Seasonal British comedy sequel starring David Tennant, Pam Ferris and Jessica Hynes. Neurotic newly-qualified teacher Mr Peterson (Tennant) starts a new job at an under-achieving school and soon finds himself juggling his heavy workload with a wildly unconventional classroom assistant, a group of delinquent kids and his own very pregnant wife. The pressure mounts still further when he somehow becomes embroiled in a madcap plan to enter the National 'Song for Christmas' Competition and finds himself embarking on the craziest road trip of his life.

Uncover the full story of the galaxy's most heroic band of misfits. Even since the 2000s, Marvel's greatest band of intergalactic outlaws have become ever more crucial to the comic book Marvel Universe and its key storylines, ultimately inspiring their inclusion in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the blockbuster Guardians of the Galaxy movies. Fans all over the world have enjoyed their comics and movie adventures, and many will be wondering how the Guardians came to be the galaxy's most wanted crew of cosmic rogues. This new, updated, and expanded edition of the Guardians of the Galaxy Ultimate Guide gives the lowdown on the motley team's entire story, from their earliest incarnations to their latest story lines and future legacy. Chronicled by Marvel-approved comics experts and illustrated with stellar comic artwork, this is a must-have guide for die-hard fans and newcomers alike. © 2022 MARVEL

"This is a timely and pertinent contribution to the study of action cinema. Drawing insights from human geographers, sociologists and philosophers as well as film theorists, Jones offers a stimulating account of the ways the action sequence speaks to our interactions with the built environment and to our contemporary spatial imagination." -- Lisa Purse, University of Reading, UK This book applies the discourse of the so-called 'spatial turn' to popular contemporary cinema, in particular the action sequences of twenty-first century Hollywood productions.

The definitive guide to the characters of the DC Multiverse and a vital addition to every comic book fan's bookshelf. Iconic Super Heroes Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and The Flash have been transformed in recent years, along with many other DC characters. This new edition of the most comprehensive A-Z guide to DC's pantheon of Super Heroes and Super-Villains includes the latest earth-shaking developments in the DC Multiverse, with profiles of more than 1,200 characters. Created in full collaboration with DC, the encyclopedia features characters and art from every key crossover event, including Dark Nights: Metal and its sequel Dark Nights: Death Metal. With a foreword by DC legend Jim Lee, a brand-new cover design, and thrilling comic artwork, the fun and excitement of more than 80 years of comics history explodes off every page. Experience the DC Multiverse like never before with The DC Comics Encyclopedia New Edition. Copyright (c)2021 DC Comics. All DC characters and elements (c) & (TM) DC Comics. WB SHIELD: (TM) & (c) Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (s21)

As the modern world rose from the rubble of Second World War, it was shaped by one material above all others. In 1947, a new magazine honed in on this paradigmatic shift in architecture and design: Concrete Quarterly. The World Recast charts this journey through the stunning photography and eyewitness testimony of Concrete Quarterly's rich and fascinating archive. It is the story of heroic architecture, ingenious engineering and how the world we now take for granted came into being. The World Recast celebrates Concrete Quarterly's summative coverage of this pivotal era in architecture, focusing on 70 buildings from the magazine's 70-year history. It charts the genesis of some of the modern world's greatest monuments and its boldest ideas, from the ethereal beauty of Ove Arup's Brynmawr Rubber Factory to the sleek modernism of the Pirelli Tower, the fairytale churches of Gottfried Boehm and the digitally enhanced imagination of Zaha Hadid. Plentiful and cheap, but also bold and undeniably modern, concrete suited the spirit of the post-war period perfectly. It was the obvious means of building the power stations, motorways and factories that would be the engines of economic recovery, and made possible a new era in architecture and design. But it was also the choice of a generation of designers keen to express themselves through radically new architectural forms and types of structure. The World Recast reflects upon the legacy of Concrete Quarterly and the significance of concrete within modernism and other architectural movements. It also expands the conversation into the present day, offering crucial insight into concrete's comeback within today's architecture, as well as its recent popularity in contemporary culture at large.

This book applies the discourse of the so-called 'spatial turn' to popular contemporary cinema, in particular the action sequences of twenty-first century Hollywood productions. Tackling a variety of spatial imaginations (contemporary iconic architecture; globalisation and non-places; phenomenological knowledge of place; consumerist spaces of commodity purchase; cyberspace), the diverse case studies not only detail the range of ways in which action sequences represent the challenge of surviving and acting in contemporary space, but also reveal the consistent qualities of spatial appropriation and spatial manipulation that define the form. Jones argues that action sequences dramatise the restrictions and possibilities of space, offering examples of radical spatial praxis through their depictions of spatial engagement, struggle and eventual transcendence.

Matchbox toys were ubiquitous items for children across the Western world. Originally labelled Christmas-cracker trash by retailers and shopkeepers, the small-scale 1-75 series soon began to see unprecedented worldwide sales in the 1950s. Smaller and cheaper than most of its competitors' toys, Matchbox models were also far more accurately modelled, but the company has nevertheless seen its own share of competition and challenging times over the years. In this beautifully illustrated book, Matchbox collector Nick Jones tells the story of Matchbox and its most famous toys, from the Coronation Coach to Hotwheels dragsters, and complements the story with beautiful, previously unpublished photographs.

Explores the influence of the graphic user interface on contemporary screen media Argues for a critical reading of screen media which centres the GUI in the production and reception of this media Offers an innovatively interdisciplinary exploration of digital screen media, employing film studies, new media studies, videogame studies, urban theory, and more Places interfaces, videogames, films, television, apps, VR, and other media on equal footing Analyses a wide variety of case studies from various contemporary mainstream media to show their connections and influences Updates ideas of media convergence and remediation for today's overlapping media environment The Graphic User Interface, or GUI, is the adhesive centre of today's screen entertainment web. From films and television to apps and videogames, it holds together a multitude of media and shapes the way they are accessed, organised, created, consumed, and manipulated. However, it does not do so without leaving viscous traces, and Gooey Media: Screen Entertainment and the Graphic User Interface examines this residue and its consequences, revealing how the GUI exerts a powerful influence on contemporary media. Focusing on aesthetics and adopting a media agnostic approach, Jones explores cinema, streaming platforms, television, user-generated content, videogames, apps, virtual reality, VFX, design software, and more in order to show how they cross-pollinate with one another and with our desktop interfaces. The result is a new approach for analysing convergent media in the digital era.

Digital 3D has become a core feature of the twenty-first-century visual landscape. Yet 3D cinema is a contradictory media form: producing spaces that are highly regimented and exhaustively detailed, it simultaneously relies upon distortions of vision and space that are inherently strange. Spaces Mapped and Monstrous explores the paradoxical nature of 3D cinema to offer a critical analysis of an inescapable part of contemporary culture. Considering 3D's distinctive visual qualities and its connections to wider digital systems, Nick Jones situates the production and exhibition of 3D cinema within a web of aesthetic, technological, and historical contexts. He examines 3D's relationship with computer interfaces, virtual reality, and digital networks as well as tracing its lineage to predigital models of visual organization. Jones emphasizes that 3D is not only a technology used in films but also a tool for producing, controlling, and distorting space within systems of surveillance, corporatization, and militarization. The book features detailed analysis of a wide range of films-including Avatar (2009), Goodbye to Language (2014), Love (2015), and Clash of the Titans (2010)-demonstrating that 3D is not merely an augmentation of 2D cinema but that it has its own unique properties. Spaces Mapped and Monstrous brings together media archaeology, digital theory, and textual analysis to provide a new account of the importance of 3D to visual culture today.

Bringing together some of the innovative, thought-provoking, and daring new works from New York's downtown theater scene, The Downtown Anthology offers a rich collection of plays from both up-and-coming and established playwrights. Includes: A Map of Virtue by Erin Courtney; We Are Proud To Present A Presentation About The Herero Of Namibia, Formerly Known As Southwest Africa, From The German Sudwestafrika, Between The Years 1884-1915 by Jackie Sibblies Drury; Trevor by Nick Jones; The Lily's Revenge by Taylor Mac; Alice in Slasherland by Qui Nguyen; Phoebe in Winter by Jen Silverman. Trevor: "Hugely entertaining tragicomedy... the genius of [Jones's] play is how he has so cleverly humanized both characters." Chicago Sun Times The Lily's Revenge: " offers so many incidental pleasures that theatrical time always a curiously malleable element seems to contract." New York Times A Map of Virtue: "With a Hitchcockian sensibility, [Courtney] makes psychodrama out of the mystery of what keeps people together even as imaginations and egos push them apart. Like a souvenir from a fleeting dream, this play will pass over you painlessly, and then it will linger." Backstage

"Story hook, tragic moment, poster, or outrageous character, the covers lured us in." - Paul Levitz, president of DC Comics 2002-2009 From the trailblazing works of Bob Kane, to the photorealistic stylings of Adam Hughes and quirky humour of Amanda Conner, DC Comics Cover Art is a collection of the most iconic covers in DC's history. Stunning artwork is accompanied by expert commentary exploring the significance of each cover, while artist profiles shed light on their creators. Discover the most striking covers from more than 85 years of DC Comics. All DC characters and elements (c) & (TM) DC Comics. (s20)

Evacuating a city is a complex problem that involves issues of governance, preparedness education, warning, information sharing, population dynamics, resilience and recovery. As natural and anthropogenic threats to cities grow, it is an increasingly pressing problem for policy makers and practitioners. The book is the result of a unique interdisciplinary collaboration between researchers in the physical and social sciences to consider how an interdisciplinary approach can help plan for large scale evacuations. It draws on perspectives from physics, mathematics, organisation theory, economics, sociology and education. Importantly it goes beyond disciplinary boundaries and considers how interdisciplinary methods are necessary to approach a complex problem involving human actors and increasingly complex communications and transportation infrastructures. Using real world case studies and modelling the book considers new approaches to evacuation dynamics. It addresses questions of complexity, not only in terms of theory, but examining the latest challenges for cities and emergency responders. Factors such as social media, information quality and visualisation techniques are examined to consider the 'new' dynamics of warning and informing, evacuation and recovery.

A young woman receives a package from an unknown address and opens it to discover that her knitting ability is more important than she could have ever imagined. Illustrated by David Sarallo.

Evacuating a city is a complex problem that involves issues of governance, preparedness education, warning, information sharing, population dynamics, resilience and recovery. As natural and anthropogenic threats to cities grow, it is an increasingly pressing problem for policy makers and practitioners.

The book is the result of a unique interdisciplinary collaboration between researchers in the physical and social sciences to consider how an interdisciplinary approach can help plan for large scale evacuations.It draws on perspectives from physics, mathematics, organisation theory, economics, sociology and education.Importantly it goes beyond disciplinary boundaries and considers how interdisciplinary methods are necessary to approach a complex problem involving human actors and increasingly complex communications and transportation infrastructures.

Using real world case studies and modelling the book considers new approaches to evacuation dynamics. It addresses questions of complexity, not only in terms of theory, but examining the latest challenges for cities and emergency responders.Factors such as social media, information quality and visualisation techniques are examined to consider the new dynamics of warning and informing, evacuation and recovery."

Humanity has fallen, the survivors fight to live each and every day. Most people have congregated into massive walled cities called Beacons. A race of squid-faced beings called the Ancient Ones have risen from the depths of the earth and now seek to claim the planet for themselves. Their ancient enemy the Angelics are here as well, but they seem to only be watching for now. You are a hero, you trek outside the safety of the Beacons for wealth, adventure and survival. As the human race teeters on the edge of extinction, will you be the hero the saves us all?