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Black Book, a review by Tom

Black Book (2006/Netherlands) IMDb | Wikipedia Warner Home Video (Germany) Director: Paul Verhoeven Writing: Gerard Soeteman (Original Material By), Gerard Soeteman (Screenwriter), Paul Verhoeven (Screenwriter) Length: 140 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, German: Dolby Digital 5.1 Subtitles: German

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Stars:Plot:
September 1944 - Nazi Occupied Holland'. When her temporary safe house is destroyed by a bomb, the beautiful young Jewish chanteuse Rachel Steinn joins fellow refugees in an attempt to reach safe Allied territory by boat.
Tragedy strikes when a Nazi patrol intercepts their escape, ruthlessly killing everybody onboard including Rachel's family; only Rachel escapes the massacre. Embittered and desperate for revenge, she joins the Resistance where, assigned a new identity as the blond Ellies de Vries, she is charged with infiltrating the German Security Service by seducing senior officer Muntze (Sebastian Koch).
Twenty years in the making, this stunning, sexy war film from the internationally acclaimed blockbuster director Paul Verhoeven ('Basic Instinct', 'Total Recall', 'Starship Troopers') is an epic and moving tale of great courage and fierce emotion - played out against the dying explosive months of WWII.

Awards:
Nominated:

BAFTA (2006)		Film Not In The English Language (Teun Hilte, San Fu Maltha, Jens Meurer, Paul Verhoeven)
British Independent Film Awards (2007)		Best Foreign Independent Film
European Film Awards (2007)		European Actress (Carice van Houten)
Saturn (2007)		Best Actress (Carice van Houten)
Saturn (2007)		Best International Film

Extras:

• Interviews
• Scene Access
• Trailers

I have bought this movie after reading the reviews by Rich and Eric. I enjoyed this movie. Some scenes seemed familiar to me. Maybe I have seen some bits and pieces on TV at some time. But that is doubtful as I haven't watched regular TV for years.
This is one of those movie, where when I read the overview it sounds interesting, but for some reason I am never seem to be in the mood for some. I am glad that I finally came around to it. The 140 minutes went by fast.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on October 25th, 2010)

The Proposal, a review by Dragonfire

I went to see The Proposal a few weeks ago.  The movie is a bit predictable and silly at times, but I enjoyed it.

Margaret is a dragon lady at work and most of the other people in her area can't stand her.  Her assistant Andrew does everything he can to keep her happy, hoping for a promotion.  Margaret is from Canada, and she has a problem with her visa and it facing deportation.  She comes up with an idea to stay in the country and she tells her boss that she and Andrew are engaged.  He's shocked, but agrees to go along with the plan if he will finally get his promotion.  Things aren't going well though since the man from immigration decides that they are lying.  Margaret and Andrew head to his family's home in Alaska for his grandmother's birthday in an attempt to appear like a more believable couple.

I think the movie is considered a romantic comedy, but there really isn't a lot of romance to what is going on.  I think it is more of a comedy with just a touch of romance.  Some of the situations are silly, but they are funny.  The plot isn't that complex and certain things are rather predictable, but there are one or two small surprises as well.  The characters are really good, especially Grandma Annie.  Betty White is wonderful in the part.  I also really liked Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock in their parts.

The movie won't appeal to everyone, but I think it is fun and entertaining.  Fans of the cast, especially Sandra Bullock, should give it a chance.

 

I did get a review posted at Epinions.

The Proposal


(From The Proposal on July 18th, 2009)

"Stargate SG-1" Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: The Goa'uld Klorel who has possessed Skaara's body commands a Ha'tak that is in close proximity to Earth. His father Apophis has also arrived in the Earth system with another Ha'tak. SG-1 has mined Klorel's ship but even if Apophis were alone, his ship could devastate Earth.

My Opinion: Good conlcusion. But I think the effect to see Daniel again would have been better if we hadn't seen him escape through the Stargate. They oculd have told us this afterwards instead. This way they could have avoided the plot hole of how Apophis and Klorel escaped because there wasn't simply enough time for them. I loved the dialogues between Bra'tac and O'Neill where the former always prepared to die and the latter tried to find a way out.

Synopsis: During a rescue mission Sam gets possessed by a Goa'uld. He calls himself Jolinar of Malkshur and claims to be a Tok'ra. The Tok'ra are opposed to the System Lords. But there is another Goa'uld who managed to slip thourgh the gate to Earth: An Ashrak, an assassin in the service of the System Lords. His job is to kill Jolinar.

My Opinion: Arrogance seems to be a natural attitude among Goa'ulds, no matter if they see themselves as "good" or "bad". This episodes sets certain things in motion but was unspectacular in itself.

Synopsis: Owing to unfortunate circumstances, the members of SG-1 land on a prison planet that has no DHD. Of course they try everthing to break out.

My Opinion: It was obvious that there was more to the "herbwoman" that met the eye. How else could she have gained the respect of the big blokes? But once again SG-1 did serious damage without knowing it until it was too late.

Synopsis: SG-1 comes to a planet were its few inhabitants are in some sort of stasis. SG-1 also gets caught and they find themselves in the meories of their worst moments.

My Opinion: Has Diwght Schultz ever played a completely sane character? This episode was interesting because we've learned something about their past again. But I had wished for a peek into Sam's or Teal'c's past. And Jack's worst moment is without doubt the death of his son. At least we know now that the Goa'uld inside Carter changed something in her.

(From "Stargate SG-1" Marathon on March 3rd, 2008)