Five feature-length action adventures based on the Marvel comic.

In 'X-Men' (2000), mutants Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and Magneto (Ian McKellen) are former friends, but look set to become mortal enemies when fascist US senator Robert Frank Kelly calls for the registration of all humans with abnormal powers. While telepath Xavier, who runs an altruistic academy for superhuman 'X-Men', wishes to enlighten non-mutants and break down the prejudices which divide them, Magneto believes that the only solution is for the mutants to take over. Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) - an aggressive loner with an admantium skeleton and the ability to heal his body of any wound - and teenager Rogue (Anna Paquin), who can absorb the life force of others simply by touching them, are selected by Xavier to join his academy, but it isn't long before Magneto's followers are attempting to capture them so that they can assist in his plan for world domination.

In the sequel, 'X-Men 2' (2003), Xavier, Wolverine and the X-Men find themselves in the firing line after a failed assassination attempt on the president points the finger at the school. It was in fact the mysterious teleporter Nightwalker (Alan Cumming) who ordered it, and, in an attempt to clear their names, the X-Men are led into a trap set by the evil William Stryker (Brian Cox), a mysterious scientist apparently working for the government. As it soon becomes evident that Stryker's agenda is to destroy all mutants, the X-Men need to call in the help of many of their old friends and foes, including Magneto, if they are to stop him.

In the third film, 'X-Men: The Last Stand' (2006), the mutants are given the option of giving up their powers and becoming human after a private laboratory supported by the government finds a way to use the DNA of a powerful boy to correct the mutants. However, Magneto opposes and decides to join a force to fight against the government and kill the mutant boy. Meanwhile, Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) resurrects, uncontrolled by Xavier, and with the personality of the powerful Dark Phoenix. She destroys Cyclops (James Marsden) and Xavier and allies herself to the evil forces of Magneto, making them almost invincible.

The fourth film in the franchise, 'X-Men: Origins - Wolverine' (2009) is a prequel to the other three films. Hugh Jackman reprises his role as Wolverine, who, some 20 years before the action of the original movie, is seeking revenge on his half-brother Victor Creed (Liev Schreiber) for the death of his girlfriend, and eventually signs up to the ominous Weapon X programme.

Finally, 'X-Men: First Class' (2011) charts the beginning of the saga, following Professor X (James McAvoy) and Magneto (Michael Fassbender) through their formative years in the 1960s as they come to terms with their newfound superpowers. Initially close friends who work together to fight against evil, the two men are driven apart by a conflict of opinion that ultimately leads to the eternal war between Magneto's Brotherhood and Professor X's X-Men.

TURN EVEN THE MOST STRESSFUL SITUATION INTO AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHINE FOR YOU AND YOUR TEAM.

People aren't born to be high-performing leaders; instead, they need to learn to develop the time-proven characteristics of great leadership. Leadership When the Heat's On shows you how to acquire these characteristics, motivate your people, and achieve remarkable results across your organization-particularly during times of change and stress.

This quick-hitting, hands-on rulebook is chock-full of hard-won advice and action steps for keeping your cool under pressure and inspiring incredible performance from your team.

You'll see how to:

• Start turning problems into opportunities that can enhance your career
• Practice “humanagement”-using the job to develop the person while having fun in the process
• Overcome your team's roadblocks to goal achievement
• Develop an organization with free-flowing, two-way communication, from top-to-bottom
• Know the signs of low morale, take immediate action to counteract the causes, and make strategic plans to keep spirits from falling again
• Encourage inspired thinking by relaxing old rules of conformity and publicly recognizing new ideas

Leadership When the Heat's On prepares you to meet all leadership challenges, whether anticipated or unexpected.

Alex Rogo is a harried plant manager working ever more desperately to try and improve performance. His factory is rapidly heading for disaster. So is his marriage. He has ninety days to save his plant - or it will be closed by corporate HQ, with hundreds of job losses. It takes a chance meeting with a colleague from student days - Jonah - to help him break out of conventional ways of thinking to see what needs to be done.

Described by Fortune as a 'guru to industry' and by Businessweek as a 'genius', Eliyahu M. Goldratt was an internationally recognized leader in the development of new business management concepts and systems. This 20th anniversary edition includes a series of detailed case study interviews by David Whitford, Editor at Large, Fortune Small Business, which explore how organizations around the world have been transformed by Eli Goldratt's ideas.

The story of Alex's fight to save his plant contains a serious message for all managers in industry and explains the ideas which underline the Theory of Constraints (TOC) developed by Eli Goldratt. Written in a fast-paced thriller style, The Goal is the gripping novel which is transforming management thinking throughout the Western world. It is a book to recommend to your friends in industry - even to your bosses - but not to your competitors!

Demi Lovato rose to stardom as a child actor, and went on to fame as a talented singer and performer. But what is this high-profile star like offstage? High-interest details and bold photos of Demi's fascinating life will enthrall reluctant and struggling readers, while carefully levelled text will leave readers feeling confident.

This cutting-edge and authoritative Handbook covers a broad spectrum of social movement research methodologies, offering expert analysis and detailed accounts of the ways in which research can effectively be carried out on social movements and popular protests. Addressing practice-oriented questions, this Handbook engages with both theoretical and political dimensions, unpacking the multidimensional nature of social movement research. Divided into three thematic sections, this stimulating Handbook dives deep into discussions relating to the methodological challenges raised by researching social movements, the technical question of how such research is conducted, and then to more practical considerations about the uses and applications of movement research. Expert contributors and established researchers utilise real-world examples to explore the methodological challenges from a range of perspectives including classical, engaged, feminist, Black, Indigenous and global Southern viewpoints. The Handbook on Research Methods and Applications for Social Movements will not only appeal to experienced researchers, but also to activists who have started to think about researching their own movements and to politically engaged students. It speaks to beginning and established scholars in relevant disciplines such as sociology, political science, anthropology, geography, development studies, gender studies, and race and ethnic studies, and particularly those looking to better appreciate the different research methods for understanding social movements.

A Brief History of Time for the 21st Century At the heart of our galaxy lies a monster so deadly, not even light can escape its grasp. Its secrets lie waiting to be discovered. It’s time to explore our universe’s most mysterious inhabitants Black Holes At the heart of the Milky Way lies a supermassive black hole 4 million times more massive than our Sun. A place where space and time are so warped that light is trapped if it ventures within 12 million km. According to Einstein, inside lies the end of time. According to 21st-century physics, the reality may be far more bizarre. Black holes lie where the most massive stars used to shine and at the edge of our current understanding. They are naturally occurring objects, the inevitable creations of gravity when too much matter collapses into not enough space. And yet, although the laws of nature predict them, they fail fully to describe them. Black holes are places in space and time where the laws of gravity, quantum physics and thermodynamics collide. Originally thought to be so intellectually troubling that they simply could not exist, it is only in the past few years that we have begun to glimpse a new synthesis; a deep connection between gravity and quantum information theory that describes a holographic universe in which space and time emerge from a network of quantum bits, and wormholes span the void. In this groundbreaking book, Professor Brian Cox and Professor Jeff Forshaw take you to the edge of our understanding of black holes; a scientific journey to the research frontier spanning a century of physics, from Einstein to Hawking and beyond, that ends with the startling conclusion that our world may operate like a giant quantum computer.

Simone Biles has inspired the world with her incredible gymnastics achievements, including her many Olympic medals. But what is her life like outside of the gym? High-interest details and bold photos of her exciting life will enthrall reluctant and struggling readers, while carefully levelled text will leave them feeling confident.

This multi-perspective Research Handbook provides a clear pathway through the nonprofit governance research field, pushing beyond the borders of current theory to expand and deepen the analytical framework for nonprofit governance. It offers an analysis of the basics including definitions, organizational forms and levels of governance, and takes a critical approach towards the normative and prescriptive tendencies in much of contemporary governance scholarship.   Divided into four distinctly thematic parts, contributors provide an in-depth review of the last 20 years, building on the foundations of classical contributions and further exploring new theoretical approaches, while examining the governance challenges of diverse types of organizations, including those from both developed and developing countries. Future challenges including multilevel governance are expertly addressed, and insights leading towards a unified theory are proposed.   This thoroughly engaging Research Handbook will be an excellent resource for scholars in business and strategic management, nonprofit management and civil society, interested in topics such as nonprofit governance practice and boards of directors, governance theory, stakeholder management, membership organizations, foundations and hybrid organizations. Teachers of nonprofit management will also find this invaluable as it addresses both the core concepts and the most recent developments.

The Market has deified itself, according to Harvey Cox's brilliant exegesis. And all of the world's problems-widening inequality, a rapidly warming planet, the injustices of global poverty-are consequently harder to solve. Only by tracing how the Market reached its "divine" status can we hope to restore it to its proper place as servant of humanity. The Market as God captures how our world has fallen in thrall to the business theology of supply and demand. According to its acolytes, the Market is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent. It knows the value of everything, and determines the outcome of every transaction; it can raise nations and ruin households, and nothing escapes its reductionist commodification. The Market comes complete with its own doctrines, prophets, and evangelical zeal to convert the world to its way of life. Cox brings that theology out of the shadows, demonstrating that the way the world economy operates is neither natural nor inevitable but shaped by a global system of values and symbols that can be best understood as a religion. Drawing on biblical sources, economists and financial experts, prehistoric religions, Greek mythology, historical patterns, and the work of natural and social scientists, Cox points to many parallels between the development of Christianity and the Market economy. At various times in history, both have garnered enormous wealth and displayed pompous behavior. Both have experienced the corruption of power. However, what the religious have learned over the millennia, sometimes at great cost, still eludes the Market faithful: humility.

Historian Mike Cox has been writing about Texas history for four decades, sharing tales that have been overlooked or forgotten through the years. Travel to El Paso during the "Big Blow" of 1895, brave the frontier with Elizabeth Russell Baker, and stare down the infamous killer known as Old Three Toe. From frontier stories and ghost towns to famous folks and accounts of everyday life, this collection of West Texas Tales has it all.

Bryan Bertino co-writes and directs this found footage thriller starring Todd Stashwick, Alexandra Lydon and Barak Hardley. The film follows three separate people who receive a video camera on their doorstep with instructions to begin filming and be entered into a mysterious competition. However, as the reality of their situation slowly becomes apparent, they find there is something much more sinister going on behind the scenes.

India Eisley and Samuel L. Jackson star in this thriller directed by Ralph Ziman. When young Sawa (Eisley) discovers that her parents have fallen victim to a brutal double murder she enlists the help of her policeman father's former partner Karl Aker (Jackson) to help her find the killer and bring him to justice. As Sawa finds herself digging deeper into the underground world of human trafficking she discovers home truths that she wishes had stayed secret.

Kim Cattrall stars as a faded porn star, down on her luck, in this independent comedy from first-time writer/director Keith Bearden. Seizing the chance to sell his unique hot dog wagon to a potential buyer, while at the same time catching the club act of his favourite 1980s porn star Monica Velour (Cattrall), 17-year-old geek Tobe Hulbert (Dustin Ingram) sets off for Indiana. On arrival, Tobe finds an ageing Monica performing in a run-down strip joint, where, after defending her from ungracious patrons, he gets beaten up. Taken in by a grateful Monica, Tobe is sure that he's met his ideal woman and can finally set about turning his dreams into reality. But although she feels affection towards the teenager, Monica realises that her first priority needs to be getting her life back on track, and in particular, winning a custody battle for her daughter.

Double bill of film fantasies. 'Stardust' (2007) is an adventure based on the bestselling graphic novel by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess. When a young man, Tristan (Charlie Cox), tries to win the heart of his beautiful but cold object of his desire Victoria (Sienna Miller) by going on a quest to retrieve a fallen star, his journey takes him to a mysterious and forbidden land beyond the walls of his village. On his odyssey, Tristan finds the star, which has transformed into a striking girl called Yvaine (Claire Danes). However, Tristan is not the only one seeking the star. A king (Peter O'Toole)'s four sons - not to mention the ghosts of their three dead brothers - all need the star as they vie for the throne. Tristan must also overcome the evil witch, Lamia (Michelle Pfeiffer), who needs the star to make her young again. As Tristan battles to survive these threats, encountering a pirate named Captain Shakespeare (Robert De Niro) and a shady trader named Ferdy the Fence (Ricky Gervais) along the way, his quest changes. He must now win the heart of the star for himself as he discovers the meaning of true love. Neil Jordan directs the Irish drama 'Ondine' (2009). Syracuse (Colin Farrell) is a poor fisherman whose life is changed forever when he fishes a beautiful live woman (Alicja Bachleda) out of the sea. His young daughter, Annie (Alison Barry), is convinced that the mysterious beauty must be a mermaid. Theories abound about the girl's origins as she transforms the lives of Syracuse, Annie and the local townsfolk. Stephen Rea and Dervla Kirwan co-star.

Central Texas is an area as diverse culturally as it is geographically. Bordered by Hill Country in the west, green farmland in the east and Waco and New Braunfels in the north and south, this area has drawn settlers from around the globe for over two centuries, leaving their mark and their stories along the way. From a surprising story of nineteenth-century psych ops at Fort Mason and what really happened to Bevo, the UT longhorn, in 1920 to Mrs. Ross's Croghan Cobbler recipe and rumors of a Lone Star visit by old Abe himself, historian Mike Cox regales readers with over fifty stories about the fascinating people, history and places of middle Texas.

Double bill featuring two spoof comedies. 'Epic Movie' (2007) tells the tale of four fully grown orphans: one the victim of snakes that attacked her plane, another raised by a kindly Louvre curator, the third a Mexican 'libre' wrestling refuge, and the last an average mutant from an 'X'-community. When the curious quartet visits a sprawling chocolate factory, they stumble across a magical wardrobe which transports them to the enchanted land of Gnarnia. It seems that the wondrous fantasy land has recently fallen under the spell of the evil White Bitch (Jennifer Coolidge), and in order to bring peace back to Gnarnia these four bumbling mortals will have to join forces with a charismatic pirate, a painfully sincere group of aspiring wizards, and one particularly libidinous lion. 'Date Movie' (2006) stars Alyson Hannigan as a hopeless romantic who has finally met the man of her dreams Grant Funkyerdoder. But before they can have their 'Big Fat Greek Wedding', they'll have to 'Meet the Parents', hook up with 'The Wedding Planner' and contend with Grant's girlfriend, Andy, a spectacularly beautiful woman who wants to put a stop to her 'Best Friend's Wedding'.

Ensemble comedy about a group of twentysomethings all approaching the landmark age of 30 who decide to compile a list of things they should do before they finally have to grow up. Cass (Dougray Scott) is shocked to find that he might want to settle down, Dylan (Jimi Mistry) is still trying to find the perfect woman, and Colin (Bruce Mackinnon) is just desperate to have a threesome. Also starring Billie Piper, Emilia Fox, and Shaun Parkes.

The first seven episodes from the first season of the animated series following a team of superheroes as they battle against some of the deadliest villains. Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, the Hulk, Ant-Man, the Wasp, Hawkeye and the Black Panther unite to defeat various enemies, including Loki and The Masters of Evil. Episodes are: 'Iron Man Is Born!', 'Thor the Mighty', 'Hulk Versus the World', 'Meet Captain America', 'The Man in the Ant Hill', 'Breakout: Part 1' and 'Breakout: Part 2'.