It's in Belgium...

Advantages: Really strong writing and performances.
Disadvantages: Some hackneyed direction.

...A pair of hitmen are sent to lay low in Bruges after a job in London goes wrong. They are told to wait for instructions from their psychotic boss. While the elder man Ken wants to soak up the history and do a spot of sightseeing, Ray is bored and restless and manages to get into trouble wherever he goes. But after a few nights on the town, things begin to look up, especially after Ray meets an attractive drug dealer called Chloë. However it isn't long before their disturbed gangster boss Harry is on his way to Belgium for a job of his own? Playwright-turned director Martin McDonagh brings the same spirit to the screen as his plays are known for. Part of the unofficial "In Your Face" theatre movement, he isn't afraid to be confrontational, presenting a world of morally dubious characters who are crass, racist and homophobic. But if...

afy9mab 22.06.2008 · Read review
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Review of In Bruges (DVD)

Bother in Belgium (film only)

Advantages: very funny, a bit thought-provoking
Disadvantages: not for delicate sensibilities

..."I don't even know where f*@!ing Bruges is." (Long pause) "It's in Belgium." The above is part of the opening voice over of this rather strange little film - so if you're at all offended, this is definitely NOT the movie for you: oodles of swearing, about as un-politically correct as possible, and subject matter including murder, sex, drugs and midgets. I mean dwarfs! Personally, none of that bothered me - it's all done with such humour, and is so equally offensive across a rather wide spectrum, that it felt more funny than 'wrong'. My only complaints are twofold: firstly, that some of the audience kept laughing even when it was no longer appropriate - the film does turn much darker, you see. Which leads me to the second complaint: when all you know about the movie you're about to see is that it's a comedy about two hitmen...

Calypte 01.09.2008 · Read review
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Review of In Bruges (DVD)

The Final Destination in 3D - Death's final outing is a good one

Advantages: 3D is fully used, bloody like a horror should be, brilliant ending that wraps up the films well
Disadvantages: 3D is really the only standout feature, acting only okay, some dodgy effects masked by 3D

...As a fan of the final destination films I am pleased to say that the latest offering does not disappoint though I am sure a large measure of that is down to the fact that it is in 3D. In my opinion there is no question that making horrors in 3D works - there is no better genre to take advantage of 3D with various weapons, blood and guts flying out at you - and in this case they have used the 3D format exceptionally well. To give an example, and without spoiling any of the plot, when one of the victims has their head destroyed by a flying tyre the impact of the 3D is truly felt with the trye screaming towards you and then bits of her brain flying all over the place. The plot is, however, pretty much the same as all the previous installments though this one does end very well and in my mind ties up all the previous films - this has...

thepreacherman 01.09.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Final Destination

Please Make This *The* Final Destination

Advantages: Good premise
Disadvantages: Lack of elaborate deaths, no imaginative plot like others, doesn't live up to the hype

...While at the races, Nick (Bobby Campo) has a shocking premonition about a horrific crash that will happen and in turn will lead to all the other drivers crashing and killing numerous innocent people in the audience. This leads Nick to a state of panic and in this state he mistakenly hits another member of the audience, a scrap entails and security escorts Nick, his girlfriend, two friends and a group of other audience members out of the area. Nick tells them about the impending crash which happens seconds later. Unnerved by the events, Nick wants to forget about what happened and get on with his life however when the survivors begin to die one by one, suspicion is aroused that maybe the subsequent events aren?t just shocking coincidences and are something a bit more sinister? Being a big fan of the Final Destination trilogy I had...

Great_reviewer07 19.09.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Final Destination

Casio WK3500 packs in the features!!

Advantages: lightweight, good sound through speakers, loads of features
Disadvantages: plastic feeling, not as good through an amp

...I've owned this keyboard for approx 2 years now. Its been played at gigs a few times and also thrown in the back of the car many more times! Its now not my main keyboard but is still regularly used. Styling and cosmetics The design and styling of the keyboard is a little cheap looking. It feels very plastic and light. A feature of expensive keyboards is their heaviness. Probably not a good indicator of their quality although many would say the same thing! The WK3500 is very light for the size and feels a little vulnerable to knocks. Although i have to say its been played in many packed pubs and never let me down so what do i know! The presentation of the buttons and screen does seem a little crowded and "busy". Sounds = The sounds on the whole are very good. I'm temped to compare it with my other more...

lhough20 01.07.2007 · Read review
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Review of Casio WK3500

Belgium IS cool and froody

Advantages: A real Goscinny book...
Disadvantages: ...but the last one.

...Asterix in Belgium marks the end of an era, as it was the last Asterix adventure to be written by Rene Goscinny before his death. As an epitaph it's not at all bad - I wouldn't class it as one of the great Asterix books, but it's by no means poor, and is well up to previous standards. The premise of the story is, like most of the series, a simple one. Julius Caesar has said that the Belgians are the bravest of all the Gaulish people. This does not go down at all well with Chief Vitalstatistix, and so he decides to visit the Belgians himself, and prove just who is the bravest. Asterix and Obelix, of course, are deputed by Getafix to accompany the chief (in spite of his initial objections), and, once arrived, the trio divide their time between eating and fighting (Obelix is in his element here!), the latter according to carefully drawn...

davidbuttery 20.02.2001 · Read review
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Review of Asterix in Belgium - Rene Goscinny

Destination Death

Advantages: A gorefest, little details that bring the film together
Disadvantages: No story line to get my teeth into, some of the acting was a bit wooden

...although he doesn't know why. When everyone boards the plane Alex has a vision of the plane starting to break up in mid air and then exploding. He panics so much that he has to leave the plane along with five other students and a teacher, with those left behind thinking Alex is a total nutcase who's ruined their holiday. The plane takes off and then **bang**, it hasn't been in the air for two minutes and suddenly there's a fireball where the plane should have been. Obviously this freaks Alex out and when the FBI arrive on the scene they interview him as a possible suspect, although how they could possibly imagine a nerdy looking 17 year old to have the brains and imagination to create such a catastrophe is a bit weird. But then things get worse. The seven people who left the plane start dying off one by one and although he doesn't have any...

Fruity_Tart 03.11.2003 · Read review
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Review of Final Destination (DVD)

Deadly Destination

Advantages: A taut thriller with loads of scares
Disadvantages: The cast are nothing more than adequate

...Taking the horror genre to a whole new premise, Final Destination introduces the villain as Death itself. Devon Sawa stars as Alex, a high school student who is preparing to go to Paris on a field trip with his class. From the opening credits, all the signs point towards something sinister. And as Alex gets on the plane, he finds himself thrust into a mid air explosion. Moments later though, he wakes up and discovers that it was nothing more than a dream. However, convinced it was more like a premonition, he and a handful of students get into a brawl and are thrown off the plane. As they are rounded up in the departure lounge, they watch in horror as his premonition is realised and the plane explodes moments after taking off. The police are instantly convinced that Alex must be part of some conspiracy to blow the plane up, and as...

bilbob20 23.04.2007 · Read review
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Review of Final Destination (DVD)

Beer, Breweries, Bars and Belgium!

Advantages: A good guide with useful info and humour.
Disadvantages: Is only his opinions.

...to behave and what to expect. This section also combines the humorous and the factual! Good and easy to follow information is given about currency, language, place names, places to stay, driving, food and drink. Webb also gives a few useful websites, such as hotel finders and food information. Hopefully by the time you have finished this chapter you will know the basics of Belgium and will know much of what you need to get by. I found this section especially useful because I found out that place names can alter depending on whether the sign is written in French or Dutch ~ certainly stopped us from getting lost a good few times! ***Beer Tourism, making beer and beer styles*** The next few chapters are really just a background and much of the information can be found in other sources too. The calendar of Beer Tourism bit was...

tange 08.11.2005 · Read review
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Review of Good Beer Guide Belgium - Tim Webb

The lives of others, a stunning film of life in the GDR

Advantages: Gripping, interesting and cleverly portrayed
Disadvantages: Quite long

...The Lives of Others (German title: Das Leben der Anderen) is an absorbing account of 4 lives in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) that is intriguing and subtly unsettling. The premise of the film starts with committed believer in the East German regime and stasi (secret police) captain Gerd Wiesler asks his former classmate and subordinate Anton Grubitz to spy on playwright Georg Dreyman and his actress girlfriend Christa-Maria Sieland. The film focuses of the development of sympathetic feelings by Grubitz towards his subject and the entanglement of opposing loyalties, betrayal and the dreadful fear of living under such a regime are played out. For a thriller there is not a lot of action and the plot unfolds subtly and slowly. However, whilst not much is happening I was still on the edge of my seat waiting to see what happened next...

flyingllamas 06.07.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Lives Of Others (DVD)