A Great Summer Read

Advantages: Unique style, unpredictable, couldn't put it down
Disadvantages: Lack of speech marks - distracting to me

...of the family unit and is immediately accepted into the house. She bizarrely sleeps out on the path in her car but spends the days widening the minds of both Magnus and Astrid in totally different ways. She's a very erratic character who does the most bizarre things at times and other times she's very much 'on the ball'. She challenges people's thoughts and understanding to the extreme. But who is she? After reading the book, I'm still not sure. Did she really exist? I think so. Ali Smith's style of writing is very unique, changing into the part of each of the characters. The writing is written as if the characters are often daydreaming and you read the thoughts in their heads. There are interactions between the characters throughout the book and its funny how you can be so judgemental about a certain person and then read in the next...

RClure 30.05.2006 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of The Accidental - Ali Smith

Smith

Advantages: -----
Disadvantages: -------

...partner, or love of your career ? ... Mr and Mrs Smith are a couple in love, who seem to co-operate well with each other, even though they are each keeping a massive secret from the other. The fact that the two main characters are together in real life, I think it makes it better and somehow more realistic. The casting for these roles were obviously well thought about and in my eyes, both parts could not have been cast together. Brad Pitt plays John Smith, while Angelina Jolie takes up her role as Jane Smith. The fact is, they just work so well together it is almost realistic in fiction. Being a man, I am not as big a Brad Pitt fan as some people out there, but I would still say, he is one of the better actors available in the film industry and plays his role very well in this hit. He is the 'cooler' of the couple, whereas she is...

hhf657467 13.02.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Mr And Mrs Smith (DVD)

an original accident.

Advantages: a truly original book, compelling
Disadvantages: none

...Whilst visiting my parents cottage in Devon, I made a quick trip out to the local Tesco's and decided to buy a new book. On purusing the shelves i happened across this book 'The Accidental' by Ali Smith. I had not ever head of this author prior to tthis purchase but as the book has won the Whitbread Novel of the Year 2005 i thought I'd give it a go. The book cost me £3.73. My version has a different cover to the picture that Ciao is showing above. It has a photograph of a girl lying down on the grass with a camera in her hand and above that the authors name and book title. The book is published by Penguin books and is 306 pages long. Ali Smith has also written Free Love, Like, Other Stories and Other stories, Hotel Worl, The Whole Story and Other Stories. Was born in 1962 in Inverness but currently lives in Cambridge...

mussonanna 04.05.2006 (12.05.2006) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of The Accidental - Ali Smith

An Accidental Find

Advantages: Compelling, clever, wonderful, just brilliant
Disadvantages: None

...The Accidental - Ali Smith I don't know why but whenever I saw the cover of this book I wanted to pick it up and buy it, but then I would resist. During a 3 for 2 splurge in Waterstone's I finally picked it up and purchased it. In all honesty I had never heard of Ali Smith before (I then read in the Observer she is in the top100 most influential gay people in the UK - that didn't sell me the book it just happened to be an interesting fact) but I now know that she is an accomplished and praised Scottish author, mainly of short stories, but this is her third novel, she was with Virago now Penguin. 'The Accidental' has been short listed for both the Man Booker Prize 2005 and Orange Prize for fiction 2006, and won the Whitbread Novel of the Year 2005. ?And from what I read deservedly so. This book is currently my favourite book...

simoon69 21.07.2006 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of The Accidental - Ali Smith

Ali with a fab line up

Advantages: great selection of artists and classics
Disadvantages: one track a bit samey

...Ali Campbell's Running Free is a great mixture of songs featuring some equally as talented artists. What a brilliant CD to be given. "' Why this CD?'" I have been a big fan of UB40 since the age of 14yr and own some of their orginal albums on vinyl. For those too young to remember - those black things that came in 2 sizes 45" and 33" and when put onto a turn table played crackling, sorry cracking, sounds. I was given this Album by one of my daughters who (due to being weened on the greatest Reggae bands of all time) is also a big fan. We were both interested to see whether Ali's voice could be complimented by the featured artists as well as his fellow UB4O members. '"Technical stuff'" The CD has been produced & mixed by Ali, who also sings lead vocals on all tracks (plus much of the backing vocals) '"Featured Artists...

pixie65 22.04.2008 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Running Free - Ali Campbell

Mr & Mrs Smith

Advantages: Ok film and it features Brad Pitt
Disadvantages: Bit cheesy and unbelievable in places

...Mr & Mrs Smith is a film first released in June 2005. It has been described as an action/comedy/adventure/romance film so has something for everybody. The film was directed by Doug Liman and runs for 122 minutes. It is certified as a 15 due to some moderate sexual references and quite a bit of violence. ------- PLOT ------ The film begins with Mr & Mrs Smith seeking marriage guidance counselling with the film going on to explain how the married couple ended up needing counselling. To the outside world Mr & Mrs Smith seem like an average married couple leading ordinary lives but behind closed doors its a very different story. The pair lead completely separate lives away from home and each has a secret job of which the other has no idea what. Eventually each learns of the others past and current secrets and the film...

bexx0907 06.10.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Mr And Mrs Smith (DVD)

Tasty and delicous Smiths Frazzles

Advantages: A great tasty corn snack
Disadvantages: They do make you thirsty!

...Frazzles, that is a word that I struggle to associate with these crispy bacon corn flavoured snacks. Now the only thing that springs to mind is that you may well call over cooked bacon frazzled. I am now wondering if I might have accidentally donated my brain to the British Heart Foundation by accident! The supermarket shelves are stacked with potato crisps and corn flavoured snacks and they come in practically every flavour that you could ever think of. Though it seems to me that Walkers have the monopoly when it comes to inventing new flavours. Frazzles have been around for some years now and remind me of a fake rasher of fried bacon for a Dolls house Full English Breakfast. Smiths must have been thinking of fried bacon when they designed the startling packet, a deep reddish brown background represents the lean bacon...

Sarahjh1 20.02.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Smiths Frazzles

Haji Ali Mosque, great Muslim Architecture

Advantages: Cheap, friendly people, ecellent view
Disadvantages: Delays, crowd

...I been to Mumbai number of times mostly on official errands, naturally had little time for sight-seeing and I regretted it most of the time, main reasons being my inherent weakness and curiosity about Muslim history and their curious propensity for excellent art work. Who can forget the great ?Taj Mahal?, one of nine Wonders of the World, a piece unbelievable example of Islamic architecture and a tribute to Shahzahan?s great love for his wife Mumtaz. But during my recent visit I was determined to at least have a look at the eye catching Haji Ali Mosque. It was a decision that I will never rue. WHO WAS HAJI ALI: Syed Peer Haji Ali Shah Bukhari, Haji Ali who is believed to be a wealthy local business man in Bukharia, in the ancient Persian Empire now in Uzbekistan. Haji Ali traveled around the world in the early 1400s...

roktimdutta 26.06.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Haji Ali Mosque, Bombay

Settle This Hash! Space Captain Smith

Advantages: Strong characters, good jokes, exciting action
Disadvantages: A few duff gags?

...Imagine a future where the British Empire has risen to control interstellar space, controlling and administering the cosmos on behalf of aliens and foreigners who can't be trusted to do it themselves. In this faintly steampunk future, Captain Isambard Smith, a repressed English gentleman with school issues and a perfectly waxed moustache, must take to the skies abord the John Pym. His crew is a collection of motley misfits, as befits any tale of derring-do worth its salt. A sex android pilots the ship on the grounds that she's the one who has the Haynes manual. Suruk the Slayer, an M'Lak warrior, carries shopping bags to store the severed heads of his enemies. Gerald the hamster is the ship's mascot, and arguably the most competent of the whole bunch of them. As the British Empire gears up for war against the insectoid Ghast...

Olly_Plimsoll 13.05.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Space Captain Smith - Toby Frost

Smith and Wesson

Advantages: A fun action romp with great chemistry between the leads
Disadvantages: A bit on the long side

...John and Jane Smith are your average suburban American couple - young, good-looking, stable and bored to death. However, each is living a secret life as an assassin unbeknownst to the other until they are hired to kill each other. That's when the fireworks start and the pair begin to test their wedding vow "till death do us part" in the most active of ways. Doug Liman has previously directed movies that are a feast of quick-paced banter ("Swingers") and some that rely on action ("The Bourne Identity"). But until now he has never successfully combined the two. "Mr and Mrs Smith" is an unabashed comedy action romp that couples breakneck stunts with an ink-black, dust-dry sense of humour. He takes a leaf out of fellow indie-turned-mainstream director Steven Soderbergh; it's all wrapped in pristine glossy visuals and fronted by two...

afy9mab 01.09.2005 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Mr and Mrs Smith