Played - In the literal sense of the word

Ray (Mick Rossi) comes outta prison after eight years and just that day again he finds himself sunk in a swamp of intrigues and murder. And on his way to bring light into the dark who is cheating him, more and more people join in to get him played.

So on the first look „Played“ seems like one of those B-movies you dont really wanna see but on the second you suddenly realize that even the side characters come with a star cast! (Val Kilmer, Vinnie Jones, Gabriel Byrne, Bruno Kirby, and so on)
So what is it about this 300k budget movie you should like? Maybe the kinda confusing but well set up story, not just a plain action movie where there is bad and good but more the fact of the main character getting played by everyone around without noticing it.

But just as me you may find some scenes in that movie looking familiar, at least I felt like it, adopted from other classics. Still, it’s a quite entertaining movie, definitly worth watching!

Gabriel Byrne’s role in it as Eddie is ... short would be the right word but surely powerful!

The man in the iron Mask: Byrne as D'Artagnan

Hey people and welcome to our Gabriel Byrne Special !

Let me take you back in 98, Titanic was the top grossing movie of all time, and Di Caprio was "the" actor, so it rised much anticipation on his next effort, and it happned to be "the man in the iron mask"

First let me say this, the cast is just stellar, Gabriel Byrne, Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich and Gerard Depardieu, i mean, it doesn't ever get better then that, and they were cast to play the "four mousquetaires", with Byrne Playing D'Aragnan

So the movie is about, the king Louis XIV (DiCaprio) is an unpopular king and a war buff, so unpopular that he sends his starving people rotten food, a son of one of the mosqueteers is killed so that the King can have his fiancée, and it moves the story into a revenge alt political intrigue plotline, with a mysterious "man in an iron mask" in it's center, and D'Artagnan passionatly linked to the fate of France of the Seventeeth Century

the end of the movie is surprising and catches up for it's slow pace, with the mousquetteers wearing their uniforms and bringing back the old times, and that alone would make the movie worth seeing


Well it's not a great movie by any means, but it's good to see such great Actors play the Dumas's Mousqueteers (i read the book a decade ago, and yes it was good), and it entered history as the movie that shifted "Titanic" from the top of box office after a four weeks stay, and frankly you really don't want to miss Byrne as D'Artagnan, he was really good and radiant, and yes i know, the last thing on the planet would be an Irish playing a Mousqueteer, but hey if it's Byrne, it's Ok


Jebbiness: 3/5
Byrne's Performance: 4/5

In Treatment – Who needs a therapist?

Paul Weston (Gabriel Byrne) could live a happy life. He’s got a nice family and is a well known, highly recommended therapist to his costumers. He solves every problem in his dry, unemotional way – and forgets his own problems about it. And suddenly he finds his wife cheating on him, his kids hating him, a patient in love with him and himself sitting on the couch of a former therapist collegue to get his life fixed.

„In Treatment“ is one of those HBO series where you at the first episode think „Did we need this?“ but then from episode to episode you start to like the whole thing, the emotional characters, the concept.

The series works because we see one daily session per episode and all in all we got only seven characters we meet again and again to follow the way they get their problems solved or not.

Gabriel Byrne does great as the main character, you got the feeling sometimes he worked in this job for years and that is what the story wants to tell us. Paul Weston does this job for years, not only he started yesterday. And as that is exactly the message we get from Gabriel Byrne, I must confess its one of his best roles ever!

The series is for everyone who is interested in lifes of fictional characters and likes a good storyboard, well balanced between conflicts and listening. It is shot in a good series of close ups and quite relaxing to watch. In a while you feel like you’d sit on this couch in this cozy little room of Paul’s and watch the sessions in action. Great!

Who is Gabriel Byrne? - Welcome to our special!

For the start of our Gabriel Byrne Special in which we will tell you all about his movie roles we would like to tell you a few words about the man we decided to dedicate this special to.

First of all I would like to remind you from where you could know Mr. Byrne. It actually depends on which genre you prefer because Gabriel Byrne did them all. Maybe best known are his roles in „Stigmata“, „End of days“, „The usual suspects“, „Mad dog time“ and not to forget his great TV series „In Treatment“. He did all the characters. The priest, the therapist and satan himself. And because of that Gabriel Byrne is one of the Top actors! He is not forced on good or bad roles because it just doesn’t matter, he does them all great!

Now someone who is not really into actors may be surprised that this man is not American but Irish. Let that fact take a while on you. Yes, that guy was actually born May the 12th 1950 in Dublin.He made his way over the Dublin university straight to the movies. Well straight in this case is probably a bit inordinate because according to one of his fansites he also was an archaeologist, schoolteacher, a cook, a bullfighter (seriously?) and worked in a teddy bear place (whatever this is).

One thing we especially appreciate in Gabriel Byrne is that he stayed true to himself. He is not one of those boulevard stars, which you read about in every second magazine you buy and he actually seems to have a private sphere – and that’s totally rare in Hollywood as we all know.

We wish you a few Happy days with our special,
part 2 about the man himself coming later

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Links that may interest you:

gabriel-byrne.de.vu - a fansite

Californication - Duchovny & the dirty car

Hank Moody is a writer – who didn’t write anything the last years due to bad habits such as running after young women. Meanwhile he tries to get back to his ex with his beloved daughter and somehow to find his way back into writer’s business. But actually he’s got more than one bad habit and except for he never washes his car he also gets himself into trouble all the time, drugs himself up, drinks too much and crashes his life more and more

„Californication“ is one of the maybe most entertaining series lately with David Duchony as co producer and doing the main character Hank.

The series itself could use a bit more of a storyline but the way it is shot is so quite personal, close up to the characters and nice at all that you sometimes forget about this missing point. David Duchovny does great in it, really great.

My personal minus point in „Californication“ is that there are a bit too many whores, there’s a bit too much sex and as I said a little bit too less story. To be honest it looks a bit like the first season of „Nip/Tuck“ but maybe thats just my oppinion.

In the summary the series is totally worth watching but lets hope it dont gets overdone – because hello producers, after the fourth season even the best series gets boring! (Fortunaly „Californication“ is only in the second season yet!)

One more thing: At this year’s Golden Globes Duchovny did get a price as „Best maincharacter in a comedy series“ for „Californication“ – I don’t see why anyone would consider this series comedy, if someone could explain ...

CSI: Grave Danger, is QT too big for Tv ??

well, first of all, i shall confess that i'm not particularly in love with CSI, but i can also say that it's a rather good show, if you have nothing better to do, so the idea that Tarantino himself writes and directs an episode, would be by itself a source of scepticism

first of all, it's not "an episode", but two, which increases the running time to one hour and a half, and second, QT names them "grave danger vol1 and vol2" which can sound really pretentions, until you see them ....

so the story is that the Las Vegas CSI receive a call that some human body parts are found on the ground in Vegas, so Nick Stokes (George Eads) goes to the scene to check out what's going on, an unexpected turn of events, makes him a prisoner in a rather confined space, and his team are really in short of means to rescue him, from a "Grave Danger"

of course this is a short of a synopsis, but trust me i don't want to spoil it for anybody who did not see it yet, and let me say this, it's as good as any Tarantino, it contains the dialogues, the inventive camera work, and the pop culture references that made him cult, and in his story, the CSI are better then in any other's, and then we gotta thank God that QT doesn't make movies back to back, so that he has time to sit on the couch and watch television, instead of being a hollywood mogul, which everybody knows he easily can, and then it would be impossible to get such a mini masterpiece

the plot is so tight, that it will make you sit on the edge of your couch, and the ending is really and adrenaline rush, with a positive message, but at the same time, it seems that the whole tarantino force is really two big for a living room tv screen, as Plasma as it can be, but let's not forget that he was nominated for an emmy for it, while he was not nominted for a directing oscar since "pulp fiction", which means that movie directors are a jealous bunch, and television ones are the ones who appreciate the good work.

so by all means watch it, it's the season final of the fifth season, and it will be worth your time and effort, and if you don't find yourself humming "chrismas in las vegas", it means you are made of a stronger oak then the reviewer.


jebbiness 3/5

Rushmore: Jason Kills Bill

every once in a while, you see a movie that brings back your faith in celluloid, and to me that was exactly what happned with "Rushmore"

Max Fishcher (Jason Swhartzman), is an excentric and brilliant scolarship student in Rushmore Academy, the top notch private school, his brilliance doesn't come from academic achievment, but from a huge amount of extracurricular activities, you name it he is there, wrestling, bees farms, karrting, theater (where he is particularly brilliant), collecting stamps, he meets Howard Blume (Bill Murray) when this last delivers a very acid commencment speech, Mr Blume, is particulary desillusioned with life, although being a rich industrialist and has tons of money, a fast friendship forms between the two, each finding in the other qualities he admires, but soon enough all this turns into something else, after they both fall for the beautiful and melancholic first grade teacher in Rushmore Rosemary Cross (Olivia Williams)


well let me say this, first of all, it's hard to be not envious of the great talent of Wes Anderson (The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou),, but the most stunning fact in this movie, is that Jason Shwartzman shines more then Bill Murray, which is something really near impossible, this half unkown actor, son of Talia Sheir (Adriane in Rocky, remember ??) and cousin of Sofia Coppola, is really the revelation of this movie, the way he plays his character is both ethearal and powerful, well Bill Murray is excellent as he always is, but frankly the bows go to Jason

So this is a great movie, in terms of story, and characters and filmmaking, and it's really close to theater format (like the excellent "closer" by mike nichols), and it has wonderful theather inside it as Max Fisher is obviously a great theater person, but this love triangle has such a power, just by the force of the excentricity and the despair of it's characters, that equals or surpasses the power of Bermuda Triangle !

So if you wanna see the prequel of "lost in translation" in terms of Bill Murray's tired character see this movie (just because Sofia Copolla spotted him in this movie) this movie is at the end of the day, an ode to all these forgotten brilliant people, wo are in fact the true engine of any living society, so please do see it, because it's kind off the lost diamond of the movie "Titanic" except that Titanic was a super boring movie

Jebiness: 3.5/5

Jing wu men (Bruce Lee's Fist Of Fury)

Man, man...man !, who thought i'd review this Bruce Lee's movie in my lifetime, i don't think there is a movie which rhymes with my childhood more then this one, i seen it on VCR, i seen it on Grindhouse MovieTheaters, i seen it on DVD, and it's still maybe the most electrifying movie experience you can get.

The story is your classic revenge Flick, Chen comes back to the internationally occupied Shanghai in the early 20th century to find out that his martial arts master Huo Yuanjia is killed, not believing the official theory that his master was dead due to natural reason, he starts investigating the murder, only to find out a clue leading to the rival japanese martial arts school, who had not stopped harassing Master's Huo school, Chen finding more and more clues, leading to his final showdown with the real people who killed his master.

Man, first of all, the fight scenes are classic, the "park guard" scene is a classic (you'll understand if you watch it) and to just see bruce lee's presence, with his larger then life persona, taking over a whole japanese martial arts school is enough to make your adrenaline boil, and leave alone the excellently choregraphed scences (by Bruce Lee himself no less !) and lets not forget to mention the way he used the Nunchakus to fight a skilled swordsman, and then the end scene, which is probably the best ending in the story of motion pictures....

Bruce Lee was one of these people that show up once in a century, he was at thirty the best martial arts expert in the world, he invented his own martial art, he wrote wisdom books, and starrted in six great movies, to die at the age of 33 (man do you still consider that you are young and that you still have time to achieve !!), and his presence and skills and special brand of acting is unmatched until now, why ? because he made you wanna be him, i remember that more then half of the martial arts kid students were there to be "like Bruce Lee", it's what he had to bring the best in you, at the end of the day, Bruce Lee, is you and me as we wanna be, he is a pure energy, he is will suspended in the air without an ounce of doubt, and nowhere in his filmography is this more obvious then in this movie, it's just a raw energy, a moment of joy !

for the story, the "kill bill" colors and the bride yellow and black suit, plus the maks on the eyes of the Japanese crime boss, in that movie as well, are a direct homage to Bruce Lee, and Tarantino said that if he was alive he'd cast him in that movie, and it's a deserved hommage, for anybody who doesn't know the master Lee, this is a good beginning, and for the others, maybe it's the time to re-explore his brief yet brilliant filmography !!

Jebiness: 4.5/5 (the highest to date)

Short rev: Gate to heaven

Nisha works as cleaner at the airport, and would like to be a stewardess, where she meets Alexej whos an illegal immigrant trying to get a fake passport by working for a dubious guy - and would love to be a pilot. They fall in love but Nisha has a problem. In India shes still married to a guy from who she escaped because he beated her up but she had to leave her little son behind and now wants to take him with her to Germany. Alexej tries to help and also Mr. Nowak, a kinda boss at the airport, offers help.

"Gate to heaven" was produced in 2003 and is a total German production with a bit of a Bollywood flair inside the hard reality of illegal immigrants with no chance on a visa. Great performances of Valeri Nikolayev and Masumi Makhija and Udo Kier as Nowak make this movie a must see - but beware if you dont like romantic comedy movies you will find it quiet boring.

Salaam Namaste - Lazy boy meets arrogant girl

What you are looking here is a typical Bollywood production with star cast. So what makes this movie different from all the others? Maybe it's the charme of a couple that doesnt fit together at all, funny and colourful.

Nick (Saif Ali Khan) is a starcook in an Indian restaurant (and studied architecture) and shall be interviewed by the radio moderator (and medical student) Ambar (Preity Zinta) but when he misses the interview for he wakes up too late, she tries to ruin his career. And while they start to hate each other they meet on the marriage of a friend without knowing who they are talking to and end up as a couple - a very chaotic couple!

The story itself is more ironic and funny than romantic, the only thing that may disturb the usual movie watcher is the length - 2 and a half hours as usual in Bollywood.
And what may disturb the common Bollywood watcher are the bit too many Bikini- and Underwearscenes (The story itself is set in Melbourne and supposed to handle the topic of a modern lifestyle which may be an explanation).

Please make sure to watch this movie anyway if you are a fan of good stories and sarcastic dialogues, it's worth it!

The cell - a super visual psychoshocker

Science invented a way to visit someone elses mind, dreams and the deepest corners of his imagination. Catherine Deane (J.Lo) works as the best psychiatric in this field and is asked to visit serial killer Carl Starghers (Vincent D'Onofrio) mind to find the missing girl, his last victim. What she is going to find there is a psycho nightmare, a private chamber filled with horror, fear and a destroyed childhood.

"The cell" is a visual masterpiece. Colourful, great special effects and easylie linking to your own imagination if you are a concentrated movie watcher who likes to go totally into the scenes. when it was released in 2000 it was quickly genred as trash horror which is just not true.

If you are easy to shock you should probably keep yourself from watching this movie otherwise some sceneries in it you wont get rid of for a long time.

It shall also be mentioned that J-Lo did a really great performance and should have been more honoured for it than she was.

Kaal - an unforgettable debut masterpiece

This ghoststory takes us deep into the Indian jungle where a series of strange murders keep the police busy. A couple of scientists want to find out more about the death of a few tourists and doubts that "maneating tigers", as the newspapers call, are the cause. At the same time four friends come to the Orbit National park to see and maybe hunt big cats. It turns out that the jungle hides a bigger problem than just hungry tigers.

This debut movie of a very young indian director called Soham comes with a Bollywood dreamcast (Ajay Devgan, Vivek Oberoi, John Abraham, Vishal Malhotra, Kushal Paunjabi, ect.) and if you expect singing romantics you gotta search for the soundtrack at the DVD movie (but not even that one is cheesy or whatever).

This story is nothing like usual old Bollywood and it will definitly send a few shivers down your spine. But actually the best thing in it (besides Kushaal Paunjabi who I personally love) is the great athmosphere in which it was shot. You feel the fear, hear the jungle and from time to time you got the feeling the tigers would stalk you into your living room and breathe at your neck

A masterpiece in movie history - beating every single Hollywood production I ever saw in that genre!

Featured shortfilm: Big Buck Bunny

I start to become a fan of small online project movies. This time I present you this small project, created by 7 producers in 6 months - with open source software. Blender, as you will maybe know, is a 3-D-movie animation tool, that anyone can use and learn to master. The makers wanted to show that since the software became better and better it is now ready to create full movies with it!

But now for the story. Quite amusing, catchy animated, just sweet and kinda funny :)
It's not such a long short movie that I have to tell you much about it, just watch it!