Nickel, Jochen

Stalingrad

It's tempting to call this harrowing picture a World War II version of All Quiet on the Western Front: both films take the perspective of ordinary German soldiers at ground level. Stalingrad surveys the misery of the battle of Stalingrad, the winter siege that cost the lives of almost one and a half million people, Russian defenders and German invaders alike. Not unlike Spielberg's approach to Saving Private Ryan, German director Joseph Vilsmaier rarely steps outside the action to comment on the higher purpose of the war, assuming the audience is aware of the evil of the Nazi regime. Instead, we simply follow a group of soldiers as they endure a series of gut-wrenching episodes, events which have the tang of authenticity and horror. Vilsmaier has a taste for symbolism and surreal touches, which only add to the unsettling sense of insanity this movie conjures up so well. --Robert Horton

In July [Im Juli]

Moon 44

Funky Monkey

A CIA agent (Modine) and Clemens, a super intelligent chimp trained in martial arts, break out of a secret testing lab which turns primates into soldiers. With evil henchmen on their trail they go into hiding in the house of a local boy and his mother. Clemens is captured and the new friends team up to attempt a daring rescue. With hilarious animal antics and exciting action, Funky Monkey is fun the whole family can enjoy.

The High Crusade

In a castle somewhere in England on the eve of the crusades, all good English knights are preparing to march on Jerusalem. Out of the heavens, an alien spaceship descends, an entry hatch opens, and a scouting party from another planet emerges, gathering information for a potential march on Earth. Unimpressed by the alien's high-tech weapons, the knights storm the spaceship. With arrogance (and dumb luck) on their side, they soon gain possession of the vessel and a hostage who can fly the thing! Of course, there is only one thing to do - fly it to the Holy Land and use it to put the fear of God into the heathens! But they are not destined to reach Jerusalem - as soon as he's back in his spaceship, their hostage switches the automatic pilot to return home. In two days, the bumbling, arrogant and ignorant crusaders will be at the mercy of an entire alien planet...heaven help the aliens! ohn Rhys-Davies, Rick Overton

Project Human Weapon

The government has created a humanoid weapon (Victor Brown) with physical and mental powers far superior to those of a normal human. But when the weapon escapes captivity, former Black-Ops Officer Evan Mink (Judge Reinhold) is called in to find him before he turns on the very forces that created him, causing catastrophic damage.

Project Human Weapon

Brother of Sleep

Stalingrad / Pretty Village, Pretty Flame

one each of Pretty Village, Pretty Flame and Stalingrad: Pretty Village, Pretty Flame is a provocative and disturbing movie based on an incident that happened in the first winter of the war in Bosnia in 1992. Two childhood friends, one a Serb the other a Muslim, square off on opposite sides of war, their friendship tattered and in ruins. Stalingrad Reveals the gritty reality of combat and conveys the hopes, dreams, and stories of a platoon of young soldiers caught in the bloodiest battle in history.

Train Birds [Region 2]