doriansansbury Reviews

Napoleon (2023)

I give up with expecting historical accuracy from Hollywood

[3/10 · 29 November 2023]

Being French speaking and having an interest in everything about history. We grew up with quite an extensive knowledge about Napoleon and his life.

Ridley Scott certainly earned his stripes in the movie business and i was really looking forward to this movie, but I ended up being quite dissapointed.

Shrugging off criticism about historical accuracy not only is insulting your viewers by taking them for totally illiterate people looking for a cheap thrill.

Although I don't expect Hollywood to educate us, these kind of movies can plant totally wrong ideas about history in peoples heads.

Just like the ideas that all the people in the middle ages were living their lives filthy and dressed in rags and knights often wearing the wrong period armor. Which isn't right cause up until at least the 15 century people washed themselves using soap on a regular basis in public bathhouses, did their laundry and even seemed o have a change of clothes.

On the other hand they always depict the court of Louis the XIV as some kind of magical lala land with beautiful people. While they actually were filthy with Louis XIV and other courtiers missing alot of teeth at a relatively young age, having lots of scars and bad skin on their face because of whitening it using white lead which is toxic and also dries out the skin, only dry washing themselves and smelling so bad they had to douse themselves in perfumes and so on.

The real history of Napoleon, The Plantagenets and many others can be interesting and exciting enough in an on itself without having to take liberties and reinventing the whole thing. Otherwise just make a complete fiction movie.

Sorry Ridley but for me it matters so I will not give you a standing ovation for this one.

The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2005)

A must watch French movie

[10/10 · 4 March 2023]

Jacques Audiard son of Michel Audiard who also was a reknown French film director, is one of the most note worthy directors of today. Maybe you won't like all of them but most of his movies should be on every movie fans watchlist. Including this one i'm also thinking of "Sur mes lêvres","Un prophete" and "De rouille et do's".

This movie is quite fastpaced without being an action movie. Thomas 28 is the son of a father who does shady real estate dealings in Paris and for whom he violently resolves problems as his henchman. He also does his own shady real estate deals with some partners/friends. His mother who has been deceased for some time (reason unknown) was a concert pianist and so he also received piano lessons from a young age and seemed to be talented for it until he quitted playing after the death of his mother.

One night driving trough Paris he makes a chance encounter with his mothers impresario at the entrance of a concerthall who encourages him to resume playing the piano. And so he ends up receiving piano lessons from a talented Chinese female pianist who moved to France.with a scholarship to study at the music academy and who doesn't speak a word of French.

And so he ends up kind of leading a double life, on the one hand he continues doing shady dealings and leading a violent life that he starts losing interest in and on the other he is getting his piano skills up to par so he can become a concert pianist himself and so you see a more soft side of him.

Raoul Taburin (2018)

Childrens movie and not Poelvoorde's best work

[6/10 · 4 March 2023]

As a Belgian i'm very proud to have seen Benoit Poelvoorde grow into the great actor he is, this is however not his best work.

He came into the limelight with the dark comedy "Cest arrive pres de chez vous" (Man bites dog). A camera crew follows the daily life of a psychopathic killer and thief in some kind of telereality show about him. The movie got a lot of critique at the time due to the violence it depicted but personally i find it hilarious and it is still one of my all time favourites.

After that he continued to make a name of himself as a comic actor in "Les carnets de Mr Manatane" a funny tv series with sketches, "Les convoyeurs attendent", "Les portent de la gloire", "Le velo de Ghislain Lambert", "Aaltra". But along the way he kind of wanted to break with his comic persona by succesfully depict more dramatic or even fragile/emational roles which he did in "Les émotifs anonymes" but more succesfully in "Une place sur la terre"

So yeah ofc i made it a tradition to watch his movies when i can.

This movie however is a feelgood movie for all ages but i would say more for kids then for adults as the humor is a bit too simplistic. It is something you can watch with the whole family during the holidays. It is not bad but not memorable.

Blood, Sex & Royalty (2022– )

History vulgarisation for the Tik Tok generation ?!!!

[3/10 · 29 November 2022]

Being a history fan and after seeing Dr Suzannah Lipscomb, who usually makes interesting documentaries, speaking in the trailer. I had to check this one out.

But honestly i had enough after watching one episode. Not only is it yet another documentary about the romance between Anne Boleyn and Henry the VIII, nut a very cheap one at that.

I learned nothing new that i already knew about it and you only see the barebone facts of the story as it seems to be made for a 5 year old with a very short attention span.

About the visuals themselves i must say that i've seen better re-enactments over the years and the choice of actors is quistionable. Although most of Anne Boleyn's contemporary portraits were destroyed and many people wrote very negatively about her looks and appearence after her death.

There are some contemporary Physical descriptions like that of a. Venitian ambassador in 1532 that made following description "not one of the handsomest women in the world. She is of middling stature, with a swarthy complexion, long neck, wide mouth, bosom not much raised, and in fact has nothing but the King's great appetite, and her eyes, which are black and beautiful - and take great effect on those who served the Queen when she was on the throne. She lives like a queen, and the King accompanies her to Mass - and everywhere.' that can be trusted. So she looks nothing like the blue eyed beauty in this series

I have nothing against a modern take on things but even the choice of the music is total crap. Not a song worth noticing.

Conclusion: this series might be a way to get the short attention span Tik Tok generation interested in history. Although i think their intelligence is greatly underestimated. I rather see my kids watch the not so accurate depiction of "The Tudors" series then this. Histroy fans you ain't missing a thing not watching this !!!!

Blockbuster (2022)

Total waste of time and money !!!!?

[1/10 · 5 November 2022]

I just watched some episodes but mainly because i lost interest after 5 min in the 1st one and started playing a game on my phone and it kept running in the background. The characters are dull, unrelatable and uninteresting. It would have been better set in the 80' or 90' during the height of videostores which would have given it some nostalgia and more stuff to work with like the weird taste of some customers, not rewinding tapes, ... Some stuff Netflix makes is really good but then you also got this garbage. They should really fire the guy who gave the green light to make this one !!!!!!!!?!

Kotaro Lives Alone (2022)

Funny and cute, relatable with a dark undertone of child neglect/abuse

[10/10 · 31 August 2022]

Although i wasn't really a fan of the drawing style especially the eyes the story and the characters really caught my attention.

Kotaru is a 4y old boy prodigy with a terrible taste in anime that goes to live alone in a studioflat amongst other adults. Among the residents he especially forms a friendship with 1 neighbour called Shin Karino a writer of mangas who takes a liking to the boy and kind of acts like his tutor.

The story unfolds itself within common day to day activities and how Koturo reacts in certain situations and with the people he meets. You also learn to understand why he acts the way he does by seeing flashbacks from his past.

As lighthearted as this story may be the background of the story is really dark and sad. As the theme is child neglect/abuse. You see what impact it can have on children in this case Kotaru but also other children as you see in the story of his dentist.

If you haven't watched it give it a try as it is a unique and original story with a lot of humor in it.

Toradora! (2008–2009)

Absolutely great, quirky and unique !!!

[10/10 · 27 August 2022]

Stumbled upon this series one day on netflix. Although at first from reading the synopsis i tought it would be like the usual coming of age romantic story, but in reality it was so much more.

The 2 main characters Riuji and Taiga and their interactions are absolutely great. And so are the other cast members who each have their own backstory well defined. This all creates a very entertaining immersive story were you can really become attached and feel for the characters.

In conclusion i would say that you laugh, you cry and a lot of emotions in between and you cross your fingers to see a 2nd season that may never come.

I have seen it 3x already and still find this ine of the best serier i have seen.

Babette's Feast (1987)

A movie you have to feel...

[8/10 · 24 November 2021]

The story is kind of simpel but it's more then that, it's a movie about feelings. Melancholy, love, joy, longing, fear, selflesness,... The great acting work and the slow pace of the movie makes that you can feel what the characters are feeling.

Patria (II) (2014)

Worst ww1 movie i have ever seen

[2/10 · 27 October 2021]

Just watched this movie and it's absolutely terrible. An asian guy pretending to be called Arthur Knaap does nonsensical things in Paris before waking up on a bench in the woods to hear that war was declared and joining the foreign legion.

As i have a great interest in WW1, i try to watch all movies made about it and so far this must be the worst. The acting and the dialogies are terrible and cliché, the set is cheap and not realistic at all, the visual computer effects are just so obvious.

Don't waste your time on this.

1917 (2019)

Some inaccurecies puzzle me

[8/10 · 27 September 2021]

As a WW1 enthousiast i'm always enthousiastic when a movie about that war comes out as there are less then about WW2. And i think i must have seen about every other WW1 movie out there. When i watch a historic movie i always look at the realism and the details of the set and costumes and i must say they did a hell of a good job with the trenches and nomansland craters. They look very realistic and accurate. Neverteless there are some things that puzzle me. Like i don't know how old that frontline is were they started but usually there were like 3 zig zag parallel trenches 1 behind the other something you can't really see. Also when they enter nomansland a couple of dead horses are used as a landmark. But how the hell do these horses die between the trench and the barbed wire. At that point there were no more cavalry attacks and for the rest the few horses they had were used for logistics or moving artillery which all happened behind the lines. So these horses have no point being there. Also when they arrive on the other side of the German lines it seems kind of strange to see all these green pastures or Almost no muddy roads the Germans could have used to transport all the iron and other materials to build their bunkers. Looks to clean to me. In their retreat the Germans used scorched earth but somehow they left a full bucket of fresh Milk lol. What i would love to see in the future is a movie about the underground war that took place with mines and contra mines.

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015–2019)

Couldn't make it past ep 7,5

[2/10 · 28 August 2021]

Although many people seem to like it, i gave it a try but couldn't get past ep 7 and a half. This comedy isn't funny it is just plain stupid and retarded. Instead of building up to a joke or a funny situation they try to say or do something funny every 5 sec which feels forced.

Home for Christmas (2019–2020)

A cute, funny, heartwarming story

[8/10 · 16 July 2021]

Unlike many over the top American crap, i found this very enjoyable to watch. The characters have personality and the setting is realistic and the twists and turns are well written for the genre. There are also sad, crazy, funny and unexpected moments. And as a male i must say that in the end i kind of got a crush on Johanne who is not only cute but very likeable. So thank you Norway.

Virgin River (2019– )

Kill Hope...

[5/10 · 10 July 2021]

Been watching the series when i'm tired as it is kind of cheesy and brainless entertainment and Mel is cute. But damn since the 1st min i SAW Hope i hated that character and on top of that couldn't the doctor do better then a xxxxx like her. Crossing my fingers she would die in the storm she is in in S3 and if she survives she must definetely be killed by a giant wild Moose or something that eats her alive. Never saw a more annoying character in a series ever.

Captain Marvel (2019)

Toxic feminism !!

[3/10 · 23 June 2021]

If it comes to equality of the sexes i have nothing against it nor do i with female lead characters. But i'm really starting to get annoyed by this toxic feminity vibe of what man can do women can do better. Also if i watch a movie it is to escape everyday life with some fantasy so i don't want to be confronted with identty politics evrytime i watch one.

Knightfall (2017–2019)

Entertaining

[8/10 · 2 June 2021]

Although the series have a very slow build up first few episodes and is totally historically innacurate i found it quite entertaining.

But one question remains,, or i must have been asleep and missed it, but what happened to the retrieved scroll found in the bottom of the holy grail ?. What was written on it ?

Grendel (2007 TV Movie)

Not even worth rating...

[1/10 · 3 April 2021]

This is not even a B-movie it's an F-movie.

I watched like 10 min in and had to stop cause it was just terrible. Bad costumes, terrible cgi, bad acting and boring dialogue. The only use for this movie i see is like for a drunk best of worst movies night with friends.

Knights of the Zodiac: Saint Seiya (2019–2022)

Just terrible !!! NETFLIX give us the original series allready !!!

[1/10 · 24 September 2019]

As many others on here i was a big big fan of the original series when i was a kid. I watched the allready released episodes on netflix and i can only advise to stop production. It is just terrible as it has nothing left of the spirit of the original and it isn't in any way an improvemend either. I could barely watch lost canvas but this THIS !? It looks like power rangers in knight suits with bob the builder graphics. As you also see like almost half of the series in like 5 episodes of 24min, really ? There is no deepness in the character no melodrama, suspence,spectacle !! I am deeply dissapointed by this.