deal

Hasbro Games Monopoly Deal Card Game
$11.99
This game is SO absolutely fun!!!

The only thing I would change is the instructions a little. some of the rules seem unclear or are simply not mentioned. You almost have to come up with your own rules to playing.

Overall, I ended up purchasing 1 for myself, as well as a couple as stocking stuffers for Friends & Family for the holidays!

New Deal or Raw Deal?: How FDR's Economic Legacy Has Damaged America
$15.00
This is an exceptional look at opposing viewpoints to those that students are blasted from an early age. If you're strongly tied to the now traditional & virtually immutable view that FDR was a savior, you probably won't gain anything from reading this book. But if you have an open mind and are prepared to read a few other books to go along with this one, you may get a much better handle on events of that decade than the one side that is typically presented in higher education. Again, worth reading if you like historical politics and are prepared to supplement this book with several others.

The Deal (+ Digital Copy)
$29.99
"The Deal" is a light comedy with a bit of romance and satire thrown in. It follows the story of one Charlie Burns (William H. Macy, who also co-wrote the screenplay), a failed Hollywood film producer, who uses his nephew's period-piece script (about 19th century British writer and statesman Benjamin Disraeli) for his "comeback." While Charlie struggles to get what he wants (sometimes by cheating and lying), he meets a beautiful studio executive Deidre (Meg Ryan). I almost forgot to say that Charlie is a lady's man, too.

I am always interested in the "films about filmmaking" sub-genre. You know, there are so many of them - "Adaptation" "Bowfinger" etc - and some are great ("Day for Night") and some terrible ("An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn" ... what else?). Thanks to the cast (that includes Elliot Gould as rabbi and L.L. Cool J. as spoiled action star), "The Deal" is mildly amusing, but the film's satire is not sharp and the jokes are not very funny.

Don't get me wrong. I like Meg Ryan and William H. Macy. But somehow it seems they are not the right choice for the roles they are playing in "The Deal." There is no chemistry between the two leads to make me believe that they fall in love with each other. Besides, the story itself doesn't convince me. How can a down-and-out film producer like Charlie get a 100 million dollar action movie greenlit when everyone in Hollywood knows he has been unsuccessful so long?

All in all "The Deal" is not that bad, at least to me, but it has no originality either, except the location of South Africa. Perhaps this is the most convincing part of the film.

Deal
$9.95
The DVD is a late-1970s documentary of the popular game show hosted by Monty Hall - who was also co-producer and co-creator - that aired (the original series) in daily and nighttime syndication from 1963-1977.

It is a fantastic insider's look at the production of the program; every facet is covered, even the process of selecting contestants to appear in an episode. Hall and announcer Jay Stewart are prominently featured in interview segments, which makes this a combination of a fascinating trip into pop culture nostalgia and an excellent historical piece for those interested in or studying facets of the entertainment industry.

With "The Lovely" Carol Merrill - who modeled the various prizes - Hall had a winning formula for many years. Until the old episodes are packaged into DVD collections for release, this will be the best outlet to see what made the "Big Deal of the Day" a winner.