Lisa Maria Potthoff
- 2008
Franz-Xaver Kroatz stars in this wacky German fantasy comedy as Brandner Kaspar, an elderly German smith rapidly careening toward the end of his life, but in no hurry to leave. He's soon visited by Death, who attempts to whisk him off to the afterlife; instead, Brandner slips Death a few too many drinks, gets him wildly intoxicated, and convinces him to bequeath 18 more years of life as a reward for a win at a card game. When tragedy strikes Brandner, however, it stirs up some serious misgivings in the old man about the prospect of remaining on Earth for another two decades. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael "Bully" Herbig, Franz-Xaver Kroetz, (more)
- 2007
The subject of male prostitution gets a distinctly zany and offbeat twist in Stellungswechsel (AKA Special Escort), Maggie Peren's tale of five male underdogs who promulgate themselves as female escorts in the city of Munich. Of that group, we meet policeman Gy (Sebastian Bezzel, in hot water with his insurance company and enduring the vicissitudes of an on-again, off-again romance with comely Daphne (Lisa Maria Potthoff) ; twentysomething Lasse (Kostja Ullmann), who lives with his mom and is constantly, pathetically henpecked by her; Giselher (Herbert Knaup) , a chronically unemployed former manager; Frank (Florian Lukas), a philologist who spends his days tending house while his wife works; and the obese Olli (Gustav Peter Woehler), a deli proprietor whose business is rapidly going under. These five conjure up the wild idea of charging for liaisons with emotionally needy women, and gain some much needed publicity when the press latches onto their ploy, but the scheme doesn't exactly go as planned - and none can even begin to anticipate the eccentricities or oddities of the female clients who turn up in response to their offer. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Florian Lukas, Sebastian Bezzel, (more)
The Belgian cult filmmaker Dominique Deruddere, best known for the 1987 Bukowski opus Love is a Dog From Hell, helms the jet-black German-language comedy The Wedding Party. The film concerns a wedding at a luxurious, picturesque country inn, that turns utterly nasty thanks to a feud between the groom's obnoxious father, Hermann Walzer (Armin Rohde) and the establishment's resident chef, Franz Berger (Uwe Ochsenknect). Conflict first erupts when Hermann refuses to pay Franz for the banquet; in retaliation, Chef Franz locks up the bride and Hermann's wife as a guaranty. This, in turn, ignites a bloody battle that finds the men ultimately brandishing guns and hand-grenades, and leaving many an unfortunate victim in their wake. Arne Lenk and Lisa Maria Potthoff co-star; DeRuddere co-authored the original script with Jean vanHamme. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Armin Rohde, Uwe Ochsenknecht, (more)
A battle for gay rights is fought on a small-time football field in this comedy drama from Germany. Ecki (Maximilian Brückner) is a talented soccer goalie who plays with a semi-pro team in a small German town, but he finds himself on the outs with his teammates when he fails to block a kick that costs the team the league championship. Ecki's relationship with the team goes from bad to worse when they discover he's gay, and they give him his walking papers. Furious, Ecki challenges his former team to a special match in which they'll face off against an all-gay team he'll assemble for the occasion. The homophobic team agrees to the match, but Ecki soon discovers finding ten capable gay footballers is no easy task, and making them into a competitive team is even harder. Making matters a bit easier for Ecki is his sister Susanne (Lisa Maria Potthoff), who introduces him to one of her co-workers, Sven (David Rott), a good-looking male nurse who can play soccer...and happens to find Ecki attractive. Männer Wie Wir (aka Guys and Balls) was written for the screen by Benedikt Gollhardt; it was his first theatrical film after establishing himself in television. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maximilian Brückner, Lisa Maria Potthoff, (more)
