I am not exactly sure how this one had managed to escape my radar, especially as it stars our most favourite German super star, always brilliant and charismatic Jannis Niewohner, but CONFESSIONS OF FELIX KRULL (Bekenntnisse des Hochstaplers Felix Krull), the latest big screen adaptation of famous Nobel prize winner Thomas Mann's novel, about a handsome youth of humble origins who rises in society through his connections made as an elevator attendant in a luxury hotel, was released in Germany last Autumn directed and writen by Detlev Buck.
THE STORY OF FELIX KRULL
Handsome and charismatic orphan FELIX KRULL (Jannis Niewöhner, who has
been praised for his performance of Krull whom he made more heartfelt
and empathetic than he was in the novel) has a talent for
Jannis Niewohner plays the lead role brilliantly
always gaining
an advantage with compelling, entertaining narratives and eloquent
tips. Advantages that he urgently needs - his social status is extremely
expandable. Deeply in love with a similarly cunning lady of the
Felix has been made for friendly and heartfelt in the movie
night
named Zaza (Liv Lisa Fries), he plans to work on his social advancement
in a Paris luxury hotel and thus enable a comfortable old age for two.
But the criminal head waiter Stanko (Nicholas Ofczarek), the
Maria Furtwangler sports some amazing gowns as Madame Houpfle
inscrutable
permanent guest Madame Houpflé (Maria Furtwängler) and the foolish
Marquis Louis de Venosta (David Kross) are reasons for Felix to
constantly adjust his plans...
Sony Pictures Classics has released first pictures from 2023 animated movie A WINTER'S JOURNEY which they will distribute around the world. John Malkovich, Jason Isaacs, Marcin Czarnik, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson star. The movie was originally supposed to star Gaspard Ulliel who died
Gaspard Ulliel was supposed to lead the film before covid.
earlier this week. Alex Helfrecht's movie is set in Bavaria in 1812, and follows an itinerant lovelorn poet who undertakes a hazardous walk across mountains, ice, and snow – a journey which will bring either death or a new
First look at the new animated movie A Winter's Journey
life. Based on Franz Schubert's world's most performed song cycle "Winterreise", this romantic and epic tale combines live action performances with CG and rotoscope animation done by the artists from Oscar nominated Loving Vincent.
THE TEACHER TRAILER
FOR NEW CHANNEL 5 SERIES
British Channel 5 has announced a January 31st airing date for their new THE TEACHER mini TV series by releasing a trailer for it. The four-part drama stars Sheridan Smith as Jenna Garvey, a popular teacher with a
The Teacher is a new four part mini series
chaotic private life. Her world turns upside down when she’s accused of sleeping with her young pupil, Kyle, after a night out! However, there’s a
The Teacher will air Monday-Thursday from January 31st.
wrinkle. With no memory of the night in question, Jenna’s only hope of clearing her name lies in uncovering the truth about a dark event in her past
Click on the photo to see the main cast of the series
that returns to haunt her. British hunkster Kelvin Fletcher stars as one of Jenna's colleagues and Sam Bottomley appears in the series as the student
Sam Bottomley and Sheridan Smith play the lead roles
at the centre of the allegations. Also in the cast are Cecilia Noble, Sharon Rooney and David Fleeshman. The four episodes will air from Monday till
Kelvin Fletcher plays Jenna's fellow teacher in the school
Tuesday in a four day television event which is how Channel 5 often airs their intriguing mini series, keeps the audience waiting for a new episode each night.
Eight episode musical mini TV series based on Beauty and the Beast's character GASTON has just added Fra Free over at Disney Plus. Set in the iconic kingdom years before the Beast and Belle’s romance, the series will follow Gaston (Luke Evans) and LeFou (Josh Gad) as they set off with LeFou’s step-sister, Tilly (Brianna Middleton), after a surprising revelation
Luke Evans and Fra Free will lead the cast of Gaston
from her past comes to light, sending the unlikely trio off on an unexpected journey filled with romance, comedy, and adventure. While the mysteries of the past are uncovered and the dangers of the present grow, old friends and new enemies reveal that this familiar kingdom harbors many secrets. Fra Fee will play Prince Benoit Berlioz, a childhood friend of Tilly’s who has grown into a handsome, charismatic, confident prince.
EXPIRED SF TRAILER SENDS
RYAN KWANTEN, HUGO WEAVING TO A FUTURISTIC MEGACITY
Expired arrives next Month!
Previously known as Loveland, Australian sf movie EXPIRED is arriving February 10th with Ryan Kwanten and Hugo Weaving. In a futuristic Hong Kong, assassin Jack (Ryan Kwanten), crosses paths with a nightclub singer, April (Jillian Nguyen). As Jack becomes increasingly drawn to April his body mysteriously deteriorates. Jack tracks down reclusive life extension scientist Doctor Bergman (Hugo Weaving), in a search for answers. Doctor Bergman unearths Jack's long buried secret and is forced to confront his own murky past. As the net that connects them tightens, Jack and April struggle for love as they face their past in a loveless world that is on the cusp of immortality and extinction.
SANDITON SEASON 2
FIRST TEASER IS HERE!
Well, PBS has surprised us today with the first teaser for SANDITON season two which arrives March 20th! The six new episodes of ITV and Masterpiece
Season two arrives next March!
PBS
drama pick up nine months after the events of Season 1, as Charlotte
returns to the beautiful seaside resort and soon attracts the attention
of not one, but two new men. Tom Weston Jones will be Colonel
Francis Lennox, the leader of the military regiment taking up residence
in Sanditon, who soon shows that first impressions aren’t everything,
and next to him are Captain Declan Fraser (Frank Blake) and Captain William Carter (Maxim Ays), who both strike up an acquaintance with Charlotte’s younger sister Alison. Ben Lloyd Hughes will play Alexander Colbourne, a man of wealth who is thoughtful, cerebral, and antisocial to the
Tom Weston Jones will be the new hunkster in town!
point of reclusiveness! Meanwhile, Alexander Vlahos will play enigmatic and worldly Charles Lockhart, a Byronic artist, lover, critic, and explorer in equal measures!
Amazon has revealed today first teaser announcing that the title of their LORD OF THE RINGS epic TV series will be THE RINGS OF POWER. Not overly creative, right? The most expensive series ever will start in
First season will stream September 2nd
September starring Benjamin Walker, Augustus Prew, Morfyd Clark, Peter Mullan, Maxim Baldry, Simon Merrells, Joseph Mawle, Lloyd Owen. This epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and will take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and the greatest villain that ever flowed from Tolkien’s pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness. Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to
It will be the most expensive series ever with $500 million first season
Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone.
As the February 25th airing date is nearing, the excitement for the premiere of VIKINGS: VALHALLA epic TV series is also spreading and Netflix has
The series will stream from February 25th!
just pumped it all up with a new trailer for the eight episode historical series starring Leo Suter, David Oakes and Sam Corlett.
VAL HALLA, a follow up to Vikings, begins in the early 11th century and
chronicles the legendary adventures of some of the most famous Vikings
who ever lived – the legendary explorer Leif Eriksson (Sam Corlett), his
fiery and headstrong sister Freydis Eriksdotter (Frida Gustavsson), the
ambitious Nordic prince Harald Sigurdsson (Leo Suter), Harald’s
half brother Olaf (Haukur
Leo Suter and Sam Corlett lead the cast of Valhalla
Jóhannesson), Kattegat Jarl Haakon (Caroline
Henderson), and Danish King Canute (Bradley Freegard) and the Norman
King William the Conqueror. As tensions between the Vikings and the
English royals reach a
New trailer sees Vikings attacking 11th century London Bridge!
bloody breaking point and as the Vikings
themselves clash over their conflicting Christian and pagan beliefs,
these three Vikings begin an epic
David Oakes (on the right) plays Earl Godwin in the new series
journey that will take them across
oceans and through battlefields, from Kattegat to England and beyond, as
they fight for survival and glory.
SECOND SEASON ALREADY SHOT
Other faces that you can see in the trailer below include King Aethelred's son, Prince Edmund (Louis Davison), and also Emma of Normandy (Laura Berlin)! It is interesting that the second season already finished filming back
The series comes from Tudors and Vikings' Michael Hirst
in November, months before the premiere of the first one and it is already known that the third season is on the horizon as well as the whole show has been ordered for 24 episodes in total!
While Hollywood is sleeping, the spy is here to remind you of a French show I mentioned before but it is now arriving to French Arte January 27th: THE ROPE or LA CORDE is a three episode fantasy mystery coming from
La Corde will air from January 27th on Arte
Eric Forestier and Dominique Rocher while the cast of the series brings together a roster of talented actors of different nationalities: Suzanne Clément, Jeanne Balibar, Christa Théret, Richard Sammel, Jakob Cedergren, Tom Mercier and famous Jean-Marc Barr. In the series, an international research team at an astronomical observatory in Norway has been given the green light to continue its work. But then the scientists discover a rope that snakes endlessly between the trees in the forest and seems to have no end. A small group sets out to solve the mystery of the rope. But in the contact with the rope itself many of them will reveal their inner torments. Bathed in a bewitching soundscape, the
French, English and Norwegian can be heard in the series
observation station and the immense forest that surrounds it provide a padded setting for the human dramas that unfold there. The series took part in London Film Festival last Autumn.
Disney +will finally fulfill Ewan McGregor's wish to return to the role
he played in Star Wars movies in this six episode series. We must mention that Hayden Christensen will also return as Darth Vader. Set
ten years after the events of Star Wars Episode III, the story centers
on Obi-Wan's time on Tatooine, watching over the young Luke Skywalker. Joel Edgerton will also return as Luke's uncle with Rupert Friend, Simone Kessell and Indira Varma also starring.
HALO TV ADAPTATION
Paramount + is bringing us a highly anticipated ten episode video game adaptation HALO This sprawling series will be set in the game universe, but will also explore new stories that follow the epic 26th-century conflict between humanity's United Nations Space Command and an alien threat known as the Covenant. The series stars Pablo Schreiber and Natascha McElhone, with Steven Spielberg producing through his Amblin TV.
ROGUE ONE'S ANDOR
Beside Obi Wan, Disney Plus is also bringing us ANDOR, a prequel series to Star Wars: Rogue One. Centered around Diego Luna as freedom fighter Cassian Andor, this 12 episode series traces the origins of the Rebellion. Tony Gilroy will be the show runner, and you will also see Adria Arjona, Stellan Skarsgard, Robert Emms, Fiona Shaw and Poldark's Kyle Soller in the cast.
NEW STAR TREK SERIES: STRANGE NEW WORLDS
Paramount + is bringing us a prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series with the story taking the crew to a new planet every week like we had in the good old Star Trek series with the episodic approach. It will follow Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) at the helm of the U.S.S. Enterprise which he was in charge of before Kirk! He has the help of his first officer Number One (Rebecca Romijn) and Science Officer Spock (Ethan Peck)! The series arrives May 2nd!
AMAZON'S THE PERIPHERAL
Beside Lord of the Rings, Amazon is also preparing sf series THE PERIPHERAL based on a book by William Gibson. Starring Jack Reynor, JJ Feild and Chloe Moretz it has the story set in the future when technology has subtly altered society, and follows a woman who discovers a secret connection to an alternate reality as well as a dark future of her own. Since it comes from Westworld producers, you can expect it to be visually ambitious.
We're launching a sf weekend today with a full trailer for the second season of Ridley Scott's sf series RAISED BY WOLVES which returns to HBO Max with new episodes February 3rd and don't forget to tune back
Season two arrives February 3rd
tomorrow as I will bring you a spotlight on sf shows to expect this year. The series centers on two androids ( Amanda Collin, Abubakar Salim) tasked with raising human children on a mysterious virgin planet. As the burgeoning colony of humans threatens to be torn apart by religious differences, the androids learn that controlling the beliefs of humans is a treacherous and difficult task.
In season two, Android partners Mother and Father, along with their
brood of six human children, join a newly formed atheistic colony in
Kepler 22 b’s mysterious tropical zone. But navigating this strange new
society is only the start of their troubles as Mother’s “natural child”
threatens to drive what little remains of the human race to extinction!
Travis Fimmel is also returning in season two which, judging by the trailer below, might be even more disturbing than the first one. Will you watch it, or was season one too weird and bizarre for you?
Coming this March to Netflix is new polar adventure thriller AGAINST THE ICE starring Nikolaj Coster Waldau, Charles Dance, Ed Speleers and Joe Cole. In 1909, Denmark's Alabama Expedition led by Captain Ejnar Mikkelsen was attempting to disprove the United States' claim to North Eastern Greenland, a claim that was rooted in the idea that Greenland was broken up into two different pieces of land. Leaving their crew behind with the ship, Mikkelsen sleds across the ice with his inexperienced crew member, Iver Iversen. The two men succeed in finding the proof that Greenland is one island, but returning to the ship takes
Against the Ice is Netflix' first original from Iceland
longer and is much harder than expected. Battling extreme hunger, fatigue and a polar bear attack, they finally arrive to find their ship crushed in the ice and the camp abandoned.
SANTA CLAUS MINI SERIES
WITH TIM ALLEN AT DISNEY +
The film series had three movies
Great news coming from Disney + today is that Tim Allen will star in a mini series, a sequel to his famous THE SANTA CLAUS with Last Man Standing's Jack Burditt as the showrunner. Here is the logline: Scott Calvin is on the brink of his 65th birthday and realizing that he can’t be Santa forever. He’s starting to lose a step in his Santa duties, and more importantly, he’s got a family who could benefit from a life in the normal world, especially his two kids who have grown up at the Pole. With a lot of elves, children, and family to please, Scott sets out to find a suitable replacement Santa while preparing his family for a new adventure in a life south of the pole.
MAGPIE MURDERS TRAILER
FOR NEW BRITBOX SERIES
Speaking of trailers, check out the first one for Britbox original series MAGPIE MURDERS which will stream its six episodes February 10th on the British streamer! Based on Anthony Horowitz’s novel it stars Lesley
Magpie Murders will stream on Britbox from February
Manville as Susan Ryeland, editor to best-selling writer Alan Conway (Conleth Hill). But, when the infamous mystery writer hands over his latest manuscript, the last chapter is missing. Before Susan can get her hands on the
The murder mystery within murder mystery will have six episodes
missing chapter, Conway is murdered. Naturally, she sets off on a quest to figure whodunnit. In his last novel he turned everyone he knew into the characters of this murder mystery within the murder mystery.
With the official start of production, season two of Netflix fantasy series SHADOW AND BONE has added some new members to the cast: Patrick Gibson will appear in the new season as Nikolai Lantsov, the son of Ravkan king Alexander III with his own private fleet and Jack Wolfe as Wylan Hendriks, one of the Six of Crows. Anna Leong Brophy will be Tamar Kir-Bataar, a Heartrender and close friend of Alina’s, while Lewis Tan will be her twin brother Tolya Yul-Bataar, also a Heartrender. Meanwhile, Daisy Head has been promoted to series regular as Genya Safin, the tailor for the Queen who conspired with Kirigan to spy on Alina and poison the King. New regulars are also fan favourites Nina and Mattias (Danielle Galligan and Calahan Skogman), a
Into the Badlands' Lewis Tan will be a new Heartrender in town
Heartrender and Drüskelle who fell in love even though they are enemies. Godawful Jessie Mi Lei and charismatic Ben Barnes are returning as leads.
THE LAST BUS TRAILER
SENDS TIMOTHY SPALL ON A TRIP
The Last Bus is out this February
And a delightful trailer arrives for the film that arrives February 18th: THE LAST BUS!
Life is a journey and The Last Bus takes our old soldier, 90-year-old Tom Harper (Timothy Spall) on an epic trip from his home of fifty years - a remote village in the most northerly point of Scotland - back to the place he was born – close to England’s most southerly point. Battling against time, age and fate, desperate to keep a promise to his beloved wife Mary (Phyllis Logan), our intrepid hero Tom embarks on an odyssey, revisiting his past, connecting with the modern world and a diverse, multi-cultural Britain he has never experienced. The Last Bus is a road movie;
The Last Bus will air both in cinemas and on video on demand
a film about love, loss and the human spirit. A film that reminds us we are not alone - and that we're all on this ride together...
