JJ_D Reviews

Gabrielle (2005)

A couple of unrealistic monologues of 2 different characters.

[5/10 · 6 October 2005]

Patrice Chéreau, director of La Reine Margot and Intimacy, has made with Gabrielle a bad movie. The movie, in total, is to theatrical. Casting Isabelle Huppert as Gabrielle was a bad choice, Pascal Greggory plays good at some moments , but his anger does not reach the audience. The whole film is spoken in a wired, poetical language that makes the movie unbelievable and even boring when the same character speaks for about ten minutes without any interruption. Jean (Pascal Greggory) does a good acting-job at the ending, where he's anger is serious and realistic. Unbelievable people could give this a ten, not bad enough to give it a zero.

** (/out of five)

A Very Long Engagement (2004)

A masterly combination of several styles

[10/10 · 27 September 2005]

After watching Un long dimanche de fiançailles, I was simply speechless. The combination of thriller, war, drama, romance & comedy (I even forgot some others, I think) is just superb. The beginning, the opening image of the film, is in a horrible trench. Jean-Pierre Jeunet succeeds in his objective: showing the audience how pointless war is. A wonderful Audrey Tautou, better acting then ever since her role in Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain, plays Mathilde, a very realistic character, that doesn't want to believe her fiancé died in the war. Of course this movie is very much the same as Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain, but everything is more realistic, even better filmed and more heart rending... Jean-Pierre Jeunet has made a SUPERB, typical French movie, with a sense of humor only they 'v got. ***** (/out of five)

The Child (2005)

Touching Indifference

[9/10 · 18 September 2005]

L'Infant (The child), the new Dardenne movie, awarded with two Palms D' Or, is located in Seraing, the probably most marginal city of Belgium. A superb Jérémie Renier plays Bruno, an unemployed father, living from day to day to survive. He robs people and does not seem to have any remorse about what he 's doing. He even goes as far that he sells Jimmy, the baby (l'enfant). The reaction of the mother, a great Déborah François, makes him think and he tries to make it up to her. So far the story, this is a typical Dardenne movie. Same style, same sort of filming, not even music. Just hard reality, that's what they wanted to show the audience. What we get is a raw, sober movie. I did not miss the music at all, but it still misses something. The film does not absorb your full attention, like lots of people say. 'Lilja 4-ever', a Lukas Moodysson socio-drama, is way more touching than these characters in L'Infant. Not the greatest Belgian movie ever, but an enjoyable one. 8,5/10

Alexander (2004)

The Dramatic Story of the Last Real Hero, A Man with Megalomania

[6/10 · 31 March 2005]

First of all I would like to say this is an amazing movie! Oliver Stone succeeds to bring the Hellenic civilization back to life. People who say this movie is boring are so wrong!! This film has fascinated me from begin till end. Stone aims his eyes on nature, he films the sky/the woods a lot. The beautiful nature and cities (Babylon) are the best parts of this film. The two battles are certainly the best I have EVER seen! In the first battle is the eagle very cool, and the second, it is beautiful how fast the camera moves, till the Ucefallus-jump to that elephant! A Matrix Battle, but 2300 years ago... Emotional, this film is also GREAT! The conflicts between Alexander, his father and his mother, as watcher, you experience them all like you are in the room yourself! The nudity-scene is pure emotional and it shows us how it was, out there. Yes, Alexander the Great was g*y, but so what? What difference does it make? It was normal in that time, and I'm glad that Oliver Stone faces that...

One of the Greatest ever! A Classic! Congratulations, Oliver Stone!

De proefkonijnen (1979)

Worst Flemish movie ever made

[2/10 · 3 January 2005]

This was one of the worst movies I have ever seen. I love Jan Decleir, a have seen already a view of its movies, but this one does suck to dead! The story, if you can call it like that, is about a worker in a factory and the hole factory blows up. A miracle happened, and Jan Declair start urinating blood or something, so mister Declair has a problem. The other people that work in the factory love Jan Declair and they go on strike, and thats the end of the movie. Now you know whats this movie is about, cause it isn't worth that you wast your time on it!! And for the Belgian people: if you watch it without subtitles, I must warn you that you will not understand a word of this hole thing! So don't watch it at all!!!

Winged Migration (2001)

Beautiful, but further boring

[8/10 · 3 January 2005]

This movie is made very beautiful, but for the rest it gets boring; Because you see always the same. We also can't speak of a movie, because it doesn't has a story. In the beginning you see a kid that binds a rope round one of two feeds of a duck, before it flies away. The story goes further, and the duck flies far, far away to Antartica or something, where it try's to survives. The duck does and it returns. And that's it. So not a big deal. This movie does has, and I wanna say that, a beautiful wide screen so you can see the birds full... That wasn't a bad idea at all, cause it gets all more interesting because of that... Boring but BEAUTIFUL!!!