© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc. This feed is subject to our terms of use: http://www.epinions.com/help/rss_terms http://www.epinions.com/user-verbatima Recent reviews written by member verbatima en-us 121 37 http://www.epinions.com/ http://img.epinions.com/images/epi_images/logos/epinions_121.gif http://www.epinions.com/content_220395441796?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author verbatima - When I was growing up in the Soviet Union, my mother often cited the refrain from the Russian version of The International &#150 &#147We&#146ll raze the old world to the ground and then, we&#146ll build our world, a new world&#148 &#150 as a... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~220395441796 Fri, 10 Feb 2006 17:34:17 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_220395441796?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_212522339972?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author verbatima - Who knew green and black looked so good together? Alas, they don&#146t look good enough to salvage the rest of The Matrix. Neo (Keanu Reeves) is a respectable computer specialist by day and a hacker by night, who has a gnawing suspicion that... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~212522339972 Tue, 29 Nov 2005 20:25:41 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_212522339972?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_195427143300?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author verbatima - There is no easy way to describe Mulholland Drive. More, perhaps, than any other movie, it defies taglines, first sentences, and last sentences. Anyone who has ever sat glued to the screen during an episode of Twin Peaks, not completely... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~195427143300 Tue, 6 Sep 2005 17:42:53 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_195427143300?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_188969225860?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author verbatima - I saw Abbas Kiarostami&#146s 1997 A Taste of Cherry because it received enormous critical acclaim and seemed to be a movie which I simply owed it to myself to experience. Disappointingly, it left me confused at first, and then mildly annoyed, as... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~188969225860 Thu, 7 Jul 2005 15:51:54 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_188969225860?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_182273805956?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author verbatima - The Barber of Siberia is, without a doubt, Nikita Mikhalkov's most personal film. A scion of a family at the forefront of the Soviet cultural establishment, whose father wrote the lyrics to the USSR's national anthem, Mikhalkov the younger is... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~182273805956 Thu, 5 May 2005 15:16:39 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_182273805956?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_176885370500?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author verbatima - "A citizen in a cap with a white top, the style usually worn by masters of ceremonies and park administrators, undoubtedly belonged to the greater and better part of mankind. He traveled the streets of the town of Arbatov on foot, looking around him... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~176885370500 Wed, 16 Mar 2005 19:46:07 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_176885370500?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_173497945732?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author verbatima - In a Sunday broadcast a few weeks ago, the National Public Radio cautiously hailed Head-On as &#147part My Big Fat Greek Wedding part Sid and Nancy". Written and directed by Fatih Akin, a German director of Turkish descent, this... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~173497945732 Tue, 15 Feb 2005 14:33:57 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_173497945732?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_172167630468?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author verbatima - The New Year&#146s Eve is the most festive Russian holiday. During the long decades when the practice of religion was de facto outlawed, New Year&#146s Eve supplanted Christmas in importance. However, because unlike Christmas, it is a secular... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~172167630468 Thu, 3 Feb 2005 17:29:55 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_172167630468?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_171944480388?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author verbatima - What should you expect if you prepare a meal that's not simply upscale but gourmet? What if it's not simply gourmet, but gourmet fusion? What if it's not simply fusion but Scandinavian-Ethiopian no less? Well -- I hope your guests are not averse... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~171944480388 Tue, 1 Feb 2005 20:20:32 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_171944480388?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_171834576516?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author verbatima - Rasputin restaurant is probably the snobbiest, most pretentious Russian restaurant in New York. The very name evokes the images of evening gowns, cascading diamonds, and the haughtiest service outside of Inturist. When I was in high school, other... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~171834576516 Mon, 31 Jan 2005 23:41:56 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_171834576516?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_168598539908?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 1/5 by: Epinions Author verbatima - I stumbled upon Norman Cantor's In the Wake of the Plague by accident. I was about to undertake a long redeye flight, but had forgotten to bring along something to read. Since I have trouble sleeping on the plane and do not put much faith into... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~168598539908 Thu, 6 Jan 2005 17:35:27 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_168598539908?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_168064487044?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author verbatima - Despite the brief media frenzy surrounding Jack Kevorkian in the mid-1990's, there is a general reluctance, in my opinion, to discuss euthanasia -- at least in the United States. After all, the concern over an individual's "right to die", or lack... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~168064487044 Mon, 3 Jan 2005 14:53:12 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_168064487044?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_162757316228?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author verbatima - Although it is but a part of Peru's rich cultural heritage, the monuments of the great Inca Empire deep in the Peruvian Andes are the ones that are most alluring to travelers. This is a land of majestic mountains, cloud forests, haunting castles of a... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~162757316228 Tue, 23 Nov 2004 21:21:44 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_162757316228?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_158250143364?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author verbatima - Opened for business in 1955, Riviera is about to celebrate its fifty years on the Las Vegas Strip. Unfortunately, things are not looking so glitzy for the old girl -- not only is it predictably outshined by the new kids on the block, but it has not aged... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~158250143364 Wed, 13 Oct 2004 11:41:12 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_158250143364?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_156559445636?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author verbatima - When I am sometimes asked what life was like in the Soviet Union, my first, instinctive response is that it was surreal. Too often, USSR is talked about exclusively in consumerist terms. The usual back-and-forth arguments about the Soviet economy,... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~156559445636 Thu, 30 Sep 2004 19:28:34 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_156559445636?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_153633394308?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author verbatima - Open Water, the story of a couple accidentally abandoned during a diving trip in the middle of the ocean, promised to be very scary and it was. In fact, I left the theater with a somewhat diminished desire to revisit the Caribbean and a great... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~153633394308 Sun, 29 Aug 2004 01:26:30 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_153633394308?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_153064410756?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author verbatima - What a fun movie for a Friday night! True, as the critics say, Hugo Rodriguez' new comedy-thriller is not particularly "deep", but it is a taut, uber-cool Tarantinesque film, which is a jewel of its kind. Cigarettes are the leitmotif of this movie,... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~153064410756 Tue, 24 Aug 2004 18:06:46 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_153064410756?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_153034919556?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author verbatima - Question: how much heroin can you pack in your stomach for a nine-hour flight? Maria Alvarez (Catalina S. Moreno), the heroine (no pun intended) of Maria Full of Grace, succeeds in using hers to bring about 650 grams from Colombia to the United... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~153034919556 Tue, 24 Aug 2004 13:28:32 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_153034919556?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_152187997828?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author verbatima - Introduction. Ordinarily, the idea of a novel about the Middle Ages conjures up the images of jousts, plated knights, and military and amorous conquests intertwined. Putting aside the kind of fiction which represents a waste of recycled... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~152187997828 Wed, 18 Aug 2004 00:41:53 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_152187997828?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_149366410884?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author verbatima - How did children perceive the horrors of fascism? As a distorted self-evident normalcy? As a game? As a ghost story? Guillermo del Toro&#146s Devil&#146s Backbone is not the first attempt to glimpse World War II as seen by a child, but it is... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~149366410884 Tue, 27 Jul 2004 19:46:42 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_149366410884?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_148620480132?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author verbatima - Georgeann Brennan's Savoring France is a unique book on French cooking, which offers not only tantalizing recipes, but also a wonderful insight into the French food culture. Apart from a few minor flaws, it is an excellent choice for anyone... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~148620480132 Wed, 21 Jul 2004 22:58:08 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_148620480132?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_148325240452?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author verbatima - As someone who is no stranger to long airport waits (though thankfully not as long as the main character&#146s), I did not particularly enjoy my two-hour sojourn in Steven Spielberg&#146s The Terminal. The movie conveyed the boredom and the... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~148325240452 Mon, 19 Jul 2004 17:46:49 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_148325240452?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_146694901380?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author verbatima - Alexander Pushkin&#146s prose is not particularly well-known outside of Russia. Pushkin is remembered primarily as Russia&#146s greatest poet, and one who modernized Russian verse. Towards the end of his short life, however (he was killed at 37),... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~146694901380 Wed, 7 Jul 2004 13:38:11 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_146694901380?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_141235293828?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author verbatima - Okay. I am now convinced that sex is a form of cinematic blackmail. It also demonstrates the sad degeneration of our concept of &#147controversial&#148 art. Before the onset of the &#147postmodern&#148 period, one created controversial art by... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~141235293828 Mon, 24 May 2004 19:15:05 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_141235293828?linkin_id=8003929 http://www.epinions.com/content_139035053700?linkin_id=8003929 rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author verbatima - I went to see Twilight Samurai fresh from the parodistic goofs of Kill Bill 2, so I secretly feared being too contaminated by the latter to enjoy a martial arts film. To my pleasant surprise, however, Yoji Yamada&#146s new picture proved... http://www.epinions.com/content/submit.html/comment_~139035053700 Thu, 6 May 2004 17:00:14 GMT http://www.epinions.com/content_139035053700?linkin_id=8003929