Against all odds

Advantages: Visually stunning, beautiful love story
Disadvantages: None for me

.... Slowly though, and against all odds, Walter and Kitty find their outlook on life changing. Is it enough to save their marriage? I always regard films that involve China or the Chinese with suspicion. I have seen so many that misrepresent the country and its people, and having lived there for a third of my life, I get seriously annoyed. I needn't have worried. This film is beautifully made, both with regard to the scenery and the performances, and the subject of Western imperialism, still a difficult topic for some Chinese, is dealt with sensitively. As the sensitive, shy and rather awkward Walter Fane, Edward Norton gives a superb performance. As an actor, Norton never fails to amaze me - every role he takes on seems to have been made for him, yet they are all so different. As Walter, we really see his character develop during...

sunmeilan 13.11.2007 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of The Painted Veil

~ The Odds Are Stacked Against You ~

Advantages: Excellent story, Great pace, well devloped and likable characters.
Disadvantages: none

...~ The Odds Are Stacked Against You ~ OUTSIDER ? JOHN FRANCOMBE I have just finished this novel last night and being one of another one of my bargain books from Waterstones I thought I would let you know about it. Although this one was not 99p it was not that much more standing at £2.99. I picked it up at the same time I brought Two-Way Spilt as they were both in the bargain bin and I wanted a few books to read through the summer, which obviously didn?t happen as I have only just had time to finish both books. Outsider is an adventure / thriller book and from the front cover I didn?t think I was going to like it as it had a picture of a jockey on front and I am not really into horse racing. However when I read the synopsis at the back cover of the book the plot sounded very intriguing and it wasn?t just about horse racing...

blackmagicstar4 01.05.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Outsider - John Francome

Thrice Odd

Advantages: its better than the second
Disadvantages: none

...Apologys people but here comes another book review. Dean Koontz is a rather prolific writer it seems that everytime I go to the supermarket unaccompanied while on my tours of the toy and book aisles one of his latests works tries to throw itself in to my basket along with the lego sets and Spongbob DVD's. On my latest trip it was this the third of the books featuring Odd Thomas which made its way in to the basket. Odd Thomas for anyone unfamiliar with him is a young fry cook from Pico Mundo, a desert town which has no real distinguishing features other than the massacre at a shopping mall some time ago, and that it is Odds home town. Odd on the other hand is much stranger, well not personally but he see's ghosts, and believes that they come to him for help to pass over after whatever it is that troubles them is sorted out. But...

scuba_angel 23.08.2007 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Brother Odd - Dean Koontz

The Odds are in...and the result is...

Advantages: Lots of play areas
Disadvantages: Not much hands-on experience with the animals

...I will begin this review by telling you why most of the specific criteria are rated average rather than good or excellent as once they may have been rated higher. Perhaps an unusual way of beginning this review, usually it would be explained in the summery, yet I felt that it needed to be explained first as I don?t want you to look at the specific ratings and turn away from the farm because is IS a good farm though it is lacking certain qualities which I have now found in other farm parks in and around the area. This was one of the first farm parks I took my young daughter to and on first sight, I loved it, as did my daughter and the other children who came with us resulting in us going back many times before finding a couple of other farm parks and then I realised that Odds Farm Park was actually quite low in rating opposed to many...

elfbwillow 21.08.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Odds Farm Park

An "Odd" But Brilliant Read

Advantages: Different and unsual thriller
Disadvantages: None

...Having finished my last book slightly quicker than I had anticipated I was left without a new book to read, which just can't happen so I had to have a good rake through the huge pile of books we have in the house. After some time reminiscing sat in the middle of a mountain of books I came across a book that my husband had read and enjoyed but I'd never managed to get around to reading. The book "Odd Thomas" is by Dean Koontz an author whose books I had never read before and although I had indeed heard of him I knew nothing about him. Dean Koontz is the author of many international number one bestsellers. He was born and raised in Pennsylvania. A well loved thriller writer who now lives with his wife in California. We are introduced to the main character "Odd Thomas" from the start of the book. Odd is a loveable 21 year old who...

lel1969 19.01.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Odd Thomas - Dean Koontz

Rage Against The Machine Album Review

Advantages: Hard, unconventional rock
Disadvantages: An acquired taste

...Rap-Metal group Rage Against the Machine released their self-titled debut album in 1992, but the music is just as relevant today as it was back then. Songs like 'Take the Power Back' and 'Freedom' are about individual exploitation by the cultural, social, and political systems in society, and how the people must be willing to rise up and overcome such oppression. You may have also recently heard about the small matter of 'Killing in the Name' beating X-Factor winner Joe McEderry to the number one spot, Christmas 2009, seventeen years after the single first debuted in the charts. The thing that really strikes you when you first listen to Rage is that they mean business. The whole album is intended to provide voice to the silent minority: Those individuals that feel neglected and abused are given hope through the band's resonant...

andycarrington 22.12.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine

The Simpsons - Against The World Review

Advantages: Laugh a minute gold
Disadvantages: None

...The Simpsons - Classics - Against the World is a collection of four episodes from, in my opinion, one of the greatest TV shows ever. The four episodes included are "Homer Vs. Patty And Selma", "Marge Vs. The Monorail", "Homer Vs. Lisa And The 8th Commandment" and "Bart Vs. Australia". In "Homer Vs. Patty And Selma" another of Homer's hare-brained schemes goes wrong and so has to borrow money from Patty and Selma to pay the mortgage, all the while trying to keep it a secret from Marge. Meanwhile, Bart has to take Ballet. Some great memorable lines with Homer and his deep hatred for his wife's sisters. And Bart finding ballet fun is such a shock, but he always tries to play it cool ("not that I'm into that kinda thing"). Mr. Burns has to pay $3 million in fines in"Marge Vs. The Monorail", so they hold a town meeting to decide what to...

Walter_Kovacs 07.01.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of The Simpsons - Against The World (DVD)

Against all odds

Advantages: Tough book for tough guys
Disadvantages: have the hankies ready

...the downed crew. It was recognised then, and now, that this was a suicide mission, as 2 soldiers, no matter how well trained and brave they may be, could not possibly hold out against hundreds of enemy fighters. What happens next is television history. The Americans were overwhelmed and killed, with the exception of Durant. The graphic video footage of 2 of the servicemen was beamed across the globe. The grainy pictures showed the semi naked, mutilated bodies being towed behind a vehicle. At the time, Durant didn?t know any of this. He had been helped from his wrecked helicopter by the soldiers and given his weapon to help in the fight. When he ran out of ammunition he simply placed his weapon down, stared at the sky and waited for his end. The nest part is the only part of the book I had a little problem with. The screaming mob...

Story_Weaver 16.07.2004 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of In The Company Of Heroes - Michael Durrant

Against the odds

Advantages: Easier in the long term
Disadvantages: Difficult to get good advice

...undo the mess that it has caused. I?m sure there isn?t a single person who doesn?t know the downsides, but it still goes on. Now I am not suggesting that bottle-feeding is as bad for us, but my comparison is this ? that after many years of testing, studies repeatedly show the benefits of breastfeeding over formula. When we were naïve about breastfeeding benefits, bottle-feeding received strong promotion, and again became a cultural norm. Now, we are starting to understand why breast is best, but have this historical picture to fight against. With babies No1 and No3, I found breastfeeding very difficult in the beginning. My first daughter did not like me holding her, my breasts were sore and she was slow in gaining weight. My health visitor (who unfortunately had the same name as my daughter!) told me I was not producing enough...

sparkynurse 16.10.2002 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Member Advice on Breastfeeding

Odd Brother, Where Art Thou?

Advantages: Back to the high intensity of the original ODD THOMAS
Disadvantages: none- this is another tightly held-together thriller featuring the reluctant hero, ODD.

...book is every bit of a tense, emotional ride as the first novel with plenty of action and a real seige mentality that keeps you gripped until the end. Though the basic premise behind the novel is far from an original one ( as Odd and his fellow monks find themselves cut off from civilisation by a blizzard that removes all communication with the outside world, they are forced to face off against an unimaginable assailant) that has been used hundreds of times before in films such as John Carpenter's THE THING or PRINCE OF DARKNESS and novels such as Agatha Christie's TEN LITTLE INDIANS or Michael Slades CUTTHROAT, it really does work within the parameters of the story. As things progress, the novel becomes about not just managing to survive against insurmountable odds but also about discovering exactly what Odd and the monks are actually...

sparkymarky1973 20.08.2008 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Brother Odd - Dean Koontz