Online community
In response to Wongoz' 3.11.2002 post, I wasn't sure if AbraHAM's nickname was kosher, but Sheepie has had it posted in her long running weblog for quite a while. Speaking of Abe, here's what men really want to know about sensitivity. Need more information? Ask a girl.

Movies...
Jules et Jim (1961)
This Truffaut classic explores the classic conflict of love and friendship. The film follows the story of two friends, a German and a Frenchman, and Catherine, a tempermental libertine they both fall in love with. Jules marries Katherine, but after the first World War, Jules allows his friend to replace him in hopes of quelling Catherine's other infidelities. Connoisseurs of fine Hollywood fare would probably find this a dud: the plot is cliche, the pacing slow, the characters flat, and the subtelties of New Wave editing shine dimly against the sophistication and technology modern camera work. And above that you need to read subtitles.

On the other hand, if you stop to think, the content - the state of relationships between men and women - which earned the film an X rating when it was released (there's no depiction of sex or nudity), doesn't lose any relevance. The utopian alternative lifestyle of the threesome proves unfeasible. The image of a triumphantly unrestrained Catherine, perhaps as a feminist heroine, is likewise shattered. What seems to be a film about liberal ideals seems to return to traditional structure as the only viable recourse.
3/5

Il Postino (1994)
Nominated for five Academy Awards, this Italian release has an ambience typical of European films, where the plot is not particularly intriguing as it is simply entertaining. A simple slacker in an Italian village finds a job as a postman when the famous Chilean poet Pablo Neruda moves there in exile. The senior poet mentors the young man in art and literature, which the disciple uses to woo the buxom village beauty Beatrice.

While it contains little to rave about, the wonderful score enhancies the rustic tale, and when you're done watching you turn of the DVD player with a great sense of calm satisfaction.
4/5

Payback (1999)
I had no idea what was in this movie. I had guessed a crime drama, but that seems a lacking description. I can say it's typical Hollywood. Betrayal, money, revenge, and a dash of romance thrown in. An 'uncoventional' hero, fighting for honor, kicking ass, and getting the girl. Highly entertaining.
4/5

We Were Soldiers (2002)
I expected American propaganda, but after watching Black Hawk Down (which was great), I was suckered in by the Toronto Star review. Bad mistake. While not horrible, as a movie it was certainly nothing like Saving Private Ryan or BHD. It wasn't even much like Thin Red Line. Sure it seemed like it wanted to make you understand what it was like to be a soldier fighting for some ideal on the grimness of battlefield. It even seemed to try convince you that the Vietnamese were people too. But what it really tried to do was convince you how great Yankee soldiers were, convince you that it was real sad to be a widow, and convince you that Mel Gibson's a manly man, just like John Wayne.
2.5/5

... and a dinner
We finally found a decently priced place to eat at Sushi Maru. You can get dinner for $10, with miso, salad, tonkatsu, salmon and tuna sashimi, california rolls and rice (actually, instead of the tonkatsu and sashimi, there's quite a wide variety of items to choose from). All the food's pretty decent, and for $1.75 more you can add an order of unagi (yum!). For a city where it costs $7 to get BBQ-pork-on-rice, it's a great value. And it's run by Japanese people too.
4/5