Jochen Nickel Movies

Produced and directed by seven Munich Film School students, Honolulu takes place not in Hawaii, but inside of a rural town just outside of Munich, Germany. Several vignettes, lasting approximately 10 to 15 minutes each, are connected by one of the town's public bus routes, outside of which two men (Stefan Maass and Jochen Nickel) booze the night away while waiting for the bus to make its rounds. There is a brief encounter between a shy young man (Daniel Bruehl) and notorious party girl Chiara Schoras), as well as a strange meeting of an eccentric Slav (Aleksandar Jovanovi) and a girl (Julia Hummer) who is fresh from a break-up with her former boyfriend. Other characters work their way into the plot, including lesbian bus driver with dreams of leaving the country for Honolulu, a smooth-talking and slightly unbalanced young man who puts the moves on a shy bride-to-be, and a Middle Eastern immigrant who finds himself comforting a lonely rich girl on her birthday. Honolulu also features Anna Thalbach, Markus Knuefken, Mehdi Moinzadeh, and Alexandra Maria Lara. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

Volker Einrauch directs this wacky comedy about hapless criminals trying to go straight. As demanded by his girlfriend Mona (Laura Tonke), Vincent (Frank Giering) tries to get out of the business by engaging in an ill-conceived poker game. Owing 60,000 Deutschemarks to pimp Siggi, Vincent offers Mona as collateral -- and describes her as a whore named "Natasha." Unfortunately, Siggi in turn owes a stack of cash to sociopath Duvall (Christian Redl), who demands "Natasha" as payment. This film was screened at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

After a rat is discovered on board their airplane, a group of travelers is stranded at the Manila airport. They include the mild-mannered Knut (Peter Ruehring) and his icy wife Regine (Margit Carstensen), who are both history teachers from eastern Germany. Knut befriends the jovial Walther (Michael Degen) and his Filipino wife Maribel (Chin-Chin Gutierrez), who are taking the body of Walther's dead son back to Germany. Also along for the wait is Cora (Ana Capri), a businesslike husband hunter; Rudi and Herbert, two skirt-chasing brothers who fall in with a poised American-German journalist (Elizabeth McGovern); and sex tourist Franz (Martin Semmelrogge), who forms an unlikely relationship with Mercy (Ces Quesada), a shy washroom attendant who can't understand a word Franz is saying. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

What's a criminal to do when he has problems managing other people's money? Keek (Oliver Korittke) is an awkward sometimes-thief whose partner Kalle (Ralf Richter) is serving time in jail. Keek was put in charge of watching over Kalle's money while he is behind bars, but Keek has managed to spend most of the cash. Keek gets word that Kalle is due to hit the streets and that he expects a Mercedes and his money to be waiting for him. Since Kalle is not known for his kindness or patience, Keek panics, buying a load of counterfeit money and arranging for a Mercedes from a pair of thieves. Soon Kalle arrives, ready to kill a man who he's convinced slept with his girlfriend, while the car thieves want their Mercedes back and Keek plans a robbery to raise the money that will keep his scams quiet (and himself breathing). Bang Boom Bang was the feature-length debut from director Peter Thorwarth and received its premiere at the 1999 Munich Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This German-Finnish comedy-drama road movie is the directorial debut of former production manager Peter Lichtefeld, known for his short films. Beer deliverer Hannes (Joachim Krol) is a trainspotter who obsessively studies timetables. Told he can't leave his job for the world's first International Timetable Competition, Hannes punches his boss and hits the road, unaware that he's become a suspect after the accidental death of his boss and a robbery of the company safe. Shown at the 1998 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

This very short student film (55 minutes) was an unexpected commercial success in Germany. The story concerns the man-troubles of two women who are friends with each other. Maischa (Nina Kronjaeger) is man-hungry and knows it. She can't resist a good-looking man and generally gets the ones she sets her sights on. It's just that once she's got 'em, she's not all that happy about it. Her latest conquest is Rene (Gedeon Burkhard), a real looker who is also a thorough-going jerk. On the other hand, her friend Frenzy (Katja Riemann) spends most of her time slaving over her syndicated cartoon strip. She doesn't have much time or interest in dating. However, she has somehow managed to land what seems like the perfect man, a fellow who neither has a self-esteem problem nor goes around puffed up with arrogance, who is amusing and beguiling. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Moments from the lives of a large number of people who have nothing much in common except a strong desire to achieve their various personal goals and their attendance at a soccer match form the body of this film. It is unclear whether the director intended this as a political allegory or as a slice-of-life film. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

A covert US/Soviet military experiment designed to create the ultimate telepathic and telekinetic soldier backfires when the sole successful test subject goes AWOL in an explosive tale of action-packed conspiracy starring Judge Reinhold. It was a risky venture from the onset, and when only one of the five test members emerged from the top-secret military experiment suitable for battle they could never have imagined the trouble he would cause after learning the real purpose of his training. With time running out before the powerful soldier called Mindstorm decides to turn on his handlers in an attempt to get revenge for their deception, it's up to former Black-Ops officer Evan Mink (Reinhold) to find and contain the unstable warrior and ensure that the government's dirty little secret doesn't hit the headlines. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Based on a true story, Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List stars Liam Neeson as Oskar Schindler, a German businessman in Poland who sees an opportunity to make money from the Nazis' rise to power. He starts a company to make cookware and utensils, using flattery and bribes to win military contracts, and brings in accountant and financier Itzhak Stern (Ben Kingsley) to help run the factory. By staffing his plant with Jews who've been herded into Krakow's ghetto by Nazi troops, Schindler has a dependable unpaid labor force. For Stern, a job in a war-related plant could mean survival for himself and the other Jews working for Schindler. However, in 1942, all of Krakow's Jews are assigned to the Plaszow Forced Labor Camp, overseen by Commandant Amon Goeth (Ralph Fiennes), an embittered alcoholic who occasionally shoots prisoners from his balcony. Schindler arranges to continue using Polish Jews in his plant, but, as he sees what is happening to his employees, he begins to develop a conscience. He realizes that his factory (now refitted to manufacture ammunition) is the only thing preventing his staff from being shipped to the death camps. Soon Schindler demands more workers and starts bribing Nazi leaders to keep Jews on his employee lists and out of the camps. By the time Germany falls to the allies, Schindler has lost his entire fortune -- and saved 1,100 people from likely death. Schindler's List was nominated for 12 Academy Awards and won seven, including Best Picture and a long-coveted Best Director for Spielberg, and it quickly gained praise as one of the finest American movies about the Holocaust. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide