Christiane Paul Movies

Chuck Barris is best known to most Americans as the guy who used to host The Gong Show. He was also the creator and producer of The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game, and a handful of other successful game shows in the 1960s and 1970s. But was he also a hired killer working with the CIA? That's the take-it-or-leave-it premise of Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, based on the memoir of the same name by Chuck Barris. Barris (Sam Rockwell) grows up dreaming of success in show biz and winning the hearts of beautiful women, but early on, he meets with plenty of resistance from both women and the television industry, despite writing the hit tune "Palisades Park" and scoring a job with Dick Clark on American Bandstand. The 1960s proves more fortunate for Barris; he meets the love of his life, Penny (Drew Barrymore), and sells ABC on the idea of The Dating Game. However, after the show has made him wealthy and successful, Barris is approached by the mysterious Jim Byrd (George Clooney), a CIA agent who wants to recruit Barris as a covert operative. Barris finds the notion of playing spy games intriguing and agrees, but soon discovers what Byrd and his partners really want is for Barris to assassinate uncooperative figures around the world. Soon, Barris finds that his life has been all but taken over by Byrd and another CIA agent, the mysterious and sexy Patricia (Julia Roberts). As he hops the globe, killing people in the name of American security (using his status as a Dating Game chaperone as a cover), Barris learns that the KGB has discovered his not-so-little secret and that his own life is in great danger. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind marked the directorial debut of actor George Clooney, working from a screenplay adapted by Charlie Kaufman from Barris' book. Dick Clark, Dating Game host Jim Lange, frequent Gong Show panelist Jaye P. Morgan, and Gene Gene Patton appear as themselves. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

"Christmas Can Be Such a Bitch" was the tasteful advertising tag line for this updated and revised TV-movie adaptation of Dickens' oft-filmed fable A Christmas Carol. This time around, Victorian penny-pincher Ebenezer Scrooge as been transformed into a beautiful, imperious, foul-mouthed pop singer named Ebony (Vanessa L. Williams). Lording it over her staff in general and her long-suffering manager and former boyfriend Bob Cratchett (Brian McNamara) in particular, Ebony intends to callously exploit the Yuletide season by staging a charity Christmas concert "on behalf of the homeless," an act of "generosity" designed mainly to up her popularity and increase her own bank account. Inevitably, on the eve of the concert, the contentious Ebony is visited by a number of spirits who persuade her to change her ways before it's too late. Chilli of TLC is seen as the ghost of Ebony's former singing partner Marli Jacob while Duran Duran's John Taylor shows up as the Spirit of Christmas Present. No better or worse than any other "improved" version of the Dickens original, A Diva's Christmas Carol was filmed in Montréal and telecast over VH1 on December 13, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A remake of the 1973 TV movie of the same name, Satan's School for Girls is set within the grim walls of Fallbridge College for Girls. Hoping to learn the truth behind the "suicide" of her younger sister, Beth Hammersmith enrolls in Fallbridge under the assumed name of Karen Oxford. Our heroine soon learns that the school is in the clutches of a coven of witches called "The Five" -- and that she herself has the right satanic qualities to enable The Five to take over the world. Kate Jackson, who played the leading role of Roberta Lockhart in the original film, is here cast as college dean Olivia Burtis. The "new" Satan's School for Girls was telecast by ABC on March 13, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Opening with a brief glimpse of the childhood friendship between Nils and Turkish-German Tayfun, Freunde quickly cuts to the present day, when the Berlin cafe Tayfun (Erdal Yildiz owns is raided by the police. One of the cops, Nils (Benno Fuermann), does a favor for his old friend by disposing of a stash of drugs; unfortunately, his boss Schenk (Michael Gwisdek) finds out and forces Nils to go undercover and work against Tayfun. While reluctantly spying on his friend, Nils meets up with their old chum Caro (Christiane Paul), who is romantically involved with Tayfun. Sparks are soon flying between Caro and Nils, who were once lovers, and they painstakingly rekindle their old relationship. Meanwhile Tayfun, who believes Nils has been suspended from the police force, has welcomed him into his immigrant community, and tensions start to grow as Tayfun catches wind of the dynamics between Nils and Caro. Everything reaches a crisis point when Tuncay (Ehran Emre), Tayfun's younger brother, is killed after a police raid. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

Two terminal patients leave their hospital beds for the open highway in this German road movie, a popular success in Germany. When cancer victim Rudi (Jan Josef Liefers) meets Martin (Til Schweiger), who has a brain tumor, they knock back tequila one night and decide to head north to experience life at the seashore, something Rudi has hoped to do his entire life. However, the car they've stolen belongs to two thieves and contains a million marks. Soon they're being pursued by both thugs and cops. The film's soundtrack includes Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door". Shown at the 1997 London and AFI/Los Angeles film festivals. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

A freshman college student heads for Munich a few days before classes commence to find a job and find himself a woman. He quickly finds a job working as a sleeping-car attendant on night trains. The trains go all over Europe and he learns much about the world and has several humorous adventures. Once back in school, he encounters a lovely young woman and his second wish also comes true. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide