slightlymad22 Continuing my plan to watch every Johnny Depp movie in order, I come to The Ninth Gate.When this was announced I was disgusted Depp would work with Roman Polanski. I decided to still see it in cinemas, as I did everything Depp made back then. I think my disgust may have clouded my judgement as I hated it. And like Fear & Loathing, I have never revisited it, despite the DVD sitting in my collection for over a decade. Depp is once again solid, but this movie is not two of his better hours. Frank Langella normally brightens up any movie just by having his name in the cast. But here he is in pantomime villain mode!! He even shouts "Boo" at one point!! Depp's Donnie Brasco costar James Russo has a role as Depp's trusted friend Bernie. Who says his loyalty is 100%, unless there is money, women or work involved.I'm still not sure what happened at the end, as it is certainly not clear!! The Ninth Gate grossed $18 million dollars at the domestic box office, not landing a spot on the highest 100 grossing movies of the year.Depp met Vanessa Paradis whilst filming this movie in France, he promptly fell in love with her and moved to France. There was no more arrests, no more trashed hotel rooms and outside of one incident early in their relationship, there were no more fights with paparazzi either. The next 5 years would be the most stable period of Depp's adult life.

dncorp Having lived allover the World as U.S. Military, living at Villages just like this Chocolat 1959 Village, except from the 1960s till decades later. This movie is so accurate of life in a village, but not a stereotype.Some of the villages I lived at were even smaller. A dozen homes and businesses at the center surrounded by miles of farmland and some (large) homes within walking distance of the center of the village. Typical of the villages I lived at orange ceramic tile roofs, with white buildings, cobblestone streets.Takes months to years for the locals to trust you. But once they do, their trust is for life.Some of the Common Rules. Church on Sunday absolutely no work. Saturday Recreation no loud noise work like mowing the lawn, expected that you are at the local Village Bar, Tavern, Gasthaus Saturday Evening to discuss anything. Police yourself and each other, as the nearest Law Enforcement is miles away at the nearest Town, this adds an extra layer of Security as if a Villager sees something suspicious everybody knows within minutes with a dozen or more Villagers taking a look. Every Year you were expected to participate in the dozen or more Village Festivals celebrating Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, Planting, Harvest, Beer, Wine, whatever crop(s) they grow, Founder's Day, and many more or be considered "Anti Social".

ElessarAndurilS Chocolat is a movie my wife picked out for us to watch together on a fall weekend evening on which we planned to sit on the couch cuddled together and spend a simple night of popcorn, movies, and enjoying some alone time together. She picked it out as the synopsis seemed to fit the mood of the evening planned. Indeed it hit it right on the mark! It is a unique story of a woman and her young daughter who live a nomad life style moving from town to town where she would open chocolate shops. She flies in the face of the practices of the average folks of the time and town, but made good friends and through simple acts of kindness won over friends and helped set people free of their inhibitions. I didn't expect to like it that much but wound up loving it. We now spend a weekend evening each fall watching the movie together, enjoying the simple yet quality story that has grown to be one of our favorites. You won't find a lot of movies like it, but that is part of what makes it so special and why I think it is a smart movie for mature audiences. Just a great couples movie that over time seems to be a little better each year we watch it!

AlexanderExtazy Every chocolate baked in the store has its own pleasure in it. This is one of the best movies that Depp has acted in (storyline- wise I mean).Two strangers moving in to a new town in the middle of France is an aspiring story of entrepreneurship.With a great combination of talent, desire, and ambition; this young single mother managed to push through the incumbency of a small city's arrogance and embrace the entire city with her delights.Such is the story of any ambitious entrepreneur who wishes to swim in seas full of sharks; in this case the shark is an arrogant official who must have been breastfed too much or not enough.Despite all the blockages, this young woman managed to gain the city's respect (including the official) by her astonishing business.Great plot and story from start to finish. Too bad movies like that don't exist anymore.