En forårsdag i Helvede [A Sunday in Hell] (1977): 9/10
The title A Sunday in Hell could be the title of your average horror flick, but in reality it is a documentary about a cycling race, and arguably more horrifying than your average horror flick.
As a big fan of Paris-Roubaix - it being my favourite sports event i watch every year since i'm little - after discovering they made a movie about this, i wanted to see this, especially since I was never able to taste a bit from earlier editions before I was born, except for a few highlights, so this was an interesting journey into one of those earlier editions, to taste the atmosphere, and a lot of names that i've heard about or do know are highlighted in this documentary, among them top favourites Eddy Merckx, Freddy Maertens and Roger De Vlaeminck, and also Hennie Kuiper, Francesco Moser, Marc Demeyer, Raymond Poulidor. Even names as Walter Godefroot, Walter Planckaert, Jan Raas all sound so familiar that i've heard those names a thousand times in my life. In Belgium, cycling is popular and as french-speaking Belgiums would say about us dutch-speaking Belgiums, "cycling is their religion", i can certainly testify that this is true.
The documentary gives an interesting look into the preparation, the chaos concerning the race, the heroic value of it, the popularity of the race among fans, and also the commercialization of it. It gives an interesting look in the race itself, and Paris Roubaix is among one of the more unique and heroic ones, even till this day. The latest edition a month ago, was also a very memorable one in rough rainy editions. To me, it's the most beautiful sports event in the year.
Te vinden hier (wel zonder ondertitels, engelse commentaar, dialogen van de renners zelf zijn vaak in het frans of italiaans, maar dat is niet zo belangrijk
I, Tonya (2017): 8/10
Good movie about a controversial figure skater Tonya Harding. I do not know much from this sport, neither do I know the protagonists or "the incident" that the movie centers on, but I do think this was a great movie to watch. Unfortunately it's also quite saddening. If only she had a better environment to operate in, things could've looked different.