Advantages: A good read
Disadvantages: Can't think of any

...This is a story about 3 female characters - Cora and her two daughters, Jin and Andie. Jin is married to a wealthy businessman called Kevin - a bit pompous for his own good and who thinks money can buy everything. Including friends and family. Jin and Kevin send Cora on a cruise with her sister-in-law as part of her birthday present as she had been down since her husband, Des, died and they thought it would cheer her up. When Cora returns, she returns with a good looking American, who is 20 years younger than her, called Jack. It causes an outrage with Jin, Kevin and Andie, who don't understand why Jack is with Cora - they think he's a gold digger out for what he can get. He seems to have good looks and charm, so would be able to get anyone he wants - so they don't understand why he's with an older woman. Meanwhile, Andie and Jin... Read review

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Advantages: great read, romance, drama, comedy,
Disadvantages: Its addicticve. Cant put the book down.

...Author: Sheila O'Flanagan ISBN: 0-7553-0755-0 Published by: Headline books publishing 2004 About the story: This book focuses on the charachters of Andie and her sister Jin as well as their mother Cora. The book is set in Dublin and happens approximately a year since the passing of Cora's late husband Des. He died of cancer. In this novel, Sheila O'Flanagan does not only explore the relationships between siblings, parents and their children, between lovers and between friends, but it also shows the differences in classes. Andie Corcoran lives on her own in a single flat, is a music teacher who has had a relationship with a married man for the past 4 years but does not agree with the way her younger sister Jin's only care is money. Jin is married to Kevin Dixon who has 2 children from a previous marriage and is a very wealthy... Read review

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Advantages: Excellent cinematography. Gorgeous soundtrack. The acting of Andy Lau and Zhang Ziyi.
Disadvantages: The drawn out ending. Slighly too long. Story can be tedious.

...House of Flying Daggers - is it a love story? Or a martial arts epic? The year is 859 and the Tang Dynasty is being threatened by rebel cabal known as the House of Flying Daggers. The leader of the Flying Daggers has been assassinated and Capt. Leo (Andy Lau) sends Capt. Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro) to arrest the former leader’s young daughter Mei, who is thought to now be in charge. Leo believes the head of the Flying Daggers is operating out of a brothel. Leo and Jin have ten days to capture Mei. Both Jin and Mei are arrested by Leo! Then Jin escapes and, as a mysterious character known as “Wind,” he rescues Mei. They fall in love while being pursued by Jin’s fellow soldiers. When they do meet the mysterious head of the House of the Flying Daggers, Mei is told to kill Jin. Then there’s the pesky problem of Mei’s other suitor. The acting... Read review

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Advantages: "Devil within" a fantastic extra...
Disadvantages: dissappearing penguins

...to start as each story ends has players wondering what happened next. I thought that that was certainly a pro. Player graphics are fantastic, every muscle and tattoo can be seen. Hair movement is realistic. Jin's hood even falls back after receiving a beating. Parry's actually look like parry's in this game. And the fact that if the option is enabled, players can receive damage even while blocking is very realistic. So, in this game if your health is low, blocking all attacks simply means nothing. You will still die, it will only take a bit longer. The addition of "Devil Within" is well worth it. In this game you play as Jin, on his quest to remove the curse of the devil from him. Play as Devil Jin or Jin however, there's a price to pay if you want to play as Devil Jin but, I wouldn't want to spoil it for you if you haven't already played... Read review

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Advantages: Beautifully shot, amazing action sequences
Disadvantages: Some loose ends

...The main thing to realise about this film is that the title is misleading - it's not really about the rebels in the House of Flying Daggers (who don't really make much of an appearance), it's actually a love story about the relationship between the three main characters. Once you've realised that, the gaps in the film make more sense. The story is essentially that Jin and Leo are two policemen charged with finding the new leader of the House of Flying Daggers, as they have just assassinated the old leader. As they are aware that at a local brothel there is a blind dancer with links to the Flying Daggers, Jin goes undercover to find out more about her and to try to infiltrate the Flying Daggers. The dancer, Mei, gets arrested and Jin stages an escape to gain her confidence and also to draw the Flying Daggers out, as he thinks she... Read review

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Advantages: Eerie and strangely believable
Disadvantages: A bit too chilling in parts

..., the small boy, named Kim Jin-sung, is home with them and settling into his new family. He sometimes behaves oddly, having an obsession with an acacia tree in the back garden, but the Kims put this down to his unhappy past and he soon seems to settle. Then Mrs Kim finds herself to be pregnant. Shocked and surprised, she hastens to comfort Jin-sung, promising him that he will be just as important to her when the new baby comes along. Jin-sung is not convinced; especially when he overhears Mrs Kim's mother making remarks about him. When the baby comes, Jin-sung's behaviour is more and more erratic. One day, following a row with his mother, Jin-sung disappears and fails to return. The effect of his disapperance brings the Kim family to their knees...but strangely the tree, which has failed to bloom for years, suddenly bursts into bloom. Is Jin... Read review

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Advantages: Very deep and moving piece beautifully drawn.
Disadvantages: A lot of people expect more action from it.

...Jin Roh has to be one of my favourite movies of all time, and is an extremely thought-provoking and moving Anime based on an old version of little red riding hood. That said it certainly isn't for everyone. Whilst there are a couple of furious action sequences in the film, it is most definitely not an action movie. The majority of the plot follows the developing relationship between a member of the special police (The Wolf Brigade), and the sister of a terrorist bomb runner (known as little red riding hoods). The plot can be quite complicated at times as the setting is an alternate Japan in the 1940's/50's where the Nazi's won the second world war (hence the German equipment used by the Wolf Brigade). The story has many twists and turns, which I won't go into as it will spoil it for you, but it does deserve a few viewings in my opinion... Read review

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Advantages: Superb graphics, tons of moves, very addicting
Disadvantages: No online play, limited amount of characters

...Ever since the first Tekken I have always been in love with the games. I honestly thought it would get no better then Tekken 4 which to me was spectacular, but, it has really gone behond any other fighting game I've seen. Though I'm without proof, Tekken 5 has probably got the best graphics in any PS2 game available. The detail is supurb and the animation is exellent. The game fetures a huge collection of moves and combos from, of course the previous games in the series and some new thrilling actions to perform. Though Tekken 5 has ditched a few of the old "mini-games" such as Ball Mode and Force Mode etc, Tekken 5 fetures a new Mode called The devil Within, which more then makes up for any losses and is a similar but improved version of Tekken Force Mode, but only feturing the Character Jin & Devil Jin who is the genetically formed... Read review

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Advantages: Beautiful to watch
Disadvantages: None discernible

...territory. The House of Flying Daggers naturally operates at this level, the film fails if the viewer does not acquire a respect for the ascetic, aesthetic lifestyle practised by them – helping the poor and stealing from the rich and so on. They are rebels, not robbers, and this gives them moral authority over the failing regime. Two policemen, Jin and Leo, are set the task of eliminating the House. They believe a brothel is using someone from the House to obtain information and set up an undercover operation which involves one of them going to the House of Flying Daggers headquarters itself. During the film personal relationships develop as we find out more about the three main characters and the relationships between them evolve as a result. The plot is satisfactory, with a couple of surprises thrown in to keep dramatic tension... Read review

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Advantages: Art, animation, fun to watch and never boring.
Disadvantages: Slow moving plot, odd mix of genres may not sit well with some.

...It's really rare that I find an anime that I like as much as Samurai Champloo. It's even rarer to find an entire series that I'm willing to fork out for the box set. If you like anime, you'll love Samurai Champloo. The art and animation is superb, with amazing fight scenes. The production values are almost as high as you would find in a major anime film. The anime has it's own distinct style of animation which really helps set the mood of the story and characters. The characters, "Mugen","Jin" and "Fuu" all have an extensive past that is slowly unraveled throughout the 26 episodes. Mugen and Jin are both rogue samurai wandering Japan without any real purpose until a chance encounter leads them to a waitress at a local tea house named Fuu. After several events the two samurai find themselves following Fuu around Japan. They all... Read review

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