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La Kiso
La Kiso

Interesaj noveloj, facile legeblaj.

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Katrina malfruas
Katrina malfruas

Bona libro por homo, kiu ĵus finis komencgradan kurson pri Esperanto.

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Inter tero kaj ĉielo
Inter tero kaj ĉielo

La rakontoj mem estas humuraj kaj iom memorigas pri la preskaŭ samperioda usona romano Life With Father.

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La nokta patrolo 2
La nokta patrolo 2

Facile kaj rapide legebla ekzemplo de la “metropola fantazio”.

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Moskvaj sonoriloj
Moskvaj sonoriloj

Ĉi tiu volumo kolektas unu specifan grupon de rusaj Esperantaj poetoj — tiuj, kiuj loĝas en Moskvo aŭ havas alian rilaton kun tiu grava metropolo.

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Beletra Almanako
Beletra Almanako

Entute, la almenako estas interesa kaj leginda, kun nur kelkaj esceptoj.

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La bato
La bato

Laŭ mi, la noveloj bone taŭgas por progresantoj (kio estas ĝenerale la situacio rilate novelarojn en Esperanto).

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Sonetoj
Sonetoj

Se vi volas guston de la frua poezio de nacia poetino, la libro estas rekomendinda; sed laŭ mi ŝi verkis pli bone en postaj jaroj, almenaŭ laŭteme.

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Shrek the Third
Shrek the Third

I enjoyed the film and, again, think it superior to Shrek 2, which may have been overlong — this one is not.

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Enlumiĝo
Enlumiĝo

La tri poemoj priskribitaj ĉi tie valoras la prezon de la libro. Miaopinie, eĉ unu el ili tion valorus.

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Spiderman 3
Spiderman 3

Comparing this film with the first rather than the second is not really an insult; both were good. Just not, by comparison with the second film, exceptional.

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Vikipedio — praktika manlibro
Vikipedio — praktika manlibro

Ĉi tiu estas utila libreto kiu instigas al la novulo konatiĝi kun la Vikipedio (ĉefe la Esperanta) kaj lerni mem krei kaj redakti artikolojn en ĝi.

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Mi amas
Mi amas

Interesa novelaro, relative facile legebla.

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La deveno de Esperanto
La deveno de Esperanto

Interesa libro por ĉiu, kiun interesas la historio de Esperanto kaj la fako planlingviko ĝenerale.

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La nokta patrolo
La nokta patrolo

Mi povas rekomendi la libron por tiuj, al kiuj plaĉas la nuntempa ĝenro de “urba fantazio”. Ĝi ja estas sufiĉe interesa kaj nedemetebla rakonto.

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Memor' mortiga
Memor’ mortiga

Estas bedaŭrinde, ke la serio jam finiĝis — sed, pro la fina situacio de Svedberg, ĝi ne povos daŭri, almenaŭ en la nuna formo.

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Survoje
Survoje

Ilutoviĉ estas talenta poetino.

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Etimologia Vortaro de Esperanto Volumo 5
Etimologia Vortaro de Esperanto Volumo 5

Nepre havinda libro (kun siaj kvar antaŭuloj) por ĉiu, kiun interesas la planlingva etimologio.

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Reve kaj reale
Reve kaj reale

Mi ricevas la impreson, ke Buys verkas poemojn pli por verki poemojn ol por uzi ilin por publikigi siajn sentojn.

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Historio de la universala lingvo Volapuko
Historio de la universala lingvo Volapuko

Libro utila por tiuj, kiuj ŝatas detalojn, sed malpli utila por tiuj, kiuj deziras klarigojn.

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Ĝis revido, krokodilido!
Ĝis revido, krokodilido!

Leĝera libro, facile legebla, kaj ĝenerale amuza.

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Neĝo kaŝas nur
Neĝo kaŝas nur

Mi tre ĝuis ĉi tiun romaneton, kaj rekomendas ĝin al tiuj, kiujn interesas la detektivaj rakontoj.

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Mariamne
Mariamne

Interesa historia (sed eble tute fikcia) rakonto.

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La krimo de Katrina
La krimo de Katrina

La leganto, kiun ĝi celas, estas la postbaza lernanto, ne kompetenta leganto de Esperanto.

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Doktoro Glas
Doktoro Glas

Tyko Gabriel Glas estas kuracisto, homo iom soleca, mense brila liberpensulo kiu tamen obeas la formojn de la socio.

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Pli lume la mallumo zumas
Pli lume la mallumo zumas

Fakte, por mi la kerno de la libro estas ĝuste tiuj poemoj, kompletaj aŭ nekompletaj; la libro estas kvazaŭ antologio de poemoj originale verkitaj en Esperanto aŭ tradukitaj en Esperanton.

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Kaj la ceter' — nur literaturo
Kaj la ceter’ — nur literaturo

Ĉion Waringhien garnas kaj ilustras per specimenoj de la koncernaj poemoj kaj prozaĵoj. Per tio li donas ne nur klarigojn pri la diversaj temoj, kiujn li traktas, sed ankaŭ ilustraĵojn de tiuj temoj.

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Legendo pri galaksa koro
Legendo pri galaksa koro

Malgraŭ difektoj, interesa libro, kaj ne malfacile legebla.

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Lumo, mallumo kaj kelkaj memoroj
Lumo, mallumo kaj kelkaj memoroj

Mallonga sed ege interesa.

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The Last Mimzy
The Last Mimzy

By and large I found the movie entertaining, and perhaps one of the better films aimed at children in past months.

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La lanternisto kaj aliaj prozaĵoj
La lanternisto kaj aliaj prozaĵoj

Mi ne povas rekomendi ĉi tiun libron, simple pro tio, ke ĝi ne estas havebla. Sed mi donos provizoran rekomendon, esperante, ke iam iu reeldonos ĝin.

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La Septaga Murdenigmo
La Septaga Murdenigmo

Kiel ofte okazas, la lingvaĵo de la libro estas relative simpla, kaj oni povas kun plezuro kaj unusesie legi ĝin se oni ne tro multe atendas de la intrigo.

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En la serĉado de la mondolingvo
En la serĉado de la mondolingvo

Se paroli ĝenerale, la libro estas plena de informoj por tiuj, kiuj havas intereson pri la planlingva afero.

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Biblio
Biblio

Lastatempe, la esperantista eldonejo Kava-Pech decidis aperigi specialan eldonon, sub titolo Biblio en 4 000 ekzempleroj. Oni iom ŝanĝis la formaton, metante la librojn de la Duakanonaj Libroj ne inter la du Testamentoj sed en siaj ĝustaj lokoj en la Malnova Testamento.

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Hodler en Mostar
Hodler en Mostar

Interesa romano, kiun mi unusesie tralegis.

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La lupo sur Kapitolo
La lupo sur Kapitolo

Ĉi tiu libro prezentas al ni naŭ originalajn novelojn de Stellan Engholm, verkitajn en bonegstila kaj relative facile legebla Esperanto

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Pan's Labyrinth
Pan’s Labyrinth

There are two parallel stories, one pure-dee political and the other purely fantasy. The two stories, in fact, are not totally decoupled, and lead to a final contrast between the failure of the belief that the innocent exist for the rulers to exploit and the success of a recognition that a ruler exists for the people, whatever the price he or she must pay in the end.

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La vivo de Henriko Kvina
La vivo de Henriko Kvina

La traduko de Tonkin estas preskaŭ senescepte bona. Tonkin ne falas en la kaptilon uzi nekutimajn vortojn por montri sian eruditecon, kiel multaj Esperantaj verkistoj; li ĝenerale uzas nur komunuzajn vortojn (supozeble Shakespeare faris same).

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Mio, mia filo
Mio, mia filo

Ĝenerale interesa infanlibro, kun kelkaj ĝenaj tajperaroj kaj unu tro ofta gramatika fuŝo.

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The Queen
The Queen

This really excellent film shows how the royals, and in particular Queen Elizabeth, dealt with Princess Diana’s death — or failed to deal with it.

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Curse of the Golden Flower
Curse of the Golden Flower

The movie would have made more sense to me if, somehow, the emperor were poisoning the empress to make way for his oldest son to take the throne. In the actual context, I could not figure out what he was up to with his wife.

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Night At the Museum
Night At the Museum

The film was considerably better than I expected when I went into it.

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Apocalypto
Apocalypto

What we have is the adventure of one young man, ripped from his home, trying to get back to save his wife and child(ren) from almost certain death. This is a much more universal story than the collapse of a civilization, and one with which we can identify.

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The Holiday
The Holiday

I generally like upbeat chick flics that have a happy ending, and this is one such. A few views of rural English village and country life only add to the pleasure of this film.

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Eragon
Eragon

I would say “rent it when it comes out on DVD,” but for the special effects you may want to have the wide-screen experience … once.

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Casino Royale
Casino Royale

Ambitious, soulless and hard as a rock is this James Bond.

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Borat
Borat

The film is essentially a one-joke story, the joke being the cultural differences between a fantasy nation which we shall call Kazakhstan and the United States, or more specifically those parts of it which some of us would like to pretend don’t exist.

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Epitomo de esperantologio
Epitomo de esperantologio

La libro estas utila por ĉiu, kiu volas ĉemane havi tian kompendion pri Esperanto.

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Boris Godunov
Boris Godunov

Ĉi tiu teatraĵo rakontas pri la careco de Boris Godunov, kaj precipe pri intrigo fare de malkontenta monaĥo, Gregor Otrepjev, fariĝi la iam murdita frato de Teodoro kaj pretendi la tronon.

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Verkoj de Elpin
Verkoj de Elpin

Iom strange estas, ke Elpin estas ĝenerale memorata ne pro siaj tradukoj el la korea lingvo sed pro siaj tradukoj el la ĉina lingvo.

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<em>Digital Fortress</em> and <em>Prey</em>
Digital Fortress and Prey

Crichton has a point to make; Brown, it would appear, only has a buck to make.

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The Pacifier
The Pacifier

And now they’ve remade Kindergarten Cop as The Pacifier, with Vin Diesel attempting — with only limited success — to reprise Arnold Schwarzenegger’s role.

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Guess Who
Guess Who

What? You say you recognize the plot? You think that this is a rip-off of 1967’s Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner? Nonsense!

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Miss Congeniality 2
Miss Congeniality 2

If you liked the original movie, you’ll probably like this one.

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Sahara
Sahara

Aimed at numbing the mind, not inspiring it. See it on that level and you’ll enjoy it.

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Hitch
Hitch

From my point of view there are mostly so-so romance films and pretty bad ones. I’ve largely been avoiding them in recent months. This one, however, strikes me as the best since Notting Hill.

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Princo Serebrjanij
Princo Serebrjanij

Tamen, oni danku al Ulrich Becker, kiu decidis redoni al la esperantistaro ĉi tiun legindan kaj longe malaperintan klasikaĵon de la rusa literaturo.

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Blade: Trinity
Blade: Trinity

I went to see this film because the director decided to use Esperanto in it, to some small degree. I can’t think of any better reason for anyone to see it.

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National Treasure
National Treasure

A film that is better than it could have been.

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Spanglish
Spanglish

No way is this a comedy, unless the definition of the term has changed radically in the last few years; it’s a drama about acculturation, and has few if any punchlines.

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The Lensmen
The Lensmen

Overall, this is an enjoyable story, of somewhat more, I think, than merely historic value.

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Eola harpo
Eola harpo

Fine, oni povas nur diri, ke — kiel ĉiam — ĉi tiu poemaro de Giŝpling meritas legadon, kaj ioman atenton.

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Team America: World Police
Team America: World Police

The rest of us can find much to enjoy in this film, even when we criticize not only the not-so-occasionally foul language and the near-explicit sex but also the … how shall I put this? … wooden acting.

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The Forgotten
The Forgotten

X-Files fans in particular may find the movie quite enjoyable.

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Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

Expect little. Enjoy what you get.

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Dies the Fire
Dies the Fire

All criticisms aside, I think my opinion of this story can best be described by the fact that I read it three times in the first two weeks after I bought it.

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Anacondas
Anacondas

Well, I saw Anaconda, and I can only say that, after a while, snakes — even big ones — get old.

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Uncovered
Uncovered

Mostly, it concentrates on the misinterpretations, exaggerations and downright lies perpetrated by the current administration.

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Outfoxed
Outfoxed

A film worth seeing in this overcharged political season.

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Hero
Hero

The patriotic theme will probably go right over the heads of American audiences — but then we have our own patriotic conventions, which are likely incomprehensible to people outside the United States.

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Alien vs. Predator
Alien vs. Predator

If you wait for the final plot twist, you’ll lose your place in line at the cineplex rest room.

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The Village
The Village

I think that the final plot twist worked fairly well in this film, given that everybody was waiting for it, because it didn’t telegraph itself.

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The Manchurian Candidate
The Manchurian Candidate

If I were given the choice of seeing the original film or this remake, I’d probably watch the original. But this is good enough that, in the absence of the original film, I don’t begrudge the two hours I spent watching it.

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Esperanto: A Language for the Global Village
Esperanto: A Language for the Global Village

A good introduction to a knowledge about the language; but not a textbook, by any stretch of the imagination.

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Peter Jameson's Secret Language
Peter Jameson’s Secret Language

The plot, however, revolves not around Esperanto but around the attitudes of grown-ups — particularly the principal of his school — to the use by children of any means of communication to which they are not privy.

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The Years of Rice and Salt
The Years of Rice and Salt

I’m not one of the world’s great Robinson fans. But I genuinely enjoyed this novel.

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Catwoman
Catwoman

As so often happens, some viewers will go in expecting Halle Berry to play another Academy Award role, in the Best Movie of the Year. Sorry, they will be disappointed. And some will go in expecting nothing but some light entertainment, and they may get a bit more than they bargained for.

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The Bourne Supremacy
The Bourne Supremacy

This second movie carries on the story of the first so well — again, with little reference to the novel — that I found it much more compelling.

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I, Robot
I, Robot

An interesting and fairly well-done detective story set in a science-fictional background.

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King Arthur
King Arthur

I wish I could list all the things I found nonsensical about this movie.

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Japanaj vintraj fabeloj
Japanaj vintraj fabeloj

Ĝenerale tre interesa libro.

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Malneŭtrale pri la neŭtrala
Malneŭtrale pri la neŭtrala

Vere interesa libro, pri kies ekzisto bedŭrinde ne scias multaj.

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Spider Man 2
Spider Man 2

I would like to make a couple of negative comments about this film, for the sake of objectivity, but you know what? I can’t think of any offhand.

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Tie ĉi tie
Tie ĉi tie

Mankas al la libro la inspirita pinto de El sisma zono; sed mi opinias, ke la ĝenerala nivelo de la poemoj estas pli alta.

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Pri kelkaj problemoj de interlingvistiko
Pri kelkaj problemoj de interlingvistiko

“La baro de Unesko estas fakte la baro de la grandaj lingvoj, kaj tiu baro klarigas mian pesimismon.”

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Dum la noktoj
Dum la noktoj

Estas iom plezure provi kanti la poemojn ― almenaŭ kiam la koncerna gamo ne havas kvar diesojn, pri kiuj mi devas atenti. Tamen, laŭ mi la kantoj ne estas aparte memorindaj.

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Esperanto el la vidpunkto de verkisto
Esperanto el la vidpunkto de verkisto

Piron siatempe verkis ne nur poemaron sed ankaŭ sufiĉe multajn romanojn, kaj siatempe tradukis multajn kantojn en Esperanton; do ŝajne li havas ian rajton juĝi pri ĝi.

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Fahrenheit 9/11
Fahrenheit 9/11

If a conservative — I mean, a genuine honest conservative of the Barry Goldwater or John McCain stamp, not one of the what’s-in-it-for-me pirates now dominant in Washington — were to ask me, “I have always wondered why people like you and Moore despise Bush and his cronies so much”, my only response would be: “That’s funny, I’ve always wondered why people like you don’t.”

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Around the World in 80 Days
Around the World in 80 Days

I certainly hope that the next remake of Verne’s book will be somewhat more true to the original story and less a vehicle for one of the characters to show off his martial arts virtuosity.

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The Chronicles of Riddick
The Chronicles of Riddick

Not a bad film, overall. If I had to rate it on the same scale as Pols, I’d give it a “B-” or maybe a “B”.

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New Spring: The Novel
New Spring: The Novel

By and large, this novel — which is about half the size of one of the main-series novels — is perhaps more interesting than the more recent novels in the series. I hate to say it, but to some extent the padding in the last third contributes to that.

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Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

All in all, a pleasant film — best of the three for CGI and cinematography, best of the three for those who enjoy darkness, certainly far more interesting than the first film, perhaps inferior to the second because of the abbreviation of certain parts.

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Saved
Saved

It’s a shame that — for whatever reason — so few people are going to get to see this movie.

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Raising Helen
Raising Helen

I don’t know that I’d care to recommend this one, but some people thought it was at least decent …

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The Day After Tomorrow
The Day After Tomorrow

The science leaves something to be desired.

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Shrek 2
Shrek 2

Shrek 2 was made largely … hmm, because the original was so interesting and deserving of a sequel? No, apparently because the original made so much money and was therefore deserving of a sequel.

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Troy
Troy

This isn’t really the Iliad, of course.

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Van Helsing
Van Helsing

Expect no great literature here, but don’t expect to catch up on your sleep during the movie, either.

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Mean Girls
Mean Girls

Cady has to sink or swim in a veritable swamp of cliques, jealousies, rivalries and incomprehensible hierarchies

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Gooŝ la 'ĉelisto
Gooŝ la ‘ĉelisto

Ĉi tiu libro donas al ni entute 19 ekzemplerojn el la fabelaro de Miyazawa, tre diversajn.

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El sisma zono
El sisma zono

Se plaĉas al vi poezio, jen libro vere leginda.

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13 Going On 30
13 Going On 30

Basically, it’s a story telling about how Jenna’s youthful behavior changed her life in ways of which she is not proud — and how she gets a chance to unmake those changes.

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The Punisher
The Punisher

If you don’t mind a little violence and a little blood, this is a fun way of killing a couple of hours.

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The Alamo
The Alamo

A remake of a historical event: the investment by a large contingent of the Mexican army of a hundred-year-old church in the village of San Antonio de Bejar and the eventual massacre of almost two hundred defenders, including a couple of genuine American folk heroes.

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Walking Tall
Walking Tall

The plot really is three thousand years old …

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Hellboy
Hellboy

In this film, Rasputin is somehow still alive, and working to call back a bunch of Narsty Old Elder Gods With Big Tentacles from their imprisonment in space.

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Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Ultimately, the story is about love ― what is it? Hormones? A set of memories that can be zapped? Or something deeper and harder to get rid of?

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Spartan
Spartan

Mamet, I am told, is a name to conjure with.

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Hidalgo
Hidalgo

This one, I think, is worth seeing — and, for me, worth getting, eventually, for my filmotheque.

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50 First Dates
50 First Dates

One wonders just how many people suffer from this disability outside of the movies.

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Paycheck
Paycheck

An interesting, fast-moving, action-filled John Woo film.

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The Butterfly Effect
The Butterfly Effect

The movie’s name was perhaps not ill-chosen but certainly as incorrectly descriptive of the theme as Spielberg’s “Poltergeist” was in its time.

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Along Came Polly
Along Came Polly

If I had to define this movie with a single word, “contrived” would come immediately to mind.

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The Return of the King
The Return of the King

Other reviewers would have had it that there should be at least a few people snoring, but there weren’t.

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Something's Gotta Give
Something’s Gotta Give

I simply check whether or not anybody in the audience is asleep during the film. By that criterion, this movie certainly qualified as a sleeper.

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Lost in Translation
Lost in Translation

The film is “tender and understated”, movie code for the fact that the less stoic viewer is likely to fall asleep early on.

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The Haunted Mansion
The Haunted Mansion

If you want to see a ride film, go out and rent “Pirates of the Caribbean”

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Timeline
Timeline

Movies made from Michael Crichton’s novels are doomed to be second-rate. “Timeline” is not an exception.

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Bubba Ho-Tep
Bubba Ho-Tep

This is typical Bruce Campbell fare — not very significant, but fairly good comedy fare.

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The Matrix Revolutions
The Matrix Revolutions

I came close to falling asleep in the first fifteen minutes of the film.

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Master and Commander
Master and Commander

All in all, probably one of the best films of the autumn.

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Elf
Elf

I enjoyed the film, in the same way one can (if one is not diabetic) enjoy cotton candy

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Looney Tunes: Back in Action
Looney Tunes: Back in Action

By and large this mix of human actors and traditional cartoon characters seems to work, at least as far as humor is concerned.

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Love Actually
Love Actually

All in all, a pleasant movie, but I don’t think that the attempt to juggle all of these stories worked out as well as it might have.

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Poemaro de Li Bai
Poemaro de Li Bai

Li Bai havis ambicion fariĝi “Feo de Poezio” , kaj laŭ bela legendo li atingis tiun beatan staton.

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The Cradle of Life
The Cradle of Life

Considerably better than the first film in the series.

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Spy Kids 3-D
Spy Kids 3-D

I found this film to be at least three cuts below its two predecessors.

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Seabiscuit
Seabiscuit

The film took me back to my teens, when I read Walter Farley’s famous racehorse series The Black Stallion.

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Johnny English
Johnny English

The running joke is, of course, English’s total incompetence.

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League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

How many of today’s under-twenties have more than a vague idea of who these people are, or were?

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Pirates of the Caribbean
Pirates of the Caribbean

When you see Captain Jack Sparrow’s arrival in Port Royal, you will suddenly realize that this film is not intended to be taken 100% seriously.

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Kvinpinta kantaro 2000
Kvinpinta kantaro 2000

Kvankam troviĝas kelkaj (malmultaj) originalaj kantoj en la libro, la granda plimulto konsistas el tradukaĵoj el diversaj eŭropaj lingvoj

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Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas
Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas

It was fairly well-drawn, it was fun, it was fast-moving, it was not overlong. And nobody sang any songs.

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Legally Blonde 2
Legally Blonde 2

You must, far more than in the first film, engage in a little Willing Suspension of Disbelief for this film to make much sense.

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Terminator 3
Terminator 3

Time will flow in such a way as to make it possible to produce a sequel in any lucrative film franchise.

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28 Days Later ...
28 Days Later …

If you think you’re going to see another Night of the Living Dead, perhaps convinced by reviewers or trailers, forget it.

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Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle
Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle

The action is more active, the double entendres more double, the explosions certainly fierier, the cleavage perhaps deeper, than in the first film.

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Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

It would be easy to outline the plot, but really it doesn’t develop too much.

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Whale Rider
Whale Rider

Fun story, marvellous cinematography.

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Hollywood Homicide
Hollywood Homicide

Compared to this, Seven Nights and Seven Days, in which Ford and Ann Heche are boringly marooned on a desert island, deserves “classic” status.

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The Hulk
The Hulk

All in all, the movie is a lot better than it could have been.

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Trans Maro kaj Morto
Trans Maro kaj Morto

Ĝenerale, mi trovis la intrigon pli interesa ol tiu en Falĉita kiel fojno.

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Falĉita Kiel Fojno
Falĉita Kiel Fojno

Efektive la libro estas tre facile legebla.

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La Maŝino Kiu Kriis
La Maŝino Kiu Kriis

Kun kelkaj esceptoj, la rakontoj suferas pro sia aĝo.

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Eraro
Eraro

La titolo, laŭ la verkinto, ne venas el la radiko “erar’” sed el la sufiksoj “-er-” kaj “-ar-“.

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Identity
Identity

A rather interesting little movie, despite occasional overdependency on startlement.

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Holes
Holes

A classic children’s novel of which I’ve never heard before.

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What a Girl Wants
What a Girl Wants

Going in to a sneak preview of this film, I kept thinking of Mel Gibson and the somewhat risqué What Women Want. Coming out, I kept thinking of the puerile The Princess Diaries.

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Vojaĝo kun Katrina
Vojaĝo kun Katrina

Unu el la allogaj ecoj de la romaneto estas la humuremo de Johansson pri homaj antaŭjuĝoj.

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Spirited Away
Spirited Away

Definitely worth seeing!

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The Core
The Core

A pleasant way to pass an afternoon, if disaster flicks are your cup of tea.

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Mistero ĉe Nigra Lago
Mistero ĉe Nigra Lago

Ĝi traktas du el la tradiciaj temoj de gejunula literaturo: reveno al la bela naturo kaj solvo fare de junaj homoj de krimo.

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Gangs of New York
Gangs of New York

It was a time when America seemed in danger of being overrun by immigrants, as usual.

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Dreamcatcher
Dreamcatcher

This includes elements of a number of earlier works, put together, mixed around, and presented in a slightly new way.

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Konciza Etimologia Vortaro
Konciza Etimologia Vortaro

If you are looking for depth, I can unhesitatingly recommend Vilborg over Cherpillod. On the other hand, if you are looking for breadth Cherpillod is the book to have.

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Dark Blue
Dark Blue

Dragnet it’s not, however, a point which the LAPD evidently recognized when they refused to cooperate in its filming.

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Daredevil
Daredevil

The mood of the film is much darker than that of, for instance, Spider-Man; don’t go to it expecting the same pleasant ride you had with Peter Parker.

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The Quiet American
The Quiet American

The movie is now in a very limited release to give it a chance at a couple of Academy Awards, which, IMHO, it deserves.

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How To Lose a Guy In 10 Days
How To Lose a Guy In 10 Days

Simply put, I don’t much care for people — even fictional ones — who treat other people as nothing but objects, and both of these main characters were doing so.

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Shanghai Knights
Shanghai Knights

It’s all a lot of good fun.

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About Schmidt
About Schmidt

I really can’t say why I didn’t like this. Perhaps it was just too good for me.

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Chicago
Chicago

We have here a film about two murderous women who are so self-centered that they can’t imagine that what they did was in any way wrong; and the film seems to agree with them.

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Crossroads of Twilight
Crossroads of Twilight

Crossroads of Twilight has been heavily criticized, largely for resolving nothing. And that’s just what it resolves, I’m afraid.

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Nicholas Nickleby
Nicholas Nickleby

While it would have been impossible to get everything in the book into a two-hour movie, I really think they could have devoted another five minutes to the breaking up of Dotheboys Hall.

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The Two Towers
The Two Towers

Worth seeing. I’d go see it again even if I had to pay for it!

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The Hot Chick
The Hot Chick

I saw Schneider’s The Animal, so I should have known what to expect.

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Two Weeks Notice
Two Weeks Notice

Amusing but very, very minor.

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Star Trek: Nemesis
Star Trek: Nemesis

The story did not strike me as particularly strong. There is some philosophizing about the effects of nature vs. nurture, but it is all fairly weak.

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Smallville
Smallville

I doubt whether anybody who’s not an aficionado of the series would find these books particularly interesting, but four of them should be read by those who are fans.

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Taken
Taken

Or will we, as in real life, be left only with more questions?

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Maid in Manhattan
Maid in Manhattan

I’m not sure that the wide screen experience here brings anything to the viewer that the idiot box experience won’t provide …

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Treasure Planet
Treasure Planet

I think that Stevenson, were he alive today, would not be terribly upset by what the Disney people have done with his story. In fact, he might be willing to stay for a second showing.

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Die Another Day
Die Another Day

Well, I have always enjoyed high-tech effects and lots of explosions, and this film provides both. But I always have the sneaking feeling that I should appreciate the old Bond, whose primary assets were his brain and his hands, a lot more.

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War of Honor
War of Honor

This is David Weber having a little bit of fun with his character, whose life is evidently modelled upon that of Horatio Hornblower, given a sex-change operation and moved a couple of thousand years into the future.

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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

An enjoyable movie, even if not completely faithful to the book. Perhaps, in fact, more enjoyable than the first movie in the series, despite being almost ten minutes longer.

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The Transporter
The Transporter

I would have had higher expectations if I’d known ahead of time that the writing credits belonged to Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen. But perhaps it’s just as well I didn’t. I was able to enjoy the film much more when it surpassed those expectations.

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Tuck Everlasting
Tuck Everlasting

A finely done movie, for Disney.

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Nova Plena Ilustrita Vortaro
Nova Plena Ilustrita Vortaro

I suspect that NPIV is going to be an absolute necessity for those who insist on being literarily active, or active in various specialist fields.

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Blue Crush
Blue Crush

I won’t recommend the movie for the plot, but you might want to see it on the big screen for the waves.

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Blood Work
Blood Work

In recent years Eastwood has sort of grown on me.

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Musono
Musono

La noveloj estas interesaj pro la roluloj kaj fonoj, sed ne sufiĉe kontentigaj, precipe ĉar kun kelkaj esceptoj la finoj ŝajnas … nefinaj.

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Odyssey 5
Odyssey 5

This is a series about people and high-tech; but the series seems to be more about the people than about the high-tech.

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Spy Kids 2
Spy Kids 2

Great fun.

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The Dead Zone
The Dead Zone

Catch it on USA every sunday evening at ten p.m.

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Austin Powers in Goldmember
Austin Powers in Goldmember

There is an overreliance on poo-poo and pee-pee jokes. If these don’t amuse you, you may find the film boring. I drowsed off twice — the first time I’ve done that since Amélie.

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Signs
Signs

Prediction: few “legs” on this one, despite the collaboration of Shyamalan and the ever-popular Gibson. It’s a “TV movie” — i.e., what effects it has on the viewer will be as pronounced when he’s lying on his bed watching it on the tube as when he’s sitting in stadium seating watching it on the wide screen. Probably best to treat it as such.

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Reign of Fire
Reign of Fire

It was an enjoyable and fast moving film — again in the tradition of the fictional British holding out indomitably against unspeakable odds.

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The Sum of All Fears
The Sum of All Fears

I still haven’t decided whether or not this film is better or worse than the book.

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The Bourne Identity
The Bourne Identity

This film seems to have been a vehicle for Matt Damon. As such, it’s fairly successful. As an adaptation of Ludlum’s story, I found it pretty lame.

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Minority Report
Minority Report

It’s an excellent film, with a good story (what else are we to expect from Dick?), good acting, fun action scenes, convoluted plot, and fine pacing.

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Men In Black II
Men In Black II

There are films for which I might say, “I cannot recommend this film too highly.” For this one, I’ll say the same thing, but hold the last two words. It’s living proof that you shouldn’t make a sequel just for the sake of making a sequel.

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Kuniberto kaj Kilevamba
Kuniberto kaj Kilevamba

Se mi devus kritiki ĉi tiun libron, mi mencius ĉefe la senhezitan helpemon de kelkaj naciaj gravuloj (tion oni malofte vidas en la reala mondo) kaj la fantazian geografion de la mondparto sude de Turkio. La lingvaĵo estas rapide kaj facile legebla. La ilustraĵoj, eble pli ol la rakonto mem, estas taŭgaj por infana libro.

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Nobela Novelaro
Nobela Novelaro

Laŭ mia sperto, vi trovos ne ĉiun novelon ŝatinda, sed ankaŭ trovos almenaŭ unu juvelon, kaj eble pli.

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Amparolo
Amparolo

Oni povas nur laŭdi la novelojn, kiuj, mallongaj, estas ĉiuj gemetoj.

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Enough
Enough

The message on which Slim finally acts is that “you can’t trust the courts to do the right thing”, a point which is nowhere demonstrated in the film but simply repeated to her by people who have no better reason than she does to believe it; the result is, of course, justifiable murder.

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Changing Lanes
Changing Lanes

Gipson is not nearly as innocent an individual as the trailer indicated, nor is Banek such an incorrigible sleazoid as one might expect after viewing the thirty-second introduction.

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Star Wars: Episode II
Star Wars: Episode II

The major flaw in the film is that, far too often, the special effects overwhelm the story. As a person who loves a movie with lots of explosions, I probably shouldn’t say that, but …

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Spider-Man
Spider-Man

Worth seeing on the wide screen. For that matter, worth seeing a second time on the wide screen. Maybe even a third — I haven’t quite decided yet.

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Denaska kongresano kaj aliaj noveloj
Denaska kongresano kaj aliaj noveloj

Libro por sin distri dum (mallonga) vespero.

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The Scorpion King
The Scorpion King

This is a moderately worthy addition to a relatively small canon. It suffers a bit from being a spin-off, however.

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Mokrokalvo la gigantegegego
Mokrokalvo la gigantegegego

En ĉi tiu libro, temas pri la dioj mem, tamen ne sen kelkaj anaĥronismaj komentoj fare de ili kaj de la verkinto.

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Rubenaj refrenoj
Rubenaj refrenoj

Mi trovis la libron interesa, sed eble neesperantistoj ne tiom trovus ĝin tia.

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Krias la silento
Krias la silento
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Ĉielarka estonto
Ĉielarka estonto

Kio, bedaŭrinde, lasis nin kun libro kiu estas romano ĉefe pro la nombro de paĝoj.

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Padanaj rakontoj
Padanaj rakontoj

Sed plej juka por mi estis la fakto, ke la montofeino de Monto Bisbino, en la unua rakonto, ŝajne parolas la lombarditalan, tre belan latinidan lingvon kiu evidente ne ekzistis en la antaŭromia kelta epoko de la fabelo.

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Panic Room
Panic Room

The movie is not about the characters but about their situation. You find it difficult to care whether they live or die.

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L' omnibuso kun la tri pasaĝeroj
L’ omnibuso kun la tri pasaĝeroj

La stilo estas iom fremda por okcidentaj gustoj, tamen tute plaĉa.

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40 Days and 40 Nights
40 Days and 40 Nights

See it on rented tape or DVD. Or don’t, as the spirit moves you.

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La bona mesaĝo de Jesuo laŭ Marko
La bona mesaĝo de Jesuo laŭ Marko

Interesa libro, kaj eble pli fidela al la originalo — sed eble ankaŭ ne tiel facile legebla — kiel la ordinara “Sankta Biblio” en Esperanto.

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Lukio aŭ azeno
Lukio aŭ azeno

Legebla. Ĉu leginda? Depende de la propra gusto.

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Tri 'stas tro
Tri ‘stas tro

Pli ĝuebla ol mi atendis. Ne lasu vin trompi la enkonduko.

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La nekonata dio
La nekonata dio

Ne tro longa, facile legebla, kaj atentokapta.

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La nigra spartako
La nigra spartako

Rekomendata aparte por progresantoj.

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Vespera gruo
Vespera gruo

Mi dubas, ĉu multaj okcidentanoj legos ĉi tiun libron. Tio estas bedaŭrinda.

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Smallville (TV)
Smallville (TV)

In the end, I suspect that most people will watch this series more for Lex than for Clark and his powers or for the Smallville weirdness.

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Winter's Heart
Winter’s Heart

For those who have been annoyed by the way the series is going, I would say that this is definitely the best of the most recent three books, though certainly not up to one or two of the earlier ones.

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Bedazzled
Bedazzled

Be careful what you wish for. You may get it.

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Meet the Parents
Meet the Parents

Light fare, amusing — if you like self-embarassment movies — and an enjoyable way of passing an hour and three quarters.

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The Cell
The Cell

Not a movie I expect to see again. Nor one I would particularly care to recommend to anybody else.

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Godzilla 2000
Godzilla 2000

Although this film will (and should) win no Academy Awards, it’s a fun way to spend an afternoon.

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Bless the Child
Bless the Child

When I think about it, all the films in this genre that I can remember seeing seem to have taken place in New York. Howcum Denver or Sacramento never suffer from Satanic visitations???

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Space Cowboys
Space Cowboys

About a sixth of the film is given over to preliminaries, and half of it to a training program to allow the characters to prepare themselves for the rigors of flight in the shuttle. By my arithmetical calculations, this leaves about a third of the film for the actual flight into space.

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Pokémon: The Movie 2000
Pokémon: The Movie 2000

I expected to have a wasted couple of hours when I went to see this film. Except for the first few minutes, it was actually something of a pleasant surprise.

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What Lies Beneath
What Lies Beneath

The trouble is, while Zemeckis imports certain Hitchcockian elements, he fails to import Hitchcock’s style.

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Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

This is a much better book than any of the earlier ones. But ultimately, like the others in this children’s series, it’s a book for grownups — far more so than its predecessors.

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X Men
X Men

As someone once said, you don’t worry about film length when people simply look at their watches, but when they hold them up to their ears and start shaking them … X-Men runs almost two hours, but I don’t remember looking at my watch once, and when the film ended, I was surprised at how short it had seemed.

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The Perfect Storm
The Perfect Storm

The storm is very well done, and I suggest that those with a tendency to motion sickness might better avoid this film.

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The Kid
The Kid

The plot doesn’t always hang together, but it is fun; and it’s nice to know that some people are able to find redemption, though the assumption that they can only do so late in life — which is here defined as forty years old — is a bit unsettling…

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The Patriot
The Patriot

This was a good movie to start off the Fourth of July weekend.

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Chicken Run
Chicken Run

I almost fell asleep in spots. When I was awake, I watched the pictures of naked lady chickens doing calisthenics and kept thinking of roast drumsticks.

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Fantasia 2000
Fantasia 2000

The film is both a delight and a disappointment — something one should learn to expect from “episode” films.

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Titan A. E.
Titan A. E.

Add a whole bunch of computer-generated special animation effects, and you have a film that is worth spending an evening to see.

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Mission: Impossible II
Mission: Impossible II

The sad fact is that the seeds of a good, classic Mission: Impossible story are present in this film. But that’s just not this movie.

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Gladiator
Gladiator

The film has a lot of pluses, though I suspect — without peeking at Caesar and Christ — that it is less than historically accurate.

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Shanghai Noon
Shanghai Noon

The rest of the film involves, among other things, … a drinking game in a Carson City house of joy, and a useful way to bend the bars in a jail by using a wet silk robe, along with ways to wet a silk robe when you don’t have a carafe of water handy.

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Dinosaur
Dinosaur

Was it a good film? If you like advances in film technology, don’t demand much meat in your plot, and have some small children along, yes, it was an excellent film.

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Battlefield Earth
Battlefield Earth

Actually, Travolta does a creditable job in this film, given the material he has to work with … On the other hand …

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Frequency
Frequency

As an SF book, this would have been pleasant, enjoyable and thought-provoking, but overall nothing spectacular. As a movie, IMHO it stands head and shoulders above movies of a similar type.

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Island In the Sea of Time
Island In the Sea of Time

The “trilogy,” though it largely covers this single campaign, is, in terms of time covered, actually a single novel separated from its two sequels, which themselves make up an independent unit, by about a decade.

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The Cadwal Chronicles
The Cadwal Chronicles

Vance is a writer less about phenomena or about great historical events than about people facing up to what we might consider relatively minor problems, largely personal ones.

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The Shadow of Albion
The Shadow of Albion

It struck me that there were quite a number of flaws in this book, all of which would have been easily correctable.

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Pride and Prejudice
Pride and Prejudice

If you haven’t yet seen it and if you like Jane Austen — try to catch it. If you have to pay to do so … it’s worth the money.

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The Road to El Dorado
The Road to El Dorado

The film’s creators did not make the mistake of turning Miguel into a bad imitation of Crosby, nor is Tullio any Hope, and Chel makes Lamour look positively Twiggy-ish

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Sleepy Hollow
Sleepy Hollow

I think that Washington Irving would have recognized this story.

Just.

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The Messenger
The Messenger

For myself, if I’d been there and had heard Jeanne scream at Orleans: “If you love me … follow me!” I would have followed without hesitation.

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American Beauty
American Beauty

I give away nothing when I say that the climactic high point of the film is when Lester gets his brains blown out …

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Double Jeopardy
Double Jeopardy

In the canon of Tommy Lee Jones masterpieces, it’ll probably be ranked more or less the same as Volcano.

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The Sixth Sense
The Sixth Sense

This movie came to me as one of the really nice surprises of this summer — though, after Willis’s role in Mercury Rising, I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised.

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The Iron Giant
The Iron Giant

One of the most enjoyable — though far from humorous — animations that I’ve seen in quite a while

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The Haunting
The Haunting

There’s good, there’s evil, there’s plot, there’s climax, there’s denouement, there’s punishment and reward, there’s Heaven and Hell, there’s even a cameo appearance by an elderly Bruce Dern. What more could we ask for?

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Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me

Unfortunately, most of the laughs in this presumably comic film derive from overplayed toilet humor, which few over the age of fifteen will find terribly amusing, unless there is something seriously wrong with civilization as we know it.

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Tarzan
Tarzan

Now the Disney people have produced what we may call a “flawed masterpiece” — but, I suspect, as minimally flawed as we can expect at this late date.

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Notting Hill
Notting Hill

I enjoyed it. But I don’t know whether it’s for everybody.

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The Thirteenth Floor
The Thirteenth Floor

“Question reality” seems to be a movie buzzword for this season, just as “asteroid” was in 1998.

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The Phantom Menace
The Phantom Menace

Unfortunately, when we take our eyes away from the effects and look at the story, we find that it has been seriously slighted.

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John Carpenter's Vampires
John Carpenter’s Vampires

John Carpenter is, indeed, a name to conjure with, though what you may evoke when calling on that name is sometimes problematic.

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Star Trek: Insurrection
Star Trek: Insurrection

Star Trek: Insurrection not only has a plot, but also some really bad guys, and a few enjoyable special effects.

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Practical Magic
Practical Magic

It’s another example of “details ain’t right but it’s got the ambience”, complete with covens, magic shoppes and solstice celebrations.

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Charmed
Charmed

It will be interesting to see where the series goes.

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What Dreams May Come
What Dreams May Come

In some ways, it did not play fair with the viewer.

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Kiki's Delivery Service
Kiki’s Delivery Service

“Kiki’s Delivery Service” was a find.

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Ever After
Ever After

Don’t wait for the videotape or DVD, or even the cheap-seat theaters! People have to be encouraged to make more movies that are this much fun!

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Snake Eyes
Snake Eyes

I am not sure why I was so annoyed with this film.

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Saving Private Ryan
Saving Private Ryan

It is probably one of the most realistic cinematic renditions of a war that I have seen. No John Waynes here.

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The Parent Trap
The Parent Trap

A fun movie, particularly for those who have not seen the original.

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The Mask of Zorro
The Mask of Zorro

The ending is such that there is no need for a sequel. But I’d give odds that there will be one — and I, for one, look forward to it.

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There's Something About Mary
There’s Something About Mary

Remember that There’s Something About Mary is made by the same people who made Dumb and Dumber.

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Lethal Weapon 4
Lethal Weapon 4

This was a fun film, if you overlook the occasional inanities and the so-called “adult language”.

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Small Soldiers
Small Soldiers

If you liked Gremlins, you’ll probably like this film. But, I suspect, not enough to go back and see it a second time.

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Armageddon
Armageddon

When ID4 ended, you tended to say: “What? It’s over already?” Two hours into Armageddon, you tended to shake your watch to see if it was broken

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Mulan
Mulan

The Chinese seem to like stories about plucky girls disguising themselves as boys to do the jobs that society thinks they should avoid.

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Godzilla
Godzilla

I will only say that this film owes very much indeed to Jurassic Park, Blue Thunder, and even a bit to King Kong.

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Tarzan and the Lost City
Tarzan and the Lost City

All in all, give van Dien and March a few acting lessons, teach van Dien how to smile, get somebody else to write the script, hire Tia Carrera to play La, and I’ll be looking forward to the next movie in the series.

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Mercury Rising
Mercury Rising

While waiting for all the great new summer movies you might want to catch this somewhat interesting, and action-filled, new Bruce Willis flic

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Don Harlow bio info. Born longer ago than he cares to admit, Don Harlow has worked as a military weather forecaster, neophyte astronomer, computer programmer and office manager. His primary avocations are reading science-fiction and fantasy and promoting the international language Esperanto. He has successfully raised three daughters and a son, the oldest of whom (Gwen) is responsible for designing this site and giving it to him as a Christmas present. Movies are, for him, a pleasant way of passing an afternoon or evening; his only connection with the movie industry consists in a long-ago four week period during which he worked as an usher at the Lake Theater in Oswego, Oregon. Contact Don at don@harlows.org