Another nod for Triplets of Belleville

Took my family to see the French/Canadian animated movie "The Triples of
Belleville" yesterday, and had a great time. They (the rest of the family,
comprised of one wife, one 11-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl) all had
better ideas of how to spend their time than to watch a foreign-language
movie that includes bicycling, but within minutes they were having a great
time (no more remarks about "Dictator Dad").

If you're unfamiliar with the movie, it's set in post-WWII France. A young
boy is being raised by his Grandmother, and his life is going nowhere until
she gets him a bicycle. He ends up becoming a bike racer, but in an age
when racers who aren't the very best are treated more like horses than
athletes, and there are evil people in the world (the French Mafia),
humorous slams at overweight Americans & Canadians, and three old ladies
whose entire diet seems to consist of various frog "delicacies."

It's funny, it's got lots of action, and there's a lot in the cycling that
you'll be able to relate to.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
http://www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:
Took my family to see the French/Canadian animated movie "The Triples of
Belleville" yesterday, and had a great time. They (the rest of the family,
comprised of one wife, one 11-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl) all had
better ideas of how to spend their time than to watch a foreign-language
movie that includes bicycling, but within minutes they were having a great
time (no more remarks about "Dictator Dad").

If you're unfamiliar with the movie, it's set in post-WWII France. A young
boy is being raised by his Grandmother, and his life is going nowhere until
she gets him a bicycle. He ends up becoming a bike racer,

I understand that Fabrizzio Mazzolini was the inspiration for the physique of
the racer, as he is the champion of the 'no excess upper-body musculature'
school of training.

DH

Kevan Smith wrote:

On Mon, 02 Feb 2004 18:14:49 GMT, "Mike Jacoubowsky" from
SBC http://yahoo.sbc.com wrote:


It's funny, it's got lots of action, and there's a lot in the cycling that
you'll be able to relate to.


Sounds great. Here in my little hick town, we have two cinema megaplexes run by
massive corporations. The chance of me seeing this movie at one of them is nil.
Meanwhile, You've Been Served is showing on something like eight screens. Oh,
how I want to see Triplets on the big screen. Your review taunts me, but thank
you for it.

So, regarding "Triplets," "The Bicycle Thief," and other obscure films
not in our video stores:

What experience have people had renting DVDs online? Is it worth
exploring? I don't want to join something that works like a book club,
but I'd like a source of less-than-popular movies.

--
Frank Krygowski [To reply, omit what's between "at" and "cc"]

"frkrygow" wrote

So, regarding "Triplets," "The Bicycle Thief," and other obscure films
not in our video stores:

What experience have people had renting DVDs online? Is it worth
exploring? I don't want to join something that works like a book club,
but I'd like a source of less-than-popular movies.

I use NetFlix.com. Easy to use. You get new DVD's in the mail, watch it,
drop it in the mailbox. Pretty good selection, reasonable turnaround now
that they have multiple mail centers around the country.
$20/month is the usual plan. You have 3 movies out at any one time. If you
watch a lot of movies, you can probably do 3-4 a week at that price.

I had "The Bicycle Thief" a few weeks ago. "Triplets" is in there too. What
I like is the difference in renting mindset. At Blockbuster...I get there,
and forget the 3 movies I wanted. WithNetflix, I just put them in the queue
when I hear about it, and when it filters to the top, it shows up in my
mailbox. "Oh yeah...I knew I wanted to see this!"
Not released n DVD yet? Put it in the queue. When it IS released, it shows
up. I did that with "The Italian Job" (original - Michael Caine). Was on my
'To Be Released' list for months. With BB, I probably would have forgotten
about it.

Plus, they recommend, based on what you're rated other movies at. Like a
particular genre? Here's a bunch of other things you might like.

Sometimes (but not often), the condition of the disk is subpar. I've had to
clean a few to be watchable, and have had one completely broken when I got
it. And one supposedly they never received. You're trusting the Post Office
personnel not to steal it. They have a procedure for reporting
broken/unwatchable or stolen DVD's.

Last year at Christmas, they upped everyones account by one disk, to account
for the increased mail times in late Dec. They didn't do it this year.

They have a free trial. Try it.

Plus, zero late fees.

Pete

On Mon, 02 Feb 2004 18:14:49 GMT, "Mike Jacoubowsky"
wrote:
Took my family to see the French/Canadian animated movie "The Triples of
Belleville" yesterday, and had a great time. They (the rest of the family,
If you're unfamiliar with the movie, it's set in post-WWII France. A young
boy is being raised by his Grandmother, and his life is going nowhere until
she gets him a bicycle. He ends up becoming a bike racer, but in an age

So, is "The Triples of Belleville" about his trials and tribulations
trying to get a triple crank on his racing bike?
--
Rick Onanian

On Mon, 02 Feb 2004 22:46:18 -0500, "frkrygow"
wrote:
What experience have people had renting DVDs online? Is it worth
exploring? I don't want to join something that works like a book club,
but I'd like a source of less-than-popular movies.

I'm a Netflix user. I've been happy with the service, and the
selection is pretty good; they have lots of obscure stuff, although
I've never tried to find a specific obscure item. Their $20/month
fee lets you have 3 dvds out for as long as you want, which is
great; although I've had the same 3 for a long time now, and can't
find one of them, and haven't bothered to send back the other two --
the net effect of which is that I'd have saved money by just buying
the DVDs in question...but if you remember to promptly watch it and
send it back, you can see 3 to 6 dvds per week.
--
Rick Onanian

Pete wrote:

"frkrygow" wrote

So, regarding "Triplets," "The Bicycle Thief," and other obscure films
not in our video stores:

What experience have people had renting DVDs online? Is it worth
exploring? I don't want to join something that works like a book club,
but I'd like a source of less-than-popular movies.


I use NetFlix.com. Easy to use. You get new DVD's in the mail, watch it,
drop it in the mailbox. Pretty good selection, reasonable turnaround now
that they have multiple mail centers around the country.
$20/month is the usual plan. You have 3 movies out at any one time. If you
watch a lot of movies, you can probably do 3-4 a week at that price.
...
They have a free trial. Try it.

But - I _really_ don't want to join anything with a continuing
membership. I don't watch enough movies to justify that.

I guess nobody has experience with a place that works like a standard
video store, only online?

--
Frank Krygowski [To reply, omit what's between "at" and "cc"]

"frkrygow" wrote

But - I _really_ don't want to join anything with a continuing
membership. I don't watch enough movies to justify that.

I guess nobody has experience with a place that works like a standard
video store, only online?

They seem to be few and far between
http://www.cafedvd.com/ is the only one I found after a quick search.

Pete

Pete wrote:
"frkrygow" wrote

But - I _really_ don't want to join anything with a continuing
membership. I don't watch enough movies to justify that.

I guess nobody has experience with a place that works like a standard
video store, only online?

They seem to be few and far between
http://www.cafedvd.com/ is the only one I found after a quick search.


What about "Movie Link" (just add dot com, I believe)?

They're only good for broadbanders, as you basically download entire movies
AFAIK; anyone tried them?

Bill "got a coupon but haven't used it" S.

"S o r n i" wrote in message
...

What about "Movie Link" (just add dot com, I believe)?

They're only good for broadbanders, as you basically download entire
movies
AFAIK; anyone tried them?

Bill "got a coupon but haven't used it" S.

www.movielink.com or aol.movielink.com

I downloaded "Pirates of the Carribean" last week, and plan to watch it
later tonight. If I think about it, I will report on the experience.

As Bill says, it's only good for broadbanders. The movie took about 3 hours
to download; I could have started watching it after about 35 minutes of
download, so it downloads somewhat slower than you watch. The (special)
price was 99 cents.

You get to keep the movie for a month, but can only watch it during a 24
hour period (of your choosing) during that time. This seems unnecessarily
restrictive to me, but that's their business model.

Searches on "triplets", on "bicycle" and on "Belleville" failed.
My guess is that this is a division of Time Warner (as is AOL), and they are
pilot-testing the service using movies they control. I've been wrong before,
though.

--
Mike Kruger
"Does this timeline need to be in any particular order?"
"There is no I in marriage."
"Now, the roof, is that on the top of the building?"
-Scott Adams