast and provides some legitimate dramatic credibility, but then again, Dolph and the others were not really in need of help.
The production, by large, is in good shape. Though I counted at least four instances in which small clips of stock footage had been used, the film's cinematography and special effects are good, despite that the movie was clearly shot in an actual jungle without a 7-11 around the corner. The scenery is beautiful, from ethnic villages to lush rain forests and large underground caves, and plays a large part in describing the scope (quite large) and character of the film.

The cultural conflict aspect has been done before and probably better, but is handled without condescension on either side in "Men of War". If there's one major criticism to be given, it's that even though the movie has produced under the best circumstances for a $6 million picture and has excellent production values, it's still trying to tell a story a bit too big for itself (that and the sex scene that had no business existing). Regardless, it's one of Lundgren's very best - just underneath Showdown in Little Tokyo. Watch "Men of War" expecting to see beautiful island scenery, and leave the rest of your expectations up to chance: this is the best way to experience one of Dolph Lundgren's better movies, despite the fact that it strays somewhat from the typical action hero formula.

Hallmark Collector Set V.1 (6-Movies)
$19.99
The movies are well worth the money... lovely and relaxing. With a tender love story intwined, get it.