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tícMovie Night: The Good Liar Review
by Tanya Krupiy
22 Nov 2019. On Friday we went to see a movie ‘The Good Liar.’ The movie took unanticipated turns and kept the audience in suspense. I found the quality of acting very good.
We went to the Havana café for drinks afterwards. It was a very relaxed evening. I had a lot of fun hearing about cross-cultural experiences in different countries. I laughed so much that my mascara started leaking at some point.
#TilburgInternationalClub #Expatlife #movienight #thegoodliar #pathe
#TBT Movie: The Light Between Oceans
Next week we’ll meet up for another Movie Night. For #ThrowbackThursday, here’s a look back at the Cinecitta movie “The Light Between Oceans”!
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11 November 2016. by Anne van Oorschot. We had our first #TilburgInternationalClub movie evening of the club year at Cinecitta to see the film The Light Between Oceans. This beautiful film is based on the debut novel by M. L. Stedman and tells the story of Tom (Michael Fassbender), a Lighthouse keeper in Western Australia and his wife, Isabel (Alicia Vikander). Tom, a WWI veteran, is damaged by the atrocities he has seen as a soldier and feels his past will prevent him from having a happy future, so accepts the job of lighthouse keeper on a desolate island. He is surprised by the affection of Isobel, a lovely girl who lives on the mainland and they are married and head off to the island where they create a solitary, yet happy life together. (more…)
Review tícMovie Night – Blinded by the Light
27 September 2019. by Dietrich Haas. For September’s tíc movie night, we were all “Blinded by the Light” at Cinecitta.
Without spoiling too much for those who still want to watch this film about the impact of “The Boss” Bruce Springsteen’s music has on a Pakistani teenager living in England, I give it two thumbs up!
#TBT tícMovie Night: Green Book
This coming Friday night we’ll meet up for our first Movie Night of the club season. For #ThrowbackThursday, here’s a look back to last year’s movie night to see “Green Book”!
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01.02.2019. Review by Elaine Ferguson. The film is loosely based on the friendship between Tony “Lip” Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen) who is a night club owner/bouncer and Dr Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali) a talented black concert pianist. (more…)
tícMovie Night – Three Identical Strangers
Review by Anne van Oorschot.
31 May 2019. For our last movie night of the year, tíc members met to see a documentary for the first time, but it sometimes seemed much more like fiction! Three Identical Strangers tells the true story of identical American triplets, born in New York in 1961 to an unwed mother and given up for adoption via a reputable agency that specialized in placing Jewish children with Jewish families. The boys were adopted as six-month-old infants by separate families, unaware that each child had brothers.
It was discovered quite by accident when Bobby enrolled in a local Junior
College and everyone seemed to know him, and called him Eddy. When he and Eddy met, both said it was like looking in the mirror. A journalist wrote about the reconnected twins and a third sibling, David, recognized himself in the accompanying photo – thus at the age of 19, the triplets met. Not only were they physically identical, they had similar mannerisms and discovered many shared interests. They became an overnight sensation appearing on many television talk shows and being written about in numerous magazines. They became inseparable, renting an apartment together in New York and doing everything together…but then things started to get a bit strange.
Their parents were furious not to have been told their adopted sons were part of identical triplets. While the agency originally told them they had separated the boys out of fears that no one would want to adopt triplets, another story slowly came to light. The separations were done as part of an undisclosed scientific “nature versus nurture” twin study, to track the development of genetically identical siblings raised in differing circumstances. The study was conceived of, and run by, renowned psychiatrist Dr. Neubauer, an Austrian Jew who had fled to America to avoid the Holocaust.
The separated triplets (and twins) were intensely studied in their homes for years, doing a barrage of tests to determine their development. Those carrying out the tests on the boys knew each had 2 identical siblings, but could not let their subjects know. The triplets opened a restaurant in New York — Triplets — selling Eastern European fare and had a ball in the early days, but eventually tempers began to fray as arguments flared over work responsibilities. Eventually, all three struggled with mental health issues for years. The Scientific study was never published. The triplets as well as other twins are – to this day – unable to look at the results.
Needless to say, we had plenty to discuss after the movie! All 6 of us liked the movie, which touched on a lot of human questions and relationships, and enjoyed the surprise element. It had a remarkable number of plot twists for a documentary! We all thought it was so strange that a Jewish doctor who had escaped the Holocaust would carry out experiments similar to those done in Concentration camps. Our discussion brought to light the fact that there was a lot of unethical research (Stanford prison, Milgram) carried out in this period.
After talking about the film for a while, we drifted into other topics: politics, the horrors of Trump, house renovations, the challenges of being vegetarian, getting an education, and how much fun the tícNic is. While everyone who came to the film has a very busy life, all agreed that a night out at the movies with tíc was a fun way to spend a Friday evening!
#TilburgInternationalclub #Expatlife #movienight #threeidenticalstrangers #Cinecitta
#TBT: tícMovie review of The Post
Tomorrow night we’ll meet up for another Movie Night. For #ThrowbackThursday, here’s a look back 2018 Cinecitta movie “The Post”!
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Review by Anne van Oorschot. tíc members met at the Cinecitta to see the Oscar nominated film, The Post. The film, staring Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks, tells the story of The Washington Post’s decision to publish information from a top secret study regarding the United States’ political and military involvement in Vietnam from 1945 to 1967. The report chronicled the U.S. government’s involvement in Vietnam’s affairs – indirectly or directly – by Presidents Truman, Eisenhower and Kennedy. The report demonstrated, among other things, that the Johnson Administration “systematically lied, not only to the public but also to Congress”. Needless to say, the government of then President Nixon, was not happy with the leaks and tried to prevent publication. Happily, The Washington Post persevered! Little could they have imagined the stories and stature they gained from a “little break-in” of the Watergate hotel only 1 year later.
As we sat in the cozy and crowded bar area of the Cinecitta after the film, we talked about the important role the press played in 1971. With so much talk of “fake news” and “alternative facts” today – certainly in America! – the role of the press seems to have been rather marginalized. What has changed over the years? While there is no one answer, it was noteworthy to see that part of the dilemma “should we publicize?” in the film was due to the recent public sale of The Washington Post shares. A strong and almost winning argument against publication was that the investors would not like it. If it caused shareholders to sell their shares, the result would be financial disaster for the cash-strapped paper. Strong leadership in 1971 on the part of The Post’s majority owner Katherine Graham and Editor Ben Bradlee, resulted in publication, but it was a very close call. Can the same be said anno 2018…?
#TilburgInternationalClub #Expatlife #Cinecitta #movienight #thepost
tícMovieNight Review: A Private War
29.03.2019. Review by Jonas van Stam. This review is inspired by the true story of TIC’s Movie Night on March the 29th, by then still the warmest day of 2019.
We cycled to Cinecitta right before sunset. We did this, not knowing yet exactly what kind of movie we were about to witness. We had been so busy having a nostalgic evening with our honoured guest and former tíc member who moved back to the US, Mike Ahern who, needless to say; also joined the movie night (some say he actually came back to Tilburg from the US for it), that we did not manage to watch the trailer of A private war before entering the cinema.
A private war, as I know now, depicts some of the most pivotal reporting assignments of the career of Sunday Times’ foreign correspondent Marie Colvin, and the personal toll they took. The film was rather impressive and surprisingly good, and the element of not having read up about the movie combined with my ignorance considering the existence of the main character, made it even more so. Marie Colvin was (sorry: unavoidable spoiler) a war correspondent, specializing in middle eastern conflict, and famous for reporting on the conflicts in East Timor and Sri Lanka, the Arab Spring in Tunisia, Egypt and Libiya (having interviewed Gaddafi twice) and finally the siege of Homs in Syria.
It does not take much imagination to understand that the harsh reality of the setting in which 
she worked, and thus what was displayed in the movie, left us somewhat disarranged at the end. Comforted by a variety of drinks (no, I’m just saying people had different drinks), we talked about it and concluded that it was a rather impressive movie, with good acting, and a –to say the least- remarkable and eccentric main character.
The conversation couldn’t just go from the upsetting reality of countries in war to how good the weather was that day in Tilburg (although that would’ve certainly been a very Dutch thing to do), there was a topic in between. This topic being the event a tíc team is going to join in on: The Night of the Refugee charity walk.
And from that moment on, everything happened very quickly: someone instantly financially supported one of the charity walkers who was present, then someone else made a bolt statement of also joining up, after which a third person made a slightly less bolt statement of not nót joining up, and before I knew it, it was my turn to make a statement. Easy choice: I joined up as well. Of course, also with the movie still very much present in my memory.
So, all and all a rather eventful Movie Night with a sequel: walking on the Night of the Refugee on the 15thof June.
#TilburgInternationalclub #Expatlife #movienight #aprivatewar #Cinecitta
tícMovie Night review: Green Book
01.02.2019. Review by Elaine Ferguson. The film is loosely based on the friendship between Tony “Lip” Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen) who is a night club owner/bouncer and Dr Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali) a talented black concert pianist
The film takes place in 1962 when Dr Shirley hires Tony as a chauffeur to drive him on a concert tour through the southern states of American which were at that time still segregated. Before Tony sets off he is handed a small book entitled “The Green Book” which is a travel guide providing helpful information for black travellers. This gives us a clue as to what we can expect from the rest of the movie which is more of a story about the struggles imposed on the blacks in the south rather than a true friendship.
The music and the company made it an enjoyable evening.
For those of you wanting to know more about the meaning behind the Green Book:
https://publicdomain.nypl.org/greenbook-map/
#TilburgInternationalclub #Expatlife #movienight #greenbook #Cinecitta
tícMovie review: The Children Act
by Anne van Oorschot
For tíc’s first movie night of the year, on 28 Sept 2018, we had a great turnout of 12 people who made their way to Cinecitta to watch The Children Act. The movie follows Fiona Maye (Oscar® winner Emma Thompson) who is a respected Judge in the High Court of England and Wales, well known for her professional and just decisions within the complex area of family law. Just when her marriage to Jack (Stanley Tucci) seems to be reaching a crisis due to her devotion to her work, she throws herself into a complex case. The 17-year old Adam (Fionn Whitehead) has leukemia and will die if he does not receive a blood transfusion. However, Adam and his parents are Jehovah’s Witnesses, and believe that having a blood transfusion is against their religion. Fiona must decide if he is too young to decide himself over life and death, or if the court should step in. Her decision will have major consequences for both Adam and Fiona. (more…)
TICMovie review: The Post
by Anne van Oorschot
TIC members met at the Cinecitta to see the Oscar nominated film, The Post. The film, staring Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks, tells the story of The Washington Post’s decision to publish information from a top secret study regarding the United States’ political and military involvement in Vietnam from 1945 to 1967. The report chronicled the U.S. government’s involvement in Vietnam’s affairs – indirectly or directly – by Presidents Truman, Eisenhower and Kennedy. The report demonstrated, among other things, that the Johnson Administration “systematically lied, not only to the public but also to Congress”. Needless to say, the government of then President Nixon, was not happy with the leaks and tried to prevent publication. Happily, The Washington Post persevered! Little could they have imagined the stories and stature they gained from a “little break-in” of the Watergate hotel only 1 year later.
As we sat in the cozy and crowded bar area of the Cinecitta after the film, we talked about the important role the press played in 1971. With so much talk of “fake news” and “alternative facts” today – certainly in America! – the role of the press seems to have been rather marginalized. What has changed over the years? While there is no one answer, it was noteworthy to see that part of the dilemma “should we publicize?” in the film was due to the recent public sale of Washington Post shares. A strong and almost winning argument against publication was that the investors would not like it. If it caused shareholders to sell their shares, the result would be financial disaster for the cash-strapped paper. Strong leadership in 1971 on the part of The Post’s majority owner Katherine Graham and Editor Ben Bradlee, resulted in publication, but it was a very close call. Can the same be said anno 2018…?
#Tilburg #Brabant #Expat #Expatlife #Cinecitta #movie #thepost
TICMovie review: 3 Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
by Tanya Ahern
On a chilly Friday evening in January, nine TIC members met up at the Cinecitta Theater in Tilburg for the first Movie Night in 2018. The dark comedy: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri was the film attendees selected to watch.
The movie was amply acknowledged earlier that week at the 2018 Golden Globes awards where it was awarded trophies for Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Actress (Francis McDormand), Best 
Supporting Actor (Sam Rockwell), and Best Screenplay (Martin McDonagh).
The film was widely liked by TIC members and participants enjoyed cold drinks and warm conversation after the movie at the Cinecitta Ristobar, with topics including the excellence of the movie, Frances McDormand’s odd haircut, life in Milan, an adorable new nephew and why a gin & tonic in the Netherlands comes in a glass large enough to do flower arranging. It was a good start of the weekend!
#Tilburg #Brabant #Expat #Expatlife #Cinecitta #movie
TICMovie Night review of the Jackie
b
y Anne van Oorschot
Cinecitta was again the location for our movie night where we saw the film, Jackie, about First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in the days following the assassination of her husband, President John F. Kennedy. We were a small group of 4, but that had the advantage of making for a more intimate discussion of the film over drinks and snacks afterwards. We 
all enjoyed the movie and felt it gave a good impression of Jackie, flaws and all. Natalie Portman did an amazing job portraying her!
The film showed a televised tour she gave of the White House and we were all curious if her rather breathless way of speaking was accurate, as well as other details of the tour shown. I was so curious that when I got home, I searched on internet and found the tour on internet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7XabXENChE
Ms. Portman was spot on!
TICMovie Review: Lion
by Anne van Oorschot
On Friday, February 3rd, we met at Cinecitta for a night at the movies. We seem to be in a period with many good and interesting films to choose from, but the one we went to was, Lion, surprisingly enough, not a nature film, but one that took place in both India and Australia.
The film tells the story of the Indian, Saroo, and his search to find his home. While it sounds pretty straight forward, nothing could be less true! As a 5 year old child from rural India, Saroo gets locked in a train that travels several days, finally stopping 16,000 kilometers later in busy Calcutta. Not knowing the Hindi language spoken in the city, unsure of the name of the small village from which he came, or even his Mother’s name (“Mama”), the authorities cannot help him get back home. While 
many dire things could have befallen Saroo, he is taken to an orphanage from which he is adopted by a loving Australian couple.
Once Saroo starts college, he starts having more and more memories of his real mother and brother, as well as the surroundings of his Indian home. With the aid of Google Earth, Saroo sets out on the seemingly impossible task of finding the Indian railway station from which he left 25 years earlier and from there, his way home.
The fact that the whole thing is a true story – proven by the photos of the actual people during the credits – is absolutely amazing. (After seeing 5 year old Saroo trying to find his way alone in Calcutta, I will never, ever complain about the difficulties of adjusting to life in Tilburg!) Add to a gripping story (the film has been nominated for 6 Oscars), there was also excellence in acting from Dev Patel who received the BAFTA for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. 7 TIC members, drinks and snacks after the film, and what do you get? A great start to the weekend!
Book Review: High Tide
by Victoria Vasjuta
Looking back at our first TIC Book Club meeting of 2017 makes me feel positive and enthusiastic exactly as it felt that night. The location was amazing and it was nice to see new people joining in a warm friendly atmosphere and, as always, it was great to have an interesting discussion.
The topic of this TIC Book Club was a modern Latvian novel High Tide written by Inga Ābele, born in 1972 in Riga. She has written plays and screenplays, collections of poetry, stories and novels. Her plays have been staged not only in Latvia, but also in Sweden and Germany.
I think we all agreed that High Tide: it’s a quite strange book that combines lush, provocative prose with a gripping plot about a love triangle and a murder. Although this plot is told in semi-reverse chronological order . . . so many moments start to make sense only at the end of the book. It’s like an anti-mystery novel, I suppose.
Although it wasn’t the most interesting book, we still had a great evening and enjoyed time together with tea, coffee and cookies in very special place, which was so nicely arranged by one of our fellow TIC members, Anita. @Anita, thank you for your warm and special welcome!
If you feel that you might need a community of enthusiastic readers of all ages, just come over and check it out. Maybe see you soon!
Movie review: A Street Cat Named Bob
by Martina Leonard
Friday, 6 January 2017, was the first #TilburgInternationalClub Movie Night of 2017. The film chosen was showing at Cinecitta, in Tilburg city center.
A Street Cat Named Bob, directed by Roger Spottiswoode, is based on the novel by James Bowen of a true life event. It shows the moving and life-affirming story of the unlikely friendship between a young homeless busker, James Bowen, and the stray ginger cat named Bob who changed his life.
Depending on your feeling towards felines, this is the sort of film that you’ll either find dangerously mawkish or utterly charming. But it’s impossible to watch a film about a happy-ending story like James and Bob’s without a warm glow. There are a few jarring scenes when the camera shoots from Bob’s point of view and it almost feels like it’s going to become a talking animal movie, however the remainder of film focuses on James’ story and his ability to return to “”reality””, and yes , there were some watery eyes at the end of an entertaining movie!!
Ten TIC members met for Movie Night , and where better to pass a very cold evening (-10) than at the beautiful emporium of Cinnecitta where it is possible to eat and drink before, during and after watching a good movie. It is always nice to share opinions with a good healthy discussion and typically, TIC discussions “go around the world” with a Global Borrel! Dutch cheese /bitter ballen, French mustard , Italian Olives, and a mixture of toungues being spoken …..
It was a great start to a cold and white weekend.
