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ronald-rens
Reviews
Blake et Mortimer (1997)
not to be recommended
A poorly made series! The animation is of a VERY poor quality. Only the story lines saves this cartoon series. Jacobs made only a few Blake & Mortimers. That was because he was a perfectionist ; every building, car or background was photographed ( he made thousands of photographs for his albums ). His style has never been equaled, let alone surpassed ( after the first professor Sato, which he drew himself, the second part was finished by Bob de Moor - just look at the inferior quality of that second part ). By the way : Jacobs wasn't French, he was a Belgian. Hergé ( Tintin ) also was a Belgian. I frequently meet French people who know for sure that both were French citizens. Ah well, we all know that the French invented everything :D
Aanrijding in Moscou (2008)
great movie !
This is simply a great story. It's a romcom, but here you won't find the usual affluent American suburbia, but a working girl who looks a bit sloppy and has kids she can barely keep in line ( does this look familiar, anyone ? ). She lives in a modest apartment, holds a modest job and her marriage has gone to the dogs with a husband who moved in with a younger woman. She meets a trucker, who has also marital problems, and the story develops from there. Those who do not understand Flemish, and in particular the local dialect, are at a disadvantage as some replies can only be appreciated if you understand the dialect. This hold true for other comedy films and/or series ( ex. "Only Fools and Horses" loses much of it's charm if you don't understand Cockney ). I would put this movie on a par with, say, Sleepless in Seattle or some Danny deVito movies. I've read a rather negative review in these pages, but with the same reasoning I could argue that, were I an American, I would be ashamed of the Godfather-trilogy as it could be construed as a hagiography of the Maffia ( it's not, it's perhaps the best movie of all time ). So : go out and buy this DVD ! And if you can't then steal it.
WALL·E (2008)
disappointing and boring
Technically, this is one of the best animations I've seen. As a story, I found it quite boring. We had visitors when we were 60 minutes into the DVD, and it was only two days later that we remembered that we hadn't seen the complete DVD. So, no thanks. You see this more often in SF-movies : technical superiority, but a lousy plot. Eh, Mr. Lucas ? Moreover, we didn't like the "nervous" way the story was shown. It reminded me of some video clips of modern "music". Perhaps an attempt to mask the weakness of the story ? What Pixar and Disney need, is to re-learn the art of story-telling. This DVD was a waste of money. I would advise people to compare this bit of "fantasy" with Mr. Miyazaki's animations. It's Warhol compared to Van der Weyden. Well, looking at auction prices, some people really seem to like Mr. Warhol....
Brassed Off (1996)
one of the best movies of the last decade.
This is one of the most sensitive movies I've seen. This opinion is not my own alone : every friend we've lent it to was equally enthusiastic. Perhaps this movie doesn't cater to the coarser tastes of a public that is scandalised by nipplegate but loves extreme violence ( eh, mr. Gibson? )and the kind of extreme nationalism that a little less than a century ago gave birth to a movement like the NSDAP. For those less versed in history : that's like, Hitler, man, that **ing nazism ! I feel deeply sorry for those who find this movie pedantic. It's like saying that the Declaration of Independance isn't valid because it's language is antiquated.