Joan Of....Arc Does Triumph.

Advantages: Truer To The Historical Legend, Leelee Sobieski Stars, Great Performances, Charlotte Church Vocals, Inexpensive, Captivating
Disadvantages: You Might Well Have A Tear In Your Eye By The End, Two Sided Disc, Long Film.

...JOAN OF ARC - RATED 12 This is one of the best versions of the legendary Joan of Arc I've seen. The acting is excellent, no cardboard characters. Many well known stars, excellent story line, plus some backing vocals by Charlotte Church, make this a must see movie. DIRECTOR, CAST, WRITERS: Directed by Christian Duguay. Starring: Leelee Sobieski, Chad Willett, Jacqueline Bisset, Powers Boothe, Olympia Dukakis, Neil Patrick Harris, Robert Loggia, Maximilian Schell, Peter Strauss, Jonathan Hyde, Maury Chaykin. Guest appearances by Shirley MacLaine also starring Peter O'Toole as Bishop Cauchon. Written by: Michael Alexander Miller, Ronald Parker DVD FEATURES: · Picture Format: PAL 4:3 Academy · Colour Mode: Colour · Region Code: 2 · Feature Duration: 180 minutes approximately · Audio Content: Dolby Digital Stereo · · Special...

RayMan_UK 04.10.2002 · Read review
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Review of Joan Of Arc (DVD)

Miss Marple Box set (Joan Hickson)

Advantages: Has the best portrail of Miss Marple ever
Disadvantages: No special features

...For me Joan Hickson will always be the best 'Miss Marple'. Possibly as she was the first one I saw playing the part. I'm surprised that it took the BBC so long to releace them on DVD From the acting to the setting to the pacing... everything seems just right. Every part of Joan Hicksons performance (which earned her two BAFTA nominations) was perfect. She plays Miss Marple as the 'rather nosey busy body' who the criminal always seems to dismiss as past it and harmless. She is seen as the old spinster alway knitting but with her razor sharp brain she can always solve the crimes faster than the inspector. Marple lives in her small village and knows everything that goes on there. Through this she knows the world. She is always saying 's/he reminded me of...' Unlike Poirot who always had a good relatioship with the Inspector...

mjc121 30.06.2007 (06.05.2008) · Read review
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Review of The Miss Marple Collection - Starring Joan Hickson (Box Set) (DVD)

Joan fails to spark

Advantages: poor dialogue, good to start but deteriorates badly
Disadvantages: poorly paced

...Every school kid knows the story of Joan of arc. The real question here, is does the film live up to the immortal tale of the girl who saved france from her enemies and claimed to have bought a message from god, the answer is simply no. Milla Jovovich is superb as Joan and the film strats brightly, the period costumes and scenery are superb and is truly believable of the time period, and all of the other actors involved are quite satisfactory, inlcuding John Malkovich, the trouble is i keep expecting Keanu Reeves to jump into his head (check out being john malkovich review), and for the first half of the film, the action is superbly violent and true to life, unfortunately the story just rubs out of steam and the film dissappears staright up its own backside. More times should have been spent on the victories the army achieved with joans...

mcpoeman 01.07.2001 · Read review
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Review of The Messenger - The Story of Joan Of Arc (DVD)

One of Joan's best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Advantages: Very readable and has you hooked - excellent storyline
Disadvantages: Cant put it down once you have started to read it.

...Once again another superb saga by the best author in the world! I have read all Joan's books and have copies of all of them.This book is is one the best I think. A lovely story about a man who had nothing when he left school who went to work with a removal man who later sold him the business for £5. He met his wife Edie who lived in a two up two down like Bob's family in time work really picked up and they were able to buy a larger house and start a family, then a few years later they were able to buy a still larger house with spacious grounds. Its at this point Edie forgets her roots, when they are able to employ a cook and a char lady, what fun when you meet these to humourous, colourful ladies,I had tears of laughter running down my face making it hard to read what they were going to get up to next. Then we meet up with Bobs...

pinkporkypig 04.03.2005 · Read review
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Review of Dream a little dream - Joan Jonker

Still Astonishing Today - w/ DVD UPDATE

Advantages: Hypnotic film with an understated yet compelling performance by Florence Carrez.
Disadvantages: -

...How did an illiterate, 19-year-old peasant woman in the early 15th century become such a headache for the Bishop of Beauvais and his English controllers? Well, that 19-year-old just happened to have made history by leading thousands of French soldiers to triumph over the English occupiers in the final phase of the Hundred Years' War (1337 to 1453). Even more amazing, that same woman had had no previous military training whatsoever. And yet the armies followed her bidding with little question, and for their pains, got results - big, history-making results, as in the eventual retreat of the English from France in 1453. That woman, as you might guess, was Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc to the French). Some Background. So how exactly did she accomplish such feats? We get some illumination on the enigma of Joan from...

zerbine28 25.03.2006 · Read review
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Review of The Trial Of Joan Of Arc (DVD)

Watching a lady take a bath

Advantages: Excellent examples of Miro work
Disadvantages: Could get very hot in the summer

...Alongside Gaudi Casa Mila the other art exhibit I definitely wanted to see while in Barcelona was the Fundacio Joan Miro which is an impressive collection of Miro work with many of the pieces being donated by the man himself. About the artist Miro passed away bin his 90th year in 1983 and is one of the great Catalan artists. Much of his work has links to Surrealism and abstract art, for me it his sculptures that are of particular interest and provide the most pleasure however that is not to say that I would discount his paintings and drawings it is just that on the whole I find that the sculpture has more of a ?wow? factor. Certainly it was the sculptures that most appealed to the children with the exception of the giant tapestry that covers a huge wall space and can be viewed from both ground level and also from a balcony where...

atticusuk 08.05.2007 · Read review
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Review of Fundació Joan Miró

I Can Hear Voices

Advantages: See review
Disadvantages: See review

...Historical films can be a curious affair. In order to satisfy the simple requirements of a modern day cinema audience, it is more often the case that the choice of subject matter tends to revolve around famous conflicts - these offer plenty of opportunity to dazzle the viewer with special effects and choreographed battle scenes. Luc Besson's epic film Joan of Arc - The Messenger has most certainly opted for this type of story telling. The plot of the film is simple - and yet confusing. The film essentially portrays the life story of Joan of Arc, from early childhood right through to her untimely demise at the age of nineteen. Raised in a French peasant village, we see right from the start of the film that Joan experiences holy images, and voices which (although we never actually hear them) instruct her in god's will. Deeply...

LostWitness 08.03.2001 · Read review
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Review of Joan Of Arc (DVD)

Betrayal Madness and the Voice of God

Advantages: Jovovich's eyes
Disadvantages: Over the top

...A startling piece of cinema is Luc Besson's telling of the tale of St Joan, the Maid of Orleans, but then he did have a pretty emphatic and passionate piece of history from which to work, so any film about Joan of Arc is going to be pretty memorable. I'll come back a little later to the film itself, promise, but let's dwell just a little on the legend of the character first and indulge ourselves... Joan of Arc was a passionate, legendary hero of the French people in the 15th Century, when the country was seen as fair game for looting, pillage, rape and occupation by her near neighbour England. She had a meteoric, inspiring life and singlehandedly (for a time) resisted the grubby mitts of the persecutors. She was born on 6 January 1412 in the village of Domremy, the youngest of five children, daughter to Jacques and Isabelle d...

dave27 29.03.2002 · Read review
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Review of Joan Of Arc (DVD)

The mystery of the disappearing girls....

Advantages: haunting and well written
Disadvantages: almost seems to stop instead of end

...It's 1900 in Australia and St Valentines day. The weather is fine and there is an air of excitement in Appleyard College, a boarding school for girls, as the boarders are to go on their annual picnic and clamber aboard the buggy for the ride to Hanging Rock. Despite the innocent start, Joan Lindsay's book is the story of a mystery that will affect everyone connected to it. Joan Lindsay was born in 1896 and died in 1984. She attended Clyde Girls School East St. Kilda and later went on to study at the National Gallery School of Art in Melbourne, intending to become a professional artist. After marrying Sir Darryl Lindsay, Lady Lindsay turned her full attention to writing, with Picnic at Hanging Rock, first published in1967, becoming her most well known peice of work I received this book for Christmas after hearing good things about...

maz2909 16.01.2006 · Read review
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Review of Picnic at Hanging Rock - Joan Lindsay

Panic at Hanging Rock

Advantages: mesmerising, page turner
Disadvantages: stilted language in parts

.... At the end of the afternoon a teacher and three pupils have disappeared, and Edith returns, screaming and incoherent. She cannot remember what's occurred and reluctantly, after a fruitless search for the missing ladies, the rest of the school party head home without them. * Spooky sightings * Firstly, Joan Lindsay has not made it clear at the start of the book whether this is a true story or not. We are told to decide for ourselves. According to the place that I visited, this story is fiction. But my goodness, when you read the book you will re-live all the horrors and guilt that various members of the school, staff and the witnesses go through. Some of the questions that go unanswered are tantalisingly laid before the reader. Why were only two of the party wearing watches, and why did both watches stop during the day...

kirstymack80 17.11.2005 · Read review
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Review of Picnic at Hanging Rock - Joan Lindsay