Not as "crummy" as expected
938528
I expected the chips to come in packages of crumbs. There were more crumbs than when I could find them in local stores of course, but the product's packaging does not insulate the chips inside the factory's package. Same convenience for lunch boxes, just a few more smaller pieces.
2941386
I read page after page of Amazon reviews before getting this book from the library and I was honestly expecting the worst when I got it, however, I was not as disappointed as I thought I would be.

Yes, the format is a departure from the other four books, but that really doesn't kill the whole thing. In fact, at times I kind of enjoyed it because who hasn't wondered what Marcus was thinking all these years? I didn't even mind the pages of haikus in the middle. I did not, however, enjoy the rambling at the end of the book that is supposed to resemble a journal.

Another aspect that I did not enjoy about the book was that it seemed like McCafferty would kind of drift into talking about other characters where it wasn't necessary. More than once I would be reading and I would skip ahead to get back to where the dialogue was because it seemed like the "daydreams" were extraneous and unnecessary.

I wouldn't buy this book, but it was definitely a quick read and I was glad that they ended up together, although the finale did leave me wanting a little more.
1530518
Had low expectations of it, but it was more enjoyable taht I thought.
While no masterpiece by any means, its also not as bad as some people seem to think, though that in my own opinion of course.
If your intrigued, go for it. Good bit of entertainment.
268181
I thought it was going to be kind of "hoakey" at first but was pleasantly surprised!
4709580
This movie doesn't stray too far from the formula that made the Lord of the Rings franchise so popular. It IS a bit more fanciful and tongue-in-cheek than LOTR, having stripped away some of the grime, grit, and dark-corners, but that doesn't ruin the rich feel or lively characters most fans would expect.

There were quite a few liberties taken with the storyline when compared with the original book. I assume this was to flesh out the story, removing some large gaps of [yawn] boring character development, but I can't help feeling that this was also a financial decision, driven by the need to make a not-so-long book into a three part cash cow.

All in all, this was a lovely romp allowing us to once again glimpse into J. R. R. Tolkien's long forgotten realm of Middle Earth.

P.S. Keep an eye our for the release of the followup film "The Desolation of Smaug" in December of 2013.
582370
I was surprised at the significant negative reviews of this game.  It's by no means perfect, but it doesn't deserve what people are saying.  There's a trick to putting the pieces on so that they stay put, which my 6 year old figured out pretty quickly.  It seems durable enough after a few playthroughs.  The trick is to realize that 1)  You need to use the weight of the piece you're placing to help hold it in place (hanging it straight down is a bad idea), and 2) you can't hook the rectangular notch in the play pieces onto the backs of an already mounted piece, and that's by design.  You only hook the end of the piece into the circles.

It's fun, we've played a few times and haven't gotten bored yet.  Is it worth $[...]?  Probably not, but if you can find it on sale (as I did, it cost me $[]...), it's worth that.
2944073
I purchased this as a gift having seen the movie on cable.  I had fairly low expectations but was pleasantly surprised.  The movie starts a bit slow, but the characters develop nicely.  The humor and story fall along the lines of "Grumpy Old Men," a comparison meant as a compliment rather than a criticism.  The story lapses into silliness at times, but the overall work is solid enough to hold an adult's interest.
4589887
Some extra reviewing, or restating thought process, not too bad.
3981153
Don't expect the world,, but HEY! It does its job.
3755693
There's nothing wildly originally here, but it was still enjoyable. I read it for free, but I think I'll actually buy it.
There were a few typos, but it didn't distract too badly. I'm planning on trying another book by this author, if that tells you anything.
4793597
The auto-feed feature isn't *quite* as bad as I thought it would be. Then again, I fully expected the item to be unusable. I'm *much* happier with a bump-feed system. For the curious: to get the string to come out more, you have to make the head spin, then stop. As it is slowing down, it automatically advances the line about .25". If you're low a lot of line, tap the throttle, let it stop, tap the throttle, set it stop, etc.

Aside from that, the unit is light, powerful, quiet enough, and clean. Corded electric means that there are no fumes, nor dirty fuel or oil, nor wasting time filling up and procuring petrol, and NO CHARGING BATTERIES! It also means that you need an extension cord and have to deal with managing it while you work. This usually amounts to establishing a pattern in which you do your yard to minimize walking back around trees, etc. ... and then thinking about optimizing this pattern for an hour or two while you work. It takes all the monotony out of yard work!

Double-string means that the head is not unevenly stressed during use which contributes to the longevity of the device by not unduly aging the ball bearings. My last unit wanted this: after a while, it started wobbling during use, and one day it started smoking. I was happy there was no brush fire.
4652180
i wasn't 'allowed' the option of color choice or i'd've taken the silver unit which would've accentuated the windows.  the black unit isn't quite as good looking in my opinion.  the toy moves fairly rapidly across the floor and the lights are quite bright.  however, try as i might, i cannot get it to run in a straight line regardless all the 'wheel alignment' adjustments i made.  still, not withstanding, it provides the required bursts of fun play.  it was a bit smaller than i had expected too.
hopefully, in a few years, i can afford the real thing.
1386163
like most recent buyers, i was nervous about ordering because of previous reviews.  in a nutshell, considering the cost and the free shipping of this heavy item, it's a pretty good deal.  it's nowhere near heirloom quality and certainly not as nice as you'd find at pb teen but then again it's about a quarter of the cost.  i purchased it as a gift for my soon-to-be 10 year old daughter.  she's pretty rough on her stuff so i wasn't looking to spend a great deal and am not expecting it to last more than a few years.  given the price, it's a pretty heavy piece of furniture with nice touches like tack glides already on the stool and table legs; however, don't look too closely.  the drawers don't "square" up to suit my OCD tendencies (lol), the finish is a little worn in inconspicuous (and not so inconspicuous - thank you, OCD) areas and there are plenty of minor gaps where the joints come together.  one of the table legs has a hairline crack in it but it appears to be cosmetic only.  very easy to assemble.  knowing what i know now and given my limited expectations, i'd order it again.
1441074
I sought this disc out to see if it was as bad as everything I'd read about it. It's bad but not THAT bad. I saw no reason to rip it to shreds as one reviewer so painstakingly did. Richard E.Cunha made some bad horror films but this isn't the worst I've seen. It sports fairly decent location shooting for one thing and some of the most unintentionally funny dialogue and situations you could want in a low budget "monster" movie. The "Giant" of the title isn't really a monster but a revived Spanish Conquistador who's just really big, really dirty and mad as hell. Held responsible for murders and other assorted mayhem that occured BEFORE he was revived (as the above mentioned reviewer correctly noted), he commences his rampage by stomping around with an axe. There's an elderly archaeologist, his chirpy daughter, a jerk sheriff and the hero---a local guy who keeps getting blamed for everything by the sheriff. The story takes place in a mountain community where everyone is upset by these brutal murders---yet one young woman is left ALONE by her brother in their remote cabin and meets the "Giant" when she goes to the well for water. Then the dippy heroine is left alone at a campsite I don't know how many times while the men go off in the mountains. Yep, the "Giant"s lurking around in the bushes. He also throws rocks at people. So you see, this is a goofy, goofy film. It's dumb and silly but I liked it because it's really watchable. It's a pristine example of 50's b&w drive-in fare well preserved on disc by Wade Williams and Image in a crisp, clean print. Rather enjoyable if it's not taken so seriously.
1079421
Apart from the odd typo, there's little to quibble about here. The developments in the characters' lives relieve the series of the chance of staleness and the inexplicable bits, or most of them, remain cheerfully inexplicable. Still a good romp, but now a bit more than that.
2042552
I was surprised when this arrived.  I figured it would be lightweight and flimsy.  I was definitely wrong.  In fact, so far my biggest worry has been that I'd drop a piece of this on my foot as I was putting it together.

Putting it together wasn't too bad.  I didn't need the instructions, but when I was done I checked them anyway because I had two extra screws left over.  Nope, they were just extras.  They may have been there because the threading is a little rough and I set one screw aside because it didn't fit anywhere.

Because the frame is so heavy and substantial, this is surprisingly stable.  I don't think I'd have it in a home where toddlers are grabbing everything, but with ordinary use it's just fine.

The baskets are very well ventilated and so far it seems like they're far enough apart that I can have a few bananas in the top basket without ripening everything in the other baskets too quickly.

The product page doesn't say it, but the instructions warn that this is not dishwasher safe.  I can see where I might let something get moldy, especially in the bottom basket, and it would be nice to put the basket in the dishwasher on a light cycle to get all the mold off.  But it will have to be done by hand washing.  I'm guessing the basket handles are the reason.

So this is surprisingly heavy and sturdy, it's pretty easy to put together, and I've been storing a mix of fruits and vegetables with no problems.  Cleaning instructions are to "Wipe clean with a damp cloth" and this is not dishwasher safe.  It gets the bananas off the counter and the potatoes out of the fridge, and it's easy to see what I need to buy on my way out the door.  I like anything that organizes my kitchen, and this definitely helps with that.
4669729
I feel like this is a pretty fun read as long as you're not expecting a lot out of it ...which I wasn't, so it worked out fairly well. Jack is pretty much exactly as you'd expect him to be from the cover and description, your standard 'everyman' anti-hero detective type with a drug and/or drinking problem. It's not necessarily bad and I know it was done on purpose, but it's still very standard urban fantasy fare.

The part of the story that I thought stood out a bit more was the setting. Pandemonium is a kind of afterlife [or IS it ...dun dun dun] for supernatural creatures that it roughly divided up into five different sections that are supposed to correspond to NYC's different burroughs. It was definitely a neat idea and I like how he chose to blend a lot of the different supernatural/mythological elements together.

I was also pleasantly surprised that the sex-crazed shark woman [loud groaning] was not the only female character in this book [look, I told you I had low expectations]. There's a really awesome half-fairy witch that comes in around half way through and I absolutely loved her. Also the goblin queen was around for a half-second. However there WAS a rather unfortunate running gag where Jack tells Oswald to 'stop being such a woman' [even louder groaning].

When it happened in the main story our awesome witch lady was there to punch him and remind him that she had just saved his life [twice], but it also happened in the short story that was tacked on the end and there was absolutely no commentary about it in that. If I had read the short story by itself when it first came out I probably would have refused to continue reading the series based on that alone, so just something to consider.