FREE DVDs

Advantages: Free trial, large choice, post included,new realeases
Disadvantages: see review

...I like movies and I like freebies, so when you get offered both in one swoop you?re bound to accept! I used my two week free trial with this company and remained with them for a couple of monthsbefore moving on to try many other companies free trials (and winning a new DVD player on Tesco DVD rental site on their free trial offer). I then had an email from DVDs 365 asking me to go back, and offering me a free DVD if I did so. I had just left Tesco (with my new DVD player) so I chose to go back with them. ∆◊◊ THE SERVICE THEY OFFER ∆◊◊ Basically it?s like going to a video shop and hiring films on DVD, except you don?t pay for each film you chose ? rather a monthly fee for which you can watch as many movies as you can fit in, for us this is usually around 8 a month (2 a week usually weekends...

dabmim 15.11.2004 · Read review
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Review of dvds365.com

Surprising Picture Quality - Panasonic DVD-S54

Advantages: Incredible picture quality when compared to my old non-upscaling player with a scart lead
Disadvantages: Sometimes disc drive can be really noisy when DVD's initially load.

...At first I wasn't convinced by up-scaling DVD player technology but was persuaded after reading an article in "What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision" magazine. Unable to afford a Blu-Ray player my sister and I bought the Panasonic DVD-S54 to match our parents brand new Panasonic TX-32LZD80 LCD television as their Christmas 2008 present. Admittedly it was a slightly selfish purchase as we both live at home and wanted to watch DVDs on the big new TV ourselves! We bought the player from the electrical retailer Comet for about £100 just before Christmas so there were no discounts applied. On Christmas day when opened we found a relatively small box tightly packed with the player in polystyrene packaging. All the components such as cables, remote and manuals were well presented in their own protective plastic bags, to keep them protected. The player...

bobbacon985 12.02.2009 · Read review
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Review of Panasonic DVD-S54

The Art of Death

Advantages: Good second half, some interesting details
Disadvantages: Clunky plot, a bit meandering

...halfway through it was much better. The main character is Adelia - "The Mistress of the Art of Death" - i.e a forensic pathologist. Her struggle to conceal her profession is quite prominent in the plot as female doctors were unusual in the twelfth century. She is helping Simon of Naples discover the killer through the clues left on the bodies of the victims. I found this quite interesting although I'm not sure how realistic it would be in the twelfth century. The plot does wander a bit as it is so concerned with Adelia and her origins and training. The character of Rowley (the King's so-called tax inspector) is ok but the romance seems to have been thrown in as a bit of an afterthought and didn't add anything to the story for me. Mansur and Gyltha offered some light relief as the servants as did Gyltha's grandson Ulf. Simon of Naples was...

mogdred1 27.01.2009 · Read review
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Review of Mistress of the Art of Death - Ariana Franklin

Art Attack?

Advantages: Keeps the action going.
Disadvantages: Unoriginal, poor performances.

...74. Kickboxer 3: The Art of War (1992) This all feels a little like déjà vu, especially after watching American Ninja 3. Once again there is a fighting tournament in a tropical location. This time Rio De Janeiro. An American kickboxing champion, David Sloan, arrives with his sensei, Xian, in tow. On first sight Xian looked a little like Lee Van Cleef, or maybe that was the spectre of 1984 TV series Master Ninja repeating on me. Either way, it helps signify that this was the tale end of a long running era of budget American martial arts films and television shows. The first classic cliché comes quickly when the hapless heroes are mugged by a small Brazilian boy, Marcos, and his sister, Isabella. Naturally, after a long chase through the back alleys of Rio and the kicking of same random thugs, they befriend the knife wielding...

ThePolarOne 10.12.2008 · Read review
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Review of Kickboxer 3 - The Art Of War (DVD)

The Art (Of Forgetting A Clothes Peg)

Advantages: Centrally placed with reasonable room rates. Nice staff. Well furnished
Disadvantages: Area never totally quiet - get a room at the back. No immediately obvious disabled facilities

...When I wrote about my experiences in Lisbon a few months back, I was taken to task for spending too much time describing the hotel, so this time, things are going to be a little different. With a distinct sense of trepidation I'm going to write about a hotel as a stand-alone item for the first time ever, quaking at the thought of my opinion being compared to one by Ciao's very own 'unpaid hotel inspector', Uncle Bill's nephew himself, Richada! I've just got back from 5 very enjoyable nights in Athens (and the days weren't bad either!). Part of what made it enjoyable was our stay at The Art Hotel, Marni Street 27, Athens. To be honest, it would be difficult to describe how to get there from the airport as we'd pre-booked a taxi, which ended up stuck in horrendous Monday night traffic, made worse by an obliging perfectly...

BNibbles 28.10.2007 (30.11.2007) · Read review
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Review of Art Hotel, Athens

Arty Des Arts!

Advantages: Original building, nice and clean and decent rooms
Disadvantages: Could have quirkier rooms to match the rest of the hotel.

...perceived it from stood outside. Inside was a mix of modern touches such as the small lobby lounge with a flat screen pc for guests to use mixed in with the artistic and very Parisian style furniture and the art that hung on nearly every wall. I actually if I'm honest couldn't decide if I liked it or not as I did because it was boutique and intimate and at the same time some of the decor was too 'old fashioned' looking for my taste. However I think if you came to this hotel you wouldn't be disgusted by it and as you don't recoil in horror when you check in to a hotel that that has to be a good thing! The rooms: I would say I expected the rooms to be different after the decor of the hotel in the lobby and I guess it was because they seemed a little boring somehow - the lobby area had nice chairs and lots of art along with flowers...

frankiecesca 19.12.2008 (18.12.2008) · Read review
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Review of Hotel des Arts Montmartre, Paris

Minimalist Art

Advantages: Central, cheap, artistic
Disadvantages: No facilities, rubbish breakfast

...For some reason, I booked a week's holiday to Brussels. On my own. It should be stated straight away that I didn't have a great holiday, but I'll try not to let that influence my views of the hotel itself. The Comfort Hotel Art Siru (or the Siru as I'll refer to it from now on) is a strange beast. A few years ago, around 130 contemporary Belgian artists were commissioned to decorate each of the 101 rooms, to create the world's first 'Art Hotel'. Every room is decorated with unique and original paintings or sculptures, and it really is a lovely idea. The bizarre thing is that you'd expect this kind of innovation in some kind of high-end resort hotel. The sort of place that has huge suites where actors are interviewed about their latest film against the background of a new and daring work of art. The Siru, on the other hand, is...

Olly_Plimsoll 07.08.2007 · Read review
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Review of Comfort Hotel Art Siru, Sint-Joost-ten-Node

Excellent story, The Brutal Art by Jesse Kellerman

Advantages: Excellent story, well paced
Disadvantages: None

...I got this book for my birthday, and I?m glad I did as I probably wouldn?t have picked it up myself as the brown cover doesn?t really stand out. It has a little sticker on the front that says it is part of Richard & Judy?s book club. The story The story is told by Ethan Muller, who is an art dealer in New York. In one of his fathers flats the tenant has disappeared and all that is left behind is boxes and boxes of drawings. These pictures are all drawn on individual sheets of paper but they all link up to make a huge picture, they are strange but brilliant pieces of art. Ethan takes the pictures to his gallery and then tries to discover who the artist is. He gets help from a retired detective who sees the central piece of the art in a newspaper and recognises that the faces on the cherubs are young boys who were all...

starjen 26.04.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Brutal Art - Jesse Kellerman

A Walk around the Walker Art Gallery

Advantages: The Art! The Architecture! Fully accessible for all! Free entry!
Disadvantages: Very Tiring.

...The Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool boasts one of the largest art collections in England. My 12 year old niece chose this as a venue for a day out in the school holidays. It had been some years since I visited previously and I had quite forgotton just how impressive it is. We had a lovely (and tiring) day and my niece returned home inspired. As you approach the gallery situated on William Brown Street, you are struck by the sheer grandeur of the gallery and its neighbouring buildings. William Brown street is the only street in Great Britain to contain nothing but than Museums, Galleries and Libraries. Directly outside the Walker Art Gallery is the grand Steble fountain , a circular stone basin with a bronze centrepiece depicting the four seasons ? a good photo opportunity. The Walker Art Gallery has a neo-classical façade...

MAFARRIMOND 12.08.2007 · Read review
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Review of The Walker Art Gallery

The Brutal Art - an incredible, gripping read

Advantages: Brilliant, gripping book
Disadvantages: You will need to break off to sleep!

...OK, first things first: this is an odd book. No, really. It spins a dark and wonderful yarn spanning generations, with a heavy hint of menace, long-lost family secrets, shadowy and controlling people and a love story. Whew! I'll try to explain what the book's about, but it's complicated, so bear with me, OK? There's a New York art dealer called Ethan Muller, who's fast becoming disillusioned with the artists he shows, the art collectors he sells to and the whole art world. He has a very complicated, not to say twisted, relationship with his father, with whom he mainly communicates via his father's long-term friend and employee, Tony. One day Tony tells him he's found some amazing drawings in an abandoned apartment in Queens. Ethan reluctantly agrees to look at the pictures and is stunned by what he finds: a "map of reality as...

Bitchqueenofneworleans 02.04.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Brutal Art - Jesse Kellerman