Advantages: Semi Finals!
Disadvantages: Still cheesy

...Working on the better late than never premise, here is my latest football fuelled piece for Spacemonkeys Challenge. What is this all about? A while ago, a group of unsuspecting Ciao members decided to enter a football themed challenge. We were each assigned a country, which represented those playing in the World Cup, and I was given the mighty Holland. We have been given different subjects to write about, and now having made it through rounds 1 and 2, and the quarter finals, we are ready for the drama that is the Semi-Finals. The Semi-finals see Holland v Japan The subject is "The Heart of the Matter" Referee Spacemonkey THE SEMI FINALS Hooray, a new challenge to tackle, the goal is now in sight. So I will start with a brief, yet remarkably factual history lesson. Cast your minds back, if you will, to 10th June 2005 and the FIFA... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Good Soundtrack
Disadvantages: too raunchy to let my son watch

...enjoyed watching this, the sound track was good and the dancing was amazing, I just wish I could move like that! Although the certificate for this is 12, I would be in two minds whether to allow my children to watch it so young. Although you don't actually see anything, there is a very explicit indication of sex and one violent scene (which is very well choreographed!) Run Time: 97 mins approx. Genre: Comedy / Drama / Romance Aspect Ratios: 2.35:1 Anamorphic Sound Formats: Dolby Digital (5.1) Soundtrack Languages: English, Russian Subtitles: Danish, Dutch, English, English for the hearing impaired, Finnish, Hebrew, Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish Director: David McNally... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: so many colours
Disadvantages: dull story from 17. century

...for that period in Holland. “Girl with a Pearl Earring” offers visual and compelling drama, effective enough in a pleasing BBC classic kind of production. The director has crafted the film with great care, composing each frame on a very compelling way, with colored exteriors, that captures the flavor of 17th-century. Visually, the film is breathtaking, the screen presence the right colors of luminous, recognizing model’s [Griets’] stillness and natural intelligence on a mesmerizing level. Webber here touched the atmosphere with a magic stick, creating the Dutch master's oeuvre, awakening it to life. Just like Vermmeer’s painting, he respects the color and lights, looking after the camera placement and texture. “Girl with a Pearl Earring” silent as it is, is still an amazing achievement. Indeed, the dialogue... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: dramatic, action-packed
Disadvantages: same story every week

..."He was a cop and good at his job, But he committed the ultimate sin and testified against other cops gone bad, Cops that tried to kill him - but got the woman he loved instead. Framed for murder, now he prowls badlands An outlaw hunting outlaws, a bounty hunter, a Renegade..." An so starts Renegade, the story of Reno Raines, (played by Lorenzo Lamas) a modern day bounty-hunter who works for the suitably named Bobby Sixkiller (full name Robert "Bobby" Standing Bear Sixkiller - played by Branscombe Richmond). The show borrows a lot from the A Team, not only the voiced introduction at the beginning of every show - remember the one for the A Team (forgive me, but I can't recount that one word for word!) but it also borrows the writer - Stephen J Cannell - who also stars in the show as the evil Donald "Dutch" Dixon, who's a really nasty... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: somewhat gripping, story is ok
Disadvantages: no proper special effects, not the scariest movie

...being possessed, from epilepsy to schizophreny. The cast is not great at all and some scenes are a bit exaggerated that we could not help ourselves but start cracking jokes. All in all, I'm not saying that this movie is bad. I may just be used to scarier stuff. You can give it a try, just don't expect too much, because all you will see is a courtroom drama with a shaky story. Oh, and there are no extras whatsoever, except for the usual subtitles, that is. Director: Scott Derrickson Starring: Tom Wilkinson, Laura Linney, Jennifer Carpenter, Colm Feore, Campbell Scott, Mary Beth Hurt, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Joshua Close, Henry Czerny, Aaron Douglas, Duncan Fraser, Lorena Gale, Katie Keating, Chelah Horsdal, Marsha Regis Runtime: 117 min Aspect ratio: 2.40 Anamorphic Wide Screen Sound format: Dolby Digital 5.1 DVD release date: 20th Mar 2006... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: It's a bold and different take on the war movie genre.
Disadvantages: Gratuitous sex and a lack of depth.

...stars. Needless to say his Dutch-language output has been more consistent and far better received, as is the case with this glossy but engrossing production. He still manages to put his own stamp on this variation of the war film. Unlike most of the recent slew of war dramas, which have favoured a muted and sometimes bleached-out visual style, his movie is shot on high definition film in glorious Technicolor. So in many ways it feels more immediate. On the other hand the saturated colours make it feel as though it exists in a heightened reality. As does the way the Nazi officers and their friends party in their opulent quarters while prisoners are tortured in the cells below. So the imagery is sometimes too simplistic. The way he shoots the action, from Nazi attacks to assassinations adds to the sense of unreality. It feels like a throwback... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Gorgeous cinematography and excellent acting
Disadvantages: Slow story, very subtle, arty, not for action film-lovers

...The Peter Webber film “Girl with the Pearl Earring” takes Tracy Chevalier’s well known novel and transforms it into a masterful study of the 17th century art world. The film centers around Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer’s famous portrait “Girl with the Pearl Earring,” and offers a fictionalized account of the enigmatic girl in the work. This film seems more about capturing painterly scenes in gorgeous, natural half-light--which it does very successfully--than developing a complex plot. But, director Webber, in his first feature film, demonstrates that he is force to be reckoned with. This film is so lovely, fragile, and subtle that it comes across as a wonderful addition to the slightly trendy films-about-moody-painters genre, despite its slow pace. I’m thinking here of "Surviving Picasso" and "Pollack," among others. Key to the film... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Looks outside the box on what is literature
Disadvantages: No special features and Michelle Pfeiffer

...of it) *Sex/nudity - once, moderate reference. (I do not remember this bit so can not be of great significance) *Violence - once, moderate. (There is a fight in a locker room, oh and someone gets shot but you do not actually see it, just hear about it) *Theme/content - school drama. (Indeed it is) Languages: English, French and Italian Subtitles: English, English for hearing impaired and Dutch Running time: 95 mins (1 hour 35 mins) Widescreen format: 1: 85: 1 It has been around awhile so if you do decide to buy it then try ebay, that is where I got my copy and it was cheaper than in the shops... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: He was Brilliant.
Disadvantages: He wasnt Irish real shame.

...of a dominated Bayern Munich team. In the late 1960's he changed his position to attacking midfield for Bayern but what angered him was he was not allowed play in this position for Germany. In the 1970 World cup in Mexico Beckenbauer was involved in a hard fought drama of a quarter final against England. At half time England were coasting 2-0. But a goal by whom else the emperor himself Franz Beckenbauer, Uwe Seeler got the equaliser and with Muller finishing them off. Yes revenge for the heart break of 1966. However after a brave performance with a broken army Franz could not help his team and they lost 4-3 in the semi final against Italy. After the World cup in 1971 he was made German captain. Later that year he was made European footballer of the year. Franz's first major achievement was captaining his country to success in the 1974 Olympic... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Breathtaking Scenery, Seafood
Disadvantages: Cant trust the Drinking Water there.

...Kochi (Cochin),is situated on the west coast of India in the beautiful state of Kerala. Kochi can be regarded as the commercial and industrial capital of Kerala. Kochi is known as the Queen of the Arabian Sea and the Queen of the Adriatic. It is also referred to as the Gateway of South India. It is famous for it's Chinese Fishing Nets and the Snake Boat race. Here you can see the oldest European-built church in India, a small 16th century synagogue that serves a proportionate community of Jews, a palace built by the Portuguese, given to the raja of Cochin, renovated by the Dutch and some world-class performances of the Kathakali dance drama. The older parts of the city reflect this melange of traditions and styles: a blend of mediaeval Portuguese, Dutch and British influences, grafted onto the tropical Malabar Coast. All... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful