Movies - Latest Releases + Books - Life Changing Books

For all you movie lovers like myself, here are new movies to go check out...

Harry Porter - Order of the Phoenix
Date of release: July 11th, 2007
Director: David Yates
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Imelda Staunton, George Harris, Helena Bonham Carter, Natalia Tena, Kathryn Hunter, Evanna Lynch, Gary Oldman, Harry Melling, Richard Griffiths, Fiona Shaw, Sian Thomas, Jason Boyd, Richard Macklin, Charles Hughes, Susie Shinner, Auror Dawlish, Nick Shim, Ralph Fiennes, Apple Brook, James Walters, James Utechin, Alec Hopkins, Jason Piper
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Official site: harrypotterorderofthephoenix.com
PG-13 for sequences of fantasy violence and frightening images

Joshua
Date of release: July 6th, 2007
Director: George Ratliff
Writer: George Ratliff, David Gilbert
Starring: Sam Rockwell, Vera Farmiga, Jacob Kogan, Celia Weston, Dallas Roberts, Michael McKean
Studio: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Official site: foxsearchlight.com
Rating: R for language and some disturbing behavior by a child
Time: 105 minutes

Shortcut To Happiness

Date of release: July 13th, 2007
Director: Alec Baldwin
Writers: Peter Dexter, Bill Condon, Nancy Cassaro
Starrring: Anthony Hopkins, Alec Baldwin, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Dan Aykroyd, Kim Cattrall, Ken Murton, John Savage, Jason Patrick
Studio: Yari Film Group Releasing
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Official site: ShortcutToHappiness.com
PG-13 for language and sexual content
Time: 105 minutes

Lake Dead


Date of release: July 13th, 2007
Director: George Bessudo
Writer: Daniel P. Coughlin
Starring: Alex A. Quinn, Tara Gerard, Dan Woods, Vanessa Viola, Kelsey Wedeen, James C. Burns, Jim Devoti, Edwin Craig, Malea Richardson, Kelsey Crane, Cyrus Alexander, Ryan Coughlin, Christian Stokes, Lydia Hyslop, Pat McNeely, Trevor Torseth, Carmen Thompson
Studio: Alliance Group Entertainment
Genre: Horror

Interview
Date of release: July 13th, 2007
Director: Steve Buscemi
Writers: David Schechter, Steve Buscemi
Starring: Steve Buscemi, Sienna Miller
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics
Genre: Drama
Official site: interviewthefilm.com
Rating: R for language inculding sexual references, and some drug use
Time: 86 minutes

Captivity
Date of release: July 13th, 2007
Director: Roland Joffé
Writers: Larry Cohen, Joseph Tura
Starring: Elisha Cuthbert, Daniel Gillies, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Laz Alonso, Michael Harney
Studio:: After Dark Films
Genre: Thriller
Official site: captivitythemovie.com
Rating: R for strong violence, torture, pervasive terror, grizzly images, language and some sexual material

Introducing The Dwights
Date of release: July 4th, 2007
Director:Cherie Nowlan
Writer: Keith Thompson
Starring: Brenda Blethyn, Emma Booth, Peter Callan, Khan Chittenden, Brendan Clearkin, Russell Dykstra, Rebecca Gibney, Frankie J. Holden, Phillip Quast, Katie Wall, Richard Wilson
Studio: Warner Independent Pictures
Genre: Comedy
Official: introducingthedwights.com
R for sexual content and language
Time: 104 minutes

License To Wed

Date of release: July 3rd, 2007
Director: Ken Kwapis
Writer: Kim Barker, Tim Rasmussen, Vince DiMeglio
Starring: Robin Williams, Mandy Moore, John Krasinski, Eric Christian Olsen, Christine Taylor, JoshFlitter
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Official site: LicenseToWedthemovie.com
PG-13 for sexual humor and language

Transformers

Date of release: July 2nd, 2007
Director: Michael Bay
Writers: Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Jon Voight, Bernie Mac, Tyrese Gibson, Rachael Taylor, Amaury Nolasco, Kevin Dunn, Ronnie Sperling
Studio: DreamWorks Pictures (Paramount)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Official site: webmaster.transformersmovie.com
PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action violence, brief sexual humor, and language


Books - Life changing books.

Here also are books to read...if you're into motivational/inspirational books...

Girlosophy
If you've ever been in a relationship, ended one, had one ended on you or want to end one, then The Breakup Survival Kit is for you. Bestselling girlosopher Anthea Paul puts her positive spin on the traumas of breakup, offering comfort and practical advice to guide you through the relationship wilderness.The Breakup Survival Kit is divided into three sections - Body, Mind and Spirit - to help you figure out how to change your physical, mental and spiritual gears and get your life back on track as soon as possible. In true girlosophy style, meditations, affirmations and an overview of the chakras are included to give you a focused approach to your healing.The 30-day breakup recovery program at the back of the book shows you how to work out a new daily routine for your new life.

Here's the lowdown on how to:
Look after yourself
Deal with your emotion
Clear your head
Rediscover your spiritual path
Find forgiveness
Embrace the future
Love again

Relationship Rescue
After successfully helping hundreds of thousands of people take responsibility for their own actions, Dr. Phil McGraw now turns his expertise to the primary area of concern troubling most people: their relationships. In his tell-it-like-it-is style that already has influenced millions of Oprah viewers, "Dr. Phil" blows the whistle on the rhetoric of traditional "couples therapy" and instead tells you that -- no matter what state your relationship is in -- not only are you responsible for it, you are responsible for getting it back on track. By doing this, he offers readers the chance for further happiness through meaningful, fulfilling relationships that work.

To Have Or To Be
In response to the materialism of our century and our propensity to reification, psychoanalyst Erich Fromm proposes a mode of living that he argues is the way out of our psychospiritual conundrum. Within the pages of this book, one of the last before his demise, the author of the bestseller _ The Art of Loving_ describes the two modes possible--that of having and being. 20th century culture he says has developed into employing and relying on the having mode--of appropriating things and even humans for oneself. Even love has been turned into an object, when in fact no such thing exists. Only the act of loving is possible. In contradistinction to having is being. It is a mode of active participation in life. While the misnomer 'falling in love' is touted by the world as the norm, Fromm argues that true loving is an effortful activity. While accumulating knowledge is the way of having, the being mode of knowing is a process of understanding. Although written nearly three decades ago, Fromm's worldview continues to be the ideal. This work of his is a timeless caveat against the dehumanization of society

To Be Human

To Be Human presents Krishnamurti's radical vision of life in a new way. At the heart of this extraordinary collection are passages from the great teacher's talks that amplify and clarify the nature of truth and those obstacles that often prevent us from seeing it. Most of these core teachings have not been available in print until now. Besides presenting the core of Krishnamurti's message, the book alerts the reader to his innovative use of language, the ways in which he would use "old words with new interpretations," then gives practical examples, showing that we can clarify our understanding of life itself—and act on this new understanding. The splendid introduction by David Skitt discusses Krishnamurti's philosophy as a guide to knowledge and experience, the roles knowledge and experience should play in our lives, and the times when it is best to cast them aside and "look and act anew." The book's source notes will aid the inquisitive reader who wishes a deeper understanding of this great teacher's message.


Choice Theory - A New Psychology of Personal Freedom

Southern California psychiatrist William Glasser, the author of Reality Therapy, believes that almost all human misery is caused by people trying to control others. In fact, he says, the only behavior we can control is our own; by the same token, no one can make us do anything we don't want to. It's only when we give up spending our energy trying to force others to conform to our ideas or to keep them from doing the same to us that we are able to live the way we want to. Glasser makes this somewhat difficult material easier to understand with examples and case studies from his own practice. For instance, he tells a man whose wife has left him that his only choices are to change what he wants her to do or to change the way he is dealing with her. While doing these things will not necessarily bring his wife back, Glasser says, it will certainly make him feel better. "When we actually begin to realize that we can control only our own behavior, we immediately start to redefine our personal freedom and find, in many instances, that we have much more freedom than we realize," Glasser writes.

Please recommend movies and books you've seen/read, that you think we all need to see and read.