David Vaughn

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/dothing.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>It's the hottest day of the year in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. As the thermometer rises, so do tempers in the racially charged atmosphere. Local Italian pizza man Sal (Danny Aiello), proprietor of Sal's Famous, runs the restaurant with his two sons and employs Mookie (Spike Lee) as their delivery boy. When local radical Buggin Out (Giancarlo Esposito) takes umbrage with the restaurant's lack of "brothers" on its "wall of fame," all hell breaks loose when the businessmen are pushed too far and the police must intercede.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/genkill.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>From the creator of <i>The Wire</i> comes an in-depth look at the Iraq War from the perspective of the 1st Recon Marines&#151;and it isn't pretty. <i>Rolling Stone</i> correspondent Evan Wright rode along with the platoon for 40 days in 2003 before writing a series of articles that ran in the magazine, which led to a book, then the mini-series.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/shopaholic.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>When Rebecca Bloomwood (Isla Fisher) loses her job, her maxed-out credit cards begin to cramp her style. Her dream job is to work for <I>Alette</I>, one of New York's elite fashion magazines, but when the position's filled internally, her only job opportunity is with <I>Successful Saving</I>, a struggling financial magazine owned by the same publishing company. With a debt collector (Robert Stanton) hot on her heels, Rebecca becomes the unlikely author of a column on saving money.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/genkill.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>The seven-part series opens with a platoon of Marines on a training mission in Kuwait shortly before the start of the Iraq War doing what Marines do best&#151;kicking ass and taking names&#151;preparing for the most important event of their young lives. This is Bravo Company of the First Recon Marines, led by the bright but nave Lt. Fick (Stark Sands). Like most kids, these guys are a little unsure of themselves and act a lot tougher than they actually are. I had to remind myself that these young men aren't our best and brightest, but they do a job that most of us aren't willing to do. Is some of their dialog reprehensible? Yes. But given their circumstances, I'm willing to cut them some slack.