This movie's main strength lies in its cast of talented actors. Other than that, I found it to be fairly flimsy. The alterations made to Oscar Wilde's play for the purposes of adaptation do not add much; in fact I think they detract, often making the story feel strange and even a bit rushed at times.

That said, the story is still a funny one, and the actors do a nice job. Colin Firth (beauty-ful as always) is great as Jack a.k.a. Earnest, and is especially funny during a few different scenes where he becomes embarrassed about something or other. Frances O'Connor seemed very appealing as Gwendolen, although she didn't have a whole lot to do in this movie and I plan to watch her in "Mansfield Park".

Rupert Everett seemed a good choice for Algernon if a bit of a bland one. I think the same is true for Reese Witherspoon as Cecily, though kudos must be given to her for doing such a good British accent. Judi Dench is wonderful (as always) as Lady Bracknell. Anna Massey is a great Miss Prism and the same goes for Tom Wilkinson (who seems to appear in everything at some point or other!) as Dr. Chazzuble. (Apologies for the spelling - I haven't read the play in some time.)

To sum up: It's enjoyable if not fantastic, and if - like me - you're a Colin Firth fan, you'll enjoy it anyway.

This wonderful series is worth purchasing and watching over and over. Even if - like me - you're not so much of a mystery aficionado, but you're just interested in watching a good story unfold, chances are you'll still become quickly engrossed. In my particular case, I was captivated by actor Peter Davison long before I ever saw this series, so it was doubly easy for me to become involved in the stories!

The set is comprised of eight episodes on four discs. Each story is told in two parts, the first of which always ends in a perfect cliffhanger. The four stories, all based on the books by author Margery Allingham, are entitled (in order) "Look to the Lady," "Police at the Funeral," "The Case of the Late Pig," and "Death of a Ghost." All four are wonderful, though the third is my personal favorite. An added bonus is a fascinating special feature consisting of a behind-the-scenes look at the fourth story.

As for the actors, they too are absolutely perfect. I cannot say enough about the aforementioned Mr. Davison, who plays the role of Albert Campion beautifully and has a smile that may leave some viewers in an incoherent stupor for upwards of forty-eight hours. (He also sings the theme music.) Campion's assistant, Lugg, is also wonderfully played by the late Brian Glover. The scenes between the two of them are a lot of fun to watch.

Aside from the behind-the-scenes segment, the only other added feature(s) is/are the cast biographies, and some have complained that this set costs too much for something with so few add-ons - but personally I believe that it is worth every penny.

"Princess in Pink," the fifth volume in Meg Cabot's mega-popular Princess Diaries series, is one of the very best. Although its plot mainly revolves around Princess Mia's aching desire to go to the prom (though boyfriend Michael thinks proms are lame), there are several memorable subplots as well, several of them hilarious. The hideously wonderful (or wonderfully hideous, perhaps) Grandmere is back, of course, as are all the rest of the Princess Diaries supporting cast readers know and love -- for example, Mia's best friend, Lilly Moscovitz, wreaking havoc with her TV show and her intelligence as usual. (Later, she finds herself in the midst of romantic turmoil thanks to her indiscretions with a hot busboy.)

Near the end of the book, the long-awaited birth of Mia's baby brother or sister (I'm not saying which. You'll have to read it!) finally occurs. Earlier in the book, so does Mia's fifteenth birthday - a momentous event in her life, particularly because she comes away from it with a cell phone. A highlight of the book, as always, are the funny and just-slightly-sarcastic lists Mia occasionally makes (this time of Lifetime movies with unrealistically heroic protagonists).

One would think that after four (and a half) Princess Diaries installments, this series would start to get stale, but it never does.

Karin Cook's "What Girls Learn" is one of those novels that pulls you into its story instantly. From the first page, you are intrigued by its protagonist and supporting cast, and you want to read on and on to know what's going to become of them - preferably all in one sitting.

The story's protagonist and narrator is Tilden, an intelligent and insightful girl. Upon first reading the book I missed Tilden's age at first and was sure we were hearing the narration of a seventeen (or so) year old - or even an adult in a flashback, perhaps - but the more I read, the more references I saw to the fact that she was much younger (i.e. the fact that all the girls in her class have to watch a movie about menstruation, etc.). Tilden and her younger (by a year) sister, Elizabeth - also a memorable character - are two of the four main characters in the book. The others are their mother, Frances (a.k.a. "Mama"), and her new boyfriend and eventual husband, Nick, to whose home she moves the girls at the beginning of the story.

The well-written story is often wrenchingly painful and even a bit disturbing to read, as it deals not only with the girls' mother's battle with cancer but also with other unhappy issues (i.e. preteen sex; a predatory uncle) throughout. Still, it is such a gripping story that it makes reading it all worthwhile.

I first saw this novel in a bookstore a long time ago (when I was about nine years old), and although I didn't know anything about it, the title stuck in my mind for years afterward. Only just last month did I finally read it!

Lisa, Bright and Dark is a well-written and thoroughly gripping read. It chronicles the story of sixteen-year-old high schooler Lisa Schilling's descent into mental illness. Although Lisa's mother and father and teachers are inclined to ignore her, her trio of girlfriends recognize that something is wrong with her and decide to help her out. After learning everything they can about schizophrenia and other various mental disorders, the girls meet with Lisa for a series of amateur psychiatric sessions. Although of course they cannot give her all the help she needs, their determination to save her is touching and will likely make the reader wish he/she had those same friends.

Set in the sixties (and originally published in 1969), the tale is narrated by Betsy Goodman, the most reserved and sideline-sitting of the three girls. This was, in my opinion, an interesting and well made choice on author John Neufeld's part, for as a result we get to learn things about the character of Betsy that we would not have been able to know otherwise. I have seen some reviews of this book where the reviewer complains that it seems antiquated (i.e. the girls' use of the word "groovy," Betsy's lusting after Paul Newman, etc.). I personally didn't find this bothersome at all. Instead I thought it had the effect of making the book seem like a period piece, not unlike the movie "Mermaids" - and also like that movie, the majority of its qualities are indisputably timeless.

"Dirty Laundry: Stories About Family Secrets" is a well compiled and, for the most part, well written anthology of stories. Each revolves around a long-concealed secret, and most are entertaining, though the overall tone of the book does tend to lean toward the morbid - or at least unpleasant.

The book was edited by author Lisa Rowe Frautino, who also penned its well-written but sometimes very disturbing story, "FRESh PAINt". A couple other stories of note are "The Secret of Life, According to Aunt Gladys" by Bruce Coville ("Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher"), "I Will Not Think of Maine" by M.E. Kerr, and "Rice Pudding Days" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti.

To sum up: I personally am not a fan of unhappy stories, especially so many in one place, but this is still a high-quality book which makes for interesting and often mysterious reading. Still, I would not recommend it to anyone under 14 or so -- for a younger person looking for a short story anthology, I would recommend "13: Thirteen stories that celebrate the agony and ecstasy of being thirteen" (which incidentally also features an entertaining story by the aforementioned Coville).

"13: Thirteen Stories That Capture the Agony and Ecstasy of Being Thirteen" is an engrossing, and often quite accurate, collection of short stories centering on different thirteen-year-olds. Although some stories focus less on actually being thirteen than they do on simply revolving around a 13-year-old character, it doesn't matter - it's still a wholly entertaining read. A few stories of note:

"What's The Worst That Could Happen" by Bruce Coville - a funny but mostly painful tale of embarrassment that is bound to make the reader squirm at least once or twice.

"Squid Girl" by Todd Strasser - a fascinating (and very funny) story about a girl who meets a boy while on vacation, told from an idiosyncratic second-person point of view.

"Noodle Soup for Nincompoops" by Ellen Wittlinger - the story of a shy sideline-sitter who is able to express herself for the first time in the kooky guise of an anonymous advice columnist for her school paper.

Other popular authors whose pieces are included in this compendium include Meg Cabot ("The Princess Diaries," "All-American Girl," etc.), Ann M. Martin ("The Baby-Sitters Club" series, etc.), and James Howe ("Bunnicula," etc.) who also served as editor for this collection. I personally think this book will be enjoyed by readers of all ages - those who have already been thirteen, those who are not thirteen yet, and those who are thirteen right now.

Amy Goldman Koss's "The Girls" is a horribly realistic portrayal of the nastiness that goes on in middle-school cliques. The story is alternatingly told from the points of view of all five girls in the group, which was a wise decision on Ms. Koss's part as it allows us to develop a varying amounts of sympathy for all the characters, even the meanest ones.

One of the most sympathetic figures here is Maya Koptiev, who at at the outset of the story has been the most recent one to be ostracized from the group. The ostracization of Maya (and others, as the tale progresses) is initiated by the clique's ringleader, Candace Newman. Nasty, gutsy, charismatic, and possessing the power to make everyone around kowtow to her, Candace is altogether too believable a character - as is her ugly-acting sidekick, Darcy. Yet at the same time, both girls' characters are three-dimensional. You might want to hate them, but you can't.

Rounding out the group are weak-willed Brianna, who wants to remain friends with the excluded Maya but can't quite manage to wriggle out of Candace's proverbial clutches; and shy Renee, who dithers her way through sentences and worries about her father, the "jukebox man". Also prevalent are supporting players Keloryn (Darcy's college-bound older sister) and Nicole (a redhead Candace adopts for what Brianna refers to as her "girl collection").

At 121 pages, "The Girls" is a short novel, but everything is there that needs to be. It is an (unfortunately) accurate and very compelling story from beginning to end.

"Matilda" is a must-watch for anyone with a sweet-tooth for funny movies (like, for instance, myself). The adaptation, while perhaps not entirely faithful to Roald Dahl's book, works perfectly. The screenwriter(s?), whose name(s) I unfortunately cannot remember, did a superb job of turning Harry and Zinnia Wormwood from British idiots to American idiots.

The acting is great from all parties. Real-life couple Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman are the perfect Harry and Zinnia (which I mean as a compliment...). The title role is well portrayed by Mara Wilson, and by Sara Magdalin as the younger Matilda. Embeth Davidtz is the ideal Miss Honey, and Pam Ferris is unforgettable as The Trunchbull.

I've seen several film adaptations of Roald Dahl stories - "The Witches" and "The BFG" to name a couple - but this is by far the best one, and you will more than likely want to watch it lots of times.

Okay, first of all, I'd better start off by saying that no die-hard science fiction fan is going to mark this review "helpful". In fact, I suggest those of you who fall under that category stop reading this right now.

I am not and have never been a big sci-fi fan, but I have always been an almost ridiculously devoted fan of Peter Davison (ever since first seeing him in All Creatures Great & Small when I was six years old). As a result, I have no idea what was actually going on in this story, I just know that I loved watching him in it. I enjoyed watching Nicola Bryant (Peri) as well, though she didn't have a very good hold on her American accent!

To sum up: this would be an excellent buy for any sci-fi or Dr. Who fan - or those of you who are like me, and would gladly watch a DVD of Peter Davison staring at a blank wall. (With audio commentary, perhaps?) :-)