Richard Harris Books

I had not seen this movie, but I was so glad that I bought it. It was wonderful!!!!!

I found this movie utterly predictable and Dennis Hopper's performance as the town drunk only tolerable. Gene Hackman is the new high school basketball coach in basketball crazy Hickory, Indiana in 1951. He is a man with a past, although it is not as dark as it initially appears. Hopper plays Shooter, the town drunk whose son is on the seven man team. Despite his sodden brain, Shooter has a superb understanding of the game and Hackman selects him to be his assistant coach. You know immediately that Shooter is going to sober up and become a real coach. The scenes where Hackman is thrown out of the game and Shooter must take over are forced and unrealistic; Hopper is unconvincing as a person stressed out over the combination of alcohol withdrawal and having to take charge.
Even the scene when Hackman is attending a town meeting where the purpose is to decide whether he should be fired lacks a great deal of tension. It is not out of the apparent politeness of the townspeople, there is a lack of passion among all participants. This is supposed to be a town passionate about basketball and a coach passionate about the game.
I was bored throughout the entire movie and struggled to watch it through to the end.

Love this movie! I love the flavor of Indiana more than anything. Visited that state and the area they speak of many times in my youth. Great inspirational story. Just a quick note...a joke is lost in the subtitles mid-way through the semi-national game. After being fouled out of the game, Coach glares at his player, for which the subtitles read "It was for the team". The line is actually "it was Dentyne", throwing back a joke Coach said in an earlier huddle. Being deaf helps with these things! Amazing movie still.

GREAT SPORTS MOVIE! INSTEAD OF REVIEWING MOVIE, WHICH WE ALL KNOW IS A GREAT SPORTS MOVIE, JUST WANTED TO SAY THE BLU-RAY PICTURE IS A HUGE IMPROVEMENT OVER MY OLD DVD. I'M ONLY REPLACING MY OLD MOVIES THAT I LOVE BUT LOOK BAD ON MY NEW HDTV. WAS VERY PLEASED WITH THE PICTURE QUALITY ON THIS. THE ONLY DRAWBACK TO THIS BLU-RAY IS THERE AREN'T ANY EXTRAS EXCEPT FOR A TRAILER. BUT IF YOUR LOOKING FOR BETTER PICTURE QUALITY, YOU WON'T BE DISSAPOINTED.

Hoosiers DVD

I don't know how I missed this film when it came out in 1986. It is a story of a middle-aged basketball coach and his last chance for redemption. It is suppose to be loosely based on a true story (whatever that means). Gene Hackman does a great job as the coach with Dennis Hopper as a supporting actor.

Of course every body knows that all Indiana boys play basketball, just nail a basket to the side of a barn and start shooting, right? Unfortunately basketball is more than simply shooting the ball through a goal.

The movie is set in Indiana in 1951, a little before my time as a high school basketball player. It does raise some questions with me such as how much difference can a coach make at the high school level? Mine made all the difference in the world, but I was fortunate to have Coach Jerry Wayne Shelton. I suspect they can make less of a difference at the colligate level.

Highly recommended for any one who played high school basketball.

Gunner March 2008

I had not seen this movie, but I was so glad that I bought it. It was wonderful!!!!!

I found this movie utterly predictable and Dennis Hopper's performance as the town drunk only tolerable. Gene Hackman is the new high school basketball coach in basketball crazy Hickory, Indiana in 1951. He is a man with a past, although it is not as dark as it initially appears. Hopper plays Shooter, the town drunk whose son is on the seven man team. Despite his sodden brain, Shooter has a superb understanding of the game and Hackman selects him to be his assistant coach. You know immediately that Shooter is going to sober up and become a real coach. The scenes where Hackman is thrown out of the game and Shooter must take over are forced and unrealistic; Hopper is unconvincing as a person stressed out over the combination of alcohol withdrawal and having to take charge.
Even the scene when Hackman is attending a town meeting where the purpose is to decide whether he should be fired lacks a great deal of tension. It is not out of the apparent politeness of the townspeople, there is a lack of passion among all participants. This is supposed to be a town passionate about basketball and a coach passionate about the game.
I was bored throughout the entire movie and struggled to watch it through to the end.

Love this movie! I love the flavor of Indiana more than anything. Visited that state and the area they speak of many times in my youth. Great inspirational story. Just a quick note...a joke is lost in the subtitles mid-way through the semi-national game. After being fouled out of the game, Coach glares at his player, for which the subtitles read "It was for the team". The line is actually "it was Dentyne", throwing back a joke Coach said in an earlier huddle. Being deaf helps with these things! Amazing movie still.

GREAT SPORTS MOVIE! INSTEAD OF REVIEWING MOVIE, WHICH WE ALL KNOW IS A GREAT SPORTS MOVIE, JUST WANTED TO SAY THE BLU-RAY PICTURE IS A HUGE IMPROVEMENT OVER MY OLD DVD. I'M ONLY REPLACING MY OLD MOVIES THAT I LOVE BUT LOOK BAD ON MY NEW HDTV. WAS VERY PLEASED WITH THE PICTURE QUALITY ON THIS. THE ONLY DRAWBACK TO THIS BLU-RAY IS THERE AREN'T ANY EXTRAS EXCEPT FOR A TRAILER. BUT IF YOUR LOOKING FOR BETTER PICTURE QUALITY, YOU WON'T BE DISSAPOINTED.

Hoosiers DVD

I don't know how I missed this film when it came out in 1986. It is a story of a middle-aged basketball coach and his last chance for redemption. It is suppose to be loosely based on a true story (whatever that means). Gene Hackman does a great job as the coach with Dennis Hopper as a supporting actor.

Of course every body knows that all Indiana boys play basketball, just nail a basket to the side of a barn and start shooting, right? Unfortunately basketball is more than simply shooting the ball through a goal.

The movie is set in Indiana in 1951, a little before my time as a high school basketball player. It does raise some questions with me such as how much difference can a coach make at the high school level? Mine made all the difference in the world, but I was fortunate to have Coach Jerry Wayne Shelton. I suspect they can make less of a difference at the colligate level.

Highly recommended for any one who played high school basketball.

Gunner March 2008

This is one of the best books I have read about the OSS operations in a theatre that is rarely considered.

WEB Griffin fills a gap in my military history of actions outside the main combat arenas. He obviously researches thoroughly and the result is gripping all the way through.

Honor Bound captures your attention at the start and never lets go. While there is not really a lot of "action," the story, the settings and the character development all make for an excellent book.

The story is the recruitment and development of an OSS team to carry out a secret mission to disrupt German submarine activity in neutral Argentina during WWII. The sub story is the reconnection of a powerful Argentine father and his American son who have not seen each other since the son was an infant. Several other sub stories are also woven in. All are interesting and well told.

The primary setting is WWII Buenos Aires. Most of us are unaware of the atmosphere there during the war, so that makes for a good learning experience. Other settings include Guadacanal, Midland (Texas) and New Orleans. All add interest to the story.

Griffen also does an excellent job of developing his characters. The primary ones really come to life.

If you are looking for "shoot 'em up" action, this book is not for you. If you are looking for a fascinating book about an arena that you probably know little about, give this a try. I am pretty sure you won't be disappointed.

The book set in WWII Argentina, "Honor Bound" is a great historical fiction of the WWII espionage game, coupled with an intense and dynamic story line. Cletus Frade, is a magnificent hero who has intensity, likeability, and charm. The secondary characters are richly developed and are as interesting in many cases as the hero. This story wraps you up in the characters, make you care about them, and takes you on a wonderful journey that ends way too soon, thankfully there are two more books in the series.
This is the best W.E.B. Griffin book yet in my opinion, and one of the most enjoyable books that I have ever had the pleasure of reading!
OVERALL SCORE: (A+)
PLOT: (A+), CHARATERS: (A+), DIALOGUE: (A), SETTING: (A), ACTION/COMBAT: (B-), ANTAGONISTS: (A+), ROMANCE: (A-), SEX: (Light), AGE LEVEL: (PG)

Shipped home from the Pacific, Cletus Frade learns that he will be sent to Argentina to aid in the war effort against the Nazis. He and two other Americans are sent to Argentina to sink a Nazi ship refueling and rearming German U-boats. In Argentina Cletus meets his long lost father, a very important man in Argentina and tries to sway him toward the United States. During the course of his mission Frade comes upon many problems, falls in love and builds a strong relationship with his father.
I recommend this book very highly. This book never had a dull moment. This is the second book of W.E.B. Griffin that I have read and I enjoyed both of them. This book takes place during World War Two and contains a lot of real to the time's technology and information. Griffin obviously spent a great deal of time researching before he wrote this book. It pays off. The quality of the story is greatly enhanced by the use of factual information. Of the many books in this genre that I have read this is one of the better ones. The story line drives along at a steady action packed pace. Though this book is projected more towards the middle-aged male demographic, I think that anyone who enjoys espionage, romance, anyone interested in World War Two or anyone who enjoys fiction would greatly enjoy reading this book. This is a great book and I recommend it to anyone.

I haven't seen this in over 20 years and was thrilled to stumble across a VHS copy of it. Candy and Levy really shine with Flaherty playing a solid Second City back-up. Really funny stuff, despite being dated. Just good old fashioned silly and fun. Sad to have lost Candy so young. He was an all time great. Any John Candy fan should own this film!!!

I dare anyone to keep a straight face throughout this movie!

As one who has seen all of John's work, I was flabbergasted to find this film at, or near the bottom of his film's popularity list. I can only attribute this awsome oversight to the fact that it hasn't been released on DVD. Why? Perhaps the 1984 release date? Or could it be a conspiracy by some "Anti-Candy-ite"? Who knows.

I am one who seldom, if ever, cares to see a film more than once, regardless of how great it might be, but "Going Berserk" changed all that. This non-stop roller coaster ride thru the most bizzare mis-adventure ever to befall human kind, is one I can't get enough of!

I daresay that if ya can't get it on DVD, Buy the VHS, and use that as an excuse to buy a DVD recorder as well!

TheDoc

Although somewhat dated, this is a hilarious film and one of John Candy's best. It is nonstop, madcap humor and slapstick with some funny sexual situations thrown in for good measure. Who can forget the twisted "Father Knows Best" sequences shown to brainwash John Candy's character against his father-in-law Ed Reese? Another memorable and hilarious character is Mohammed Jerome Willy, outlaw, who meets a rather unusual but stimulating demise.

Featuring a stellar cast, this is one movie you'll enjoy watching over and over again.

If you are lucky enough, also record it on TV--there was a different version made for television (cleaned up, of course), but the TV version features different scenes from the theatrical release.

One of my favorite comedies ever! The SCTV guys are great!!!

This early John Candy masterpiece is two hours of solid laughter. Ignore the silly plot. The main character (Candy) just goes from one improbable situation to a more improbable one. And they're well-written: You can't really predict what will happen (at least, not the first viewing...). If you like SNL, then this is the equivalent of two hours of SNL-like skits. You just keep laughing. John Candy is magnificent.

As a beginner in Korean, I was looking for something more than a dictionary, but with the understanding of an English
speaking person who has learned Korean. This is it! Richard Harris explains the joys and pitfalls of learning
Korean in an entertaining way. It's just shy of having a conversation with the author. Very enjoyable learning
experience!

Roadmap to Korean is a great book explaining the languistic structure, culture, and history of Korea(n). Richard Harris has done a great job explaining the most important parts of the language that no other book has bothered to cover. Harris explains the troubles that English speaks will have with the language and specific differences are explained in an English speaker's point of view. I have read over this book many times since I have been studying Korean and each time I get something else out of it. It is a definite buy for anyone wishing to learn the language or just want to simply learn what it's about. It makes an excellent reference for verb conjugations, phrases, numbers, and much more. If you want to learn Korean, this is the book to start with. You will not be disappointed.

This is an absolutely ESSENTIAL item for ANY student of the Korean language, especially those whose native language is English. Why? 1) It bridges a gap no Korean educator has ever thought (or perhaps known how) to address or even acknowledge. 2) It does the job superlatively well.
While Korea has no shortage of well-meaning and skilled teachers of their language (including several I've had) they invariably fall short in one key area: understanding exactly what obstacles a foreigner faces in learning Korean, and how to help us past them. (In fairness, Korea is still relatively new to the game of exporting their language and culture on a major scale - compared to, say, America or Japan.) Richard Harris turns out to be just the guy for the job; a long-suffering yet enthusiastic student of the language, and a straightforwardly engaging writer to boot.
Aside from drastically different grammar, most of the roadblocks turn out to be conceptual - areas of culture and living where Koreans and non-Koreans simply think differently, in ways that defy literal translation. (this is a language in which one might ask "How are you?" by saying "Have you eaten?" or "Where are you going?") It's in the illustration of these tricky areas that Harris truly excels; anyone who's spent much time in Korea, such as yours truly, has stumbled into more than one of these minefields!
Bottom line: if you're learning Korean, BUY THIS BOOK. It'll save you an incalculable amount of time and frustration, and enlighten you about a lot more than just the language in the bargain.

This book gives tons of great advice on how to learn Korean. If it were up to me, it would be standard issue for students studying Korean at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA.

Roadmap to Korean by Richard Harris takes a look at learning Korean from a historical, cultural, and pop linguistic point of view. There are twenty-two chapters, five sections and an extensive appendices that combined make this a book that the Korean language student will find invaluable. The value doesn't come from teaching you Korean as that is not what Harris is trying to do, but rather from providing a new perspective and insight into learning Korean and finding avenues to overcome obstacles and difficulties...

(...)

The photos in this book are gorgeous. There's some sublime shots of stalagmite/stalagtite formations in the Devil's Womb, and a stunning two page montage of an iron ore skein in Deep Green Cave. There's also photos of the wildlife you get in the caves - bats, crabs and blind moles, and a couple of cracking shots of some chutney ferrets down in the darkest recesses of Kak Canyon. I *love* this book.

A most enjoyable and informative read, for the "professional" caver, the new spelunker, or the armchair sort (me!) who's just curious about caving!

Beautiful pictures!

I read the entire book in a day and it was time well spent!

In Colorado Caves: Hidden Worlds Beneath The Peaks, Richard Rhinehart examines the exploration, history, science, and conservation of Colorado's fabulous caves. The informative and engaging text is profusely illustrated with the outstanding color photography of David Harris, and includes some b/w historical photographs as well. Well suited for the tourist or spelunker, there are listings of Colorado caves that can be visited by the general public. Whether an armchair traveler or a dedicated cave exploration enthusiast, Colorado Caves is very highly recommended reading!

This is the 4th edition of this volume. Harris provides a nice overview to media psychology. I think the book is mistitled because it does not really deal with cognitive psychology (as a cognitive psychologist would define it). For example, there is limited discussion of factors influencing attention to TV or the cognitive representation of media stories or even how media stories are comprehended. Rather, the book really looks at social psychological approaches to the media (e.g., models of advertising effectiveness, motivations for watching TV, effects of TV violence etc). The volume is an excellent introduction to what is often referred to as media psychology, but I do think it is mistitled. Also, there are topics that are missing from the volume. For example, there is a growing research literature on factors influencing the entertainment value of a TV show or movie and that literature is not discussed in this book. I do use it as a textbook in a undergraduate seminar I teach and the students generally enjoy the book, but it is a textbook, but it does an excellent job at introducing readers to the psychological study of the media.

This is one of the best texts on the effects, either real or imagined, of mass communication on its consumers. Texts on research can be hard to get through. However, Richard Jackson Harris takes years of scholarly writings from the classic "Bobo Doll Study" to the latest in mass communication research and provides the reader with one of the most objective, comprehensive, witty and easy-to-read texts this subject.

For any mass communication scholar or practitioner, this is an absolute must read. I have written several research papers throughout college and graduate school, and this book was an indespensible tool. If communication is your thing, get it now!

The wealth of diversity in Faces of Korea is second to none. The author has well-researched and documented the experiences of foreigners living in Korea. From men and women to young adults and elder citizens, from migrant laborers and corporate professionals to teachers and writers, the interesting diversity in this book adds to its authentic credibility.

This is a collection of accounts of a number of people who live, or had lived, in South Korea. The occupations of the people whose stories are relayed in this volume are varied, and range from those working as office workers, those who are students or who are serving in the US military, and of course those working as the obligatory ESL teacher. The nationalities are as diverse as the occupations - as well as people of Korean descent, there are also Americans, Japanese, Filipinos, and New Zealanders, all of whom have interesting stories to tell about various aspects of their lives in Korea.

The book is split into 6 main sections, each dealing with a particular general aspect of life in Korea. One section is about working in Korea, another discusses social relations in Korea. People of Korean descent share their experiences in one section, and students in Korea get another section. A particularly interesting section is dedicated to those people who have formally made Korea their home, including one white US male who renounced his American citizenship to become a Korea. The final section, which I suspect will be the cause of most people's interest in this book is teaching in Korea. This is hardly surprising since ESL teaching is a relatively high profile and popular occupation for many young foreigners in Korea.

All but one of the contributors to the teaching section have taught in Hagwons, the most common employer of ESL teachers in Korea. The sole exception was the contributor who had only taught as an university instructor, although a number of the Hagwon teachers also went on to teach at a university - again hardly surprising, since it is quite a popular gig, usually teaching 15 hours or so a week, for nearly twice the pay of a Hagwon teacher. This section will be of most use to those readers who plan on teaching in Korea, as a number of the contributors discuss the common pitfalls for a novice in this field, and tips to help get by. This isn't to say the other sections aren't of interest. Many of the contributors give interesting insights into life, love, work and play in the Land of the Morning Calm. Recommended reading for those wanting insights into life in modern Korea, as well as those considering teaching in Korea.

Often overshadowed by the massive historical figure of Winston Churchill, with whom he both served and faced across the dispatch box, Clement Attlee was one of the most important figures in twentieth century British political history. Leader of the Labour Party for twenty years, he took it from its nadir in the early 1930s to electoral triumph a decade later, and successfully managed the talented and fractious group that realized Britain's postwar embrace of socialism. Understanding how this was accomplished is one of the many goals of Kenneth Harris in this biography, which illuminates Attlee's personality while chronicling his role in transforming his country.

Born in 1883, Attlee enjoyed an almost impossibly idealistic childhood. The son of a diligent, prosperous solicitor, he grew up in a comfortable and loving household. Some of this may have been reflected in his education; his time at both Haileybury and Oxford was undistinguished academically, as Attlee focused more on social pursuits than on his studies. Though he followed his father into a career in the law, Attlee found legal work tedious, and was drifting through life when he accepted an invitation from his elder brother Lawrence to visit the Haileybury Club in Stepney, a social and educational organization run along military lines. The visit was to prove to be the turning point of his life, as Attlee soon agreed to participate in the running of the club. The commitment inaugurated his new career as a social worker and led to his embrace of socialism.

After service in the Army during the First World War - a period Harris covers only briefly - Attlee returned to the East End and began his career in politics, first as a councilman from Limestone, then (in 1922) as a member of the House of Commons. His rise in the parliamentary party was swift, taking place during some of the most tumultuous years in the history of the Labour Party. Harris does an excellent job of describing the political crisis of 1931, which tore the party apart. Though the subsequent election devastated the ranks of the party in the Commons, the resulting political vacuum provided Attlee with the greatest opportunity of his political career. As one of the few surviving members with ministerial experience, Attlee rose in prominence, becoming first deputy leader, then assuming the leadership of the party in 1935.

Almost nobody expected Attlee to last as the head of the Parliamentary Labour Party; instead, he became the longest-serving leader in its history. That he was Harris attributes to his personal qualities, most notably his hard work, his ability to moderate ideological conflicts within the Labour Party, his skill in presenting Socialist views in terms that appealed to the party rank-and-file, and his ability to manage the fractious egos in the party leadership. It was the last of these that Harris sees as the greatest test of Attlee's abilities, as he worked with a number of gifted and ambitious colleagues who thought that they could do a better job of leading the party (and later the country) than he could. Attlee was helped by the mutual jealousies of each of these plotters, which often checked the efforts of any one of them to supplant Attlee, and by the unstinting loyalty of Ernest Bevin, with whom Attlee developed the closest friendship he enjoyed in politics.

The Second World War dramatically altered the Labour Party's role in government. Rejecting Neville Chamberlain's offers of a coalition, Attlee supported Churchill's ascent to the premiership in May 1940 and served in the War Cabinet for the remainder of the conflict with Germany. Harris gives considerable credit for the success of the coalition to Attlee, who took over many of the domestic aspects of governing while Churchill focused on the management of the war. This included planning for postwar construction, which evidenced many socialist ideas and approaches and would serve as a blueprint for much of what Labour would accomplish after the war.

Though Attlee wished to remain in the coalition after the defeat of Germany, the Labour Party's insistence on an October election led Churchill to dissolve Parliament in May, 1945. The resulting Labour landslide defied nearly everyone's expectations, including Attlee's, and made him prime minister of a government committed to the longstanding Labour agenda of nationalization and expanded social welfare policies. Harris' coverage of Attlee's premiership is thematic; he divides his chapters into sections analyzing Attlee's foreign policy, economic policy, and his approach towards burgeoning decolonization. While useful in defining Attlee's underlying ideas and attitudes, it fails to convey the full complexities of the job he faced as prime minister during some of the most challenging years Britain faced.

These challenges gradually wore down the Labour government, leaving Attlee in charge of an exhausted and ailing group at the end of his term. The party's reduced majority in the election of 1950 made another election in the near future inevitable, and when it came in 1951 the Conservatives emerged with a small majority. Attlee continued on as leader for four more years, primarily to rescue it from the growing divide between right-wingers and the Bevanites, until retiring after the 1955 election as a beloved figure and a respected elder statesman.

Harris' book is rooted in the author's familiarity with his subject; he knew Attlee for years and conducted several interviews with him. This familiarity doesn't prevent Harris from rendering critical judgments, though. While a staunch promoter of Attlee, he doesn't hesitate to condemn the prime minister when condemnation is warranted, such as with Attlee's handling of the Palestine problem. Is it this mixture of insight and criticism which makes this book an essential resource for anybody interested in the prime minister and his achievements, one unlikely to be surpassed in its account of Attlee the person.

The bad news first: this is NOT in widescreen.

Aside from that, (and the fact it's not available on DVD), this is an AWESOME movie for Dragnet fans. That is, for fans of the ORIGINAL Dragnet (1951). Joe Friday is a little bit rougher than the clean-cut model of decency who crossed the TV screen in the late 1960s. Here we have a tough, hard-hitting crime fighter who is not afraid to push some serious boundaries to get the job done (and it's stuff you could NEVER get away with today). But - no spoiling! - you've got to see it to believe it.

A bonus for those who grew up seeing the broadcast TV version is that this is a COMPLETE version (there were several scenes cut from the broadcast version - some of which are critical to the plot). But once again - no spoiling - you'll have to see it yourself.

A definite must-have for the hard core Dragnet fan!