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Lust, greed, and gossip in a glamorous British hotel of the 1920s

As the most opulent hotel in Manchester, England, during the decadent Roaring ’20s, The Grand is more than a building. It’s a nexus for schemes, scandals, romance, and intrigue. For owner John Bannerman, The Grand symbolizes a tradition of luxury and elegance begun by his father. For Marcus Bannerman, it becomes a risky investment and a way to entice his brother’s wife into bed. And for the maids and porters employed there, it represents a possible escape from their hardscrabble past--and an endless source of backstairs gossip.

Written by Russell T Davies (Casanova, Touching Evil) and featuring three-time Emmy®-winner Susan Hampshire, this is addictive period drama in the tradition of Upstairs, Downstairs and The Duchess of Duke Street. Divided by class and circumstance or tied together by love and loyalty, the myriad characters who populate The Grand prove unforgettable.

Image Upstairs Downstairs on a more massive scale. Or, if you can, a serious version of Fawlty Towers set in the 1920s in Manchester's luxurious Grand Hotel. Closed for renovations following World War I, the hotel and its staff face financial ruin, foreclosure, suicide, and infidelity before even reopening its doors to guests in the first episode of the series. When it finally welcomes visitors, guests abound, but so does trouble. This highly acclaimed eight-part story has everything a miniseries requires: suspense, social climbers, financial double-dealing, humor, murder, and semiretired prostitutes.

Written by Queer as Folk author Russell T. Davies, The Grand features an ever-surprising plot propelled by strong characters, their loyalties, rivalries, and revelations. The large and adept cast portrays the hotel guests, staff, and owners. This diverse ensemble re-creates an era when class distinctions between the upper and working classes were all-important. The Grand's doorman acts as a cultural interpreter between the posh owners and the working-class staff. The sets and costumes are done with a remarkable attention to detail that will please both Anglophiles and PBS fans. --Tara Chace

Woody Harrelson stars as One-Eyed Jack Faro, a not-quite-fully-rehabbed gambler, party monster, and serial marry-er hoping to save his late grandfather's hotel-casino by winning $10 million cash at The Grand Championship Of Poker. But first he'll have to beat a Vegas field of geeks, gurus, online amateurs, greedy developers, ruthless housewives, old-school pros and more of the top players in the world for the largest prize in poker history. Jason Alexander, Ray Romano, Mike Epps, Judy Greer, Werner Herzog, Gabe Kaplan, Michael McKean, Phil Gordon and Doyle Brunson co-star in this no-limit comedy from director Zak Penn (Incident At Loch Ness).

While Seattle is famous for many things, sunlight isn't one of them. Yet illumination and warmth suffuse the self-titled debut from this Emerald City quintet. Dark times do not necessarily call for dark music. While singer/ guitarist Mat Brooke's previous ensembles (Band Of Horses, Carissa's Wierd) often shied away from light, he's changed direction with this band. Like the timeless classics of The Mamas & The Papas or The Turtles, it responds to the turbulent times of its genesis with hope, high spirits, and a sense of camaraderie.

Image Upstairs Downstairs on a more massive scale. Or, if you can, a serious version of Fawlty Towers set in the 1920s in Manchester's luxurious Grand Hotel. Closed for renovations following World War I, the hotel and its staff face financial ruin, foreclosure, suicide, and infidelity before even reopening its doors to guests in the first episode of the series. When it finally welcomes visitors, guests abound, but so does trouble. This highly acclaimed eight-part story has everything a miniseries requires: suspense, social climbers, financial double-dealing, humor, murder, and semiretired prostitutes.

Written by Queer as Folk author Russell T. Davies, The Grand features an ever-surprising plot propelled by strong characters, their loyalties, rivalries, and revelations. The large and adept cast portrays the hotel guests, staff, and owners. This diverse ensemble re-creates an era when class distinctions between the upper and working classes were all-important. The Grand's doorman acts as a cultural interpreter between the posh owners and the working-class staff. The sets and costumes are done with a remarkable attention to detail that will please both Anglophiles and PBS fans. --Tara Chace

What does the American Dream mean today?

For Niko Bellic, fresh off the boat from Europe, it is the hope he can escape his past. For his cousin, Roman, it is the vision that together they can find fortune in Liberty City, gateway to the land of opportunity. As they slip into debt and are dragged into a criminal underworld by a series of shysters, thieves and sociopaths, they discover that the reality is very different from the dream in a city that worships money and status, and is heaven for those who have them and a living nightmare for those who don’t.

Beginning with the 1997 release of the original Grand Theft Auto, the GTA series has been one of the most prolific, controversial and down right entertaining franchises in video games history. This pedigree of success guarantees that the highly anticipated eleventh game in the series, Grand Theft Auto IV, will garner at least as much attention if not more.

Return to Liberty City.

The dream as Niko expected it. View larger.

There's always a catch. View larger.

But some skills are international. View larger.

The Plot
Grand Theft Auto IV is a brand new adventure in the GTA universe following the experiences of Nikolai "Niko" Bellic, a new immigrant from an undisclosed eastern European country whose troubled pa st and the persuasion of his cousin Roman have brought him to the fictional Liberty City. Unfortunately, Niko’s search for the American Dream and a much needed fresh start, hits an immediate snag when the rags to riches story Roman spun to pique Niko's interest is exposed as not only a complete fabrication, but a ploy to enlist Niko’s well-known skills as a tough guy against the ample list of enemies clamoring for Roman’s debt-ridden blood.

Because Roman is the only person Niko knows in Liberty City he begrudgingly accepts his role as Roman’s protector despite the deception. But as time goes on Niko comes into his own, and his experience on the wrong side of the tracks proves more valuable than he could have ever imagined as he fights for survival and later supremacy on the crime ridden streets of Liberty City.

Game Environments
Based on several of the boroughs of New York City and parts of New Jersey, Liberty City, familiar to players of previous games in the series, has been entirely redesigned for GTA IV. Players can expect visible detail down to the weeds growing in the cracks in the sidewalk, cars and buildings of visibly different ages and a much greater level if verticality in the buildings and bridges that they are able to explore as Niko moves through the city streets. In addition, pedestrians in GTA IV are much more realistic. No longer simply moving cardboard cutouts, these NPCs are intelligent, modern, human representations that laugh, cry, eat, drink, use cell phones and ATMs, and talking amongst themselves regardless of Niko’s interaction with them.

Gameplay
Historically GTA games have focused heavily on mission-based play, requiring successful completion of fixed tasks in order for players to progress through the game, but this has changed to a great extent in GTA IV. Players will experience an entirely new and exciting emphasis centered on the blending of on-mission and off-mission play, resulting not only in an increased sense of realism, but more interesting and unrestricted gameplay.

Features
Aside from the car jacking and a detailed city environment here are the new features for GTA IV:

• Improved combat system - Now you can use cover and also a target lock system, which allows you to take out targets with greater ease and accuracy. Plus, you can engage in some hand-to-hand combat if you can't get your hands on a piece quick enough.
• Cell phone - Not just for basic phone calls anymore. Use your in-game cell phone to receive missions via SMS, snap photos, and ZiT (tag) songs that can be downloaded exclusively on Amazon.com/mp3.
• Free time - In between missions you can take advantage of "me" time. There are gentleman's clubs, comedy clubs, bowling alleys, and bars, which all house unique activities.
• Take a break from the storyline - A variety of side missions allow you to help run a car service, "borrow" cop cars, assassinate targets, help solve problems for those on the street, or take to the air with stunt jumps that are scattered all over the city.
• Control your own fate - Throughout the game choice moments will arrive causing you to make a decision that will affect relationships and money.

Multiplayer
Give Niko a rest and create your own multiplayer "hero." GTA has added multiplayer modes allowing you to take your creation out to play online in competitive, co-op, and free form modes. Competitive mode has you fighting against the cops, jacking cars, or racing to finish odd jobs. Co-op challenges you and your friends with various tasks including Hangman's NOOSE where you are responsible for escorting a wanted kingpin to a safe extraction point. Freeform lets you and 15 others lose on Liberty City. Use this mode to hit up the bar and play virtual darts versus each other or head out to the streets and set up your own drag races. If you can dream it, you can do it in Freeform mode.

ZiT: We'll Spot The Song For You
When playing Grand Theft Auto IV, if you hear a song that you are interested in buying as an MP3, all you have to do is dial ZiT-555-0100 on your in-game mobile phone and a text message will be sent to you with the name of the artist and the title of the track. The next time you log in at the Rockstar Games Social Club, you will find 30-second previews of all the songs you have ZiT'ed while playing the game. You can add them to your basket there and click to purchase at Amazon MP3, or you can find them all at www.amazon.com/gtamusic.

The only national magazine for today's active, involved grandparents. It's a new world out there and the old rules don't apply any more. Grand provides expert and common sense information that every grandparent needs plus ideas for getting more enjoyment from this wonderful phase of life.