Mr Van Gogh I presume?

Advantages: Suberb acting, dynamic direction, original writing, excellent cinematography and very enjoyable.
Disadvantages: None

..."Van Gogh" DVD directed by Maurice Pialat. Production year 1991. Classification 15 years and over. I love films from other countries and I enjoyed this one very much. It is a dramatization of Vincent Van Gogh's life, the Post Impressionist painter. It is not an attempt to depict the whole of his life but rather a part of it. There are other Van Gogh films out there and this one joins them as another interpretation that has it's own distinct flavour and and yet shares the similar merits of valuing this great artist. Van Gogh is played by actor Jacques Dutronc and his performance is a good and I thought a non stereo-typical Van Gogh. The only problem with that is if you have as I do a strong idea of what Vincent Van Gogh might be like you may feel at times in the film that that he's not playing him correctly. But I felt that...

petermock 17.02.2008 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Van Gogh (DVD)

Van will you be paying a visit?

Advantages: A well-presented exhibition and superb collection of works
Disadvantages: Can get very busy, especially at weekends

...With only two days in Amsterdam I was keen to cram in as much as possible. As it rained pretty much the whole time we were there, indoor activites were top of the list and as the Rijksmuseum was closed for essential works, next on my list was the Van Gogh Museum. This museum houses the biggest collection of the artist's work held in one place as well as displaying works by other artists of the period - this is interesting as it gives you an opportunity to put Van Gogh's work into context. The Museum is located close to the Rijksmuseum and is easy to find. It is housed in a modern building which has wheelchair access. The building also has lifts to the upper floors. The admission prices are displayed clearly at the entrance and you can pay with Euros, although I think I saw a sign indicating that sterling is also accepted. Prices...

fizzytom 19.02.2004 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Van Gogh Museum

You must Gogh here

Advantages: Good exhibition, reasonable price, wide range of works.
Disadvantages: Admission fee

...The Van Gogh Museum is one of the major tourist attractions in the cultural Eurpoean city of Amsterdam. Most famous for being the home of the famous work "The Vase with Sunflowers" this 5-floor museum also displays many other important works of art from Van Gogh and his contemporaries. Van Gogh was born in Zundert in 1853 and began painting in 1880. He famously amputated his own ear after an argument with one of his peers, Gauguin. This was a by-product of an increasing mental instability and he died in 1890, the verdict suicide by a gunshot. The museum itself is located in the Museum Quarter of central Amsterdam and is easily accessible from the hotels in the tourist areas. Currently, around 700 paintings and drawings are in the museum and draw large crowds every year - my advice is to go early to avoid queues. There is...

Saltire 24.01.2001 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Van Gogh Museum

Scampi does culture.

Advantages: A must see attraction.
Disadvantages: Not to everyone's taste.

...Having just returned from a weekend in Amsterdam I thought I'd share one of my experiences with you. Surprise, surprise, it's nothing to do with the red light district or one of the city's multitude of 'coffee shops' either. Oh no, it's one of Amsterdam's many museums, The Van Gogh Museum. BACKGROUND Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) didn't even start painting until he was 27 years old. He had already tried several other professions such as a lay preacher, schoolmaster and art dealer, none of them with much success. Largely self taught his early works were landscapes and townscapes. It was later on that he took to painting farm life depictions and his most famous still life paintings. The last 10 years of his life were spent in a number of locations around the Netherlands and France and each reflected a different stage in his...

scampi1 15.09.2004 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Van Gogh Museum

Culture for the uncultured

Advantages: something to tell your parents
Disadvantages: ?

...When visiting Amsterdam as a student, art galleries aren't really the first thing that come into your head, well not into mine anyway! However, as the trip was a birthday present from my parents, I thought I best do something they'd like, so off i dragged my boyfriend to the Van Gogh museum. My first piece of advice to anyone visiting anywhere in Amsterdam would have to be get a good map!! Unfortunatley, ours would have been as useful in Leeds as it was over there, and Amsterdam must be one of the most confusing cities around. We presumed, as it ws in the Museum district of Amsterdam, that it would be easy to find, but the street signs kept disappearing, so an hour later we completed the 15 minute journey from our hotel. As you can imagine, we expected a lot when we arrived after all that, but we were far from disappointed...

nicolap 14.01.2002 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Van Gogh Museum

Van Gogh cut your heart out.

Advantages: Mess free finger painting.
Disadvantages: Eraser bar doesn't always clear paint first time.

...of noise and possibly get on your nerves mode. I find the first volume is acceptable, the higher volume can become rather irritating if you are trying to watch tv or read. Now we know what it looks like, What does it do? ------------------------------------------------------------------ Jamie my little Van Gogh prefers to use the painter as an easel rather than using it flat like a table, he sets up his easel by pulling out the stand at the back of the painter and I the rational thinking mummy, check's the back of the painter to make sure that the volume is only on low. It's all set up and Jamie begins his work, he starts by removing the shapes from there selected slots and begins pressing down and sliding them about on the plastic covered magical paint surface making many wonderful designs and shapes while nodding his head...

vickiuk 15.04.2005 (16.04.2005) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Fisher-Price Musical Finger Paint

VAN HELSH**

Advantages: Great theme tune and some good action sequences.
Disadvantages: Overuse of CGI, bad writing and a waste of money.

...I went to see Van Helsing the past weekend and I wasn't all that impressed. I mainly went to see the film because it looked good from the trailer and the fact that it was made by the director of one of my favourite films 'The Mummy'. It just shows you how important trailers are nowadays to the movie industry. Even a crap film with a good trailer can do well. For example Charlie Angels: Full Throttle, what a bad film, but it had an excellent trailer with that loud prodigy music blarring. Anyway back to Van Helsing. The movie opened in the U.S with about 50 something million dollars in total and will probably make a lot next week too. Though I'm not sure it will make it's £180 million budget back in America alone. This flick will have to take some hard earned cash from the worldwide box-offce. The Story Basically Van Helsing is...

ralfschumacher 12.05.2004 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Van Helsing (DVD)

Van for the Money

Advantages: Tremendous fun that doesn't take itself seriously
Disadvantages: Shoddy CGI in places, more plot holes than a colander

...Gabriel Van Helsing is a Vatican-sponsored monster hunter sent to Transylvania to aid the Valerios family?s quest to destroy the evil Count Dracula. Once there, Van Helsing discovers Dracula?s nefarious plot to take over the world. The question is, can he save the world and get the girl when he has vampires, werewolves and Frankenstein?s monster to deal with too? Director Stephen Sommers brought us the hugely enjoyable ?Mummy? movies and here he plunders Universal Pictures? back-catalogue for a tale that incorporates all of the studio?s best-loved monsters. Sommers isn?t known for his subtlety and this film is no different. It is chock-full of big action set-pieces, dashing heroes and occasionally dodgy special effects. But it is a rollicking good Saturday matinee movie with enough thrills and spills to keep you cheering the heroes...

afy9mab 13.06.2004 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Van Helsing (DVD)

How James defeated Van Gogh

Advantages: It's by me!
Disadvantages: It's by me!

...now, and he still didn't understand. Maybe he would never learn. He wiped the water off his face, and closed the window, drawing the blinds for extra support. Alone in his room, he could hear chatter downstairs. This either meant that his mother was talking to his aunt, or Mrs Van Niekerk, the Dutch neighbour. James guessed the latter, and sure enough, he was right. He pictured the nosy Mrs Van Niekerk, her crooked nose, and obvious facelift. He imagined her probable outfit, black and white polka-dot-dress. He dreamt her as a whole...and drew. He stayed on that drawing for two weeks, without sleeping, until it was all correct. James didn't find it hard, it was just transfering your imagination onto paper. But he had to get it right. Absolutely right. Until the portrait was as similar as a photograph. Soon it was time for James...

jellytotsgirl 17.03.2003 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Fiction

Van Wilder

Advantages: Some funny scenes, Ryan Reynolds plays his part well.
Disadvantages: Not really bringing anything new to the genre.

...Van Wilder: Party Liaison is a comedy film starring Ryan Reynolds and Tara Reid with Kal Penn and Daniel Cosgrove the most notable supporting cast. Van Wilder (Ryan Reynolds) has been at Coolidge College for seven years and has shown no intention of graduating. He is enjoying his time there and spends it partying, helping his fellow students and organising parties and fundraisers. Understandably, Van's father no longer wishes to pay for his 'education' and withdraws his funding. As Van is the big man on campus, the college paper journalist, Gwen (Tara Reid) is asked to write a paper on him and his exploits. This is such a success that she writes a follow up paper. Van attempts to romance Gwen but she is already involved with Richard (Daniel Cosgrove) so the two men start up a rivalry with one another which results in them playing...

dandadda 06.03.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Van Wilder: Party Liaison (DVD)