Reviews by tartan_skirt

The only reason I actually read another Hardy novel was because it was a set book for my English class this year.

This one wasn't quite as bad as Tess of the d'Urbervilles, but it was still bad. Thomas Hardy didn't even enjoy writing, he just did it for the money. And of course serialized books could bring in more money if they continue. The result is a drawn out story with twists fit for a soap opera (and not in a good way). Hardy also has a habit of writing what the character could have done to make everything turn out alright, but of course didn't and mishap after mishap occured. This just got on my nerves.

At least in this book I felt at least some sympathy for one of the characters. The daughter, Elizabeth-Jane, is passed back and forth all the time and never really has any control over her own life. The Scottish character started off alright but he deteriorated in my view after a while.

It took me ages to get through this and it really wasn't worth it.

For a book about a woman encountering a "trouble" in her life it is an unbelievably boring book. Sure, it was written in 1891 when books were all like that, but I just did not like this book.

The character of Tess was incredibly annoying, and I felt absolutely no sympathy for her. I know it was representative of the double standards place upon members of opposite genders, but she was a bit of a wet blanket. All the characters were too one dimentional and simple. I honestly just want to slap each one of them...

The plot was a bit too drawn out for my taste. Plus, I don't like Hardy's style of making all the characters paths cross so convieniently all the time.

The ending was at least a bit more exciting, and is the only reason I didn't rate the book as a 1/10.

I'm never reading this book again...

When I watched Rent for the first time I laughed at the sillyness of it at times, but it grew on me and now I'll watch clips of the songs from it often. In my opinion it was a little ridiculous in some scenes, and the line "Will you light my candle" just seemed like one huge sexual inuendo to me (and it most likely was).

The characters were great and had so much personality, Angel was one of my favourites. The songs were by far the best part of it though. The "La Vie Boheme" scene was just... wow. That really is the best word for it.

I'd definately go to the stage show if I had the chance.

Having watched all of season one and two of Weeds I am now eagerly awaiting the third. The end of season two was such a crescendo of events which left me stunned and staring at my screen wanting more.

The show in general is fantastic in it's concept. It's dark humour is just right, the individual characters' dysfunctions perfectly measured, and the plot so far has presented plenty of twists and turns to keep the viewers interested. Throw in the at times eccentric music, which might I add fits perfectly, and it makes for a great show.

I think John Tucker Must Die is an alright movie, but it could have been much better. The best part about it for me was the comedy, but the storyline was a bit lacking. The characters weren't that believable (to me, an non-American anyway) and they were a tad stereotypical. It's a decent teenage comedy anyway.

In other words, I would recommend it as a movie to watch when you're looking for some good jokes, some funny shots, and some unbelievable scenes.

I'm a big fan of point-and-click games and these two are definately worth playing. I'll be buying the next two games when I see them because I really want to know what is in store for George and Nico. The graphics are decent enough, though people who love it highly detailed and very realistic may be disapointed, as this is more cartoony (though you shouldn't knock it til you've tried it). The games have good storylines, and the running one with George and Nico is interesting too. Playing both Nico and George in the second game was a nice change.

The double pack itself is rather basic. One disc with two games on it, no instruction booklet. If you've not played the games before it may take a while to figure out that you need to right-click at times instead of left. It is good for those who don't want to spend too much money though. :)

I really hate reality TV, but there is something about the auditions that hook me in on this show. I can't help myself watching the pain of some of the "acts" but at other times it isn't that funny... it's just sad. It can be entertaining at times, but past the auditions it's nothing but a popularity contest.

So far I've only seen the three 5-minute pilot episodes on YouTube but so far it looks like an ok and quite funny little satire on George Bush. Maybe being British I don't quite get all the jokes, but it's still a rather good little series. I wonder if it will be broadcast here as well as in America? If so I wouldn't mind watching the episodes to see if they managed to pull it off well.

Although it is funny I would have to say I prefer 2DTV (a British satire show which has sketches about Bush on it).

My Norwegian friend just let me see this piece of Norwegian animation from the 1950's and I am slightly scared. I do not understand Norwegain, but I read the summary of it first so I get most of what is going on. The puppets are creepy and slightly demented, their singing equally so. And I'm not sure what is up with the drumming clown... I am in agreement with her that this is seriously scary and should only be viewed for brainwashing and torture. It is apparently very popular over there... but for me I'd rather not watch that ever again.

High School Musical is very much an up-beat childrens/teenage musical, and is very typical of a shiny, happy Disney film. In fact, it is a little too up-beat for my taste.

For a musical, I don't think the musical numbers were particularly strong, and there weren't that many of them compared to spoken narrative. The songs didn't always seem to fit properly and the voices on the characters didn't sound too natural. I don't know if the actors did their own singing or not but it sounded too studio-like for my tastes.

I can only remember laughing at two very small parts. The jokes (if that's what they were supposed to be) were not very good.

I don't really see why so many people like it, but each to their own. In my honest opinion it was altogether too cutesy and perfect a film for me to like.