OXO Good Grips Seafood and Nut Cracker
Average Customer Review:
Kitchen
list price: $11.99
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Editorial Review

With three different shelling surfaces, this shell and nut cracker cantackle the job whether it's wrestling with a walnut or a stubborn crabshell. Its shelling dish ensures that a spirited nut won't shoot across the table when the handles are compressed, and the tool's solid zinc construction makes it durable enough to split open a large lobster claw.

The Good Grips product line features durable, nonslip flexible handles. Ergonomically designed to fit the palm comfortably, the pressure-absorbing processed-rubber handles put less strain on the hands, while providing an outstanding grip. Made from the same material dishwasher gaskets are constructed of, the handles are slip-proof, wet or dry, as well as dishwasher-safe. Good Grips products are moderately priced and have won the Tylenol/Arthritis Foundation Design Award. --Laurie Notaro ... Read more

Features

• Cushioned, nonslip handles
• Three surfaces for cracking shells, from small nuts to large lobster claws
• Shelling dish keeps nuts in place
• Solid zinc for superior durability
• Dishwasher-safe

Reviews (2)

Great for seafood
A friend of ours had a pair of these seafood crackers.Its design is perfect to getting to that delectable meat in lobster claws.My husband and I had looked for them in local stores but to no avail.We've bought a countless number of other crackers that do not remotely compare to the ease and durability of these.

I finally received my very own pair from my sister for my birthday.

Here are a few details.

The non-slippery handles are ideal when your hands get all greasy from melted butter.

The width of the teeth allow a nice break in the lobster shell without having to resort to physical manhandling.

The heaviness of the cracker helps the jaws close when you get an oversized piece.

The hinge allows for natural opening and closing of the breaker as compared to the built-in spring of other crackers.

Last, but not least, these crackers can withstand being put in the dishwasher without rusting or cracking.

They are a great buy for any seafood lover!

Holes too big!
The product is very "gripable" and would earn 5 stars if the width of the 'pliers' were not that darn big.As they are, it's unlikely you'll be able to use that for more than 2 out of every 3 filberts... ... Read more

Asin: B00004OCLB
Subjects:  1. Nutcrackers    2. Seafood Tools   

Allen 29202 3-Piece Flare Nut Wrench Set
Average Customer Review:
Tools & Hardware

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Reviews (1)

Can we see a Metric set, please?
to whom it concerns:

Sorry. not a review.
I'd like to buy Allen brand
(smallish) METRIC flare set
(including wrenches for
brake lines smaller than 10mm)

thank you ... Read more

Asin: B00002NBFP
Sales Rank: 32289
Subjects:  1. Hand Tools    2. Wrenches   

All About Growing Fruits, Berries, and Nuts (Ortho's All about)
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 September, 1987)
list price: $9.95
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Reviews (1)

The title is accurate!
This is an informative book. It's part of the "Ortho Books" series, so it's large format and well illustrated. This book provides a lot of information on various varities of fruits, berries, & nuts, wherethey grow well, how to prune and train them, etc. This book is a greatreference, I learned a lot, and the price was right! ... Read more

Isbn: 0897210964
Sales Rank: 263023
Subjects:  1. Fruit    2. Fruit Crops    3. Fruit culture    4. Fruit-culture    5. Gardening    6. Gardening / Horticulture    7. Gardening/Plants    8. Nuts    9. United States   

Nuts
by Barbra Streisand Richard Dreyfuss
Director: Martin Ritt
Average Customer Review:
VHS Tape (01 July, 2003)
list price: $9.94
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Editorial Review

Barbra Streisand is a mad high-priced "escort" accused of murder, but whether she's mad as hell or mad as a hatter is the question in this courtroom drama, adapted from the play by Tom Topor. While her doting, willfully uncomprehending mother (Maureen Stapleton) and stepdad with a secret (Karl Malden) try to have her judged incompetent and sent to an asylum, she fights for her day in court with the help of a hapless legal aid attorney (a refreshingly understated Richard Dreyfuss). James Whitmore presides over the hearing with a compassion and sense of justice that gives onefaith in a system and la Streisand (who developed and produced the project) sinks her teeth into the tempestuous role like a starving actress. The plot holds few surprised, but the drama lies in the characters and veteran director Martin Ritt (Hud) brings out the best in a top-flight cast. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more

Features

• Color
• Closed-captioned
• NTSC

Reviews (30)

"I won't be nuts for you"
I would actually give this film four-and-a-half stars.Badly neglected by both audiences and critics at the time of it's original release, NUTS is a film that is ripe for reevaluation. Based on Tom Toplor's 1981 courtroom play, NUTS is definitely a dialogue-based film with little Hollywood flashiness. Though extremely well-written (by Toplor, adapting his own work with Darryl Ponicsan and Alvin Sargent) and sharply staged and directed by veteran Martin Ritt, it is the cast whom is really responsible bringing NUTS to life. Barbra Streisand gives an absolutely bravura performance that should have earned her an Oscar nomination. Alternately hilarious and frightening, Streisand is always mesmerizing as she delves so far into character.

Richard Dreyfess is nothing less than Streisand's equal as her public defender. He too was robbed of an Oscar nomination. The supporting cast is a top-notch ensemble of professional character actors (Maureen Stapleton, Eli Wallach, Robert Webber, James Whitmore, and Karl Malden), all of whom work their craft flawlessly. NUTS' screenplay does indulge in the predictability of some of the typical courtroom-plot conventions a little too often, but Toplor's absorbing script still deserves high praise for it's fascinating exploration of what constitutes as normality and whether or not the insane should be required to receive treatment. NUTS isn't going to win over any fans of 3-cuts-per-second action films, but it leave lovers of thought-provoking, expertly-acted dramas fascinated.

About the DVD: The picture quality is dark and grainy, however, I believe that this reflects the film's intended look. The sound is fine, and it's nice to have the film's trailer included. Streisand's intelligent and entertaining full-length commentary is the main extra here, and it more than makes up for the disappointing tracks she contributed to the WHAT'S UP, DOC? and MAIN EVENT DVDs.

Better than Critics rate it !
This movie is pretty good. The casting is possibly the best of any of Streisand's movies, Outside of Prince of Tides, and the performances put together by Streisand and Dreyfus are easily the best of their careers. The court room scenes are sterotypical of any courtroom drama, but the story outside the room is what keeps the film moving. Recommend it to anyone looking for a good Streisand or Dreyfus film.

Nuts (1987)
Barbra Streisand has been one of the most talented female singers in this world, with releasing a slew of successful albums. It wasn't until 1968, when Barbra decided to get her hands on acting career to back up her singing career, when she starred in the film adapted version of the Broadway classic, "Funny Girl", where she played the lead role of Fanny Brice. After Funny Girl, Barbra took the lead role of many other films, such as "The Way We Were", "Funny Lady", "Yentl", "The Main Event", "On A Clear Day You Can See Forever", "Hello Dolly", and many others. But in 1987, Barbra landed herself the lead role no one will ever forget. That role, ladies and gentlemen, was Claudia Draper for the film, "Nuts".

Claudia Draper (played by Barbra Streisand) is an expensive hooker, who is arrested for the murder of one of her clients (played by Leslie Nielson). What the courts and police don't know is that what Claudia has done was not first-degree manslaughter; it was clearly self-defense. Claudia and her date have already had sex with each other, but her date wanted a bit more. After refusing, he became rather aggressive, attacking Claudia. Strangling her, Claudia picks up a piece of glass and kills her date, in self-defense. Her mother, Rose Kirk (played by Maureen Stapleton), and her stepfather, Arthur Kirk (played by Karl Malden), along with two psychiatrists, as well as the police have considered her to be incompetent, especially for attending the trial, forcing her to stay in an institution. Defending Claudia is Aaron Levinsky (played by the brilliant and outstanding Richard Dreyfuss). During the preliminary hearing, Claudia's stepfather has revealed a devastating secret to his wife, as well as, the court. His deepest secret is the perfect explanation to why Claudia has terrible temper, as to also why her childhood was so terrible.

I have seen a pretty good share of Barbra's films, but as far as I'm concerned, her role as Claudia Draper is her highest and most brilliant. Whether you enjoy her music more, or her acting more, you cannot deny that this film is her absolute best. If you have not seen this film, then I suggest to you strongly that you see this film and watch Barbra Streisand in her most serious and touching role ever. ... Read more

Asin: B000006FQX
Subjects:  1. Feature Film-drama   

Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker (American Ballet Theatre)
by Mikhail Baryshnikov
Director: Tony Charmoli
Average Customer Review:
VHS Tape (21 August, 2001)
list price: $9.94
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Editorial Review

The American Ballet Theater version of the Tchaikovsky classic, a 1977 studio rendition directed by Tony Charmoli, has become a holiday perennial on PBS stations and home video. It's a favorite of parents who want to give their kids the gift of culture--and with good reason.There's a loose fairy tale plot to keep dance neophytes interested, and Boris Aronson's eye-candy production design is a series of lavish dioramas. From an imperial-era Russian Christmas party out of Tolstoy, a young girl named Clara (Gelsey Kirkland) is whisked in dreams to an imaginary world populated by the animated creations of the wizard toy maker Drosselmeier (Alexander Minz), who prances on his stick-thin limbs like a Dickens illustration come to life. The main attraction is, of course, Mikhail Baryshnikov, one of the greatest classical dancers of the century, at his absolute peak of athleticism and precision. An opening slow-motion montage diagrams his fabled smoothness of execution, elegant airborne trajectories that have a feather-light perfection.Music lovers who know only "The Nutcracker Suite" will relish the chance to hear this great score all the way through, conducted with lilt and vigor by Kenneth Schermerhorn. --David Chute ... Read more

Features

• Color
• Closed-captioned
• NTSC

Reviews (49)

Suprisingly Weak Nutcracker
Considering the many high rating of this production I was very disappointed and suprised to find it below average. The costumes look more like Halloween outfits and the scenery looks cheap. The worst part is the story line which is so lost that unless familiar with the Nutcracker a viewer will not understand this one. The entire last half is just disconnected dance after dance. The dancing is just OK but with no story line it is just dancing. In contrast I very highly recommend the Royal Ballet version with Miyako Yoshida and Jonathan Cope, excellant in every way that this is bad.

A coherent "Nutcracker" at last
Probably the most popular of all ballets, Tchaikovky's "The Nutcracker" is pretty much required holiday viewing for children and the experience is one to be shared with parents, too.The sparkling score, by turns intensely dramatic and supremely exhilarating, is as familiar as any Christmas carol or hymn.

The essential problem with the ballet's original staging is that the story line falls apart in the second act. The first act has a reasonable plot line given that this is a child's dream story.But after Clara helps the Nutcracker defeat the Mouse King and he turns into a handsome prince, they depart for the Kingdom of Sweets and, after the Waltz of the Snowflakes, the story line evaporates. Once the pair arrive in the Kingdom, poor Clara sits out the entire second act watching a succession of sweet treats dance the audience into diabetes, while Prince Charming deserts her for the Sugar Plum Fairy.In other words, the original staging gives the entire second act no plot line whatever, only a succession of divertissements with solo turns and a final pas de deux for the prince and the Sugar Plum Fairy.

Mikhail Baryshnikov's inspiration was to give this fragmented succession of dream images into a coherent story.Unfortunately as witness Celia Franca's infamous "it makes me want to vomit" rant, Baryshnikov's version is often misunderstood. Clara is not having an affair with Drosselmeyer, nor does he desire her.

The key to understanding Baryshnikov's interpretation is the Mouse King. It is immediately obvious from the King's costume--a long purple frock coat & short violet cape--that he is Clara's dream transformation of the drunken adult male party guest who wrenches off the Nutcracker's head (replacing Clara's brother as the culprit). In fact the mouse army are ALL Clara's dream transformations of the male party guests, including the paunchy, bemedalled general who throws out his back dancing the Champagne Promenade with Clara's nurse. (In the party scene, the guest who injures the Nutcracker is the ONLY one wearing a frock coat; all the other adult males [except the general] wear cutaways.)

In other words, the adult males are threatening to Clara (& this pretty much rules out any notion that she's involved with Drosselmeyer).Her dream, Drosselmeyer's gift as Baryshnikov's prologue explains, gently allows her to discover the womanly feelings with which her dawning womanhood endows her. At the party, then, Clara is a child among children, playing with toys (including the Nutcracker) as any child would.Her unexpected tenderness for the Nutcracker foreshadows her adult emotions for the prince after she helps him defeat the same individual who broke the toy during the party. Baryshnikov's staging of the first act stresses this theme by juxtaposing and contrasting the adults' and children's experiences of the party, in contrast to versions that foreground the children, such as the familiar Royal Ballet staging.

In the second act, Clara discovers new depths to her feelings.By banishing the Sugar Plum Fairy, Baryshnikov as the prince keeps Clara in the foreground and their near-ecstatic dances reveal her growing ease with adult feelings.But in the end,Drosselmeyer reappears to usher Clara out of her dream: her transformation into womanhood must take place in the real world, not in a dream fantasy.

As has been noted often enough, Baryshnikov was constrained to omit the Arabian variation in order to keep the film within the time frame for a television broadcast.This is unfortunate, as one can only imagine what he and Kirkland might have done with it.Mother Ginger is absent. Otherwise the score is intact; the familiar Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy survives with its angelic celeste accompaniment, here danced by Clara. The choreography for this number is the high point of Baryshnikov's tale: Clara's wonderfully hesitant yet ecstatic foot-dragging is forecast in her first-act pas de deux with the prince and reappears in a pendulum-like step in the second-act pas de deux (which she and the prince here share with Drosselmeyer).

The production values in the film are high with the exception of the scenery, which could have been more literally rendered; the backgrounds are often murky to the point of mystery.But the uniformly outstanding dancing and excellent costumes go a long way to offset this one minor liability.

DVD is impeccable & preferable in sound & picture quality to VHS.

a very so so nutcracker...
as one of the legions of former teenage dancers, i was very excited to see a rendition of the nutcracker with baryshnikov and kirkland in the starring roles; however, i was quite disappointed by this recording.the editing is horrible.i found myself yelling at the screen as close-up after close-up made it impossible to see the dancers, well, dancing.further, i had to rewind three times before i realized that they really didn't include arabian/coffee (which has always been one of my favorite variations, no matter whose choreography was used).on the positive side, the clara character was used instead of marie, the snowflakes didn't use obnoxious handheld props, and no godawful mother ginger was in residence -- all of these conventions generally make me cringe at the syrupiness...all in all, despite the talent of the dancers involved, i found this version decidedly mediocre... ... Read more

Asin: 6301971531
Subjects:  1. Performing Arts - Ballet/Dance