This is England.... apparently!

Advantages: Dark, gritty & enthrawling
Disadvantages: A bit slow at times

...This Is England is the very successful British drama released 27th April 2007. It?s rated 18 as it contains extremely strong language, violence & racism. This Is England runs for approximately 101 minutes. It had a budget of £1,500,000 & grossed an estimated $8,069,240 at the box office. The film was extremely well received by the critics, infact around 93% of them gave the film a good review. The 18 rating became controversial as this film is mainly aimed at teenagers, however despite the controversy the film remained an 18 rating instead of being overturned to a 15. This Is England won the award for Best British Film at the 2007 British Academy Film Awards & Best Film Category at the 2006 British Independent Film Awards. This Is England is directed by Shane Meadows who?s considered to be a rising stars & one to look out...

Great_reviewer07 04.03.2009 · Read review
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Review of This Is England (DVD)

This is England

Advantages: Thomas Turgoose, British, nostalga, powerful, thought provoking
Disadvantages: Depressing

...Being a "Skinhead Movie" it is inevitable that This is England gets compared to American History X. Whereas Shane Meadows' epic portrayal of 1980s Britain isn't as much a social commentary about racism and how to overcome it as American History X is, it does, however, provide the perfect mix of nostalgia, individual insecurity, and violent bigotry that makes This is England a personal and powerful experience best approached with your grandmother's old English hanky. What a weird and wonderful era the 1980s was in Britain. If you're fortunate, or unfortunate, enough to remember a time when Roland Rat and Maggie Thatcher ruled our televisions then you'll find yourself bathing in a mix of nostalgic excitement and/or restraining yourself from smashing the TV to a pulp with the film's opening montage. This sets the menacing air...

andycarrington 10.02.2009 · Read review
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Review of This Is England (DVD)

This Is It ... The King Of Pop's Musical Legacy Lives On !!!

Advantages: A wonderful album featuring many of Michael Jackson's greatest hits and a few new surprises.
Disadvantages: Despite being a two disc CD the second disc only has three tracks ...

... ~ Introduction ~ As a teenager Michael Jackson was one of my favourite ?pop singers?. I had the album Bad on tape and my dad had most of the Jackson 5 albums in his record collection. I can remember receiving the 1987 Michael Jackson Calendar for Christmas and I was over the moon. Over the years my taste in music has changed but I have always remained a fan of Michael Jackson. When I heard the news that he had died I too was shocked and saddened ? On Saturday morning I bought a copy of Michael Jackson?s This Is It (having been to the cinema the night before to see the concert movie that the album itself is based on). For the last couple of hours I have been listening to the album whilst writing this review. I have never written a review of a music album before and, to be honest, was not entirely sure where to start...

jedimastergray73 04.11.2009 (05.11.2009) · Read review
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Review of This Is It - Michael Jackson

This is a good book

Advantages: Simple story
Disadvantages: none

...This is the Bear I do like this book, and have used it on many occasions in mainstream and special schools. It's a simple story which has also been enjoyed by my own three children. ~~Story and Illustrations~~ The best thing about this book is the simplicity of the story and the illustrations. The story focuses on three main characters who do appear in the other books by the same author. These characters are the boy, the dog, and the bear, and whilst they are usually very good friends, the story starts with dog pushing bear in the in. Bless- we actually see bear been lifted over the edge of the bin by dog. From here on, an adventure starts, with bear being picked up and put in the rubbish truck. Bear is put on the rubbish dump, and boy goes to find him?"This is the boy who took the bus and went to the dump to make...

danielalong 13.11.2007 · Read review
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Review of This Is the Bear - Sarah Hayes

Is this my nose??

Advantages: see review
Disadvantages: see review

...This book was given to us free by our health visitor! As part of the bookstart which is a children's charity aimed at introducing books into children's lives from a youg age this book was given to us in a pack for free. For more information about bookstart visit www.bookstart.co.uk The book This book is quite large- it's about the size of two dvd boxes side by side. It is a board book so it is baby friendly. Being a board book means that babies don't have to worry about getting paper cuts and scrunching up the pages as they grab at them. Board books are great as they are so baby friendly, although they don't manage to avoid getting the teeth marks around the edges where your baby likes to chew! The front page is bright yellow with a big picture of a child on the front pointing to his nose and the title 'Is This My Nose...

mrbing10 20.11.2009 (24.11.2009) · Read review
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Review of Is This My Nose? Board Book - Red Fox

This is England - This is Great English Cinema

Advantages: Poignant, powerful, great performances, great setting
Disadvantages: Not for you if you like beautiful film stars or if you don't like swearing

...I watched this powerful and poignant film last night and couldn't wait to write about it. It's a portrayal of Thatcher's Britain, the appeal (and the menace) of the gang, but most importantly, the very moving story of a young boy's grief over losing his father and his struggle to belong. ~~~Director/Context~~~ This is the most recent film (released in 2006) from the very talented, Nottingham based director, Shane Meadows, who stays very true to his personal roots and to the tradition of excellent British film making followed by the likes of Ken Loach (Kes, My Name is Joe, Raining Stones) and Mike Leigh (Secrets & Lies, Life is Sweet). The cast are largely unknowns, the setting is always 'gritty' (council estates in the Midlands, the unemployed, the struggles and the triumphs of ordinary lives) and the soundtrack is usually excellent...

sonic0209 07.10.2007 · Read review
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Review of This Is England (DVD)

"Amy Macdonald This is your life"

Advantages: Good voice
Disadvantages: Too much Irish Folk

...**Introduction** The Then 20 year old Amy Macdonald became a suprise hit around this time last year when her debut album This is Life was one of the biggest sellers. The Scottish born Macdonald has had some people thinking she was Irish for due to her singing voice having a distinct Irish tone. Here is a little bit about her rise to stardom. She started writing and performing songs at the age of 15 around Glasgow and sent a demo cd away after an NME advert. She was then signed to the production company 'Melodramatic'. She is now with Mercury Records. **This is the life** Released on 30 July 2007 This is the Life is one of those rare albums that took nearly six months to rise to the top of the album charts. The single that caused the huge rise in album sales was undoubtedly This is the life which was the single when the album...

jcneil 12.12.2008 · Read review
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Review of This Is The Life - Amy MacDonald

Is That It?

Advantages: Great music, showcasing Jackson at his best
Disadvantages: Not a soundtrack album, just a marketing tool

...Whilst his life and death may have been clouded in controversy, there is no denying that Michael Jackson was one of the great musical artistes of the 20th Century. Recent times and troubles may have lessened his output lately, but his legacy is a great body of work that has entertained millions and inspired many of today?s acts. Indeed, with his habit of spending millions of dollars on music videos, Michael Jackson led the way when it came to using MTV as an advertising tool. It may be a little too soon after his death for the release of the film ?This Is It?, but it?s worth remembering that had he lived we?d have the real life version at this point. The cinematic release opens it up to more people than had tickets for the shows at the O2 and whilst we may only get to see the rehearsals rather than the full on show, it?s a last...

Soho_Black 08.11.2009 · Read review
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Review of This Is It - Michael Jackson

How much more black could this be? and the answer is none.

Advantages: You can turn this one all the way up to 11.
Disadvantages: Unfortunately this is not a real band.

...?In ancient times, hundreds of years before the dawn of history? To accompany the? mockumentry? ?This is Spinal Tap? the fictional British heavy metal band released this collection of songs from the albums soundtrack as homage to the ?Smell the Glove? album that they were promoting through the film. Due to the album being released as a soundtrack it never really received any great success chart wise and was mainly just purchased by those who, like me are great fans of the film. Now firstly let me start by saying that if you haven?t seen the film that accompanies this album it is a must watch so get out there and get it (well at least after you?ve read this anyway.) Like I?ve said the band themselves are completely factious everything from who they are to their previous career which was made up only for the purpose...

HarryKgh 23.09.2009 (25.09.2009) · Read review
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Review of This Is Spinal Tap (Original Soundtrack) [Remastered] - Spinal Tap

This Is Not The World - The Futureheads

Advantages: Has an up-beat and rocky feel.The album has a lot of energy with Rocky theme tune like intros.
Disadvantages: This album put me off the band.Dissapointing,noisy and messily composed.

...This album really put me off the band and in my opinion their earlier album News and Tributes was much better. I found it dissapointing and really over the top on unbalanced energy. Does it rock? Yeah I guess it does with some real punchy powerful songs that are a bit Maximo Park in feel. But the overal feel of this album is dissapointing as they seem to have tried to squish as much as possible into each song. The harmonies change suddenly, spiky guitar riffs and lots of up-tempo-pop shifts in the music. This makes it feel a bit too noisy or messy and they have lost much of the initial grace or simplicity that made them stand out from the rest. Lyrically and vocally they dont really stand out either and all I can say is thank God ths isn't their first album as hopefully their existing fans will remain loyal and hope for a much...

SpookyMoon 29.05.2009 · Read review
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Review of This Is Not The World - Futureheads (The)