Grail three star review
592351
This is one of the few books of DeMille that I have been able to read to the end.  Even though I found the story line very often boring with a lot of information that I really didn't need, I did finish reading it.  The end is interesting.  The book is at least 90% getting to the grail and then leaves you hanging as to what happens.  I guess the title is the quest so I shouldn't have been surprised.  Only three stars on this though.
3536051
Overall a descent offering. As typical for Hask-Tak offerings there are some pluses and minus. The articulation is acceptable but it does leaves something to be desired. The combiner for is so-so. The hips and legs in this mode are quite wide so it looks a little awkward but there are 3rd part offerings in the works to minimize the problem. Overall, you you want a Superion and don't wan to go the 3rd party route, then you should pick this  up.

PS if you want a more classic G1 style Superion then look into to the set from Takara.
4414225
"Three Hearts and Three Lions" is a good book, but it's not great.  It was groundbreaking in its time (the 1950s) but now appears dated and rushed, mostly because this book was originally written as a serial for magazines.
Knowing that, it's easier to comprehend the less-than-fully-fleshed-out characterizations.  Holger Carlson, our man out of time (he's from the 20th century and is adrift in a new, fantastic world filled with "swan-mays" and witches and elves), is a cipher at the beginning, and is almost as much of one at the end.  He wants to do good, and does it -- but is hampered by lack of faith, and is sometimes helped by greater knowledge of engineering, chemistry and especially physics.
All of this is realistic, interesting, and well worth your time to read.
Where this book falls flat, in my opinion, is in the realm of characterization.  Granted, this was the 1950s, so Alianora the swan-may's fluffy characterization was about the best most authors would manage.  However, Mr. Anderson had already written about a strong woman in "Brainwave" if I recall correctly; he knew how to get strong women across in the marketplace, and moreover, he knew how to write romance.
This is not romance by any stretch of the imagination, although there's a fair amount of sex (along with a goodly amount of violence).  Unlike much literature of the 1950s, Mr. Anderson makes Holger question his morality and judgement; this, in my opinion, is the one really good bit of characterization Holger has, and is the only reason he is likable.
The good points about "Three Hearts and Three Lions:"  It's quick.  It's interesting.  It is realistic.  And there are spots of humor.
The bad points?  There isn't much characterization or romance.  Alianora the swan-may is rather trite and boring, and most of the other minor characters are no better.  And there isn't much explanation of why everyone recognizes Holger, but why Holger doesn't recognize them.
Still.  It's readable, interesting, and has its good points.  And it was groundbreaking in the genre.
Better reads by Mr. Anderson include the massive "King of Ys" saga, the Dominic Flandry series, the "Last Viking" trilogy about Harold Hardrede, and "Brainwave."
Compared to those others, this is a three star novel, and that's how I'm rating it.
Barb Caffrey
3728684
This was a tough one to call as far as how many stars to give...I was wavering between 3 and 4. The most accurate rating would probably be 3 1/2 stars. On the negative side there are two drawbacks to the book. The first is, if you have already read a few books on the Renaissance you won't find much that is new here. The second drawback is the lack of pictures- really inexcusable in a book of this kind. (That is probably the major reason why I went with 3 stars rather than 4.) The majority of the book deals with architecture, sculpture and painting. How can you not include reproductions? I realize that the publisher wanted to keep the price down, but they could have at least included a few plates....even some black and white ones would have been helpful (especially in the sections on architecture and sculpture, where color is not that essential). On the positive side, if you haven't read anything on the Renaissance this book is a good starting point. Mr. Johnson provides some historical background, and then he tells a little bit about key figures in all of the areas mentioned above, (and before he gets into the visual arts he has a good chapter on the heavyweights in the areas of literature and scholarship). Another good thing about the book is that even though it is short and Mr. Johnson has to cram in a lot of people, the book isn't written like an encyclopedia. The prose isn't dry. The author is enthusiastic and isn't afraid to express his opinions. To give you an example, Mr. Johnson includes several pages on Dante and Chaucer- to show that even though they wrote in an earlier period they were harbingers of what the Renaissance was all about...they were fascinated by individual human beings and therefore created characters who were real rather than archetypes. In discussing Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" Mr. Johnson has this to say: "These men and women jump out from the pages, and live on in the memory, in ways that not even Dante could contrive. There is genius here of an inexplicable kind: Chaucer is one of the four English writers- the other three being Shakespeare, Dickens and Kipling- whose extraordinary ability to peer into the minds of diverse human creatures defies rational explanation and can only be attributed to a mysterious 'daemon.'" Mr. Johnson's comments are usually interesting and pertinent but he occasionally shoots from the hip and says something silly, such as the following: "(Albrecht) Durer was unusually thoughtful and articulate for a painter..." I could give Mr. Johnson a long list of intellectual artists, which would include Rubens, Delacroix, Degas, Van Gogh, Matisse, Duchamp, Picasso, Braque, etc. All because someone creates with paint (or music) rather than with words doesn't mean they aren't thoughtful or articulate. Fortunately, comments like this are few and far between and Mr. Johnson is usually sensible rather than silly. So, in summary, this is a good book for the reader who doesn't know a lot about the Renaissance and the pleasing style will make the reader want to learn more about the topics and people that are discussed.
3773485
I thought that the book was probably 4 stars except the magic appearance of clues in the old wardrobe smacked of science fiction.  This brought it back to 3 stars for me.
2997112
While many went berserk over 52, I was luke warm to it. Some storylines, such as the Animal Man/Adam Strange/Starfire story, and the Ralph Dibny storyline, went on too long. The Lady Styx idea I felt was contrived and the ending was a little too neat of a wrap up. The positives were, beautiful covers by JG Jones, and there wasn't one bad panel of interior art. Over all it's worth a read, but I'm always leery of these giant events or crossovers (crossovers is one of the reasons I barely read anything at Marvel anymore).
288963
Good book, not great.  Which essentially translates into "It's not a John Corey book,"

One thing that irked me right off the bat was to find out this was a story DeMille wrote back in the mid 1970s.  I thought I was getting a new story.  (Understand, that with authors I love/trust, I try to find out as little about the story so I know nothing of what's coming.  I do, however, look at review ratings and will sometimes skim reviews...)

Nevertheless, this was a good book; well written; had pretty fleshed out characters; but included far more history on Ethiopia than I was interested in.  The story takes place in the mid-70s and revolves around a trio of war journalists who go looking for the Holy Grail after running across an old Italian prisoner in Ethiopia.  The country is at war and after a harrowing time as captives of an evil general, the group escapes only to decide later to return to look for the Grail.  The first and last third of the book were much more exciting to me.  The middle third takes place in Rome where they talk a lot about Ethiopia during WWII and do much research about the Grail's history (some fact, most speculation).  While interesting, it seemed to drag on far too long.

Again, the book is very well written and not bad.  But if you think you're going to read a tale about the actual quest of the Grail, then just read the first and last section as that's pretty much what you get.
3838635
This is a copy of my review from IMDb

Playing the lackluster Gears of War 3 makes me realize how disappointing the trilogy has become. Now don't get me wrong all three games were good but not great, but they all lacked one thing to take it to the next level of such franchisees like Halo, Mass Effect, Final Fantasy, and fallout. That is a compelling story and characters, which Gears of War lacked.

First let me go into what I did like. The graphics which I would give a 10/10 were stunning and amazing. They were at times breathtaking.

Next is the game play which I would give a 7/10. I played the game twice when I rented from Game Fly. I played it on normal and hard. The controls were easy to use and easy to switch weapons. It was wonderful through the first have of the game as the game was truly challenging especially the early bosses, but once I got a little past the half way point the game seemed to become easier, repetitive, and to linear. The two latter parts are what hurt the franchise the most.

Finally there is the Story/Characters I would give a 4/10. This trilogy started off great with in the first game (8/10) which was compelling as we were introduced to this unique world. The second game (8/10) started the downward trend with the story being good but lacking appeal. I was expecting more since this was most likely going to be the last time we see Marcus Fenix, Damon Baird, Anya and the all the other characters. What I got was a lackluster undertaking. The first half of the game was by far the best and one of the best moments of the game took place around the half way point when one of the major characters dies. I won't give it away but I'm sure you can figure it out. The second half and climax was average to bad, and the ending was down right terrible.

Overall this game was good, but not great, excellent, or a classic. The same goes for the three games in general which over all I'd give a 8/10 for being a great trilogy. It will never be on the level of the series I've listed above, and it's definitely not worth $60 price tag. The game and series are worth playing but I'd rent it from Game Fly or pick it up when it's under $30.
3736856
Bandai of Japan has the best fit and finish quality. I picked this up for $45 shipped which felt like a steal, any more than that and i'd maybe reconsider because as nice as it is it may not appeal to everyone.
3009580
Soon after it was announced that Robert E. Howard's character Conan the Barbarian would be handled by writer Kurt Busiek and artist Cary Nord for Dark Horse Comics, a short preview issue was released to show readers what they were in for.  The result was a frenzy: it was obvious that Busiek knew how to start the series off right by adapting the Hyborian Chronicles, and Cary Nord did an excellent job of capturing the decadent style and intensity of the paintings of Frank Frazetta, especially with Dave Stewart's coloring being applied directly to Nord's pencils.  After reading the trade paperback CONAN: THE FROST GIANT'S DAUGHTER AND OTHER STORIES, it's obvious that these guys can deliver; however, I'm somewhat disappointed with the direction DHC is taking with this series.

My disappointment stems from the fact that I was hoping for something that focused more on REH's original tales, with a minimal amount of new material.  This Dark Horse trade collects issues 0 - 6 and part of 7, and in that entire space, there are only TWO stories from REH (the aformentioned intro and The Frost Giant's Daughter).  The rest are new stories which serve to link the REH tales, and while I do like Busiek's method of building them out of the originals, it's the pacing that bugs me.  Knowing how comic creators bounce back and forth between projects these days, with no real long-term commitments, my fear is that there may only be a handful of actual REH stories adapted by Busiek and Nord before one or both gets tired and goes on to something else.
1062998
The story of the return of Duke McQueen to Tantalus is a good one. It's also not what it's alleged to be by some readers, that of being joined at the hip with with more popular SF adventure romance giants, Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers. The problem with that assertion is two-fold: 1. it minimizes the humanity of this tale as well as obvious differences, 2. it lumps those characters into the typical derivative dismissal of so many wonderful but dated characters that allows for them to be dismissed by readers who are only passingly familiar with them, the curse of popularity without enough people bothering to know enough about the source to have an informed opinion.
Duke is different even is he is derivative, but it's like comparing Eric John Stark to Tarzan (anyone who's aware of the distinction, well, it's nice to have you reading). What drives this story is the desire to plant those fantasy SF worlds in our very real one and make it work. It does so not by building a huge backstory. It does so by making the idea desirable, and that's it. The first thing to make it plausible is our relative unawareness of such places as Tantalus. That makes easy for us to dismiss without really trying. The guy who saved it, a delusional astronaut who got lost out there.
Many years later, with all the press coverage and naysayers quiet a just barely still middle aged man, a widower with grown kids off and gone, is approached by one of the same people he once saved to do so again. Is he too old? He sure looks old, but he is still pretty fit. But, man, he's old.
Well, read the book and see.
The real surprise for me is the writer. Mark Millar is hardly the guy I'd go to for a romantic adventure. To be honest it was Goran Parlov's line art that got me try it. He's an artist who reminds me of Moebius (Jean Giraud) but also Alex Toth in his simplicity -that's anything but simple. It's also a good yarn about the ability to rally and DELIVER regardless of your age and situation.
This is also a tale with a lot of old fashioned heart, the kind everyone laments is rare but also is ignored even when it's staring those cynics-by-circumstance square in the face.
Is it perfect? Well, it's perfect to me for what it is, a good solid story with characters I care about and a situation where a man can be all he ever wanted to be, even if he doesn't know it. again.
The wrapping of the tale delivered a very nice bonus too.
My gripe. As good as this is they should have considered a nice hardcover edition. The edition reviewed is fine and it's priced as a bargain. I would also have preferred Parlov providing the cover art. Small gripes.
1854016
This is a big fat solid book.  It has excellent artwork and descriptive text.  The setting is compelling.  My faults are with the game system itself and with playing a character in the game.  Basically if you like playing a character who fails to succeed a lot, this is the game for you.  If you are trained in a skill based on one of your better stats you will still fail about 70% of the time.  For easy tasks, you only get a 10% bonus, so you fail easy tasks 60% of the time, despite having that skill and a good stat in the relevant characteristic.  If you have a mediocre stat and are untrained, look to fail about 90% of the time.  Initial characters only have a few skills.  The classes are not well balanced, so some characters will be vastly overshadowed by others characters, especially by ones who get superior armor or weapons.  When I played, the GM seemed frustrated because characters kept failing their rolls to get clues for the scenario.  We were doing the right things to get the clues, just failing our rolls because the game system gives a very small chance to succeed.
2871456
GTO: The Legend Returns covers up to then at the time of printing New 2004 Pontiac GTO and Briefly the 2005 and minor exterior changes,scoops,exhausts etcera. As most know Sadly the Pontiac GTO that was resurrected did not meet expectations as far as looks go for some,although for all the sound is beautiful. There is also a chapter on the GTO Concept which was the retro design which to me should have been the avenue most explored then Bob Lutz,Myers and others made the mistake(BIG)of not going that way. As is known Pontiac would soon sadly(Specially SAD FOR me.)Would no longer be around along with Oldsmobile into the dustbin of history. I believe if LUTZ was not so crazed about Going after Euro-centric drivers or BMW customers maybe there would have been demand,the Camaro as we know would come back as RETRO looking albeit much larger and wider so even though its covered several times why they did not go "Retro" in the book they should have but hindsight is 50/50 and it's easy to be on the tower and saying told you so. The book is put together,and goes through the years with a small timeline of the era.(I do not care for the timeline"Troops still in IRAQ/Afghanistan." the "Still"part is not needed.)The Part Lutz Slams the Original GTO was something I did not care for either. Also the mentioned GTO decaled Grand Am of the 80s and a later version are mentioned in passing but not shown,so it's not a Definitive Look at The Model but more of a History up to the then the Holden Monaro Come GTO. I would recommend it to any GM fan,a Great addition nonetheless for any Pontiac Library.
2097433
Kagemusha is a great movie, and for my money it is more entertaining than  Ran. Kurosawa was trying to be too artsy in the latter film, which always puts me off just a little. Kagemusha tells the story in a more straightforward fashion, the acting is less exaggerated, and I think it's just more fun. However, what prompted me to review it was the visual quality, which I found a bit below what I'd expect from Criterion.

I saw the original shortened version in the theater when it was first released in USA. That was so long ago, memory won't allow me to compare with this Criterion DVD. However, the film, as noted by other reviewers, is a bit grainy. Nothing wrong with that. I like film grain, myself, as opposed to digitally smoothed visuals, which look less "organic" to me. The problem is that if you want to preserve accurately the whole visual character of the film, including the grain in the film, you need a lot of digital bits to do so. Kagemusha is three hours long. As a result, the average bitrate of the video on this DVD had to be shaved down somewhat. This leads to some "artifacts" of digital compression.

It is a small point, perhaps. But the lower bitrate does make the movie look slightly more grainy than it already is, due to digital compression. Perhaps you won't care, or even notice unless you watch on a high definition monitor, however the movie is not quite as sharp and clean as it could be.

My own preference would be for Criterion to have divided the movie in 2 parts on 2 DVDs, allowing the highest quality image possible. I don't think they quite achieved that goal with Kagemusha. Alternatively, Criterion could have applied more digital filtering to reduce the grain, and still put a three hour film on one disc.
4290923
I've had my eye on this book for nearly a year - since Dragon*Con last September, where this book was promoted in the Steampunk track with swag sandalwood fans. Regency-period Britain with magical glamour wrinkle (but not the full-blown steampunk feel) seemed like just the thing. I hesitated, though, because the Kindle price of the book was $12 - much higher than the bargain priced hardbacks, and still higher than the price of the paperback coming out later this year. I've read plenty on the economics of Kindle pricing, but I still can't understand how publishers justify their price point. I suppose I fed into it, since I bought the kindle version myself...

What's Good: The book has exactly what it promises: romance, glamor, Austenian sensibilities, jealous sisters, gambling cads, and a clever female protagonist. The author handles glamour well - it's not quite a "system" like Sanderson's various magics, but clearly Kowal has thought it through, and is able to describe in a comprehensible way how the women interact with the ether, and what it takes from them to employ glamour.

What's Bad: Aside from the price tag (and I'd be surprised if the price tag wasn't a significant "bad" for many prospective readers), there's nothing new here beside the wrinkle of glamour. Down to the name and description of the protagonist, (plain) Jane, everything seems to be derivative of Austen, but without the masterful insight into human emotion. Surely the glamour is newish (and enough to make me want to read the story), but even while it's integral to the plot, glamour doesn't seem to have affected the world in any way enough to make it more than a novelty or window dressing.  This will sound much more of an insult than I mean it, but the impression I had of the novel was that it was professionally copy-edited Austen fanfic.

Takeaway: I think the rating the story had last I checked on Amazon - a bit over 3 stars - is fair. I don't read enough romance or period work to know how this compares to the majority of what occupies this Regency genre; I'm probably unevenly critical because my only exposure is Austen, and then only her best novels. That would be like comparing any random sci-fi novel only to Dune - 99% percent of even very good authors would wither beneath Herbert's searing light. As long as you go into this story with the proper expectations, I think you will find it an enjoyable weekend diversion.
1854293
I had occasionally read Marvel Comics' GI Joe series during my childhood, but I had never concentrated that hard on the overall storyline being developed by writer Larry Hama.  Instead, I used the comics more as a supplement for planning the adventures of my vast collection of 3-3/4" Joes.  Over the past several years, Marvel has made a half-baked attempt at reprinting the series, so I decided to pick them up to see what I remembered and what I could make of it.  Unfortunately, the 5 volumes only covers 50 issues - that's right, 50 of 155 issues, not even counting the yearbooks and other related titles.  But hey, when you consider that Marvel was asking twenty-five bucks for only 10 issues per book, it's no wonder this series of reprints lost steam.

Overall, these GI Joe issues are a standard example of a writer working within the confines of a licensed property; meaning, that over the course of the stories, very little happens to change the status quo.  At the end, it's still GI Joe vs. COBRA, and when Hasbro has a property to sell, it can't be worked into a corner.  Because of this, you may get bored seeing the same characters in similar situations over and over again.  Despite this, Hama does provide some occasional diversions from the standard fare, such as plots that almost resemble EC war comics, or that give us insight into the lives of specific characters in the GI Joe universe.  The best example of the former is issue # 34, which features a tense dogfight between the high-flyers Ace and Wild Weasel.  For the latter, there are no better examples than issues 21, 26, and 27, where Hama builds a history for the mysterious Snake Eyes.  These 3 issues in particular are pure gold (in fact, # 21, titled "Silent Interlude", is commonly referred to as the best GI Joe story ever written), and it can be clearly seen why Snake Eyes became the fan-favorite, as no other Joe received this degree of analysis.

Art-wise, this series was somewhat of a disappointment.  Herb Trimpe provides great pencils for the first several issues, with his Kirby-esque style giving an interesting twist to the military hardware and scientific gadgets.  The great Marie Severin drops by for one issue.  Writer Larry Hama even takes time for a few penciling jobs, notably the aforementioned issues 21 & 26.  Sure, this sounds pretty good so far, but thereafter, it's primarily a rotation of Rod Wigham and Frank Springer, neither of whose work has any real depth.  What's really unfortunate is that Larry Hama wasn't able to illustrate more stories in the series, as he is truly a talented artist who obviously knows how his stories should be depicted.  He's good - really, really good.  In addition, while Michael Golden does provide some covers, his work from the GI Joe Yearbooks was not included.  What a shame.

Overall, this was a fun trip back to my childhood, but for the cost, the quality of the material doesn't quite add up.  This is the rare case where I feel a talented inker should be allowed to spruce up an older comic.
4696161
Grate. Works better then my old hp. I have over 3000 Songs and 20 movies on Itunes and there is still space for more.