Ken Duken Movies
- 2011
A weathered gambling addict plays one last game of poker in an attempt to settle his debts, only to find he's been abandoned by Lady Luck in this cautionary tale inspired by the Kuebler-Ross model (aka the "five stages of grief"). ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
A self-described tomboy and former skateboard champion finds her footing as a chalet girl at a posh ski resort in the Alps, and enters into an unlikely romance while preparing to take part in a competition that will remind her how it feels to be a true champion. Kim Matthews is a 19-year-old (Felicity Jones) who thought her best days were far behind her. A fast-food worker who struggles through endless shifts to support herself and her father, she is completely stunned when she lands a catering job at a popular ski resort. Having never lived high on the hog, it's a world that seems as alien to her as life on Mars. But in time, the nimble skateboarder discovers the joys of snowboarding and decides to take a shot at a major competition staged to celebrate the end of the winter season. While trying to fit in and mastering the art of snowboarding, however, Kim starts to fall for her boss' son Jonny (Ed Westwick), a handsome young skier who seems to have taken a liking to her, yet still seems strangely elusive. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Felicity Jones, Ed Westwick, (more)
A group of hardened Nazi killers stalk their prey in Nazi-occupied France as a Jewish cinema owner plots to take down top-ranking SS officers during the official premiere of a high-profile German propaganda film. As far as Lt. Aldo Raine (aka Aldo the Apache," Brad Pitt) -- is concerned, the only good Nazi is a dead Nazi. Raine's mission is to strike fear into the heart of Adolf Hitler by brutally murdering as many goose-steppers as possible, or die trying. In order to accomplish that goal, Lt. Raine recruits a ruthless team of cold-blooded killers known as "The Basterds" which includes baseball-bat-wielding Bostonian Sgt. Donnie Donowitz (aka "The Bear Jew," Eli Roth) and steely psychopath Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz (Til Schweiger), among others. When the Basterds' secret rendezvous with turncoat German actress Bridget von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger) goes awry, they learn that the Nazis will be staging the French premiere of "The Nation's Pride," a rousing propaganda film based on the exploits of German hero Fredrick Zoller (Daniel Brühl), at a modest theater owned by Jewish cinephile Shoshanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent), posing as a Gentile after the brutal murder of her family by the ruthless Col. Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz). As the Basterds hatch an explosive plan to take out as many Nazis as possible at the premiere, they remain completely oblivious to the fact that Shoshanna, too, longs to bring the Third Reich to its knees, and that she's willing to sacrifice her beloved theater in the process. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Brad Pitt, Mélanie Laurent, (more)
- 2008
The Norwegian historical crusader Max Manus -- who lived from 1914 to 1996 -- retains household name status among Scandinavians for his acts of daunting courage during the Second World War, but curiously, few non-historians outside of Northern Europe have heard of him. This adventure epic from co-directors Joachim Roenning and Espen Sandberg (Bandidas) represents the first mainstream effort to dramatize Manus' efforts in feature form with elaborate re-creations of his heroic exploits. The bulk of the action spans April 9, 1940 through May 8, 1945, or the period of Nazi Germany's Norwegian occupation. Despite an almost complete lack of formal education, Max (Aksel Hennie) grows completely outraged when Norway falls to Germany and permits the presence of an occupying puppet government within two months. In response, Manus bands together with some other indignant Norwegians and promptly forms a resistance outfit known as the "Rognes Organization" -- a group dedicated to collecting weapons, disseminating anti-Nazi propaganda, and exuding a fighting spirit. Later, when Manus is captured by the Germans, he makes not one but two astonishing escapes from the clutches of the Nazis, with his life intact -- demonstrating, hands-down, that he has no fear. Following a period of saboteur training in Scotland, Manus -- incredibly -- slips right back into Norway, and commandeers a mission to sink Nazi supply ships in an Oslo harbor nighttime raid; though successful, it draws nasty acts of vengeance from a psychopathic Gestapo leader Sigfried Fehmer (Ken Duken) -- an event that turns Sigfried and Max into arch enemies with the bitterest hatred for one another. Manus' heroic efforts for the liberation of Norway continue undaunted, however. Thomas Nordseth-Tiller authored the screenplay, reportedly taking a slight degree of liberty with historical facts. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Aksel Hennie, Nicolai Cleve Broch, (more)
- 2008
In this edgy independent drama, Daniel Bauer (Ken Duken) is a tense, self-conscious man who lives in Berlin, where he does landscaping and gardening for a living. Daniel is infatuated with one of his co-workers, Jana (Franziska Weisz) but isn't sure what to do about his feelings. In time, Daniel gathers his courage and asks Jana for a date; she says yes, but he's nervous and anxious about what to do, so to calm his nerves he takes drastic measures -- he kills a man, shooting someone in the park with a high powered rifle. Daniel and Jana's first date goes well, and soon the two are involved in a steady relationship. But the stress of dealing with his new girlfriend still troubles Daniel, and he finds again that murder is the best way to alleviate his troubling feelings. The longer Daniel and Jana stay together, the more innocent people die until she begins to suspect that her boyfriend is hiding a dangerous secret from her. Distanz (aka Distance) was the first feature film from director and screenwriter Thomas Sieben. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
The man responsible for the destruction of more than six million lives accounts for his role as the architect of Adolf Hitler's final solution in this historical drama starring Stephen Fry, Franka Potente, and Thomas Kretschmann. Based on the final confession made by Adolf Eichmann just before his execution in Israel, director Robert Young's film begins 15 years after the World War II has ended. Eichmann has been captured by Israeli intelligence. As a senior officer in the SS, Eichmann played a pivotal role in making the Holocaust a nightmarish reality. Now, as Eichmann prepares to die in front of the entire world, he accounts for his participation in one of the greatest atrocities ever committed. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Thomas Kretschmann, Troy Garity, (more)
While the major American TV networks were jockeying to be the first to present a filmed biography of the late Pope John Paul II, cable's humble Hallmark Channel managed to beat everyone to the punch with the four-hour Karol: A Man Who Became Pope. Actually, this made-for-TV film was a Polish-Italian co-production, debuting on Italian television as Karol, un Uomo Diventato Papa on April 8, 2005, and subsequently released theatrically in Poland. Curiously, it had been filmed in English, so no dubbing was necessary -- thus enabling Hallmark to rush the production onto American screens as early as August 15, 2005. Piotr Adamczyk stars as Karol Wojtyla, whose tireless fight for humanity and basic fundamental rights begins with the German invasion of his native Poland in 1939. Appalled at the brutal treatment afforded his Jewish friends, Karol turns to religion as a means of making a difference in the world, and with the help of several other like-minded individuals mounts a nonviolent, but extremely effective, anti-Nazi resistance. Ordained as a priest at war's end, Karol finds himself fighting another form of godless totalitarianism, this one from the Communists who have overtaken his country. Ultimately, Father Karol Wojtyla's noble mission culminates in his being elected as Pope John Paul II in 1978 -- and it was surely no coincidence that Poland's liberation was now but a matter of time. Although A Man Who Became Pope looks lavish and expensive, it was very economically produced, and had made back its cost many times over before its acquisition by Hallmark. The film is also a "winner" in terms of its straight-on portrayal of the pontiff, and the commendably sincere, unadorned performances of virtually every actor in the cast. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Piotr Adamczyk, Malgorzata Bela, (more)
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