Advantages: Cheap (From fishmongers) Useful ingredient in bait 'cocktails'
Disadvantages: Expensive (From Fishmongers and supermarkets) no real use as a stand-alone bait.

...Purchase: Squid is a very under-rated bait for Sea-Angling here in Britain, although in continental Europe it is used more widely. Squid is usually purchased in a box containing approx. 1 dozen from the tackle shop. I would advise that you are not tempted to buy it from Fishmongers or supermarkets; firstly it works out very expensive, secondly the squid may have been 'treated' with additives or preservatives, which will deter fish. Use: Depending on what type of fish you are going for, you can either use the head and guts of the squid, or use slivers (Like Mackerel slivers). Cut a circular sliver (Try saying that after a few 'medicinal' whiskey's)of squid about 1 cm across, loop this onto a size 2 or 4 hook, add half a ragworm (See my article on this subject) to increase the visual stimulus an the scent. If you are using... Read review

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Advantages: Highbrow comedy at its best
Disadvantages: Ironically, many will find its skewering of pretention irritatingly pretentious

...Written and directed by Noah Baumbach, the co-writer of 'The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou', 'The Squid and the Whale' makes a fascinating companion piece to the films of Wes Anderson (who produces here). Baumbach is working with very much the same kind of characters as Anderson and there are many parallels that can be drawn. Like 'The Royal Tenenbaums' the film deals with a family of emotionally stunted New York intellectuals, like 'Rushmore' their son is a precocious pseudo-intellectual who recites opinions he doesn't understand about books he hasn't read and passes off Pink Floyd lyrics as his own. What is so markedly different about the work of the two directors is how sympathetically the characters are portrayed. Anderson always wants us to side with his misfits, to see the good and the potential in his characters, Baumbach... Read review

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Advantages: Committed performances of a truthful script.
Disadvantages: Some technical issues and it covers old ground.

...mixes traditional violin and guitar melodies with synthesizers to create a strangely appropriate accompaniment to this tale of dysfunction. The reverberating electric and acoustic guitar melodies give a sense of the unreal or dreamlike to the film. Rising electronic motifs become more predominant as the movie progresses and Walt becomes more distanced from his family. But in the end melancholy singer-songwriter music draws us back to reality and the sadness of his situation. The soundtrack features eighties poodle rock like the Cars' "Drive" and Bryan Adams "Run To You" that sets it firmly in the period, without dragging people into the quagmire of nostalgia. "The Squid and the Whale" is a thoughtful movie that will probably appeal to those that have previously dipped their toes in the independent film water. But unlike many other... Read review

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Advantages: Anarchic, subversive dark humour for kids.
Disadvantages: Are you kidding me?!

...to something like "Lion" or "Mouse" or "Donkey" first, Scieszka gives a heads up to Aesop and sets off along his merry way... The only way to really put across some of the fantastic humour in this book is to quote it. However, quite apart from probably not being legally sound, it would be a shame to give away too much of the content of this surprising and witty book. So instead, I hope to tempt you by giving away just a tiny selection of the morals you might find at the end of these stories: "Squids will be squids" "Shoot. It's not my fault" "You should always tell the truth. But if your mother is out having the hair taken off her lip, you might want to forget a few of the details" "Slugs are not unlike squids" "Just because you have a lot of stuff, don't think you're so special" Getting there? Let me tell you some more... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Thoughtful, thought-provoking, moving and funny
Disadvantages: none if you like this sort of film

...... Read review

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Advantages: Friendly, Efficient, Punctual, not uncomfortable
Disadvantages: Lack of food on domestic flights

..., on the train from Osaka to Tokyo, I took a snack in a plastic wrapper and discovered it to be dried squid. I let this one go. Thankfully the ladies came round again soon afterwards with soft drinks, juice, coffee or tea. The stewardess was very elegant, softly spoken, disarmingly cheerful. She was so charming I felt she was wasted serving teas and coffees. She could be talking hostage takers into surrender, pacifying rabid rottweilers or persuading politicians to tell the truth. But such is life. Teas and coffees were served in a plastic cup, with powdered milk and powdered sugar. Powdered seconds were offered when she came to clear away the empties, which I accepted, being rather dehydrated after a flight from London – I almost felt powdered myself. The flight was only just over an hour, so there was no inflight entertainment. I did amuse... Read review

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Advantages: reasonable story
Disadvantages: poor special effects

...plot (remember the mind altering giant squid!- is Crichton a red Dwarf fan?) Elements of other Hollywood Sci-fi films such as the classic 'Alien'(1979), the dreadful 'Event Horizon'(1997) and the undeservingly much-maligned 'Contact'(1997) can also be seen. In the end this film fails to achieve what it's predecessors accomplished, the story is not as gripping and the atmosphere not as menacing as 'Alien' the plot doesn't in the end achieved the imaginative intellectual heights of either 'Solyaris' or 'Contact' and it doesn't have the gore content to satisfy the natural fans of a film like 'Event Horizon' PERFORMANCES With such a distinguished set of credits you would expect whatever the failing of the story the film to be a superior display of the art of acting. The director Barry Levinson with such notable films in his CV... Read review

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Advantages: Unusual look
Disadvantages: Pricey, over-hyped blurb

...... Read review

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