Commented on devatanu's review
Oct 21, 2007 11:04 AM
nice review, thx
the part that lagged for me was in the airport, but i got a good time (along with all the other more serious merits the book has to offer) throughout the rest of it
i gave this to a few friends who enjoyed it -- it would be a good gift to the right person and for the right... person, it would be a compliment to them if someone gave it
i will enjoy re-reading it too
incidentally, i looked at the reader comments on Amazon.com and there are some good ones
one woman said she never really understood her Asberger's child or felt that she really knew her child until she read this book -- the inside look from Christopher's perspective was apparently very true to life, so much that many people whose lives touch such a child have benefited greatly
well, i'm sure we all have, this is just that kind of rare book that carries to us gifts beyond measure
best wishes
jerry in pennsylvaniaRead More
Commented on psyxx's review
Jun 19, 2007 03:34 PM
http://www.youtube.com/user/mattharding2718
okay, okay
these are the ones that are not in the two 'good ones' -- i think there's two that are put together with the best angles, pictures, etc. -- these are some they did NOT put in -- still interesting -- have fun -- tube's yers
jerry
Commented on fringant's review
Nov 26, 2006 08:04 AM
we can't view this where i live
but i'm sorry to hear the girls could be scantily clad when there are plenty of gentlemen who should consider this way of displaying themselves as well
i would rate your review very useful, but then there's no rating for really useful (once you advise about the gent...lemen, too)
J in PARead More
Commented on cutedoggie's review
Oct 30, 2006 05:50 PM
i enjoyed reading your review
there is so much that goes on every second that it was hard for me to collect my thoughts and write about it but you did an excellent job and one with the potential viewer in mind
i liked that your comments were dead center and solidly placed -- there are many re...actions possible to nearly every scene but you didn't let that get in your way -- excellent job
i didn't expect to like it but i have the DVD and i'm surprise at how many times i've viewed this movie at home
i love the color (for example when she says she has never been to sea or during the snow scene where Van Helsing says 'alright, we'll look for your brother') -- the effects and the colors are a big part of my enjoyment -- i'm glad that you enjoyed this and thx for writing
jerry in pennsylvania
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Commented on jodihayes's review
Oct 09, 2006 01:59 PM
(Updated Oct 09, 2006 02:27 PM)
i didn't mean to single anything out -- i see now i got a little involved on the whole subject of roller coaster action being at cross-purposes with a good love interest -- but i did a rotten job of explaining what i was trying to say
i enjoyed your review -- i'm glad you enjoyed this and that yo...u were surprised -- i missed it in the theaters too -- ratz
your nice review and some of the comments you got makes me think : i'm wondering why there aren't more 'random' houses -- when i lived in philly they had a couple of places that showed movies from ANY release date -- usually they played for 2 or 3 days in a row and with a double or triple bill -- 2 or 3 different films every day -- AND (this was in the mid 70's early 80's, around that time) the price of admission was only ONE DOLLAR, lol
even some old classic from the black & white film days (before TechniColor) are MUCH BETTER viewed on the the actual large screen -- okay, not all -- but some are
let's go into business and start up a few theaters -- sounds like a great vocation to me, anyway
and we'd get to see 'House of Flying Daggers' in there -- we could bring any number of recent movies to be viewed again, too, on the big screen
well, i can dream, can't i ?
isn't that part of making and watching movies in the first place -- i 'imagine' so
JerRead More
Commented on jodihayes's review
Oct 01, 2006 01:39 AM
(Updated Oct 01, 2006 01:43 AM)
Loved this. Of course I love having the DVD too.
There's love. Unfortunately, you can't always rightly 'look for love' in a really 'pictorial' action film. People said the same thing about Van Helsing.
What we are seeing very often pertains to the next thing that's going to happen.
If th...e film starts showing imagery/scenes/acting jobs that look INSIDE the characters (love, personality development, psychological dynamics, etc.) -- well that would run counter to the movie as a whole -- it would destroy the 'feel' -- destroy the 'fabric' -- sort of 'adulterate' the very 'substance' of which the film is woven/constructed.
Once you have a grand design for much action and visuals -- it's really not fair for the viewer to 'ask' for 'love story' elements. If it's TRULY, WILDLY great ACTION like 'House of Flying Daggers' -- cinematically treating a 'love story' would not just 'add pacing' or variety -- and it would do more than 'drag at the action' -- it would most likely destroy the very exhilarating thing that's being proposed/created in the first place.
Every movie is different, too. It's not just a wish from outside the film here. The most all the players and the environment in which they exist are SO HANDSOME -- it's like a clue for some movie 'love' and I agree we're sort of lead to start expecting it -- of course, in the END -- we see LOVE put to the ultimate test. But then, it's love's worst possibility, too. So, we do get love, but not really the most likeable version.
Thx for another gr8 review.
'See you' at the movies,
JerryRead More
Commented on sriram201's review
May 21, 2006 09:37 AM
The one that's really not up to the rest (I tried a few of his short stories -- they have the budding goodness that we know in this author, not the impressive greatness, necessarily) is 'Autumn of the Patriarch' -- this book seems like a practice session for the other books he wrote afterwards. Sur...e, you see a brilliant mind. But it's like the style he eventually perfected and expanded on to such astounding effect -- his own style wasn't congealed enough to carry all the way through 'Autumn of the Patriarch'. The beginning third or half is so very good, then the as the book goes on, the telling becomes more normal -- he still gets the book finished, it just gets to feel flat as it winds on.
I did really enjoy the very new one, the very much shorter 'Melancholy Whores.'
But DO READ 'Love in the Time of Cholera' -- that one is the one that's making me read all the rest of them, lol.
Keep smiling,
Jerry
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Commented on sriram201's review
May 21, 2006 09:36 AM
I would find it extremely difficult to write about this book. I'm impressed with how you wrote.
I thought the whole saga idea (life happening over a span of time) was mixed in with the 'basic humanity' idea which you pointed out so well.
In other words, it was suggestive of the all progress t...hrough the eons. (Similar to the way the Bible tells history beginning from the times of Adam & Eve, the first humans.)
Also, the ending you note they are in a bookstore -- perhaps this signals that it has become time to employ the mind -- really employ the mind (as in history, the written word did come to affect all civilization). I guess it leaves us in the present time, even sensing that we must use the written word AND HAVE BEEN ACTUALLY INVOLVED IN DOING THIS the whole way along as we are reading this wildly put together book.
I wanted to comment here after reading your review to tell you YOU MUST read 'Love in the Time of Cholera' -- a book I think is much the better. Perhaps this is because ALL of the events take place ONLY in relation to the times in life when 'LOVE' applies to the action in some way.
'Chronicle of a Death Foretold' is another kind of must read -- an amazing and much short, much easier to read book. But still with all the magic of Marquez (if not so much wild fantasy empolyed in the telling). Really good.
I always wanted to know more about Simon Bolivar -- and 'The General in His Labyrith' is so amazing that I am finishing the rest of this book later -- nearly EVERY SINGLE VERIFIABLE FACT known about Bolivar is included somehow in this book -- even though the action takes place during the last 30 days or so of the man's life. How Garcia-Marquez accomplished telling all this in such a flowing, natural 'read' -- well, it's almost supernatural.
The one that's really not up to the rest (I tried a few of his short stories -- they have the budding goodness that we know in this author, not the impressive greatness, necessRead More
Commented on own review
May 21, 2006 09:05 AM
I just came upon this article in a medical email newsletter I get and ANYONE who 'met' Chris in this book will enjoy this brief report on a brand new finding that affects what we know about people with autism or Asperger's ! Here is the link URL :
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/healthnews.php?...newsid=43418&nfid=nl
JerryRead More
Commented on 4books's review
May 21, 2006 08:57 AM
I enjoyed this review because I was surprised by this wonderful book. What we find as we read it you understood and told.
It's not really ABOUT an autistic so much as the author has actually put in the book a child, Chris, who IS THERE and is autistic. In other words, the writing isn't ABOUT al...l the things surrounding an autistic life -- the autism is REALLY THERE.
And, as you related, it is a good book to read. The character of Chris is painted so real for us that the plot of the story can happen along side him -- the rest of the characters can be themselves, too -- they don't ever have to reflect in any telling way what autism is in order to show us the dynamics of life around a person like Chris. If the author had used all the rest of the books elements and characters to reach us and convey things about Asperger's Syndrome this would have made a very soppy book to read and it would have ruined our chance to really see and know the main character as well as the peopled world where the story takes place.
In any event, I just came upon this article in a medical email newsletter I get and ANYONE who 'met' Chris in this book will enjoy this brief report on a brand new finding that affects what we know about people with autism or Asperger's ! Here is the link URL :
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/healthnews.php?newsid=43418&nfid=nl
Thanks for the very well done review of this book.
JerryRead More
Commented on diver's review
May 02, 2006 11:48 PM
we had more tin tin books than asterix, but i liked them both
i did research not long ago on tin tin -- interesting history of how that 'book' developed
i also had the author of the 'madeleine' books on a site of the day last week
that FIRST madeleine book is always very good IF you actuall...y have the book itself in front of you
it's simple but effective, too
these books all began before TV really seeped into everyone's ways of thinking
they remain treasures
good job at the review -- if i has to write on tin tin, mine would not be as good or as clear to the reader as you did with asterix
JerryRead More
Commented on diver's review
Apr 17, 2006 04:08 PM
After that, who is next ? You can't stop at just one interview now. Good idea, good job in writing it. Next best thing to being there.
Jerry
Commented on jodihayes's review
Apr 17, 2006 09:49 AM
Thx for taking the time to reply and all.
Sorry, after a few edits I was unable to delete the extra words displayed.
I had a trip too. Down to southern Virginia from PA. Our trees weren't out yet, but their's were -- so the road turned from one season to the next along the way, was nice. F...amily stuff. Hope you enjoyed time away.
I'll try to make it short and sweet in the future. This was an experience of multiple organISMS, lol, after a few watchings.
J in PA
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Commented on jodihayes's review
Apr 10, 2006 12:22 PM
You might enjoy even ANOTHER monkey romp against your own inclinations.
Keep writing,
Jerry
Commented on jodihayes's review
Apr 10, 2006 12:22 PM
Someone who talked me into seeing P. Jackson's Kong told me to rent the Charleze Theron 'version'.
It's very early Disneyesque. The sophistication is way different than the 'new' one reviewed here and the overall effect is like a kiddie amusement ride.
Still, there's many refreshing moments (...characteristic of much of the action here, the police in helicopters just 'say' their lines rather than exude an ultra, high power and authority delivery). There's some stuff only a kid would stand for (a main character uses a home style fire extinguisher on an alarm sized fire).
But most often, the kid-friendly and pared down 'emotionality' works in a surprising way.
What you think is going to be a boring hour and a half gets better the whole way right up to the end, complete with a few really fun and funny (as only Disney can do) moments. The few scattered laughs and guffaws are far shorter than, say, the garden party fiasco in 'The Ugly Daschund' or the cake hitting the rafters in the Hayley Mills 'The Parent Trap'. Still, there's moments of surprising fun.
The ape here is a whole body version of the fakish-looking classic 'hand' from the old time version.
But somehow, there's an extra dimension of reality.
Theron's performances changes as the watch time passes so that you (and the kids) get to know her and get to see that the drama is effecting the characters. This, too, lends a further 'real' dimension.
'Mighty Joe Young' does have some gr8 things that the high-tech Peter Jackson version will never have.
It considers us (and other life forms) with far greater respect, I think. If you shed a tear, it's a real life one, not a sugar confection, obligatory tear that comes from a huge tension-wire sized tug on your heartstrings.
Again, I wasn't up for a monkey chase, but this one was much closer to the ground -- more to appreciate and take to your real heart.
2 different technologies, 2 different films, certainly.
YRead More
Commented on jodihayes's review
Apr 06, 2006 02:16 PM
Jodi -- The 'professional' reviews were fun to go through on www.rottentomatoes.com -- I was surprised that so many reviewers had so many good things to say.
Also -- make sure to look at this. It's great. It's stills and explanations from the ORIGINAL Kong and you can see how the new one remain...ed faithful to the old AND was it's own movie at the same time.
Enjoy :
http://www.angelfire.com/ri/KingKong33/kong33.htm
JerryRead More
Commented on oenone's review
Apr 06, 2006 02:12 PM
Yes, I agree too. She is very good in many ways. Even her 'body language' holds up throughout.
I was impressed what you said about the humans in the world -- some people seem to have missed this part of it. I actually did, a little, at first.
You can see my comments on it at the JodiHayes r...eview of King Kong here at MouthShut if you want.
Incidentally, I had a lot of fun with reading the 'professional' reviewers comments at www.rottentomatoes.com for this film.
ALSO -- if you never saw the originall, this site is very good. It shows a progression of still from the orginal and you can see how 'our' (new) King Kong remained true the OLD one while still being it's own new version. Way interesting :
http://www.angelfire.com/ri/KingKong33/kong33.htm
Thx for writing on this movie, very, very good review,
Jerry in PennsylvaniaRead More
Commented on kris_menon's review
Apr 06, 2006 01:58 PM
Thanks for putting on your thoughts, I enjoyed reading them.
I tend to ramble on and on but you said a lot without wasting time.
I put a comment on 'jodihayes' 's review of King Kong and it took me 3 sections to say it.
Keep writing on Mouth Shut, please.
Jerry in Pennsylvania
Commented on jodihayes's review
Apr 06, 2006 01:38 PM
You can tell I’ve seen the DVD more than once and, like everyone, I’m awash.
Thanks again for sharing your thoughts about King Kong. After reading a number of your reviews, this is one movie I’d have liked to have attended with you so I coiuld experience your reaction first hand.... I’ll bet, like most people, you had a ’’yes’’ reaction.
JerryRead More
Commented on jodihayes's review
Apr 06, 2006 01:37 PM
Ordinary, little humans cause many violent horrors WITHOUT as
good an excuse -- I wish I had realized this a little more on my very first viewing. I missed some of his tender attration to Ann Darrow because of his show of brutality. But later, I came to see things his way a little more, as I sai...d. A few DVD veiwings really wrenched my heart out.
In the theater, you begin (unbeknownst to yourself as it is happening) to feel the hugeness of the screen happenings (with the dinos, jungle, logs, sky, foilage, roots, canyons -- all the lights in NYC, the big red stage curtain, etc., etc.) and I realized after it was over that this was done to make your FEEL yourself in the presence of something huge -- similar to the way Ann Darrow must have felt being up against Kong himself. You just felt sort of ’’under the spell of bigness’’ -- that was really neat.
I thought, too, that in ’’meeting’’ each of the characters we are shown they all have some fault or weakness that makes them a smaller person (some would use the term ’’humility’’, but I don’t really like that word). Jimmy steals a pen, money talks to Jack Driscoll, Ann is hooked when she hears the name of the playwright despite her strong I-make-people-laugh-that’s-what-I-do sense of morality, the captain refuses to listen to reason in the fog, etc., etc., etc. This helps make them ’’worms’’ as much as humans -- i.e. it translates into ’’smallness’’ or slightly lowering their stature. And then of course they are to be placed up against the sheer SIZE and bearing of the gorilla and their (somewhat natural and understandable) human frailties exist in our minds and help to diminish their stature (and our own, perhaps) as we watch the physical realities of King Kong flashing across the screen.
You can tell I’ve seen the DVD more than once and, like everyone, I’m awash.
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