GMTMaster

Once mind is blown away, when sitting through the 170 minutes of Pirates of the Caribbean. In a negative way that is. I just walked out of a packed theater in Hamburg, and guess what, the audience was really, really happy to see some light again. No emotional ride whatsoever. The movie is just overblown with effects and effects and some wired performance by Mr. Rolling Stone himself. Where was the story? Because there was not one story but so many of them, that I lost count. I could really tell anymore, where the hell are they now, who is chasing who and where has Johnny Depp lost his integrity to the role he once so brilliantly gave birth to? His character is just stumbling through a maze of a pirate flick, that will do another billion dollars at the box office, but will not touch heart and soul. An CGI Effect loaded 170 minutes film doesn't equal automatically into a good film, Bruckheimer should know, I should have known….

Peter's script doesn't know what it wants the be: a comedy, a drama, a mix between. The central character is not very likable, we dot care for his problems. And then again, the whole "Charity Golf Turnament" set up is so weak. The entire story lacks structure. It doesn't sparkle any interest. Peter tried obviously hard, actors are as usual all great, so is the cinematography, but when hardly anyone laughs at the Berlin premiere, which I attended, then you have a major problem at hands. The audience doesn't care, nor did the original distributer "Senator Film" who also happens to be a co-producer of the film. They didn't believe in the film so they put it on the market and newcomer 3L picked the film up. Terribly first weeks numbers; only some 27.000 people went to see the film on the weekend. Next time more luck Peter.

Dieter Wedel should forget about creating mafia pics. for he is famous or anything else with shady characters, he is a master of the romantic comedy and drama! "Papa and Mama" is as good as it gets for a n y TV mini series. Wounderful and original characters, set in a serious but not hopeless situation - modern day divorce. The individual situations are plausible, make you cry, laugh, and wonder... Wedels direction is rather elegant, feature film like, no hard cuts, or funny angles. He gives his story time to evolve, to go deep into the characters, to let the audience go under the sheets. Needless to say the actors do the rest, everyone a surprise, but that is on of Wedels trademarks. Toping the mini is a wonderful, always at ease, camera, and an exceptional soundtrack of classic 60s Hollywood songs. If you missed it, get the DVD or watch a rerun, which the ZDF will definitely do any year, for the next eight to come.