Tea is the world's most popular drink for good reason. Not only is it tasty but it's very good for you as well. Various teas have different health benefits and reasons why people might like to add them to their daily routine. Many people have a favourite breakfast tea and another they like to have later in the day. Herbal teas also have the potential for significant health benefits as well.
While all tea comes from the same plant, various methods are used to come up with the tea varieties including drying, steaming, fermenting, etc. It's amazing how so many different flavours and health benefits can come from a specific type of plant.
Black Tea
This popular tea is said to have many health benefits including: cancer fighting, preventing blocking of arteries, anti-inflammatory properties, high antioxidants.
Green Tea
Green tea has a very high level of antioxidants and can rev up your metabolism as well. It can actually fight against cancer and help with cholesterol among other benefits.
White Tea
White tea can kill strep and staph and other bacterial infections as well as prevent cavities. White tea is regularly used in mouthwash nowadays and is very soothing for a sore throat.
Oolong Tea
Oolong, also known as Wulong tea has a woodsy flavour and also has some great benefits such as increased metabolism and with a high level of polyphenols. This tea can help reduce hardening of the arteries.
Tips for Getting More Tea Into Your Diet
Beyond drinking buckets of various teas every day or taking extracts in supplement form, there are also some great ideas you can use such as cooking with tea. Use it as a soup base and for gravies as well as cooking liquid for rice. Not only will you get to enjoy the health benefits but you'll benefit from interesting flavour combinations as well. Buy organic tea wherever possible as reduced processing will result in maximizing the health benefits.
Is Chinese Green Tea Effective?
Chinese Green Teahas for centuries remain the most coveted beverage amongst the Chinese. This blend of tea has immense potential in terms of giving the body comprehensive health benefits. A lot of effective gains are made by the body through and habitual consumption of the tea. Major benefits of the Chinese Green Tea
include reducing aging.
An overview on the benefits of the tea show that, the tea serves as one of the key platforms to a healthy living. Chinese Green Teahas various medicinal values. To start with, the CChinese Green Tea
is effective in achieving good health. The health benefits of the tea include helping in metabolism and weight loss, effectively lowering cholesterol, bad breath removal, reduction of stress levels, easing headaches and even preventing cancer.
As such, this tea is an effective remedy that everyone should use to achieve optimum health. The tea has quite invaluable medicinal benefits which nourish the body with essential immunities protecting it from serious problems like cancer and obesity. Drinking Chinese Green Teais the most advisable dietary practice.
Consumption of this tea is also a health expert's recommendation. The tea has been associated with Chinese medicine practices for centuries. It is a traditional medicine ad its immense benefits are highly valued across the world nowadays. This tea is famed as Wu Li which has helped people shed off their weight and gain more zest and longer life. People with arthritis crisis have been able to stay healthy through the help of a dietary supplement of the Chinese Green Tea. Using it is very useful in achieving these health benefits. More people are taking up this habit of drinking this type of tea. More awareness about these benefits will help millions others get cured and also achieve this good health.
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Environmental Defense Fund Gifts
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Hello Visitors
Welcome to my little private corner of the world. Just recently I have been wanting to become more enviornmentally conscience. I think I'd like to start a garden and even own a greenhouse. This is my start to do so. With all the pressures of the world i.e. work, relationships, family, etc. it's hard to keep a check on reality and not loose yourself in what every one else wants from you. This is my dedication to being open and honest with me and living my life to its fullest. Regardless of what others may think, I can only live for me. I'm the only one that can make me happy. Hopefully I will own a garden and be able to eat from it and gain a piece of satisfaction from it.
INSTANT Milk & Egg PROTEIN POWDER DRINK FOR BODY BUILDING
• Supports Muscles, Strength and Recovery***
Egg protein is considered the gold standard by nutritionists due to its amino acid score and high biological value.*** When used according to package directions, INSTANT Milk & Egg PROTEIN POWDER DRINK FOR BODY BUILDING supports muscles, strength and recovery from high-intensity exercise.***
***Results may vary; when used in conjunction with an intense daily exercise program and a balanced diet including an adequate caloric intake.
Milk & Egg Protein
Egg protein is considered the gold standard by nutritionists due to its amino acid score and high biological value.*** When used according to package directions, INSTANT Milk & Egg PROTEIN POWDER DRINK FOR BODY BUILDING supports muscles, strength and recovery from high-intensity exercise.***
***Results may vary; when used in conjunction with an intense daily exercise program and a balanced diet including an adequate caloric intake.
Milk & Egg Protein
Bernardaud "Frivole" Tea Cup
The lushness of flowers and vines, brought to your table. The Bernardaud Frivole tea cup boasts a refined pattern and distinctive gold band rim.
Barbara Barry for Wedgwood Teapot
This Barbara Barry designed teapot has a subtle yet stunning shape which dances with light and reflects your stylish surroundings.
Back to Basics Iced Tea Maker
Chill out on a hot day with cold, refreshing iced tea, brewed to golden perfection with this ingenious machine. Timed brewing and steeping settings, plus a removable sweetener chamber, let you customize the brew to your own personal taste. One-year warranty. Model IT400.
Keep America Beautiful
VOLUNTEER FOR THE GREAT AMERICAN CLEANUP
Join in KAB's Great American Cleanup, the nation's largest community improvement program!
The Great American Cleanup takes place from March 1-May 31.
Please consider volunteering in a participating community near you!
Join in KAB's Great American Cleanup, the nation's largest community improvement program!
The Great American Cleanup takes place from March 1-May 31.
Please consider volunteering in a participating community near you!
The Benefits of Eating Organic Foods
FROM
HEALL
The Value of Organically Grown Foods
Organic farmers follow environmentally responsible business practices. Organic cows are free of antibiotics used as routine prevention. In comparison, 82 different drugs, including RBGH, are found in conventional dairy farms. Ounce for ounce, organic fruits and vegetables are twice as rich in certain nutrients compared to non-organic produce, according to a recent study reported in the Journal of Applied Nutrition.
Here are some thought-provoking figures about our food supply:
More than 20,000 pesticides are registered for use in the United States. About 75% of the chemicals, some 2.2 billion pounds annually, are used on more than 900,000 US farms at an annual cost of about $8.3 billion, according to the Pesticide Action Network. Pesticide sales have increased more than 2,700% since 1962 and US users now account for one-third of the world pesticide market.
NBC News recently reported that 9000 people die each year in the US due to food related illness. Our exposure to man-made chemicals in the food we eat is suspected of being a major factor in today's increased risk to cancer.
The Environmental Working Group found that "more than half of the total dietary risk from pesticides...was concentrated in just 12 crops. The pesticides that were found in these foods are classified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as probable human carcinogens, nervous system poisons and endocrine system disrupters."
Groundwater contamination caused by pesticides has spread pollutants to the world's rivers, lakes and oceans, killing fish, wildlife, and aquatic plants.
Greenpeace states that "numerous studies show that many pesticides cause health problems ranging from such long-term chronic effects as cancer, genetic damage, birth defects, harm to the immune system, kidneys and liver, to short-term acute effects such as nerve damage, dizziness, nausea and fatigue."
Some experts believe certain agricultural chemicals, such as toluene, can be toxic to fetuses.
Sixty percent of all herbicides, 90% of all fungicides and 30% of all insecticides are considered carcinogenic by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
A 1987 National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report estimated that 20,000 cases of cancer a year can be linked to US pesticide use.
Health experts long have warned of the dangers of high-fat foods that can lead to heart disease or cancer. New studies show that each fatty bite may also carry a dose of highly toxic chemicals.
Man-made chemicals, including traces of highly carcinogenic dioxins released into the environment, are turning up in fast-food and grocery store staples such as meat, fish and dairy products at levels that exceed US government standards by 200% or more, according to some studies.
"In industrialized countries you can avoid the intake of dioxins, to a certain extent, by eating food that is low in fat," says Dr. Arnold Schecter, an international medical expert on dioxins and an advisor to the World Health Organization (WHO). "But it is more desirable to avoid producing dioxins in the first place."
Dioxin is a toxic waste product formed when municipal and hazardous waste is burned, and when chemicals containing chlorine, such as pesticides and paper products, are manufactured. This product ends up in the food chain. When an animal eats food that contains this toxic chemical they accumulate in the fat.
Both WHO and the US Environmental Protection Agency agree that dioxins cause cancer. "Besides cancer, minute amounts of these chemicals have been shown to lead to nervous system and liver damage, as well as to mimic hormones that disrupt reproduction and human development," says Schecter. "It is known that every person in every industrialized country has dioxins in their blood...but since about 96% of the general population's exposure to dioxins is through food, we wanted to see if certain kinds of food contained more dioxins than others," Schecter said.
While vegetables and fruits also contained trace amounts of these chemicals, the dose was significantly less than high fat foods. Advocacy groups such as the American Public Health Association (APHA) believe that governments should be doing more to protect people's health, especially in light of these new scientific findings.
Birth defects, learning disabilities and other development problems have been linked to dioxin exposure, according to the studies. This is because these chemicals "mimic" or "block" estrogen and progesterone, natural hormones that instruct the body on how it should develop. In just six months of breast feeding, a baby in the United States will, on average, consume the EPA's maximum lifetime dose of dioxin, Schecter says. Dioxins are also highly persistent in the environment and extremely resistant to chemical or physical breakdown.
Twelve highly contaminated foods according to some sources: Strawberries, Green and Red Bell Peppers, Spinach, Cherries (US), Peaches, Cantaloupe (Mexico), Celery, Apples, Apricots, Green beans, Grapes (Chilean), Cucumbers.
Ten most important Organic Foods to Eat:
Baby Food - According to the National Academy of Sciences, federal pesticide standards provide too little health protection.
Strawberries - A 1993 study by the Environmental Working Group found that supermarket strawberries were the most heavily contaminated fruit or vegetable in the US.
Rice - Water-soluble herbicides and insecticides have contaminated the groundwater near rice fields. Buy organic rice from Eagle Agricultural Products, Lundberg Family Farmers, or MacDougall's Wild Rice.
Oats - In 1994, the FDA found illegal residues in a year's worth of Cheerios from GM. Organic growers provide oats, millet, quinoa, barley, couscous, amaranth, and spelt as healthy options.
Milk - Dairy companies inject cows with recombinant bovine growth hormone. 79% of treated cows get clinical mastitis, a common udder infection. Treating them with antibiotics increases the change of residue in milk. Organic milk is widely available.
Bell Peppers - The FDA found that in 1993, 38% of the peppers from Mexico, which provides 98% of the US, had two or more toxic pesticides.
Bananas - Costa Rica uses 35% of the country's pesticide on banana crops.
Green Beans - 60 pesticides are used on green beans. 10% of Mexican green beans are contaminated with illegal pesticides.
Peaches - FDA cited peaches for above-average rates of illegal pesticide violations; 5% of the crop was contaminated.
Apples - 36 different pesticides have been detected by the FDA. The fungicide captan and the insecticide chlorpyrifos were among the 48 pesticides most frequently found in FDA testing between 1984 and 1991. After the Alar scare in the 80's, growers are leading the integrated-pest management movement, which only resorts to chemicals when mandatory.
HEALL
The Value of Organically Grown Foods
Organic farmers follow environmentally responsible business practices. Organic cows are free of antibiotics used as routine prevention. In comparison, 82 different drugs, including RBGH, are found in conventional dairy farms. Ounce for ounce, organic fruits and vegetables are twice as rich in certain nutrients compared to non-organic produce, according to a recent study reported in the Journal of Applied Nutrition.
Here are some thought-provoking figures about our food supply:
More than 20,000 pesticides are registered for use in the United States. About 75% of the chemicals, some 2.2 billion pounds annually, are used on more than 900,000 US farms at an annual cost of about $8.3 billion, according to the Pesticide Action Network. Pesticide sales have increased more than 2,700% since 1962 and US users now account for one-third of the world pesticide market.
NBC News recently reported that 9000 people die each year in the US due to food related illness. Our exposure to man-made chemicals in the food we eat is suspected of being a major factor in today's increased risk to cancer.
The Environmental Working Group found that "more than half of the total dietary risk from pesticides...was concentrated in just 12 crops. The pesticides that were found in these foods are classified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as probable human carcinogens, nervous system poisons and endocrine system disrupters."
Groundwater contamination caused by pesticides has spread pollutants to the world's rivers, lakes and oceans, killing fish, wildlife, and aquatic plants.
Greenpeace states that "numerous studies show that many pesticides cause health problems ranging from such long-term chronic effects as cancer, genetic damage, birth defects, harm to the immune system, kidneys and liver, to short-term acute effects such as nerve damage, dizziness, nausea and fatigue."
Some experts believe certain agricultural chemicals, such as toluene, can be toxic to fetuses.
Sixty percent of all herbicides, 90% of all fungicides and 30% of all insecticides are considered carcinogenic by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
A 1987 National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report estimated that 20,000 cases of cancer a year can be linked to US pesticide use.
Health experts long have warned of the dangers of high-fat foods that can lead to heart disease or cancer. New studies show that each fatty bite may also carry a dose of highly toxic chemicals.
Man-made chemicals, including traces of highly carcinogenic dioxins released into the environment, are turning up in fast-food and grocery store staples such as meat, fish and dairy products at levels that exceed US government standards by 200% or more, according to some studies.
"In industrialized countries you can avoid the intake of dioxins, to a certain extent, by eating food that is low in fat," says Dr. Arnold Schecter, an international medical expert on dioxins and an advisor to the World Health Organization (WHO). "But it is more desirable to avoid producing dioxins in the first place."
Dioxin is a toxic waste product formed when municipal and hazardous waste is burned, and when chemicals containing chlorine, such as pesticides and paper products, are manufactured. This product ends up in the food chain. When an animal eats food that contains this toxic chemical they accumulate in the fat.
Both WHO and the US Environmental Protection Agency agree that dioxins cause cancer. "Besides cancer, minute amounts of these chemicals have been shown to lead to nervous system and liver damage, as well as to mimic hormones that disrupt reproduction and human development," says Schecter. "It is known that every person in every industrialized country has dioxins in their blood...but since about 96% of the general population's exposure to dioxins is through food, we wanted to see if certain kinds of food contained more dioxins than others," Schecter said.
While vegetables and fruits also contained trace amounts of these chemicals, the dose was significantly less than high fat foods. Advocacy groups such as the American Public Health Association (APHA) believe that governments should be doing more to protect people's health, especially in light of these new scientific findings.
Birth defects, learning disabilities and other development problems have been linked to dioxin exposure, according to the studies. This is because these chemicals "mimic" or "block" estrogen and progesterone, natural hormones that instruct the body on how it should develop. In just six months of breast feeding, a baby in the United States will, on average, consume the EPA's maximum lifetime dose of dioxin, Schecter says. Dioxins are also highly persistent in the environment and extremely resistant to chemical or physical breakdown.
Twelve highly contaminated foods according to some sources: Strawberries, Green and Red Bell Peppers, Spinach, Cherries (US), Peaches, Cantaloupe (Mexico), Celery, Apples, Apricots, Green beans, Grapes (Chilean), Cucumbers.
Ten most important Organic Foods to Eat:
Baby Food - According to the National Academy of Sciences, federal pesticide standards provide too little health protection.
Strawberries - A 1993 study by the Environmental Working Group found that supermarket strawberries were the most heavily contaminated fruit or vegetable in the US.
Rice - Water-soluble herbicides and insecticides have contaminated the groundwater near rice fields. Buy organic rice from Eagle Agricultural Products, Lundberg Family Farmers, or MacDougall's Wild Rice.
Oats - In 1994, the FDA found illegal residues in a year's worth of Cheerios from GM. Organic growers provide oats, millet, quinoa, barley, couscous, amaranth, and spelt as healthy options.
Milk - Dairy companies inject cows with recombinant bovine growth hormone. 79% of treated cows get clinical mastitis, a common udder infection. Treating them with antibiotics increases the change of residue in milk. Organic milk is widely available.
Bell Peppers - The FDA found that in 1993, 38% of the peppers from Mexico, which provides 98% of the US, had two or more toxic pesticides.
Bananas - Costa Rica uses 35% of the country's pesticide on banana crops.
Green Beans - 60 pesticides are used on green beans. 10% of Mexican green beans are contaminated with illegal pesticides.
Peaches - FDA cited peaches for above-average rates of illegal pesticide violations; 5% of the crop was contaminated.
Apples - 36 different pesticides have been detected by the FDA. The fungicide captan and the insecticide chlorpyrifos were among the 48 pesticides most frequently found in FDA testing between 1984 and 1991. After the Alar scare in the 80's, growers are leading the integrated-pest management movement, which only resorts to chemicals when mandatory.
Does St John's Wort Really Work?
Just recently I have been researching info on St. John's Wort. All of the articles I've found give mixed reviews about its effects when dealing with depression. Please share your story or knowlegde of St. John's Wort. Does it work?
See what The Spirtual Cinema has to offer
LA LIBERTE De l’INTERIEUR (FREEDOM FROM WITHIN): This award-winning short film cleverly conveys our human struggle with the beliefs we hold about ourselves and the word around us, showing how these beliefs can keep us from our expansive true nature. Are you ready for freedom?
YOGA, NOGA, REYOGA: A tongue in cheek take on the meaning of yoga (union), Yoga, Noga, Reyoga (Union, Separation, Reunion) is the beautifully animated inner journey of two young monks who find themselves competing for enlightenment. How are we supposed to remain focused and strong with so many outside distractions?
YOGA, NOGA, REYOGA: A tongue in cheek take on the meaning of yoga (union), Yoga, Noga, Reyoga (Union, Separation, Reunion) is the beautifully animated inner journey of two young monks who find themselves competing for enlightenment. How are we supposed to remain focused and strong with so many outside distractions?
New Sundance Films to Watch
From www.TheStreets.com
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (documentary, 99 minutes)
By far the most-discussed film at Sundance, this production explodes myths surrounding the legendary film director's 1977 conviction on a charge of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.
Polanski, the director of Chinatown and Rosemary's Baby, fled to France before a sentencing hearing, and he remains a fugitive. The documentary's director, Marina Zenovich, began her exploration of the notorious case after Polanski received his 2003 Best Picture Academy Award for The Pianist.
Polanski's 13-year-old victim, Samantha Geimer, has publicly forgiven Polanski, and asked the court to grant him an official pardon, while her lawyer describes the proceedings as "shameful."
Why care about a child molester? The intrigue of the film is sustained throughout by the interviews with Roger Gunson, the prosecutor, and Roger Dalton, Polanski's reticent defense attorney. The men break 30 years of silence about behind-the-scenes chicanery inside the chambers of Judge Laurence J. Rittenband, the film's villain.
Bigger, Stronger, Faster* (documentary, 106 minutes)
Christopher Bell takes an amusing, yet far-reaching, look at the effects of steroids in pop culture and sports. It follows the Bell brothers, Christopher, Mark (a.k.a "Smelly") and Mike ("Mad Dog"), who grew up in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., wanting cartoonish muscles like their heroes, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Hulk Hogan. Both stars admitted using steroids to attain their physiques.
The broader theme of the film is that Americans simultaneously set impossible standards for jocks, cheer their inexplicable victories and deny the possibility of cheating to achieve success.
It's a ruthless paradox. Consider Arnold Schwarzenegger, who owes his fame to steroids, yet is appointed to the nation's drug-free fitness program; or venerated stars, such as Carl Lewis, an Olympic medalist; Barry Bonds, an all star baseball slugger; and Floyd Landis, a Tour de France cyclist.
There are plenty of appearances by celebrity athletes. But Bigger, Stronger Faster* succeeds as family drama. The Bells are God-fearing, salt-of-the-earth folks. Christopher, without steroids, becomes New York State's high school weightlifting champion, and he later moves to Venice Beach to work out at the legendary Gold's Gym where Schwarzenegger trained.
But Christopher's brothers, Smelly and Mad Dog, succumb to "the juice" in trying to meet unattainable performance standards. Smelly bench-presses 705 pounds. Mad Dog, a one-time pro wrestler who is now in his 40s, still clings to an elusive dream of wrestling stardom.
August (drama, 88 minutes)
This film portrays the conflicting efforts that two brothers make to keep their start-up dot-com business from falling into the hands of Wall Street investors. It's August 2001, and the freefall of dot-com stocks has the company, Landshark, on the ropes. The descent from fame and fortune heightens the distrust and sibling rivalry between its cocky and immature executive, Tom (Josh Hartnett), and his brainy, responsible brother, Joshua (Adam Scott). David Bowie makes a brief, but powerful appearance. The movie captures that unprecedented time in business history when punk twentysomethings made millions on vague promises of a cyber revolution.
Good Dick (drama, 85 minutes)
Here's an original and quirky film about an eccentric video-store clerk (Jason Ritter) who falls for a socially dysfunctional, solitary woman (Marianna Palka) and challenges her not to love him in return. It's a sweet story, where the woman's unrelenting pessimism and fear of others are met with the clerk's irrepressible optimism. The story tackles sex, not as a titillating topic, but for its healing power. Palka also wrote the script and directed the film.
Frozen River (drama, 97 minutes)
This is a character-driven story about Ray Eddy (Melissa Leo), a store clerk struggling to feed her two sons when her gambling-addicted husband skips out of town before Christmas with the money to pay for their trailer home.
Lila (Misty Upham), a resentful Native American who doesn't "work with whites," introduces Ray to the lucrative human smuggling trade on the Mohawk Indian Reservation, which straddles both sides of the St. Lawrence River border between the U.S. and Canada. There's little trust between the women, but Lila (who has been ostracized by the native community) and Ray can relate to one another in powerful ways as mothers. Melissa Leo, seen in supporting roles in 21 Grams and The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, shines.
Phoebe in Wonderland (drama, 96 minutes)
Nine-year-old Phoebe (Elle Fanning) is an oddball girl who rebels against the authority figures in her life and seeks solace with the unconventional drama teacher (Patricia Clarkson) directing a production of Alice in Wonderland. But Phoebe's behavior becomes increasingly erratic and disruptive at school, which forces her mother (Felicity Huffman) to confront her own insecurities and failings as a parent and as a Lewis Carroll scholar. Bill Pullman co-stars as Phoebe's father.
The script is masterfully interwoven with Lewis' witty existential riddles, which linger and tease the brain. The film is likely to launch the career of Elle Fanning, Dakota's younger sister.
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (documentary, 99 minutes)
By far the most-discussed film at Sundance, this production explodes myths surrounding the legendary film director's 1977 conviction on a charge of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.
Polanski, the director of Chinatown and Rosemary's Baby, fled to France before a sentencing hearing, and he remains a fugitive. The documentary's director, Marina Zenovich, began her exploration of the notorious case after Polanski received his 2003 Best Picture Academy Award for The Pianist.
Polanski's 13-year-old victim, Samantha Geimer, has publicly forgiven Polanski, and asked the court to grant him an official pardon, while her lawyer describes the proceedings as "shameful."
Why care about a child molester? The intrigue of the film is sustained throughout by the interviews with Roger Gunson, the prosecutor, and Roger Dalton, Polanski's reticent defense attorney. The men break 30 years of silence about behind-the-scenes chicanery inside the chambers of Judge Laurence J. Rittenband, the film's villain.
Bigger, Stronger, Faster* (documentary, 106 minutes)
Christopher Bell takes an amusing, yet far-reaching, look at the effects of steroids in pop culture and sports. It follows the Bell brothers, Christopher, Mark (a.k.a "Smelly") and Mike ("Mad Dog"), who grew up in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., wanting cartoonish muscles like their heroes, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Hulk Hogan. Both stars admitted using steroids to attain their physiques.
The broader theme of the film is that Americans simultaneously set impossible standards for jocks, cheer their inexplicable victories and deny the possibility of cheating to achieve success.
It's a ruthless paradox. Consider Arnold Schwarzenegger, who owes his fame to steroids, yet is appointed to the nation's drug-free fitness program; or venerated stars, such as Carl Lewis, an Olympic medalist; Barry Bonds, an all star baseball slugger; and Floyd Landis, a Tour de France cyclist.
There are plenty of appearances by celebrity athletes. But Bigger, Stronger Faster* succeeds as family drama. The Bells are God-fearing, salt-of-the-earth folks. Christopher, without steroids, becomes New York State's high school weightlifting champion, and he later moves to Venice Beach to work out at the legendary Gold's Gym where Schwarzenegger trained.
But Christopher's brothers, Smelly and Mad Dog, succumb to "the juice" in trying to meet unattainable performance standards. Smelly bench-presses 705 pounds. Mad Dog, a one-time pro wrestler who is now in his 40s, still clings to an elusive dream of wrestling stardom.
August (drama, 88 minutes)
This film portrays the conflicting efforts that two brothers make to keep their start-up dot-com business from falling into the hands of Wall Street investors. It's August 2001, and the freefall of dot-com stocks has the company, Landshark, on the ropes. The descent from fame and fortune heightens the distrust and sibling rivalry between its cocky and immature executive, Tom (Josh Hartnett), and his brainy, responsible brother, Joshua (Adam Scott). David Bowie makes a brief, but powerful appearance. The movie captures that unprecedented time in business history when punk twentysomethings made millions on vague promises of a cyber revolution.
Good Dick (drama, 85 minutes)
Here's an original and quirky film about an eccentric video-store clerk (Jason Ritter) who falls for a socially dysfunctional, solitary woman (Marianna Palka) and challenges her not to love him in return. It's a sweet story, where the woman's unrelenting pessimism and fear of others are met with the clerk's irrepressible optimism. The story tackles sex, not as a titillating topic, but for its healing power. Palka also wrote the script and directed the film.
Frozen River (drama, 97 minutes)
This is a character-driven story about Ray Eddy (Melissa Leo), a store clerk struggling to feed her two sons when her gambling-addicted husband skips out of town before Christmas with the money to pay for their trailer home.
Lila (Misty Upham), a resentful Native American who doesn't "work with whites," introduces Ray to the lucrative human smuggling trade on the Mohawk Indian Reservation, which straddles both sides of the St. Lawrence River border between the U.S. and Canada. There's little trust between the women, but Lila (who has been ostracized by the native community) and Ray can relate to one another in powerful ways as mothers. Melissa Leo, seen in supporting roles in 21 Grams and The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, shines.
Phoebe in Wonderland (drama, 96 minutes)
Nine-year-old Phoebe (Elle Fanning) is an oddball girl who rebels against the authority figures in her life and seeks solace with the unconventional drama teacher (Patricia Clarkson) directing a production of Alice in Wonderland. But Phoebe's behavior becomes increasingly erratic and disruptive at school, which forces her mother (Felicity Huffman) to confront her own insecurities and failings as a parent and as a Lewis Carroll scholar. Bill Pullman co-stars as Phoebe's father.
The script is masterfully interwoven with Lewis' witty existential riddles, which linger and tease the brain. The film is likely to launch the career of Elle Fanning, Dakota's younger sister.
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