Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 22nd, 2005
This is the kind of film that usually comes from the English or the French... not the Germans. Let's face it, Germany is not known for a stable of modern intellectual comedies. If you need a beer, or a fine automobile, you go to the Germans. If you need an entertaining art film, you go to France. Still, this is a film that bucks the trend... and will hopefully start a new one.
The Schultze of the title is a retired German miner that finds himself lost in his newfound abundance of free time. Eventually,...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 10th, 2005
Films like Crimson Tide, Hunt for Red October and U-571 have tried on their own ways to take their place as the definitive modern submarine movie, but Das Boot still stands as King, over 20 years after its release. I remember hearing about this film growing up, and as a lad of 10, wasn’t into foreign films, or war films, as I am now, which may not be saying much. In seeing it when the Director’s Cut first came out in 1997, many people snapped up the 5.1 soundtrack, and Director’s Commentar...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 17th, 2004
I am sure that many consumers have noticed the disturbing trend taking place in DVD land with regard to the same movie being released in multiple versions. This practice, commonly referred to in the industry as “multiple bites at the apple”, is a cheap way for studios to persuade consumers to buy movies that they already own over and over again, since each new release offers some sort of extra upgrade from the previous versions. Even those of us in the DVD community sometimes get burned on this type of thing, as ther...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 20th, 2003
Synopsis
Kati and Steffi are best friends, and each relies on the other to get through the trials andtribulations of high school. Challenges arise, such as when they discover [x]'s father is cheatingon her mother. They plot an elaborate revenge. Boy trouble also figures prominently, of course,as these two girls painfully reach toward adulthood.
Audio
The sound is first-class. The music has good, pumping energy in its mix. The dialogue isclear and distortion-...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 17th, 2003
This is closer to a being a tone poem than a narrative, so there is hardly any plot as such. We move through Berlin in the company of angels. They can hear our thoughts, but they cannot interfere or feel the physical world. Two of the angels -- Damiel (Bruno Ganz) and Cassiel (Otto Sander) are increasingly disenchanted with their existence, and Damiel, falling in love with a trapeze artist, wants to become mortal. This simple story is built on very gradually, and most of the film consists in our hearing the innermost thoughts of various characters, and all these thoughts are presented in poetic (often elliptical) words. The cinematography is quite extraordinarily beautiful.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 7th, 2003
Synopsis
In 1986, a group of anarchists cobble together a home-made bomb and plant it in a hatedbuilding. Something goes wrong with the mechanism, and the bomb doesn’t go off until 2000, bywhich point most of the group have moved on with their lives. The fact that they filmedthemselves making the bomb presents a problem, however, and the reunited group must find away to break into police headquarters to recover the incriminating evidence. This film is not ablanket condemnation of se...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 1st, 2003
Synopsis
Martha is the highly strung, control-freak chef at a top restaurant. Her organized life isthrown into chaos when her sister is killed in a car accident, leaving Martha to look after her littleniece Lina. Lina, understandably traumatized, refuses to eat. Meanwhile, Martha feels that herposition at the restaurant is threatened by newcomer Mario. Soon, though, she realizes that Mariohas other, more romantic goals in mind. Though witty, the film does not shy away from the realp...
