Yawn
I found this movie hard to watch. It just didn't keep my interest and I found myself watching a lot of the movie on fast forward. Contrary to what another reviewer says, there is NO rape scene in this movie. I believe she must have gotten this movie confused with another.

The sex scenes just didn't work. Everyone one of them, except two, where with the same repulsive guy. Ok, I guess he isn't that bad, but something about him freaked with my mind and there he was in every scene. Yuck.

Brutal
I really enjoyed this movie, despite the fact that i said I would never watch another movie filmed backwards after seeing memento. It is slow in the first few minutes, but picks up right in the next scene in the club. While figuring out what is going on, the dialogue is really fun. There is a horrid rape scene in the middle of the film that seems to go on forever. If you cant stand that kind of thing, do not see the movie, period. It isn't something you can fast forward through or shut your eyes during, it is an intergral part of the plot. Happy watching.

Ok story line, revealing sex scenes
This film is in a foreign language and I couldn't figure out which one. But it does have English subtitles.
It is a pretty heavy soft core porn, with a decent story line for that genre of movies.
It is much more revealing then a US soft core porn, and the sex scenes are obviously not faked like the US versions.

Great story, great acting, GREAT FILM
First of all, if sex in cinema bothers you, then don't watch this. This film is NOT ALL about sex. In fact the story is not centered around eroticism. It just so happens to have sexual content in the film. But I say this: If you are squeamish, OR the natural act of sex offends you OR makes you uncomfortable then don't watch this film.

This is a film for open-minded viewers who don't want "dumbed-down" material that Hollywood usually gives us. If you're looking for something powerful, intellectual and moving then this film is for you.

I love Ang Lee's films now. I enjoyed BROKE BACK MOUNTAIN, CROUCHING TIGER, EAT DRINK MAN WOMAN and now this.....He's just a phenomenal director who pays great attention to detail.
Also worth mentioning is first timer Tang Wei is awesome in this. Her acting is second to none in this film. I hope to see more of her acting in future films. Also, Hong Kong actor Tony Leung does a perfect job as well. He stepped out of his comfort zone for this role and he did very good.

I HIGHLY recommend this film.

A story of love and espionage during the Japanese occupation in China!
After the polemic aroused by "Brokeback mountain", Ang Lee returned to his birthplace, Taiwan miles away far from USA, but extremely tied in style in what concerns to underline and remark an epic of the resistance. It's not a mere casualty in the very beginning of the film, the projection of a brief sequence of "Casablanca" worked out as a simple tribute. Besides, the movie reminds and brings us back to the famous film of Max Ophlus' "The sorrow and the pity" in which the hateful presence of the French collaborationism also permeated the ethic dignity of one of the most civilized nations in the world.

On the other hand, the very idea of establish a handful of young aspirants of theater remarks the clever fact the art was not divorced about what it was happening. And against the odds, a very young actress decides to infiltrate herself into the narrow circle of power emblematized by a cold and lonely man who embodies the driving force of the political repression.

But as usually happens with the unpredictable human emotions, the love will make its appearance and will drift the initial plans.

Ang Lee seems to have found his bliss with this admirable masterwork, because and although the film is visibly westernized with too many commonplaces, it would be unfair to ignore the careful illumination (that reminded me to James Ivory) the smart employment of the close-up, but the main merit of Lee is to carve in relief the camera is in last instance, a peeping eye (the most dramatic and intense scenes were filmed with an accurate game of light and shadows) to intensify and magnify the dramatic impact and so, to involve still more the spectator into the dramatis personae.

A winner film whose running time (at least to me) didn't affect at all the strength of a well built script. And kudos for this new emerging promise of the cinema the actress Tang Wei seems to appear as the closest aspirant of the golden crown of Zhag Ziyi.

Lust, Caution
This movie is superb. It is set in the time of the conflicts of WWII between Japan and China. I don't know if I would call it a love story, but there are strong emotions and highly-charged sex scenes throughout this movie. Enjoy!

live a little, get the NC-17 version
The movie is about a Chinese women named Wong who kind of just ends up in the resistance movement against Japan from meeting friends in a play. To me, she didnt seem THAT involved in the situation but kind of fell into it. Her dad was elsewhere (in London, maybe?) and she kind of had nowhere to go. Wong, et al leech off one of their friend's rich parents and head off to infiltrate Mr. Yee's camp (he's the bad guy). Mr. Yee is married and pretty callous annnnnnd he has security out the ying yang so no one has been able to get rid of him. Wong plays Mahjong with Mr. Yee's wife's crew and just happens to catch Mr. Yee's eye. And thus starts some of the NC-17 parts. I'm talking about violent sex and unshaved armpits. Mr. Yee is not a particularly gentle soul. There is also some sexual tension between Wong and her Resistance buddy but Wong is in this horrible position with Mr. Yee and it all gets complicated. The NC-17 parts, I would have to say, do push the storyline of the movie forward, so I feel they were tasteful and called for. I would have given it five stars but I did feel the main characters were sort of flat. I was not completely enthralled in the story; there was some sort of wall between the actor's true intentions and what was put across to us, the viewer. But still, a wonderful film.

A great film with a bit too much Lust to be accessible
I'm very torn with this film, on one hand, I think it's exceptional and certainly one of the better films of the year. On the other, I think Ang Lee made a poor decision to push the sex to the point of a NC-17 and diminish his target audience to a very small group of people.

I wasn't planning on the seeing the film myself, but some of the reviews really interested me and when I had the opportunity to see it I went ahead and I'm glad I did. The story is great, I believe in all of the characters and what they are each trying to do. I like the deception throughout with the justification of trying to kill a very bad man and getting lost in a conspiracy of lust and resolve. The cinematography is superb and the acting is nearly perfect, the pacing is slower then some but it very much kept my interest. Regardless of it's actual authenticity, of which I know nothing about, it is a very effective period piece and as a Chinese film with it's own perspective on values, filmmaking and perspective.

However, I was disappointed that Ang Lee didn't tone down the sex to an 'R' rating (or even lower), I didn't feel like the story actually needed it, I think it could have been every bit as effective if it had been mostly implied and I wouldn't have enjoyed it more. I think Lee also alienated a lot of his potential audience, I know it's supposed to be high brow and intellectual but I don't agree with that decision. I'm not even sure who I could recommend the film to, almost no one I know would actually watch a film with this rating. Then again, as of now it's approaching 150,000 reviews on Netflix so maybe I'm wrong about that.

Surprised to find this is a page turner
I knew the content would be interesting and was pleasantly surprised to see the well crafted text. The paragraphs flowed from page to page and chapter to chapter. It was hard to put down. Well selected photos accompany the text and add even more understanding.

This is more than a bio of one man, it is a bio of the times. I did not know that Hoover cut his bureaucratic teeth on the Red Scare, so this book rounds out his portrait for me.

Ackerman's engaging prose brings to life the colorful people of the times. He presents Palmer in all his complexity. President Wilson is totally detached not only from the Red Scare but also the upcoming election where he has a son-in-law in contention. The totally obscure Louis Post is a true hero. Many great legal minds, Frankfurter, Darrow, Cardozo, Holmes and others play a role. I had not known of the eccentric millionaire socialist Lloyd before nor the colorful immigration official from California, Caminetti.

The most intriguing story of all, of course, is Hoover's. The reader learns how his character and style were formed. As a young man he got away with a tremendous breach of the US Constitution and he lied to his mentors. He knew how and when to be on and off the stage and who to play up to. He was probably given a pass for his presumed honesty, long hours of work and his youth.

I was struck by narrow the decision making. Only a few people held the reins than made life impossible for many. While the book doesn't spell it out, I would imagine people lost their homes (be they foreclosures or evictions) and children went hungry. None of the perpetrators suffered much. Hoover went on to great "success", Caminetti went on to comfortable obscurity and Wilson is heralded for his international vision. Palmer suffers somewhat but not in proportion to his deeds. The main hero is virtually unknown to history.

J. Edgar Hoover: The Beginning . . .
One line brought home to me how different the times were shortly after the First World War: ". . . a doctor told Edgar he needed to start smoking cigarettes to relax his nerves." But more important to this story of the Red Scare were the attitudes toward freedom of speech and individual legal rights that allowed wholesale abuses as the U.S. Government and the young, energetic J. Edgar attempted to remove every last threat of Communism through massive raids and deportations. As inconceivable as a medical doctor recommending cigarettes is the thought that running roughshod over legal rights on such a scale could happen without raising an immediate uproar in the press; what a difference 24 hour television news makes!

Understanding Hoover is critical to viewing the evolution of law and individual rights in America during the 20th century. For good or bad, he certainly had an impact during his half-century tenure and as Ackerman summarizes "Of all the experiences shaping him . . . none loomed larger that the Red Raids." The author gives us an excellent account of these events, the times, and important players including Felix Frankfurter, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Clarence Darrow.

Great Reminder as to How Fear Can Override Reason and How a Strong & Independent Media is Needed to Resore the Rule of Law & Rea
Post-WW ( period is not well understood in America and our history books hardly mention how fear and loathing of terrorists (anarchists and Bolsheviks) and their (real and potential) activities led to violent over-reaction by government. Suspension of rights and rule of law, warrantless break-ins and arrests, thousands of completely innocent citizens held without charge or access to counsel in sub-standard "holding" facilities, authoritarian override of law enforcement principles and practices without regard to rights (beating of those arrested, denial of access to medical services, denial of access by the press nad watchdog organizations, etc.
A very good book and very well-written!

Required Reading
And we thought Joe McCarthy invented "McCarthyism!" Fascinating and well written. We not only learn that Attorney General Mitchell Palmer wrote the book on creating mass hysteria to assault anything one happens to dislike, but we gain a broader understanding of how easily attitudes can be swayed for egregious purposes in this country. Given that Young J. Edgar earned his stripes by implementing Palmer's plans, it's not hard to understand how he could so easily pick and choose the information he wanted to assail Martin Luther King, Jr. and scores of others he disliked. Ackerman did his homework and presented it very nicely.

History Repeats Itself...History Repeats Itself...
An excellent biography of Hoover's early years--a time that is often eclipsed by the later years when Hoover was a well established bureaucrat. Young J. Edgar looks at the circumstances--surroundings and people--who led to the formation of the man. Ackerman's descriptions of the Palmer Raids of nearly 90 years ago can't help but make the reader think of post 9/11 America and the way "we" treat our own citizens and their "inalienable" civil rights. It really makes you think. America has to find a way to protect ourselves without losing sight of what makes this country great--freedom of speech, thought, religion etc. The freedom to ask questions and be different are two of the qualities that make America great. Pick up a copy of Young J. Edgar, learn about Hoover the man and the post WWI era, and let's try not to keep making the same mistakes over and over again.

A view with appreciation
A good historian does much more than discover and reiterate facts accurately. Granted, that is vital. But a good historian lives with his materials so that over time he gains familiarity with the people and places and events, so that he gains the insights necessary to show them to us with words that make them live. So that after reading, we not only learn history but SEE it and to a limited extent experience it.

In his brief essay, David McCullough does just that. I've heard it said that some of our poorest neighborhoods in the USA live better than kings did in previous centuries. Well, you probably can't prove that. But for sure we have comforts, medical care, nutrition, luxuries far beyond what they had during the Revolutionary War. And those who suffered and died so that we might experience freedom in our miraculous country, suffered to an extent we find hard to understand today.

David McCullough writes about Revolutionary soldiers with admiration and compels us to kindle our appreciation for what they gave.

Word Pictures
David McCullough brings to light a point I for one have never thought about. In many cases we don't know what the very people who won our freedom looked like. It wasn't until the Civil War that we could attach a face to a famous name.

The author in a very adept way seeks to attach a face to the soldiers of the Revolution with word pictures. My minds eye can now visualize John Daby as a "long hump-shouldered fellow," and Thomas Williams with "film" in his left eye, or George Washington with smallpox scars, something his portraits didn't reveal. If you ever wondered like I have why most subjects in the old paintings never smiled, it's most likely due to the fact they had bad teeth or no teeth at all.

"Faces" is an illuminating read for anyone. I recommend it highly.FUG 10

Cool essay
A very nice essay by Mr. McCullough which actually gave me more of an insight into the author than the time. As a fan of history I always had the curious habit (I thought so) of looking first at the pictures in the book of what the people looked like before I started reading and referring often to those pictures during the reading; mostly to help me visualize.
I'm glad to find out I'm not the only one.

FACES BY DAVID MCCULLOUGH
An official Library Weekly book review.

EXCERPT:
How can we know what they looked like? The answers are in what they themselves said in pocket diaries...

RATING:
5 of 5

REVIEW:
When looking back at the founding of our nation, we find ourselves at a lost to what men and women looked
like when they marched into the heat of battle. We have no audio broadcast of what happened, there's no
video that you can download off YouTube. But despite those challenges, historians and writers have been
able to find out who these men were, a true understanding of their inner thoughts through their diaries,
letters, and books. Faces by David McCullough is timeless, an effective reflection of the past, and how
we get to know them.

Thought provoking
This writing focuses on the physical aspects and reality in which the people in history, especially the Revolution, lived. We have very little that guides our minds when trying to associate faces with a person we are reading about, and McCullough brings about some poignant ideas about their lives, demeanors and appearance that we often overlook. This is worth a quick read.

Loved it!
I loved every moment of this book! I purchased this book to give me a better idea of the people and orphans of Ethiopia. I wanted to better understand their culture and have an understanding of who they are. The book illustrates how one Ethiopian woman builds a safe haven for orphaned children and shows the circumstances of each child brought to her home. It informs the reader about the aids epidemic and other diseases that have plagued this beautiful country. For anyone interested in adopting children from Ethiopia, it presents real-life stories and how adoption made a difference for them. The stories and photos are real and the author personally involved. I started to read it more slowly at the end so I wouldn't finish it, I loved it so much!

Best Glimpse into Ethiopian Adoption Culture
I'm writing this as the mother of an adopted Ethiopian child- I bought this book after a random search and it has been the most valuable book of our whole adoption journey. It's loaded with helpful background info on the AIDS & Orphan crises in Ethiopia, history of Ethiopia, insight into the cultural perceptions of adoption (especially by affluent, white Westerners!) and the very moving perspectives of the orphans themselves, and their Ethiopian caretakers. The heroine of this story is very real, and her character development was deep and insightful. I laid the book down several times to have a good laugh (or cry!) but could hardly keep from turning the pages. Whether you are adopting yourself, supporting someone who is, or just interested in learning more about Ethiopia and this heroine's story, I know you will come away inspired.

An Uplifting Page-Turner
Author Melissa Fay Greene, who is the adoptive mother of two Ethiopian children, relates the story of Haregewoin Teferra, an Ethiopian mother who becomes the foster mother for a multitude of AIDS orphans during the height of the pandemic. Greene truthfully tells the tale without painting Teferra as a "modern day Mother Teresa," but rather as a very real and human woman who is asked by clerics to take in one abandoned orphan after another. A grieving mother whose adult daughter died from AIDS, Teferra discovers that helping the children provides her with a means of overcoming her grief. The individual stories of these "lost children" who arrive on Teferra's doorstep are riveting, as is Greene's account of the assimilation of her adoptive children into her family. Accompanying photos show children shortly after they arrived in very bad shape at Treferra's compound and then later with adoptive American families.
Greene spares no one as she rails against the pharmaceutical companies that withheld AIDS medications from third-world countries at the height of the pandemic, causing the loss of a whole generation of parents. Despite having no drugs to help the children, hit-or-miss medical care, and scarce food for all, Teferra does her best to feed, clothe, house, and educate the orphans put in her care. Although one might think that this book is a "downer," it is a very uplifting page-turner that relates the indominable spirit of one Ethiopian woman and her many foster children.

Life changing book
Melissa Faye Green is an excellent writer. She is a true artist painting a vivid picture of scenes, and weaving historical, political and social aspects of the deadly HIV/AIDS epidemic. This is an incredibly powerful book. It is not easy to read due to the difficult emotional toll it can take on one, but I felt morally obligated to read it, so that I wasn't just shutting out the devastating misery suffered by so many millions. She portrays the human face of this awful disease with poignancy. It is an inspiring and human story of one woman's efforts to alleviate her own and others suffering. God bless Melissa for opening our eyes.

A truly moving experience
This was a wonderful book! Having myself been to Addis Ababa recently (July 07) with my daughter to pick up her adopted Ethiopian baby boy (4 months old), you can just imagine how this story of one woman's love for so many orphans resonated with me. The book is a quick read -- something interesting in every chapter. The author intertwined Haregewoin's up and down story with bits of Ethiopian history and the unwinding spread and theories of HIV-AIDs plus added her own experience with H. and the adoption her own Ethiopian children -- which made the reader come away with a true cultural experience. H. is truly a "Mother Theresa" figure and an inspiration to all women. Thank you, Melissa, for introducing us to her. I really enjoyed having the photos of many of the children and their adoptive families to relate to. I will be sure that my daughter reads this book and I have suggested it to my book club in Boulder, CO which will read it in the fall. -- Gayle Weiss

Two defective Kindles
I loved my Kindle for the first few months and I think they are wonderful. But, despite the fact that I took very good care of it; it broke after about three months. I was willing to forgive that..stuff happens. And, they were very nice and sent a new one almost the next day despite the fact that it was a few days before Christmas.

However, now, two weeks later my new Kindle has stopped working and I wonder if the defect is in the design.

Of course, both times it broke I was engrossed in the book I was reading. I'm glad i didn't depend on it for my periodicals.

Excellent!
Love my new Kindle, it gives me the freedom to take my books anywhere and read anywhere. It's always in my purse because if I have to wait somewhere I pull it out and read. Easy to use, easy to read, easy to hold. Love it! Also, kudos to Kindle support team. My first Kindle, after 2 weeks, stopped connecting to the Whispernet. I ended up eventually having to send it back and get a new one (at no cost to me). The person I dealt with told me when he would get back to me on resolution of the problem and actually did without me having to do any followup or bugging. Thank you.

Decent Hardware, Terrible Searching
Pros:
Books on the fly
All books in one device
Saves paper
Downloads are fast
Accessible most anywhere
Good Battery life when wireless is off

Cons:
Terrible searching
No way to find books by series
The buttons are too large and are easily hit
Holding the book is awkward
No way to share books between readers. When books are downloaded the kindle serial number is embedded in the book file in binary form.
Slow

My Kindle
I absolutely love my Kindle. I load it up with books I want to read and I'm on my way. Wherever I go, I take my Kindle and when I have a few spare minutes, I'm reading. Plus, I don't have books scattered all over my house anymore. The only way the Kindle could be improved is if it had a place on both sides for your thumbs to hold onto the device. Too often I end up turning the page when I don't mean to.

Beware! Don't drop the %^$& thing!
Forget the seemingly impressive "drop test" video. My Kindle was in its protective case, fell from a low counter onto a carpeted floor and was rendered completely inoperable. I had had it for a month. Amazon offered to replace it for half its price, 0.00. I just can't see spending that much more on a device that shatters like an egg. Very disappointed. BEWARE.