Malpertuis (Belgium, 1971, aka ‘The Legend of Doom House’) is a
movie that has been described as ‘bizarre, lurid and baffling;’ ‘a mysterious curiosity;’ and ‘exquisitely bonkers.’ An international cast led by Mathieu Carrière and Susan Hampshire (playing
five rôles) also included Orson
Welles. Its director, Harry
Kümel, is otherwise best known for his stylish
lesbian vampire
flick Les Lèvres Rouges (aka ‘
Daughters of
Darkness’). The
movie was adapted from an
unusual gothic
novel, first published in wartime Brussels—the
work of Jean
Ray (aka Raymond Jean-Marie de Kremer): a convicted embezzler & prolific
hack, who was, nevertheless, one of the foremost
exponents of the
fantastique in French-language fiction. Please note that some of the links above are
NSFW (some nudity) & several contain
SPOILERS.
[more inside]
posted by misteraitch
on Nov 14, 2011 -
7 comments
Belgium's telecoms companies have a reputation for customer care that is only slightly better than the Gestapo's. Because of divisions among the linguistic areas, monopolies and a disinterest in oversight, the phone and internet companies are notorious for outstandingly poor customer service.
Everyone has a tale to tell. In my case, I had a deal with one company and when my neighbour got connected with a rival firm, instead of putting in a new cable, they literally cut through mine and attached him. They then refused to reconnect me, on the grounds that I was not a customer of theirs.
After five weeks of getting nowhere, I had to pay another company to install a new cable.
Recently a
Flemish TV show fought back for all of us. SLYT. A fine and elaborate prank that needs to be watched to the end.
Yes it is a SLYT but for anyone who has ever had to deal with Belgian telecoms or internet companies, this is entirely justified payback.
posted by quarsan
on Jan 21, 2011 -
32 comments
Robert F. Gallagher served in the United States Army's 815th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion (Third Army) in the European Theater during WWII. He has posted his memoir online:
"Scratch One Messerschmitt," told from numerous photos he took during the war and the detailed notes he made shortly afterwards.
[more inside]
posted by zarq
on Nov 23, 2010 -
7 comments
'No Belgian church escaped sex abuse', finds investigation. It reveals that abuse was so extensive that it was going on in almost every diocese and at every Church-run boarding school: "We can say that no congregation escapes sexual abuse of minors by one or several of its members," the commission concluded." 'Hundreds of sex abuse victims have come forward in Belgium with harrowing accounts of molestation by Catholic clergy that reportedly led to at least 13 suicides and affected
children as young as two, an independent Belgian commission said Friday.' 'Friday's report lists 507 witnesses who came forward with stories of molestation at the hands of clergy over the past decades. It says those abused included children who were two, four, five and six years old.'
[more inside]
posted by VikingSword
on Sep 10, 2010 -
133 comments
Ben Heine is a Belgian painter, illustrator, portraitist, caricaturist and photographer. His recent project,
Pencil vs. Camera, is an amalgam of illustration and photography, creating something similar in a single image showing two different actions. His
Flickr Photostream.
posted by netbros
on May 2, 2010 -
3 comments
In 1948, in the aftermath of the Second World War, with Europe still in ruins, three young Belgian comic strip artists, Joseph Gillain (aka
Jijé), Maurice de Bevere (aka
Morris) and
André Franquin, crossed the Atlantic with the intention of settling in the US.
All three would eventually return to Belgium, their hopes of working for Disney ultimately dashed by the turmoil of the McCarthy years. However, in the meantime they made the acquaintance of their colleagues of the Charles
William Harvey Studio in New York, including a cosmopolitan young wit named
René Goscinny.
[more inside]
posted by Skeptic
on Oct 29, 2009 -
37 comments
One-Nil to Google against old media. As Inside Google says, the search engine "responding to Belgian newspaper’s complaints about being included in Google News and the Google cache, as well as a court ruling that they remove those newspapers from their services, decided to show them who’s boss and banned the newspapers outright from Google Belgium’s search results." Or, news organisation misunderstands the benefits of new media and pays dearly.
posted by feelinglistless
on Sep 21, 2006 -
45 comments
Trappist Ale.
(warning, music on first link.) The six Belgian breweries
Achel (little English),
Chimay,
Orval,
Rochefort (unofficial site),
Westmalle (no English), and
Westvleteren, along with the Dutch brewery
De Konigshoeven/
La Trappe (first is English link to monastery, second is non-English brewery site.) are the only recognized producers of
Trappist beers, although
the latter was only recently granted the appellation after several years without it. Ranging from the relatively commercial and large-scale operations of
Chimay and
La Trappe to the other extreme of
Westvleteren, who want to live quietly and
don't want their beer distributed, these beers are considered some of the
best in the world.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim
on Mar 4, 2006 -
38 comments
The Belgian kids cleaned the American kids' clocks. For "Stupid in America," a special report ABC will air Friday, we gave identical tests to high school students in New Jersey and in Belgium. [...] The Belgian kids called the American students "stupid." Interesting insights into the different school systems employed in both countries.
posted by slater
on Jan 14, 2006 -
124 comments
Dutroux to face jury trial This one's a shocker. Marc Dutroux has been held in custody in Belgium since 1996, having been arrested for the kidnap and killing of several young girls.
There's 2 theories why the Belgian legal system has been unable to bring this guy to trial - either gross incompetence, or a conspiracy to protect those more important than himself, going all the way up to the government. [ more inside ]
posted by derbs
on Apr 30, 2003 -
8 comments
In Flanders Fields - by John McCrae
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields
MetaFilter readers wherever you are, please take a moment of silence to honour those who gave their lives so that we could live ours.
posted by PWA_BadBoy
on Nov 11, 2001 -
75 comments
Belgium schoolchildren give up lunchtime milk, pop, and fruit drinks for low-alcohol beer. Once I got over my "American sensibilities" this seems like a good idea.
posted by skallas
on Jun 28, 2001 -
29 comments
Am I Shot Or Not? (Yeah, I know, but Ashcroft stories are boring.) The Belgian embassy says that Kabila has been assassinated; the British embassy isn't so sure. Strangely, if he has been killed, it's likely to improve the prospect for peace, as the surrounding nations will try to use the power vacuum as an opportunity to negotiate themselves out of the civil war.
posted by holgate
on Jan 16, 2001 -
7 comments
