philip_vanderveken's reviews

Normally I would never have watched this movie, because I'm not all that much a fan of costume drama's. And since I've seen several of them lately without seeing all that much difference between them all, I didn't think that I would like it all that much. But when I read a review in a popular magazine, saying that even when you aren't a fan of this kind of films, you should give it a try because it's so much better than the average movie in the genre, I must admit that I was quite curious about it. Also the fact that it was from the director Ang Lee made me hope for the best.

When Mr. Dashwood dies, almost all his belongings go to his son from his first marriage, leaving his second wife and three daughters in a difficult situation. They haven't got much money and can't stay on the estate, but are taken in by a kind cousin who gives them a small cottage to live in. Because they aren't wealthy, it isn't very easy for the two oldest daughters, the practical Elinor and the romantic Marianne, to find a suitable partner. Both find a man who seems to be perfect at first, but who aren't all that great after all. But after the rain always comes sunshine and one day the two women find a man to their taste who truly loves them...

If there is one thing that you can't accuse him of, than it must be that Ang Lee always sticks to one certain genre. After having seen "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and the western "Ride with the Devil", this certainly is a completely different experience. And surprisingly enough, I must say that it works. I never thought that a man born in Taiwan would be that good in recreating a world that has never been his. I don't think it must be easy for an Asian person to recreate Victorian England or the USA during the Civil War, but it works and that's all that really matters. Next to the good directing, I also couldn't help noticing the fine acting by all the leading actors. There wasn't one that stood out above the rest, but there wasn't one that didn't fit in either. They all did a very good job and that's something that you don't always find in a movie.

Even though I know that this was the way it all happened during that time period, I must say that I sometimes had a lot of difficulties with the lack of emotions and the fact that they didn't always say what they thought. I sometimes really wanted to say to one of the characters: 'come on, finally tell them what you have got to say, don't stay there quiet all the time, you're working on my nerves with that behavior...', but this was a movie, so I had to stay quiet myself. Still, it really worked on my nerves sometimes and that did spoil my fun from time to time. However, don't get me wrong, this certainly doesn't mean that I didn't like the movie at all.

Overall this is indeed a movie that is a lot better than the average in the genre. The acting is very good, the story is interesting,... and for once it all made me forget about everything that I hate about the genre. When you know that I normally give a movie of this kind a rating of 6/10, than you'll be quite surprised to see that I give this one a rating in between 7/10 and 7.5/10. To my own surprise I must admit that I really liked it.

I've always known it and seeing it on this website only proves that I'm right about it: A really good movie never gets the attention or the rating that it deserves. That's also the reason why I always try to tape and watch as many unknown movies as I can, just because very often they are so much better than all the famous blockbusters. With this "Next Stop Wonderland" it isn't any different. I hadn't heard of it before, but gave it a try, willing to be surprised by it and that's exactly what happened.

The story on itself isn't all that different from other romantic movies. Erin is a nurse who has been dumped by her long-time boyfriend because he couldn't change her into the 'perfect' human that he tries to be (caring for the unfortunate, fighting against globalization,...). As soon as her mother hears about the break-up - which she finds more than OK, because she couldn't stand the man - she places a personal ad for her daughter in the local newspaper. Many men react, but none of them is what Erin is looking for. In the meantime we also follow the life of Alan, a plumber who works at the local aquarium, but who dreams of becoming a marine biologist. Alan and Erin would be perfect for each other, but is there anyway that they will ever meet? And what will happen when they do?

When you see how many people have seen all those unrealistic, over-the-top romantic comedies and you compare that number to the number of votes for this movie, than you can only be surprised. This movie may well have the same kind of story, but the overall execution of the movie is so much better. The emotions for instance feel a lot more realistic and are never too much. In fact the entire movie has that feeling of realism without ever being corny and that's in my opinion more than just a pleasant surprise.

But what would a romantic comedy be without humor? Indeed, nothing. But once again this isn't like you are used to see in all those other movies. This movie doesn't exactly try to make you laugh by adding some crude jokes to it. No, this movie doesn't even try to make you smile at all, but succeeds more than once and that's exactly what makes this movie so special. Also more than OK was the acting in this movie. Hope Davis was really very lovely and believable and made me forget in an instant about all the Meg Ryan's and other Sandra Bullock's of this world. She reminded me a bit of Julie Delpy in "Before Sunrise" and "Before Sunset" and trust me, that's a big compliment. Also very good and certainly worth mentioning are Philip Seymour Hoffman, Holland Taylor,... But there is one thing that I haven't mentioned yet and which certainly plays an important role in this movie. I'm talking about the music. It was just wonderful and it gave this movie that fine finishing touch which you never find in all those other movies in the genre.

All in all this is a wonderful romantic comedy / drama that deserves a lot better than the actual rating of 6.8/10 after 1,577 votes. Personally I give this movie a rating of at least 7.5/10, maybe even an 8/10 and I'm sure that I'll see it again and again as soon as I can find it on DVD.

When this movie was shown on television, it was said to be a comedy. Since I'm always in for a good laugh and because I really could use a good laugh that day, I was really looking forward to this movie. Big was my surprise when I saw that this wasn't exactly the kind of comedy I was looking for. I kept watching it nevertheless and I must say that I'm glad that I did, because this movie sure is worth a watch, but it didn't really fulfill the expectations that I had in advance.

When in the early 1970's, a traditional Pakistani father - who lives in England with his English wife and his kids - sees how his offspring more and more starts to behave as British and start to reject their father's rules on dress, food, religion,... he decides that it is time for them to get married to a good Pakistani girl. But their desire for independence and a modern way of live clashes with the traditional believes of their father and it doesn't take long before a lot of things start to go terribly wrong. And when the potential candidates aren't exactly the prettiest of all women, they know for sure that they will have to do anything to prevent getting married...

If you are looking for a light-footed comedy, than this movie is one big disappointment. Sure, there are some funny moments to be found in this movie, but overall I certainly wouldn't call it a comedy. In my opinion this is a drama that shows how the traditional values of immigrants don't always fit in with those of the native inhabitants and that their children often are the victim of that. They no longer seem / want to belong to their own ethnic group, but are still seen as foreigners by the traditional inhabitants. They have to fight against prejudices from both sides and that's not always easy. In my opinion the movie really gives a good idea of what it's like and even though it's all situated in the seventies, all that much hasn't changed in thirty years time.

The acting in this movie is really good. Although I can't immediately say that I know anyone of them, the actors in this movie make it all feel very authentic without overdoing it all. It's all too easy to make stereotypes out of the different characters, but that certainly isn't the case in this movie. Just as unknown as the actors are the director and the writer of this movie. It was Ayub Khan-Din's first and only script and Damien O'Donnell isn't exactly the most famous of British directors either. Still, they both did well and that's all that matters to me.

All in all this is a very good movie as long as you forget that you are watching a comedy. I don't believe that a joke or two make a movie a comedy, but that doesn't mean that it can't be any good. As a drama this movie stands quite firm on its feet and also thanks to the relevance of the story, I must say that I liked what I saw. I give it a 7.5/10.

When I read the title for the first time and saw that this was a comedy, I already knew that I shouldn't expect too much of this movie. Not that I was convinced that the overall quality wouldn't be any good, I just knew that I didn't have to expect the most original story line. But that's OK. When it comes to comedies, I do not always need very intellectual dialogs, a lot of special camera points,... All I want then are some good laughs and that's exactly what this movie gave me.

When a black candidate runs for president, 'The Man' tries to derail his campaign. 'The Man' runs a group of white people who will do anything to protect their own values from other (read black) influences. But now he may have found his match. Anton Jackson is an African-American man who seems harmless, but who works as an undercover agent for a secret all-black Brotherhood. Undercover Brother - that's his real name - will have to infiltrate in the world of the white people in order to prevent The Man's evil plans...

If you have to explain someone where to situate this movie, than I would call it a black version of Austin Powers. A guy who still seems to live in the seventies, who appears to be a secret agent, the costumes,... there are plenty of similarities between the two movies. The main difference this time is that the main character isn't white, but black.

Most of the time the humor in this movie is exactly based on that aspect. The differences between black and white are constantly used as a source of inspiration. Jokes about white people who all like mayonnaise while the black don't, about the fact that the black people have 'soul' and the white don't,... can be found all over the movie. And I must say that a lot of them were really good. OK, not everything in this movie worked that well, but overall the humor was OK. Also OK was the acting. Eddie Griffin was very nice as Undercover Brother / Anton Jackson, Aunjanue Ellis did a good job as Sistah Girl and Denise Richards was very lovely as White She Devil. But those are only a couple of the actors that played a major role in this movie. All other actors did a nice job as well of course.

Overall this movie was OK, although the story was sometimes a bit too shallow to make this movie really work. Still, that wasn't too much a problem, because I still had a good time with all the racially inspired jokes. I give this movie a 6.5/10 for that.

I've always been a fan of Harrison Ford's work, although I must admit that what he has done in the last 10 years couldn't always convince me ("What Lies Beneath" and "Sabrina" were still OK, although not exactly perfect, but "Hollywood Homicide" is just an awful movie). In my opinion his last excellent movie was "The Fugitive", but he has done some very fine things before that as well as this "Witness" proves.

While traveling with his mother Rachel, a young Amish boy called Samual Lap, witnesses a murder in a washroom at the train station in Philadelphia and detective John Book is assigned to the case. Shortly after the first investigation, the boy recognizes narcotics officer McFee as the murderer. Book soon discovers that McFee was involved in the theft of an ingredient used in the making of drugs and he gives all the information he has to his boss. Shortly after, McFee comes after him and wounds him in a shootout. Book decides to flee and sees no better option but to stay within the peaceful Amish community to which the Lap family belongs. While Book and Rachel start to get feelings for each other, he helps the community as much as he can, although sometimes in his own 'modern' way, which the Amish do not approve of. But hiding for them doesn't mean that the crooked cops have forgotten about him and one day they find him...

I've already said it before and I'll say it again: Even though Harrison Ford now seems to have lost that feeling, in the past he really knew how to pick some very good scripts. The entire story is original and in a way also very daring. Who comes up with the idea to bring violence into the world of the Amish, who are seen as some kind of attraction, as some kind of freak show even? It's an incredible contradiction, just as the forbidden love between Book and Rachel is, but somehow they managed to make a very good movie out of it. It has some action, but not too much; the relationship isn't corny at all; the outcome of the movie isn't too obvious;... I must say I really appreciate that. This could easily have gone wrong in so many parts, but it didn't. This was a very strong movie.

Also very good were the performances of the different actors. Except for Harrison Ford, Danny Glover, Viggo Mortensen and perhaps Kelly McGillis, I can't say that I know any of them, which isn't a very big surprise if you know that some of them are really Amish and no professional actors. Still, they all did a great job, the professionals as well as the amateurs, and they all gave this movie that extra touch which really made it believable and powerful. I really liked this movie for several reasons without having any really negative remarks and that's why I give it a rating in between 7.5/10 and 8/10.

It's a good thing that I didn't know in advance that so many people compare this movie to "Sleepless in Seattle", some even stating that it was some kind of unofficial sequel. I must admit that I didn't like that one all that much and if I had read such comments before watching it, I'm sure I wouldn't even have given it a try, because I'm convinced that there are only few sequels actually worth a watch. But I didn't know all this yet and I was ready to be surprised.

Joe Fox and Kathleen Kelly have met each other in a chat box on the internet and have never seen each other, but regularly send each other e-mail messages. On the internet their relationship with each other is close to perfect, but in reality they are each others rivals. Kathleen Kelly is the owner of a little, famous bookstore for children's books who is endangered by the opening of Fox Books, a huge chain of discount book shops. While on the internet madly in love with him, in real life she could drink his blood, not knowing that he's the same person. When Joe Fox finds out the truth, he has to find a way to convince her that he's actually a nice guy...

Once again the acting in this movie was very good. I already liked Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in "Sleepless in Seattle", but in my opinion they were even better in this movie. And not only the acting was better, the entire story seemed to work better. The fact that it wasn't so obvious how the story tried to get us emotional, gave this movie that little extra that I'm always looking for. Also the entire idea behind it that people meet in chat rooms is nothing new or exceptional and that they want to see each other in real life afterwards is only natural I believe. It's a part of the modern society and I don't think it will go away soon, so why shouldn't it be used in a romantic movie?

Normally I'm not too much a fan of romantic comedies, but this time I'll have to make an exception. I liked the story, the humor was good, the acting more than OK. And the fact that it all was a lot closer to reality than what I could ever hope for in the beginning was a pleasant surprise. That's why I give this movie a 7.5/10.

I don't know what exactly it was that made me decide to give this movie a try. I didn't know anything about the story, I had never heard of the director Steve Wang before and except for Brittany Murphy, the entire cast was completely unknown to me. I guess it must have been the combination of Sci-Fi and action that made me decide to tape and watch it. I'm not saying that those are my favorite genres, but I've seen some very good examples lately, making me appreciate it all a lot more.

"Drive" tells the story of a man that has been enhanced with some kind of turbo in his chest that makes a better fighter, a quicker runner,... of him. But when he is about to sell the device to an American company, a group of hit men that has been hired by the Chinese company that created this little device and who don't want to see it go into American hands, go after him to kill him. On his way to the company he takes a black man hostage, leaving him no choice but to go with him on this perilous journey...

Even though I had never heard of any of the actors, I must say that they did a good job. It was perhaps not exceptional, but I've already seen a lot worse in this kind of movies. If I have to choose, than I would say that I liked Kadeem Hardison the most, but the other actors like Mark Dacascos, Brittany Murphy,... were OK as well. Less convincing - in my opinion at least - was the story. I admit that it was all very original and there probably went a lot of thinking in it, but a modified bionic man with some kind of engine that helps running his heart isn't exactly something that I am very interested in.

If you are an action-movie addict, than this is probably THE movie that you have to see. It has a lot of fight scenes, an original story and some good jokes. If you don't like this genre all that much, than I'm afraid you'll not become a fan after watching this movie, because it's all a bit too stereotypical. It all depends on your taste for movies I guess. Personally I'm not too much a fan of the genre, so I guess I don't have to tell you that I belong to the second group of people. I give this movie a 5/10.

I've always been a fan of Nicholas Cage and even though the man sometimes seems to make bad choices when it comes to new scripts, I still see him as one of the best actors Hollywood has to offer. I know several people who don't agree with me, but in my opinion, his performance makes even the worst movie worth a try. Not that it always saves them, but it sure helped me to sit through some of them. However, in this case that isn't even necessary. Ever since I saw "Birdy" for the first time, I am a fan of its story.

When Al Columbato meets Birdy for the first time, he thinks he's a bit of a weirdo. Birdy isn't all that interested in social contacts with other children or young adolescents. All he wants is to play with his pigeons. But after a while Al and Birdy become good friends who have a lot of fun together, especially when they go after some new pigeons for Birdy or when try to fly themselves,... But then the Vietnam war starts and it doesn't take long before both men are sent to this far Asian country. When they return they both have changed. Especially Birdy is in an awful state. Suffering from severe shell-shock, he is in a hospital for mental patients, where he sits in his room without speaking a word while acting like a bird. When Al is asked to help with his therapy by trying to talk to him, he does his best, but even he doesn't seem capable to penetrate into Birdy's isolated world...

I know that I've once said that Hollywood doesn't seem to be able to make original drama's which are a lot better than the average TV-movie, but I admit that that was an exaggeration. "Birdy" is a very good and really original movie which can stand a test with movies like for instance the English drama "Spider". Not only is the story very good, so is the directing and the acting. Even though I've heard of him before, I can't say that I've ever seen another movie of Alan Parker, but this "Birdy" sure proves that the man must be a good director. Also very interesting in this movie were the very young Nicolas Cage, John Harkins - who has more often played in TV-movies and series than in other movies, but who did a good job in this one - and Matthew Modine who hasn't played any big role in an important movie since the late 1980's.

The only problem many people might have with this movie is the fact that it is said to be a war movie, but doesn't really show much of the action typical for such movies. It's a part of the story of course, but it isn't as important as some people might want. Also the fact that it is a - for Hollywood at least - quite unusual drama, might cost it quite some viewers. Personally I didn't have any problem with that, I'm already used to watch the 'not-so-average' movie and I must say that this one still stands after all those years. That's why I give it a 7.5/10, maybe even an 8/10.

Even though my most favorite movies are thrillers and drama's, I must say that from time to time I can really look forward to a comedy. Life is more than misery or thrills alone, there should be time for laughter as well, so why should my choice of movies be any different? But when looking for comedies, I do have certain standards. I hate toilet humor and the story may be silly, but still has to be of a decent quality. If I'm honest, than I must say that I don't find that too often. The latest (often American) comedies are all full of those dreaded jokes about pee, vomit, sperm,... and too often I end up very disappointed in them. That's also the reason why I prefer British comedies. I like their, often very dry, humor and their jokes don't necessarily have to be about some kind of bodily function.

"The Closer You Get" is situated in an isolated village in Ireland. Because the girls in their village aren't to their taste, a bunch of young man send an ad to the Miami Herald, inviting fit and enticing American women between the ages of 20 and 21, to come to the local dance. But when the girls they all hoped for don't come and the local girls seem to have more success with men from outside the village, the local men start to realize that some of their 'own' girls might not be that bad after all. Others however chose different solutions like ordering a lot of porn...

Like so often with comedies, I'm sure that there are many people who don't like it all that much. Humor is one of the most difficult parts of the entertainment business and not everybody has the same taste. Personally I had a really good laugh with this movie, but when I see some other comments on this website, it's getting very clear to me that not everybody thinks about it like that. I guess this is a comedy that will appeal most to the people who love the typical British humor, so if you aren't into that kind of jokes, you better don't give this movie a try. If you are looking for a very special, deep or touching story, than this isn't the best movie for you either. The story is quite simple, but efficient. It doesn't really know any extreme highs or lows, but it works. The characters are believable, the situations are still recognizable...

All in all this is a very decent comedy with some good acting and an OK story. But most important is the amount of laughter that it offers and for me that was more than enough. I had a really good time with this movie and that's why I give it a 7.5/10.

Despite the fact that this movie isn't a sequel to "A Fish Called Wanda", many people like to compare this "Fierce Creatures" with it. Some even seem to see that as enough reason not to like this movie. Personally I wouldn't go that far. For as far as I know the only comparison that can be made between the two is the fact that its story deals about animals and that most actors from the first movie also played a role in the second one. I don't think that's reason enough to like or dislike this movie and since I try to see it as a new and separate movie, I'll not make any further comparison between the two.

When a massive company - which is active in all kinds of industrial and commercial branches - takes over the failing London Marwood Zoo, the cruel tycoon Rod McCain is only interested in bringing more business to the zoo or in case that isn't possible, to sell it to Japanese owners who will turn it into a golf course. Octopus Inc. (that's the well-chosen name of the company) hires a new manager, called Rollo Lee, who almost immediately comes up with a plan that will definitely attract more customers. The zoo will have to get rid of all animals that aren't ferocious or dangerous enough, because according to him the audience is only interested in dangerous things. This new policy shocks the zookeepers, who will do anything possible to make him change ideas. But in the meantime Rod McCain wants to see results and when he doesn't get them quickly enough, he sends in his son Vince McCain and the up-and-coming business executive Willa Weston. They will have to take over control from Rollo Lee, but once they are there, Willa's views on zoo management completely change. While Vince comes up with a lot of merchandise, fake robotic animals, a lot of publicity boards all over the place,... she starts to realize the true value of these animals. Together with Rollo and the staff, she tries to prevent that the McCain's will completely destroy this zoo...

Overall the quality of this movie is quite good and the acting has a lot to do with that of course. I guess not everybody appreciates it as much as I do, but I really like John Cleese's style and in my opinion his interaction with Jamie Lee Curtis really works. Also interesting is Kevin Kline in his double role, Michael Palin as the bug-loving zookeeper,... I'm certainly not going to say that it's the best comedy I've ever seen, but I had a good time with it. Even though not all the jokes and gags worked perfectly, there were enough good ones to make me forget about that. And being a marketeer myself, I had even more fun with the jokes about the publicity. In our business it's very easy to go too far and that's something that was shown very well in this movie. Now don't think that I believe they should show this in every class about the do's and don't's in publicity, but it worked for me and that's all that counted when I was watching this movie.

Overall I had a good time watching this movie, but I can understand that not everybody appreciates it as much as I do. Personally I love all animals, but many people don't and may therefor not be that interested in this movie. Seeing so many of them in this movie, together with those fine and famous actors, really gave me a good time though. Add to this a simple, but decent story, some fine jokes,... and you know why I liked this movie. I give it a 7.5/10.

I guess the main reason why I wanted to see this movie was because it was written and directed by Billy Bob Thornton, who also played a role in it. Even though the man hasn't really been able to prove a lot with his work as a director, I must say that I almost always appreciate him as an actor. He's perhaps not the most popular actor in Hollywood, but in my opinion he sure is one of the better ones.

In this movie he plays the role of Karl Childers, a grown, but simple man who is released from the psychiatric hospital where he has been hospitalized since the age of twelve. He had to stay in that hospital for so long because he murdered his own mother and her lover, believing that they were doing something wrong. He returns to the town where he lived the first twelve years of his life and it doesn't take long for him to get a job as a mechanic, fixing all kinds of small motors at a local repair shop. In the same town he also meets Frank, a young and friendly boy who immediately seems to like this strange man. Soon Karl is invited by Frank's mother to stay in their garage, much against the will of her alcoholic and abusive boyfriend Doyle. While Karl's friendship with Frank gets stronger, the tension between him and Doyle keeps building up, until reaching its final climax...

Now that I've finally seen this movie, I can only say that it's too bad that I didn't give it a try earlier. Especially thanks to the magnificent performance by Billy Bob Thornton, this is a movie that is more than just worth a watch. But also the other actors like Dwight Yoakam, Natalie Canerday,... did a very good job. The entire movie feels very realistic, is quite sober and never tries to be too dramatic. This is the kind of movie that could have become very preachy, but it hasn't and that's something that I really appreciate. Add to this some good directing and you know that Thornton has done a very nice job with this movie.

This isn't exactly a typical Hollywood movie, not in its story and certainly not in its approach towards the subject. This could easily have become some kind of cheesy TV-movie, but Billy Bob Thornton has made a very good movie out of it instead. I really appreciated his work as a director, actor and writer in this movie, liked the story and was intrigued by the acting of all the actors. That's why I give it a 7.5/10, maybe even an 8/10.