No flight from Berlin Tempelhof this night because of fog. A group of stranded people spend the night in the check-in hall. What could have been interesting is merely a string of conversations between hypothermic young ladies and hysterical, sweating "Wirtschaftswunder" men. The character sketches are plain and there is no development either. Without contemporary relevance and rather dusty. Perhaps this may be an example of young German film in the sixties, but it lacks the bite of later works. Only the appearance of the young Iris Berben and Mario Adorf, as well as the Tempelhof Airport building, make the film worth seeing for some.
Reviews
20 Reviews
Great new German history TV-show
19 January 2023
Two secret services (Verfassungsschutz and the Gehlen organization, forerunner of the BND) compete in the young Federal Republic. Gehlen's concern is to combat the influence of communism. The Verfassungsschutz is on the hunt for old Nazis.
An atmospheric picture of the West German Republic in the early 1950s is presented here, true to the original style and beautifully photographed. Historical are mixed with fictional characters. Unfortunately, the plot is somewhat predictable, but it is still fun to watch the intrigue play out.
This might not be the new Babylon Berin, but it is close. Watch it.
An atmospheric picture of the West German Republic in the early 1950s is presented here, true to the original style and beautifully photographed. Historical are mixed with fictional characters. Unfortunately, the plot is somewhat predictable, but it is still fun to watch the intrigue play out.
This might not be the new Babylon Berin, but it is close. Watch it.
Small Faces: Under Review
(2005 Video)
Great Documentary
2 August 2022
Unfortunatly no Band members are interviewed. Well Kenney Jones is the last survivor of the original line up. But besides that it's the best thing to watch if you want to learn the story of the unique 60s band.
Can be seen on YouTube under the title: Was it really all or nothing.
Can be seen on YouTube under the title: Was it really all or nothing.
Charlie Chan in London
(1934)
Still entertaining after 88 years
8 July 2022
Only watched this fick after seeing R. Altmans Gosford Park. One member of the hunting party is a Hollywood producer reseaching for his upcoming production "Chaly Chan in London".
So, that's a good double feature. Still funny and entertaining.
So, that's a good double feature. Still funny and entertaining.
The Thief
(1952)
Everyday life of a sovjet spy during cold war
8 July 2022
Warning: Spoilers
One man show for Ray in this no talk flik about a scientist copinig nuclear plans for the USSR. The FBI needs a coincidence to get on the trail of the spy ring. And you see Milland - kinda like in "Lost Weekend" - goin down, loosing his job, become paranoid, inpotent and finaly insane. Not sure about the moral of this artsy McCarthy era movie. But it's worth watching.
The Souvenir
(2019)
Watching paint dry
17 April 2022
I can only feel sorry for Johanna Hogg if this one is truly autobiographical. But you must have had such a terrible life in the eighties to be able to make such a repulsive film about it today.
4 points for craft, soundtrack, Tilda, Swinton and the dogs.
4 points for craft, soundtrack, Tilda, Swinton and the dogs.
In the Earth
(2021)
A forrest in England
6 April 2022
Another folk horror masterpiece from Brit Ben Wheatley, this time shot on a micro budget and under Covid 19 conditions.
A virus is ravaging the cities. A scientist sets out to find a colleague / ex-girlfriend who is researching deep in the woods. Soon unpleasant events and encounters occur. Nature strikes back... There are several references, quotations: from the 70s slasher to Shining, Long Weekend or Tarkovsky's Stalker.
The use of music, editing and nature is masterful.
The many very negative reviews come from people who watched with the wrong expectation and didn't know Wheatley's work beforehand.
A virus is ravaging the cities. A scientist sets out to find a colleague / ex-girlfriend who is researching deep in the woods. Soon unpleasant events and encounters occur. Nature strikes back... There are several references, quotations: from the 70s slasher to Shining, Long Weekend or Tarkovsky's Stalker.
The use of music, editing and nature is masterful.
The many very negative reviews come from people who watched with the wrong expectation and didn't know Wheatley's work beforehand.
Spy City
(2020)
Entertaining but sloppy
6 April 2022
Spy city tells the story of the secret services in Berlin shortly before the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961. The story is entertaining and is broadly consistent with the historical facts.
But the realisation was a bit sloppy. Suits, clothes and cars that are a bit too new for the early summer of 1961, a phone box and a record cover from the 1980s and a film that only had primiere months later. Not accurate enough to satisfy the history-minded viewer.
But the realisation was a bit sloppy. Suits, clothes and cars that are a bit too new for the early summer of 1961, a phone box and a record cover from the 1980s and a film that only had primiere months later. Not accurate enough to satisfy the history-minded viewer.
Synonyms
(2019)
Boring to the max
14 February 2022
Usualy I go with the Metascore. And winning festival prices is usualy a good sign too. Usualy... But I never got any feeling for the movie or it's main character. His actions seem sensless. There are shiploads of movies right now, dealing with alienation in a forign country, but why this one is celebrated stays a mystery with me.
Shadow in the Cloud
(2020)
Makes no sense at all
6 February 2022
My hope to see a good b action film from a young female director from New Zealand with humor and charm was painfully disappointed. A witless chamber play with cliché characters, a pointless genre mix with dumb monsters and mediocre action.
Alpha
(II) (2018)
Dogs of the stone age
21 December 2021
Clichés and B CGI make the film an ambivalent experience. This goes so far that the "white savior" has to show the wolf how to survive in the wilderness. Against this are beautiful landscape shots and an idea of how life may have been in the Stone Age.
The Signal
(2014)
wild mix of art house and trash
2 March 2021
Finally a genuine SF story, inexpensively implemented, but with a philosophical aspect that gives the viewer more than pure entertainment.
At the end the makers want a bit too much and some action scenes are confusing to unbelievable. Still worth watching.
The Lives of Others
(2006)
everything wrong with ...
27 January 2019
The Film is loosely based on the life of GDR Author Christoph Hein to which Donnersmark spoken for some hours in 2002. After seeing the movie he was very disapointed of the movie. The GDR was a unjust state and the infamous Stasi is a fact to. But the description of life and work in the 1980 GDR was very different, to that shown in the movie.
I'm German and of cause proud when a fellow countryman wins an Oscar, but not in this case. And now, 2019, knowing the other Donnersmark Movies "The Tourist" and "Werk ohne Autor - Never Look Away" (based on the life of German Painter Gerhard Richter - who hates the film and took distance), I must say, it went downhill for Donnersmark from there. Americans seem to love this kind of history telling, since "Never look away" is an Oscar nominee in 2019.
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