Berlinale, 2/10.

By David Hudson on 02/10/2009

Shane Danielsen rages in indieWIRE: "Five days into the 2009 Berlinale, and amid grumblings of discontent from critics ('Twenty films so far,' said one colleague, 'and I haven't seen one thing I'd champion') and a pronounced lack of enthusiasm among buyers, one sensed a new tone to proceedings: if the program couldn't entertain us, then by god it was going to improve us. Indeed, if Berlin 09 will be remembered for anything, it will be for its eagerness to tell us, with every ounce of anguished sincerity it could muster, the bleeding obvious."

"Not for the first time, a potentially strong raft of names assembled by fest topper Dieter Kosslick has so far failed to yield much that works beyond a theoretical level, let alone revealing fresh talent or much [box office] potential," writes Derek Elley in his Competition roundup for Variety. "Though several titles press right-on buttons such as 'globalization' or various socio-political issues, almost none have translated these into emotionally engaging, cinematic fare."

"A paradise of time may in fact have turned into a trapped space in hell." Daniel Kasman on Sharon Lockhart's "Lunch Break"; more from Michael Ryan at Hammer to Nail. Also in the Auteurs' Notebook: a roundup from Neil Young, including an endorsement of one of my own favorites of the festival, Lee Yoon-Ki's "My Dear Enemy; and a bit of atmo from Efe Çakarel.

IndieWIRE's Eugene Hernandez reports on the screening of Mat Whitecross and Michael Winterbottom's work-in-progress, a doc based on Naomi Klein's "The Shock Doctrine."

There's no single category or tag for them, but Todd Brown's been sending in a lot of reviews from the European Film Market to Twitch.

"Stephen Frears's sumptuously mounted film of Colette's novel 'Chéri' is for the most part an entertaining drama boasting a host of deliciously poised performances," writes Mike Goodridge in Screen. "Initial critical response at its Berlin competition screening was mixed, suggesting that 'Chéri' might have a harder road to travel in awards terms than 'The Queen,' but there are still several noteworthy performances here, from Michelle Pfeiffer in particular, but also below the line work from cinematographer Darius Khondiji, costume designer Consolata Boyle and composer Alexandre Desplat."

The Hollywood Reporter talks with Frears, indieWIRE's Brian Brooks has notes on the press conference and Nathaniel R notes that "Pfeiffer the Face is doing a great job keeping up with [The Film Experience's #1 girl."

Tags: Berlinale 2009, Cheri, Lunch Break, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sharon Lockhart, Stephen Frears