Thinking-chick's flick
White Oleander
Stars Michelle Pfeiffer, Alison Lohman, Renee Zellweger, Billy Connelly, Noah Wyle and Robin Wright Penn. Rated M.
Reviewer :: Pte Simone Heyer

This film, adapted from a book, follows a few years in the life of Astrid (Lohman), a beautiful young blonde.

Emphasis on stress
Military Stress and Performance: The Australian Defence Force Experience
Edited by George E. Kearney, Mark Creamer, Ric Marshall and Anne Goyne. Melbourne University Press, 278pp. $34.95
Reviewer :: Maj Damien Hadfield

This book follows an earlier publication, The Management of Stress in the ADF, in 2001 by the same group of editors. That book, while interesting, was quite scientific and disjointed, being comprised of individual scientific studies, generally on specific issues, operations or occupations.

This new book is much easier to read.

Sadam: The secret life
By Con Coughlin. Pan MacMillan. 350pp. $25
Reviewer :: David Sibley

Are a few bits of human viscera amid a pile of rubble in Baghdad what’s left of Saddam Hussein? If not, where is the Iraqi dictator?

The Mystic Masseur
Message through massage

Aasif Mandvi, Ayesha Dharker, Om Puri, Jimi Mistry, Sanjeev Bhasker. The AV Channel. Rated M. 118 mins
Reviewer: By Pte Simone Heyer

The Mystic Masseur is less about massage and more about book-writing.

Ganesh (Mandvi) is a teacher in the Port of Spain, Trinidad, who returns to his village after his father’s death. He wants to make his mark on the world and believes the way to do so is to write a book.

The village comes alive with the idea and people do everything they can to help him.

To support his lifestyle he takes up his father’s business of massage – though he doesn’t have the magic touch. After his book is printed though, people from the area flock to receive spiritual guidance and before long he becomes a guru of sorts.

He and his community believe that books are the key to knowledge and people who write must be the most knowledgeable.

This DVD is a gentle journey of one man’s quest to reach his destiny.

It’s very picturesque, so many locations and so many characters. It is touched with a fresh, airy feel, which effectively draws you in.

Sanjeev Bhasker plays a great role as the local greengrocer and publicist.

The DVD has some great extra features and all the convenience of scene selection.