Chasing Movies: July 2025

Wednesday, July 30, 2025

Superman II

The Eiffel Tower is featured in Superman II, made in 1980, when Superman rescues Lois Lane from the tower as the elevator is hurling from the top to the ground. Here is the scene from the movie: Superman II at the Eiffel Tower

The official website of the Eiffel Tower is here: Eiffel Tower You can book tickets 2 months in advance, and I'd recommend booking them as soon as you possibly can because they do sell out, especially for the summit. Tickets cost 36 euro for the summit, or 23 euro for the second floor. It opens at 9 am and closes at 11 p.m. It is located at Av. Gustave Eiffel, 75007 Paris, France.

After nightfall, every hour on the hour, the Tower sparkles for 5 minutes. This sparkle is copyrighted, so I'm not able to upload photos or videos of the tower sparkling. It continues this light show until one a.m. when the lights turn off on the tower.

The Eiffel Tower and Olympic Rings in March 2025

Under the Eiffel Tower

View from the Eiffel Tower

Monuments Men

Two famous pieces of art that were stolen by Hitler's troops during WWII reside in Belgium. The Ghent Altarpiece is hung in St Bavo's Cathedral in Ghent, Belgium, and Michelangelo's "Madonna and Child" resides in Bruges, Belgium. The "Monuments Men" movie was released in 2014. It follows the story of the men who were assigned to rescue works of art that were stolen from the Nazi's during WWII. Two men lost their lives while trying to recover these pieces of art. In the end, both the Madonna and Child and the Ghent Altarpiece are rescued by the Monuments Men and returned to their rightful places in Belgium. This movie has an all-star cast, including George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, and John Goodman.

Saint Bavo's Cathedral and the Ghent Altarpiece

The Ghent Altarpiece is also known as the Altarpiece of the Mystic Lamb. It can be visited at Sint-Baafsplein 1, 9000 in Ghent, Belgium. Their official website is here: Saint Bavo's Cathedral You can visit from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, or 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays. You can visit the Ghent Altarpiece for 12.5 euro.

Saint Bavos Cathedral where the Ghent Altarpiece is held

The Ghent Altarpiece is the most stolen piece of art in all of history, including being stolen by Nazi troops during WWII

Location of Saint Bavo's Catheral, or Sint-Baafskathedraal

Church of Our Lady and Michelangelo's Madonna and Child

The official website of Church of Our Lady is here: Church of Our Lady in Bruges

You can visit the Madonna & Child for 8 euro. It is open Monday through Saturday beginning at 8:30 a.m. and on Sundays beginning at 1:30 p.m. It closes at 5 p.m. every day. It is located at Mariastraat, 8000 Bruges, Belgium. Michelangelo created the Madonna & Child between 1503 and 1505.

Church of Our Lady

The placard outside the Madonna roped-off exhibit

A small replica of the Madonna and Child is placed where children can see it up close and read about it

As you can see, the Madonna & Child statue is quite small - it is only 50" tall

Madonna & Child was Michelangelo's first work to leave Italy, and one of only very few

Location of Church of Our Lady, or Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk

Here are some clips of the movie "Monuments Men" that feature the Madonna & Child and the Ghent Altarpiece:

Clip of "Monuments Men" hiding the Ghent Altarpiece

Monuments Men Stolen Ghent Altarpiece scene

Finding the Madonna scene in Monuments Men

Ending Scene of "Monuments Men"

Wednesday, July 23, 2025

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Obviously, the Hunchback of Notre Dame is set at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. We visited the Cathedral in November of 2024, only days before the Cathedral re-opened after the 2019 fire. We weren't able to go inside at that point because it was still closed to visitors. But luckily I was able to return in March of 2025 and tour the inside of the Cathedral with my daughter. To get free tickets to tour the cathedral, visit their official website: The Cathedral of Notre Dame You can only book your tickets a few days ahead of your visit, and I recommend going on right at midnight because the tickets disappear in minutes! The Cathedral is located at 6 Parvis Notre-Dame Place Jean-Paul II, 75004 in Paris. The Cite on line 4 is the closest metro stop to the Cathedral. It is open from 7:50 am until 7 pm.