By Markus Tschiedert
Only “DC League of Supert Pets” made it to number 4 in the German cinema charts. For weeks before that, “Minions – In Search of the Super Boss”, “Thor: Love and Thunder” and “Top Gun: Maverick” have remained unchanged in the top three places.
But maybe this week Brad Pitt will make the top 3 with his action comedy Bullet Train. Otherwise “Guglgeschwader” should have a chance. The eighth Eberhofer thriller is again very Bavarian, but word has gotten around in Berlin and Brandenburg that it’s still quite amusing.
Bullet Train – Fast-paced action comedy starring Brad Pitt
THE STORY: Ladybug (Brad Pitt) is a hit man, but this time he’s only assigned to steal a briefcase from the Tokyo-Kyoto train. But there are other killers on board, and it suddenly becomes clear that it was all arranged. Behind it is gang boss White Death (Michael Shannon). But his calculation doesn’t add up, because Ladybug can’t be killed that easily.
THE STARS: Already in “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” and “Killing Them Softly” Brad Pitt was seen as a hitman. Once again he satirizes his image of coolness with the same irony and clout. Michael Shannon already played the villain in “Men of Steel” and “Shape of Water”, and the Berliner Zazie Beetz (“Joker”) is also after Pitt here.
THE DIRECTOR: David Leitch worked as a stuntman for 20 years and doubled for Brad Pitt several times, for example in “Fight Club” and “Ocean’s 11”. In 2014 he worked for the first time as a co-director on “John Wick”.
BG RATING: The film based on the successful novel by the Japanese Kotaro Isaka takes place almost exclusively in a high-speed train, and the plot is just as fast-paced with a number of twists and turns, so that the suspense can be maintained for two hours. But it’s also rough and the humor is quite sarcastic. You always have to be aware that you shouldn’t take everything too seriously (127 min., free from the age of 16).
“Guglhupfgeschwader” – A Bavarian village policeman is investigating
Gerhard Wittmann (l) as Leopold, Sebastian Bezzel as Franz and Lisa Maria Potthoff as Susi in “Guglhupfgeschwader” Photo: Bernd Schuller/dpa
THE STORY: Lottery fever is rampant in the Bavarian village of Niederkaltenkirchen. But kiosk operator Lotto-Otto (Johannes Berzl) is blown up. A case for Franz Eberhofer (Sebastian Bezzel), who has to activate ex-colleague Rudi (Simon Schwarz), who now works as a department store detective. The trail leads to the gambling mafia in the Czech Republic.
THE STARS: Sebastian Bezzel has portrayed the investigator based on the novels by Rita Falk for the eighth time, celebrating his tenth anniversary. In between, he also gets into other films like “The Boandlkramer and Eternal Love” or “Beckenrand Sheriff”. The Viennese Simon Schwarz, who lives in Berlin, has been there for just as long and has been unfaithful with, among other things, “Unter deutsche Betten” or “Seitenwechsel”.
THE DIRECTOR: No Eberhofer thriller without Ed Herzog, who has also staged “Dampfnudelblues”, “Winterkartoffelknödel”, “Scheinskopf al dente”, “Grießnockerlaffäre”, “Sauerkrautkoma”, “Leberkäsjunkie” and “Kaiserschmarrndrama”.
BG RATING: The mixture of absurd comedy and exciting criminal case succeeds in the eighth time as well. Eberhofer and his quirky comrades-in-arms score particularly well with their sayings in the Bavarian dialect. That promises great cinema fun (97 minutes, free from the age of 12).
“Prey” – The Return of the Predator
Amber Midthunder as Naru fighting the alien Photo: Disney
THE STORY: A spaceship lands in North America in the 17th century. A so-called Predator gets out who is out to hunt. Naru (Amber Midthunder) and her brother Taabe (Dakota Beavers) come from the Comanche tribe and would be at the mercy of the alien with its highly technical weapons. They still want to defend themselves with bow and arrow.
THE STARS: Amber Midthunter does indeed have Native American ancestry, having been last seen opposite Liam Neeson in the thrillers The Ice Road and The Marksman. Dakota Beavers began his music career at the age of 13 and made his acting debut with “Prey”.
THE DIRECTOR: Dan Trachtenberg, who previously shot commercials, already surprised with his debut work “10 Cloverfield Lane”. He then shot some episodes of the series “Black Mirror” and “The Boys”.
BG RATING: “Prey” is the fifth part of the famous science fiction series “Predator”. Arnold Schwarzenegger was the first to fight the brutal alien in 1987. Taking it back in time is awesome. A fighting machine from space that is to be defeated with primitive weapons is extremely exciting. Originally produced for the cinema, which is where this film belongs, it can unfortunately only be seen on Disney+ (99 min., free from the age of 16).
The Special Movie: “Waiting for Bojangles”
Georges (Romain Duris) has found the love of his life in Camille (Virginie Efira). Photo: Studiocanal GmbH
THE STORY: The French Riviera in the 1950s: Georges (Romain Duris) falls head over heels in love with Camille (Virginie Efira). The two become a dream couple. Nine months later, their son Gary (Solan Machado-Graner) is born, whom they both adore. But then dark clouds gather when Georges has to admit his wife to a psychiatric ward.
THE STARS: Virginie Efira first started out as a TV presenter. The Belgian established herself as an actress with films such as “Happiness on Detours” and “My Pretty Little Friend”. Romain Duris was last seen in “Eiffel in Love” as the builder of the Eiffel Tower. Internationally, the Frenchman appeared alongside Mark Wahlberg in the kidnapping drama All the Money in the World.
THE DIRECTOR: Regis Roinsard has celebrated his greatest success so far with “Mademoiselle Populaire”, also starring Romain Duris. With “Waiting for Bojangles” he filmed the bestseller of the same name by Olivier Bourdeaut.
BG RATING: What begins as a romantic love comedy always takes on darker forms. Because it is an illusory world in which the couple has crept. The awakening is tragic because she is manic-depressive and he is broke. An emotional ascent and descent that sweeps the audience away (1025 min., free from the age of 12).
The insider tip: “Not quite kosher”
Ben (Luzer Twersky) and Adel (Haitham Omari) meet in the desert Photo: enigma film
THE STORY: In order to avoid a marriage arranged for him, the orthodox Jew Ben (Luzer Twersky) travels from New York to Egypt. There he wants to bail out the largest Jewish community, which needs a tenth man for the Passover festival. On the way, Ben is thrown off the bus and meets a Bedouin (Haitham Omari) in the desert.
THE STARS: The New Yorker Luzer Twersky actually comes from an orthodox family and played his first film role in “Romeo & Juliet in Yiddish”. Haitham Omari is best known for Bethlehem and The Girl from Oslo.
THE DIRECTORS: For Stefan Sarazin it is the third feature film after “Passacör” and “Nitschewo”. Peter Keller previously directed the short films “Shift” and “Last Mountain Ride”.
BG RATING: A German tragic comedy in which two religions collide. The cultural difference couldn’t get any bigger either. But the initial aversion turns into a close friendship that touches in the greatest need (122 min., free from the age of 6).