The new year starts with two movie premieres on Netflix. The streaming service provider wants to provide shallow entertainment with both the German-Norwegian co-production “Asphalt Burning” and the US superhero satirical “We Can Be Heroes”. However, better entertainment is provided by real cinema films, which are now made available for home cinema. Here are our new ideas.
“Asphalt Burning” – thwarted action fun
DIE STORY: Auto mechanic Roy (Anders Baasmo Christiansen) wants to finally marry his beloved Silvia (Kathrine Thorborg Johansen). Then Robin (Alexandra Maria Lara) gets in his way – once a roommate of Silvia and Roy’s kissing partner last night. When Silvia finds out about it, she sees red. Roy can only win them back if he wins a car race at the Nürburgring.
DIE STARS: In addition to Alexandra Maria Lara (“25 km / h”), a lot of stars make guest appearances. In addition to actors like Milan Peschel (“The Wedding”) as a police officer and Henning Baum (“Jim Knopf and the wild 13”), pop singer Wencke Myhre (“Lass mein Knie, Joe”) and the country duo Boss Hoss (“Hey Ya! “) One of the party.
THE DIRECTOR: Hallvard Bræin also directed the two previous films “Borning: The Fast & The Funniest” and “Børning 2”, which hit the box office in Norway.
BG RATING: The third part of the Norwegian racing driver trilogy was created with German funding, which is why there is a road trip from Norway to Germany. Action-wise, some good stunts are delivered. But the plot and humor are so underground that all you want to do is hit the brakes or the shut-off button (101 min., Free from 6, now on Netflix).
“X-Men: The New Mutants” – Abused teenagers with mysterious talents
DIE STORY: Magik (Anya Taylor-Joy) has telepathic powers, Wolfsbane (Maisie Williams) is a shape shifter. Cannonball (Charlie Heaton) and Mirage (Blu Hunt) are also part of a group of teenagers who are locked up in a clinic for their superhuman abilities. Dr. Reyes (Alice Braga) tries to help them control their powers, but it goes badly wrong.
DIE STARS: Anya Taylor-Joy convinced as Jane Austen’s “Emma” in a historical guise. She can currently be seen in the series “The Queen’s Gambit” on Netflix. Maisie Williams is known as the combative Arya Stark from the fantasy series “Game of Thrones”. In 2015 she was named a shooting star at the Berlinale.
THE DIRECTOR: Josh Boone celebrated his first success with the teenage drama “Fate is a lousy traitor”. He started filming “New Mutants” as early as 2017, but was forced to re-shoot because the result was not convincing.
BG RATING: Famous “X-Men” mutants such as Wolverine, Magneto, or Prof. X are missing, because here we are dealing with a new generation of superheroes. Instead of relying on expensive special effects, one relies more on scary effects. This only works to a certain extent and the end is pretty crude (93 min., Free from 16, now on Prime Video, among others).
“Blade Runner 2049” – A gloomy future world
DIE STORY: In 2049, replicants pose a great threat. Therefore, they are being hunted down and eliminated by elite police officers. K (Ryan Gosling) is also one of those blade runners, but he has doubts about his job when he meets an old ex-colleague. Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) tries to help solve a well-kept secret.
DIE STARS: Harrison Ford (“Star Wars”) first played his role in 1982 in “Blade Runner”, an SF film that flopped at the time but has now achieved cult status. Ryan Gosling (“Departure to the Moon”) plays the main role and is Hollywood’s new superstar.
THE DIRECTOR: The Canadian Denis Villeneuve has already made impressive films with “Prisoners”, “Sicario” and “Arrival” and has just made the SF bestseller “Dune”.
BG RATING: “Blade Runner 2049” offers large images from a strange future world and an intellectually nested story that needs the full attention of the audience. In this respect, a dignified successor to “Blade Runner”, which was also misunderstood for a long time until it was rediscovered (164 min., Available from 12, from now on from Joyn).
The special film: “Mid90s”
DIE STORY: Los Angeles in the 1990s: 13-year-old Stevie (Sunny Suljic) joins a gang of skaters and rebels against his single mother and older brother. Stevie matures into a teenager, discovers love, but also drugs. How does he give his life a new meaning?
THE STAR: The 15-year-old Sunny Suljic has been in front of the camera since he was 8 years old and has already played alongside Nicole Kidman (“The Killing of a Sacred Deer”) and Cate Blanchett (“The House of Secret Watches”).
THE DIRECTOR: Actor Jonah Hill started his career doing comedies like “The First Time” and “Superbad”. He has already been nominated twice for an Oscar (2012 for “Moneyball” and 2014 for “The Wolf of Wall Street”). With “Mid90s” he made his directorial debut in 2018, which was shown at the Berlinale.
BG RATING: Jonah Hill’s coming-of-age story, with a biographical touch, captivates with its honesty and authenticity. At the same time, the film pays homage to the nineties (85 min., Free from 12, from now on at Kino on Demand).
Heimkino für Kids: „We Can Be Heroes“
DIE STORY: After all superheroes have been kidnapped by aliens, their children must save the world. However, they are being held by the Government Commissioner Miss Granada (Priyanka Chopra). The kids manage to escape anyway and with their superpowers they make it to the invaders’ mother ship, where a nasty surprise awaits them.
DIE STARS: Priyanka Chopra was named Miss World in 2000. Since then, the Indian has been traveling as a singer and actress in both Bollywood (“Barfi”) and Hollywood (“Baywatch”). Christian Slater (“The Name of the Rose”) and Pedro Pascal (“The Mandalorian”) also play in other roles.
THE DIRECTOR: On the one hand, Robert Rodriguez shoots brutal horror shockers (“From Dusk Till Dawn”), on the other hand, over-the-top children’s films (“Spy Kids”).
BG RATING: “We Can Be Heroes” is the sequel to Rodriguez ‘hit movie “The Adventures of Sharkboy” and Lavagirl “, financed by Netflix. The result is an uninspired action comedy that wants to be over the top, but even the target group for children should only be bored (100 min., Free from 6, now on Netflix).
The classic: “The Silence of the Lambs”
DIE STORY: The FBI chases a serial killer but gets stuck. Of all people, the trainee Clarice Sterling (Jodie Foster) is supposed to help the imprisoned psychopath Dr. Ask for help from Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), who was once a brilliant psychoanalyst. He can put himself in the killer’s head, but it costs a high price.
DIE STARS: Both Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins received an Oscar for their leading roles. For Foster it was the second after “Accused”, Hopkins was last nominated in 2020 for “The Two Popes” and played Dr. Lecter then also in “Hannibal” and “Roter Drache”.
THE DIRECTOR: Jonathan Demme († 73) also received the Oscar for his performance. Before that, he won the Silver Bear at the Berlinale in 1991. Demme had another hit in 1993 with “Philadelphia”.
BG RATING: 30 years after its world premiere in Berlin, “The Silence of the Lambs” is still one of the best thrillers of all time. Staged in a gripping and gruesome way, one follows in the footsteps of the murderer, and develops especially for Dr. Lecter Faszination (118 min., Free from 16, from now on, among others, on Prime Video).
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