Lost reservation

Advantages: when it works - fast, convenient
Disadvantages: Didn't work for me

...to confirm the booking 2 days before we arrived, and obtain some further information about facilities, directly with the village, using the email address provided by Hostel World. I never received a response, but assumed that it was simply due to staff at the village not checking their email or being short-staffed over the Christmas break. Unfortunately, when we arrived they had no record of our booking. Luckily, they still had bungalows available and so we were not left homeless for the evening. They also very kindly agreed to take into account the deposit we had paid to Hostel World when charging us, even though the camping village had no record of receiving it. Whether the lost booking was the camping village's fault or Hostel World's fault I'm unable to say. The village was extremely well run, with a computerised system...

kam76 06.01.2005 (10.02.2005) · Read review
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Review of Hostel World

Serious Reservations

Advantages: A decent performance from Abigail Breslin.
Disadvantages: Zeta-Jones can't do comedy and neither can the director.

...'s talking to her therapist. I suppose it doesn't help that his leading lady is similarly handicapped in the comedy stakes - Catherine Zeta Jones is frequently outdone by child actress Abigail Breslin. Hicks is also guilty of over-egging the sentiment, frequently making scenes too syrupy. I know Zoe has lost her mother, but after the third of fourth time we see her welling up, it feels like the director is trying to push our buttons. Hicks fails to build the relationships between characters in a meaningful way. We don't see how close Kate is to her sister before she dies, so there's no real emotional fallout from her death for the viewer. We don't see how hard it is for Zoe or Kate to adapt to life with the other or any of the minutiae of daily life that shows how their routines have changed. Most of the getting-to-know-you phases of all...

afy9mab 12.02.2008 · Read review
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Review of No Reservations (DVD)

* No Reservations Here *

Advantages: Plot , Jokes , Set
Disadvantages: None!

...No Reservations is an American Romantic Drama film starring Catherine Zeta Jones. The film was released in the United Kingdom on August 21st 2007. Running time of this movie is one hundred and four minutes. This movie is a PG. Kate is a ?top? chef. She is extremely dedicated to her job and even goes out of her way in her ?off duty? time , to improve her performance in the kitchen. She is a star at the restaurant she works at ; everyone praises her excellent talent. However , what will happen when her sister dies and so her niece goes to live with her ? There?s a new chef too ; what will he be like ? Watch No Reservations to find out. First of all , I didn?t know until after I had seen this movie , is that this movie is based slightly on a German film called Mostly Martha. I myself , hadn?t heard of that movie until now , and havn...

xdonzx 16.04.2009 · Read review
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Review of No Reservations (DVD)

A Dozen Reservations

Advantages: er.....
Disadvantages: Story, delivery, actors......

...There comes a time when you feel you have awoken in a parallel universe, around Christmas time I awoke to watch the highly acclaimed No Reservations a movie that's advertising could not be missed anywhere last summer. When I say I awoke, I generally work nights and mid shift always go off somewhere quiet for a short power nap. Upon waking up I felt something was unusually wrong, but having asked my work colleagues it appeared everything was right, better still all required tasks were done so it was quite simply a case of watching a DVD and making myself available as or when required. My choice of movie was this apparent Blockbuster that had audiences "in stitches". First I must add No Reservations is a remake of a German movie called Martha AKA Bella Martha, to me the fact that a movie from another country (or no doubt as its viewed...

sghawken 03.01.2008 · Read review
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Review of No Reservations (DVD)

Reserve your copy now!

Advantages: Well acted, good cast, nice story, good pace
Disadvantages: Zeta Jones never seemed to look like she was working in a hot kitchen!

...I passed my driving test last week (yay!!) and went for a nice drive around with Harry after I got home to celebrate. We found ourselves in town so I popped into Woolworths and decided to buy myself a little celebratory present. I saw this film on the shelf called "No Reservations" and I remembered my mum telling me she'd seen it and thought it was good, so for only a fiver, I bought it and sat down to watch it last weekend. Chef Kate Armstrong has got her life sorted. She's got a great job as a head chef, a lovely little apartment and she thinks life is great, even though she's in therapy. But Kate's life changes completely when her sister is killed and she becomes full time carer of her niece Zoe. Kate has to alter her job and life to accomodate the little girl, and when new sous-chef Nick starts to look after Kate's kitchen when...

mummy2harry 23.10.2008 · Read review
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Review of No Reservations (DVD)

Minsmere Nature Reserve

Advantages: Lots of wildlife, good facilities for the disabled
Disadvantages: Admission charges

...Minsmere is one of over 200 nature reserves in Britain managed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). Established in 1948 it is also one of Britain's oldest nature reserves. Back in those early post war days it was known as the Minsmere Bird Reserve and covered only a fraction of the 150 acres that it now spans. Today, Minsmere Nature Reserve covers the whole of east Suffolk from the estuary of the River Blyth to its north down to Minsmere River on its southern boundaries, this area now also forms a part of the much larger Minsmere - Walberswick Special Protection area and is also an area of outstanding natural beauty. In addition to its birdlife, it is also an important habitat for flowers, plants, insects and mammals. In September 2004 a previously unknown species of moth was found here, which was given the name...

micksheff 26.12.2007 · Read review
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Review of Minsmere Nature Reserve, Suffolk

No Reservations - Bland & Tasteless

Advantages: The food looks good?
Disadvantages: Where do I begin...

...and love. Kate, unable to give the child what she needs, attempts to win her over the only way she knows how - with food. Unfortunately, Zoe's tastes are not as refined as Kate's, and she refuses to eat anything Kate serves her. At a loss, Kate's inability to get close to her niece begins to affect not only her strict routine, but her life as well. When the owner of the restaurant hires another chef in order to help her, Kate is upset by the competition, and fears losing her job. The truth is, Kate lacks self-confidence, is afraid of relationships - and confronted by both, her life begins to crumble. 'No Reservations' is a light-hearted attempt at drama that is neither compelling nor well-acted. Catherine Zeta-Jones is not at her best, and overlooks the intended depth of her character by focusing too much on the 'cooking' aspect...

GoFigure 19.02.2008 · Read review
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Review of No Reservations (DVD)

Get Lost

Advantages: Brilliant, gripping, entertaining, humorous, exciting, wonderful, a masterpiece, keeps you guessing
Disadvantages: You'll be hooked

...To those who haven't seen Lost already, watch it! Go out and buy the DVD's or borrow them from someone else and start watching. But make sure you watch from the beginning of the series and don't jump in the middle. This series is absolutely brilliant! It is wonderfully written, with amazing characters, some interesting ideas and a plotline that grabs you and makes sure keep going to the end. It's hard to say much about the plot without giving too much away. The series is written so that there are hundreds of mysteries. Some are posed in one episode and solved by the end of it, some are solved several episodes later, some we're still waiting for the answers. This is the sort of series where you're desperate to know what's going on, but at the same time don't want anyone to spoil it for you, so I'll try not to. The basic plot is...

87degrees 24.02.2006 · Read review
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Review of Lost

Lost Odyssey

Advantages: Old-School JRPG, Looks Well, Lasts Long, Worth The Money
Disadvantages: Maybe A Bit Too Hard For Some

...I still remember my first experience of a Japanese RPG, the year was 1997, I was 10 and Final Fantasy 7 was released. Called round to a friends house for a few games, we stumbled upon what would be an absolute revolution in both my gaming experience and everyone else's. Everything about the game was fresh and new, the story was engrossing, the battle system addictive. It was as close to gaming perfection as a game can get. Years down the line, the Japanese RPG has wore thin, only a handful have been realised in the current generation of consoles, and those than have, have generally been used as coasters. But in comes Lost Odyssey, does it re-invent the JRPG? Does it bring a fresh new battle system? Is it a revolution? The answer is no, it does none of these things, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. The strength of Lost Odyssey is...

AndyCreighton 15.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of Lost Odyssey (Xbox 360)

Lost and found

Advantages: A great combination of humour, sightseeing, social commentary and invective
Disadvantages: Not enough on the western states

...Probably most British readers will first have come across his work through his book about the UK itself, "Notes from a Small Island". That is certainly a fine book, and well worth a read. But I do wonder whether his earlier work "The Lost Continent" (now 20 years old, amazingly) might not in fact be even better. I was lucky enough to read this first some years ago, before the "Bryson boom", and so had no preconceptions of what the author's work was like. I'm actually quite grateful for that, too, since otherwise I might not have had such a nice surprise! In essence, this book is a travelogue, following in Bryson's wheeltracks as he drives vast distances around the country of his birth in his mother's less-than-reliable old car: at one point it breaks down on a lonely, snowy mountain pass and you wonder just for a moment whether Bryson...

davidbuttery 09.11.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Lost Continent - Bill Bryson