As Tampopo is truly delicious, this film is an unadulterated joy. Fans of Juzo Itami and his wife, Nobuko Miyamoto will recognize old friends from other adventures in this offering. Like a much beloved repertory company, familiar faces are to be found new and surprising roles.

Taking an unlikely subject for heroic portrayal, Itami's (as usual) delightfully feministic touch on that dreaded villain the tax auditor is effective and engaging. Unlike MINBO, which for some inexplicable reason bores me beyond redemption, this film is easily accessible and eminently watchable. Aside from some quite graphic nudity at the very beginning, (view by parents first), the film is an excellent overall story accessible to an audience over about 15. (Depending on your feelings about sex and taxes).

In reference to the subtitling, I must say that ALL subtitling for Itami's films leaves a great deal to be desired, and I frankly don't see that much difference between the DVD and VHS versions ... but I must admit I am not a connoisseur on the matter, either. The ease of use and storage outweigh all other concerns for me.

I own many dictionaries (including the unabriged OED). This is the one that is on my desk and used every day. It is useful, readable, compact and complete. Combining the best dictionary with an outstanding thesaurus, Oxford has produced the finest reference work of its kind available. Recommended for students, offices and anyone who is tired of juggling four or five reference books in "case you might need them". Clear the decks. This is what you're looking for.

You might as well pull out the Pride and Prejudice while you're at it and be prepared to run it again. This will extend your experience to 3-4 days (v.v.g) and your Fun Units will just about double (moderately guaranteed).

Delightful, funny, diverting view of a life lived as a "singleton" with mothers, boyfriends, work and a plethora of peccadillos mixed in charming proportions.

Ms. Fielding's confection is well worth the time. My only regret is that I missed the original weekly newspaper incarnation of Bridget. It would be delightful to have to wait a week for the next entry. Self discipline not being one of my strongpoints, I just devoured the whole thing in two sittings. Perhaps you will have better luck (or better control).

Strongly recommended for high fun quotient (life ain't serious all the time, kids).

An utterly arresting blend of fact and fiction, "God's Favorite" thrusts the reader into the bloody maelstrom of Panama under Noriega. The book is incredibly accessible, even entertaining, but it never loses its intent to put you into the heart of the situation, sparing no one, revealing everything. Of course, one cannot know what a historical figure thinks, believes or desires. Even their own words are tainted by the unswerving gaze of history. Wright, however, does not let his book rest on his assumtions of thoughts and feeling. He brings a trained observers calculated analysis and the well known documented facts of the situation to frame his narrative.

This is a truly delightful experience, crisp in style, engaging in content and memorable in the final experience. Recommended.

Geared specificaly to the screenwriter (Vogler was a Disney executive) this is an excellent and usable distillation of Campbell's "Hero With 1000 Faces". While less scholastic, as noted elsewhere, "The Writer's Journey" is also far more accesible. I recommend this as an overview before taking the Cambell plunge.

For the screenwriter (and the moviegoer) the keys to the current "accepted formula" for "Screenwriting" are enumerated in detail. This book will not help you discover a marketable idea, but it will allow you to put your idea into a form that the marketplace, i.e., a Hollywood agent or development executive, will take seriously.

While it is unfortunate that anything as boundlessly free as creativity could be defined by a set of rules, the hard truth is that show "business" is endlessly seeking a formula that will reduce the industry to a widgets and accountants dreamland.

Wonder why all Hollywood movies tend to look alike? The answer is in here. Want to write, act or direct in Hollywood? Become intimately familiar with the concepts Vogler presents. The knowledge will unravel many mysteries and open many doors. As long as these concepts work (or rather as long as scripts can be crafted just well enough to plop a famous face on the screen and provide 45 seconds of great trailer & commercial time) this book and its antecedent (Cambell) will be used as a litmus test for "professionalism".

It ain't called "Show Art", kids.

From the wistful, yearning notes of the "translator" to the final glimpse of an elderly lady in a kimono on a New York street, this book utterly captivates the reader. I was unable to put it down, staying up most of one night to finish it. (I recommend a long weekend, if you're the slow, savoring type, or a regular weekend if you view books as consumables).

Sayuri and her "biographer" look unflinchingly into the past and deliver a story that does not spare the reader the realities of a geisha's life. The emotional, physical and spiritual path of glass walked by Sayuri has been crafted with exquisite grace. Those who shape her life, from Mr. Tanaka, to Mameha, to Pumpkin and Mr. Nobu, are as fully realized and deeply crafted as the central figure. There are no ciphers here. They are, perhaps, more enigmatic, more hidden within the layers of action than one tends to expect from characters in a western novel, but that is part of the fascination of this story.

Few occidentals can truly know whether the book is "true" or "correct", but I felt I had been priveleged a small glimpse and understanding of Japan and its culture. But in any period, in any place, these people, this story would be enchanting.

As a rich, hand dipped chocholate is not a meal, as a single canvas is not art, this book is neither a historical journey nor a page-turning melodrama; although it contains elements of each. Like a single sweet confection, or a well loved picture, it is a tantalizing glimpse into a dreamed-of past, full of promise and color.

The reader may well be left wishing for more; more length, more detail, more knowledge of the people and their time. Wisely, the author leaves us hungry for more, knowing that to fulfill those wishes and expectations, would be like a painter writing an explanation of his work ... it would defeat the purpose of the canvas.

Try this little sweetness for an afternoon, you will be surprised and delighted at Chevalier's power to move you. Sometimes, less is plenty.

It seems here that I'm "preaching to the choir", but I must encourage anyone who has not seen this film to purhcase it instantly! A more enduring work cannot be found to add to your collection. You will return many, many times to savor this poignant and compelling drama.

No matter what your taste in films runs to, this film will suprise and delight you. Don't fear! This is not just for a "highbrow" audience. I have shown this to people who usually can't abide a movlie that doesn't invovle sex, guns and rock and roll. Believe it or not, they can't resist it. Within minutes, they are drawn into the life of this tiny Danish village and are held breathless to the end. The tension, the passion and the immense scope of the story is irresistable.

Take the plunge. Try something completely different. You won't regret it!

If this book has a vice, it is simply you might forget what you came to find, as your eye catches some fascinating confluence of events hitherto missing from your understanding of the past. I have frequently beeen distracted for long periods wandering the endlessy intriguing pages of this indispensable reference.

Have a child who is bored by history, and asking why does it matter? Are you puzzled by a historical event that is often quoted as important but seems irrelevant to you? Are you a writer? Editor? Teacher? A reader who loves to understand the setting and times of a novel or novelist or other writer? This book is for all of you. Like any comprehensive work, there are omissions; gaps and small shortcomings. But if you only have three reference books, they should be a dictionary, a thesaurus and The Timetables of History.

Toobin brings three invaluable gifts to this work. His writing is lucid, his narartives are engaging and his politics are (as much as humanly possible) put aside in favor of a clear recitation of the facts. He is not without a thesis, however. He is determined to bring the reader to the conclusion that the American judicial system has co-opted the political system; and both of them have been diminished by that fact. While his arguments are powerful, they are not the compelling component of this book, and I cannot bring myself to completely accept his conclusions.

However, as historians turn back to examine these incidents in the future (I believe it will be of far less interest than we'd like to think) Toobin's book will provide an excellent, mostly dispassionate recital of those elements in these events that have a basis in verifiable fact. He avoids rumor, innuendo and propoganda as much as any person intimately invovled with the reporting of the case could possibly manage. He spares no one from any side of the battle (including, but not limited to the fourth estate). He turns a bright light on the actions of all the players but refuses to indulge in a plethora of psycho-babble to analyze motives, intents or feelings. This is a welcome relief for a reader who wants to separate the muddy swirl of politcal spin from the factual events, in an understandable chronicle.

Partisanship is, for many of us, as essential as breathing. We prefer to indulge in a conspiracy of agreement, reading only those who verify our preconceived beliefs and rejecting utterly anyone who challenges them. Toobin must be read with the understanding he will not pander to your most cherished wishes about this Presidency, whatever they may be. That alone makes this book worth reading, re-reading and retaining for the future.