br-19

Knowing some of Zhang's earlier films, I was much disappointed with ,House of flying daggers'.

To begin with the good things: Really great costumes, great colours, nice to look at.

Anyway, the plot was awful; after the second turn of ,You may be a spy -- but actually, I'm the *real* spy', I was irritated. And when it finally turned into a zombie movie, the beautiful heroine dying in portions, I was close to leaving the theatre.

There are far-Eastern films I enjoyed even if I didn't really understand the cultural background. But with this movie I had the feeling that Zhang tried for a Western audience and lost all authenticity and originality under way.

What a pity.

I've just seen this film on a festival, and having grown up in the Eighties, I enjoyed it a lot. (And I wonder whether it gets screened a lot these days, encouraging children to found secret pirate clubs, run away and have adventures...) Those were the days: running around without safety helmets and mobile phones, climbing trees, and even catching live chicken --! Well, that's about it in the action department, and that's why the movie depicts a great and believable children's adventure. The young (and especially the elderly) actors did a very endearing performance, and the story unfolds without hectic and really engaging.

Maybe a bit too long for real children, but worth seeing!

I've seen this movie three times, but the first time was best: driving techno soundtrack, entrancing black-and-white images, deep and eccentric story. On the second go it had lost some of the depth, and even the soundtrack seemed a little flat. The third time was, well -- completely different. I watched Pi with a bunch of mathematicians, and they winced at it being full of mathematical nonsense. Some of them complained Aronofsky really should have had a maths student take a look at the plot before release, and I ended up feeling awful for torturing scientists...

So my vote (9 out of 10) is for watching Pi the first time, without knowing too much about mathematics.

I went to see the film completely unprepared, and I left the theatre rather euphoric. I liked the film because of the amiable story, the roughly-sketched but believable characters (even if we don't learn too much about their backgrounds) and the funny, witty dialog. And last but not least the surprise in the end -- until three minutes to the end I wouldn't have had an idea how to end a story like this.

The four main characters were cast exceptionally well, and the dialog -- whew! Yes, the kidnappers seem very naive (so does the manager, btw, in another way), and the words they use are heavy with cliché, but it's not a message of any kind that's new and interesting. It's what happens beyond words: I've rarely seen people in a movie talk and talk so much about convictions and ideology, but all the really important things happen inside them and without words.

So go and watch this film but don't jump on the political statements. Things might have some more layers here.

This is a very lovingly made German gangster comedy, and it definitely works.

Great actors, even the supporting roles; great performances (Oliver Korittke, Diether Krebs, Martin Semmelrogge as the dim-witted Schlucke, and, best of all, Ralf Richter --,Is -- der -- geil!'); good story with appropriate twists and turns, but not too sophisticated, and a grandiose directing -- nothing else to be said. I hope people won't forget this movie too soon; it's really a jewel of German humour (this for all the people who didn't think Germans do have a sense of humour).

Go see it or get the DVD!

I've never seen Die Bully-Parade, don't know anything about Herbig, but I've seen Der Schuh des Manitu twice before. Anyway, I liked TRaumschiff a lot (in spite of the big ad campaign in Germany).

Four reasons: 1. Great sample of silly comedy -- no deep story, just plain silly! And I love unashamedly silly jokes! 2. Great Sci-fi parody, well-made SFX. I found many many films references not even mentioned on the ,spoofs' list, including Final Fantasy. This might be worth a second go on DVD. 3. The first Til Schweiger film I truly enjoyed -- this was The Role for Schweiger, and he filled it completely with his non-acting (,My name is Til Schweiger, and I try to earn my money as an actor!' -- ,He's lying, Sire!').

4. Another great appearance of Sky Dumont, an actor who unites an aristocratic appearance with amazing silliness.

Concerning the "heiteitei" gay humour, I could easily close my eyes on that. I think I'll watch the next Herbig film, too.

No, I didn't like it. There were some good scenes, but most of the story based on bad taste and unnecessarily spotlighted human squalor. (Just think of the episode with the dog-lover -- was this supposed to be funny?) Some of the actors were great -- Katja Riemann for example, or Moritz Bleibtreu, who was cast way out of character, but rather convincing. Anyway, the story didn't do -- I'm not even sure there was one. Director Roehler seems to be too angry with the world, The Family, and himself to tell a straightforward story or to cast any light of warmth on his characters. I left the theatre quite irritated and disgusted, but nothing to last long -- a day later all is forgotten. (3/10)