Latest news with #TimFehlbaum
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Prime Video adds two underrated 2024 movies that I love and you need to watch right now
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. To me, the best part of streaming are that great movies and TV shows that may not have made a splash upon their initial release for whatever reason can get a second chance to find an audience. This week I'm hoping we get two examples of that as two of the better movies I saw at the tail end of last year but weren't able to crack through against the likes of Gladiator 2, Wicked and more, land on Prime Video — September 5 and The Fire Inside. Both movies arrived on the streaming service on May 27 and both should be added to your watchlist real quick. September 5 was one of the best movies of 2024 that I saw, while The Fire Inside is a winning crowd-pleaser sports movie that goes deeper than others in the genre. Let's start with September 5, a journalism thriller that follows the ABC Sports broadcast crew of the 1972 Olympics that find themselves in the middle of the story of their lives when the Munich hostage situation takes place. Tim Fehlbaum directed and co-wrote the movie, which takes place almost entirely in the broadcast room of ABC Sports, using archival footage of the actual event to chronicle the story. The movie also features an outstanding ensemble that consists of John Magaro, Peter Sarsgaard, Ben Chaplin and breakout star Leonie Benesch. My September 5 review gave the movie five stars, as not only is it a gripping thriller (I was hooked to see how everything unfolded despite the fact that the event happened more than 50 years ago), but it immediately put itself with the best journalism movies of all time, All the President's Men and Spotlight. Other critics were of a similar mind, as September 5 is 'Certified Fresh' at 93% on Rotten Tomatoes. Yet audiences and awards bodies mostly ignored it. While I never would have expected September 5 to be a $100 million movie, a shifting release date that ultimately had it open limited on December 13, 2024, before releasing everywhere in the US on January 17, 2025, yielded disappointing results (just $2.5 million in the US). Major awards bodies didn't recognize it either, with the Golden Globes only giving it one nomination (even though it was for Best Picture) and the Oscars following suit (nominating it for Best Original Screenplay). The German Film Awards gave the movie its proper due, handing it nine of the 10 awards it was nominated for, including Outstanding Feature Film. At just over 90 minutes and an almost non-stop, tense thriller, September 5 can hopefully find its audience at last on Prime Video. Moving on to The Fire Inside, directed by Rachel Morrison, this is another based-on-a-true-story movie, this time about Claressa Shields, a young boxer from Flint, Mich., who became the first American woman to win a gold medal at the Olympics for boxing. Her incredible athletic accomplishment is just one part of the movie though, as it also touches on the reality that Olympic glory does not always bring the benefits you might expect. That extra bit of depth to the story (courtesy of a script from Oscar-winner Barry Jenkins), along with the chemistry between stars Ryan Destiny and Bryan Tyree Henry, are the secret sauce to this movie, which I gave four stars in my The Fire Inside review. Unfortunately again, The Fire Inside failed to register at the box office (just over $8 million) and felt like it was quickly forgotten. We need to remedy that for both The Fire Inside and September 5. I highly recommend you give these movies a chance now that they are available to stream on Prime Video.
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘September 5' Sweeps German Film Awards
September 5 took top honors at the German Film Awards, or Lolas, held in Berlin Friday night. Tim Fehlbaum's real-life thriller, based on the terrorist attacks on the 1972 Munich Olympics, picked up nine Lolas, including for best director, best editing, best cinematography, best sound design, best screenplay, best makeup and best production design. More from The Hollywood Reporter Harry Styles Attended Pope Leo XIV's Historic Conclave Election Looking to Replicate the 'White Lotus' Experience? It Can Be Hit or Myth Films Addressing Oct. 7 Aftermath Win Berlin Jewish Film Festival Leonie Benesch won best supporting actress for her performance as a translator for the U.S. television network broadcasting the attacks live to the world. September 5 premiered at the Venice film festival last year before becoming an awards contender and landing a best original screenplay Oscar nomination for Fehlbaum, Moritz Binder and Alex David. Accepting his best director prize, Fehlbaum praised his German team, and, with a side swipe at Donald Trump and his promised tariffs on 'foreign films,' noted that 'they can raise the tariffs as high as the want, there is not reason to make films anywhere else [than here].' Wolfram Weimer, the new German culture minister, who presented the best film honor, also criticized Trump, calling the tariff proposal 'absurd. The next thing he'll introduce tariffs on jokes, so that people will stop making fun of him.' Liv Lisa Fries won best actress for playing Hilde Coppi, a member of the left-wing anti-Nazi resistance group the Red Orchestra, in Andreas Dresen's historic drama From Hilde, With Love. The film also took the bronze Lola for best film. In a moving speech, Fries referenced the threat of resurgent far-right extremism in Germany. 'It's getting serious,' she said. 'This can't happen again.' Politics was a recurring theme at the awards ceremony in Berlin Friday night, with several winners referencing the dangers represented by the far-right AfD, which is surging in the polls, despite Germany's domestic intelligence service classifying the party as extremist. 'Call them out and show yourselves,' German musician Igor Levit told the crowd in his tribute to Margot Friedländer, a Holocaust survivor who became the conscience of a nation, speaking about her experience in her many television and public appearances, and who died on Friday at the age of 103. Best actor went to Missagh Zareh for his portrayal of an Iranian patriarch in Mohammad Rasoulof's Oscar-nominated The Seed of the Sacred Fig. The film, which depicts an Iranian family torn apart by conflicting loyalties to an increasingly oppressive Tehran regime, was set up as a German-French co-production and shot in secret in Iran. The film also won the runner-up silver Lola for best film. 'Making this film was a miracle, but the miracle was the Iranian women, who made this film possible,' said Rasoulof, accepting his award. The director, who fled Iran last year, now lives in Berlin. He ended his speech with a call to 'stand by us, stand by the people of Iran.' Christian Friedel, star of Jonathan Glazer's The Zone of Interest and part of the ensemble cast of the third season of The White Lotus, hosted the awards, showing off his talents as a song-and-dance man with his band Woods of Birnam. A complete list of the winners of the 2025 German Film Awards follows. – Mohammad Rasoulof, Mani Tilgner, Rozita Hendijanian (WINNER Best Film in Silver) – Claudia Steffen, Christoph Friedel, Regina Ziegler (WINNER Best Film in Bronze)Islands – Maximilian Leo, Jonas KatzensteinKöln 75 – Sol Bondy, Fred Burle – Philipp Trauer, Thomas Wöbke, Tim Fehlbaum (WINNER Best Film in Gold)Vena – Dietmar Güntsche, Martin Rohé Hollywoodgate – Talal Derki, Shane Boris, Odessa Rae, Ibrahim Nash'at – Birgit Schulz, Doris Metz (WINNER)Riefenstahl – Sandra Maischberger, Andres Veiel – Veit Helmer (WINNER)Woodwalkers – Corinna Mehner, Carolin Dassel The Seed of the Sacred Fig – Mohammad RasoulofFrom Hilde, With Love – Andreas Dresen – Tim Fehlbaum (WINNER) The Seed of the Sacred Fig – Mohammad RasoulofFrom Hilde, With Love – Laila Stieler – Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum (WINNER) Liv Lisa Fries – (WINNER)Mala Emde – Köln 75Emma Nova – Vena Sam Riley – CrankoMisagh Zare – (WINNER)Sam Riley – Islands Anne Ratte-Polle – Bad DirectorNiousha Akhshi – The Seed of the Sacred FigLeonie Benesch – (WINNER) Alexander Scheer – From Hilde, With LoveAlexander Scheer – Köln 75Godehard Giese – (WINNER) Cranko – Philipp Sichler – Markus Förderer (WINNER)Vena – Lisa Jilg The Seed of the Sacred Fig – Andrew BirdKöln 75 – Anja Siemens – Hansjörg Weißbrich (WINNER) The Light– Bernhard Joest-Däberitz, Frank Kruse, Matthias Lempert, Markus Stemler, Alexander BuckIslands – Stefan Soltau, Thomas Kalbér, Tobias Fleig – Lars Ginzel, Frank Kruse, Marc Parisotto, Marco Hanelt (WINNER) – Dascha Dauenhauer (WINNER)Kein Tier. So Wild. – Dascha DauenhauerSeptember 5 – Lorenz Dangel Cranko – Astrid PoeschkeHagen – Matthias Müsse, Nancy Vogel – Julian R. Wagner, Melanie Raab (WINNER) – Juliane Maier, Christian Röhrs (WINNER)Hagen – Pierre-Yves GayraudFrom Hilde, With Love – Birgitt Kilian Hagen – Jeanette Latzelsberger, Gregor EcksteinFrom Hilde, With Love – Grit Kosse, Uta Spikermann, Monika Münnich – Sabine Schumann (WINNER) The Light– Robert Pinnow – Jan Stoltz, Franzisca Puppe (WINNER)Woodwalkers – Max Riess, Sven Martin, Bernie Kimbacher – Sven Unterwaldt (Regie), Alexandra Kordes, Meike Kordes (Produktion) (WINNER) An Dorthe Braker Best of The Hollywood Reporter 'The Goonies' Cast, Then and Now "A Nutless Monkey Could Do Your Job": From Abusive to Angst-Ridden, 16 Memorable Studio Exec Portrayals in Film and TV The 10 Best Baseball Movies of All Time, Ranked
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
September 5 review – terrific, edge-of-the-seat newsroom drama about 1972 Olympics terror attack
It's the news journalist's dream: to have the scoop and a front-row seat at one of the biggest stories of the decade. But the events of 5 September 1972 – the Black September terrorist attack and hostage crisis at the Munich Olympics – were not a story that the men and women covering the Games for the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) expected to be telling. Nor was it, arguably, one that they were fully equipped to tackle. Tim Fehlbaum's gripping real-life newsroom thriller deftly cuts between the nervy dramatised events behind the scenes and actual archive footage from ABC's coverage of the tense standoff that saw two members of the Israeli team murdered and a further nine held at gunpoint in the Olympic village. This lean media procedural, which is so tautly directed that you can practically feel the panic-sweat trickling down the back of your own neck, is a stark contrast to Steven Spielberg's rather bloated and cumbersome version of the same events and their aftermath in his 2005 picture Munich. Brisk, jittery and predominantly filmed with hand-held cameras, September 5 features a standout performance from a laconic Peter Sarsgaard as American TV veteran Roone Arledge, as well as a tightly wound John Magaro (recently seen in Past Lives) and Leonie Benesch (who excelled last year in The Teacher's Lounge) as unflappable and resourceful German studio assistant Marianne. Led by Magaro's greenhorn producer Geoffrey Mason, the team of sports reporters wrestle with dinosaur-sized studio cameras, contested satellite broadcast slots, security lockdowns and the professional and ethical minefield of setting the news agenda. It's terrific: nail-chewing, edge-of-the-seat stuff. In UK and Irish cinemas
The Guardian
08-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
September 5 review – terrific, edge-of-the-seat newsroom drama about 1972 Olympics terror attack
It's the news journalist's dream: to have the scoop and a front-row seat at one of the biggest stories of the decade. But the events of 5 September 1972 – the Black September terrorist attack and hostage crisis at the Munich Olympics – were not a story that the men and women covering the Games for the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) expected to be telling. Nor was it, arguably, one that they were fully equipped to tackle. Tim Fehlbaum's gripping real-life newsroom thriller deftly cuts between the nervy dramatised events behind the scenes and actual archive footage from ABC's coverage of the tense standoff that saw two members of the Israeli team murdered and a further nine held at gunpoint in the Olympic village. This lean media procedural, which is so tautly directed that you can practically feel the panic-sweat trickling down the back of your own neck, is a stark contrast to Steven Spielberg's rather bloated and cumbersome version of the same events and their aftermath in his 2005 picture Munich. Brisk, jittery and predominantly filmed with hand-held cameras, September 5 features a standout performance from a laconic Peter Sarsgaard as American TV veteran Roone Arledge, as well as a tightly wound John Magaro (recently seen in Past Lives) and Leonie Benesch (who excelled last year in The Teacher's Lounge) as unflappable and resourceful German studio assistant Marianne. Led by Magaro's greenhorn producer Geoffrey Mason, the team of sports reporters wrestle with dinosaur-sized studio cameras, contested satellite broadcast slots, security lockdowns and the professional and ethical minefield of setting the news agenda. It's terrific: nail-chewing, edge-of-the-seat stuff. In UK and Irish cinemas
The Independent
06-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Oscar-nominated Munich Olympics drama September 5 is the wrong film for the moment
When it comes to art, the word 'apolitical' serves largely as a kind of grand delusion. You can't simply shake the meaning and implication out of words and images like they're a dusty, old carpet; and neither can people simply switch off morality and emotion, conscious or subconscious, like a button on a machine. Such concepts have a hollowing effect on September 5 (pronounced 'September Five'), Tim Fehlbaum's film about the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, during which eight gunmen from the Palestinian militia Black September killed two members of the Israeli team, taking a further nine members hostage. In a failed rescue attempt, all nine athletes were killed, alongside five of the eight Black September members and a West German police officer. It's a moment that's been channelled into worthwhile cinema before: its aftermath was famously covered by Steven Spielberg's Munich (2005), whose script, penned by Eric Roth and Tony Kushner, showed far more interest in engaging with the moral and emotional underpinnings of Israeli and Palestinian violence. September 5 takes a comparatively oblique approach, focusing on ABC Sports's live TV coverage of the event. It indulges the notion that all that really matters is the telling of stories, at any risk or any cost – and, in doing so, takes a stance of wilful ignorance when it comes to both historical context and journalistic ethics. Its final beat, and declaration of concrete achievement, occurs when ABC Sports president Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard) informs us that more people watched their coverage than the moment Neil Armstrong stepped out on the moon. Instead of politics, we're served borderline fetishistic images of chain-smoking men in shirts and ties – plus a woman, fictional German translator Marianne Gebhardt (Leonie Benesch) – deeply engaged in the work of problem solving. It's almost entirely set within the studio, dimly and evocatively lit by cinematographer Markus Förderer to look like a mad scientist's laboratory of ideas. Every inch of the screen is packed with rotary dial phones, bulky cameras, thick cables, sweaty brows, and rolled-up sleeves. It's about journalism as hard, rugged work, captured in bracing close-ups. Actors deliver each line with a certain practised bravado, brows furrowed and hands on hips. Its Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay seems based largely on its ability to deliver neat, little quips ('These cops have no idea what they're doing'; 'No wonder they lost the war'). From the very moment the ABC crew first hear gunshots, Fehlbaum's film becomes a single, steady drip feed of adrenaline. Could one of those heavy-duty television cameras be wheeled outside and up into the view of the Israeli team's hotel room? Could one of the news crew (Daniel Adeosun) be dressed up as a US athlete, with a forged ID and film canisters taped to his body, in order to sneak past the cordon? If the German media announce a development, do they really need a second confirmation? At the forefront of these decisions is Geoffrey Mason, head of the Munich control room. He's played by First Cow 's John Magaro, an actor with a fierce, natural intelligence to him, who can express to the audience directly that his actions have a weight to them, and will breed their own consequences. Yet, Fehlbaum, Moritz Binder, and Alex David's script treats all context, about the history of Israel and Palestine or the political tension already hanging over the 1972 Games, as background noise. There's a line here or there about how West Germany's lack of security at the event was shaped by its desire to create distance between the present and the country's Nazi past. There's a moment when a French-Algerian member of the team (Zinedine Soualem) takes a stand against an anti-Arab comment. The team's only expert in the Middle East, Peter Jennings (Benjamin Walker), is ushered off screen with a single warning: 'We have to be very sensitive about what we say.' In any context, it betrays a lack of curiosity. But watched now, at the very same time as hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians return to their homes in Gaza, often to find them reduced to rubble, while so much of the media world turns away from them – well, it's jarring. The idea that it serves a film like September 5 to tell its story through an apolitical lens isn't just wrong: it's laughable.
