DVD Coming Attractions, Part 2

Instead of sorting through what I'd already mentioned on the DVD updates, I've made it (hopefully) a little easier by dividing the notable releases by week. Some of the highlights include a Blu-ray release of Paul Verhoeven's masterpiece Showgirls in a "15th Anniversary Sinsational Edition," a surprise DVD release of Manoel de Oliveira's Eccentricities of a Blonde-Haired Girl [Singularidades de uma Rapariga Loira] from Cinema Guild in September and a number of European titles from Olive Films Opus for late 2010 and early 2011. I may be doing the same thing for Region 2 titles later this week.

20 April

DVD Only
- 200 Motels, 1971, d. Tony Palmer, Frank Zappa, Tony Palmer Films/MVD
- 35 Shots of Rum [35 rhums], 2008, d. Claire Denis, Cinema Guild
- The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela, 2008, d. Olaf de Fleur Johannesson, here! Films
- Cloud 9 [Wolke 9], 2008, d. Andreas Dresen, Music Box Films
- Ex Drummer, 2007, d. Koen Mortier, Palisades Tartan
- The Horse Boy, 2009, d. Michel O. Scott, Zeitgeist
- Knife Edge, 2010, d. Anthony Hickox, E1, w. Joan Plowright, Hugh Bonneville, Natalie Press, Jamie Harris
- Mammoth, 2009, d. Lukas Moodysson, IFC Films
- Uncertainty, 2008, d. Scott McGehee, David Siegel, IFC Films

DVD and Blu-ray
- Crazy Heart, 2009, d. Scott Cooper, Fox
- Summer Hours [L'heure d'été], 2008, d. Olivier Assayas, Criterion
- Vivre sa vie, 1962, d. Jean-Luc Godard, Criterion
- The Young Victoria, 2009, d. Jean-Marc Vallée, Sony

Blu-ray
- The Basketball Diaries, 1995, d. Scott Kalvert, Palm Pictures
- Battleship Potemkin, 1925, d. Sergei M. Eisenstein, Kino
- Fist of Legend, 1994, d. Gordon Chan, Yuen Woo-ping, Dragon Dynasty


27 April

DVD
- The Barbara Stanwyck Collection, Universal
- The Descent: Part 2, 2009, d. Jon Harris, Lionsgate
- Dialogues of the Exiled [Diálogos de exiliados], 1975, d. Raoul Ruiz, Cinemateca/Facets
- Dinah East, 1970, d. Gene Nash, VCI
- The End of Poverty?, 2008, d. Philippe Diaz, Cinema Libre
- The Fugitive Kind, 1959, d. Sidney Lumet, Criterion
- How to Live in the German Federal Republic [Leben - BRD], 1990, d. Harun Farocki, Facets
- Milton Glaser: To Inform & Delight, 2009, d. Wendy Keys, Arthouse Films
- Possible Films, Volume 2: New Short Films by Hal Hartley, d. Hal Hartley, Possible Films/Microcinema
- Roy Cohn/Jack Smith, 1994, d. Jill Godmilow, Facets
- Surviving Desire, 1991, d. Hal Hartley, Possible Films/Microcinema
- The Unquiet Death of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, 1974, d. Alan Moorman, Facets
- The Voyeur [L'uomo che guarda], 1994, d. Tinto Brass, Cult Epics
- William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe, 2009, d. Emily Kunstler, Sarah Kunstler, Arthouse Films

DVD and Blu-ray
- District 13 Ultimatum [Banlieue 13 - Ultimatum], 2009, d. Patrick Alessandrin, Magnet Releasing/Magnolia
- Five Minutes of Heaven, 2009, d. Oliver Hirschbiegel, IFC Films
- The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, 2009, d. Terry Gilliam, Sony
- Ride with the Devil (Director's Cut), 1999, d. Ang Lee, Criterion

Blu-ray
- Dune, 1984, d. David Lynch, Universal
- Elizabeth, 1998, d. Shekhar Kapur, Universal
- Elizabeth: The Golden Age, 2007, d. Shekhar Kapur, Universal
- Out of Africa, 1985, d. Sydney Pollack, Universal
- Tombstone, 1993, d. George P. Cosmatos, Touchstone
- Traffic, 2000, d. Steven Soderbergh, Universal


4 May

DVD
- 9 to 5: Days in Porn, 2008, d. Jens Hoffman, Strand Releasing
- California Dreamin' [California Dreamin' (Nesfârşit)], 2007, d. Cristian Nemescu, IFC Films
- The Lost Coast, 2008, d. Gabriel Fleming, Breaking Glass Pictures
- The Muse, 1999, d. Albert Brooks, Universal
- Paper Covers Rock, 2008, d. Joe Maggio, IFC Films
- Suburbia, 1984, d. Penelope Spheeris, Shout! Factory
- Tokyo Sonata, 2008, d. Kiyoshi Kurosawa, here! Films

DVD and Blu-ray
- Chelsea on the Rocks, 2008, d. Abel Ferrara, Empire Pictures/Hannover House
- Doctor Zhivago, 1965, d. David Lean, Warner
- Dogora [Dogora: Ouvrons les yeux], 2004, d. Patrice Leconte, Severin
- Rock 'n' Roll High School, 1979, d. Allan Arkush, Joe Dante, Jerry Zucker, Shout! Factory
- Tetro, 2009, d. Francis Ford Coppola, Lionsgate

Blu-ray
- Seven Swords, 2005, d. Tsui Hark, Dragon Dynasty


11 May

DVD
- Daria: The Complete Series, 1997-2001, Paramount
- One Deadly Summer [L'été meurtrier], 1983, d. Jean Becker, Bayview Films, w. Isabelle Adjani

DVD and Blu-ray
- Céline: Through the Eyes of the World, 2010, d. Stéphane Laporte, Sony
- Legend of the Tsunami Warrior [aka Queens of Langkasuka], 2008, d. Nonzee Nimibutr, Magnet Releasing/Magnolia

Blu-ray
- The Edge, 1997, d. Lee Tamahori, Fox
- The Karate Kid, 1984, d. John G. Avildsen, Sony
- M, 1931, d. Fritz Lang, Criterion
- The Magnificent Seven Collection, 1960-1972, d. John Sturges, Burt Kennedy, Paul Wendkos, George McCowan, MGM
- The Man in the Iron Mask, 1998, d. Randall Wallace, MGM


18 May

DVD
- Defamation, 2009, d. Yoav Shamir, First Run
- The Disappeared, 2008, d. Johnny Kevorkian, IFC Films
- The Girl on the Train [La fille du RER], 2009, d. André Téchiné, Strand Releasing
- Oshima's Outlaw Sixties, d. Nagisa Oshima, Eclipse/Criterion
- Poliwood, 2009, d. Barry Levinson, Screen Media Films
- Sunrise/Sunset, 2008, d. Vitali Mansky, Alive Mind

DVD and Blu-ray
- Walkabout, 1971, d. Nicolas Roeg, Criterion

Blu-ray
- 9 Songs, 2004, d. Michael Winterbottom, Palisades Tartan
- Carlito's Way, 1993, d. Brian De Palma, Universal


25 May

DVD
- All My Friends Are Funeral Singers, 2010, d. Tim Rutili, Indiepix
- Bottom Land, 1992, d. Ed Radtke, Facets
- Call Me Madame [Appelez-moi Madame], 1986, d. Françoise Romand, Microcinema
- In Desert and Wilderness [W pustyni i w puszczy], 2001, d. Gavin Hood, MGE/Facets
- Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis, 2006, d. Mary Jordan, Arthouse Films
- Kamikaze Hearts, 1986, d. Juliet Bashore, Facets
- No Orchids for Miss Blandish, 1948, d. St. John Legh Clowes, VCI
- Obscene, 2007, d. Daniel O'Connor, Neil Ortenberg, Arthouse Films
- Phyllis and Harold, 2008, d. Cindy Kleine, Breaking Glass Pictures
- Real End of the Great War [Prawdziwy koniec wielkiej wojny], 1957, d. Jerzy Kawalerowicz, Polart/Facets
- True Blood: Season 2, 2009, HBO
- Voyager [Homo Faber], 1991, d. Volker Schlöndorff, Scorpion Releasing
- What's Underground About Marshmallows?, 1996, d. Jill Godmilow, Facets
- The World of Buckminster Fuller, 1974, d. Baylis Glascock, Robert Snyder, Mystic Fire/Microcinema
- Yesterday Girl [Abschied von gestern - (Anita G.)], 1966, d. Alexander Kluge, Facets

DVD and Blu-ray
- By Brakhage, An Anthology, Volume 2, d. Stan Brakhage, Criterion
- City of the Living Dead [Paura nella città dei morti viventi], 1980, d. Lucio Fulci, Blue Underground
- The Messenger, 2009, d. Oren Moverman, Oscilloscope
- Pep Squad, 1998, d. Steve Balderson, Troma
- The Road, 2009, d. John Hillcoat, Sony
- Stagecoach, 1939, d. John Ford, Criterion

Blu-ray
- By Brakhage, An Anthology, Volume 1, d. Stan Brakhage, Criterion
- Class of Nuke 'Em High, 1986, d. Richard W. Haines, Lloyd Kaufman, Michael Herz, Troma
- Spartacus, 1960, d. Stanley Kubrick, Universal


1 June

DVD
- Tony Manero, 2008, d. Pablo Larraín, Kino Lorber

DVD and Blu-ray
- The Red Baron [Der rote Baron], 2008, d. Nikolai Müllerschön, Monterey Video
- The Sun, 2005, d. Aleksandr Sokurov, Kino Lorber

Blu-ray
- Absolute Power, 1997, d. Clint Eastwood, Warner
- Heartbreak Ridge, 1986, d. Clint Eastwood, Warner
- The Man With No Name Trilogy, 1964-1966, d. Sergio Leone, MGM
- The Rookie, 1990, d. Clint Eastwood, Warner


8 June

DVD
- Curb Your Enthusiasm: Season 7, 2009, HBO
- Patterns Trilogy and Other Short Films by Jamie Travis, 2003-2006, d. Jamie Travis, Kimstim/Kino Lorber
- Shinjuku Incident, 2009, d. Yee Tung-Shing, Sony
- Stonewall - 25th Anniversary [Before Stonewall / After Stonewall], 1984/1999, d. Robert Rosenberg, John Scagliotti, Greta Schiller, First Run
- Word Is Out, 1977, d. Rob Epstein, Milestone Video/Oscilloscope

DVD and Blu-ray
- 180° South, 2010, d. Chris Malloy, Magnolia
- Shutter Island, 2010, d. Martin Scorsese, Paramount

Blu-ray
- Happy Together, 1997, d. Wong Kar-wai, Kino Lorber


15 June

DVD
- Antarctica, 2008, d. Yari Hochner, here! Films
- The Blind Menace, 1960, d. Kazuo Mori, AnimEigo
- Born Into Shit [Po hlavě do prdele], 2006, d. Marcel Bystroň, Seminal Films
- Burma VJ, 2008, d. Anders Østergaard, Oscilloscope
- Collapse, 2009, d. Chris Smith, Vitagraph Films
- Happy Tears, 2009, d. Mitchell Lichtenstein, Lionsgate
- Horror Hospital, 1973, d. Anthony Balch, Dark Sky Films
- Sex Positive, 2008, d. Daryl Wein, here! Films
- Unthinkable, 2010, d. Gregor Jordan, Sony, w. Michael Sheen, Samuel L. Jackson, Brandon Routh, Carrie-Anne Moss

DVD and Blu-ray
- Mary and Max, 2009, d. Adam Elliot, IFC Films
- Mystery Train, 1989, d. Jim Jarmusch, Criterion

Blu-ray
- Flash Gordon, 1980, d. Mike Hodges, Universal
- Showgirls, 1995, d. Paul Verhoeven, MGM
- The Stepfather, 1987, d. Joseph Ruben, Shout! Factory


22 June

DVD
- Bluebeard [Barbe Bleue], 2009, d. Catherine Breillat, Strand Releasing
- Le combat dans l'île, 1962, d. Alain Cavalier, Zeitgeist
- Invisible Adversaries [Unsichtbare Gegner], 1977, d. Valie Export, Facets
- The Maid [La nana], 2009, d. Sebastián Silva, Oscilloscope
- Night Train to Munich, 1940, d. Carol Reed, Criterion
- Part-Time Work of a Domestic Slave [Gelegenheitsarbeit einer Sklavin], 1973, d. Alexander Kluge, Facets
- Raging Sun, Raging Sky [Rabioso sol, rabioso cielo], 2009, d. Julián Hernández, TLA Releasing
- Soundless Wind Chime, 2009, d. Wing Kit Hung, TLA Releasing

DVD and Blu-ray
- Close-Up, 1990, d. Abbas Kiarostami, Criterion
- Death Race 2000, 1975, d. Paul Bartel, Shout! Factory
- Red Desert [Il deserto rosso], 1964, d. Michelangelo Antonioni, Criterion
- A Star Is Born, 1954, d. George Cukor, Warner


20 June

DVD
- Alice Neel, 2007, d. Andrew Neel, Arthouse Films
- Bass Ackwards, 2010, d. Linas Phillips, New Video
- Burning Paradise, 1994, d. Ringo Lam, Discotek Media
- Evening Primrose, 1966, d. Paul Bogart, Koch Vision
- First Love [Erste Liebe], 1970, d. Maximilian Schell, VCI, w. Dominique Sanda
- It Came from Kuchar, 2009, d. Jennifer M. Kroot, Indiepix
- Lorna, the Exorcist [Les possédées du diable], 1974, d. Jesús Franco, Mondo Macabro
- New York Confidential, 1955, d. Russell Rouse, VCI, w. Anne Bancroft
- Next: A Primer on Urban Painting, 2005, d. Pablo Aravena, Arthouse Films
- Rem Koolhaas: A Kind of Architect, 2008, d. Markus Heidingsfelder, Min Tesch, Arthouse Films
- Return of the One-Armed Swordsman, 1969, d. Chang Cheh, Dragon Dynasty
- Say Hello to Yesterday, 1971, d. Alvin Rakoff, Scorpion Releasing
- A Walk Into the Sea: Danny Williams and the Warhol Factory, 2007, d. Esther Robinson, Arthouse Films

DVD and Blu-ray
- The Eclipse, 2009, d. Conor McPherson, Magnolia
- Everlasting Moments [Maria Larssons eviga ögonblick], 2008, d. Jan Troell, Criterion
- The Warlords, 2007, d. Peter Chan, Wai Man Yip, Magnet Releasing/Magnolia
- The White Ribbon [Das weiße Band], 2009, d. Michael Haneke, Sony

Blu-ray
- The Leopard [Il gattopardo], 1963, d. Luchino Visconti, Criterion
- Versus, 2000, d. Ryuhei Kitamura, Tokyo Shock


6 July

DVD
- Pornography: A Thriller, 2009, d. David Kittredge, Wolfe Video

DVD and Blu-ray
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo [Män som hatar kvinnor], 2009, d. Niels Arden Oplev, Music Box Films
- Steamboat Bill, Jr., 1928, d. Charles Reisner, Buster Keaton, Kino Lorber

Blu-ray
- Love and Other Disasters, 2006, d. Alek Keshishian, Image


13 July

DVD
- God's Offices [Les bureaux de Dieu], 2008, d. Claire Simon, Synkronized USA, w. Nathalie Baye, Béatrice Dalle, Isabelle Carré, Lolita Chammah, Nicole Garcia
- My Year Without Sex, 2009, d. Sarah Watt, Strand Releasing
- The Only Son, 1936, d. Yasujiro Ozu, Criterion
- Saving Marriage, 2006, d. John Henning, Mike Roth, here! Films
- There Was a Father, 1942, d. Yasujiro Ozu, Criterion

DVD and Blu-ray
- A Single Man, 2009, d. Tom Ford, Sony

Blu-ray
- In Bruges, 2008, d. Martin McDonagh, Universal


20 July

DVD
- The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, 2009, d. Judith Ehrlich, Rick Goldsmith, First Run
- Nollywood Babylon, 2008, d. Ben Addelman, Samir Mallal, Kino Lorber
- A Town Called Panic [Panique au village], 2009, d. Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar, Zeitgeist

DVD and Blu-ray
- Black Narcissus, 1947, d. Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, Criterion
- The Red Shoes, 1948, d. Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, Criterion
- The Secret of the Grain [La graine et le mulet], 2007, d. Abdel Kechiche, Criterion


27 July

DVD
- Altamont Now, 2008, d. Joshua Brown, Factory 25
- Artists Under the Big Top: Perplexed [Die Artisten in der Zirkuskuppel: Ratlos], 1968, d. Alexander Kluge, Facets
- The Guernica Tree [L'arbre de Guernica], 1975, d. Fernando Arrabal, Cult Epics
- Loos Ornamental, 2008, d. Heinz Emigholz, Filmgalerie 451/Facets
- Memory of Water [La memoria del agua], 1994, d. Héctor Fáver
- Presenting Sacha Guitry, 1936-1938, d. Sacha Guitry, Eclipse/Criterion
- Viva Castro!, 1994, d. Boris Frumin, Facets

DVD and Blu-ray
- Accidents Happen, 2009, d. Andrew Lancaster, Image, w. Geena Davis


August

DVD
- Humanoids from the Deep, 1980, d. Barbara Peters, Jimmy T. Murakami, Shout! Factory
- Sweetgrass, 2009, d. Ilisa Barbash, Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Cinema Guild, 3 August

DVD and Blu-ray
- Piranha, 1978, d. Joe Dante, Shout! Factory
- Lost: Season 6, 2010, Touchstone
- Lost: The Complete Series, 2004-2010, Touchstone

Blu-ray
- Deep Blue Sea, 1999, d. Renny Harlin, Warner


September and On

DVD
- Amer, 2009, d. Hélène Cattet, Bruno Forzani, Oliver Films Opus, 29 March 2011
- A Boyfriend for My Wife [Un novio para mi mujer], 2008, d. Juan Taratuto, Olive Films Opus, 39 March 2011
- Brotherhood [Broderskab], 2009, d. Nicolo Donato, Olive Films Opus, 28 December
- Dancing Across Borders, 2009, d. Anne Bass, First Run, 21 September
- Destricted, 2006, d. Marina Abramović, Matthew Barney, Marco Brambilla, Larry Clark, Gaspar Noé, Richard Prince, Sam Taylor Wood, Revolver, 7 September
- Eccentricities of a Blonde-Haired Girl [Singularidades de uma Rapariga Loira], 2009, d. Manoel de Oliveira, Cinema Guild, 21 September
- The Girl [Flickan], 2009, d. Fredrik Edfeldt, Olive Films Opus, 30 November
- Letters to Father Jacob [Postia pappi Jaakobille], 2009, d. Klaus Härö, Olive Films Opus, 22 February 2011
- The Temptation of St. Tony [Püha Tõnu kiusamine], 2009, d. Veiko Õunpuu, Olive Films Opus, 25 January 2011
- Women Without Men, 2009, d. Shirin Neshat, Shoja Azari, Indiepix, 9 November

Blu-ray
- Beauty and the Beast, 1991, d. Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise, Disney, 5 October
- Ben-Hur, 1959, d. William Wyler, Warner, 16 November
- Forbidden Planet, 1956, d. Fred M. Wilcox, Warner, 7 September
- The Goonies, 1985, d. Richard Donner, Warner, 2 November
- The Maltese Falcon, 1941, d. John Huston, Warner, 5 October
- Mars Attacks!, 1996, d. Tim Burton, Warner, 7 September
- Mutiny on the Bounty, 1935, d. Frank Lloyd, Warner, 16 November
- Three Kings, 1999, d. David O. Russell, Warner, 12 October
- THX 1138, 1971, d. George Lucas, Warner, 7 September
- The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, 1948, d. John Huston, Warner, 5 October

The Decade List: (Some of) The Worst Films (2000)

Though I don't wish to devote time writing about the following films, I have made a shortlist of some of the significantly awful films from 2000 that I had the displeasure of seeing:

- Baise-moi - dir. Virginie Despentes, Coralie Trinh Thi - France
- Battle Royale - dir. Kinji Fukasaku - Japan
- Battlefield Earth - dir. Roger Christian - USA
- Big Momma's House - dir. Raja Gosnell - USA
- Boys and Girls - dir. Robert Iscove - USA
- The Crow: Salvation - dir. Bharat Nalluri - USA/Germany
- Dr. T & the Women - dir. Robert Altman - USA/Germany
- Groove - dir. Greg Harrison - USA
- Hollow Man - dir. Paul Verhoeven - USA/Germany
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas - dir. Ron Howard - USA/Germany
- The Iron Ladies - dir. Youngyooth Thongkonthun - Thailand
- Km. 0 - dir. Yolanda García Serrano, Juan Luis Iborra - Spain
- Malèna - dir. Giuseppe Tornatore - Italy/USA
- Mission: Impossible 2 - dir. John Woo - USA/Germany
- Mission to Mars - dir. Brian De Palma - USA
- Pay It Forward - dir. Mimi Leder - USA
- The Smokers - dir. Kat Slater - USA
- Stardom - dir. Denys Arcand - Canada/France
- Vulgar - dir. Bryan Johnson - USA

Coming (or Not Coming) in 2009: Part 2

Part two of my posts looking at the films that should show up at the major film festivals in 2009 focuses on the rest of Europe. I'm the first to admit my francophile bias in reducing over thirty countries to the same space I devoted to France. Again, feel free to check my previous posts about the Berlinale, where I've already mentioned new films from Lukas Moodysson, Sally Potter, Costa-Gavras, Stephen Frears, Hans-Christian Schmid and Theo Angelopoulos.

There are several reasons to be excited for Pedro Almodóvar's latest film Los abrazos rotos [Broken Embraces]. For starters, the two-time Oscar winner has been on a hot streak ever since All About My Mother [Todo sobre mi madre]. Then, you've got Penélope Cruz, whose turn in the director's Volver changed my ambivalence about her into absolute adoration, and she's playing two roles! And if that weren't enough, Rossy de Palma is back in her first film with the director in fourteen years. Rounding out the rest of the cast is Lola Dueñas (who played Cruz's sister in Volver), Chus Lampreave (a constant in Almodóvar's films), Ángela Molina (That Obscure Object of Desire [Cet obscur objet du désir]) and Lluís Homar (Bad Education [La mala educación]). Broken Embraces hits theatres in Spain on 18 March, followed by a very likely showing at Cannes in May (Volver previously won a collective Best Actress prize) and a US release from Sony Pictures Classics beginning in November.

After reportedly being fired from directing The Lovely Bones (now being done by Peter Jackson), it looks like Lynne Ramsay's next project is to be an adaptation of Lionel Shriver's novel We Need to Talk About Kevin. There's talk around the Internet that her script is fabulous, and though I've found little information about the project as a whole, I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that the film will be ready sometime this year. It's been seven years since Morvern Callar...

Andrew Grant posted earlier this week that one-third of Lars von Trier's latest Antichrist, a horror film which stars Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg, will screen at Berlinale for distributors (likely American ones as the film has distribution already in just about every European country). The earliest release date I have for the film is 19 August in France through Les Films du Losange.

After that disastrous Funny Games remake, Michael Haneke has returned to Austria for Das weiße Band [The White Tape or the Teacher's Tale]. Originally intended as another collaboration with late actor Ulrich Mühe, the film now stars Susanne Lothar who was in the director's The Castle [Das Schloß], Funny Games and The Piano Teacher [La pianiste] and Ulrich Tukur (The Lives of Others [Das Leben der Anderen], Amen.). Les Films du Losange will release the film in France on 21 October; no word yet on a US release.

Werner Herzog will follow up his first Oscar nomination (for Encounters at the End of the World) with Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, which according to the director has nothing to do with the Abel Ferrara film. The IMDb reports the film is in post-production, but I have no information further than that. It stars Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes, Val Kilmer, Fairuza Balk, Jennifer Coolidge, Brad Dourif and Xzibit.

I can't seem to find a lot about Béla Tarr's latest film (reportedly his last) A Torinói ló [The Turin Horse]. I'll post more when I come across it.

It seems to be up in the air whether Paul Verhoeven's The Winter Queen, the project he was doing with Milla Jovovich that was put on hold when she got pregnant, is still going to be made. There's also a lot of talk about Verhoeven directing the sequel to The Thomas Crown Affair (the remake). I hope we found out soon what he's up to.

Paul Greengrass' new film Green Zone re-teams the director with Matt Damon, although there's still talks about another Bourne film in the works. Green Zone will be released by Universal later this year, likely around the holiday season; Amy Ryan, Jason Isaacs, Brendan Gleeson and Greg Kinnear also star.

Ken Loach's Looking for Eric will be released on 12 June in the UK from Icon. The film is about footy player Eric Cantona, who plays himself. Look for it to possibly debut at Cannes, as Loach won the Palme d'Or in 2006 for The Wind That Shakes the Barley.

A new thriller by director Ole Bornedal (Nightwatch [Nattevagten], Just Another Love Story [Kærlighed på film]) entitled Fri os dra det onde, which loosely translates to Deliver Us from Evil in English, will be out in Denmark on 29 March. No word on a release outside of its native country yet.

Philip Ridley (The Reflecting Skin, The Passion of Darkly Noon) returns to the screen this year with Heartless, which stars Jim Sturgess (Across the Universe), Clémence Poésy (In Bruges), Timothy Spall, Eddie Marsan (Happy-Go-Lucky), Noel Clarke (Kidulthood) and Luke Treadaway (Brothers of the Head). In Interview Magazine, he said he hopes to screen the film at Cannes this year.

Andrea Arnold's second feature film, after Red Road, is called Fish Tank, co-produced by Kees Kasander who has worked with Peter Greenaway for most of his career. Fish Tank stars Michael Fassbender (Hunger) and Harry Treadaway (the other brother in Brothers of the Head) and will likely make its debut at Cannes. Artificial Eye holds the UK rights.

Speaking of Arnold, the second installment of the Advance Party film series, entitled Rounding Up Donkeys, will be released sometime this year. Kate Dickie and Martin Compston are the only cast members listed on the IMDb. Rounding Up Donkeys will be the feature debut for Morag McKinnon, whose short Birthday appears on Cinema 16's British Short Films DVD.

Isabel Coixet's latest Map of the Sounds of Tokyo stars Rinko Kikuchi and Sergi López and should be out sometime later this year.

A 18 December release is set for Alejandro Amenábar's new film Agora, a big-budget historical epic set in Egypt and starring Rachel Weisz. Agora, a Spanish/American co-production, will be Amenábar's first film since winning the Oscar for The Sea Inside [Mar adentro]. The film should be out in Spain sometime in September.

After seeing Mother of Tears, how could you not be excited for Dario Argento's new film? No dates have been set for Giallo, which suffered numerous cast changes after Asia Argento, Vincent Gallo (who was not too pleased to be working alongside Ms. Argento) and Ray Liotta, but it is currently in post-production. Adrien Brody and Emmanuelle Seigner star.

Danis Tanovic, the Oscar-winning director of No Man's Land, directs his first English-language film, entitled Triage. Colin Farrell, Christopher Lee, Paz Vega, Kelly Reilly and Juliet Stevenson star. Canal Plus will release the film in France later this year and no word on a US release.

Colin Farrell will also star in Neil Jordan's latest Ondine, which also stars Stephen Rea. The fantasy film about a mermaid has no release date set.

Nikita Mikhalkov is currently working on a sequel to Burnt by the Sun, which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 1995 as well as the Grand Prix at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival. I don't know anything further.

The new film from Dagur Kári (Noi, the Albino), The Good Heart, will reunite Brian Cox with Paul Dano, who previously starred together in Michael Cuesta's L.I.E., alongside Isild Le Besco.

Lech Majewski (Garden of Earthly Delights) is currently filming The Mill and the Cross with Charlotte Rampling, Michael York and Rutger Hauer. We'll see if it's finished in time for the fall fests.

The latest film from Julio Medem (Sex and Lucía [Lucía y el sexo]) Habitación en Roma [Room in Rome] will be a variation on Matías Bize's En la cama, according to Variety. The English-language film will star Elena Anaya, Najwa Nimri, Enrico Lo Verso (Hannibal) and newcomer Natasha Yarovenko. Anaya and Nimri both co-starred in Lucía.

And finally, in my French post, I neglected to mention Cédric Kahn's new film Regrets which stars Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi and Yvan Attal. Mars Distribution will be releasing it in France on 8 April.

Things That Have Occurred To Us While Watching Season Five of 24 (5-7)

We've finished the season (a bit of a drop in tension by the end, but it was still a terrific run), and there are many more things that caught my attention in the middle of all the craziness.

5. A lot of the tension created on this show is awfully mechanical.

I know, this is hardly news. There are lots of examples of it, but the most common one is the satellite retasking conversation that keeps happening. Pretty much every episode, Jack loses whichever lower-level terroristic person he has been chasing (usually someone he found out about at the end of the previous hour), and after leaping into whichever Hummer he has at his disposal, will phone Chloe and bellow at her for a while. As Canyon pointed out midway through the season, the format for these conversations is always the same.

Jack: [out of breath even though he is driving and not running] Chloe! ::pant:: I lost DuPrez! ::pant:: He got into a car and headed south on I95. ::pant:: I need you to task a satellite to track him and download it to my PDA/supercomputer! ::pant::

Chloe: [rolls eyes] I can't do that, Jack. Miles Papazian is sitting opposite me, watching my every move. And Karen Hayes has got a spybot installed on my hard drive and if I do anything that she hasn't authorised my computer will shut down automatically. And Bill and Audrey have been locked in barrels and rolled out of the building. And an armoured robotic sentinel is guarding the server room. And I'm chained to my chair and can't move. And my arms have been amputated. And there are mines embedded in the floor around my chair. And I'm in a glass case. [pouts]

Jack: Dammit Chloe! ::pant:: If I don't find DuPrez in the next twenty minutes he'll rendezvous with Farquharson and my cover will be blown! ::pant:: And if that happens I'll never find the disc with the locations of the fifty nuclear bombs hidden in each of our United States! ::pants again::

Chloe: [rolls eyes] Okay fine, Jack, you don't need to shout. [begins sewing arms back on using teeth]

Ten minutes later, the satellite is retasked and Jack gets to stare at his PDA while driving, and doesn't even veer out of his lane once. Of course, this reliance on false conflict is the worst kind of lazy McKee-esque contrivance, but in season five it was a lot more entertaining than usual. In previous seasons there have been dreadful sub-plots used to keep characters occupied. I'm thinking of the famous cougar in season two and the baby-minding in season three (which was far worse and infinitely stupider). Season five had no boring plot threads (even the dead ends like actually-not-evil Vice President Hal Gardner were fun), and if that meant Chloe spent the entire season evading her bosses and retasking satellites (at least fifteen episodes featured her doing that impossible thing) instead of looking after a baby, then that's fine by me.

Oh, and what happens with DuPrez? Jack catches him, tortures him using an ironing board, a bottle of Diet Coke, and a roll of wallpaper, and in agony and terror the weaselly DuPrez gives up his contact, Dash MacKenzie, the aerospace engineer who mysteriously spent four years living in Chechnya. Upon finding him, Jack is frustrated in his efforts when he is arrested by over-zealous police officers sent to his location by whichever short-sighted neckless pencil pushing loser is in charge of CTU at that time.


Dash speeds away as the clock ticks down, forcing Jack to make his angry face. Next episode, Jack is released without charge, and he calls Chloe about tasking a satellite to chase Dash. Jack Bauer, breathless Sisyphus for the 21st Century!

NB: The use of the words "Tasking" and "Retasking" drives Shades of Caruso into incandescent rage, just so you know. My repeated use of those words do not qualify as endorsement. We're not crazy.

6. Why is no one weeping for Carl Mossman?

The body count in 24 is incredibly high for a TV show, but then our hero Jack is perfectly willing to kill and maim and torture any number of people in order to save, "hundreds! ::pant:: Of thousands! ::pant:: Of lives!". This list of dead characters is filled with names I don't recall, though I think they're padding the list out a bit. Some of the names are from the 24: Declassified series of novels, but even taking that into account, there are a lot of redshirts and Terrorist Lackey #4's in that list. I didn't really care when they died, and I don't care now. However, I do care about poor, noble Carl Mossman, the bank manager kidnapped by Jack and Wayne Palmer at gun point, dragged to his workplace to open a vault, and then killed by Christopher Henderson's men during their escape.


During that time he put up with a bunch of shit, watched as his wife was pushed around by Jack, dragged across town in the middle of the night, bonded with Wayne Palmer, found out President Logan arranged to have David Palmer whacked, announced he was all Team Bauer and stuff, gained their trust, and then got killed with bullets until dead. Time elapsed between being kidnapped from his wife's side to being iced: 40 minutes.


Normally the gratuitous death of a minor character wouldn't bother me at all, but this time the guy was at home, probably watching Letterman, chillaxing after another day having to deal with grumpy Californians bitching about yet more armageddon being visited upon them, and then all of a sudden some out-of-breath dude storms in with the former President's brother in tow, and even before Letterman got around to doing that night's silly stunt (playing baseball with Johnny Damon), he's been shot by goons who manage to completely miss the two large guys standing on either side of him. That's some crappy luck.


For the first time ever, the death of a minor character really pissed me off. Oh sure, I was furious when Tony "died", and hated to see George Mason go out (even though he was both heroic and radioactive), but usually the chumps who get momentarily involved in Jack's life die and I don't care. This time, I got actively upset. In the next episode Wayne tells Jack of Carl's death, which, if I recall correctly, isn't even greeted with a "Dammit", let alone a "Son-of-a-bitch". They carry on driving, with a corpse in the back seat not caring about the increasingly ripe smell. By the end of the episode they have ditched the car and are running around trying to capture evil Christopher Henderson, and after that Wayne disappears into the night, not to be heard of again (at least until he improbably becomes President in season six). Meanwhile, Jack is too busy getting his on-off girlfriend almost killed and sneaking onto planes to care about anything as trivial as a dead guy. I hope that while that was happening Wayne at least made his way back to Carl's house to hand the corpse over to his wife, because otherwise there's just some dead guy stuck in a car on some industrial wasteland in LA. Man, this show can be cold sometimes.



7. Someone working in 24's casting department is a big fan of Robocop.

And so they should be, as that is a wonderfully sweet film, delightfully ribald, romantic, reminiscent of the classic MGM musicals of the early 50s with its innocent charm and endearing sentimentality. The casting for this season featured some surprises for fans of Paul Verhoeven's satirical classic, including Peter Weller, Ray Wise, and Paul McCrane.


Weller played one of this season's many bad guys, the monotone and eternally duplicitous Christopher Henderson (which is a disappointingly mundane moniker in the same vein as former antagonists Peter Kingsley and Stephen Saunders), and Ray Wise and his barely present grin played the red herring is-he-good-or-bad Vice President Hal Gardner (a name that makes me suspect there are also some Green Lantern fans working on the show). McCrane barely ever gets to play good guys, and here continues this trend by playing the vile and oddly spelled Graem Bauer (yes, I read a spoiler).


At the end of the season Henderson gets blasted to death by the righteous weaponry and rage of Jack Bauer, who has spent most of the day killing everyone responsible for the deaths of David Palmer, Michelle Dessler, and lovely Tony. Fair enough, but it amused me that every time he shoots one of the big bads he acts like they were the only ones involved, which I thought meant he would just keep on killing people with even a tangential involvement in the plan, all the time glowering at them and ominously reciting the list of friends he has lost, until he's the only person left on the planet, at which point he will realise that actually he is a shit magnet who gets everyone who knows him into terrible trouble, at which point he would shoot himself with enormous solemnity and humourless vengeance. Because that is the way of The Bauer (a Bauer being the Western equivalent of a Samurai, obviously).

As for Gardner and Graem, they live to fight another day, which is interestingly the opposite of Robocop, where Weller, as Robocop, lives on, Leon (Wise) gets blown to smithereens by Nancy Allen, and Emil (McCrane) gets melted by toxic waste and run over, in a scene which no one who has seen it will ever forget.


The only thing that could improve 24 (other than a musical episode) is to get Verhoeven on as a guest director. Imagine the carnage! Time to start a new futile internet campaign, methinks.