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Reviewer Rank: 43412
Helpful Votes: 42

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Great Entertainment., May 12, 2002


Those of us whose childhood fantasies were fed by superhero comic books -- instead of television -- always looked forward to superhero movies, and often came out of the theater disappointed; but not this time. Sam Rami succeeded where generations of directors and endless, like-minded TV series often failed. He found and inflamed the dormant desire for awe in admiration of the strong, yet tender, heroic male; the one we read about in adolescence, and whom we secretly kept close to our hearts as adults.

Yet this is not a nostalgic movie with old fashions or a middle-aged audience in mind. It is as fresh as a teenager movie and as action packed as any Hollywood blockbuster, while at the same time it is an excellent film in every respect. It is exciting, funny, touching and perfectly paced. In other words it is great adventure entertainment, and I highly recommend it.

I will not go into the details of the story, one that, after all, is not so different from others, in order to not spoil it for those who have not seen it.

I do want to single out Alvin Sargent, a seasoned screenwriter, and his team, for writing a script that makes characters interesting, believable and sympathetic. The action is measured, the suspense is tolerable and the plot is interesting, tight and unburdensome. No superfluous talking here. No long-winded car chases or overly brutal fights. In fact, I was glad to see one of the criminals fall by accident, rather than to be killed by such a gentle superhero.

Tobey Maguire, whose memorable performance in "The Cider House Rules" propelled him to super stardom, is the surprising and fortunate casting choice for the role of Peter Parker, the high school boy turned Spider-man. He gives a sensitive rendering of a young man who, having been bitten by a genetically modified spider, develops superhuman abilities. His portrayal of this dual, human and supernatural character is not only convincing, but given the actor's own likable personal traits, it is very sweet and moving as well.

Kirsten Dunst in the role of Mary Jane is as likeable as Maguire, and well cast as Spider-man's long - and widely -- sought after sweetheart.

The villainous character's incarnation, in a subplot that involves the US Dept. of Defense, is unexpected, spectacular and amusing. It adds just enough spice to an otherwise predictable outcome.

The manner of updating the decades old context of Spider-Man is inspired, and it includes a lot more than biologically re-engineered arachnoids. One of my favorites was WWF wrestling as his first proving ground. This, and many other aspects of the movie will endear it to young viewers. (Never the less, keeping in mind its 2-hour length and some violence, I would not recommend it for young children.)

"Spider-Man" is a feast for the eyes. The producers' choice of locations, colors, special effects, costumes, and even make up, deliver a hint of comic-book sketching, just enough to make us surrender to the screen, only without any of the gaudiness or spooky retrofuturist gimmicks that would easily turn off sophisticated audiences. The hero's aerial acrobatics are, as one would expect, more fantastic than those of Olympic gymnasts, but delivered with the smooth interpretation and subtle touches of skillful choreography. And behind all this we see New York in all it's earthly glory, as if the choice of Manhattan for the film's backdrop was intended to present this legendary city of ours from the perspective of a box seat in one of its great venues for the performing arts.

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HP Omnibook XE3 (Pentium III 1.06GHz, 256 MB RAM, 30GB Hard Drive)
Availability: Currently unavailable

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

Beyond Satisfaction!, February 17, 2002
The Hewlett-Packard Omnibook XE3 Notebook is an unexpected pleasure for me, and it came as the sweet reward of my long quest for a new computer.

I had been looking for a replacement of my now seriously outdated Dell Latitude with Windows 98 for some time.

After being inundated with sales brochures from Dell, IBM and others, I looked into different laptops and I thought that an IBM ThinkPad A series might do the job at reasonable cost.

I then encountered several problems in my dealings with IBM. First, the model I requested was not available. Then I was told that a comparable model was available, but there would be additional costs in adding the features I wanted. Weeks later, with the projected delivery day having been missed, I was told that the second model was unavailable and yet another substitution was made. Eventually, after yet another few weeks went by with no computer in sight I cancelled the order.

It dawned on me that my best mail order experiences had been with Amazon.com, and I remembered that they sold computers as well. So, I logged on and started searching for the laptop computer of my dreams. I was pleasantly surprised to find available systems with the features I wanted, and then some, at a lower price than the IBM of my dreams.

I saw the "Order By Phone And Get Expert Advice" box on the product description page and, voila, the expert spoke my language and he knew the details of my computer dreams. I was shocked when he said that that the system I wanted was ready to ship on the same day, free shipping included. I ordered it, scheduled to be shipped on the same day and to be delivered 3 days later. It arrived a day ahead of schedule!

But the pleasures of this transaction did not end with early delivery. When I opened the box in which my new HP notebook arrived I was delighted to see so little inside. Less is more, because an all-inclusive computer is better than using tangled cables to connect multiple components. And this computer has everything built into an amazingly compact package.

Plug and play at its best is when you plug and, well, just play. I plugged and I played and played and played. This laptop packs all the best buttons and LCD indicators in the right places and in the right shapes for the most intuitive interaction that I have had in my decades long computer experience. If you want to get on the Internet, just tap the "WWW" button. For e-mail, press the button with the envelope picture on it. You want a button to do something unique, just use the available programmable button. The short front façade of the laptop has buttons for multimedia, such as on/off, play/stop, pause/end, forward, rewind, volume up and volume down. This is so much easier than clicking Windows settings.

The built-in CD-ROM drive is a marvelous combination data reader, CD maker and DVD player. The included network outlet made connecting to the Internet via my DSL modem as simple as just plugging in a cable (interestingly enough my DSL connection is much faster on the HP Omnibook). The built-in diskette drive beats having to first remove a CD drive to put this in, as in my old laptop.

There are jacks for every sort of connection I can dream of. A telephone jack for the built-in dialup modem, a network jack for my DSL connection, an IBM style jack for an external mouse or keyboard, microphone jack, headphone/speaker jack, two USB ports, a parallel port where I plugged in my old laser printer, a VGA port, AC adapter, an infrared port, TV output port (wow!), a Kensington lock security connector (in case you work for the State Dept...), and PC cards for everything else. To pack all these things with the three included drives, battery, keyboard, big screen and powerful CPU together, and to present them in such a user-friendly fashion in a small, light package is HP's fantastic accomplishment, not to mention the great boost to my ego.

What a joy my new computer is. Windows XP makes things easier all around, but to me the greatest advantage is that there is no more crashing and no more despised "scandisk". This computer never needs to be turned off. It just goes to sleep when you don't use it and wakes up on command.

"Less is more" also applies to instructional material. No need for encyclopedia sized manuals here. The only book that accompanies this marvel of self-sufficiency is the small "Startup Guide". It has pictorial descriptions of the multiple buttons, jacks and bays and short sections on using, traveling, configuring and troubleshooting, none of which I have had the need to use.

I give the HP Omnibook experience top marks. I have been involved with computers for over thirty years and, finally, I am in love.

Bravo HP for living up to a long reputation for user friendliness. Bravo Amazon.com for making this transaction so pleasant and satisfying.

Pros: Top features in a small package at a low price. This computer has what you need and it also anticipates what you may need in the future.

Cons: The only "con" I can think of is that the price went down after I bought it. I guess now more people can fall in love with their own HP Omnibook.

 Comment


The Photos of the Century: 100 Historic Moments (Evergreen)
by Marie-Monique Robin
Edition: Hardcover
Availability: Currently unavailable
9 used & new from $7.00

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

Tribute to Photojournalism, September 13, 2000

If a photo is worth a thousand words then surely this large volume is priceless, constituting the finest and best organized collection of historical photos that I have ever seen.

Marie-Monique Robin went to great lengths to track down sources, she sifted through volumes of historical photographs and she did an extraordinary job of organizing the material.

This outstanding journalist made the best choice of words, as well. Besides the briefest of introductions, she augmented each photograph with narrative in three short sections: A paragraph of historical context entitled "Timeline"; a concise description of the image; and a few words from the photographer or other person closely associated with the photo.

Glancing through the pages one can appreciate the easy and pleasurable arrangement of the photos and text. Each photo and accompanied text are placed on large, well balanced, two-page spreads. There are one hundred of these, starting with a 1898 photo of the Turin Shroud and ending with a 1997 "mosaic of pixels" of the Mars Pathfinder.

The collection is one hundred photos short, but very rich. From Texas to South Africa, ayatollahs to lesbian lovers and from Buchenwald to the Moon, the photographs are beautiful, moving, telling, compelling and all the superlatives one associates with the rarest moments of photojournalism. There is a combination of history and poetry in images of people, places and events that we all recognize, and also those that we do not but want to. They convey the things that please, annoy, educate, repulse and move us, so, they make a superb pictorial account of twentieth century history.

One can see the author's own aesthetic sensitivity in the layout of the book and in her choice of large-format black and white photos in combination with small color photos of photographers or other relevant images. While avoiding the Technicolor look of glossy magazines, she succeeds in presenting a subdued phantasmagoria that moves and informs her audience.

 Comment

Eastern Cities: Prague, Budapest and Istanbul
VHS
Availability: Currently unavailable
13 used & new from $3.99

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

Fit the Bill, September 2, 2000
A travelogue narrated in Rick Steves's monotone, this video is reminiscent of "The Lonely Planet" and "Amazing Destinations" Travel Channel programs, but without the annoying background music, and so down to earth that one might think of it as a home movie.

I bought it because of my interest in Istanbul, and got Prague and Budapest as a bonus. While watching it on tape was my alternative to expensive travel, I was soon shocked to discover that finding the tape was harder than booking a trip, as my extensive search yielded only two available titles.

Having resigned myself to making do with one third of a tape (Istanbul being one of three cities on it) I was pleasantly surprised by how much one can get on a short video. A picture is indeed worth a thousand words.

I enjoyed the virtual tour of Hagia Sophia. The architectural drawings, written descriptions and innumerable photos that I had examined in the past could not impress me as much as Steves's camera panning and zooming around this 1,400 year old Cathedral, built on what was then the capital of the Roman Empire and the political center of the civilized world.

Unexpected pleasures included the boat trip across the Bosporus and views of other known sites. Walking or sailing past jam-packed shops, ancient homes and exotic palaces in busy streets, squares and water channels; hearing the cheerful sounds of this vibrant megalopolis and watching people eat and dance helped me imagine being there.

As a regular visitor to Istanbul, Steves found it appropriate to end with a short lesson in Turkish and a corny but telling phrase: "Never else have I found culture shock as enjoyable a package".

I now feel less remiss about not having spent time in the city that ruled the world for centuries, first as New Rome Constantinople and then as the capital of the Ottoman Empire.

 Comment


The Philosophy of Aristotle (Mentor)
by Aristotle
Edition: Paperback
Availability: Currently unavailable
65 used & new from $0.01

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

Excellent !, May 4, 2000
There are many reasons why this little book is worth more than its weight in gold.The editor has done the most admirable job in selecting the best translations and in including appropriate excerpts from Aristotle's voluminous work.The brief editorial introductions to each of the great philosopher's "books" are gems of historical and interpretive insight and in themselves well worth the purchase.The flowing and flawless English of these brilliant translations make reading it irresistible while remaining sensitive to matetial where, as Aristotle himself said, language and reality are inseparable.The material itself is, of course, unsurpassed. Aristotle is simply the most admired mind to have ever appeared on this Earth. If you have not experienced Aristotle and if you are willing to make the effort to understand some difficult concepts, you will be rewarded with the most important and fundamental knowledge through this book. Then your life will never be the same again.

 Comment

The Philosophy of Aristotle (Mentor)
by Aristotle
Edition: Paperback
Availability: Currently unavailable
65 used & new from $0.01

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

Excellent !, May 4, 2000
There are many reasons why this little book is worth more than its weight in gold.The editor has done the most admirable job in selecting the best translations and in including appropriate excerpts from Aristotle's voluminous work.The brief editorial introductions to each of the great philosopher's "books" are gems of historical and interpretive insight and in themselves well worth the purchase.The flowing and flawless English of these brilliant translations make reading it irresistible while being sensitive to matetial where, as Aristotle himself said, language and reality are inseparable.The material is, of course, unsurpassed. Aristotle is simply the greatest mind to have ever walked on this Earth.If you have not experienced Aristotle and if you are willing to make the effort to understand some difficult concepts, you are virtually certain to gain the most important and fundamental knowledge through this book. Then your life will never be the same again.

 Comment

Patriarch Photios Constantinople His Life, Scholarly Contributions and Correspondence Together With a Translation of Fifty-Two of His Letters: His Life, ... and Historical Sources, No. 5)
by Despina Stratoudaki White
Edition: Hardcover
Availability: Currently unavailable

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

Fall In Love With Photios, May 3, 2000
D.S. White accomplishes the feat of a concise, complete and readable presentation of a complicated man who is a Saint to the East, anathema to the West, and the most extraordinary and illustrious mind of his time.Saint Photios of Constantinople, "an intimate of the powerful, a courtier, an intellectual, an encyclopedist, a teacher, and a voracious student of anything that books could offer", has been extensively studied by scholars for centuries; profusely quoted and catalogued, worshiped and excommunicated.But nowhere does he come through as completely yet understandably as he does in this small book.Photios's own writings, presended here in a collection of 52 of his letters, reveal a man of passion and compassion, great knowledge and deep faith who still brings forth our admiration, even as he continues to attract the scorn of those he called "heretics" over a thousand years ago.

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