No Seth Rogan.... Weeheee!!!!!!

Advantages: Above average buddy/loser comedy
Disadvantages: Some cliche

...Move over Greg Apatow there are new slackers in town, The Hangover, the surprise 'loser' comedy hit of the year, for once not featuring the now ubiquitous and annoying fat heads and bubble perms of Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill - hence the film doing the huge box-office, one suspects. It seemed to be word-of-mouth alone that generated the box-office for this one, the cast and crew not carrying any real comedy pedigree into this movie. No one saw this one doing any big business on its cinematic release and with its unknown cast and well-trodden cliché bachelor party in Vegas/road trip topic there was little room for originality. But director Todd Phillips knows this territory well, bringing us fellow so-so slacker movies Old School and School for Scoundrels, so hitting the ground running here, finally refining his technique with this...

thedevilinme 20.12.2009 (21.12.2009) · Read review
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Review of The Hangover (DVD)

Gilliam and the Gonzo experience

Advantages: Twisted, anarchic, darkly hilarious...
Disadvantages: Incomprehensible if you're not in on the joke.

...The question was: what would my favourite director make of one of my favourite books? Terry Gilliam certainly had the credentials - the insane animations of Monty Python; the twisted, neo-nostalgic dystopia of Brazil; the much-maligned, chaotic genius of Baron Munchaussen. What better visionary to bring Hunter S. Thompson's hallucinatory masterpiece to the screen? (Although a version by Peter Greenaway might have been interesting...) The nominal storyline is this - Gonzo journalist Raoul Duke (Depp) goes on a drug fuelled mission to Las Vegas to cover a desert race, dragging along his criminally insane attorney (Del Toro) for company. On discovering the race to be a total farce, they jettison the story and embark on an odyssey of seriously anti-social behaviour. Depp goes bald and successfully contorts himself from heart...

Plissken 14.12.2000 · Read review
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Review of Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas (DVD)

A Suitable Boy

Advantages: well written and interesting..
Disadvantages: lenghty passages that could have been trimmed down

...Born in 1952 in Calcutta, India, VIKRAM SETH was educated at Oxford, Stanford University and Nanjing University..He has travelled widely and lived in Britain,China and the USA.He now lives in Calcutta, India His first novel, THE GOLDEN GATE : A NOVEL IN VERSE(1986), describes the experiences of a group of friends living in California.. His second novel A SUITABLE BOY, at 1347 pages ,is one of the longest novels ever published in a single volume in the English language...It won the prestigious Booker's award for 1994... Set in the post-indpendance India in the early 1950's, it deals with the efforts of a widowed mother looking for a SUITABLE BOY for her daughter...The novel begins with a wedding and closes with a wedding...It is a very colorful novel with accounts of festivals,the exotic food and the rich and flashy lifestyles...

kiran8 31.07.2008 (01.08.2008) · Read review
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Review of A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth

A String Quartet + Rekindled Love = An Equal Music

Advantages: The writing, the setting, the music
Disadvantages: The characters are not sow ell defined or likable

...I bought this book, An Equal Music by Vikram Seth, for the grand sum of one penny on the basis of a review written by Floon. I was enchanted by his description of the storyline and the author?s writing style. I was not disappointed. The author, Vikram Seth states, in an author?s note located on the last page of the book, that, ?Music to me is dearer even than speech?. To convey this, he focuses his novel on the world of music and its performance. The central character, Michael Holme, is the second violinist in a London-based string quartet. His life has settled somewhat into a rut. He plays his violin; teaches the violin; makes love to one of his students, Virginie; rings his father; all as a matter of routine. His comfortable lifestyle is suddenly disturbed by a series of events each connected and occurring in parallel...

MAFARRIMOND 28.08.2004 · Read review
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Review of An Equal Music - Vikram Seth

Touched At A Deeper Level

Advantages: Totally absorbing, touches the deepest emotions
Disadvantages: Uses musical jargon freely - may put off a few people

...the novel works on the subconscious mind, which regards it as ?real? and synthesises the emotions by way of response. The extent to which this works is a measure of the skill of the writer. And Vikram Seth is a writer of exceptional skill. ***** First Encounter ***** I first encountered An Equal Music when we visited my brother, who was treating Mrs Floon and me to a couple of concert tickets to hear the Lindsay String Quartet at Leamington Spa to celebrate my good lady?s birthday. One of the works played was the sublime String Quintet by Schubert (see my review halfway down page 2) and my brother later pulled out a copy of this book and said he thought the Quintet was mentioned in the novel. He thought I might enjoy reading it and passed it over to me. I took it home, more out of politeness if I?m honest: as a reader...

Floon 09.07.2004 · Read review
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Review of An Equal Music - Vikram Seth

Funny viking saga in the style of Python or Gilliam

Advantages: Great ensemble cast and locations
Disadvantages: Not many

...seeing the gods or Valhalla and seeing Eric vanish using The Cloak Invisible. There are so many faces to recognise and everyone does a very good job, John Cleese as Halfdan The Black (I really don't think Jack Lemmon would have done the role justice) playing the role as a favour to Terry Jones (who wrote & directed the movie & also played The King Of Hybrasil). This was never really going to be a Monty Python Film but it works very well. Not many of the cast were huge stars at the time (apart from Mickey Rooney & Eartha Kitt who were most likely the two biggest names attached to the movie) so I think that brought the budget down. It's well shot and all the location stuff (including Norway for the village scenes and Malta doubling as Hybrasil) looks stunning. For those who like Python or Terry Gilliam style films this is well worth a look...

atytyut2434 01.04.2009 · Read review
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Review of Erik The Viking (Special Edition) (DVD)

Two lives or three?

Advantages: Extraordinarily moving and beautifully written
Disadvantages: Unbearably sad and at times frustrating.

...Vikram Seth is probably most famous as the author of "A Beautiful Boy" and "An Equal Music", but he has also written a travelogue, a novel in verse, and other poetry. His latest book is in yet another genre: a biography of his great-uncle and -aunt, Shanti Uncle and Aunty Henny - their names appear in the acrostic poem he writes as the dedication - two 'ordinary' people who lived through times that were quite out of the ordinary. What makes this biography far more intimate than the average, however, is the author's close relationship with his subjects. The book is also part autobiography, as Seth recounts his memories of time spent with his aunt and uncle during school holidays while he studied in England - in fact this takes up the first part of the book, as we are introduced to his aunt and uncle through the eyes of their great...

natalka57 02.02.2007 · Read review
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Review of Two Lives - Vikram Seth

Seth Macfarlane is a genious

Advantages: alot cheaper than buying individually
Disadvantages: not as asthetically pleasing

...appreciate the oldest episodes especially those of seasons 1 and 2. As family guy has progressed its humour has become alot more adult. series 1 and 2 are pretty much the same as how you would have seen them on television however series 3 has a couple of scenes included in it that you may not have seen on tv such as the episode "mr saturday knight" which has a few things considered "too offensive for television" although series 1, 2 and 3 have no special features on the actual diskes this thirteen disk extravogansa comes with a purple bonus 2 disk dvd which features deleted scene animatics, commentry of 12 episodes and interviews with Seth Macfarlane the creator of the series and voice talent for multiple characters. series 4 and 5 however have their own special features such as interveiws and deleted jokes. series 4 and 5 are more adult series...

thetrooper244 05.01.2007 · Read review
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Review of Family Guy - Series 1 To 5 - Complete (Box Set) (DVD)

The new voice and face of folk music

Advantages: A distinct and aggressive folk album
Disadvantages: A few too many songs in a 12/8 time signature!

...Seth Lakeman was recently nominated for a Mercury Music Prize for this, his second solo release. Although he didn't win, I wouldn't have looked at this album if it wasn't for his breathtaking performance at the awards ceremony. The album cost just £200 to make - some of which went on buying curries as a "thank you" to his musician mates who played on the album - and carries an earthy, aggressive atmosphere throughout. Based on the folklore stories of his native Dartmoor the album is a meloncholic and brooding musical construction that, if I lived on Dartmoor, would keep me awake at night with fear. However, there are softer and more uplifting tracks finely placed throughout the 12 tracks on the album, and this means the album won't leave you hoping for a swift death. The syncopated clapping rhythms of the traditional song...

eddybennet 26.09.2005 · Read review
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Review of Kitty Jay - Seth Lakeman

Folks Greatest Songwriter Breaks Into New Grounds

Advantages: Mature, Addictive, Hook Filled, Glorious
Disadvantages: Not for the small minded!

...So who is Seth Lakeman? Born in 1977 he first came to music through his family, both touring with his parents band, along with his two brothers. This then grew into The Lakeman Brothers, a touring band in its own right, which then grew again into the band Equation. Renowned in folk circles, but together only for a short period. After this Seth branched out on his own (although you will see many of his previous band mates appearing both live and on record with him), putting together his debut album "Kitty Jay" on a shoestring budget, and recording it at his brothers house. This album went on to be nominated for the Mercury prize - a defining moment in young Seths career. "Freedom Fields" is the follow up to this album. A hard task you might say, following up such a well renowned album? Apparently not. On first listen to "Freedom...

charlsayslol 06.04.2007 · Read review
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Review of Freedom Fields - Seth Lakeman