Thomas Kretschmann Movies

Night Watch director Timur Bekmambetov helms his first English-language feature film with this big-screen adaptation of Mark Millar's action-packed graphic novel. Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy) is a cube-dwelling hypochondriac whose uneventful life has become a mundane blur of terminal boredom. Repeatedly humiliated by his boss and constantly cuckolded by his cheating girlfriend, weakling Wes seems to be living right down to everyone's expectations that he would never amount to anything in life. However, upon discovering that the father he never knew has been brutally murdered, the spineless, clock-punching pushover is recruited into a secret society of assassins known as the Fraternity. During the course of his training, the man who was once an office-bound wimp develops lightning-fast reflexes and superhuman dexterity courtesy of his skilled mentor Fox (Angelina Jolie). Upon completing his training, Wes is assigned the task of dealing out death to the mythological Fates, who possess the ability to alter the lifelines of mortal men. It isn't long before the nebbish nerd-turned-agile assassin is erasing the bad guys with surprising efficiency, yet as Wes begins to carry the mantle passed down to him by his father, he gradually begins to suspect that his wise tutors are not the crime-fighting enforcers they present themselves to be. Now, with everything he ever wanted in life finally within his grasp, Wes is about to find out that the only thing more difficult than ending the lives of others is summoning the courage to take control of his own. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A few skirmishes from the ongoing battle between men and women are documented in this romantic comedy from Germany. Jan (Benno Fuermann) and Katrin (Jessica Schwarz) are a couple who literally met by accident -- attorney Jan was on a date with a woman he'd just met, Melanie (Annika Kuhl), when publisher Katrin bumped her car into Jan's, scraping the paint and sending him into a rage. While Melanie soon found herself infatuated with Jan's friend Ruediger (Matthias Matschke), Jan and Katrin's argument was the first step in a relationship that finds them living together two years later. While Melanie and Ruediger are happily married, things aren't quite so rosy for Jan and Katrin -- his head has been turned by Angie (Nadja Becker), a sexy if intellectually challenged woman working at his office, while Katrin has struck up a cozy friendship with handsome writer Jonathan Armbruster (Uwe Ochsenknecht). As Katrin ponders an offer from Jonathan to join him on a business trip to the United States, Jan wonders if he should act on his desires for Angie and Ruediger begins getting cold feet as Melanie discovers she's pregnant with the couple's first child. Warum maenner nicht zuhoeren und frauen schlect Einparken (aka Why Men Don't Listen And Women Can't Park) was inspired by a successful series of self-help books by Allan & Barbara Pease; an American film also drawn from their books is expected to be released in 2008. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The prophecy of a worldwide spiritual awakening gradually begins to come into focus in director Armand Mastroianni and screenwriters James Redfield, Barnet Bain, and Dan Gordon's sweeping adaptation of James Redfield's best-selling novel. John Woodson (Matthew Settle) was a high-school history teacher before the loss of his job left him disillusioned and facing an uncertain future. When John is contacted by ex-girlfriend and journalist Charlene (Robyn Cohen), who is currently in town on a brief layover after covering a story in Peru, the pair arrange to meet for dinner and Charlene explains that she has just returned from a remote Eden known as Viciente, where scholars are currently studying a mysterious set of eight ancient scrolls. It was there, continues Charlene, that she came into contact with a priest named Father Jose, who explained to her that the scrolls contain a prophesy written before the birth of Christ and foretell a coming time of enlightenment that will redefine life in the 21st century. Though at first skeptical, John is compelled to book a flight to Peru when Charlene states that she appears to have been drawn to him by a higher power, and a travel brochure on Peru appears in his mailbox the following day. A subsequent encounter with a professor who is also on John's flight and has been studying the scrolls reveals that the scrolls were written in 5 or 6 B.C. and buried in a wooden box that was assembled in the 1600s. Though there was, according to legend, a ninth scroll, it has yet to be recovered. A late-night stroll on the streets of Lima soon leads John into the company of Father Jose, who later disappears after a frightening encounter in which a high-ranking operative holds the priest at gunpoint while insisting that he reveal the location of the lost scroll. Later led to Viciente by the guide who was with Father Jose when the cleric discovered the scrolls, John is haunted by dreams of a remote paradise and a young child, setting into motion a spectacular series of events that will ultimately culminate in a transformation of light that promises to reveal the future of humanity. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The eventful life of a humble Polish priest who once decried the pomp of the Catholic Church "a circus" and labeled the Pope a "prisoner of the Vatican" before ascending to the papal throne is explored as actor Thomas Kretschmann takes on the role of Pope John Paul II in director Jeff Bleckner's cinematic tribute to the man who would usher Catholicism into the 21st century. Born in Poland and forced to carry on following the untimely death of his family, Karol Wojtyla endured both personal hardships and the rape of his homeland by the Third Reich to spread the word of God through the Catholic Church. Later, as Pope John Paul II, Wojtyla was beloved by millions of Catholics worldwide for his tireless efforts to promote peace, forgiveness, and compassion among the nations of the world. From the sexual-abuse scandal that shook the American Catholic Church in the later-20th century to the murder of Salvatorian Archbishop Oscar Romero and the near-fatal assassination attempt made on his own life, Pope John Paul II endured to bridge the gap between various faiths and encourage an open dialogue between religious people of all denominations until his death resulting from Parkinson's disease in April of 2005. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Following in the footsteps of The Weight of Water and other recent films, Hans W. Geissendorfer's arthouse drama Snowland (AKA Schneeland, 2004) juxtaposes stories set in two different time frames. In contemporary Sweden, Elisabeth (Maria Schrader), a young wife and mother, learns that her husband was just killed in an automobile accident. Grief-stricken beyond the point of consolation, she shuttles the kids off to a relative's house, climbs into the car with plans to end her life, and drives headfirst into a blinding snowstorm, where her car breaks down and she makes her way to a nearby cabin for help. Upon discovering that the building's only resident has frozen to death, Elisabeth then uses various items located in the house to reconstruct the story of the woman's life. The film then flashes back to 1937, when Ina (Julia Jentsch), a young woman, found herself entrapped by the incestuous domination of her bastard father, Knovel (Ulrich Muhe). When a handsome and slightly enigmatic young stranger named Aron (Thomas Kretschmann) arrived and moved into the home of a neighboring couple, Salomon and Helga (Oliver Stokowski and Ina Weisse), Elisabeth fell hopelessly for him - little realizing that Helga also had romantic designs on the new arrival. Step by step, piece by piece, Elisabeth gains insights from the story into the problems plaguing her own life, and much-needed wisdom that will ultimately help her survive. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

This made-for-cable Frankenstein was originally intended as the pilot for a weekly series based on Frankenstein: The Prodigal Son, a novel by Dean Koontz and Kevin J. Anderson. The story is set in modern-day New Orleans, the home of demented scientist Dr. Victor Helios (Thomas Kretschmann). Helios is in fact the original Dr. Victor Frankenstein, who has kept himself alive these past 200 years by a series of diabolical genetic experiments. During the same two centuries, Frankenstein has managed to keep alive the original Frankenstein's monster, and has also created dozens of other synthetic humans capable of reinvigorating themselves whenever they are "killed." Of course, the doctor's experiments require that a number of innocent people unwillingly give up their own lives -- and when the bodies start piling up in the Big Easy, detective Carson O'Connor (Parker Posey) and Michael Sloane (Adam Goldberg) start putting the clues together. Ironically, in this story it is Frankenstein who is the villain (in standard serial-killer fashion he tantalizes the cops by planting cryptic clues), while the doctor's main monster is the nominal hero, and a good-looking one at that. Dissatisfied with the finished product, Koontz and Anderson took their names off Frankenstein, as did the project's original executive producer, Martin Scorsese. The unsold pilot film made its USA network bow on October 10, 2004. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When his Zen master is mysteriously murdered and a biochemical maniac sets into motion a devious plan to control the entire world, it's up to one karate-chopping canine to leap into action in a hilarious tale of man versus man's best friend from A Christmas Story director Bob Clark. His master may be gone, but Cho Cho is determined to find out who the culprit behind the killing really is. In order to carry out his daring mission he'll need a little human help though, and when Cho Cho teams with a brilliant but bumbling computer wizard, there's no mystery that this unlikely pair can't solve. Starring Jon Voight, Simon Rex, and Jaime Pressley. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

As Hitler's grip of fear continues to tighten during World War II, the capture of the U.S.S. Swordfish by a German U-boat leads to a brutal struggle for survival between axis and allies deep beneath the ocean surface. Following the capture of the U.S.S. Swordfish, the German crew soon begins to fall ill to a particularly powerful strain of meningitis, leaving the American prisoners-of-war obligated to work with the remaining German crew to keep the vessel from descending to the bottom of the ocean. Though they are able to cast aside their differences in the name of survival, the discovery that the ship has been located by a U.S. carrier forces the prisoners into a harrowing struggle for survival. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Four years after scoring a box-office touchdown with Blade (1998), actor Wesley Snipes returns to portray the Marvel Comics character again in this sequel that teams him with Mexican horror director Guillermo del Toro. A half-vampire, half-human hybrid, Blade (Snipes) is a merciless vampire hunter bent on destroying the bloodsuckers that feed on humanity. The keys to Blade's success are a serum that allows him to resist the urge for blood and an array of inventive, deadly weapons, both of which were once supplied by his mentor, Whistler (Kris Kristofferson). Since Whistler's death, Blade has relocated to Prague and recruited the pot-smoking slacker Scud (Norman Reedus) to take the place of his father figure, but then he discovers that Whistler's not dead after all: He's been infected with the vampire virus. Reunited with Whistler, Blade is dealt an even bigger surprise: His greatest enemy, vampire leader Damaskinos (Thomas Kretschmann), wants to make peace with him. It seems that the vampires are facing a greater threat than Blade and hope to persuade him to fight the Reapers, a mutated super-race of vampires on a rampage of murder, indiscriminately killing both humans and their fellow bloodsuckers while sucking their victims dry. Blade agrees to a truce and joins the Bloodpack, an elite squad of commandos originally formed to fight Blade himself. Soon, the vampire soldiers discover that the virus responsible for creating their enemies is spreading rapidly and can be traced back to a mysterious "Patient Zero." Blade 2 (2002) co-stars Ron Perlman, Leonor Varela, Donnie Yen, and Matt Schulze. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

The tenth in a series of made-for-TV movies based on stories from the Bible, this drama stars Louise Lombard as Esther, a common Jewish woman who rose to wealth and power when she captured the heart of the King of Persia. Eventually, Esther opted to use her influence to win freedom and a better life for her people. Esther also stars F. Murray Abraham as Mordecai, Jurgen Prochnow as Haman, Ornella Muti as Queen Vashti, and Thomas Kretschmann as King Ahasuerus. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide