The Reader (2008)

Max Schreck as Graf Orlok in "Nosferatu" (1922)

Film Arts Guild

Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror

Film.com's FREE movie of the week is "Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror." This 1922 classic of cinema based on Bram Stoker's "Dracula" (but with names changed) directed by F.W. Murnau and starring Max Schrek in one of films most famous and frightening make-up jobs.

Kate Winslet in 'The Reader' - Weinstein Company

Studio: The Weinstein Company

Rating: R

Release Date: Dec 12, 2008

Running Time: 123 mins.

Country Of Origin: United States

Country Of Origin: Germany

starring: Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, Karoline Herfurth, Hannah Herzsprung, David Kross, Lena Olin, Bruno Ganz, Jeanette Hain, Susanne Lothar

director: Stephen Daldry

The Reader

Kate Winslet as Hanna Schmitz in "The Reader" (2008) portraying a former NAZI with David Kross as Michael Berg

When he falls ill on his way home from school, 15 year-old Michael Berg is rescued by Hanna, a woman twice his age. The two begin an unexpected and passionate affair only for Hanna to suddenly and inexplicably disappear. Eight years later, Michael, now a young law student observing Nazi war trials, meets his former lover again, under very different circumstances. Hanna is on trial for a hideous crime, and as she refuses to defend herself, Michael gradually realizes his boyhood love may be guarding a secret she considers to be more shameful than murder.

Cole Haddon, Dec 17, 2008

Review: The Reader Is Intellectual Snobbery without Any Soul

"Its execution is a travesty -- cold and unfeeling."

The Reader is a dull slog of a movie gussied up by two Oscar-nominated actors -- Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes. If not for them, as well as an impressive performance by virtual newcomer David Kross, there would be nothing positive to say about it at all.

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