Erich Fiedler Movies

For his fifth effort as a feature-film director, one-time cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld brought his cartoonish visual style and darkly humorous sensibilities to this adaptation of, appropriately enough, a tongue-in-cheek sci-fi comic book. Will Smith stars as James Darrel Edwards, a New York City cop with an athletic physique and a flippant, anti-authoritarian attitude toward law enforcement. After chasing down a mysterious perpetrator one night who turns out to be an alien, James is recruited by "K" (Tommy Lee Jones), a veteran of a clandestine government agency secretly policing the comings and goings of aliens on planet Earth. Nicknamed the "men in black" for their nondescript uniform of black suit, shoes, tie, and sunglasses, the agents are assigned to recover a bauble that's been stolen by an intergalactic terrorist (Vincent D'Onofrio). It seems the item is none other than the galaxy itself, and its theft has plunged humanity into the center of what's shaping up to become an interstellar war, unless K and his new wisecracking partner, now renamed "J," can stop the bad guy. On their side but somewhat in the dark is a pretty, unflappable city medical examiner (Linda Fiorentino) who has been zapped one too many times by K's ingenious memory-sapping device. Men in Black was a box office smash, inspiring an animated children's television series and a hit soundtrack album that featured a performance by star (and rapper) Smith. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Anneliese (Lisolellte Pulver) is the German consulate's daughter who is scheduled to marry rocket scientist Frank Green (Harald Leipnitz). Their ceremony is interrupted when Frank is called away to partake in a top secret mission at the request of NATO. Some humor is thrown in to lighten things up in this routine feature. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Susanne im Bade (A Study in Suzanne) is all about art professor Peter (Hans Brausewetter), who while relaxing at the beach sketches a quick picture of bathing beauty Gussy (Manja Behrens). He redoes the sketch in oil in his studio, and in the process the girl on the canvas loses her swimsuit (Peter has a vivid, and surprisingly accurate, imagination). When the painting shows up at an exhibition, rumors spread that Gussy posed in the nude for Peter. An attempt to clear Gussy's name is scotched by Peter's jealous sweetheart Erika (Erika von Thelmann), leaving our innocent hero at the mercy of Gussy's far-from-understanding daddy (Max Guelstorff). One wonders if the harmless Susanne im Bade was the sort of German entertainment fare that such art experts as Hermann Goering and Paul Goebbels would deride as decadent. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The title of this German musical translates as Seven Boxes on the Ear, referring to the painful punishment doled out to financier Anton Terbanks (Alfred Abel). Thanks to a run on Wall Street caused by Terbanks' financial finagling, Scotsman MacFab (Willy Fritsch) loses his life savings of seven pounds. Running directly to the newspapers, MacFab spreads the word that Terbanks is the enemy of the "little man." Hoping to avoid further embarrassment, Terbanks agrees to allow MacFab to box his ears in public every day for seven days -- then tries to figure a way to wriggle out of his agreement. The dilemma is resolved when MacFab falls in love with Terbanks' daughter Daisy (Lillian Harvey), but not before she herself is clobbered on the ear at least once. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi