1-20 of 68 articles from 2009 « Prev | Next »
17 December 2009 11:42 PM, PST | Dark Horizons | See recent Dark Horizons news »
Opens: July 23rd 2010
Cast: Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, Zach Galifianakis, Bruce Greenwood, David Walliams
Director: Jay Roach
Summary: A renowned publisher encourages his friends to invite the most pathetic guests possible for their weekly dinner party. Just as they find the most pathetic man yet, the host is injured and ends up trapped with the man all night long.
Analysis: A remake of director Francis Veber's 1998 César award-winning "Le Diner des cons", 'Schmucks' is one of the highest profile comedies of next year with one of the strongest casts for the genre in recent memory. It also marks the return of "Austin Powers" and "Meet the Parents" helmer Jay Roach who has produced several films in recent years but hasn't directed since 2004's "Meet the Fockers".
The question now lies not in the performers or director but the material itself and whether a Gallic comedy can »
- Garth Franklin
15 December 2009 9:18 PM, PST | blogs.suntimes.com/ebert | See recent Roger Ebert's Blog news »
This message came to me from a reader named Peter Svensland. He and a friend have been debating about my qualities as a film critic, and they've involved a considerable critic, Dan Schneider, in their discussion. I will say that he has given the question a surprising amount of thought and attention over the years, and may well be correct in some aspects. What his analysis gives me is a renewed respect and curiosity about his own work.
¶
Dear Roger,
A friend and I would like to have your opinion. It's basically so that we can settle an argument (and small side bet) with a friend over what your opinion would be. My friend and I have carefully co-drafted this email to try to eliminate one or the other of our biases. I hope we succeeded!
I have read your columns and watched your tv shows for many years now »
- Roger Ebert
17 November 2009 12:23 PM, PST | Alt Film Guide | See recent Alt Film Guide news »
Maria de Medeiros (top); Belén Rueda (middle); Kim Rossi Stuart (bottom) The European Film Academy (Efa) has enlisted a group of Ambassadors of European Film to cooperate in the promotion of European cinema and the European Film Awards. From the European Film Academy’s press release, the Efa Ambassadors are: Moritz Bleibtreu, actor, Germany One of the best-known German faces in international cinema, Moritz Bleibtreu first shot to international attention as Manni in Tom Tykwer’s Run Lola Run (1998). He was nominated in 2001 for the Efa People’s Choice Award for The Experiment by Oliver Hirschbiegel and is now nominated for European Actor for his role as Andreas Baader in The Baader Meinhof Complex by Uli Edel. Stephen Daldry, director, UK [...] »
- Edwige Andersson
13 November 2009 4:06 AM, PST | The Scorecard Review | See recent Scorecard Review news »
Directed by: Oliver Hirschbiegel
Cast: Liam Neeson, James Nesbitt
Running Time: 1 hr 30 mins
Rating: Unrated
Release Date: November 13, 2009
Plot: A murderer (Neeson) who killed for the Ulster Volunteer Force (sort of the opposing force to the Ira) prepares to meet with the brother of his victim (Nesbitt).
Who’S It For? Come on, it has Liam Neeson! Assuming you’re not tired of “the troubles”, you want to see it.
Expectations: I’m a fan of Nesbitt after seeing his performance in Bloody Sunday, and how can you not expect great things from Liam Neeson? So yeah, I was hoping for a tour de force two man acting showdown.
Scorecard (0-10)
Actors:
Liam Neeson as Alistair Little: Neeson plays the adult version of Little, after his time in prison. Despite the set up of the film, the two leads spend very little time together, so »
- Megan Lehar
12 November 2009 1:51 PM, PST | www.flickfilosopher.com | See recent FlickFilosopher news »
After a disastrous foray into Hollywood with the tepid sci-fi potboiler The Invasion German director Oliver Hirschbiegel returns to the realms of uneasy morality he explored in his portrait of Bunker Hitler in Downfall... and this difficult, uncomfortable film, which similarly deconstructs the notion of what “evil” is, hits even closer to home for today’s mess of a culturally fractured world. Back in 1975, a teenaged Protestant hitman (Mark Davison) killed a Catholic man, because that’s what “good” Protestant men did in Northern Ireland back then, in front of the man’s 11-year-old brother. Now, today, the two men are brought together by a television show seeking a sort of Irish version of the South African truth-and-reconciliation plan: Liam Neeson (Taken) is the former hitman who has put his life, since he got out of prison for that murder, to better use; James Nesbitt (Bloody Sunday) is the grownup »
- MaryAnn Johanson
6 November 2009 4:30 AM, PST | WeAreMovieGeeks.com | See recent WeAreMovieGeeks.com news »
When one thinks of a powerful film, what comes to mind? An epic saga? A grandiose drama? A hard-hitting film of controversy? For me, the films that have the greatest impact, the films that offer the most honest and realistic portrayal of contemporary concerns, are those that present themselves in their purest form. All the fancy camera work, all the flashy visual style and emotionally-charged music in the world will never take the place of a powerful story. And, that story does not necessarily need to be complex.
As they say, less is more. Five Minutes Of Heaven is 90 minutes of raw, unfiltered human emotion. Not the over-done, exaggerated type that makes for good Hollywood drama, but the kind that makes an audience sit up in their seats. The kind of tactile human sensory emotion that makes an audience stare, unflinching, mesmerized into the lives of another human being. Plain and simple. »
- Travis
5 November 2009 11:19 AM, PST | firstshowing.net | See recent FirstShowing.net news »
Haven't heard of The Experiment? Don't worry, there are always plenty of great indies you've never heard of! Our friends at Bloody-Disgusting got their hands on a few new photos from The Experiment at Afm. The film, which is a remake of Oliver Hirschbiegel's Das Experiment, is about a group of ordinary people who are chosen to participate in the roles of guards and prisoners in a psychological study that examines how the effects of assigned roles, power, and control affect the participants. Obviously it spins out of control. Adrien Brody, Forest Whitaker, Elijah Wood, Cam Gigandet, Clifton Collins Jr. and Maggie Grace all star in this. I love these types of films. I'm already reminded of The Killing Room, which is another great "experiment" film, and I need to watch the original Das Experiment before this as well. There's also another German film called The Wave that played »
- Alex Billington
4 November 2009 | shocktillyoudrop.com | See recent shocktillyoudrop news »
Inferno has on display, at the American Film Market, your first look at Adrien Brody in The Experiment , a remake of Das Experiment by Oliver Hirschbiegel. Prison Break 's Paul Scheuring directed this story of a group of ordinary men recruited to take on the roles of guards and prisoners as part of a research study and examined how the effects of assigned roles, power and control affected the participants. Forest Whitaker, Elijah Wood and Cam Gigandet round out the cast. »
11 October 2009 5:05 PM, PDT | The Movie Fanatic | See recent The Movie Fanatic news »
After a brief respite, we're back with Part 3 of tMF's Top 50 Essential Foreign Films. This time the spotlight is on German cinema.
- - -
- - - As in Part 1 - French cinema and Part 2 - Movies from the UK, the scope remains the same:
Content-wise, the 50 movies feature stories about war and peace, love and romance, family affairs, coming-of-age tales, cultural and religious diversity, social issues (including prostitution and abortion) and personal - celebrating life or facing death with dignity. Coverage-wise, tMF list down many of the best foreign films from 2000 until last year from the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and about 15 other countries in Europe, North and Latin America and Asia-Pacific.
- - -
1. Das Experiment - 2001 - Featuring the amazing performance of Moritz Bleibtreu and Christian Berkel, from the direction of Oliver Hirschbiegel.
About the Movie: Inspired by a famous 1971 psychological experiment, Oliver Hirschbiegel's »
- modelwatcher@gmail.com (Jed Medina)
11 October 2009 5:05 PM, PDT | The Movie Fanatic | See recent The Movie Fanatic news »
After a brief respite, we're back with Part 3 of tMF's Top 50 Essential Foreign Films. This time the spotlight is on German cinema.
- - -
- - - As in Part 1 - French cinema and Part 2 - Movies from the UK, the scope remains the same:
Content-wise, the 50 movies feature stories about war and peace, love and romance, family affairs, coming-of-age tales, cultural and religious diversity, social issues (including prostitution and abortion) and personal - celebrating life or facing death with dignity. Coverage-wise, tMF list down many of the best foreign films from 2000 until last year from the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and about 15 other countries in Europe, North and Latin America and Asia-Pacific.
- - -
1. Das Experiment - 2001 - Featuring the amazing performance of Moritz Bleibtreu and Christian Berkel, from the direction of Oliver Hirschbiegel.
About the Movie: Inspired by a famous 1971 psychological experiment, Oliver Hirschbiegel's »
- modelwatcher@gmail.com (Jed Medina)
11 October 2009 5:05 PM, PDT | The Movie Fanatic | See recent The Movie Fanatic news »
After a brief respite, we're back with Part 3 of tMF's Top 50 Essential Foreign Films. This time the spotlight is on German cinema.
- - -
- - - As in Part 1 - French cinema and Part 2 - Movies from the UK, the scope remains the same:
Content-wise, the 50 movies feature stories about war and peace, love and romance, family affairs, coming-of-age tales, cultural and religious diversity, social issues (including prostitution and abortion) and personal - celebrating life or facing death with dignity. Coverage-wise, tMF list down many of the best foreign films from 2000 until last year from the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and about 15 other countries in Europe, North and Latin America and Asia-Pacific.
- - -
1. Das Experiment - 2001 - Featuring the amazing performance of Moritz Bleibtreu and Christian Berkel, from the direction of Oliver Hirschbiegel.
About the Movie: Inspired by a famous 1971 psychological experiment, Oliver Hirschbiegel's »
- modelwatcher@gmail.com (Jed Medina)
11 October 2009 5:05 PM, PDT | The Movie Fanatic | See recent The Movie Fanatic news »
After a brief respite, we're back with Part 3 of tMF's Top 50 Essential Foreign Films. This time the spotlight is on German cinema.
- - -
- - - As in Part 1 - French cinema and Part 2 - Movies from the UK, the scope remains the same:
Content-wise, the 50 movies feature stories about war and peace, love and romance, family affairs, coming-of-age tales, cultural and religious diversity, social issues (including prostitution and abortion) and personal - celebrating life or facing death with dignity. Coverage-wise, tMF list down many of the best foreign films from 2000 until last year from the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and about 15 other countries in Europe, North and Latin America and Asia-Pacific.
- - -
1. Das Experiment - 2001 - Featuring the amazing performance of Moritz Bleibtreu and Christian Berkel, from the direction of Oliver Hirschbiegel.
About the Movie: Inspired by a famous 1971 psychological experiment, Oliver Hirschbiegel's »
- modelwatcher@gmail.com (Jed Medina)
11 October 2009 5:05 PM, PDT | The Movie Fanatic | See recent The Movie Fanatic news »
After a brief respite, we're back with Part 3 of tMF's Top 50 Essential Foreign Films. This time the spotlight is on German cinema.
- - -
- - - As in Part 1 - French cinema and Part 2 - Movies from the UK, the scope remains the same:
Content-wise, the 50 movies feature stories about war and peace, love and romance, family affairs, coming-of-age tales, cultural and religious diversity, social issues (including prostitution and abortion) and personal - celebrating life or facing death with dignity. Coverage-wise, tMF list down many of the best foreign films from 2000 until last year from the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and about 15 other countries in Europe, North and Latin America and Asia-Pacific.
- - -
1. Das Experiment - 2001 - Featuring the amazing performance of Moritz Bleibtreu and Christian Berkel, from the direction of Oliver Hirschbiegel.
About the Movie: Inspired by a famous 1971 psychological experiment, Oliver Hirschbiegel's »
- modelwatcher@gmail.com (Jed Medina)
30 September 2009 9:32 PM, PDT | MovieWeb | See recent MovieWeb news »
It's only been a few months since I last spoke to the tremendously talented actor Clifton Collins Jr., but when you're as much of a workhorse as he is, a lot can happen in such a short period of time ( to read that original interview from late June). He just recently wrapped on the upcoming film The Experiment, an American remake of Oliver Hirschbiegel's amazing German-language film, and he has also expanded his directorial catalog with the release of the latest music video he directed, "Betty Jean," by The Soul of John Black ( to check out the new video on iTunes). But Clifton Collins Jr. is far from calling it quits on what will end up being a banner year. It was announced last week that Collins Jr. had landed a role on the hit NBC series Southland, and when I first read that news, I had to see »
21 September 2009 9:07 PM, PDT | Aceshowbiz | See recent Aceshowbiz news »
2009 has been quite a year for Clifton Collins Jr.. Landing role in more than five feature films this year alone, the 39-year-old has grabbed Best Actor nomination from 2009 Alma Awards for his portrayal of Nero's first officer, Ayel, in "Star Trek" and baddie El Huron in "Crank: High Voltage".
AceShowbiz.com has got the chance to throw a few questions to the Amy Adams' co-star in "Sunshine Cleaning" and discuss his upcoming project, "The Experiment". In the exclusive interview, he talks about, among others, working with Forest Whitaker and Adrien Brody, what his character will be, and his other projects, including "The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day".
Asb: What made you interested in joining "The Experiment"?
Clifton Collins Jr.: It is a well-written project based off of a sick German film titled "Das Experiment" if you haven't seen it, I suggest you go out and rent or buy it, »
- AceShowbiz.com
18 September 2009 4:20 AM, PDT | FilmShaft.com | See recent FilmShaft.com news »
Seeing as Craig has already covered State Of Play I won’t go into much detail here.
I suggest you read his detailed review and all I’m going to add is that it really is an intelligent ensemble piece that has good acting from an impressive cast.
It’s nice to see a smart American film for a change, one that actually has something to say and a message to bring across. It’s a shame that it didn’t light up the box office because it deserved success.
Definitely worth your time if you are looking for a higher level of entertainment.
State Of Play is also available on Blu-Ray
Fast & Furious
The 4th in the series reunites the original cast for more pedal to the metal action.
This time Brian O’Conner and Dominic Toretto join forces to bring an evil heroin importer to justice. »
- Alex Wagner
5 September 2009 2:30 PM, PDT | Hitfix | See recent Hitfix news »
It's fitting that I'd review this film on the same day as "Five Minutes Of Heaven," even though I saw them months apart. I saw the Neeson film at Sundance this year, and I saw "The Baader-Meinhof Complex" here at my house about six days ago. Aside from thematic similarities, they both spring from the same DNA. Bernd Eichinger, the producer and screenwriter of this movie, was also the producer of Oliver Hirschbiegel's "Downfall." Eichinger casts a huge shadow over the German film industry, having worked with basically everyone, so it's little wonder there's some overlap with these two movies. Coincidence »
5 September 2009 11:30 AM, PDT | Hitfix | See recent Hitfix news »
Revenge is probably one of the most common dramatic engines of all time, in all its varied forms. As such, it would seem like there couldn't be any new stories to tell about revenge no new ideas to contribute to the conversation. And yet, year after year, season after season, revenge is a subject that filmmakers return to, and it's sort of amazing how it continues to yield results, both dramatically and thematically. Oliver Hirschbiegel, whose movie "Downfall" gave birth to that Hitler YouTube meme that keeps getting recycled (the joke getting thinner every time), was damn near swallowed by Hollywood »
27 August 2009 7:24 AM, PDT | IFTN | See recent IFTN news »
The award winning Irish feature film 'Five Minutes in Heaven', will be shown exclusively in west Los Angeles tomorrow (28.08.09) at Landmark's Nuart Theatre. The film, directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, stars Liam Neeson (Taken, Michael Collins) and James Nesbitt (Murphy's Law, Jekyll) and was shot in Northern Ireland during the summer of 2008, inspired by true events. 'Five Minutes in Heaven' is a story about two Ulstermen from opposite sides of sectarian conflict. One man is a killer; the other is the brother of a victim of the former, who witnessed his brother's murder as a young boy »
23 August 2009 11:02 AM, PDT | Cinematical | See recent Cinematical news »
By Scott Weinberg (reprint from Sundance Film Festival 2009)
The latest film from Downfall director Oliver Hirschbiegel is a simple, straightforward, and very sincere story that covers some rather fascinating issues: The cyclical nature of violence, the difficulties inherent in forgiveness, and the importance of being able to defeat tragedy and go on to live a happy life. If it sounds like a dark and slightly depressing story to hear, well that's the good news. For all its stark honesty and confrontational emotions, the messages found in Five Minutes of Heaven are refreshingly humane and hopeful.
We open in mid-'70s Belfast, and a very young Alistair Little is about to commit a heinous act. Fueled by streetwise fury and a need to prove himself, Alistair assassinates another young man, leaving his little brother as the horrified witness to the act. Poor Joe Griffen has just began a cycle of tragedy »
- Cinematical staff
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