Andre Gunther Photography ― The galleries of photographs are certainly beautiful, but this site shines also for its technique tutorials and camera reviews.
posted on Aug 10, 2008 - View this thread

Pluribo is a way-cool Firefox extension that automagically summarises Amazon product reviews.
posted on Jul 1, 2008 - View this thread

Stomp Tokyo's Scott Hamilton has completed 100 Movies/100 Days, in which he watched and "reviewed"... uh, 100 movies in 100 days. Many of the reviews are scarcely a paragraph, but quite a few are witty and insightful (particularly the last line of his Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull review).
posted on Jun 9, 2008 - View this thread

The Man of Bronze. We've already thrilled to his magnificent covers, but pulp hero Doc Savage really existed in text. Therefore, The Groovy Age of Horror has done us the favor of working their way through the books of Doc Savage, providing in-depth reviews. Invaluable if you have ever considered purchasing The Sargasso Ogre or I Died Yesterday, but didn't know if it was worth it.
posted on May 27, 2008 - View this thread

The Journal of Cartoon Over-analyzations. For all your cartoon-related, obsessive and critical-thinking needs. Recent over-analyzations include Bestial Sexuality in He-Man and She-Ra, Evil Mickey Mouse and A Freudian Analysis of Beavis and Butthead. For quick fixes, check out the Mini-Analyzations.[Via].
posted on May 9, 2008 - View this thread

Kids-in-mind "provides parents and other adults with objective and complete information about a film's content so that they can decide, based on their own value system, whether they should watch a movie with or without their kids." Informative AND unintentionally hilarious! From the somewhat kid-friendly Ratatouille (A rat smokes a mushroom over a chimney, and with another rat they are struck by lightning, thrown from the roof and to the ground (they have electrified fur but are otherwise OK).) to more decidedly non-kid-friendly fare, and everything in between.
posted on Apr 21, 2008 - View this thread

Bookmarks Magazine has long been one of my favorite book review periodicals because it aggregates and summarizes reviews from many sources, for example: The Children of Húrin. Recently they have opened up the back-issue archive to non-subscribers.
posted on Apr 20, 2008 - View this thread

Notre Dame publishes reviews of recent philosophy books online.
posted on Jan 26, 2008 - View this thread

Atlanta's Theat(er|re) community is unloading on a local Christmas show.
posted on Dec 11, 2007 - View this thread

101 Things I Hate About Your House Advice on how to choose safe cleaning products for the home, create chocolate dessert recipes and book reviews. No, it's not Martha Stewart, but rather, helpful tips from interior designer James Swan.
posted on Sep 17, 2007 - View this thread

If you're itching to spend your hard-earned money on a Little Mermaid lollipop (or paddle ball), a Gene Simmons Plasma Light, an Emo Girls doll, a Caddy Shack gopher, Barbie's pooping dog, South Park's Mr. Hankey, an Insultinator, or other strange and silly products, check out Mike Mozart's collection of fun reviews first. [YouTube videos, approx. 2 to 3 mins. each]
posted on Sep 12, 2007 - View this thread

BeaterReview was formed to help the depreciation-averse enthusiast and automotive bottom-feeder alike find gold in them thar' mountains of rust.
posted on Sep 11, 2007 - View this thread

The Muse's Muse Songwriting Resource is the place for songwriting tips, tools, interactivities and connecting with other songwriters around the world. See the section about musical instruments or get into the guitar player's guide. Start communicating with other musicians and songwriters in the forums and check out the music reviews. Lots to do, see, hear, learn, and most of all, enjoy.
posted on Aug 22, 2007 - View this thread

The Center for Nursing Advocacy seems like your typical professional advocacy group—the group's mandate is "to increase public understanding of the central, front-line role nurses play in modern health care." While often the group does its work by highlighting serious issues facing the nursing profession, the Center also keeps a watchful eye on portrayals of nurses in popular culture, both good and bad. And then there are the reviews that, frankly, seem to be stretching things just a bit.
posted on Jul 14, 2007 - View this thread

Reviews of Dating Tips...? Comic book review blog Hoopla! takes a break from the funny books and instead reviews internet dating tips. Much hilarity ensues.
posted on Jun 19, 2007 - View this thread

CRUD CRUD, brief reviews from a thrift store record collection. Also, Gibble Gabble, spoken-word record reviews, from the same collector.
posted on Jun 8, 2007 - View this thread

Amazon-ian Warrior. An unassuming Canadian chap has been quietly submitting ludicrous reviews of products sold on Amazon.com for nearly 5 years. For example, his detailed commentary on George P Joyce's A Comparative Analysis of Two Alternatives to Chemical Aircraft Paint Stripping:

Joyce is an alchemist, taking the leaden medium of technical report writing, and transmuting it with his warm spirit, pouring his pen over the obscured voices of the chemical aircraft paint strippers like a mellifluous caramel gold; redeeming them in a universal chorus of aircraft paint strippers, their individual spirits vibrating like strings in a cosmic harp.

Part of the fun is seeing how many people rated each review as helpful; for example, he gets 100% approval for his comments on Flautist Angel Statuette (This 'flautist angel' is crude, eschewing classical representation to debase itself in the distortions of folk art. A freak frisson of masochism prompted me to order an item that believes human anatomy is modelled upon slurry running from a faucet. Look at it.) while virtually no-one was impressed by his analysis of How Conservatives Won The Heart Of America (Thought-provoking. I did not know that the "heart of America" is an actual item the Conservatives won in a game of squash in 1972; I assumed it was a metaphor.) Since Amazon started adding RSS feeds and enabling comments on reviews, he finally appears to be starting to reach an audience; those wishing to keep updated with his sporadic but fantastic work may appreciate this handy Feedburner URL.
posted on Jan 22, 2007 - View this thread

The Ten Word Review Review anything you like, but in ten words or less. For example:
A Scanner Darkly: Rotoscoping gives Keanu a soul. Shame he opens his mouth.
posted on Jan 17, 2007 - View this thread

"I yearn for that kind of a backpacking trip minus the bears." "I was much the happy to know this man was tremendously eaten ferociously by the grizzly bear." "Not bad but not enough black chicks."

The work of these online reviewers may not merit their own special edition, but they're special in their own way. Doc Savage reviews 200+ items on Amazon, most of which he hates, unless they involve black women and/or Carly Simon. At Netflix, HV from Duvall is not nearly as prolific, but gets 5 stars for sublimely anfractuous English. And DJAkin over at IMDB has written nearly 500 reviews, although most of them read like Jackie Harvey's Mad Libs. He (or she) may not be the next A. O. Scott, but if you can find me a critic with a more sincere and unsnarked love of cinema, I'll eat my britches.
posted on Jan 8, 2007 - View this thread

Fun Motion - a blog dedicated to physics-simulating games, currently with 49 reviews (and counting) of well known favorites like Stair Dismount and Truck Dismount, Towers of Goo, Toribash and many, many more. (A follow up to my previous YouTube post.) Kiss your precious, fleeting motes of productivity goodbye, cube-farmers!
posted on Oct 19, 2006 - View this thread

Pre-marital sex! Eastern religious influences! Nods to Darwinian evolution! Spitefulness! In a world where rock music is poised to corrupt the souls of young America, the music review section of Plugged In Online (developed by Focus on the Family) promises to evaluate music not by melody, rhythm, beat or sound, but by the spirit of Colossians 2:8: "See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ."
posted on Sep 18, 2006 - View this thread

POD-dy Mouth - a blog reviewing the best of print-on-demand (self-published) books: "finding needles, discarding hay". Also with commentary on the industry itself, and great snark (1, 2). Take her quiz: can you spot the POD excerpts from the traditionally published? (Answers here.)
posted on Aug 12, 2006 - View this thread

Effective Against Elton John. Amazon starts selling groceries online. People start reviewing their products. Hilarity ensues.
posted on Aug 6, 2006 - View this thread

Dallasfood.org is home to some excellent food journalism. The author mostly reviews BBQ joints around the Dallas area. There are some additional features, such as the (currently in-progress) review of 50 chicken-fried steaks, counted down from worst to best.
posted on Jul 1, 2006 - View this thread

The Weekly Blurb - "Your dependable Hollywood quote whore." Probably by the same people who long ago brought us late, lamented Timmy Big Hands. And A Year At The Movies and Movie Megacheese. And, you know, something else.
posted on Apr 10, 2006 - View this thread

Looking for an ego boost? The fine people over at The Screenplay Agency are the place for you! No logline too stupid, no script too poorly written! Are you tired of agency after agency telling you that they don't want your 20 year old screenplay about how much you love peanut butter just because "It doesn't make any sense, and is written with crayon on a pile of dirty gym socks?" I know I was! Until I found out about The Screenplay Agency, who promptly accepted every criminally copyright infringing idea I threw at them until I just KNEW I was every bit as good I writer as I've always told myself I am. And all they asked of me was approximately $250 in fees paid to coverage agencies no one has ever heard of and which seem to be owned by the same company that owns The Screenplay Agency! Sure, you've heard of publishing scams like Publish America (part 2) thanks to the diligence of sites like Making Light and our own thread on the matter, but The Screenplay Agency is totally different! For one thing, they only rip you off boost your ego through screenplays. Now, some legitimate screenplay writers high and mighty hollywood types have gone and pranked this excellent automated delusion reinforcer. But don't let those spoilsports spoil your sport! (God, I am such a great writer. No wonder they loved my screenplay!) Go ahead and generate your own rave reviews!
posted on Feb 25, 2006 - View this thread

Christmas carols reviewed It's that time of year again for the Christmas Abstract: a music reviewer casts his ear upon tunes of the season. Mostly acerbic, but still interesting. Even includes dialog between Jesus and the Pottery Barn music director.
posted on Dec 7, 2005 - View this thread

"This book isn't as good as Harry Potter in MY opinion, and no one can refute me. Tastes are relative!" A review of Orwell's 1984 on Amazon, from a list compiled by Matthew Baldwin at The Morning News with a selection of the funniest one-star reviews of books from Time's list of the 100 best novels.
posted on Oct 23, 2005 - View this thread

Many San Franciscans, when returning to the city after a trip, will tell you the first thing they want after they get back is a burrito. With features like reviews, playoffs, and a monthly newsletter, burritoeater.com is your resource for finding your slab in The City. What? Oh, I guess they have burritos in other cities, too, huh.
posted on Oct 18, 2005 - View this thread

Do you like claret? Wine reviewer writes haiku. (More fun than Parker.)
posted on Sep 26, 2005 - View this thread

C'mon, Roger Ebert, tell us what you really think about "Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo." And on a completely related note, today Ebert's website launched "Ebert's Most Hated," a collection of classic zero- and one-star reviews. My favorites: "North" and "Freddy Got Fingered."
posted on Aug 12, 2005 - View this thread

Do restaurant reviews leave out too many details for you to get a feel for a place? For the last year, a chowhound with the handle perceptor has been sharing beautiful pictorial restaurants reviews (mainly in L.A.), to the delight of many. Here they are: (* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *) [MI]
posted on Aug 3, 2005 - View this thread

Ars Technica has an updated review of ten different USB 2.0 flash drives. In the market for a floppy drive replacement? Have you just purchased a flash drive and want to know how it stacks up to the competition? Read on to see which drive meets your needs and what extras you get for the cash. With which USB drives have Mefites been most satisfied?
posted on Apr 20, 2005 - View this thread

The Single Man's Guide to TV Dinners
Teetering on the fine line between parody and sincerity, Ray guides us through the perilous world of TV dinners.

The box cover boasts "Extra Helpings of Beef Enchilada..". As I mentioned earlier, the dinner only contains one beef enchilada. What is an "Extra Helping"?

The cheese-to-meat-to-vegetable ratio is appropriate. After eating a few slices, you won't be left with a strange aftertaste.
posted on Mar 31, 2005 - View this thread

Another victim of 'The Amazon Treatment'. Remember the Amazon post from the other day? Well, if you liked that, you'll love this one. This time, it's an anal douche getting what I'm calling "The Amazon Treatment". Amazon's going to scope this out and delete the 'reviews' - therefore if you're so inclined here's your chance to wallow in the merriment. If it's gone by the time you read this, I've copied some of the posts here.
posted on Mar 26, 2005 - View this thread

MusicalGenius: What does a comedic genius stuck in lonely ol' Minneapolis do for fun? He becomes an ice cream eating, elephant fanatic who opens a Mashed Potato bar, of course. (Amazon.com)
posted on Mar 17, 2005 - View this thread

The Spaghetti Book Club offers book reviews by kids for kids, searchable in a variety of ways. (And most of the reviews are also illustrated by the kid-authors!). One of my favorites begins: "Do you like bad ideas or thinking about them? Well, if you like bad ideas then you should read The Book of Bad Ideas. The Book of Bad Ideas is a book that has bad ideas you really shouldn't try at home. If you try them you'll be soooorrrrryyyyy! If you want to learn more about it, I'll suggest a website but I don't know any. Maybe you should read the book."
posted on Mar 3, 2005 - View this thread

BooksWeLike collaborative book recommendations. This site was mentioned in passing in a recent MeFi thread and in this Salon article, but it deserves a moment in the spotlight of its own. A beta, it may have yet to realize its full potential in terms of features and performance, but the more people join and recommend books, the more interesting and useful the recommendations will be. It also offers links to Amazon, indie booksellers, and maybe even your local library.
posted on Feb 16, 2005 - View this thread

Metacritic Books. Metacritic has been covering reviews for movies, music, and games for years, but now has started aggregating books reviews, with about 150 books so far.
posted on Jan 3, 2005 - View this thread

"LAB-TESTED: Just which toys, bowls, crates, etc. can stand up to the tender attentions of a young and determined Labrador Retreiver?" A Consumer Reports-like website for testing stuff to see how it will stand up to a big dog. My favorite item. What a neat way to write your dog off as a business expense!
posted on Dec 13, 2004 - View this thread

Princess Maker 2 - Stressed out from current events? I doubt the game is as much fun to play as it is to be bewildered by, but either might help. "...is basically a perverse sports management simulation where your entire team consists of a single ten year old girl that you have to raise to adulthood. Much like any decent sports manager game you have to keep track of a nearly overwhelming number of statistics that fluctuate based on training. In Princess Maker 2 these run the gamut from the mundane like "strength" and "charisma", to the droll like "cooking" and "conversation", to the bizarre like "sin" and "temper". "
posted on Oct 28, 2004 - View this thread

Bad Candy: Despite the lack of new candy reviews Bad Candy remains one of those sites you can go back to time after time. Side-splitting hours within. "None of this prepared us for the taste, of course. My Love is a time-release candy; it doesn't taste unbearable until it has firmly entrenched itself in your mouth. Then, all at once, My Love issues forth its vinegary bitterness, wilting tongue and lips alike with its thick, saucy, Drano-like quality." (this site was mentioned once in passing on the blue, but deserves a post of it's own)
posted on Sep 30, 2004 - View this thread

You're all dummies and you're reading it wrong! Anne Rice's latest book has gotten some crummy reviews on Amazon, and she's seriously POed that the "outrageous stupidity" of the proles allowed to review on the site are tarnishing one of her her editor-free "virtuoso performance(s)." (Scroll down to Anne Obrien Rice- guaranteed real name by Amazon, and feel free to compare this rant to the one on her official website.)
posted on Sep 20, 2004 - View this thread

Critique Magazine's On Writing III - Each year, Critique Magazine's staff compiles essays by and interviews with writers, teachers, and translators of merit for inclusion in the special anniversary edition "On Writing".

Basically, a shitload of authors provide thoughts on, ahem, writing. {Both sites are worth a look, imo.}
posted on Sep 15, 2004 - View this thread

"First, look up the most popular and critically-acclaimed books, movies, and music on Amazon. Click on 'Customer Reviews,' and sort them by 'Lowest Rating First'..." The Amazon.com Knee-Jerk Contrarian Game.
posted on Jul 2, 2004 - View this thread

The Pastiche of a Presidency, Imitating a Life, in 957 Pages This is a very bad review of the Clinton book, soon to be released. My question: why has the New York Times placed a book review on its front page? Would they have done this if the book were given a good review? Is the "paper of record" making a clear-cut statement about its feelings about Clinton? Has any other book review made the front page of the NY Times? I for one plan to read the book. I recall that Edmund Wilson once said: always stick to primary sources rather relying upon what some scholar or reviewer has to say about a book. Finally, Clinton is out of office (alas). How much longer will small and jealous puppies chase after The Big Dog?
posted on Jun 20, 2004 - View this thread

Would you call Googlebombing on Amazon Amazabombing? Ask Bill Frist, since whatever you call it, it just happened to him.
posted on Mar 28, 2004 - View this thread

NOT COMING TO A THEATER NEAR YOU - Great film site. Best part is the review section with pages of commentary on all sorts of splendid, taboo, controversial, or plainly difficult to discuss, and potentially unwatchable yet ambitious cinema. And also some others (with, of course, the usual suspects) My only complaint is some of the reviews spoil the actual ending of the films instead of discuss them very objectively, but that's the Internet for you. Still a fine fine site, I say. More reviews from the site found here.
posted on Mar 9, 2004 - View this thread

It's not quite fresh, according to mainstream reviewers polled by Rotten Tomatoes. But Christian Bloggers feel very differently. As one reports, I went into the movie expecting to be moved, but never to the extent that I actually was. But both sides seems to agree the R rating should be taken very seriously.
posted on Feb 26, 2004 - View this thread

A concerned reader in St. Louis just might be Dave Eggers. A weekend glitch on Amazon Canada allowed people to see the true secret identities behind reviews on the site. [NYT Link]
posted on Feb 17, 2004 - View this thread