All kinds of Fayes Video

New Releases for January 24th!

2012-01-23T20:51:00.000-08:00

Hilarious buddy cancer film -- UN ethical dilemma film -- robot father-son boxing film -- Gus Van Sant teenage love and morbidity film

NEW RELEASES JANUARY 17th

2012-01-16T23:00:00.000-08:00

Dirty Girl: Juno Temple, Milla Jovovich: kids play in mud, not really

Toast: world wost acceptance speeches, wedding toasts and wakes: just kidding, story of a boy's hunger

Bucky Larson: Born to be a Star: I knew a Matt Larsen in high school, this movie is not about him

Ides of March: Jesus, Ryan, give it a break, you don't have to be in all the films. go relax and learn a new hobbie, like baking humble pie or something.

Courageous: Cops that are dads too. no way. get out.

RENTED MOVIES AT FAYES!

2012-01-13T12:05:00.000-08:00

(AS OF 1/1/2012)

CITY OF GOD
THE WIRE (SEASON 1)

ME AND YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW

THE OFFICE (UK)(SEASON 1)

THE BIG LEBOWSKI

SIX FEET UNDER (SEASON 1)

ETERNAL SUNSHINE…

THE SQUID & THE WHALE

SECRETARY

LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

THE 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN

DONNIE DARKO

THE BOURNE IDENTITY

LOST IN TRANSLATION

RUSHMORE

THE LIFE AQUATIC

STRANGER THAN FICTION (2006)

VOLVER

AMELIE

CAPOTE

NAPOLEON DYNAMITE

SPIRITED AWAY

MAGNOLIA

KILL BILL VOL. 1

Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN

DIVING BELE & THE BUTTERFLY

THERE WILL BE BLOOD

BEST IN SHOW

O, BROTHER WHERE ART THOU

I HEART HUCKABEES

THE VIRGIN SUICIDES

THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES

ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER

ANNIE HALL

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

JUNEBUG

ZOOLANDER

THE BOURNE SUPREMACY

BABEL

SIDEWAYS

WALK THE LINE

CLOSER

FREAKS AND GEEKS

GARDEN STATE

CASINO ROYALE (2006)

THE DEPARTED

MATCH POINT

THE LIVES OF OTHERS

AMORES PERROS

CHILDREN OF MEN VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA

WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER

HALF NELSON

THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS

BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE

LET THE RIGHT ONE IN

THE DARJEELING LIMITED

PAN'S LABYRINTH

GRIZZLY MAN

THANK YOU FOR SMOKING

WEEDS (SEASON 1)

FIGHT CLUB

THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA

PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE

HIGH FIDELITY

LORD OF THE RINGS 1

THE CONSTANT GARDNER

KILL BILL VOL. 2

HAROLD & KUMAR GO TO W.C.

KNOCKED UP

THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP

ADAPTATION

BOTTLE ROCKET

FRIDA

SEX AND LUCIA

THE WIRE (SEASON 2)

BAD EDUCATION

HUSTLE & FLOW

MAD MEN SEASON 1

MARGOT AT THE WEDDING

GHOST WORLD

CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM SEASON 1

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN

TRANSAMERICA

BORAT

HOTEL RWANDA

V FOR VENDETTA

JUNO

SPELLBOUND (2003)

LITTLE CHILDREN

LOVE ACTUALLY

RATATOUILLE

LARS AND THE REAL GIRL

MULHOLLAND DR.

THE SOPRANOS (SEASON 1)

SHAUN OF THE DEAD

SIX FEET UNDER (SEASON 2)

SNATCH

SHORTBUS

New Releases for Jan. 10, 2012

2012-01-09T19:23:00.000-08:00

There Be Dragons

Arising out of the horror of the Spanish Civil War, a candidate for canonization is investigated by a journalist who discovers his own estranged father had a deep, dark and devastating connection to the saint's life. Stars Dougray Scott, Charles Cox, and Wes Bentley.

Killer Elite

When his mentor is taken captive, a retired member of Britain's Elite Special Air Service is forced into action. His mission: kill three assassins dispatched by their cunning leader.

What's Your Number?

A woman looks back at the past twenty men she's had relationships with in her life and wonders if one of them might be her one true love. Anna Faris and Captain America Chris Evans star.

Moneyball

The story of Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane's successful attempt to put together a baseball club on a budget by employing computer-generated analysis to draft his players. Written by Aaron Sorkin and starring Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, and Robin Wright.

Boardwalk Empire: Season 1

HBO series based upon Nelson Johnson's book about Prohibition Era Atlantic City. Created by Terence Winter and produced by him, Mark Walhberg, and Martin Scorcese. Amazing performances by Steve Buscemi, Kelly Macdonald, Michael Pitt, and Michael Shannon.

It's a fact

2012-01-08T20:36:00.000-08:00

It's a fact:
8 out of 10 Alligators love a Fayes double latte.

New Year, New Releases

2012-01-02T19:19:00.001-08:00

Ring in 2012 with some new movies!

These ones are available tomorrow, January 3rd.

Mildred Pierce (2011) - Five-part HBO mini-series starring Kate Winslet and Evan Rachel Wood and based on the 1941 novel.

The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret - David Cross, Will Arnett and Spike Jonze star in this British-American IFC series

Contagion - Steven Soderbergh's latest star-studded thriller

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark - Horror film written by Guillermo del Toro and starring Katie Holmes and Guy Pearce

Shark Night 3D - It's a salt water lake! You in the bikini, look out!!

The Guard - an unorthodox Irish policeman with a confrontational personality is teamed up with an uptight FBI agent (Don Cheadle) to investigate an international drug-smuggling ring

Kate Winslet and Guy Pearce in Mildred Pierce

NEW RELEASES For DEC 27th!

2011-12-26T19:01:00.000-08:00

ARCHER (Cartoon Network show with Jon Benjamin)
A GOOD OLD FASHIONED ORGY (all star cast/comedy/orgy)
PETE SMALLS IS DEAD (Tim Roth/Peter Dinklage star. Comedy)

New Movies for December 19!!

2011-12-19T21:41:00.000-08:00

Dolphin Tale (fam) - based on a true story!

Straw Dogs (adrenaline) - re-make of the 1971 Sam Peckinpah film

Midnight in Paris (comedy) - Woody Allen magical realism

Margin Call (drama) - dramatized look at the current financial crisis

Warrior (adrenaline) - Tom Hardy's pecs star in this mixed martial arts action flick

Colombiana (adrenaline) - stone cold assassin Zoe Saldana takes her revenge...

Morgan Freeman in Dolphin Tale

muppet conspiracy

2011-12-18T21:54:00.000-08:00

OH FOX, YOU SO FUNNY.

Hanukkah

2011-12-14T23:19:00.000-08:00

Hanukkah (Hebrew: חֲנֻכָּה‎, Tiberian: Ḥănukkāh, usually spelled חנוכה pronounced [χanuˈka] in Modern Hebrew, also romanized as Chanukah, Chanukkah, or Chanuka), also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple (the Second Temple) in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE. Hanukkah is observed for eight nights and days, starting on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar, which may occur at any time from late November to late December in the Gregorian calendar.
The festival is observed by the kindling of the lights of a unique candelabrum, the nine-branched Menorah or Hanukiah, one additional light on each night of the holiday, progressing to eight on the final night. The typical Menorah consists of eight branches with an additional raised branch. The extra light is called a shamash (Hebrew: שמש, "attendant" or "sexton")^[1] and is given a distinct location, usually above or below the rest. The purpose of the shamash is to have a light available for use, as using the Hanukkah lights themselves is forbidden.^[2]

Etymology

Child lighting Hanukkah candles

The name "Hanukkah" derives from the Hebrew verb "חנך", meaning "to dedicate". On Hanukkah, the Jews regained control of Jerusalem and rededicated the Temple.^[3]
Many homiletical explanations have been given for the name:^[4]

The name can be broken down into חנו כ"ה, "they rested on the twenty-fifth", referring to the fact that the Jews ceased fighting on the 25th day of Kislev, the day on which the holiday begins.^[5]
חנוכה (Hanukkah) is also the Hebrew acronym for ח נרות והלכה כבית הלל — "Eight candles, and the halakha is like the House of Hillel". This is a reference to the disagreement between two rabbinical schools of thought — the House of Hillel and the House of Shammai — on the proper order in which to light the Hanukkah flames. Shammai opined that eight candles should be lit on the first night, seven on the second night, and so on down to one on the last night. Hillel argued in favor of starting with one candle and lighting an additional one every night, up to eight on the eighth night. Jewish law adopted the position of Hillel.

Historical sources

Mishna and Talmud

Narrative of Josephus

Various menorot used for Hanukkah. 12th through 19th century, CE

The ancient Jewish Historian Flavius Josephus narrates in his book Jewish Antiquities XII, how the victorious Judas Maccabeus ordered lavish yearly eight-day festivities after rededicating the Temple in Jerusalem that had been profaned by Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Josephus does not say the festival was called Hannukkah but rather the "Festival of Lights":
"Now Judas celebrated the festival of the restoration of the sacrifices of the temple for eight days, and omitted no sort of pleasures thereon; but he feasted them upon very rich and splendid sacrifices; and he honored God, and delighted them by hymns and psalms. Nay, they were so very glad at the revival of their customs, when, after a long time of intermission, they unexpectedly had regained the freedom of their worship, that they made it a law for their posterity, that they should keep a festival, on account of the restoration of their temple worship, for eight days. And from that time to this we celebrate this festival, and call it Lights. I suppose the reason was, because this liberty beyond our hopes appeared to us; and that thence was the name given to that festival. Judas also rebuilt the walls round about the city, and reared towers of great height against the incursions of enemies, and set guards therein. He also fortified the city Bethsura, that it might serve as a citadel against any distresses that might come from our enemies."^[8]

Other ancient sources

The story of Hanukkah is alluded to in the book of 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees. The eight day rededication of the temple is described in 1 Maccabees 4:36 et seq, though the name of the festival and the miracle of the lights do not appear here. A story similar in character, and obviously older in date, is the one alluded to in 2 Maccabees 1:18 et seq according to which the relighting of the altar fire by Nehemiah was due to a miracle which occurred on the 25th of Kislev, and which appears to be given as the reason for the selection of the same date for the rededication of the altar by Judah Maccabee.
Another source is the Megillat Antiochus. This work (also known as "Megillat HaHasmonaim", "Megillat Hanukkah" or "Megillat Yevanit") is in both Aramaic and Hebrew; the Hebrew version is a literal translation from the Aramaic original. Recent scholarship dates it to somewhere between the 2nd and 5th Centuries, probably in the 2nd century,^[9] with the Hebrew dating to the 7th century.^[10] It was published for the first time in Mantua in 1557. Saadia Gaon, who translated it into Arabic in the 9th century, ascribed it to the Maccabees themselves, disputed by some, since it gives dates as so many years before the destruction of the second temple in 70 CE.^[11] The Hebrew text with an English translation can be found in the Siddur of Philip Birnbaum.
The Christian Bible refers to Jesus being at the Jerusalem Temple during "the feast of the dedication and it was winter" in John 10:22-23.

Story of Hanukkah

Background

Judea was part of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt until 200 BCE when King Antiochus III the Great of Syria defeated King Ptolemy V Epiphanes of Egypt at the Battle of Panium. Judea became at that moment part of the Seleucid Empire of Syria. King Antiochus III the Great wanting to conciliate his new Jewish subjects guaranteed their right to "live according to their ancestral customs" and to continue to practice their religion in the Temple of Jerusalem. However in 175 BCE, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the son of Antiochus III invaded Judea, ostensibly at the request of the sons of Tobias.^[12] The Tobiads, who led the Hellenizing Jewish faction in Jerusalem, were expelled to Syria around 170 BCE when the high priest Onias and his pro-Egyptian faction wrested control from them. The exiled Tobiads lobbied Antiochus IV Epiphanes to recapture Jerusalem. As the ancient Jewish historian Flavius Josephus tells us "The king being thereto disposed beforehand, complied with them, and came upon the Jews with a great army, and took their city by force, and slew a great multitude of those that favored Ptolemy, and sent out his soldiers to plunder them without mercy. He also spoiled the temple, and put a stop to the constant practice of offering a daily sacrifice of expiation for three years and six months."^[13]

Traditional view

When the Second Temple in Jerusalem was looted and services stopped, Judaism was outlawed. In 167 BCE Antiochus ordered an altar to Zeus erected in the Temple. He banned circumcision and ordered pigs to be sacrificed at the altar of the temple.^[14]Antiochus's actions provoked a large-scale revolt. Mattityahu, a Jewish priest, and his five sons Jochanan, Simeon, Eleazar, Jonathan, and Judah led a rebellion against Antiochus. Judah became known as Yehuda HaMakabi ("Judah the Hammer"). By 166 BCE Mattathias had died, and Judah took his place as leader. By 165 BCE the Jewish revolt against the Seleucid monarchy was successful. The Temple was liberated and rededicated. The festival of Hanukkah was instituted to celebrate this event.^[15] Judah ordered the Temple to be cleansed, a new altar to be built in place of the polluted one and new holy vessels to be made. According to the Talmud, olive oil was needed for the menorah in the Temple, which was required to burn throughout the night every night. The story goes that there was only enough oil to burn for one day, yet it burned for eight days, the time needed to prepare a fresh supply of oil for the menorah. An eight day festival was declared by the Jewish sages to commemorate this miracle.
The version of the story in 1 Maccabees states that an eight day celebration of songs and sacrifices was proclaimed upon re-dedication of the altar, and makes no mention of the miracle of the oil.^[16] A number of historians believe that the reason for the eight day celebration was that the first Hanukkah was a belated celebration of Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret.^[17] During the war the Jews were not able to celebrate the these festivals, when lamps were lit in the Temple (Suk.v. 2–4).

Modern scholarship

US Navy personnel light candles on Hanukkah

Some modern scholars argue that the king was intervening in an internal civil war between the traditionalist Jews and the Hellenized Jews in Jerusalem.^[18]^[19]^[20]^[21]
These competed violently over who would be the High Priest, with traditionalists with Hebrew/Aramaic names like Onias contesting with Hellenizing High Priests with Greek names like Jason and Menelaus.^[22] In particular Jason's Hellenistic reforms would prove to be a decisive factor leading to eventual conflict within the ranks of Judaism.^[23] Other authors point to possible socioeconomic reasons in addition to the religious reasons behind the civil war.^[24]
What began in many respects as a civil war escalated when the Hellenistic kingdom of Syria sided with the Hellenizing Jews in their conflict with the traditionalists. ^[25] As the conflict escalated, Antiochus took the side of the Hellenizers by prohibiting the religious practices the traditionalists had rallied around. This may explain why the king, in a total departure from Seleucid practice in all other places and times, banned a traditional religion.^[26]

Hanukkah rituals

Public Hanukkah menorah in Donetsk, Ukraine

Hanukkah is celebrated by a series of rituals that are performed every day throughout the 8-day holiday, some are family-based and others communal. There are special additions to the daily prayer service, and a section is added to the blessing after meals. Hanukkah is not a "Sabbath-like" holiday, and there is no obligation to refrain from activities that are forbidden on the Sabbath, as specified in the Shulkhan Arukh.^[27] Adherents go to work as usual, but may leave early in order to be home to kindle the lights at nightfall. There is no religious reason for schools to be closed, although, in Israel, schools close from the second day for the whole week of Hanukkah. Many families exchange gifts each night, and fried foods are eaten.

Kindling the Hanukkah lights

Latkes, a traditional Hanukkah food

The single light each night for eight nights. As a universally practiced "beautification" of the mitzvah, the number of lights lit is increased by one each night.^[28] An extra light called a shamash, meaning "attendant" or "sexton,"^[1] is also lit each night, and is given a distinct location, usually higher, lower, or to the side of the others. The purpose of the extra light is to adhere to the prohibition, specified in the Talmud (Tracate Shabbat 21b–23a), against using the Hanukkah lights for anything other than publicizing and meditating on the Hanukkah story. This differs from Sabbath candles which are meant to be used for illumination. Hence, if one were to need extra illumination on Hanukkah, the shamash candle would be available and one would avoid using the prohibited lights. Some light the shamash candle first and then use it to light the others.^[29] So all together, including the shamash, two lights are lit on the first night, three on the second and so on, ending with nine on the last night, for a total of 44 (36, excluding the shamash).
The lights can be candles or oil lamps.^[29] Electric lights are sometimes used and are acceptable in places where open flame is not permitted, such as a hospital room. Most Jewish homes have a special candelabrum or oil lamp holder for Hanukkah, which holds eight lights plus the additional shamash light.
The reason for the Hanukkah lights is not for the "lighting of the house within", but rather for the "illumination of the house without," so that passersby should see it and be reminded of the holiday's miracle. Accordingly, lamps are set up at a prominent window or near the door leading to the street. It is customary amongst some Ashkenazim to have a separate menorah for each family member (customs vary), whereas most Sephardim light one for the whole household. Only when there was danger of antisemitic persecution were lamps supposed to be hidden from public view, as was the case in Persia under the rule of the Zoroastrians, or in parts of Europe before and during World War II. However, most Hasidic groups light lamps near an inside doorway, not necessarily in public view. According to this tradition, the lamps are placed on the opposite side from the mezuzah, so that when one passes through the door he is surrounded by the holiness of mitzvoth.
Generally women are exempt in Jewish law from time-bound positive commandments, however the Talmud requires that women engage in the mitzvah of lighting Hanukkah candles “for they too were involved in the miracle.”^[30]

Candlelighting time

Hanukkah lights should burn for at least one half hour after it gets dark. The custom of the Vilna Gaon observed by many residents of Jerusalem as the custom of the city, is to light at sundown, although most Hassidim light later, even in Jerusalem. Many Hasidic Rebbes light much later, because they fulfill the obligation of publicizing the miracle by the presence of their Hasidim when they kindle the lights. Inexpensive small wax candles sold for Hanukkah burn for approximately half an hour, so on most days this requirement can be met by lighting the candles when it is dark outside. Friday night presents a problem, however. Since candles may not be lit on the Shabbat itself, the candles must be lit before sunset. However, they must remain lit until the regular time—thirty minutes after nightfall—and inexpensive Hanukkah candles do not burn long enough to meet the requirement. A simple solution is to use longer candles, or the traditional oil lamps. In keeping with the above-stated prohibition, the Hanukkah menorah is lit first, followed by the Shabbat candles which signify its onset.

Blessings over the candles

Typically three blessings (Brachot singular Brachah) are recited during this eight-day festival. On the first night of Hanukkah, Jews recite all three blessings; on all subsequent nights, they recite only the first two.^[31] The blessings are said before or after the candles are lit depending on tradition. On the first night of Hanukkah one light (candle, lamp, or electric) is lit on the right side of the Menorah, on the following night a second light is placed to the left of the first candle and so on, proceeding from right to left over the eight nights. On each night, the leftmost candle is lit first, and lighting proceeds from left to right.
For the full text of the blessings, see List of Jewish prayers and blessings: Hanukkah.

Hanerot Halalu

During or after the lights are kindled the hymn Hanerot Halalu is recited. There are several differing versions; the version presented here is recited in many Ashkenazic communities:^[32]

Ashkenazi version:
Transliteration	English
Hanneirot hallalu anachnu madlikin 'al hannissim ve'al hanniflaot 'al hatteshu'ot ve'al hammilchamot she'asita laavoteinu bayyamim haheim, (u)bazzeman hazeh 'al yedei kohanekha hakkedoshim. Vekhol-shemonat yemei Hanukkah hanneirot hallalu kodesh heim, ve-ein lanu reshut lehishtammesh baheim ella lir'otam bilvad kedei lehodot ul'halleil leshimcha haggadol 'al nissekha ve'al nifleotekha ve'al yeshu'otekha.	We light these lights for the miracles and the wonders, for the redemption and the battles that you made for our forefathers, in those days at this season, through your holy priests. During all eight days of Hanukkah these lights are sacred, and we are not permitted to make ordinary use of them except for to look at them in order to express thanks and praise to Your great Name for Your miracles, Your wonders and Your salvations.

Maoz Tzur

Each night after the lighting of the candles, the hymn Ma'oz Tzur is sung. The song contains six stanzas. The first and last deal with general themes of divine salvation, and the middle four deal with events of persecution in Jewish history, and praises God for survival despite these tragedies (the exodus from Egypt, the Babylonian captivity, the miracle of the holiday of Purim, and the Hasmonean victory).

Other customs

Dreidels / Spinning tops in a Jerusalem market

After lighting the candles and Ma'oz Tzur, singing other Hanukkah songs is customary in many Jewish homes. Some Hasidic and Sephardi Jews recite Psalms, such as Psalms 30, 67, and 91. In North America and in Israel it is common to exchange presents or give children presents at this time. In addition, many families encourage their children to give tzedakah in lieu of presents for themselves.

Special additions to daily prayers

"We thank You also for the miraculous deeds and for the redemption and for the mighty deeds and the saving acts wrought by You, as well as for the wars which You waged for our ancestors in ancient days at this season. In the days of the Hasmonean Mattathias, son of Johanan the high priest, and his sons, when the iniquitous Greco-Syrian kingdom rose up against Your people Israel, to make them forget Your Torah and to turn them away from the ordinances of Your will, then You in your abundant mercy rose up for them in the time of their trouble, pled their cause, executed judgment, avenged their wrong, and delivered the strong into the hands of the weak, the many into the hands of few, the impure into the hands of the pure, the wicked into the hands of the righteous, and insolent ones into the hands of those occupied with Your Torah. Both unto Yourself did you make a great and holy name in Thy world, and unto Your people did You achieve a great deliverance and redemption. Whereupon your children entered the sanctuary of Your house, cleansed Your temple, purified Your sanctuary, kindled lights in Your holy courts, and appointed these eight days of Hanukkah in order to give thanks and praises unto Your holy name."

Translation of Al ha-Nissim

An addition is made to the "hoda'ah" (thanksgiving) benediction in the Amidah, called Al ha-Nissim ("On/about the Miracles").^[33] This addition refers to the victory achieved over the Syrians by the Hasmonean Mattathias and his sons.
The same prayer is added to the grace after meals. In addition, the Hallel Psalms are sung during each morning service and the Tachanun penitential prayers are omitted. The Torah is read every day in the synagogue, the first day beginning from Numbers 6:22 (according to some customs, Numbers 7:1), and the last day ending with Numbers 8:4. Since Hanukkah lasts eight days it includes at least one, and sometimes two, Jewish Sabbaths (Saturdays). The weekly Torah portion for the first Sabbath is almost always Miketz, telling of Joseph's dream and his enslavement in Egypt. The Haftarah reading for the first Sabbath Hanukkah is Zechariah 2:14–4:7. When there is a second Sabbath on Hanukkah, the Haftarah reading is from I Kings 7:40–50. The Hanukkah menorah is also kindled daily in the synagogue, at night with the blessings and in the morning without the blessings. The menorah is not lit on the Sabbath, but rather prior to the beginning of the Sabbath at night and not at all during the day. During the Middle Ages "Megillat Antiochus" was read in the Italian synagogues on Hanukkah just as the Book of Esther is read on Purim. It still forms part of the liturgy of the Yemenite Jews.^[10]

Zot Hanukkah

The last day of Hanukkah is known as Zot Hanukkah, from the verse read on this day in the synagogue (Numbers 7:84, Zot Chanukat Hamizbe'ach, "This was the dedication of the altar"). According to the teachings of Kabbalah and Hasidism, this day is the final "seal" of the High Holiday season of Yom Kippur, and is considered a time to repent out of love for God. In this spirit, many Hasidic Jews wish each other Gmar chatimah tovah ("may you be sealed totally for good"), a traditional greeting for the Yom Kippur season. It is taught in Hasidic and Kabbalistic literature that this day is particularly auspicious for the fulfillment of prayers.

Symbolic importance

US President Jimmy Carter attends Menorah Lighting, Lafayette Park, Washington, D.C., 1979

The classical rabbis downplayed the military and nationalistic dimensions of Hanukkah, and some even interpreted the emphasis upon the story of the miracle oil as a diversion away from the struggle with empires that had led to the disastrous downfall of Jerusalem to the Romans. With the advent of Zionism and the state of Israel, these themes were reconsidered. In modern Israel, the national and military aspects of Hanukkah became, once again, more dominant.
In North America especially, Hanukkah gained increased importance with many Jewish families in the latter half of the 20th century, including large numbers of secular Jews, who wanted a Jewish alternative to the Christmas celebrations that often overlap with Hanukkah. Though it was traditional among Ashkenazi Jews to give "gelt" or money coins to children during Hanukkah, in many families this has changed into gifts in order to prevent Jewish children from feeling left out of the Christmas gift giving.
While Hanukkah is a relatively minor Jewish holiday, as indicated by the lack of religious restrictions on work other than a few minutes after lighting the candles, in North America, Hanukkah has taken a place equal to Passover as a symbol of Jewish identity. Both the Israeli and North American versions of Hanukkah emphasize resistance, focusing on some combination of national liberation and religious freedom as the defining meaning of the holiday.

Hanukkah music

Main article: Hanukkah music

A large number of songs have been written on Hanukkah themes, perhaps more so than for any other Jewish holiday. Some of the best known are "Hanukkiah Li Yesh" ("I Have a Hanukkah Menora"), "Ocho Kandelikas" ("Eight Little Candles"), "Kad Katan" ("A Small Jug"), "S'vivon Sov Sov Sov" ("Dreidel, Spin and Spin"), Haneirot Halolu" ("These Candles which we light"), "Mi Yimalel" (Who can Retell") and "Ner Li, Ner Li" ("I have a Candle"). The most well known in English-speaking countries include "Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel" and "Chanukah, Oh Chanukah".

Hanukkah foods

Sufganiyot / doughnuts at a Jerusalem bakery

There is a custom of eating foods fried or baked in oil (preferably olive oil) to commemorate the miracle of a small flask of oil keeping the flame in the Temple alight for eight days. Traditional foods include potato pancakes, known as latkes in Yiddish, especially among Ashkenazi families. Sephardi, Polish and Israeli families eat jam-filled doughnuts (Yiddish: פאנטשקעס pontshkes), bimuelos (fritters) and sufganiyot which are deep-fried in oil. Bakeries in Israel have popularized many new types of fillings for sufganiyot besides the traditional strawberry jelly filling, including chocolate cream, vanilla cream, caramel, cappucino and others.^[34] In recent years, downsized, "mini" sufganiyot containing half the calories of the regular, 400-to-600-calorie version have become popular.^[35]There is also a tradition of eating cheese products on Hanukkah recorded in rabbinic literature. This custom is seen as a commemoration of the involvement of Judith and women in the events of Hanukkah.

Dreidel

Dreidel with the gimel side up

The dreidel, or sevivon in Hebrew, is a four-sided spinning top that children play with on Hanukkah. Each side is imprinted with a Hebrew letter. These letters are an acronym for the Hebrew words נס גדול היה שם (Nes Gadol Haya Sham, "A great miracle happened there"), referring to the miracle of the oil that took place in the Beit Hamikdash.

נ (Nun)
ג (Gimel)
ה (Hey)
ש (Shin)

On dreidels sold in Israel, the fourth side is inscribed with the letter פ (Pe), rendering the acronym נס גדול היה פה (Nes Gadol Haya Po, "A great miracle happened here"), referring to the fact that the miracle occurred in the land of Israel. Stores in Haredi neighbourhoods sell the traditional Shin dreidels as well.
Some Jewish commentators ascribe symbolic significance to the markings on the dreidel. One commentary, for example, connects the four letters with the four exiles to which the nation of Israel was historically subject: Babylonia, Persia, Greece, and Rome.^[36]
After lighting the Hanukkah menorah, it is customary in many homes to play the dreidel game: Each player starts out with 10 or 15 coins (real or of chocolate), nuts, raisins, candies or other markers, and places one marker in the "pot." The first player spins the dreidel, and depending on which side the dreidel falls on, either wins a marker from the pot or gives up part of his stash. The code (based on a Yiddish version of the game) is as follows:

Nun–nisht, "nothing"–nothing happens and the next player spins
Gimel–gants, "all"–the player takes the entire pot
Hey–halb, "half"–the player takes half of the pot, rounding up if there is an odd number
Shin–shtel ayn, "put in"–the player puts one marker in the pot

Another version differs:

Nun–nim, "take"–the player takes one from the pot
Gimel–gib, "give"–the player puts one in the pot
Hey–halb, "half"–the player takes half of the pot, rounding up if there is an odd number
Shin–shtil, "still" (as in "stillness")–nothing happens and the next player spins

The game may last until one person has won everything.
The dreidel is believed to commemorate a game devised by the Jews to camouflage the fact that they were studying Torah, which was outlawed by Greeks. The Jews would gather in caves to study, posting a lookout to alert the group to the presence of Greek soldiers. If soldiers were spotted, the Jews would hide their scrolls and spin tops, so the Greeks thought they were gambling, not learning.^{[citation needed]}

Hanukkah gelt

Chocolate gelt

Hanukkah gelt (Yiddish for "money") is often distributed to children to enhance their enjoyment of the holiday. The amount is usually in small coins, although grandparents or other relatives may give larger sums as an official Hanukkah gift. In Israel, Hanukkah gelt is known as dmei Hanukkah. Many Hasidic Rebbes distribute coins to those who visit them during Hanukkah. Hasidic Jews consider this to be an auspicious blessing from the Rebbe, and a segulah for success. Rabbi Abraham P. Bloch has written, “The tradition of giving money (Chanukah gelt) to children is of long standing. The custom had its origin in the seventeenth-century practice of Polish Jewry to give money to their small children for distribution to their teachers. In time, as children demanded their due, money was also given to children to keep for themselves. Teen-age boys soon came in for their share. According to Magen Avraham (18th cent.), it was the custom for poor yeshiva students to visit homes of Jewish benefactors who dispensed Chanukah money (Orach Chaim 670). The rabbis approved of the custom of giving money on Chanukah because it publicized the story of the miracle of the oil.”^[37] 20th century American chocolatiers picked up on the gift/coin concept by creating chocolate gelt.

Judith and Holofernes

The eating of dairy foods, especially cheese, on Hanukkah is a minor custom that has its roots in the story of Judith. The deuterocanonical book of Judith (Yehudit or Yehudis in Hebrew), which is not part of the Tanach, records that, Holofernes, an Assyrian general, had surrounded the village of Bethulia as part of his campaign to conquer Judea. After intense fighting, the water supply of the Jews is cut off and the situation became desperate. Judith, a pious widow, told the city leaders that she had a plan to save the city. Judith went to the Assyrian camps and pretended to surrender. She met Holofernes, who was smitten by her beauty. She went back to his tent with him, where she plied him with cheese and wine. When he fell into a drunken sleep, Judith beheaded him and escaped from the camp, taking the severed head with her (the beheading of Holofernes by Judith has historically been a popular theme in art). When Holofernes' soldiers found his corpse, they were overcome with fear; the Jews, on the other hand, were emboldened, and launched a successful counterattack. The town was saved, and the Assyrians defeated. ^[38]

Alternative spellings

Spelling variations due to transliteration of Hebrew Chet Nun Vav Kaf Hey

In Hebrew, the word Hanukkah is written חנֻכה or חנוכה (Ḥǎnukkâh). It is most commonly transliterated to English as Chanukah or Hanukkah, the former because the sound represented by "CH" ([χ], similar to the Scottish pronunciation of "loch") does not exist in the English language. Furthermore, the letter "chet" (ח), which is the first letter in the Hebrew spelling, is pronounced differently in modern Hebrew (voiceless uvular fricative) than in classical Hebrew (voiceless pharyngeal fricative), and neither of those sounds is unambiguously representable in English spelling. Moreover, the 'kaf' consonant is geminate in classical (but not modern) Hebrew. Adapting the classical Hebrew pronunciation with the geminate and pharyngeal Ḥeth can lead to the spelling "Hanukkah"; while adapting the modern Hebrew pronunciation with no gemination and uvular Ḥeth leads to the spelling "Chanukah".
In Simple(6,74) English(7,74) Gematria(8,74) there are two codes being dealt with: [1] the number of letters in a word, name, or phrase is significant, i.e. Hanukkah(8)/Chanukah(8) and Passover(8) are each an eight-day(8) festival(8) and [2] the sum of the most basic letter-number substitution is significant using the key(74) of A=1...Z=26, i.e. Jewish=74 Hanukkah=75 Menorah=74.

Historic timeline

Biala Rebbe lights the menorah

198 BCE: Armies of the Seleucid King Antiochus III (Antiochus the Great) oust Ptolemy V from Judea and Samaria.
175 BCE: Antiochus IV (Epiphanes) ascends the Seleucid throne.
168 BCE: Under the reign of Antiochus IV, the Temple is looted, Jews are massacred, and Judaism is outlawed.
167 BCE: Antiochus orders an altar to Zeus erected in the Temple. Mattathias, and his five sons John, Simon, Eleazar, Jonathan, and Judah lead a rebellion against Antiochus. Judah becomes known as Judah Maccabe (Judah The Hammer).
166 BCE: Mattathias dies, and Judah takes his place as leader. The Hasmonean Jewish Kingdom begins; It lasts until 63 BCE
165 BCE: The Jewish revolt against the Seleucid monarchy is successful. The Temple is liberated and rededicated (Hanukkah).
142 BCE: Establishment of the Second Jewish Commonwealth. The Seleucids recognize Jewish autonomy. The Seleucid kings have a formal overlordship, which the Hasmoneans acknowledged. This inaugurates a period of great geographical expansion, population growth, and religious, cultural and social development.
139 BCE: The Roman Senate recognizes Jewish autonomy.
134 BCE: Antiochus VII Sidetes besieges Jerusalem. The Jews under John Hyrcanus become Seleucid vassals, but retain religious autonomy.^[39]
129 BCE: Antiochus VII dies.^[40] The Hasmonean Jewish Kingdom throws off Syrian rule completely
96 BCE: An eight year civil war begins.
83 BCE: Consolidation of the Kingdom in territory east of the Jordan River.
63 BCE: The Hasmonean Jewish Kingdom comes to an end because of rivalry between the brothers Aristobulus II and Hyrcanus II, both of whom appeal to the Roman Republic to intervene and settle the power struggle on their behalf. The Roman general Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great) is dispatched to the area. 12 thousand Jews are massacred as Romans enter Jerusalem. The Priests of the Temple are struck down at the Altar. Rome annexes Judea.

Battles of the Maccabean revolt

Tombs of the Maccabees, Modi'in, Israel

Key battles between the Maccabees and the Seleucid Syrian-Greeks:

Battle of Adasa (Judas Maccabeus leads the Jews to victory against the forces of Nicanor.)
Battle of Beth Horon (Judas Maccabeus defeats the forces of Seron.)
Battle of Beth-zechariah (Elazar the Maccabee is killed in battle. Lysias has success in battle against the Maccabess, but allows them temporary freedom of worship.)
Battle of Beth Zur (Judas Maccabeus defeats the army of Lysias, recapturing Jerusalem.)
Dathema (A Jewish fortress saved by Judas Maccabeus.)
Battle of Elasa (Judas Maccabeus dies in battle against the army of King Demetrius and Bacchides. He is succeeded by Jonathan Maccabaeus and Simon Maccabaeus who continue to lead the Jews in battle.)
Battle of Emmaus (Judas Maccabeus fights the forces of Lysias and Georgias).
Battle of Wadi Haramia.

Dates

Further information: Jewish holidays 2000–2050

The dates of Hanukkah are determined by the Hebrew calendar. Hanukkah begins at the 25th day of Kislev and concludes on the 2nd or 3rd day of Tevet (Kislev can have 29 or 30 days). The Jewish day begins at sunset, whereas the Gregorian calendar begins the day at midnight. Hanukkah begins on sunset of the date listed.

December 20, 2011
December 8, 2012
November 27, 2013
December 16, 2014
December 6, 2015
December 24, 2016
December 12, 2017
December 2, 2018
December 22, 2019
December 10, 2020

Hanukkah in the White House

President Harry S. Truman in the Oval Office, receiving a Hanukkah Menorah as a gift from the Prime Minister of Israel, David Ben-Gurion (center). To the right is Abba Eban, the Ambassador of Israel to the United States.

Main article: White House Hanukkah Party

The United States has a history of recognizing and celebrating Hanukkah in a number of ways, from menorah lighting ceremonies to a 1996 postage stamp, jointly issued with Israel, to special receptions in the White House (although the United States has not had any Jewish presidents).
One of the earliest links with the White House occurred in 1951, when Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion presented United States President Harry Truman with a Hanukkah Menorah. But it was not until 1979 that a sitting president, Jimmy Carter took part in a public Hanukkah candle-lighting ceremony on the National Mall, followed by the first Hanukkah candle-lighting ceremony in the White House itself, led by President Bill Clinton.
In 2001, President George W. Bush held an official Hanukkah reception in the White House in conjunction with the candle-lighting ceremony, and since then this ceremony has become an annual tradition attended by Jewish leaders from around the country. In 2008, George Bush linked the occasion to the 1951 gift by using that menorah for the ceremony, with a grandson of Ben-Gurion and a grandson of Truman lighting the candles.

Green Hanukkah

Some Jews in North America and Israel have taken up environmental concerns in relation to Hanukkah's "miracle of the oil", emphasizing reflection on energy conservation and energy independence. An example of this is the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life's renewable energy campaign.^[41]^[42]^[43]

References

^ ^a ^b Gateway To The Holy Land: "Hanukkah." Retrieved on September 03, 2010
^ Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 21b
^ Maharsha Shabbat 21b; see there for a detailed discussion. (Hebrew textPDF)
^ Scherman, Nosson. "Origin of the Name Chanukah". ArtScroll. http://innernet.org.il/article.php?aid=11.
^ Ran Shabbat 9b (Hebrew textPDF)
^ Yesod Hamishna Va'arichatah pp. 25–28 (Hebrew textPDF)
^ Jewishvirtuallibrary.org
^ Perseus.tufts.edu, Jewish Antiquities xii. 7, § 7, #323
^ Zvieli, Benjamin. "The Scroll of Antiochus". http://www.biu.ac.il/JH/Parasha/eng/miketz/zev.html. Retrieved 2007-01-28.
^ ^a ^b The Scroll Of The Hasmoneans
^ The Scroll of Antiochus and The Unknown Chanukah Megillah
^ Old.perseus.tufts.edu Jewish War i. 31
^ Old.perseus.tufts.edu, Jewish War i. 32
^ Old.perseus.tufts.edu, Jewish War i. 34
^ 1 Macc. iv. 59
^ 1 Macc. iv. 36
^ Macc. x. 6 and i. 9
^ Telushkin, Joseph (1991). Jewish Literacy: The Most Important Things to Know about the Jewish Religion, Its People, and Its History. W. Morrow. p. 114. ISBN 0688085067.
^ Johnston, Sarah Iles (2004). Religions of the Ancient World: A Guide. Harvard University Press. p. 186. ISBN 0674015177.
^ Greenberg, Irving (1993). The Jewish Way: Living the Holidays. Simon & Schuster. p. 29. ISBN 0671873032.
^ Schultz, Joseph P. (1981). Judaism and the Gentile Faiths: Comparative Studies in Religion. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. p. 155. ISBN 0838617077. "Modern scholarship on the other hand considers the Maccabean revolt less as an uprising against foreign oppression than as a civil war between the orthodox and reformist parties in the Jewish camp"
^ Gundry, Robert H. (2003). A Survey of the New Testament. Zondervan. p. 9. ISBN 0310238250.
^ Grabbe, Lester L. (2000). Judaic Religion in the Second Temple Period: Belief and Practice from the Exile to Yavneh. Routledge. p. 59. ISBN 0415212502.
^ Freedman, David Noel; Allen C. Myers, Astrid B. Beck (2000). Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 837. ISBN 0802824005.
^ Wood, Leon James (1986). A Survey of Israel's History. Zondervan. p. 357. ISBN 031034770X.
^ Tcherikover, Victor (1999) [1959]. Hellenistic Civilization and the Jews. Baker Academic. ISBN 0801047854.
^ Shulkhan Arukh Orach Chayim 670:1
^ Shulkhan Arukh Orach Chayim 671:2
^ ^a ^b Shulkhan Arukh Orach Chayim 673:1
^ Babylonian Talmud: Shabbat 23a
^ Shulkhan Arukh Orach Chayim 676:1–2
^ Shulkhan Arukh Orach Chayim 676:4
^ Shulkhan Arukh Orach Chayim 682:1
^ Gur, Jana, The Book of New Israeli Food: A Culinary Journey, pp. 238–243, Schocken (2008) ISBN 0-8052-1224-8
^ Minsberg, Tali and Lidman, Melanie. Love Me Dough. Jerusalem Post, 10 December 2009. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
^ Ohr Somayach :: Chanukah :: The Secret of the Dreidel
^ The Biblical and Historical Background of Jewish Customs and Ceremonies by Abraham P. Bloch. Published by KTAV Publishing House, Inc., 1980. Pp. 277.
^ Mishna Berurah 670:2:10
^ Smith, Mahlon H.. "Antiochus VII Sidetes". http://virtualreligion.net/iho/antiochus_7.html.
^ Ginzburg, Louis (1901). "Antiochus VII., Sidetes". Jewish Encyclopedia. http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/1592-antiochus-vii-sidetes.
^ Shalom Center on Hannukah and the environment
^ Jerusalem Post: Green Hanukkia' campaign sparks ire
^ Coalition on Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL): Green Hannukah ceremony

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hanukkah

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NEW RELEASES For DEC 13th

2011-12-12T17:02:00.000-08:00

CIRCUMSTANCE (Indie film with high marks. "Outrageously sexy")

FRIGHT NIGHT 2011 (Colin Farrell stars in horror remake. Perfect for the stuffing of stockings)

KUNG FU PANDA 2

RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (SF, apes, where it all began)

New Releases for December 5th!

2011-12-05T20:44:00.001-08:00

Mr Popper's Penguins (fam)

The Debt (drama)

Cowboys and Aliens (adrenaline)

Portlandia: Season 1 (TV series)

The Help (drama)

Big Love: Season 5 (TV series)

The Hangover, Part II (comedy)

Fred Armisen in Portlandia

New Movies! November 28th, 2011

2011-11-28T20:08:00.001-08:00

One Day (romantic drama)

Cave of Forgotten Dreams (sci/art doc)

Our Idiot Brother (comidee)

Friends With Benefits (romantic comedy)

The Future (dramatic romantic)

Another Earth (sci-fi drama)

The Art of Getting By (drama-romance)

30 Minutes or Less (comedy)

The Smurfs (kids, blue creatures)

30 Rock: Season 5 (hilarious sitcom)

New Releases for Thanksgiving week!

2011-11-21T20:24:00.001-08:00

Page One (doc)
In the tradition of great fly-on-the-wall documentaries, PAGE ONE: INSIDE THE NEW YORK TIMES deftly gains unprecedented access to The New York Times newsroom and the inner workings of the Media Desk.

Conan the Barbarian (2011) (adrenaline)
A quest that begins as a personal vendetta for the fierce Cimmerian warrior soon turns into an epic battle against hulking rivals, horrific monsters, and impossible odds, as Conan realizes he is the only hope of saving the great nations of Hyboria from an encroaching reign of supernatural evil. Jason Momoa is a way hotter Conan than Arnold, in this reviewer's humble opinion...

Spy Kids 4 (family)
A retired spy is called back into action, and to bond with her new step-children, she invites them along for the adventure to stop the evil Timekeeper from taking over the world. Also starring Danny Trejo as a character named Uncle Machete!

Super 8 (adrenaline/sci-fi)
In the summer of 1979, a group of friends in a small Ohio town witness a catastrophic train crash while making a super 8 movie and soon suspect that it was not an accident. Shortly after, unusual disappearances and inexplicable events begin to take place in town, and the local Deputy tries to uncover the truth - something more terrifying than any of them could have imagined.From JJ Abrams and Steven Spielberg.

THE HOLY MOUNTAIN-CONQUEST OF MEXICO

2011-11-20T23:21:00.000-08:00

I HATE THE HOLIDAYS

2011-11-16T22:34:00.000-08:00

First off the views of this post do not represent that of Fayes or other employees of Fayes
Secondly, I had a fine childhood, thanky very much, don't project your dysfunctional family christmas mornings when your sister ripped off the head of your cabbage patch kid in retaliation after you "accidentally" stepped on her life size replica of, ___. Meanwhile your mom's getting high in the backyard because it's the only way she can talk to her in-laws when they call any minute, any minute...any minute, she stayed up all night wrapping the presents sipping whatever she stole from the rest of the holiday office party's booze. It's not my fault your dad's obsessively putting away the christmas lights, because he too hates christmas and told mom "those lights are coming down christmas morning." If there's a contest to see who can leave them up the longest in the neighborhood, he's going to win in taking them down first, and hopefully the god-damn Carvers across the street will follow suit and remove those god-damn battery powered waving santa clauses off their lawn, despite how many years he's "accidentally" run them over with car. Why would they buy two, that's just asinine, and confusing. It's also an unfortunate our brother's back from college, and won't come out of his room, but years later you know that's it's because he too drank from the leftover holiday office party booze and learned about mixing peppermint schnapps and anything. Now your chasing you sister with the blunt end of a my little pony because she threw the slides from your brand-new view master "Adventures of Fragle Rock" at you like Frisbees. Your Aunt Leigh whose hair is so blonde it's white and smells like dirt and flowers, is in the kitchen yelling christmas carols while also yelling at your Uncle Ed whose hair is much blacker than his eyebrows and mustache, to take pictures of the kids opening the presents when outside you hear the step ladder bang against the sidding of the house and dad is loudly whisper cursing everytime he pulls another section of lights off the gutter.
This was a stupid idea and now I don't have time to change it because I have to close. sorry. I wish you didn't read it.

Thank you!

2011-11-15T12:05:00.000-08:00

Things Fayes is thankful for (a third grade assignment adaption)

we are thankful for great customers
Criterion for making amazing covers and synopses
McLauglin for making delicious FAYES BLEND coffee
time and space
toothbrushes and toothpaste
serendipity
crystals, triangles and circles/spheres
stuffed animals
auto-corrective spell checks
gold wristwatch bands that don't pinch the hairs on our wrists
light and sight
pens and pencils
milk and sugar
karate
pizza
booze
things that are shinny
skinny jeans
telling it how it is
lists
vitality
enclosures
vague-ness
Van Ness
Bi-Rite sandwiches
rega-tone
fathers
mothers
brothers
siestas
siesta
Herman Miller aer on chairs in true black
turkey vultures
all age venues
rhinos
college towns
non-college towns
the concept of teleportations
the Castro
post its
trees and oxygen
horses
tiny things
elephants
stop lights
turn signals
bikes
shoes
birth control
penicillin
anesthesiology
sterilization
water
the alphabet
sound
ears
dissidence
tectonic plates
dinner plate
blue plates
grocery bag
jet engines
combustible engines
pistons
fingernails
hats
rubber band balls
acupuncture
and Lisa Frank stickers

New Releases for November 14th!

2011-11-14T19:11:00.001-08:00

Bellflower (adrenaline)
Two friends spend all their free time building flame-throwers and weapons of mass destruction in hopes that a global apocalypse will occur and clear the runway for their imaginary gang "Mother Medusa."
Roger Ebert says of director/writer Evan Glodell: "Possibly represents the debut of a one-of-a-kind filmmaker, a natural driven by wild energy, like Tarantino."

Fun trivia: Pretty awesome special effects in this one including a car equipped with two flamethrowers, smoke screen, a bleach drift-kit, adjustable rear suspension, and 3 surveillance cameras.

Larry Crowne (comedy)
Amiable Larry Crowne (Tom Hanks) was a superstar team leader at the big-box company where he's worked since his time in the Navy. Underwater on his mortgage and unclear on what to do with his suddenly free days, Larry heads to his local college to start over. There he becomes part of a colorful community of outcasts, also-rans and the overlooked all trying to find a better future for themselves...often moving around town in a herd of scooters. Also starring Julia Roberts as Larry's teacher and love interest.

Fun trivia: The French title translates to "It's never too late."

New Releases - Nov. 7th Edition

2011-11-07T20:27:00.000-08:00

Get 'em while they're hot!

Atlas Shrugged: Part 1
A film 40 years in the making, this is the first in what will (in theory) be a trilogy based on the 1957 novel by Ayn Rand.It is 2016 and the United States is in a sustained economic depression. A powerful railroad executive struggles to keep her business alive while society is crumbling around her.

The Change-up
Jason Bateman and Ryan Reynolds star in this body-swap comedy. A married father accidentally switches bodies with his best friend, leading to a series of wildly complex difficulties.Fun trivia: Most of the female nudity in the film is not real. Computer-generated breasts were used for both Olivia Wilde and Leslie Mann.

Hot Coffee
Remember the old lady who sued McDonald's (and won over $2 million) after spilling coffee on herself? Directed by Susan Saladoff who was a medical malpractice attorney of 26 years, Hot Coffee is a 2011 documentary film that analyzes and discuses the impact of tort reform (personal injury common law) on the United States judicial system.

It's Official...

2011-11-04T20:59:00.000-07:00

Fall is here. It's getting darker earlier, it's definitely colder, and we are entering that crazy time of year where it seems in the blink of an eye it will be 2012. It seems like 2011 had just started and then with marriages, new babies, break-ups, one night stands, and graduations here we are passing Halloween in a blur. Where is the time going? Recently I've been having a weekly date watching "work of art", with a dear friend that suffered an injury, and I realized how important it is to slow down and check in with people we care about.

As a kid every Friday we'd have pizza , soda (Faygo red pop was the best), popcorn and a movie. I have a terrible time remembering specifics from my childhood but I do remember one Friday night we were watching "Young Frankenstein" and Gene Wilder sneezes. My mom said "bless you" and we thought that was HILARIOUS. Anyways in honor of those Friday nights, come in with the Family and rent a movie. All Family Films are just $2.

New Movies out on DVD at Fayes!

2011-10-31T21:18:00.000-07:00

New Releases for October 31st!

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Water for Elephants

Cars 2

Trespass

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

Tabloid

Fayes-o-lantern

2011-10-27T18:14:00.000-07:00

today at Fayes we're going to teach you how to make a jack-o-lantern:

This age old tradition was started in Norway when to celebrate the first . The folklore goes, that a village in a northern island off of Norway was having trouble with a monster that kept eating their pumpkin patches in October, the village decided to carve scary faces in them to keep the monster at bay, and it worked but then the village realized they had destroyed their pumpkin patch in the effort to save it. kind of like what's happening to our economy.

1) get a pumpkin

some people think that you have to get the perfect pumpkin to make the perfect Jack-o-lantern, this is untrue. Get the ugliest, moldiest, grossest pumpkin you can find. if it has holes in it, great, one less to carve in later.

2) cut a hole in the top of the pumpkin

3) Don't bother scooping out the icky, it's a waste of time

4) get a bunch of firecrackers, like 4 pounds of them...better make it 6

5) put fire crackers in hole in pumpkin and light.

6) get real close so you can see it!

and viloa: jack-o-lantern

New Releases - October 24th

2011-10-24T20:58:00.000-07:00

New Releases - October 24th

Captain America: the First Avenger (2011) - Adrenaline

After being deemed unfit for military service, Steve Rogers volunteers for a top secret research project that turns him into Captain America, a superhero dedicated to defending America's ideals.

Attack the Block (2011) - Adrenaline

A teen gang in South London defend their block from an alien invasion

Marwencol (2010) - Documentary

After a vicious attacks leaves him brain-damaged and broke, Mark Hogancamp seeks recovery in "Marwencol," a 1/6th scale World War II-era town he creates in his backyard.

Michael Nyman

2011-10-23T21:14:00.000-07:00

A link to a song from Peter Greenaway's Drowning By Numbers (in store now).
And a list of other titles we carry w. Nyman scores.

-Man On Wire
-The Piano
-Gattaca
- Prospero's Books
-The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, Her Lover

2011-10-17T19:58:00.000-07:00

New Releases - October 17, 2011

Green Lantern

You know the one... A test pilot is granted a mystical green ring that bestows him with otherworldly powers, as well as membership into an intergalactic squadron tasked with keeping peace within the universe. With that guy from The Proposal, Peter Sarsgaard with a molestache and eye candy Blake Lively.

In Treatment, Season 3

Did you know that In Treatment is based on a successful Israeli television series called BeTipul?

Bad Teacher

A comedy centered around a foul-mouthed, junior high teacher who, after being dumped by her sugar daddy, begins to woo a colleague -- a move that pits her against a well-loved teacher. Cameron Diaz in short shorts.

Red State

Set in Middle America, a group of teens receive an online invitation for sex, though they soon encounter fundamentalists with a much more sinister agenda. Directed by Kevin Smith and starring Oscar winner (for The Fighter) Melissa Leo and John Goodman.

Beats Rhymes and Life: the Travels of a Tribe Called Quest

'A Tribe Called Quest' broke up in 1998, but they are still recognized as one of the most respected andcommercially successful groups in hip hop's history. Michael Rapaport documents the inner workings and behind the scenes drama that follows the band to this day.

how to dress up as your favorite movie star

2011-10-15T23:54:00.000-07:00

Halloween is just around the corner, what are you gonna be...slutty nurse, slutty vampire slutty pirate? BORING come on, you can do better than that. Here's a list of 3 inspirational costumes your friends will wish they though of:

1) Hunter S. Thompson, in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (it's a bit pricey, but worth every penny.)

what you'll need:
-Hawaiian T-shirt
-canvas hat
-cigarette hold (cigarettes optional)
-blue blocker sun glasses
-6 grams of cocaine
-24 ounces of mescaline
-13 LSD tabs
-9 ounces of marijuana
-15 grams of horse tranquilizers
-and 4 more grams of cocaine

your friends are gonna love you at night and hate you in the morning, watch out for giant lizard people!

2) Beethoven (the dog, not the composer)

what you'll need:
-find a large dog like Beethoven, I forgot what he is, Burmese water dog or something,
-skin it
-wear it.
-wear running shoes, because you will be chased by angry mobs of San Francisco dogs lovers.

3) George Clooney

Sure it's easy to be an outrageous character like Mike Myers as Austin Powers, find a purple suit, pair of glasses, shaggy wig, bad teeth, call it a night, someone that has a certain unmistakable look, but is sooooo easy to replicate and that's been done a thousand different ways a thousand different times, what about dressing up as an actor. This is applicable to just about any actor, I just thought I'd choose George Clooney, because my mom has a major crush on him.

what you'll need to do:
-fly to LA
- make an appointment with facial reconstruction plastic surgeon, Dr. Babak Azizzadeh
-give him an 8x10 gloss of George Clooney
- imagine how much you wouldn't ever in your wildest dreams pay for a suit...now double that.
-ok, now buy it. it doesn't have to fit, just get the thing.
-avoid all cell phone calls, because it's your bank, you probably only have a few weeks to live before they come after you and repossess all your possessions, family and organs. we'll get how to evade them in a bit, get back to San Francisco, have a blast looking like George Clooney, but be aware, because your friends won't believe it's you (yeah, Dr. Azizzadeh is that good) so they'll just think it's the real George Clooney, they'll go ape and not understand why an A list star is hanging out with them asking if they wanna get shots at the 500 club. You'll end up walking around with a mob of people asking for stuff and pictures with them giving the camera thumbs up, you'll have to go to the one place that people can accept you. yes, LA.
-go to LA, you'll get off the plane. People will stare, but just smile and give a head nod, good.
-run to the taxi, the credit card companies are on to you, they've contacted Dr. Azzizadeh, they know your a George Clooney double, they've got agents at all the airport terminals
- take the second cab you find, the first always has an agent in it. Good, okay, go to George Clooeny's estate. I don't know where it is, but maybe get one of those "maps of the stars" on Rodeo or Hollywood blvd, or something, I don't, you're smart, find it quick!)
- now, if you're a pro this won't be hard; walk up to the Clooney estate, wave to the security guard, he's gonna talk into his wrist and have one of those curly white wires in his ear, make fun of his wife, break the tension, people like it when you make fun of their wife. he laughs, and opens the giant golden gate, you're in!
- quickly walk, don't run, up the steps, through the front door,
-the dogs, damn those dogs, they know, the can smell your San Francisco scent, they know you're not the real Clooney, lock them in the closet or something.
-The maid says she thought you went to the studio to rehearse for the week to film Evita 2 with Julia Roberts, tell her you forgot something and not to be so nosey, then insult her wife,..YES! it works again!
- wait in the bedroom and find the sharpest, heaviest thing you can, wait...wait until he gets home.
-kill George Clooney...what you didn't see this coming?
- Pay some thugs to ship the body to your credit card company.
-assume his identity, learn about his mannerisms, what his favorite color is all that stuff, have Dr. Azzizadeh and everyone in his office killed, you're Clooney, you can do anything, just be charming and suave about it
-now that that's all taken care of, go to that really A-list Halloween party in Hollywood or Brentwood or whatever dressed as a kitty cat, because that would be so funny if you dressed as George Clooney dressed as a kitty cat. You can be all: "I'm George Clooney and I'm a kitty cat."

2011-10-10T22:00:00.000-07:00

Bay Area film nerds take note!

"Through screengrabs and current photographs, the awesome site Reel SF tracks the exact location of several classic movies shot in our fair city, taking viewers on a tour, neighborhood by neighborhood, through scenes from Dark Passage (1947), The Lady From Shanghai (1947), The House On Telegraph Hill (1951), Vertigo (1958), Bullitt (1968), and many more! The best part: It's not only flash-back images that the site provides, but stunning Then and Now comparisons of the exact places scenes took place." (from refinery29.com)

Awesome! Now we can finally recreate the chase scene from Bullitt shot for shot!

Then: The Lady from Shanghai (1947)

Now: Sausalito waterfront

2011-10-10T19:16:00.000-07:00

New Releases for October 11th!

Buck

Documentary on horseman Buck Brannaman, the original horse whisperer.

Etienne!

A man and his best friend (a terminally ill dwarf hamster) take a bicycle tour of the US.

Terri

An overweight and awkward boy in a small town struggles to find his way through high school. John C. Riley co-stars.

Tree of Life

The impressionistic story of a Texas family in the 1950s. Directed by Terrence Malick and starring Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain, and Sean Penn.

The Trip

Steve is asked by The Observer to tour the country's finest restaurants, but after his girlfriend backs out on him he must take his best friend and source of eternal aggravation, Rob Brydon. Starring Steve Coogan.

Zookeeper

A modern Dr. Doolittle/romantic comedy starring Kevin James and Rosario Dawson. Talking zoo animals!

Toback

2011-10-09T23:26:00.000-07:00

You probably either love him or hate him.

2011-10-05T10:37:00.000-07:00

So often we have conversations with customers about movies. That's right, while drinking our coffees we talk about movies. I am always surprised how often people will not be interested in seeing a movie because a certain actor/actress is in it. Have you seen "The Switch"*, nope you hate Jennifer Aniston. How about "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"? Nope, you hate Jim Carey (which I totally understand, but that movie is F'ing incredible).

While I had my morning coffee today, I was thinking about the tower swap that needed to happen and what I was going to put up. Another polarizing actor came to mind, and for myself I often either love or hate his movies. Honestly I don't know if it is that dependent on him, or that while growing up I was forced to go see fighter planes at the air show every year. (a possible reason I cringe when I see "Top Gun"). I was surprised to learn that he has only been in 37 movies, Which I guess is a lot, how many of them have you seen? How many have you loved? And Hated? Let's have coffee and talk about it...
and try to forget that this moment ever happened...

NEW RELEASES OCTOBER 4th

2011-10-03T16:00:00.000-07:00

BORED TO DEATH SEASON 2 (Ted Danson, Schwartzman, Galifianakis)

BUCK (docu on horsemen Buck Brannaman, the original horse whisperer )

FAST FIVE (Vin Diesel and company. Cars and Furious.)

SCREAM 4 (New decade. New rules. Screamier)

SUBMARINE (British coming of age flick. From dude of "IT CROWD".)

THE UNDEFEATED (Sarah Palin docu )

Let's play "WHAT'S IN YOUR POCKETS?!!??"

2011-09-29T18:10:00.000-07:00

Thursdays during the middle of the day can be a little slow, so to entertain myself, I asked four lucky customers "HEY! WHAT'S IN YOUR POCKETS?!?!?!?" and then I analyze the contents and judge them.

customer #1:
-key ring with 5 keys, four of them with colored plastic thingies
-lighter, yellow
-cellphone, I-phone
-one pack of American Spirit cigarettes, color, blue
-wallet (brown, leather)
-one quarter, two dimes and four pennies

assessment:
this is an easy one; total.... psycho...... killer, look under his house, I bet there are at least 5 dead bodies with their heads and fingers chopped off.

customer #2
-one handkerchief, red
-one porcelain elephant head, red
-three rabbit feet, all red
-five gummy bears, red
-fifteen game pieces from the board game "sorry," red
-three rubber bands, red
-one key, painted red
-four teeth, also painted red
-one 1"x1"x1" box, red, contents unknown
-twenty-three one dollar bills, dyed red

assessment: I assume he's very superstitious. I asked if his favorite color was red, he laughed and said, "no, but you know, a lot of people think that, I actually likes the color yellow, but a really soft creme kind of yellow like the color of the moon on a really humid night, that's the color of I had my dinning room painted this summer and it really looks so beautiful in the fall light, it's vibrant around 4 o'clock." Then he told me he was born on another planet, he said he couldn't pronounce it's name in any earthly tongue because it would cause human ears to explode, and he came here when he was fifteen earth years old. On his planet the color red is yellow there's a shortage of good music and all of his siblings would tease him when he was young that he was gay. He said that his planet was invaded by aliens that looked like really cute lobsters, they massacred most of his people and most of his...well I kind of zoned out after that, but it seemed really interesting.
I love find out new things about people.

customer #3
this customer wasn't really a customer, because he didn't buy anything.

nothing, nothing in their pockets, not even lint.

oh wait, I just imagined this one, there is no customer# 3

customer #4:no pockets, I asked if we could take a look in her purse, she said no, I grabbed her bag, it was heavy, I dumped it on the floor.
-one make-up bag, lipstick, eye stuff, face stuff, eyelash stuff, orange bottle of "medication," razor blades ("for sharpening eyebrow pencil",)
-one 12' high tension rope ("for rock climbing class")
-latex gloves ("to clean up after my doggy")
-empty vile labeled "tears of lover" ("ha ha, you know, it's a joke")
-empty vile labeled "blood of lover" ("now look, just, stop it.")
-video camera
-one sheet of paper with the words barely legible: "WE WILL ALWAYS BE TOGETHER"
-four bottles of lighter fluid and matches("it's for a bbq, ok, stop writing that down")
-passport (whoa, really bad photo)
-$10,000 in pesos (eh, that's pretty normal)
-wig, blonde, short cut (she's already blonde and short, why would you need wig?)
-extra dark sunglasses
-tan trench coat

assessment: clearly, this lady knows how to party, I tried to invite myself to what I can only assume is going to be one hell of shindig, she grabbed her things and forgot to pay for her ice nonfat triple latte with a shot of sugar-free vanilla, I'll remind her next time.

NEW RELEASES SEPTEMBER 27th

2011-09-26T20:59:00.000-07:00

L'Amour Fou

documentary on the relationship between fashion designer Yves Saint-Laurent and his lover, Pierre Berge.

HUNG season 2

A former high school sports legend turned middle-aged high school basketball coach finds a way to benefit from his biggest asset.

The Butcher, the Chef and the sword

A tale of revenge, honor and greed follows a group of misfits that gets involved with a kitchen cleaver made from the top five swords of the martial arts world in this wild and brash action comedy.

Carlos

The story of Venezuelan revolutionary Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, who founded a worldwide terrorist organization and raided the 1975 OPEC meeting.

all synopses from IMDB

ideas

2011-09-25T21:22:00.000-07:00

subjects I could write about but don't really feel like it right now:
movies- we have these, yes.
coffee- check, also have these.

subjects I won't write about: most things.

subjects I can't write about:
Leading Modernist literary figures in the early 1900's -my brain refuses to remember those books and that class.
The growing debate concerning religious right wing groups/overly concerned parents verses childrens' advocacy groups/medical professionals to institutionalize mandatory HPV testing in California, and other political blah blah blah- don't care, don't care, don't care.
Hockey- don't know anything about that or most sports.
Unilateral nevoid telangiectasia (UNT)- it is fun to say!
Quantum mechanics- I could, but you won't understand it, waves are cool.

subjects I will get in trouble for writing about: boobies and the list of my favorite curse words (it is long and very very funny.)

yes, this post is mostly links to videos I think are funny, shame on you for clicking of "boobies" and expecting to see boobies, shame shame.

WHATS UP FAYES?

2011-09-19T17:10:00.000-07:00

BRIDESMAIDS - THE MOVIE is happening this week.
Fayes also carries films that aren't as funny as Bridesmaids.

Stop by and say HI and pick up either a funny movie or not-so funny film.

Les Anis de Flavigny

2011-09-17T16:48:00.000-07:00

So as many of you may know I just was in France for the past 3 weeks doing an artist residency. In short it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I was staying in Noyers sur Serein, where you may recognize from this Duran Duran video.

While I was there I met a woman whose sister works at Tartine, talk about small world. The are center is called La Porte Peinte and my work will remain there until about Thanksgiving.

On one of our last days we traveled to Flavigny, where they are known for their mints and a co-op that makes these AMAZING tarts. Also the town is known for being the location of "Chocolat".

2011-09-12T15:53:00.000-07:00

LOADS of great new movies and TV shows released this week for your viewing pleasure!


Conan O'Brien Can't Stop

A documentary on Conan O'Brien's comedy tour of the U.S. and Canada after leaving his post at "The Tonight Show" and severing his relationship with NBC.

Wishful Drinking

Based on Carrie Fisher's successful memoir, this HBO special (which received two Emmy nods) chronicles her return from the brink of alcoholism and her campaign of blunt, yes-this-effing-hurts self-improvement.


Meek's Cutoff

A wagon team of three families has hired the mountain man Stephen Meek to guide them over the Cascade Mountains. Claiming to know a short cut, Meek leads the group on an unmarked path across the high plain desert, only to become lost in the dry rock and sage.


It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Season 6

Hesher

Hesher (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) a 20 something loser, invades the life of an awkward 13 year old boy who lives with his pill-popping father and grandmother. When a supermarket worker (Natalie Portman) saves the kid from a bully, he falls in love with her.

Glee, Season 2, Volume 1

Grey's Anatomy, Season 6

Spartacus: Blood and Sand, Season 2

Incendies

A 2010 Quebec film written and directed by Denis Villeneuve. Adapted from Wajdi Mouawad's play, Scorched, Incendies follows the journey of two siblings as they attempt to unravel the mystery of their mother's life.

Thor

The epic adventure Thor spans the Marvel Universe from present day Earth to the mystical realm of Asgard. At the center of the story is The Mighty Thor, a powerful but arrogant warrior whose reckless actions reignite an ancient war. As a result, Thor is banished to Earth where he is forced to live among humans. When the most dangerous villain of his world sends its darkest forces to invade Earth, Thor learns what it takes to be a true hero.

STEELY DAN is pretty great, so what is the problem?

2011-09-11T19:10:00.000-07:00

Are you down with THE DAN?

A lot of music passes through Fayes Video. Today, its been 60% Steely Dan.

ITS EASY, RIGHT?

2011-09-05T23:16:00.000-07:00

VIDEO STORES:
We rent movies, you watch movies. Easy.
You walk down the street, come in, look at titles and artwork and ask questions.
You leave with a movie. You watch it. You bring it back in a few days.

Easy:

We would love it if things stayed Easy.

Come see us, see about a film, see what your neighbors are up to.

FRIENDS:

"The Big Lebowski" ... Then and Now!

2011-09-03T18:35:00.000-07:00

Jeff Bridges and John Goodman in the 1998 Coen brothers comedy

Bridges and Goodman attend Lebowski Fest NY at The Hammerstein Ballroom on Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2011 in New York.

How the time has flown... Jeff Bridges has an Oscar now! And John Goodman was in 10 episodes of Treme!

2011-09-01T16:50:00.000-07:00

VHS* SALE $2 all month long!

*If you are too young to know what VHS is, it's a black plastic thingy with tape in it. It's about an inch in height, 5 inches in length and 3 inches in width. you put it into a VHS player. You are going to want to look at the tape to make sure the tape inside it was re-wound so that you can watch the movie from the beginning. If the tape is all the way wound to the left, it's at the beginning. You may have to rewind it, using the reverse function on the Video Home System Cassette player.

The tape inside the Video Home System Cassette is magnetized. and there are crystals in the Video Home System cassette player that read the information on the tape, if you break the crystals in the VHS Player it will leak out black sparkly goop; that is concentrated evil, if you touch it your evil twin will appear and try to kill you and take over your life, you have to find a mirror, and show it itself, if you do not do this quickly your evil twin will also open a portal and let in all the evil twins in the evil world and you are going to feel really bad and have no friends.

So, Video Home System Cassette are really quite magical when you think about it. But don't think about it it too much. In fact, stop thinking about it, you're too young to bother with analog recordings. go listen to your IPOD and explain how that works.

UPCOMING NEW RELEASES!

2011-08-29T18:12:00.000-07:00

AUGUST 30th
IN A BETTER WORLD (winner Best Foreign Language Film 2010)

SEPTEMBER 6th
EVERYTHING MUST GO (Will Ferrell.. Funny, but different funny…)
HANNA (A knockout of a film. Revenge, little blonde girl with arrows.. Awesome)
THE OFFICE SEASON 7 (you watch this, yes?)
PARKS AND RECREATION SEASON 3 (are you watching this?)
VIDAL SASSOON THE MOVIE (docu)

OPENING CREDITS

2011-08-28T22:41:00.000-07:00

"Films are like symphonies, and opening credits,
the first notes sounded."*
The following clips are taken from movies
whose intro's spelled out D-Y-N-A-M-I-T-E,
tempting us with the promise of glorious
uncharted terrain, adventure, discovery,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony...

*not an actual quote

N.I.N.Y. -- Roller Boogie

2011-08-27T13:48:00.000-07:00

It's love on wheels!

During my last visit back to SF, I walked by the Roxie and saw they were showing Roller Boogie, the 1979 Linda Blair skating movie. Somehow I got around to renting it back in New York, and I am glad I did.

Roller Boogie is about a group of skating toughs, (the ghetto, down and out, cool kids of course), who have to save their local roller rink from the clutches of a corrupt developer. Among these cool teenagers, is Terry Barkley, the only rich girl of the group, who likes to slum it with her misfit skating buddies. Also, there's a romance between rich girl Terry and talented but poor bad boy, Bobby James.

There's a hurricane approaching now, so I'll just let this clip tell you the rest, whatever I missed. I'm not sure if Fayes has Roller Boogie on DVD.

NEW RELEASES August 23rd!

2011-08-22T18:11:00.000-07:00

THE BEAVER (Drama with Mel Gibson. Groundhog day meets Mad Max)
THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER SOLD (Morgan 'super size me' Spurlock film)
WIN WIN (from the director of "The Visitor" starring Paul Giamatti)

QUICKSILVER

2011-08-20T19:27:00.000-07:00

Kevin Bacon + fixies + awesome '80s soundtrack = this week's SBIG (So Bad It's Good) Pick!

This gem from 1986 is set in SF (though shot in LA as well, strangely) and stars Bacon as a failed Wall Street (?) trader who gets a job working for a bike messenger company (styled after the taxi dispatch company in the TV show Taxi?).

In 2008, Kevin Bacon called the film "the absolute lowest point of my career." Don't be so hard on yourself, Kevin! It's totally thrilling to watch him speed around SF and Downtown Los Angeles, bombing the hill below Coit Tower with Lawrence Fishbourne, and talking with his inexplicably New York-accented bike messenger friends. And don't miss the very special bicycle dance sequence above.

Also starring Jami Gertz as the streetsmart tomboy bike messenger who Bacon rescues from a gangbanger and seduces. You may recognize her as Keifer Sutherland's girlfriend in The Lost Boys.

Roger Daltrey's theme song "Quicksilver Lightning" is icing on the cake. Watch it today!

NEW RELEASES August 16th!

2011-08-15T21:29:00.000-07:00

The Conspirator

James McAvoy is a sexy bearded lawyer hunting for the truth during the Lincoln assassination trial!

Priest

Paul Bettany is a sexy vampire-hunting priest!

Dexter: Season 5

Michael C. Hall is still a serial killer-hunting serial killer!

Jane Eyre (2011)
"From a loveless past she sought refuge and found a place haunted by sexy secrets..."

Herzog

2011-08-14T22:57:00.000-07:00

"Everyone who makes films has to be an athlete to a certain degree because cinema does not come from abstract academic thinking; it comes from your knees and thighs."

NEW RELEASES August 9th!

2011-08-08T15:50:00.000-07:00

MARS NEEDS MOMS (Disney adventure, like a Sci-Fi Polar Express)

PAUL (Comedy/Sci-Fi with Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Seth Rogen)

SUPER (Stars Rainn Wilson and Ellen Page and Live Tyler… super hero fun)

YOUR HIGHNESS (From the Directors of Pineapple Express…)

P.S., Natalie wears a thong.

RHINESTONE

2011-08-07T13:46:00.000-07:00

Best worst movie of all time? Two words: Stallone Sings. Amazing.

Dolly Parton wrote most of the songs and gives an awesome performance. Also, being the early 1980s, the wigs and sparkles are in FULL EFFECT.

HOUSEBOY

2011-08-05T01:01:00.000-07:00

OK
If you don't
remember this or
any other part of
"Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe"
'cause you never did
watch it or
more appropriately
where too drunk
to remember or
are just goddamn
forgetful...
it is time to be
blind-sided by or
more likely try
to drown out
or be forced to
re-live the wonderful
disaster that is
George and
Martha
OK?

New Releases for August 2!

2011-08-01T21:35:00.000-07:00

Eastbound & Down: Season 2
Produced by Will Ferrell.
(Also the theme song for Smokey and the Bandit.)

Rio
Rated PG for mild off color humor and anthropomorphized tropical animals.
With Jesse Eisenberg in cartoon bird form.

Soul Surfer
Based on the story of Bethany Hamilton who lost her left arm in a shark attack while surfing in Kauai.
Rated PG for an intense accident sequence and some thematic material (Spoiler alert: her arm gets bitten off by a shark)

JACK NICHOLSON. PERIOD.

2011-07-31T19:44:00.000-07:00

New Releases for July 26th!

2011-07-25T21:37:00.000-07:00

Life During Wartime

Friends, family, and lovers struggle to find love, forgiveness, and meaning in a war-torn world riddled with comedy and pathos.

Source Code

Jake Gyllenhall stars as a soldier who wakes up in the body of an unknown man and discovers he's part of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train.

Dylan Dog: Dead of Night

The adventures of supernatural private eye, Dylan Dog, who seeks out the monsters of the Louisiana bayou in his signature red shirt, black jacket, and blue jeans. Based on the Italian comic book.

Trust

A teenage girl is targeted by an online sexual predator.With Clive Owen and Catherine Keener and directed by David Schwimmer.

Winter in Wartime

Near the end of World War II, 14-year-old Michiel becomes involved with the Resistance after coming to the aid of a wounded British soldier

Errol Morris and The Case of the Manacled Mormon

2011-07-23T19:39:00.000-07:00

Tabloid (in theaters now) is the follow up to 2008′s Standard Operating Procedure, Tabloid centers on “The Case of the Manacled Mormon” in which a former Miss Wyoming flew to England in 1977 in hopes of saving the love of her life from a cult. In the press release, Morris describes the film as such:

“It’s a return to my favorite genre – sick, sad and funny – but of course, it’s more than that. It is a meditation on how we are shaped by the media and even more powerfully, by ourselves.”

Here at Fayes we have Morris' First Person series (which originally aired on television in 2001) as well as almost all of his incredible documentaries dating back to 1978.

Be sure to check out Errol Morris' awesome blog on the New York Times website.

Other great Errol Morris titles at Fayes:

Gates of Heaven, 1978

Vernon, Florida, 1981

The Thin Blue Line, 1988

Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control, 1997

Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr., 1999

The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara, 2003

Standard Operating Procedure, 2008

Limitless Possibilities

2011-07-20T13:05:00.000-07:00

This is the only New Release that came out this week... luckily we have tons of other great films at the store. And today (Wednesday) while you are out strolling in the sun, come in cool off with an iced coffee (talked about in the NYT) today and pick out some 2 for 1 movies.

Here is what Mr. Ebert has to say about "Limitless":

Limitless

BY ROGER EBERT / March 16, 2011

Cast & Credits

Eddie Morra Bradley Cooper
Carl Van Loon Robert De Niro
Lindy Abbie Cornish
Gennady Andrew Howard
Melissa Anna Friel

Relativity Media presents a film directed by Neil Burger. Written by Leslie Dixon, based on a novel by Alan Glynn. Running time: 105 minutes. Rated PG-13 (for thematic material involving a drug, violence including disturbing images, sexuality and language).

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I know how Eddie Morra feels. Like him, I know almost everything, but have forgotten most of it. We are told time and again that we use only a small portion of our brains and have enough left over to run nations in our down time. “Limitless” is about Eddie’s adventures after his ex-brother-in-law gives him a pill that suddenly puts his entire brain online.
He finishes his novel at typing speed. He wins at poker, invests in the market, and runs it up to millions. He fascinates a woman who had rejected him as a loser. He knows intuitively how to handle situations that used to baffle him. He is hailed as the Wall Street guru of the age.

Eddie is played by Bradley Cooper as a schlep who becomes a king. This sort of mental rags-to-riches progression has inspired a lot of movies; ever see Cliff Robertson in “Charly” (1968)? The difference here is that Eddie Mora remains himself before and after, and all that changes is his ability to recall everything he ever saw or heard. “Limitless” assumes that would be a benefit and make him rich, but what if most of what he ever saw or heard about Wall Street was wrong (as it usually is)?

The movie sidesteps the problem that what we need is more intelligence and a better ability to reason, not a better memory. For memory, modern man has Google. There’s no need to stumble over such technicalities, however; given its premise “Limitless” is passably entertaining. Abbie Cornish plays Lindy, the successful young professional woman who dumps Eddie as a loser and falls for him all over again when he becomes a winner. This is not sneaky on her part; there is every reason to dump the original Eddie and many good ones to return.

Eddie grows entangled in three problems. One has to do with the source of the magic pills; the brother-in-law is no longer in a position to reveal it. The second has to do with a mob loan shark who liked being smart and wants to get that way again.

The third involves Carl Van Loon, played by Robert De Niro as one of the richest men in America. He hires Eddie as an investment magician, Eddie loses his touch when he runs out of pills, he regains it, and so on. De Niro is not well used in the role, because he plays Van Loon straight and in one dimension. Don’t you suppose he could have been supplied with a quirk of his own? The twist at the end comes too late.

Bradley Cooper fits well into the two versions of Eddie Morra, and director Neil Burger does inventive visual effects in showing how time telescopes for Eddie and the answers to problems seem to materialize before his eyes. A subplot about a murder, however, raises questions it doesn’t answer, and all the quasi-criminal stuff seems a little perfunctory. The movie is not terrifically good, but the premise is intriguing; it doesn’t really set out to explore what such a pill might really to do a person. “Limitless” only uses 15, maybe 20 percent of its brain. Still, that’s more than a lot of movies do.

you can follow him on twitter as well: @ebertchicago

ALL TYPES OF DEAL!!! MOVIE DEAL!

2011-07-17T14:46:00.000-07:00

did you know FAYES VIDEO pretty much has a movie deal/special every day of the week?
MONDAY - All Movies are just $2 (new ones/old ones - good ones/bad ones)
TUESDAY - Documentary Movies are just $2! (get real for just $2)
WEDNESDAY - 2 for 1 movies. Rent one get one for free!!
THURSDAY - Classic Thursdays. All classic movies just $2 (old= classic=good)
FRIDAY - Family Film Fridays. All Kids movies are just $2.

PICK 12!

Each week we select 12 'themed' films that you can rent for free!

Just rent any movie in the store and you get on of our 'Pick 12' selections for free!

Good any day of the week!

THE PLAN!

pre-paid movie packages that work out to just $3 a movie, anytime.

No expiration!

Save up to $20 on movie rentals with 'THE PLAN'.

NEW RELEASES FOR JULY 12TH!

2011-07-11T17:45:00.000-07:00

Damages: Season 3

Hot lady lawyers on the attack

Entourage: Season 7

The boys are back and this time they're even sexier and more self-obsessed!

Insidious

Creepy little boy in a creepy old house where creepy things happen!

Rango

Cute animated desert creatures voiced by an awesome cast including Johnny Depp and Isla Fisher. Brandon Fibbs says: "Rango is Disney by way of Hunter S. Thompson."

New Criterion releases at a Fayes Video near you!

2011-07-09T18:41:00.000-07:00

Did you know that Faye's has an awesome, nearly complete selection of Criterion films? Ask a friendly employee for recommendations today!

The Criterion Collection is a video-distribution company selling "important classic and contemporary films" to cinema aficionados founded in 1984. Criterion Collection releases were the first to provide several features that have become standard including audio commentaries. They are also known for taking great lengths to restore and clean all movies released on their label.

New to Fayes:

Blow Out, 1981

Dir: Brian de Palma

De Palma's homage to Antonioni's classic art movie Blow-Up (1966) blends suspense and political paranoia when a Philadelphia sound man inadvertently records a murder.

Cul-de-sac, 1966

Dir: Roman Polanski

Aging, furtively kinky Donald Pleasence is married to sexy young Francoise Dorleac. The couple's hermitlike tranquility is shattered when wounded gangsters Jack MacGowan and Lionel Stander invade their home and hold them hostage.

Kiss Me Deadly, 1955

Dir: Robert Aldrich

While driving down a lonely road, private eye Mike Hammer picks up a beautiful hitchhiker (Cloris Leachman!), dressed in nothing but a raincoat. At first, he assumes that the incoherent girl is an escaped lunatic; his mind is changed for him when he and the girl are abducted by two thugs.

Life During Wartime, 2010

Dir: Todd Solondz.

Friends, family, and lovers struggle to find love, forgiveness, and meaning in a war-torn world riddled with comedy and pathos. An almost-sequel to Solondz' 1998 film Happiness starring an all new cast of actors.

Red Desert, 1964

Dir: Michelangelo Antonioni

Antonioni's creative muse Monica Vitti plays Giuliana, an unhappy wife, who suffers from an unnamed form of depression and malaise. Her quicksilver emotional shifts disturb everyone around her, but they, like she, pretend that nothing is truly wrong. Also starring Richard Harris as British engineer Corrado Zeller.

Zazie dan de Metro, 1960

Dir: Louis Malle

Twelve-year old Zazie has to stay two days with her relatives in Paris, so that her mother can spend some time with her lover. However, Zazie escapes her uncle's custody and sets out to explore Paris on her own.

T.V. Mash-Up!

2011-07-07T18:15:00.000-07:00

The C word: Lesbians talk about catipillars

Project walking Dead: Zombies design torn, ripped and soiled garments and are rewarded in brains and trips to New York's Fashion Week.

Modern Blood: Al Bundy is a vampire.

Sex & the Weeds: Episodes 1-9 the gang gets real high eats junk food and watches t.v.. All shot in Slow-motion.

One Time - With Molly

2011-07-03T19:33:00.000-07:00

One time I tried to get my husband to watch my most favoritest movie of all time "Battle Royale" but he wasn't having it! That movie is so awesome. You see the plot is that in Japan the children stopped respecting adults and were acting all kinds of out of line, SO the grown ups created this program called "Battle Royale". Every year a class of teenage school children are picked and they are shipped to an island, they are all given a weapon and they have 3 days to kill each other, only 1 student can be alive at the end of the 3 days or else the collars around their necks will all explode!!! It is the most amazing movie ever. And you wanna know what else? In the movie, the girl who likes to run and wears a yellow running suit, she is O'ren ishii's personal body guard in Kill Bill, you know the school girl with the ball and chain. Isn't that cool?

THE END!