Entertainment

The Heartbreak Yakuza (DVD)

Shuji is a good-looking lad, one of the up-and-coming assassins for the Daito mob of the yakuza, Japan`s answer to the Mafia. Despite his pretense of toughness, he frequently has overwhelming longings to return to his childhood and the innocent games he played with his best friend`s younger sister. When he is sent to assassinate the members of a rival gang, childhood memories lead him to permit one of the men to live. Rather than being grateful, the survivor of the killings plots his revenge despite the fact that the two gangs are now merging into one operation. Meanwhile, Shuji has run across his childhood sweetheart, and the two of them realize that they share a similar view that their childhood was a special, golden time to be cherished. She is not a member of the gangs, and through her inspiring presence, Shuji attempts to reform himself, though he must kill a lot of people in order to win that chance.

Team Supreme (DVD)

This is a study in how basketball greatness is made. A celebration of sight and sound, this release highlights the many victories of Kentucky basketball season in 2002-2003, when the team boasted a winning streak of 26 games and booted all mighty Florida from the number one spot. Their incredible season reads like a fairy tale, with Kentucky starting off in the dumps, struggling in the first half of the first game against Vanderbilt. As if touched by the gods, they rebounded in a big way, snatching that game away in the second half. At that point, they seemed incapable of losing again. This Kentucky gala video interweaves countless breathtaking battles, interviews with the key players, behind-the-scenes footage and other juicy exclusives that any basketball fan would covet.

Mats Ek - Appartement (DVD)

A ballet especially created for the Opera National de Paris by Mats Ek, APPARTEMENT shows off his exemplary skills as a choreographer. Split into 11 sections ("The Bathroom," "The Television," "The Pedestrian Crossing," "The Kitchen," "Children`s Games," "Waltz (Four Couples)," "March of the Vacuum Cleaners," "Duo of the Embryos," "Grand pas de Due," "Safety Barriers," and "This Division"), performers such as Clairemarie Osta, Marie-Agnes Gillot, and Kader Belarbi subtly interpret Ek`s work. An interview with Ek rounds out the package, allowing the talented choreographer to muse on the multifaceted nature of his work.

Team Supreme (DVD)

This is a study in how basketball greatness is made. A celebration of sight and sound, this release highlights the many victories of Kentucky basketball season in 2002-2003, when the team boasted a winning streak of 26 games and booted all mighty Florida from the number one spot. Their incredible season reads like a fairy tale, with Kentucky starting off in the dumps, struggling in the first half of the first game against Vanderbilt. As if touched by the gods, they rebounded in a big way, snatching that game away in the second half. At that point, they seemed incapable of losing again. This Kentucky gala video interweaves countless breathtaking battles, interviews with the key players, behind-the-scenes footage and other juicy exclusives that any basketball fan would covet.

The Heartbreak Yakuza (DVD)

Shuji is a good-looking lad, one of the up-and-coming assassins for the Daito mob of the yakuza, Japan`s answer to the Mafia. Despite his pretense of toughness, he frequently has overwhelming longings to return to his childhood and the innocent games he played with his best friend`s younger sister. When he is sent to assassinate the members of a rival gang, childhood memories lead him to permit one of the men to live. Rather than being grateful, the survivor of the killings plots his revenge despite the fact that the two gangs are now merging into one operation. Meanwhile, Shuji has run across his childhood sweetheart, and the two of them realize that they share a similar view that their childhood was a special, golden time to be cherished. She is not a member of the gangs, and through her inspiring presence, Shuji attempts to reform himself, though he must kill a lot of people in order to win that chance.

Mats Ek - Appartement (DVD)

A ballet especially created for the Opera National de Paris by Mats Ek, APPARTEMENT shows off his exemplary skills as a choreographer. Split into 11 sections ("The Bathroom," "The Television," "The Pedestrian Crossing," "The Kitchen," "Children`s Games," "Waltz (Four Couples)," "March of the Vacuum Cleaners," "Duo of the Embryos," "Grand pas de Due," "Safety Barriers," and "This Division"), performers such as Clairemarie Osta, Marie-Agnes Gillot, and Kader Belarbi subtly interpret Ek`s work. An interview with Ek rounds out the package, allowing the talented choreographer to muse on the multifaceted nature of his work.

Drug Games (Hardcover)

On August 26, 1960, twenty-three-year-old Danish cyclist Knud Jensen, competing in that year`s Rome Olympic Games, suddenly fell from his bike and fractured his skull. His death hours later led to rumors that performance-enhancing drugs were in his system. Though certainly not the first instance of doping in the Olympic Games, Jensen`s death serves as the starting point for Thomas M. Hunt`s thoroughly researched, chronological history of the modern relationship of doping to the Olympics. Utilizing concepts derived from international relations theory, diplomatic history, and administrative law, this work connects the issue to global political relations.

During the Cold War, national governments had little reason to support effective anti-doping controls in the Olympics. Both the United States and the Soviet Union conceptualized power in sport as a means of impressing both friends and rivals abroad. The resulting medals race motivated nations on both sides of the Iron Curtain to allow drug regulatory powers to remain with private sport authorities. Given the costs involved in testing and the repercussions of drug scandals, these authorities tried to avoid the issue whenever possible. But toward the end of the Cold War, governments became more involved in the issue of testing. Having historically been a combined scientific, ethical, and political dilemma, obstacles to the elimination of doping in the Olympics are becoming less restrained by political inertia.

Drug Games (Hardcover)

On August 26, 1960, twenty-three-year-old Danish cyclist Knud Jensen, competing in that year`s Rome Olympic Games, suddenly fell from his bike and fractured his skull. His death hours later led to rumors that performance-enhancing drugs were in his system. Though certainly not the first instance of doping in the Olympic Games, Jensen`s death serves as the starting point for Thomas M. Hunt`s thoroughly researched, chronological history of the modern relationship of doping to the Olympics. Utilizing concepts derived from international relations theory, diplomatic history, and administrative law, this work connects the issue to global political relations.

During the Cold War, national governments had little reason to support effective anti-doping controls in the Olympics. Both the United States and the Soviet Union conceptualized power in sport as a means of impressing both friends and rivals abroad. The resulting medals race motivated nations on both sides of the Iron Curtain to allow drug regulatory powers to remain with private sport authorities. Given the costs involved in testing and the repercussions of drug scandals, these authorities tried to avoid the issue whenever possible. But toward the end of the Cold War, governments became more involved in the issue of testing. Having historically been a combined scientific, ethical, and political dilemma, obstacles to the elimination of doping in the Olympics are becoming less restrained by political inertia.

Drug Games (Hardcover)

On August 26, 1960, twenty-three-year-old Danish cyclist Knud Jensen, competing in that year`s Rome Olympic Games, suddenly fell from his bike and fractured his skull. His death hours later led to rumors that performance-enhancing drugs were in his system. Though certainly not the first instance of doping in the Olympic Games, Jensen`s death serves as the starting point for Thomas M. Hunt`s thoroughly researched, chronological history of the modern relationship of doping to the Olympics. Utilizing concepts derived from international relations theory, diplomatic history, and administrative law, this work connects the issue to global political relations.

During the Cold War, national governments had little reason to support effective anti-doping controls in the Olympics. Both the United States and the Soviet Union conceptualized power in sport as a means of impressing both friends and rivals abroad. The resulting medals race motivated nations on both sides of the Iron Curtain to allow drug regulatory powers to remain with private sport authorities. Given the costs involved in testing and the repercussions of drug scandals, these authorities tried to avoid the issue whenever possible. But toward the end of the Cold War, governments became more involved in the issue of testing. Having historically been a combined scientific, ethical, and political dilemma, obstacles to the elimination of doping in the Olympics are becoming less restrained by political inertia.

Drug Games (Hardcover)

On August 26, 1960, twenty-three-year-old Danish cyclist Knud Jensen, competing in that year`s Rome Olympic Games, suddenly fell from his bike and fractured his skull. His death hours later led to rumors that performance-enhancing drugs were in his system. Though certainly not the first instance of doping in the Olympic Games, Jensen`s death serves as the starting point for Thomas M. Hunt`s thoroughly researched, chronological history of the modern relationship of doping to the Olympics. Utilizing concepts derived from international relations theory, diplomatic history, and administrative law, this work connects the issue to global political relations.

During the Cold War, national governments had little reason to support effective anti-doping controls in the Olympics. Both the United States and the Soviet Union conceptualized power in sport as a means of impressing both friends and rivals abroad. The resulting medals race motivated nations on both sides of the Iron Curtain to allow drug regulatory powers to remain with private sport authorities. Given the costs involved in testing and the repercussions of drug scandals, these authorities tried to avoid the issue whenever possible. But toward the end of the Cold War, governments became more involved in the issue of testing. Having historically been a combined scientific, ethical, and political dilemma, obstacles to the elimination of doping in the Olympics are becoming less restrained by political inertia.