Reviews Written By: A3MQAQT8C6D1I7provided by Amazon.com |
 | ||
 | Sandisk 4GB Cruzer Titanium USB Flash Drive with U3 | |
 | "Indispensable" | 2009-11-06 |
| I bought this drive over a year ago and have to report that it has never failed me. I have plugged it into virtually every kind of computer out there and it has always allowed me to connect and transfer files. Quite plainly, I love it.
It's big enough to be able to accomodate a single layer DVD into it but not quite big enough to accomodate a big dual layer DVD on it so can't quite transfer dual layer ISO files but for smaller files, it's perfect. I'm thinking of getting a 32GB version so that I can carry complete ISO images of DVDs but I'm going to keep this 4GB in my bag as a means of moving files quickly and easily. Of note, thumb drives in general are a security risk so be careful what you store on it. I keep this 4GB file entirely empty and hand it out whenever I need someone to give me some files (if you keep your budget or salary tables on your thumb drive, whomever you loan your thumb drive to can easily copy your files to their machine) --- for this reason, thumb drives are outlawed in some organizations. However, I think their usability outstripps their risks. At these prices, there's no reason you shouldn't have one of these 4GB nice titanium drives. It comes with U3 software which helps you eject the drive from computers that are not plug and play. It's also tiny and has a little hole for a keyring or for a neckline. I can't say enough nice things about this little piece of hardware. On this drive, it comes with a metal case and a retractable USB plug - it works great. It's not waterproof but it's very sturdy so defintely can be thrown into a computer bag. | ||
 | Western Digital 160 GB USB 2.0 Passport 2.5" External Hard Drive (WDXMS1600TN) | |
| "This one got me hooked" | 2009-10-31 |
| This was my first passport drive.
Before the passport drives came out, external drives were big, heavy, clumsy devices that were hard to install and required separate power supplies. Passport changed this. These drives are 2.5" tiny, super quiet, USB 2.0 drives that draw their power directly from the computer themselves. They're in one word fantastic and they're beautiful too. Quite frankly the 160GB model is out of date and you should consider getting the Western Digital 320 GB Passport 2.5" USB 2.0 Hard Drive or Western Digital My Passport Essential 500 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive WDME5000TN (Midnight Black) models which are cheaper than this hard to find hard drive which is overly expensive now. I thought I'd review it because I reviewed the 500gb model and thought that I should write down the entire history. | ||
 | Buscando a Nemo | |
| "The Best Children's Film. (that period to the left is important)" | 2009-10-25 |
| Of all the children's movies I own, my daughter loves Finding Nemo the best and that in turn has had me watch Finding Nemo about 327 times. Thankfully it is a wonderful movie and the more I watched it the more I came to appreciate all the wonderful nuances of the story.
Basically this is a story of two clown fish: a father and a son. The son, Nemo, is captured by a diver who is also a dentist. Nemo winds up in the dentist's aquarium. Nemo's dad begins a quest to find his son making all kinds of friends along the way while Nemo and the rest of the aquarium fish plot how to escape. It's a wonderful story and no wonder it has made hundreds of millions of dollars. In addition to the great story, the visual rendering is just plain gorgeous. Everything is so crisp and vivid - it's like being in the ocean or in an aquarium. If you have a child - do yourself a favor and get this for your kid. It has a ton of cautionary tales built in like "don't go with strangers" ---- my daughter keeps asking, "I want to see Nemo going with a stranger." and she buries her head against my chest when Nemo gets captured. In addition, when your kid gets hooked on Nemo at least you can retain your sanity after watching it 200+ times....there are some shows out there that would just plain drive me nuts if I had to watch more than once. Nemo fortunately, is not one of them. Get it and enjoy with your kid. | ||
 | Finding Nemo (Collector's Edition) | |
| "The Best Children's Film. (that period to the left is important)" | 2009-10-25 |
| Of all the children's movies I own, my daughter loves Finding Nemo the best and that in turn has had me watch Finding Nemo about 327 times. Thankfully it is a wonderful movie and the more I watched it the more I came to appreciate all the wonderful nuances of the story.
Basically this is a story of two clown fish: a father and a son. The son, Nemo, is captured by a diver who is also a dentist. Nemo winds up in the dentist's aquarium. Nemo's dad begins a quest to find his son making all kinds of friends along the way while Nemo and the rest of the aquarium fish plot how to escape. It's a wonderful story and no wonder it has made hundreds of millions of dollars. In addition to the great story, the visual rendering is just plain gorgeous. Everything is so crisp and vivid - it's like being in the ocean or in an aquarium. If you have a child - do yourself a favor and get this for your kid. It has a ton of cautionary tales built in like "don't go with strangers" ---- my daughter keeps asking, "I want to see Nemo going with a stranger." and she buries her head against my chest when Nemo gets captured. In addition, when your kid gets hooked on Nemo at least you can retain your sanity after watching it 200+ times....there are some shows out there that would just plain drive me nuts if I had to watch more than once. Nemo fortunately, is not one of them. Get it and enjoy with your kid. | ||
 | Cuisinart Chef's Classic Stainless 5-1/2-Quart Sauté Pan with Helper Handle and Cover | |
| "Made me a believer in stainless" | 2009-10-25 |
| I have been cooking on teflon coated pans for years because I always thought that my stainless pan would make my food stick and that I'd never be able to get the charred carbon off from it.
I was dead wrong. This pan is wonderful to cook in and so easy to clean. It looks spotless and shiny after each use. cleanup is a snap. I still use teflon for eggs in the morning but for all other uses, I go for stainless now and thiat 5 1/4 pot is a "MUST HAVE" for every kitchen. If you don't have a pan like this, your kitchen is sorely missing. I highly recommend you get one. Why isn't this pot $250 like others. Well, most of the really expensive stainless pans like this are clad (that means that thye have an aluminum bottom that is clad in stainless steel - no seams. If you look closely at this pan you have a stainless surface and at the bottom of the pan you see a seam and then a differen metal fused onto it. This process makes this pan cheaper while giving it the same qualities as the much more expensive pans. Cladding is all the rage and at some point when I have a billion bucks, I'll have a chef and won't care about whether my pots are clad or not. For now, I'm enjoying this pot. At some point I'll get a clad one but I'm very impressed with this pan - its construction and usability. It's wonderful and looks brand new after so many uses. The handle is stainless also but it stays cook while cooking and has a helper handle that does get hot when you cook. It comes with a very durable stainless lid which seals it nicely. Overall, fantastic product - you won't find a better pan with this much value built into it out there and it cooks as good as the best clad pans out there. Give it a try! | ||
 | Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent | |
 | "A bit narrow" | 2009-10-25 |
| I had to order this when President Chavez of Venezuela gave it to President Obama.
The tennet of the book is pretty straight forward - that the latin americas and south america have been sacked by rampant capitalism which has emptied their countries of resources, exploited their people, and left the peoples of those areas poor. The book is a call to action to look for another way. Some people think this way is communism or socialism. However, the book doesn't go deep enough --- the Latin Americas and South Americas have been plundered since colonial times by European Powers. It doesn't have to do with capitalism or colonialism. It has to do with the peoples of Latin and South America standing up and building value. Communism is not the answer and neither is socialism -- the answer lays in the indigenous populations of these areas: -getting educations -applying that education to building their countries -accepting help from outside but not letting outsiders be they european or from wherever plundering their countries -building for the future I found the work a bit narrow but a good start to an important discussion. | ||
 | Finding Nemo | |
| "The Best Children's Film. (that period to the left is important)" | 2009-10-25 |
| Of all the children's movies I own, my daughter loves Finding Nemo the best and that in turn has had me watch Finding Nemo about 327 times. Thankfully it is a wonderful movie and the more I watched it the more I came to appreciate all the wonderful nuances of the story.
Basically this is a story of two clown fish: a father and a son. The son, Nemo, is captured by a diver who is also a dentist. Nemo winds up in the dentist's aquarium. Nemo's dad begins a quest to find his son making all kinds of friends along the way while Nemo and the rest of the aquarium fish plot how to escape. It's a wonderful story and no wonder it has made hundreds of millions of dollars. In addition to the great story, the visual rendering is just plain gorgeous. Everything is so crisp and vivid - it's like being in the ocean or in an aquarium. If you have a child - do yourself a favor and get this for your kid. It has a ton of cautionary tales built in like "don't go with strangers" ---- my daughter keeps asking, "I want to see Nemo going with a stranger." and she buries her head against my chest when Nemo gets captured. In addition, when your kid gets hooked on Nemo at least you can retain your sanity after watching it 200+ times....there are some shows out there that would just plain drive me nuts if I had to watch more than once. Nemo fortunately, is not one of them. Get it and enjoy with your kid. | ||
 | Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate Upgrade | |
| "Worth the Wait" | 2009-10-22 |
| I'll admit, I've been running Windows 7 for six months now: the preproduction version of it and have just upgraded to the gold code. So I have quite a bit of experience with the operating system. Let's get to the nitty gritty:
Should you upgrade from Windows Vista? YES! I mean it - upgrade today. Windows 7 is quite simply faster, more stable, boots faster, goes to sleep faster, comes back from sleep faster, manages your files better and on top of that it's beautiful to look at and easy to use. Even the preproduction version of Windows 7 was better than my Vista with SP2. Should you upgrade from Windows XP? Maybe, but for different reasons. XP is a good operating system and if you don't need to add new hardware or software, XP is good. However, XP is old as an operating system. Also chances are that if you're running XP, you might not meet the minimum requirements for Windows 7 - check the compatibility site at Microsoft to see if your system will support Windows 7. That said, Windows 7 is light years ahead of Windows XP in terms of functionality, ease of use, etc - to me it's worth buying a new system. 64 bit or 32 bit? If you don't know what I'm talking about, that's ok skip this section. If you have a core2 duo or core 2 quad or a multi cpu machine, go with the 64 bit OS, it handles memory and the CPUs much better. If you have a single core CPU, one CPU or run special programs that require 32bit, then stick with 32 bit for now. BEFORE INSTALLATION: I recommend you have: -a core 2 duo or core 2 quad machine -4gig of RAM (That's about $50 in today's market) -good hard drive with (200 gig - it doesn't need that much but that's another $50) -back up your files to a USB drive like Western Digital My Passport Essential 500 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive WDME5000TN (Midnight Black) -check to make sure your computer is compatible with Windows 7 INSTALLATION: Installation was very straight forward. You put in the CD and reboot your machine. You might have to enter your bios and enable the "boot from CD" option. Once the machine reboots a nice screen comes up to guide you through the installation. You have the option to upgrade your PC or do a clean installation. I did an upgrade and it brought in all of my files and settings from my windows Vista system. It worked great. The upgrade did take about 2 hours for me so definitely consider. I noticed that early on in the installation the operating system went out to Microsoft's site to look for the latest and greatest updates, so I think this should help Microsoft respond quickly to any hiccups with compatibility. WHAT DOESN'T WORK: The driver from my old HP Inkjet printer for 2001 doesn't work on Windows 7 so there are some things that will not transition. I had to use a generic HP driver which doesn't give me the quality that I got from an injet - so overall, I'm up and running with that printer but I'm degraded on the inkjet front. That said, I recently upgraded to a HP CP2025DN Color LaserJet Printer that I love so no real loss there. I'll likely pick up a cheap inkjet for the occasional photo that I might need to print. Everything else upgraded. BENEFITS -faster boot time -faster go to sleep -faster wakeup -faster about 20% to 30% faster at running applications than my Vista - seriously (but those are my results without any benchmarks or anything like that, just seeing how fast Adobe Illustrator loads, and how fast all the applications respond) -joining wireless networks is much easier -the interface is just plain beautiful -my wallpapers are now a slideshow that can be set to change every few minutes (I'm not stuck with the same picture) -Gadgets - these are wonderful little small applications that you can drag onto your desktop. I have a weather gadget and a calendar gadget on my desktop that tell me -Better taskbar management - hovering over the taskbar icons shows me mini windows of what's running -Better file management - I can organize my files into Libraries that are sortable not only by type but by folder or other data. It's great! I can browse through my presentations or illustrator files! -Windows Media appears to be smoother which I love. -You get some virus protection and firewall with Windows 7 but consider something more comprehensive like McAfee Total Protection 3User 2010. Yes, it'll make your computer run a bit slower but CONS: - Some older programs might not work and some drivers might not be available like my inkjet driver. - Other than that, there aren't too many drawbacks to Windows 7 - it's a great OS. WHICH VERSION SHOULD I GET? I got the ultimate version because I have clients who ask, "is your hard drive encrypted?" -- I wanted to be able to say yes and have sensitive data encrypted one of my computer volumes - Bitlocker is only available in the Ultimate version. Ultimate also includes Multilanguage support. If you're a home user that doesn't do a lot of networking, you might consider just the home premium edition. If you're using a laptop and connect to networks at work, you might want the Professional version of the operating system to help you with domain joining. Also Windows Professional gives you the option to run applications in XP mode so if you have old applications you can use that nifty feature. I already have 1 application running in XP mode - it's nifty to run an old application. NOTE: The box contains both the 32 bit and 64 bit OS. OVERALL: It's very hard to write a comprehensive review on an entire operating system so I didn't even try - I'm sure magazines will devote entire articles to the operating system and several books will come out. My goal here is just to give everyone a glimpse of what I've found to date with this new OS. I do hope this has helped you in making a decision. Hats off to Microsoft on Windows 7. It's more of a refined Windows Vista than an entirely new operating system but it was needed. Thank you. | ||
 | TiVo TCD652160 HD Digital Video Recorder | |
| "I LOVE TIVO!!! and NETFLIX" | 2009-10-19 |
| My old Tivo died after 3.5 years and it was time to upgrade to the latest and greatest from Tivo.
I have to say that I loved this new Tivo HD. WHY TIVO? Why did I buy another one? - I already had the Tivo wireless broadband device - Frankly my wife and I got so used to the Tivo interface that everything else we tried at our neighbor's houses felt clunky and clumsy compared to the TIVO easy to use interface. - Literally, TIVO's interface is light years ahead of cable provider DVRs. Once you try it, you'll fall in love. It's so intuitive and easy to use. SETUP (COMPONENT AND HDMI OUTPUTS) Setup was really easy although I used component out on the HD unit so I could get HD to my TV. You can do Component or HDMI to your TV. It was pretty easy to send the sound over to my Bose sound system and had everything working within about 30 minutes of the box arriving. TIVO EXPANSION: This is why I gave it 4 stars and not 5. I'm somewhat technical and I had a spare giant hard drive at home with an ESATA interface. I plugged it into the back of this HD Tivo which is supposed to be expandable and Tivo told me that it was an unsupported drive and that it could not be used. Basically, the folks at Tivo want me to buy their branded drive - I think that's a bit petty on their part. There's zero reason why I shouldn't be able to plug in an aftermarket drive into my Tivo (it was possible with the older Tivos but not with this Tivo HD). On a plus side, this Tivo is expandable if you buy a Tivo brand expansion drive. I'm sure it's easy to install and I'll likely be doing that pretty soon. CABLECARDS: I called my cable company and they came and installed two cablecards into my Tivo so that it can unscramble digital channels so I'm up and running on that. So, two cable card slots on Tivo. WIRELESS BROADBAND: I use the broadband wireless router to get tv guide updates. It works fantastic and very easy to set up. TIVO and NETFLIX: Oh my, this is a marriage made in heaven. Basically, if you're a netflix subscriber and have the wireless broadband (which I do) you can stream movies to your Tivo. It's amazing stuff. You go to your netflix webpage and add movies you want to watch to your instant queue. Then you go to your Tivo and click on what's showing and you get a netflix folder and all your movies from netflix's instand queue are there (netflix has something like 15,000 instant movies and that's growing every day). You pick your movie and hit play and the movie starts playing within seconds. you can fast forward, pause, rewind, and even exit and come back a day later and pick up where you left the movie off. It's fantastic. It's much better than movie channels, you pick what you want to watch when you want to watch and all for a flat monthly fee. It's frankly amazing. I love it. This alone makes an upgrade to a new TIVO worth it. Really, try it, you'll be in love. OVERALL: Tivo is fantastic. Tivo HD is fantastic too. My only gripe is that Tivo should stop worrying so much about after market upgrades and modifications and instead embrace it's tech saavy Tivo loyalists out there by providing easy path upgrades for hard drives etc. The more Tivo (the company) embraces its customers, the more we'll continue to embrace Tivo. Did I say I love TIVO? I LOVE YOU TIVO!!! I have no idea what watching television was like before this magic box showed up in my living room. If you've never xperienced this - try it, you'll never go back to regular TV. | ||
 | HP 35s Scientific Calculator | |
| "Nostalgic" | 2009-10-16 |
| It's very hard to review a calculator because they tend to have so many functions and features that it's hard to do a quick review on it. However, I'm very glad that HP released this classic calculator.
At the end of the day, you can buy a calculator that has more features/functions than this one for less money. Some of the Casios have more features but that's not the reason most people buy this particular calculator. I bought it because I owned one of the original HP 35s and then a more modern HP 15C. The 15C still works but its too valuable to carry around. I grew up before computers when a good calculator was so much faster than a slide ruler (so that dates me a bit). I don't do a ton of heavy trig or engineering anymore and I think the people at HP knew that the buyers of this calculator didn't do those kinds of calculations -- they designed it for the things that we use calculators these days. It's easy to use for what most of us use it for: small math problems, conversions from metric system to imperial, conversions from C to F degrees etc that makes you like this calculator. It has a ton of very easy to use features like that which makes it very nice. This calculator doesn't have memory expansion although it is programmable. I do wish that they had put the stack manipulation buttons closer to the Enter Button, that's my biggest gripe. Overall, if you grew up in the 70s or 80s, this is a great updated calculator to the titans of that era. Enough features so make it a true scientific calculator, not too many that its incomprehensible, very easy to use, looks great. I wouldn't characterize it as a carry calculator, its a bit on the big side, my 12C is much better form factor to carry so this 35S sits on my den at home and it's always ready. It's a great trip through memory lane but if you're a true scientific or engineering student, you can probably get one of the graphing calculators or some other super feature rich calculator. | ||
 | Uncle Milton Moon in My Room | |
| "Wonderful" | 2009-04-06 |
| Ever since I first pointed out the moon to my daughter when she was eighteen months old, she has had a deep fascination with the moon. This toy is great because it brings the moon into her room. Pros: - Its just smaller than the size of a dinner plate - It lights up in phases (4 total) with a remote - Manual Mode: It has a remote control that allows on off of each phase manually - Auto Mode: With the remote you can put it in auto mode which cycles through the phases automatically through all the cycles in about 30 seconds - On Off Mode: Allows you to turn on all phases on at once or turn them all off - The moon has a light sensor that turns on the moon whenever you turn off the light. - It turns itself off after 30 minutes automatically. CONS: - The moon has a light sensor that turns on the moon whenever you turn off the light. This winds up having the moon on more than I'd like it to and during the day you can't tell if its on or not so this causes some battery waste. - It uses 6 AA batteries and I've had to change them too many times to count so I've gone to rechargeable batteries...so if you hang it too high, you'll wind up having to bring out your ladder quite frequently. - It only has one handing hole for a nail so if you want to put it on the top of your ceiling or on a slated vault wall you will have to cut an additional hole in the plastic back. Overall, this is a great toy - my daughter adores it and it has brought quite a bit of joy to her so I highly recommend it. It's not quite perfect but the challenges with it are small compared to the joy it brings to my daughter every night. | ||
 | The Peace War | |
| "Should be more popular" | 2009-03-15 |
| Vernor Vinge is an extremely talented writer and mathematician. I say he's a very talented writer because he writes detailed, deep, believable characters that you can relate to very well and he introduces mathematics into his writing. This is one of two books that I know of that deal with a mathematical concept that Vinge invented called the "BOBBLE." In the not so far future, some scientists discover that using novel technologies and lots of power they can create these things called bobbles which are giant bubbles that can be used to encapsulate cars, cities, pretty much anything. The bobbles are roughly spherical aberrations of space time - nothing can get inside a bobble and nothing can get out, not light, not air, not a nuclear blast -- nothing can destroy a bobble. Bobbles reflect light and heat perfectly and are perfectly smooth (no dents or anything) and has no friction...if a human puts his hand on a bobble's surface, it feels warm not because the bobble is warm but because it reflects the warmth of the hand that rests on its surface. If the contents inside a bobble are lighter than the outside, it floats, etc. Bobbles can't be built inside bobbles and they can't intersect each other. The concept is dizzyingly cool and makes for a great science fiction premise. These scientists who invent the bobbles decide to end all wars and as such they set out to bobble up nuclear silos, cities, anything that can be used to wage war. In the end they wind up bobbling most of the major metropolises of the world - thereby killing hundreds of millions of people who were trapped in the bobbles and there is writing in the book that poses some conjecture about how those poor people must've perished inside the bobbles soon after they were encapsulated. The book Peace War then is about the inventor of the bobbles technology who did not agree with its use and who escapes early after the "Peace War Started," and this scientist is a leader of a resistance against the Peacers, as they are called. I particularly love how Vinge uses mathematics to find shortcuts which is so very in line with how mathematicians think - what wonderful minds they have. I won't give much more away just save to know that bobbles are much more complex mathematically than I described above and there are many secrets and peculiarities that Vernor Vinge comes up with as the book progresses. Overall, I found the concept very attractive and I found the characters warm, comfortable, and very believable - its one of the best sci fi finds in quite some time. This book is from an earlier era of science fiction maybe middle 80s when publishers and the market rewarded writers who came up with unique and wondrous ideas for sci fi settings. Lets just say that Peace War is great. There's a second book called Marooned in Realtime and the both were once put into a omnibus titled Across Realtime. I purchased and read Across Realtime - a title which gives away some other fantastic properties of bobbles. So: The Peace War is the book of how the Peace Authority (the ones who bobbled up the cities and war machines of the world) are brought down by a rebellion. Marooned in Realtime - is a detective story about a crime that is committed in a very unusual way using bobble technology. Also worth reading but very different from the Peace War Across Realtime - is the omnibus that includes both The Peace War and Marooned in Realtime. Good luck exploring bobbles. | ||
 | Venus of Dreams | |
| "Societally Complex" | 2009-03-12 |
| I read this book as a young adult male expecting typical light airy science fiction. I stood no chance against Dr. Pamela Sargent - a PHD and renowned feminist -- she changed my young man's s*xually centered world upside down and transformed the way I see women....and it wouldn't be until decades later when I had a better grasp of sociology that I would begin to understand what she was trying to tell me. I must say that the work is one that has stayed with me throughout my life - I've never ever reread the book but just from this one reading as a young man - I can say that it openned my eyes to the complex world of gender, society, decisions between love, family, duty - etc decisions that are sometimes especially more challenging for women. Me being a man, and at the time a young man, made reading this book especially interesting, perplexing, and entirely unexpected (I was expecting light love story + sci fi setting) -- not this! Conceptually, its the story of humanity first colonizing Venus but that's not what this story is about...the story is about sacrifices and decisions that people (and sometimes especially women) make in life and how different genders make and react to those decisions and how in many ways those decisions are harder for women and how they've developed different mechanisms to cope with those decisions in this future society. This is not light science fiction, this is a rigorous social studies work set in a science fiction setting. The author should be credited tremendously for writing something as detailed and as complicated as this but be forewarned, if you're looking for light airy science fiction, this is not the ticket. This is a social studies/gender studies masterpiece. I have to add that this work changed my perceptions of women to a much more balanced and grown up perspective (although the society that Pamela Sargent writes about doesn't exist). In the one sense, it made me come to appreciate genders and that women should get respect as equals but at the same time it taught me that just because a face happens to be pretty, that doesn't mean she won't drive a blade of steel through your heart with impunity...it made me much more cautious and since then when I see a woman, I say - you get nothing for free because of how pretty you are but you get every bit as much as I'd give anyone else regardless of gender/race/creed/ethnicity etc and most certainly it taught me to protect my heart. The book taught me balance between all "humans." Do read it, especially if you're a man - this book is a must. As to whether this story is as broad as Star Trek, Star Wars etc - certainly the concept is but Venus of Dreams delves squarely into gender and s*x issues and society ... where Star Trek and Star Wars deal mostly with human rights issues on much lighter settings....Venus of Dreams is an entirely different ball of wax. Very detailed, almost like the Author lived through it all. Overall Wonderful. In many ways Pamela Sargent writes a similar story to Robinson's Mars only this one is set in Venus....Sargent's story is more complex from a gender standpoint where Robinson's is more about the politics and deceitfulness of humans in general. This is also interesting because where Robinson's work on Mars is much better known than Sargent's ...Robinson is a Man, Sargent a Woman --- are we talking deeply ingrained social biases here? Unfair to Sargent who wrote a wonderful work. She's one of those ladies that I'd love to sit down with and pick her brain over a cup of coffee. | ||
 | Gattaca (Superbit Collection) | |
| "It tells you something about our humanity" | 2009-03-10 |
| In the not so distant future, parents can select the best attributes their child will have. You and your wife decide to have a child - you go and get your DNA mixed, you remove all of the bad traits like poor eyesight, short height, autism, heart disease propensity, etc and you wind up with your perfect child, 10 fingers, 10 toes, 180 IQ, the heart of a racehorse, etc. These children are the best that humanity can be and the best that two parents can produce. In the future upper middle class children and upper class children are almost entirely conceived in this engineered fashion and although discrimination based on eugenics is illegal, it is commonly practiced in this future with those who are not born in the genetically engineered fashion being relegated to inferior jobs. The movie is about two brothers, one who was brought into the world in this accepted fashion and a second who was conceived in the traditional way (though s*x) and the love of their parents. Almost immediately after birth, the parents notice that their engineered son is superior in so many ways to their other son but their god-child has an indomitable spirit so much so that he crawls his way through all obstacles and and makes some of the greatest sacrifices imaginable for the shot at being a member of a prestigious astronaut corps. In this story Jude Law, a privilaged rich guy who becomes incapacitated overseas unbeknownst to the authorities sells his identity to Ethan Hawke in order for Jude to continue his rich lifestyle while Ethan works at the astronaut corporation. In the story Jude's genetics said he would be the best swimmer in the world but only earns a silver medal and overall Jude is the epitome of that guy whose pedigree says he should be #1 at everything but isn't - probably because he rests too much on that pedigree. The movie has a murder mystery build into it to keep things interesting as Ethan tries to avoid detection as an In-Valid while still keeping himself as the selectee for the Saturn Mission which he has been selected for. I won't kid you, this movie is drama. Its fairly slow paced but in a deep way that you can keep up with. The Acting by Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, Jude Law, Loren Dean, and Gore Vidal are impressive and first rate. Overall, the movie is a story about how the human soul and spirit cannot be quantified into the code of DNA and how we as humanity are more. Its definitely a deep movie but if you've ever felt put down by others or that you don't belong somewhere, watch this movie and it will quickly change your mind. | ||
 | Gattaca | |
| "It tells you something about our humanity" | 2009-03-10 |
| In the not so distant future, parents can select the best attributes their child will have. You and your wife decide to have a child - you go and get your DNA mixed, you remove all of the bad traits like poor eyesight, short height, autism, heart disease propensity, etc and you wind up with your perfect child, 10 fingers, 10 toes, 180 IQ, the heart of a racehorse, etc. These children are the best that humanity can be and the best that two parents can produce. In the future upper middle class children and upper class children are almost entirely conceived in this engineered fashion and although discrimination based on eugenics is illegal, it is commonly practiced in this future with those who are not born in the genetically engineered fashion being relegated to inferior jobs. The movie is about two brothers, one who was brought into the world in this accepted fashion and a second who was conceived in the traditional way (though s*x) and the love of their parents. Almost immediately after birth, the parents notice that their engineered son is superior in so many ways to their other son but their god-child has an indomitable spirit so much so that he crawls his way through all obstacles and and makes some of the greatest sacrifices imaginable for the shot at being a member of a prestigious astronaut corps. In this story Jude Law, a privilaged rich guy who becomes incapacitated overseas unbeknownst to the authorities sells his identity to Ethan Hawke in order for Jude to continue his rich lifestyle while Ethan works at the astronaut corporation. In the story Jude's genetics said he would be the best swimmer in the world but only earns a silver medal and overall Jude is the epitome of that guy whose pedigree says he should be #1 at everything but isn't - probably because he rests too much on that pedigree. The movie has a murder mystery build into it to keep things interesting as Ethan tries to avoid detection as an In-Valid while still keeping himself as the selectee for the Saturn Mission which he has been selected for. I won't kid you, this movie is drama. Its fairly slow paced but in a deep way that you can keep up with. The Acting by Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, Jude Law, Loren Dean, and Gore Vidal are impressive and first rate. Overall, the movie is a story about how the human soul and spirit cannot be quantified into the code of DNA and how we as humanity are more. Its definitely a deep movie but if you've ever felt put down by others or that you don't belong somewhere, watch this movie and it will quickly change your mind. | ||
 | Rights of Man and Common Sense (Everyman's Library) | |
| "A Wildfire of Radical Liberal Ideas" | 2009-03-10 |
| When I write Liberal I mean it in the traditional sense -- We're all liberals (free men/women) in America. Before Common Sense, the American revolution was something that the elites talked about and academics thought about but after the publishing of Common Sense, every American of his time found himself with a deep fire in his heart and a profound love and understanding for inalienable human rights and how it utterly made zero sense for for there to be Kings and Queens on earth and how utterly dispicable it was to be ruled under such terms. It made us want to be free! Common Sense set the American landscape on Rhetorical Fire. Deep concepts from such people as Locke and Brewster and all of these obscure thinkers bubbled up and were made utterly REAL by the firey words of Thomas Paine's pamphlet. As relevant as back then, Common Sense is a must read book for every American today. If you wonder what it means to be an American, what it truly means to be an American regardless of race, color, creed, or anything -- read Thomas Paine's Common Sense - you will understand how the divine right of kings is flawed and how we must care for and govern ourselves on earth by rule of law and rule of human and how we must cherish, protect, and be ready to even fight and die for that idea and how living in any other state is not living at all. Its a fascinating read. The second book Rights of Man is also very interesting but was targetted more at the French Revolution than at the American Public. Definitely worth reading but it's Common Sense that makes every member of government who has ever overextended his power or felt that government and the State as superior to the people -- Common Sense makes all of those people quiver in fear. Read it, and know what it means to be an American, the idea of America. It's that profound and thankfully, its a short read. I like this binding because its priced right and very sturdy. It's not pretentious, everyone can afford it - like Thomas Paine would have wanted it. Its a regular sized book when you combine Common Sense with Rights of Man it forms a nice book about 1.5 inches thick....and if Thomas Paine had lived today I am 100% certain that he would have titled it "Rights of People." This book looks great in a library. Comes with a dust jacket but the book is hardbound woven cloth - nice. If you're contemplating Thomas Paine, you probably already know what I'm talking about - if you don't, take a read. | ||
 | Gattaca | |
| "It tells you something about our humanity" | 2009-03-10 |
| In the not so distant future, parents can select the best attributes their child will have. You and your wife decide to have a child - you go and get your DNA mixed, you remove all of the bad traits like poor eyesight, short height, autism, heart disease propensity, etc and you wind up with your perfect child, 10 fingers, 10 toes, 180 IQ, the heart of a racehorse, etc. These children are the best that humanity can be and the best that two parents can produce. In the future upper middle class children and upper class children are almost entirely conceived in this engineered fashion and although discrimination based on eugenics is illegal, it is commonly practiced in this future with those who are not born in the genetically engineered fashion being relegated to inferior jobs. The movie is about two brothers, one who was brought into the world in this accepted fashion and a second who was conceived in the traditional way (though s*x) and the love of their parents. Almost immediately after birth, the parents notice that their engineered son is superior in so many ways to their other son but their god-child has an indomitable spirit so much so that he crawls his way through all obstacles and and makes some of the greatest sacrifices imaginable for the shot at being a member of a prestigious astronaut corps. In this story Jude Law, a privilaged rich guy who becomes incapacitated overseas unbeknownst to the authorities sells his identity to Ethan Hawke in order for Jude to continue his rich lifestyle while Ethan works at the astronaut corporation. In the story Jude's genetics said he would be the best swimmer in the world but only earns a silver medal and overall Jude is the epitome of that guy whose pedigree says he should be #1 at everything but isn't - probably because he rests too much on that pedigree. The movie has a murder mystery build into it to keep things interesting as Ethan tries to avoid detection as an In-Valid while still keeping himself as the selectee for the Saturn Mission which he has been selected for. I won't kid you, this movie is drama. Its fairly slow paced but in a deep way that you can keep up with. The Acting by Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, Jude Law, Loren Dean, and Gore Vidal are impressive and first rate. Overall, the movie is a story about how the human soul and spirit cannot be quantified into the code of DNA and how we as humanity are more. Its definitely a deep movie but if you've ever felt put down by others or that you don't belong somewhere, watch this movie and it will quickly change your mind. | ||
 | Gattaca | |
| "It tells you something about our humanity" | 2009-03-10 |
| In the not so distant future, parents can select the best attributes their child will have. You and your wife decide to have a child - you go and get your DNA mixed, you remove all of the bad traits like poor eyesight, short height, autism, heart disease propensity, etc and you wind up with your perfect child, 10 fingers, 10 toes, 180 IQ, the heart of a racehorse, etc. These children are the best that humanity can be and the best that two parents can produce. In the future upper middle class children and upper class children are almost entirely conceived in this engineered fashion and although discrimination based on eugenics is illegal, it is commonly practiced in this future with those who are not born in the genetically engineered fashion being relegated to inferior jobs. The movie is about two brothers, one who was brought into the world in this accepted fashion and a second who was conceived in the traditional way (though s*x) and the love of their parents. Almost immediately after birth, the parents notice that their engineered son is superior in so many ways to their other son but their god-child has an indomitable spirit so much so that he crawls his way through all obstacles and and makes some of the greatest sacrifices imaginable for the shot at being a member of a prestigious astronaut corps. In this story Jude Law, a privilaged rich guy who becomes incapacitated overseas unbeknownst to the authorities sells his identity to Ethan Hawke in order for Jude to continue his rich lifestyle while Ethan works at the astronaut corporation. In the story Jude's genetics said he would be the best swimmer in the world but only earns a silver medal and overall Jude is the epitome of that guy whose pedigree says he should be #1 at everything but isn't - probably because he rests too much on that pedigree. The movie has a murder mystery build into it to keep things interesting as Ethan tries to avoid detection as an In-Valid while still keeping himself as the selectee for the Saturn Mission which he has been selected for. I won't kid you, this movie is drama. Its fairly slow paced but in a deep way that you can keep up with. The Acting by Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, Jude Law, Loren Dean, and Gore Vidal are impressive and first rate. Overall, the movie is a story about how the human soul and spirit cannot be quantified into the code of DNA and how we as humanity are more. Its definitely a deep movie but if you've ever felt put down by others or that you don't belong somewhere, watch this movie and it will quickly change your mind. | ||
 | Ring | |
| "Doodling at an entirely other order of energy levels" | 2009-03-02 |
| - David Brin writes wonderful ecological science fiction - Asimov writes western philosophy and history in the far future and in the process gives us the laws of robotics - Gregory Benford writes about the balance and resilience of life and weaves some wonderful tapestries set against the vast scale of our Galaxy and makes us as humanity feel smaller than a grain a sand and still imbues us with the sense that we should stand up and proudly press forward. - Baxter goes beyond Benford and takes the entire known Universe from its inception to the end of time as his canvas - literally. Baxter takes the very fabric of space, the stuff the Einstein theorized about and what all the great scientists this then like Kip Thorn think about - you know superstring theory, relativity, causality, wormholes, the local cluster, the virgo supercluster, and beyond, to parallel universes and then weaves a convincing human drama against the grandest of scales. RING is just one of Baxter's stories that are loosely (or perhaps not too loosely) tied together that tell the story of humanity set against the backdrop of a terrifyingly complex Universe. I won't spoil what the RING is or what kind of titanic struggles humanity is caught between. Just know that Baxter writes about the stuff that happened 0.00000000000001 seconds after the Universe is born to the far far future when proton decay finally takes hold -- its a story of this scale. If you enjoy hard hard hard HARD science fiction, pick up Baxter - he is the acknowledged expert in this particular realm, you will not be dissapointed. If you thought what I was typing above was Greek -- well you might not enjoy RING. | ||
 | The Republic by Plato, ISBN 9626341955 | |
| "It will profoundly affect you" | 2009-02-26 |
| I find that Plato's Republic is not something you read but rather something you study. I read the book decades ago and over the years I keep coming back to it, particularly whenever I hear a lecture on Plato from a professor of philosophy and as you learn, you uncover more and more meaning to the work. Overall, the book is foundational to Western Philosophy and I think it needs to be required reading for everyong shooting for a bachelor's degree. If you've finished college and you haven't had at least an introduction to Plato, you've been cheated and in that case I recommend you go back and get the book and read it. Overall, the book is about Socrates sitting by the ocean on some Greek Island with some friends discussing how they'd build a perfect society and republic. They wind up throwing concepts around back and forth and as they do you get introduced to rhetoric, republican government, guardians, and all kinds of concepts like that which are pivotal to republics throughout the world. There are several key metaphors that come from Plato's Republic like the parable of the cave and the ship of state which serve to illustrate some challenges that Republics face. In my experience, Plato's republic is monumental, especially given that it was written 2,500 years ago and since it forms one of the most solid foundations for Western Governments. Depending on whether you're studying Philosophy or Government, your study of Plato's Republic might lead you in different directions. I found myself going down both the government and philosophy roads. From a government standpoint, I then went to some of the French philosophers like Richlieau, Rousseau, and Tocoqueville, and Italians like Machiavelli, and then to Locke and Hobbs and onto the Federalist Papers etc. From a philosophy standpoint I went down a more winding path of philosophers to Emerson, Thoreau, and then I found Derrida - definitely recommend Derrida (got to hand it to ourfriends the French on that one). My learning is not perfect and I still have a long way to go but I find that Plato sits at the foundation (is it perfect, no, but WOW it gets you thinking) All in all Plato is must read if you care about the government we live in. This edition is a great one to put on a shelf. It is quite sturdy, I've given a couple of these away, and I recommend it as something to fill a shelf. I do own several editions, this one is overally good and readable. If you're thinking about going down this path of reading the Greeks, I msut warn you that if you take your endeavor seriously, it will change your life. I also highly recommend a class on Plato or at least some lectures on Plato from a professional to help prime the pump. Once you get started though - it will profoundly affect you. | ||
 | Predator (Widescreen Edition) | |
| "Arnold vs Predator" | 2009-02-26 |
| This movie is your typical Arnold Movie from his heyday. There are no spoilers in this review because this is an Arnold movie (he blows lots of stuff up and kicks butt)... Basic premise is that we find Arnold with a band of super tough commandos in some rainforest. Unbeknownst to them an Alien Predator ship has landed nearby. The Predators are a very advanced race of extraterrestrial aliens and, I guess, some of them (like us) enjoy the sport of hunting dangerous game only these humans like to hunt humans and even creatures like the ones from the movie Alien (the one with Ripley), and that's where the Alien vs Predator line of movies comes from (but there are none of Ripley's Aliens in this movie). In any case, this movie should be called Arnold vs Predator. In the movie, a Predator ship lands and drops off its Predator hunter dude (no he doesn't wear an orange vest and doesn't have a visible human hunting license but...nor does he appear to have a bag limit on humans....rather the Predator has a camouflage that makes the Predator almost invisible, big guns, sharp knives, and all kinds of stuff to make short work of highly trained commandos)...the Predator goes wild in the jungle and proceeds to kill of Arnold's team of highly trained commandos until only Arnold and the Predator are left. You know how the movie goes (Mano a Mano baby)...lots of big guns, lots of shooting, lots of explosions, lots of Arnold flexing his muscles and talking like he has marbles in his mouth (all of 400 words in this movie I think). In the end, its a fun movie filled with lots of action. If you like Arnold and Alien themes, this is a great movie to watch. I saw it recently on this DVD and I can say that it has aged pretty well, its not as fresh as a new movie but its aged pretty well --- to where I'd almost call it a classic for a handful of very artistic shots (if that can be said of an Arnold Movie). Anyway, hang your brain at the door and enjoy and,... as you and I well know (no spoiler here)... NO, the Predator does not stand a chance against Arnold. Even when its Arnold with only a sharp stick and the Predator with advanced weaponry, you know the Predator is going down! Its just a matter of how many fleshwounds Arnold gets along the road and the details of exactly how it all goest down. Watch it and you'll see. | ||
 | Predator (Full-Screen Edition) | |
| "Arnold vs Predator" | 2009-02-26 |
| This movie is your typical Arnold Movie from his heyday. There are no spoilers in this review because this is an Arnold movie (he blows lots of stuff up and kicks butt)... Basic premise is that we find Arnold with a band of super tough commandos in some rainforest. Unbeknownst to them an Alien Predator ship has landed nearby. The Predators are a very advanced race of extraterrestrial aliens and, I guess, some of them (like us) enjoy the sport of hunting dangerous game only these humans like to hunt humans and even creatures like the ones from the movie Alien (the one with Ripley), and that's where the Alien vs Predator line of movies comes from (but there are none of Ripley's Aliens in this movie). In any case, this movie should be called Arnold vs Predator. In the movie, a Predator ship lands and drops off its Predator hunter dude (no he doesn't wear an orange vest and doesn't have a visible human hunting license but...nor does he appear to have a bag limit on humans....rather the Predator has a camouflage that makes the Predator almost invisible, big guns, sharp knives, and all kinds of stuff to make short work of highly trained commandos)...the Predator goes wild in the jungle and proceeds to kill of Arnold's team of highly trained commandos until only Arnold and the Predator are left. You know how the movie goes (Mano a Mano baby)...lots of big guns, lots of shooting, lots of explosions, lots of Arnold flexing his muscles and talking like he has marbles in his mouth (all of 400 words in this movie I think). In the end, its a fun movie filled with lots of action. If you like Arnold and Alien themes, this is a great movie to watch. I saw it recently on this DVD and I can say that it has aged pretty well, its not as fresh as a new movie but its aged pretty well --- to where I'd almost call it a classic for a handful of very artistic shots (if that can be said of an Arnold Movie). Anyway, hang your brain at the door and enjoy and,... as you and I well know (no spoiler here)... NO, the Predator does not stand a chance against Arnold. Even when its Arnold with only a sharp stick and the Predator with advanced weaponry, you know the Predator is going down! Its just a matter of how many fleshwounds Arnold gets along the road and the details of exactly how it all goest down. Watch it and you'll see. | ||
 | Predator | |
| "Arnold vs Predator" | 2009-02-26 |
| This movie is your typical Arnold Movie from his heyday. There are no spoilers in this review because this is an Arnold movie (he blows lots of stuff up and kicks butt)... Basic premise is that we find Arnold with a band of super tough commandos in some rainforest. Unbeknownst to them an Alien Predator ship has landed nearby. The Predators are a very advanced race of extraterrestrial aliens and, I guess, some of them (like us) enjoy the sport of hunting dangerous game only these humans like to hunt humans and even creatures like the ones from the movie Alien (the one with Ripley), and that's where the Alien vs Predator line of movies comes from (but there are none of Ripley's Aliens in this movie). In any case, this movie should be called Arnold vs Predator. In the movie, a Predator ship lands and drops off its Predator hunter dude (no he doesn't wear an orange vest and doesn't have a visible human hunting license but...nor does he appear to have a bag limit on humans....rather the Predator has a camouflage that makes the Predator almost invisible, big guns, sharp knives, and all kinds of stuff to make short work of highly trained commandos)...the Predator goes wild in the jungle and proceeds to kill of Arnold's team of highly trained commandos until only Arnold and the Predator are left. You know how the movie goes (Mano a Mano baby)...lots of big guns, lots of shooting, lots of explosions, lots of Arnold flexing his muscles and talking like he has marbles in his mouth (all of 400 words in this movie I think). In the end, its a fun movie filled with lots of action. If you like Arnold and Alien themes, this is a great movie to watch. I saw it recently on this DVD and I can say that it has aged pretty well, its not as fresh as a new movie but its aged pretty well --- to where I'd almost call it a classic for a handful of very artistic shots (if that can be said of an Arnold Movie). Anyway, hang your brain at the door and enjoy and,... as you and I well know (no spoiler here)... NO, the Predator does not stand a chance against Arnold. Even when its Arnold with only a sharp stick and the Predator with advanced weaponry, you know the Predator is going down! Its just a matter of how many fleshwounds Arnold gets along the road and the details of exactly how it all goest down. Watch it and you'll see. | ||
 | Predator (Widescreen Collector's Edition) | |
| "Arnold vs Predator" | 2009-02-26 |
| This movie is your typical Arnold Movie from his heyday. There are no spoilers in this review because this is an Arnold movie (he blows lots of stuff up and kicks butt)... Basic premise is that we find Arnold with a band of super tough commandos in some rainforest. Unbeknownst to them an Alien Predator ship has landed nearby. The Predators are a very advanced race of extraterrestrial aliens and, I guess, some of them (like us) enjoy the sport of hunting dangerous game only these humans like to hunt humans and even creatures like the ones from the movie Alien (the one with Ripley), and that's where the Alien vs Predator line of movies comes from (but there are none of Ripley's Aliens in this movie). In any case, this movie should be called Arnold vs Predator. In the movie, a Predator ship lands and drops off its Predator hunter dude (no he doesn't wear an orange vest and doesn't have a visible human hunting license but...nor does he appear to have a bag limit on humans....rather the Predator has a camouflage that makes the Predator almost invisible, big guns, sharp knives, and all kinds of stuff to make short work of highly trained commandos)...the Predator goes wild in the jungle and proceeds to kill of Arnold's team of highly trained commandos until only Arnold and the Predator are left. You know how the movie goes (Mano a Mano baby)...lots of big guns, lots of shooting, lots of explosions, lots of Arnold flexing his muscles and talking like he has marbles in his mouth (all of 400 words in this movie I think). In the end, its a fun movie filled with lots of action. If you like Arnold and Alien themes, this is a great movie to watch. I saw it recently on this DVD and I can say that it has aged pretty well, its not as fresh as a new movie but its aged pretty well --- to where I'd almost call it a classic for a handful of very artistic shots (if that can be said of an Arnold Movie). Anyway, hang your brain at the door and enjoy and,... as you and I well know (no spoiler here)... NO, the Predator does not stand a chance against Arnold. Even when its Arnold with only a sharp stick and the Predator with advanced weaponry, you know the Predator is going down! Its just a matter of how many fleshwounds Arnold gets along the road and the details of exactly how it all goest down. Watch it and you'll see. | ||
 | The Republic | |
| "It will profoundly affect you" | 2009-02-26 |
| I find that Plato's Republic is not something you read but rather something you study. I read the book decades ago and over the years I keep coming back to it, particularly whenever I hear a lecture on Plato from a professor of philosophy and as you learn, you uncover more and more meaning to the work. Overall, the book is foundational to Western Philosophy and I think it needs to be required reading for everyong shooting for a bachelor's degree. If you've finished college and you haven't had at least an introduction to Plato, you've been cheated and in that case I recommend you go back and get the book and read it. Overall, the book is about Socrates sitting by the ocean on some Greek Island with some friends discussing how they'd build a perfect society and republic. They wind up throwing concepts around back and forth and as they do you get introduced to rhetoric, republican government, guardians, and all kinds of concepts like that which are pivotal to republics throughout the world. There are several key metaphors that come from Plato's Republic like the parable of the cave and the ship of state which serve to illustrate some challenges that Republics face. In my experience, Plato's republic is monumental, especially given that it was written 2,500 years ago and since it forms one of the most solid foundations for Western Governments. Depending on whether you're studying Philosophy or Government, your study of Plato's Republic might lead you in different directions. I found myself going down both the government and philosophy roads. From a government standpoint, I then went to some of the French philosophers like Richlieau, Rousseau, and Tocoqueville, and Italians like Machiavelli, and then to Locke and Hobbs and onto the Federalist Papers etc. From a philosophy standpoint I went down a more winding path of philosophers to Emerson, Thoreau, and then I found Derrida - definitely recommend Derrida (got to hand it to ourfriends the French on that one). My learning is not perfect and I still have a long way to go but I find that Plato sits at the foundation (is it perfect, no, but WOW it gets you thinking) All in all Plato is must read if you care about the government we live in. This edition is a great one to put on a shelf. It is quite sturdy, I've given a couple of these away, and I recommend it as something to fill a shelf. I do own several editions, this one is overally good and readable. If you're thinking about going down this path of reading the Greeks, I msut warn you that if you take your endeavor seriously, it will change your life. I also highly recommend a class on Plato or at least some lectures on Plato from a professional to help prime the pump. Once you get started though - it will profoundly affect you. | ||
 | Predator | |
| "Arnold vs Predator" | 2009-02-26 |
| This movie is your typical Arnold Movie from his heyday. There are no spoilers in this review because this is an Arnold movie (he blows lots of stuff up and kicks butt)... Basic premise is that we find Arnold with a band of super tough commandos in some rainforest. Unbeknownst to them an Alien Predator ship has landed nearby. The Predators are a very advanced race of extraterrestrial aliens and, I guess, some of them (like us) enjoy the sport of hunting dangerous game only these humans like to hunt humans and even creatures like the ones from the movie Alien (the one with Ripley), and that's where the Alien vs Predator line of movies comes from (but there are none of Ripley's Aliens in this movie). In any case, this movie should be called Arnold vs Predator. In the movie, a Predator ship lands and drops off its Predator hunter dude (no he doesn't wear an orange vest and doesn't have a visible human hunting license but...nor does he appear to have a bag limit on humans....rather the Predator has a camouflage that makes the Predator almost invisible, big guns, sharp knives, and all kinds of stuff to make short work of highly trained commandos)...the Predator goes wild in the jungle and proceeds to kill of Arnold's team of highly trained commandos until only Arnold and the Predator are left. You know how the movie goes (Mano a Mano baby)...lots of big guns, lots of shooting, lots of explosions, lots of Arnold flexing his muscles and talking like he has marbles in his mouth (all of 400 words in this movie I think). In the end, its a fun movie filled with lots of action. If you like Arnold and Alien themes, this is a great movie to watch. I saw it recently on this DVD and I can say that it has aged pretty well, its not as fresh as a new movie but its aged pretty well --- to where I'd almost call it a classic for a handful of very artistic shots (if that can be said of an Arnold Movie). Anyway, hang your brain at the door and enjoy and,... as you and I well know (no spoiler here)... NO, the Predator does not stand a chance against Arnold. Even when its Arnold with only a sharp stick and the Predator with advanced weaponry, you know the Predator is going down! Its just a matter of how many fleshwounds Arnold gets along the road and the details of exactly how it all goest down. Watch it and you'll see. | ||
 | Predator (Full Screen Collector's Edition) | |
| "Arnold vs Predator" | 2009-02-26 |
| This movie is your typical Arnold Movie from his heyday. There are no spoilers in this review because this is an Arnold movie (he blows lots of stuff up and kicks butt)... Basic premise is that we find Arnold with a band of super tough commandos in some rainforest. Unbeknownst to them an Alien Predator ship has landed nearby. The Predators are a very advanced race of extraterrestrial aliens and, I guess, some of them (like us) enjoy the sport of hunting dangerous game only these humans like to hunt humans and even creatures like the ones from the movie Alien (the one with Ripley), and that's where the Alien vs Predator line of movies comes from (but there are none of Ripley's Aliens in this movie). In any case, this movie should be called Arnold vs Predator. In the movie, a Predator ship lands and drops off its Predator hunter dude (no he doesn't wear an orange vest and doesn't have a visible human hunting license but...nor does he appear to have a bag limit on humans....rather the Predator has a camouflage that makes the Predator almost invisible, big guns, sharp knives, and all kinds of stuff to make short work of highly trained commandos)...the Predator goes wild in the jungle and proceeds to kill of Arnold's team of highly trained commandos until only Arnold and the Predator are left. You know how the movie goes (Mano a Mano baby)...lots of big guns, lots of shooting, lots of explosions, lots of Arnold flexing his muscles and talking like he has marbles in his mouth (all of 400 words in this movie I think). In the end, its a fun movie filled with lots of action. If you like Arnold and Alien themes, this is a great movie to watch. I saw it recently on this DVD and I can say that it has aged pretty well, its not as fresh as a new movie but its aged pretty well --- to where I'd almost call it a classic for a handful of very artistic shots (if that can be said of an Arnold Movie). Anyway, hang your brain at the door and enjoy and,... as you and I well know (no spoiler here)... NO, the Predator does not stand a chance against Arnold. Even when its Arnold with only a sharp stick and the Predator with advanced weaponry, you know the Predator is going down! Its just a matter of how many fleshwounds Arnold gets along the road and the details of exactly how it all goest down. Watch it and you'll see. | ||
 | Predator | |
| "Arnold vs Predator" | 2009-02-26 |
| This movie is your typical Arnold Movie from his heyday. There are no spoilers in this review because this is an Arnold movie (he blows lots of stuff up and kicks butt)... Basic premise is that we find Arnold with a band of super tough commandos in some rainforest. Unbeknownst to them an Alien Predator ship has landed nearby. The Predators are a very advanced race of extraterrestrial aliens and, I guess, some of them (like us) enjoy the sport of hunting dangerous game only these humans like to hunt humans and even creatures like the ones from the movie Alien (the one with Ripley), and that's where the Alien vs Predator line of movies comes from (but there are none of Ripley's Aliens in this movie). In any case, this movie should be called Arnold vs Predator. In the movie, a Predator ship lands and drops off its Predator hunter dude (no he doesn't wear an orange vest and doesn't have a visible human hunting license but...nor does he appear to have a bag limit on humans....rather the Predator has a camouflage that makes the Predator almost invisible, big guns, sharp knives, and all kinds of stuff to make short work of highly trained commandos)...the Predator goes wild in the jungle and proceeds to kill of Arnold's team of highly trained commandos until only Arnold and the Predator are left. You know how the movie goes (Mano a Mano baby)...lots of big guns, lots of shooting, lots of explosions, lots of Arnold flexing his muscles and talking like he has marbles in his mouth (all of 400 words in this movie I think). In the end, its a fun movie filled with lots of action. If you like Arnold and Alien themes, this is a great movie to watch. I saw it recently on this DVD and I can say that it has aged pretty well, its not as fresh as a new movie but its aged pretty well --- to where I'd almost call it a classic for a handful of very artistic shots (if that can be said of an Arnold Movie). Anyway, hang your brain at the door and enjoy and,... as you and I well know (no spoiler here)... NO, the Predator does not stand a chance against Arnold. Even when its Arnold with only a sharp stick and the Predator with advanced weaponry, you know the Predator is going down! Its just a matter of how many fleshwounds Arnold gets along the road and the details of exactly how it all goest down. Watch it and you'll see. | ||
 | Predator | |
| "Arnold vs Predator" | 2009-02-26 |
| This movie is your typical Arnold Movie from his heyday. There are no spoilers in this review because this is an Arnold movie (he blows lots of stuff up and kicks butt)... Basic premise is that we find Arnold with a band of super tough commandos in some rainforest. Unbeknownst to them an Alien Predator ship has landed nearby. The Predators are a very advanced race of extraterrestrial aliens and, I guess, some of them (like us) enjoy the sport of hunting dangerous game only these humans like to hunt humans and even creatures like the ones from the movie Alien (the one with Ripley), and that's where the Alien vs Predator line of movies comes from (but there are none of Ripley's Aliens in this movie). In any case, this movie should be called Arnold vs Predator. In the movie, a Predator ship lands and drops off its Predator hunter dude (no he doesn't wear an orange vest and doesn't have a visible human hunting license but...nor does he appear to have a bag limit on humans....rather the Predator has a camouflage that makes the Predator almost invisible, big guns, sharp knives, and all kinds of stuff to make short work of highly trained commandos)...the Predator goes wild in the jungle and proceeds to kill of Arnold's team of highly trained commandos until only Arnold and the Predator are left. You know how the movie goes (Mano a Mano baby)...lots of big guns, lots of shooting, lots of explosions, lots of Arnold flexing his muscles and talking like he has marbles in his mouth (all of 400 words in this movie I think). In the end, its a fun movie filled with lots of action. If you like Arnold and Alien themes, this is a great movie to watch. I saw it recently on this DVD and I can say that it has aged pretty well, its not as fresh as a new movie but its aged pretty well --- to where I'd almost call it a classic for a handful of very artistic shots (if that can be said of an Arnold Movie). Anyway, hang your brain at the door and enjoy and,... as you and I well know (no spoiler here)... NO, the Predator does not stand a chance against Arnold. Even when its Arnold with only a sharp stick and the Predator with advanced weaponry, you know the Predator is going down! Its just a matter of how many fleshwounds Arnold gets along the road and the details of exactly how it all goest down. Watch it and you'll see. | ||
 | Predator | |
| "Arnold vs Predator" | 2009-02-26 |
| This movie is your typical Arnold Movie from his heyday. There are no spoilers in this review because this is an Arnold movie (he blows lots of stuff up and kicks butt)... Basic premise is that we find Arnold with a band of super tough commandos in some rainforest. Unbeknownst to them an Alien Predator ship has landed nearby. The Predators are a very advanced race of extraterrestrial aliens and, I guess, some of them (like us) enjoy the sport of hunting dangerous game only these humans like to hunt humans and even creatures like the ones from the movie Alien (the one with Ripley), and that's where the Alien vs Predator line of movies comes from (but there are none of Ripley's Aliens in this movie). In any case, this movie should be called Arnold vs Predator. In the movie, a Predator ship lands and drops off its Predator hunter dude (no he doesn't wear an orange vest and doesn't have a visible human hunting license but...nor does he appear to have a bag limit on humans....rather the Predator has a camouflage that makes the Predator almost invisible, big guns, sharp knives, and all kinds of stuff to make short work of highly trained commandos)...the Predator goes wild in the jungle and proceeds to kill of Arnold's team of highly trained commandos until only Arnold and the Predator are left. You know how the movie goes (Mano a Mano baby)...lots of big guns, lots of shooting, lots of explosions, lots of Arnold flexing his muscles and talking like he has marbles in his mouth (all of 400 words in this movie I think). In the end, its a fun movie filled with lots of action. If you like Arnold and Alien themes, this is a great movie to watch. I saw it recently on this DVD and I can say that it has aged pretty well, its not as fresh as a new movie but its aged pretty well --- to where I'd almost call it a classic for a handful of very artistic shots (if that can be said of an Arnold Movie). Anyway, hang your brain at the door and enjoy and,... as you and I well know (no spoiler here)... NO, the Predator does not stand a chance against Arnold. Even when its Arnold with only a sharp stick and the Predator with advanced weaponry, you know the Predator is going down! Its just a matter of how many fleshwounds Arnold gets along the road and the details of exactly how it all goest down. Watch it and you'll see. | ||
| © 2009 GoSale.com (S1) |