worth a peek....but not much else
359587
This book is exactly what I am into. Pinup-fetish style in dirty motel rooms. Perhaps, because I was so excited to get it, I was somewhat let down. It is obvious that it is a man photographer. Most of the photos concentrate on crotch shots involving a lamp of some sort. A little odd, but there are some nice photos. Particularly the cover shot.
2924827
I too bought this due to some early 'rave' reviews, and after viewing it all can only think "it's not too bad...at least it didn't cost a lot".  The disc  basically has a narrator/host telling you the storyline of the Lord of the Rings interspersed with bland re-enactments, computer-generated geographic locations(nothing too complex or awe-inspiring), and interviews with 'experts'.  This stuff is ok, but nothing really insightful or extremely interesting(well, the story is...but you can/should read the books for that right?).  The two main selling points are some clips of the author and the art gallery.  The clips are, as many pointed out, a little hard to hear but it's good to see them nonetheless.  The big issue I have is with the Brothers Hildebrandt gallery.  When you try to view these in its 'extras' section, you get small versions of them...as if they were framed and mounted on the screen at a distance.  What moron decided to do this?  You get big full-screen versions of the artwork(most?) in the actual documentary(so i guess you can pause them then to enjoy the detail), but you'd have to sit/fast foward through the feature everytime just to do that.  The point of having a stills gallery is to access them all conveniently, but that's ruined by the artwork's small dimensions on the screen.  Anyway, I wouldn't recommended this unless you're a completist with money to spare, or a beginner who wants the 'cliff notes' on the books.  Not essential by any means due to its dissapointingly executed presentation, but not an entirely bad dvd either.
1244873
THE DOGS OF WAR proved only mildly interesting to me. Not quite a disappointment, but not particularly engaging either. Rogak did a more than adequate job of researching her subject - the use of dogs by the military in both peace and war - but the narrative had a rather herky-jerky feel, as she interspersed personal anecdotes and handler interviews with historical data and more official military definitions and training regimens for dogs and handlers. There have already been countless books written on the subject of dogs in war, and this one does not, in my estimation, add much of value. I had the feeling that writing this book was just a 'job' for Rogak. And sure enough, in the acknowledgements page, she thanks "Tom Dunne [the publisher] for coming up with the idea for THE DOGS OF WAR and entrusting the execution of the book to me." The book's prologue, which features the role of military working dog (MWD), Cairo, in the killing of Osama bin Laden, is perhaps the most interesting portion of the book. And then in the introduction, Rogak notes that "since the Cairo story hit, everyone wants to know more about these brave canines who venture into war zones with their human partners."

So yes, I got the sense that the book was rather hastily slapped together in a rather opportunistic fashion, hoping to cash in on the flurry of interest in the mission that took out bin Laden. It has a very appealing cover and will undoubtedly sell well. But if you're looking for a good "dog book," then this will be a disappointment. While the writing is workmanlike and professional, THE DOGS OF WAR reads too much like a term paper, and it's simply not very interesting. Maybe a C+ to a B-.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the Cold War memoir, SOLDIER BOY: AT PLAY IN THE ASA
2145258
An avid fan, I grabbed up Sid's book as soon as I could.  It was a quick and moderately interesting read; but it was not have the sort of work I was hoping for.  The bulk of the work was given over to reminiscence from current and former members; as well as a Track by track walkthrough of each mainstream album.  Sid certainly did a good job assembling the material and it is comprehensive, but it does not analyse the music nor its place in music as much as one would wish.  I was left wanting alot more; still it may be just me.  I don't think Sid intended to write the book I wanted to read.  Worth it for a fan.
3039775
This book has beautiful pictures (mostly movie stills though) but lacks in content.

First of all, it is very short, I read it probably in an hour.

Second, although it has some behind-the-scene information, it's not that interesting and what would have been interesting for the Twilight fans, is omitted. A lot of time dedicated to Catherine Hardwick, her architectural and artistic background, to the producer, some special effects ("sparkly" Edward). I enjoyed the parts revealing the reasoning behind make-up and wardrobe choices, Cullens' house interior, etc.

On the other hand, casting choices just mentioned and not elaborated on. I would have loved to see who else was considered for the roles of Edward, Bella, and Jacob. Did you know that it was thought to have Edward wear his hair long and they even put extensions in Rob's hair for Hardwick to see? I would have loved to see those pictures! It would have been nice to see actors who played the Cullens before and after they were "vamped." No luck. Also, no actor interviews are included.

The pictures in the book are beautiful, but 95% cut out of the movie. Almost no promotional or behind-the-scenes pictures.

This book could have been much-much better!
3972193
I found this a bit disappointing, given the other glowing reviews I had read. It was interesting overall, but I wouldn't have said it was fascinating or revealing. It is much less the story of the idea of importing hippopotamuses (and other African animals) to the US, and more the story of one of the men who supported the idea. This is an interesting story in itself, and I would have been happy just to read a biography of this one character, whose life was certainly eventful enough to warrant it. In the end, I found the book unfocussed, and wasn't sure what the point of it was. The author also seemed to pontificate a little at the end about the way that the USA tends to solve its problems. Don't have an opinion on that, but it again seemed out of place to me. I would actually have given this 3.5 stars, if that were possible. Given that it's a Single and quite cheap, I would say it is still worth reading if you are interested in American history.
3679171
This is the first time I've seen Juno Baby, so I was kind of surprised to see that as a series, the production value was a bit on the... "budget-conscious" side.

My daughter seemed interested enough in the songs, but it seemed that the disc was over by the time she really started getting in to it. To be honest, I didn't see anything that stood out compared to things that are on Nick Jr. and PBS. Juno Baby seemed to be a bunch of puppets singing, without much more.

The DVD has "extras" like language "flashcards", which I was really interested in. But all it consisted of was about 15 graphics with the associated word in English, Spanish, and French, though not in a very engaging way.

If your child is already in to this series, I guess this is an okay addition to your collection. I'd opt for&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Yo-Gabba-Gabba/dp/B001BN4WKY/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Yo Gabba Gabba!</a>, myself... and so would my daughter.
2030639
To tide you over until the next "Movie Megacheese" or whatever.  Very funny captions, worth a look.  A nice book in its own right, but not very much to it other than the very brief captions by Nelson.  The pictures reminded me of my 1970s childhood in a creepy, uncomfortable way.  I recommend buying it used (sorry!)
144108
Three and a half stars.  This was an interesting, although very short work with some good ideas.  It starts off listing commonly accepted myths about democracy and attempting to refute them. I say attempting; because it uses vague allegory and analogy over concrete evidence and example.  This is a generalization because there are a few solid examples, just not enough to make this a decisive work in my opinion.

When it comes to the 'Beyond' portion, it only offers again vague suggestions towards anarchy (anarcho-capitalism specifically).  This book does put forward some interesting and enlightening new channels of thought.  It just reads as an opener to a conversation, instead of the reference I was expecting.

This review may be a little more judgmental than rightfully deserved because I was reading "Problem of Political Authority: An Examination of the Right to Coerce and the Duty to Obey" by Michael Huemer at the same time.  These books take a similar approach to different aspects of the same problem and even reach a similar conclusion (anarcho-capitalism).  Huemer's work is just so much better it hardly compares.
682125
I enjoy watching British comedies and my wife spent some time in Scotland, so I was looking for a treasure trove of slang that was not such common knowledge.  On this point I was disappointed.  If you have watched enough episodes of BBCAmerica you will have heard most of it.

Similarly, I was expecting a bit more depth to the list; perhaps some back story, history or examples from popular culture.  Instead, it has a few pages for each section; sections revolve around food, sex, travel and the like.  There is no background on the subject; it is a list of terms and their meaning.  The author tries to be light and funny, but after the tenth "definition" it gets stale.

So, the lack of anything new word-wise combined with the lack of anything knew about those words makes for a dull book.

Good for those who know little about the language or don't watch British shows.
3335881
Ehh, was mildly entertaining.  Got a couple of laughs, and there wasn't much else out.  I wouldn't make it a top priority to watch, but if you have time to kill waiting in line at the DMV, or on a plane.  It is mildly entertaining.
2745800
I paid $25 for this DVD and even though I liked some of it, I don't think it was nearly worth the money.  Books are available that tell thrilling, factual stories of Juan Trippe, Pan Am, the clippers, and trans-oceanic flight.  This DVD was interesting, but very far from thrilling.  I bought it to get a perspective via video footage, but with hindsight, I would rather have seen my pictures in a well-written book printed on good paper stock with color photos (such as&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Pan-American-Clippers-The-Golden-Age-of-Flying-Boats/dp/1554078946/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Pan American Clippers: The Golden Age of Flying Boats</a>, which is cheaper too!).  Second, the DVD either was written - or at least appears to have been written - by a Pan Am publicist or ad agency.  It was certainly neither unbiased history nor drama.  The first 20 minutes or so of the DVD cover the flying boats themselves, and the last 40 minutes are dredged up, vintage travelogues promoting the Pan Am Pacific routes.  I liked the first third well enough, but the second two thirds quickly got boring.

A few other things (mostly on the plus side):  First, although the cinematography is all understandably old, the very fact that it is old helped capture the retro atmosphere and only occasionally detracted from the presentation.  (At times, the blurred footage was an issue.)  Second, I was struck by the respectful treatment of the various cultures shown.  Third, I think the video did a good job of hitting the highlights of the Pan Am Clipper story.  And finally, I think the story was logically organized, either by time or by the sequence of stops along the route.

But the crux of the issue for me is that the mainly promotional nature of the video sucked a lot of life out of it.  All things considered, I gave it 3 out of 5 stars.
2631225
Good for the highlights, but not really comprehensive.
3417759
Not a bad movie, competently made, well-cast. The problem is that, for a major motion picture, there isn't any more intrigue or plot than an average episode of "Covert Affairs". There is just not enough plot here to make it worth the high cost of going to a theater. For the home screen, it's an okay time waster. The script is so by the numbers that anyone who has ever seen a movie before, or an episode of "Murder She Wrote", will spot the real villain the moment that character appears on the screen. That and the other big "surprise", the identity of the character everyone is searching for, are pretty obvious - so obvious it is hard to believe our very experienced hero didn't spot it along with the audience. The script is also something of a cheat, laying no foreshadowing for the revelation in the last third of Devereaux's weak spot. Always fun to watch Brosnan, though
963546
The book is a descent survey of science fiction films.  Although small in dimension, it has some good photos and poster reproduction.  My main complain with the book is that some of the films list (especially those that are more recent) are a little shy of must-sees.  A perfect example is "I, Robot" the 2004 film with Will Smith.  Its aggregate rating percentage at Rottentomatoes is only 58% percent (only 40% from their list of top critics) so it is far from a must-see, let alone one you would regret not seeing on your death bed.
4264869
PROS.... A good amount of unseen photos and usually unseen segments of famous speeches (*unseen meaning "I" haven't seen them in any previous docs I have seen and I have seen quite a few, but not all). Good overview of the administration.
CONS....too few interviewee's (only 3 in whole series) and those that are did have a remote connection to firsthand knowledge of the events... not the most dynamic or engaging doc on this subject... not too fussy about the narrator....very little pre-presidential coverage...reuses same stills/footage throughout series. Not crazy about the actual title of the series itself.
If you have seen many previous Kennedy docs then this might be a disappointment. If you have little knowledge of the Kennedy administration then it is informative. If you are going to have only one or very few Kennedy docs in your possession, there are better ones out there to pick from.
*The bonus disc is worth the price of purchase: it contains:
- a vintage B&W Secret Service sponsered newsreel about the "facts" of the assassination with amazing footage of Dealy Plaza and the school book depository shortly after the events.
- B&W Nixon/Kennedy debate
- a (30 min approx) colour coverage of the entire funeral event in Washington.
- lastly there is a John Ford 1971 "Produced" doc on Vietnam which is a very bias pro-intervention view of the events  with Chuck Heston narrating, but still is an interesting time capsule of the time period and the struggle to make sense of a sense-less conflict which at that point was still raging.
Overall :  6 out of  10
3563197
This project -- a sort of pictorial biography of the creator of TINTIN, drawn in a style at least faintly resembling Herge's famed "clear line" and formatted in the manner of a classic TINTIN album, right down to the page count -- is frankly a bit mystifying.  People familiar with Herge's life and work will not learn very much that is new.  At the same time, despite the presence of a helpful "cast of characters" (complete with headshots) at the back of the book, TINTIN neophytes will probably be quite confused the first time that they read it.  So who is most likely to mine enjoyment out of this?  Two groups come to mind: (1) the longtime "true TINTIN believers" who simply must own any and all Herge-related products and will thoroughly recognize and appreciate the various visual references to Herge's stories that crop up from time to time; (2) people who were intrigued by the recent feature film but aren't necessarily committed enough in their interest in TINTIN to essay a full-scale Herge bio, or even to read the albums.  For the latter group, THE ADVENTURES OF HERGE is a convenient, and highly enjoyable, "two-for-one" experience: a good place to learn a little something about Herge's life and get an idea as to what a TINTIN album is "supposed" to look like.

Artist Stanislas Barthelemy wisely doesn't essay a full-blown swipe of Herge's style.  His somewhat sketchy interpretation of same looks more like a cross between Herge's earliest work and the highly stylized approach of a John Held Jr.  This puts some useful artistic "distance" between the "hard-PG" narrative, with its scenes of nude portraiture, occasional use of harsh language, and depictions of marital infidelity, and a typical TINTIN narrative, which Herge famously said was created for everyone from ages 7 to 77.  The distinction is especially effective when Stanislas consciously parodies famous scenes from TINTIN albums.  Nowhere is it more so than in the scene in which Herge is freed from the jail where he had been held as a supposed collaborationist.  Even as Herge leaves to literally start his life over again, his cellmate, who'd also been imprisoned by the Resistance, is placed before a firing squad.  Several panels in this sequence bring to mind the scene in THE BROKEN EAR in which Tintin is about to be shot in the same manner.  Tintin famously got out of that one by getting drunk (!), with the tone of the scene strongly resembling that of the climax of DUCKTALES' "Allowance Day."  Suffice it to say that the denouement here is rather more sober.  The final two pages, depicting Herge's death, also make memorable use of props from Herge's stories and the opening scenes of THE SHOOTING STAR.

When I first heard of this project, I was worried that we might be getting a sort of deconstructionist deboning or ideological hijacking of Herge, in the manner of Frederic Tuten's novel TINTIN IN THE NEW WORLD, or the anarchist rip-off TINTIN IN BREAKING FREE.  Thankfully, Jose-Louis Bocquet, who's written biographies of other European comics figures, avoids the pitfalls and pretty much tells the straight story, albeit with some exaggerations to accommodate the requirements of storytelling and the uses of Herge characters and scenes.  If you're a comics fan unfamiliar with the world of Herge, this isn't the worst place in the world to start finding out about the man, his times, and his works.