Hall Lot of Levens

Advantages: Easy to get to, wonderful gardens
Disadvantages: Bit dear

...On my ex wife's thirtieth birthday, I surprised her with a trip to this stately home. This visit was not the reason as to why she became the ex Mrs Borg (nor was it cited in the grounds for divorce), I must stress, as we both enjoyed our little excursion around the place. I am not much of a stately home fan. I can take them or leave them, and I wouldn't take a trip out especially to go to one these days, but when I have been I have quite enjoyed them. This certainly applies to Levens Hall. I think that any trip to a hall or castle is about discovering information on history and because of this I will not mention much of these here. I will say that it has been around in the 1500s. The current owner is Hal Bagot, but it has been in the family for centuries. The most memorable thing I remember of Levens Hall is the gardens. Dating...

Borg 12.07.2008 · Read review
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Review of Levens Hall, Kendal

Jackie Brown Film Review

Advantages: Characters
Disadvantages: Tarantion isn't for everyone

...While at times I have found Quentin Tarantino's nonlinear storytelling quite frustrating, I do tend to enjoy his movies. Jackie Brown, his third as a director, may not seem like the most stylistic of his works within the first sitting -- especially when it has Pulp Fiction to contend with -- but it's a film that will grow on you each time you watch it. The leisurely pace is one of the main reasons why I like it so much. So, what is Jackie Brown about? Well, the title character (Pam Grier) works as a flight attendant for a small Mexican airline, who also smuggles illicit arms money into America for gun merchant Ordell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson). The FEDS soon bust Jackie and attempt to cut a deal with her to get to her boss. Feeling threatened by the law and Ordell, she hires an honest bail-bondsman, Max Cherry (Robert Forster...

andycarrington 11.08.2009 · Read review
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Review of Jackie Brown (Collector's Edition) (DVD)

Married Lovers: Jackie Collins

Advantages: Good book, with lots of twists and turns.
Disadvantages: Not really my writing style.

...Jackie Collins: Married Lovers Plot Cameron Paradise wants her own gym, she is a personal trainer who has been through more than most. After running away from her abusive husband Gregg in Hawaii 3 years ago, she has set up a new life for herself in LA and has just about saved enough money to buy her own gym, that?s if her friend Cole will help her out. Ryan and Mandy Richards are unhappily married and have been for years, after 3 lost babies, and Mandy?s nasty attitude towards Ryan?s family especially his younger sister Evie whose alcoholic husband is becoming more and more aggressive towards her and her two sons. Ryan is an independent film maker, and Mandy hates that he won?t join her Daddy?s company who make ?Blockbuster? films by the second, Hamilton Heckerling?the most notorious man for marrying younger women?who just...

stephbond89 05.01.2010 · Read review
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Review of Married Lovers - Jackie Collins

Trumpet - Jackie Kay

Advantages: Original ideas, doesn't take too long to read
Disadvantages: Quite dark in terms of tone and mood

...This is the first piece of work I have read which has been written by Jackie Kay, and i found that the plot and ideas in 'Trumpet' were so original that I would have no idea what to expect if i were to pick up another novel or poem of hers - I'm not sure if this is a good or a bad thing.. Firstly, a main summary of the novel itself . The plot is based on a famous saxophone player named Joss Moody, who has recently passed away, much to the grief of his wife and son. There is a major twist, though - Joss is not the person everyone thought he was. He was hiding a major secret about himself from the rest of the world (one which I won't reveal in my review). The novel deals with the aftermath of his death - the first part is narrated by his wife, who is trying to deal with home life. Her part in the novel covers flashbacks to when she...

tracy112 23.06.2009 · Read review
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A Night at the Opera with Jackie Mason

Advantages: Great if you like Jackie Mason
Disadvantages: As I say, great if you like Jackie Mason

...Jackie Mason A Night at the Opera is, how can I put this? You either like Jackie Mason, or you don't. A Night at The Opera was recorded live at The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Everything is grist to Jackie Mason's mill. The camera crew? No problem. A member of the audience heckling because he couldn't hear? "He must be a Jew," explained Mason, "because no Gentile would complain. He would just complain at home, after the show." It turned out that there was a problem, with his radio microphone ,which was sorted with the appearance of an ordinary microphone on a stand. What topics are off limits to this acerbically witty former Rabi? Nothing. After going off on a witty, well-thought diatribe, salted with the very occasional "F" word, merely as punctuation to emphasise an important point, Mason would look at the audience...

Martinscholes 07.02.2006 · Read review
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Review of Jackie Mason - A Night At The Opera (DVD)

Jackie Brown, 1970's Nostalgia at its Finest

Advantages: Excellent set of special features. Good 70's themed menus. A beautiful film overall.
Disadvantages: The film's plot develops at a snails pace.

...After director and writer Quentin Tarentino completed his masterpiece, 1994's Pulp Fiction, many were optimistic about what his next move in cinema would be. What we got was "Jackie Brown", a film completely dissimilar from both Pulp Fiction and Tarantino's first film: Resevoir Dogs. "Jackie Brown" is a story about a two bit criminal called Ordell Robbie. Ordell sells firearms to various clients for a large profit. The cash is stored south of California on the Mexican peninsula. This is where our herione of sorts comes in. Jackie Brown is an air hostess down on her luck after losing her job at a previous aviation firm ten years prior to the films. Ordell has her periodically bring him down cash on board her flights from his half million dollar stash in Mexico. Jackie is caught with $50,000 dollars in her bag by two detectives...

Credance100 19.10.2004 · Read review
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Review of Jackie Brown (DVD)

Hilary and Jackie

Advantages: Great music, tear jearker, insight into pressures of a musician
Disadvantages: main protagonist not all that likeable

...I frequently cite this film as being my favourite film when asked the oh-so-difficult question to answer. As a violinist, I adore films which attempt to recreate the musician's world from different angles. I also adore films which explore the often troubled lives of geniuses, and the effect their talent can have on family members. So, this film ticks both of those boxes. I think even if you are not all that interested in classical music and the talented people that bring the music to our ears, this will be a film you can enjoy. It's really a family tale. Of a bond so strong between two sisters that weaves between intense love and mad jealousy. I'm sure many people with siblings can identify with this. The film traces the loves and lives of Hilary and Jackie from childhood and into adulthood. It portrays the events in Jackie...

amyjane1 08.11.2006 · Read review
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Review of Hilary And Jackie (DVD)

JACKIE BROWN, SHE'S A WHOLE LOTTA WOMAN

Advantages: Tarantino's directorial aspects
Disadvantages: Doesn't live up to P.F.

...JACKIE BROWN, THAT FOXY FOXY BROWN :) Quentin Tarantino aka a God among directors, along with the likes of Sam Mendes (American Beauty) and David Lynch (Twin Peaks, Mulholland Drive) is responsible for a trio of outstanding movies that defy all cliché, or anything relatively usual. Tarantino is currently in the process of a fourth addition to these series of hard-hitting ass-kicking films, baptized Kill Bill (the name alone makes me want to wet my pants ? no please don?t run away now) and will star Uma Thurman (methinks he has a particular liking for this young lady). QT has established himself a sublime reputation that a sea of directors fail to live up to, and that?s why we love his movies so much. Since our introduction to Mr T in Reservoir Dogs we have seen coloured misters, adrenaline injected honeys and a foul-mouthed bunch...

j_mcb 19.06.2003 (08.07.2003) · Read review
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Review of Jackie Brown (DVD)

Jackie Strikes Again!

Advantages: Entertaining
Disadvantages: not as good as some earlier films

...The new Jackie Chan film, First Strike follows the now familiar territory laid out in the Police Story series, (this is actually the fourth installment) as well as Rumble, in that Jackie plays a Hong Kong policeman on assigment in various locations. This time, he gets to snowboard in Russia and swim with sharks in Australia, all in the name of police work. The plot, as is usual, plays a secondary role to the action sequences. Unfortunately, I was less impressed with the stunts in this film than I have been in the past. They lack the feeling of danger found in earlier, cheaper movies, which means that the action fails to grip the viewer as effectively as in the past. A notable exception is the best fight in the film, involving a step ladder and a large number of henchmen. Also watch out for an amusing continuity error - at one point in...

richardb 14.10.2000 · Read review
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Review of Jackie Chan's First Strike (DVD)

Jackie Brown - too similar to others in the genre to be a classic in its own right

Advantages: Great work from some talented actors
Disadvantages: Seems like at least some of it has been done before

...Jackie Brown is another Tarantino-style film that offers an interesting role for Robert De Niro and yet another job for Samuel L Jackson. At around the two and a half hour mark, this sadly is one of those films about which the most commonly said thing is that it is a good half hour too long. However, this is not to say that it is not worth watching. Jackson plays a gun runner who needs to get money from over the border in Mexico back into the USA and uses various moles to achieve this, one of which is Jackie Brown, an airline stewardess. The ending is very much that of a film of this genre, and although interesting one has to feel that it has been done before....

BIGHORSE 04.08.2000 · Read review
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