Movies October 2003

MOVIES OCTOBER 2003 RELEASED AUSTRALIA

2 OCTOBER

The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen (M): National. Fox. 209 screens. 110 mins. Sci-fi. Sean Connery, Shane West, Stuart Townsend, Jason Isaacs, Jason Flemyng, Richard Roxburgh, Naseeruddin Shah, Tony Curran, Max Ryan, Tom Goodman-Hill, David Hemmings, Peta Wilson. D: Stephen Norrington (Blade). Studio: Fox. Described as a ‘period X-Men”, Sean Connery toplines The League of Extraordinary Men, based on the acclaimed graphic novel by Alan Moore. Set in Victorian England – the film centres around a team of extraordinary figures culled from great adventure literature who are called upon by Queen Victoria to stop a villain intent on turning the nations of the world against one another.

Live Forever (M): Selected, Melb. Rialto. 1 screen. Doco. Playing at the Melb Cinema Nova Carlton. D: John Dower. John Dower's, LIVE FOREVER is a brilliant and hilarious insight into 90's Brit Pop, opening on 14th February 2003 in London. It will then go on nationwide release 2 weeks later. We are going to be giving away tickets to the screenings and all sorts of competition prizes so sign up below if you want to get the latest info on 'Live Forever'. We'll let you know where you can see the movie and when the competition to win tickets is live. At the beginning of the Nineties something happened in Britain and it was great. The eighties had been crap. Crap politics and crap music. And then in 1990 there erupted a spirit of Euphoria, culminating a few years later in an explosion of creativity in British popular culture. In the mid-nineties, across the globe, music, art, fashion and film, if it was British, then it was cool. Liam and Noel Gallagher, Damon Albarn, Jarvis Cocker, Damien Hirst, Ozwald Boateng... its homegrown talent flourishing in all creative fields.

Matchstick Men (M): National. Roadshow (WB). 127 screens. 116 mins. Crime drama. Nicolas Cage, Sam Rockwell, Alison Lohman, Bruce McGill, Bruce Altman, Melora Walters. D: Ridley Scott (Gladiator). This is the story of a professional "con man" (Cage) struggling with an obsessive-compulsive disorder who meets the daughter (Lohman) he never knew he had, inadvertently putting his very-organized and artificially controlled life in jeopardy. Based on the novel, "Matchstick Men", by Eric Garcia.

Swimming Pool (MA): Selected, Syd/ Adel/ Melb/ Perth. Dendy Films. 20 screens. 102 mins. France. Charlotte Rampling, Ludivine Sagnier. D: François Ozon (Under the Sand). Prolific French director Ozon has joined up again with French screen legend Rampling for his new film Swimming Pool. Rampling plays Sarah, a rigid and conservative, yet successful English mystery writer. Sarah's personal life and new novel take a dramatic twist when she meets her publisher's sexy, free-spirited daughter Julie, played by Ludivine Sagnier (8 Femmes).

The Weather Underground (M): Selected, Syd. Gil Scrine. 92 mins. Valhalla Syd. 1 screen. A film by Sam Green and Bill Siegel Golden Gate Award, Best Documentary Feature - 2003 San Francisco Film Festival. In 1969, a radical splinter group broke off from SDS (Students for a Democratic Society), convinced that only militant action could end racism, the war in Vietnam and the inequalities they felt inherent in a capitalist society. The Weather Underground engaged in numerous bombings (and failed bombings) that landed them on the FBI's Most Wanted list. Today - in light of a new age of terrorism - former members as well as their critics look

back on the '70s.

Zona Zamfirova (PG): Selected, Syd. Studio 121. 95 mins. Comedy Drama. Serbia. aka Zamfira's Zona. C: Hoyts Cinema Paris, Fox Studios, Syd. Katarina Radivojevi, Vojin etkovi, Milena Dravi, Dragan Nikoli, Ružica Soki?, Radmila Živkovi?, Nikola ?uri?ko. D: Zdravko Sotra (Idemo dalje (1982)). This movie was made by book of one of the most popular Serbian writers, Stevan Sremac. It is about two young people who fall in love but their love is not possible because of many differences, first social and the a few family disputes. But in the end the love wins. Thing that makes this movie different is it's cultural presentation of Serbish culture and customs. Music is one of the most significant factors of this movie. Connection of the future and the past is thing that make the music so special. Although this movie is simple and very "light" it is one of the best movies made in these territories in post war period. It is one of rare movies that has non-war thematic. It is not ruined by typical national hate and disputes.

5 OCTOBER

Gods And Generals (M): Selected, Melbourne (October 16:- Sydney). Drama. Roadshow (WB). 1 screen. Playing at the Astor Cinema, Melb until October 26. 223 mins. Stephen Lang, Robert Duvall, Chris Conner, C Thomas Howell, Kevin Conway, Patrick Gorman, Brian Mallon, Matt Lindquist, Bo Brinkman, Royce D Applegate, Cooper Huckabee. D: Ron Maxwell. This epic film from writer-director Ron Maxwell chronicles the early events of the American Civil War. It's a prequel to his earlier GETTYSBURG, with some of the same cast, and is part of a planned trilogy. Stephen Lang plays Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, the famous (and deeply religious) Confederate general who, along with fellow General Robert E. Lee (Robert Duvall), must weigh the mighty consequences of his actions, as each battle costs the lives of thousands of men. Over on the Union side there's Jeff Daniels as Colonel Joshua Chamberlain, who, like Jackson and Lee, is fond of making long, poetic speeches to his troops.

9 OCTOBER

Calendar Girls (PG): National. Buena Vista. 100 mins. Comedy. Helen Mirren, Julie Walters. The story of a group of women belonging to the “Rylstone Women’s Institute” in North Yorkshire. This cancer charity has long sponsored a calendar. Their original calendars showed lovely scene’s of the Yorkshire dales, but in 1999, after one of their husbands became ill with leukemia, the women came up with a more commercial concept: discreet photo’s of these bare Women’s Institute lasses. Their calendar became a worldwide sensation, outselling even Britney Spears and Cindy Crawford. Based on a true story.

Finding Joy (PG): Selected. Finding Joy Productions. 3 screens. Raymond Terrace Cinema; Sale Cinema; Leongath Stadium Cinemas. Drama. Australia. D: Billie Dean. Joy Brown (Billie Dean) is a 40-something woman with little confidence, less self-esteem and a burning desire to realise her dream of being a singer/songwriter. But she can’t sing.When Joy takes in a stray dog, Raffi, her life immediately changes. Her best friend, the tarot card reading Tessa (Janet Watson Kruse), moves in, Joy changes her name to Luna Starr, and she meets Peter Wolfman (Andrew Einspruch).When Peter encourages her to perform with him at the local pizzeria’s folk music nights, Joy sings – sort of – hiding behind masks of wigs and silliness.Despite the singing, Peter and Joy’s relationship blossoms. But there are lots of hiccups along the way -- ex-wives, ex-husbands, frightening performances, and bucket loads of doubt. Set to the backdrop of the folk music scene in an arty country town, the film celebrates universal themes of friendship, low self-esteem, love relationships, and the joy of dogs.

Gettin' Square (M): National. Hoyts Distribution/ UIP. 102 mins. Australia. Comedy. David Wenham, Sam Worthington, Gary Sweet, Freya Stafford, Timothy Spall, Jonathan Biggins, Don Bridges, John Brumpton, Joe Bugner, Mitchell Butel, Richard Carter, David Field, Ugly Dave Gray, Gretel Killeen. D: John Teplitzky (Better Than Sex). A hard edged comedy drama about a group of small time crooks trying to go straight, but finding themselves pitted against the high-tech methods of the newly formed Crimes Investigation Commission. From the grotty back streets of Brisbane's Fortitude Valley to the glitz of the Gold Coast, they call on all their street-smarts and the rat-cunning style of Ocean's Eleven.

Le Cercle Rouge (M): Selected, Syd/ Melb. 2 screens. Chauvel Paddington/ Lumiere Melb. Potential. 140 mins. Thriller. France. Alain Delon (Corey), Andre Bourvil (Mattei), Gian Maria Volonte (Vogel), Yves Montaud (Jansen), Andre Ekyan (Rico), Francois Perier (Santi)D: Jean-Pierre Melville (Second Breath). Corey (Delon) is an aristocratic thief who is released from prison the same day a murderer (Volonte) has escaped the custody of a police superintendent. The thief ends up robbing his mob boss (Ekyan) and enlisting the help of the murderer and an ex-police sharpshooter (Montand) for a jewel heist. Meanwhile, the mob boss persuades a nightclub owner and a pimp (Perier) to help him trap the thieves, while the police officer is also looking to apprehend the convict.

Perfect Strangers (M): Selected. Fox. 20 screens. 98 mins. Thriller. New Zealand. Joel Tobeck, Rachael Blake, Sam Neill. D: Gaylene Preston (debut). NSW 6, VIC 5, ACT 1, QLD 3, SA 2, WA 3. A woman goes home with a good-looking stranger only to discover she's been kidnapped. Gaylene Preston's romantic thriller has completed its eight-week shoot on the West Coast of the South Island. Sam Neill and Rachael Blake play a pair of unconventional lovers in this darkly funny, deadly serious story. For the first time Gaylene Preston directs her own original screenplay. Perfect Strangers was developed with assistance from the New Zealand Film Commission. This project is the second film to be supported by The New Zealand Film Production Fund. The Fund was established to support the production of New Zealand films by established film makers.

16 OCTOBER

Alex & Emma (M): National. Roadshow. 95 mins. Drama. Kate Hudson, Luke Wilson. D: Rob Reiner. "Adam Shipley had given up on love. Art was to be his mistress. And so it was that in the summer of 1924, he took a sabbatical from Andover to write, if not the Great American Novel, certainly something that would make the world sit up and take notice." Alex Sheldon (LUKE WILSON) is an author whose writer's block is the least of his problems - he also happens to be flat broke and owes Cuban loan sharks $100,000. After hanging him out the window and destroying his laptop computer, the thugs give Alex an ultimatum: pay up in 30 days or wind up dead. The only way Alex is going to get that kind of money is by finishing his novel, which is currently less than one sentence long. He's got some idea of what he wants the story to be; as he puts it, "It's about the powerlessness of being in love, how it devours the insides of a person like a deadly virus. It's a comedy." He just can't seem to get it out onto paper.

Broken Wings (M): Selected. Rialto. 84 mins. Drama. Israel. D: Nir Bergman. This is a realistic drama that takes place in a middle-class Israeli neighborhood and involves the Ulman family Dafna and her four children. The father has recently died under trivial circumstances and his death has left the family hurting, and in economic straits. It is the beginning of September, the first day of school. In most families this occasion generates excitement; for the Ullmans it produces one crisis after the other. As the day starts their stories develop and intertwine. The five-year-old girl suffers from feelings of abandonment, the ten-year-old boy tries to break the world record in the free jump (into an empty swimming pool), the teen-age boy has quit school and works handing out flyers disguised as a mouse. Two women try to function as mothers. One of them, however, is herself only 17 years old.

Deeper Than Blue (M): Selected. Sandra Sciberras.75 mins. Australia. Comedy. Colin Friels, Genevieve Picot, Bruce Myles, Robert Taylor, Gabriel Strangio. D: Sandra Sciberras. Deeper Than Blue is a dramatic comedy about hope, recovery and change. An ensemble of funny, yet sad characters come to life in a bitterly honest way: from the romance of the leads, Rose and Mark, to the last chance of an old demented man, George, or to Max, the innocent in all of us. These people weave in and out of each other's lives as if fate is looking from above and somehow coordinating it all.

Head Of State (M): National. UIP (Uni). 95 mins. Comedy. Chris Rock, Bernie Mac, Robin Givens, Dylan Baker, Tamala Jones, Lynn Whitfield, Tracy Morgan. D: Chris Rock (debut). Rock stars as Mays Gilliam, a Washington D.C. neighborhood Alderman, who's about to be red-lined out of his job. But after the untimely death of the party frontrunner, Gilliam is plucked from obscurity and thrust into the limelight as his party's nominee -- for President of the United States. Bernie Mac stars as Gilliam's older brother Mitch, who becomes his running mate, Robin Givens is the ex-girlfriend who dumped Gilliam.

Kill Bill - Volume One (TBA): National. Buena Vista. 95 mins. Action. Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Michael Madsen, Jason Biggs, Sonny Chiba, Vivica A. Fox, Daryl Hannah, Lucy Liu, LaTanya Richardson, Michael Jai White, Woo-ping Yuen, Samuel L. Jackson (cameo). D: Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs). Much like “Pulp Fiction”, “Kill Bill” will employ a unique chronology and told in chapter format making the narrative flow seem like a book come to life on screen.Thurman headlines the cast, playing a character known simply as The Bride, who had once been part of a group of world-class female assassins until her employer and husband, Bill (David Carradine), and others in the group turn against her and have her shot. Five years later, she awakens from her coma. She heads off around the world seeking revenge with plans to kill each person involved, saving Bill for the grand finale. (Which will be in Vol 2 in Feb 2004, natch).

A Tale Of A Naughty Girl (M): Selected, Syd. Potential. 90 mins. Drama. India. In Hindi/Bengali with subtitles. Samata Das, Rituparna Sengupta. D: Buddhadev Dasgupta (Red Door). Based on a short story by Bengali writer Prafulla Roy, this is the story of a girl, Lati, whose mother Rajani is a prostitute living and working in a brothel in rural India. Rajani plans to offer her daughter to an older man, a rich husband and protector to her daughter. Lati, however, wants to return to school and finish her studies. Unwilling to sell her body, she runs away to Calcutta, where her discovery of a new world runs parallel to other stories of emancipation, such as that of three young prostitutes, of an aged couple going nowhere and mankind’s first steps on the moon. A sweet and gently ironic story about the daughter of the village prostitute who desperately seeks a better life than the one endured by her mother. The film beautifully captures traditional Bengali life circa 1969 while unfolding the powerful confrontation between the restrictions of tradition and the promise of a new life.

23 OCTOBER

The Comedian (M): Selected, Syd/ Melb. Doco. 80 mins. An inside view of the post-Seinfeld life of Jerry Seinfeld. Neither a concert film, nor a biographical documentary, the film examines the birth of a comedy act and offers a window into the details of backstage life and the challenge of making people laugh. Seinfeld is revealed in ways no one has seen before: struggling with difficult material; confronting self-doubt; accepting the help of friends and colleagues, simply as another comedian trying to put together an act. On stage, Seinfeld talks about marriage, recalls his time as the country’s most eligible bachelor and offers new perspectives on the observations of the every day. But it is off-stage--where he shares the struggle with other comics including Colin Quinn, Chris Rock, Gary Shandling and Jay Leno--that a more personal, alternately funny and surprising, portrait emerges.

The Finished People (TBA): Selected, Syd. Dendy Cinema. 80 mins. Australia. 1 screen:- Dendy Newtown. D: Khoa Do. The Finished People is the first feature film set in Sydney's infamous Cabramatta. Made from local community donations and a shoestring budget, the film was cast and co-scripted with 'at risk' youths from the Cabramatta youth welfare and charity organisation, Open Family Australia. Fiction is heavily merged with reality in this powerfully honest film which takes you behind the media stereotypes of Sydney's street kids and into their world of daily struggles, their troubled past and their dreams for the future. Three stories of family, love and relationships intertwine amidst crime, drugs and homelessness. Recently selected to screen at the prestigious Montreal World Film Festival 2003, The Finished People is a remarkable film that everyone should see.

Freddy Vs Jason (MA): National. Roadshow. 97 mins. Horror. Robert Englund, Ken Kirzinger, Jason Ritter, Monica Keena, Jason Bateman, Brian Thompson, Kelly Rowland, Odessa Munroe, Danielle Harris, James Callahan, Lauren Lee Smith, Gary Chalk, Brendan Fletcher, Chris Gauthier, Jesse Hutch, Katherine Isabelle, Jake Kaese, Lochlyn Munro, Chris Marquette, Joshua Mihal, Paula Shaw, Brian Thompson, Kenneth Tsang. D: Ronny Yu. It has been almost 10 years since one of the scariest horror characters of all time, Freddy Krueger (Englund), invaded the dreams of a generation to exact his deadly form of revenge and murder. Now, Freddy has entered into the dreams of another master of evil - the unstoppable Jason Voorhees -- plunging cinema's two greatest titans of terror into a battle to end all battles.

Intolerable Cruelty (M): National. UIP (Uni). 100 mins. Comedy. George Clooney, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Geoffrey Rush, Billy Bob Thornton, Paul Adelstein, Kristin Datillo, Julia Duffy, Edward Herrmann, Stacey Travis. D: Joel Cohen (Barton Fink). The story of a fabulously successful Los Angeles divorce attorney, Miles Massey (Clooney). Sated on success, he is seeking new challenges when he meets the much-divorced Marylin Rexroth (Zeta-Jones), a hard-headed woman pursuing financial independence through serial matrimony. What follows is the mother of all battles of the sexes as the two square off, personally and professionally.

Mambo Italiano (M): Selected. Icon. Comedy. 89 mins. Luke Kirby, Ginette Reno, Paul Sorvino, Mary Walsh, Sophie Lorain.D: Émlie Gaudreault. Angelo is a travel agent trying to become a television writer in his late twenties. Nino is a well-respected law enforcement officer, also in his thirties. Maria and Gino, Angelo's parents, emigrated in the 1950s and married after their arrival in "the new world", a world they never quite got used to. Angelo's slightly older sister, Anna, is an unmarried schoolteacher still living at home who has a weakness for pills and a penchant for the dramatic. Nino's mother Lina, a widow, is a demanding and controlling woman who would give Mussolini a run for his money. Maria and Gino's world is shattered when their son decides to get a place of his own. "What is so wrong with living with your parents until you get married?" they ask. They are relieved however when Angelo's childhood buddy Nino decides to move in with their son. After all Nino is an old friend of the family and he's a cop. Their relief is short lived as they find out that Nino and Angelo are more than just roomates -- they're (gasp) lovers!

Prisoner Of Paradise (G): Selected. Imagine Entertainment. 100 mins. Doco. Kurt Gerron (archive footage), Ian Holm (narrator). D: Malcolm Clarke (Chasing Holden), Stuart Sender (debut). This documentary depicts the true story of actor, cabaret star and filmmaker Kurt Gerron (1897-1944), a German Jew, who was sent to a concentration camp during World War II where he was forced by Hitler's henchmen to make a 23-minute short film of Nazi propaganda called "The Fuhrer Gives a City to the Jews". For this short, the Nazis constructed a completely fake "city" at the Theresienstadt camp, with the intent of "proving" to the world that Hitler was so kind as to "give a city" to the Jews that had been exported out of Germany. After the film was completed, Gerron and most of the cast were shipped off to Auschwitz, where many died. Over 33,000 Jews died at the Theresienstadt concentration camp.

Raising Victor Vargas (M): Selected. Hopscotch. Drama. France/ USA. 88 mins. Victor Rasuk, Judy Marte, Melonie Diaz, Altagracia Guzman, Silvestre Rasuk, Krystal Rodriguez, Kevin Rivera, Wilfree Vasquez, Donna Maldonado. D: Peter Sollett (Five Feet High And Rising). Set in the Latino community of New York City’s Lower East Side, Raising Victor Vargas captures the melting orange light of New York in the summer and evokes a sense of almost instant nostalgia for the innocence of youth. Even though teenage Victor lives at home with his younger brother, sister and grandmother, he still imagines himself as the greatest ladies man the neighborhood has ever seen. But when word gets out that he’s sleeping with an overweight, unpopular girl he finds himself in danger of becoming the laughing stock of the neighborhood. Victor sets his sights on ‘Juicy Judy Ramirez’ the most beautiful girl in town in an effort to save his reputation.

30 OCTOBER

Holes (PG): National. Buena Vista. 118 mins. Comedy. Sigourney Weaver, Jon Voight, Patricia Arquette, Shia LaBeouf, Tim Blake Nelson, Khleo Thomas, Jacob Merten Smith, Byron Cotton, Brenden Jefferson, Miiguel Castro, Siobhan Fallon, Max Kasch, Henry Winkler, Nathan Davis, Scott Plank, Dule Hill. D: Andrew Davis (Under Siege). Based on the highly popular, award-winning novel by Louis Sachar, “Holes” is a funny and poignant coming-of-age adventure. It tells the story of Stanley Yelnats (LaBeouf) – an unusual young hero, dogged by bad luck stemming from an ancient curse. Perpetually in the wrong place at the wrong time, Stanley is unfairly sentenced to months of detention at Camp Green Lake for a crime he didn’t commit. There, he and his campmates – Squid, Armpit, ZigZag, Magnet, X-Ray, and Zero – are forced by the menacing warden (Weaver) and her right-hand men Mr. Sir (Voight) and Mr. Pendanski (Blake Nelson) to dig holes in order to build character.

Jet Lag (M): Selected. Comedy. France/ UK. Buena Vista. 84 mins. France- subtitled. Juliette Binoche, Jean Reno, Sergi Lopez. D: Daniele Thompson (Queen Margot). A contemporary romantic comedy about an encounter at the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris between a world-weary frozen-food businessman (Reno) and a troubled beautician (Binoche). Jet Lag is a delightful new comedy about falling in love, starring Juliette Binoche (Chocolat) and Jean Reno (The Professional). Rose is running away from a bad relationship. Felix is running after a woman he thinks he loves. She has a cheap ticket to Mexico City. He has a first-class ticket on a flight from New York to Munich. She is outgoing. He is discreet, taciturn and totally withdrawn. Felix and Rose are so unready to meet each other. But one night at a Paris airport they do... AKA Décalage horaire.

Laurel Canyon (MA): Selected. Palace. Drama. 103 mins. Frances McDormand, Christian Bale, Kate Beckinsale, Alessandro Nivola, Natascha McElhone, Marcus Ashley, Lou Barlow, Lauri Johnson. D: Lisa Cholodenko (High Art). Set in Los Angeles, the film centers on a strait-laced young man (Bale) who, after completing medical school back East, decides to return to his now-vacant childhood home with his bride-to-be (Beckinsale) in tow. Much to his chagrin, he finds his pot-smoking, record-producing mother (McDormand) still living in the house. Initially, he feels contempt for her lifestyle, but when his priggish fiancée is seduced by the rock 'n' roll lifestyle, mother and son attempt reconciliation.

The Medallion (M): National. Columbia. 88 mins. Action. Jackie Chan, Claire Forlani, Lee Evans, Christy Cheung, John Rhys- Davies. D: Gordan Chan. This is a police thriller set in the world of immigrant smuggling, described as a cross between Lethal Weapon and Ghost. After getting killed on the job, a Chinese immigration officer (Chan) soon learns that he's still alive, but now has amazing supernatural abilities. Even as he's still learning how to use them, he's challenged to, you know, fight the bad guys. Eddie Yang (Jackie Chan) is an indomitable Hong Kong cop who, after a near-fatal accident involving a mysterious medallion, is suddenly transformed into a Highbinder - an immortal warrior with superhuman powers. Eddie enlists the help of fellow agent Nicole (Claire Forlani) to determine the secret of the medallion and face down the evil Highbinders who so desperately want it back.

Runaway Jury (TBA): National. Fox. Drama. John Cusack, Rachel Weisz, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, Jeremy Piven, Melora Walters, Bruce McGill, Nick Searcy. D: Gary Fledler (Don't Say A Word). This is Gene Hackman's and Dustin Hoffman's first film together. At the Pasadena Playhouse they were classmates and were both voted "Least Likely to Succeed". A member of the jury for an explosive trail against a gun manufacturer joins forces with a beautiful woman to manipulate the panel. With millions of dollars at stake in the precedent-setting lawsuit, the mysterious jurist finds himself battling a high-priced and ruthless jury "consultant" who will stop at nothing to secure a verdict.

Ten (TBA): Selected, Melb. Potential. Drama. Iran. Mania Akbari, Amin Maher, Roya Arabshahi, Katayoun Taleidzadeh, Mandana Sharbaf. D: Abbas Kiaristami (Taste Of Cherry). In TEN, celebrated Iranian writer-director Abbas Kiarostami (Taste of Cherry, Through the Olive Trees) once again casts his masterful cinematic gaze upon the modern sociopolitical landscape of his homeland -- this time as seen through the eyes of one woman as she drives through the streets of Tehran over a period of several days. Her journey is comprised of ten conversations with various female passengers -- including her sister, a hitchhiking prostitute and a jilted bride -- as well as her imperious young son. As Kiarostami's "dashboard cam" eavesdrops on these lively, yet heart-wrenching road trips, a complex portrait of distaff Iran comes sharply into focus.

2 OCTOBER
	The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen (M): National. Fox. 209 screens. 110 mins. Sci-fi. Sean Connery, Shane West, Stuart Townsend, Jason Isaacs, Jason Flemyng, Richard Roxburgh, Naseeruddin Shah, Tony Curran, Max Ryan, Tom Goodman-Hill, David Hemmings, Peta Wilson. D: Stephen Norrington (Blade). Studio: Fox. Described as a ‘period X-Men”, Sean Connery toplines The League of Extraordinary Men, based on the acclaimed graphic novel by Alan Moore. Set in Victorian England – the film centres around a team of extraordinary figures culled from great adventure literature who are called upon by Queen Victoria to stop a villain intent on turning the nations of the world against one another.
	Live Forever (M): Selected, Melb. Rialto. 1 screen. Doco. Playing at the Melb Cinema Nova Carlton. D: John Dower. John Dower's, LIVE FOREVER is a brilliant and hilarious insight into 90's Brit Pop, opening on 14th February 2003 in London. It will then go on nationwide release 2 weeks later. We are going to be giving away tickets to the screenings and all sorts of competition prizes so sign up below if you want to get the latest info on 'Live Forever'. We'll let you know where you can see the movie and when the competition to win tickets is live. At the beginning of the Nineties something happened in Britain and it was great. The eighties had been crap. Crap politics and crap music. And then in 1990 there erupted a spirit of Euphoria, culminating a few years later in an explosion of creativity in British popular culture. In the mid-nineties, across the globe, music, art, fashion and film, if it was British, then it was cool. Liam and Noel Gallagher, Damon Albarn, Jarvis Cocker, Damien Hirst, Ozwald Boateng... its homegrown talent flourishing in all creative fields.
	Matchstick Men (M): National. Roadshow (WB). 127 screens. 116 mins. Crime drama. Nicolas Cage, Sam Rockwell, Alison Lohman, Bruce McGill, Bruce Altman, Melora Walters. D: Ridley Scott (Gladiator). This is the story of a professional "con man" (Cage) struggling with an obsessive-compulsive disorder who meets the daughter (Lohman) he never knew he had, inadvertently putting his very-organized and artificially controlled life in jeopardy. Based on the novel, "Matchstick Men", by Eric Garcia.
	Swimming Pool (MA): Selected, Syd/ Adel/ Melb/ Perth. Dendy Films. 20 screens. 102 mins. France. Charlotte Rampling, Ludivine Sagnier. D: François Ozon (Under the Sand). Prolific French director Ozon has joined up again with French screen legend Rampling for his new film Swimming Pool. Rampling plays Sarah, a rigid and conservative, yet successful English mystery writer. Sarah's personal life and new novel take a dramatic twist when she meets her publisher's sexy, free-spirited daughter Julie, played by Ludivine Sagnier (8 Femmes).
	The Weather Underground (M): Selected, Syd. Gil Scrine. 92 mins. Valhalla Syd. 1 screen. A film by Sam Green and Bill Siegel Golden Gate Award, Best Documentary Feature - 2003 San Francisco Film Festival. In 1969, a radical splinter group broke off from SDS (Students for a Democratic Society), convinced that only militant action could end racism, the war in Vietnam and the inequalities they felt inherent in a capitalist society. The Weather Underground engaged in numerous bombings (and failed bombings) that landed them on the FBI's Most Wanted list. Today - in light of a new age of terrorism - former members as well as their critics look back on the '70s.
	Zona Zamfirova (PG): Selected, Syd. Studio 121. 95 mins. Comedy Drama. Serbia. aka Zamfira's Zona. C: Hoyts Cinema Paris, Fox Studios, Syd. Katarina Radivojevi, Vojin etkovi, Milena Dravi, Dragan Nikoli, Ružica Soki?, Radmila Živkovi?, Nikola ?uri?ko. D: Zdravko Sotra (Idemo dalje (1982)). This movie was made by book of one of the most popular Serbian writers, Stevan Sremac. It is about two young people who fall in love but their love is not possible because of many differences, first social and the a few family disputes. But in the end the love wins. Thing that makes this movie different is it's cultural presentation of Serbish culture and customs. Music is one of the most significant factors of this movie. Connection of the future and the past is thing that make the music so special. Although this movie is simple and very "light" it is one of the best movies made in these territories in post war period. It is one of rare movies that has non-war thematic. It is not ruined by typical national hate and disputes.

9 OCTOBER
	Calendar Girls (PG): National. Buena Vista. 100 mins. Comedy. Helen Mirren, Julie Walters. The story of a group of women belonging to the “Rylstone Women’s Institute” in North Yorkshire. This cancer charity has long sponsored a calendar. Their original calendars showed lovely scene’s of the Yorkshire dales, but in 1999, after one of their husbands became ill with leukemia, the women came up with a more commercial concept: discreet photo’s of these bare Women’s Institute lasses. Their calendar became a worldwide sensation, outselling even Britney Spears and Cindy Crawford. Based on a true story.
	Finding Joy (PG): Selected. Finding Joy Productions. 3 screens. Raymond Terrace Cinema; Sale Cinema; Leongath Stadium Cinemas. Drama. Australia. D: Billie Dean. Joy Brown (Billie Dean) is a 40-something woman with little confidence, less self-esteem and a burning desire to realise her dream of being a singer/songwriter. But she can’t sing.When Joy takes in a stray dog, Raffi, her life immediately changes. Her best friend, the tarot card reading Tessa (Janet Watson Kruse), moves in, Joy changes her name to Luna Starr, and she meets Peter Wolfman (Andrew Einspruch).When Peter encourages her to perform with him at the local pizzeria’s folk music nights, Joy sings – sort of – hiding behind masks of wigs and silliness.Despite the singing, Peter and Joy’s relationship blossoms. But there are lots of hiccups along the way -- ex-wives, ex-husbands, frightening performances, and bucket loads of doubt. Set to the backdrop of the folk music scene in an arty country town, the film celebrates universal themes of friendship, low self-esteem, love relationships, and the joy of dogs.
	Gettin' Square (M): National. Hoyts Distribution/ UIP. 102 mins. Australia. Comedy. David Wenham, Sam Worthington, Gary Sweet, Freya Stafford, Timothy Spall, Jonathan Biggins, Don Bridges, John Brumpton, Joe Bugner, Mitchell Butel, Richard Carter, David Field, Ugly Dave Gray, Gretel Killeen. D: John Teplitzky (Better Than Sex). A hard edged comedy drama about a group of small time crooks trying to go straight, but finding themselves pitted against the high-tech methods of the newly formed Crimes Investigation Commission. From the grotty back streets of Brisbane's Fortitude Valley to the glitz of the Gold Coast, they call on all their street-smarts and the rat-cunning style of Ocean's Eleven.
	Le Cercle Rouge (M): Selected, Syd/ Melb. 2 screens. Chauvel Paddington/ Lumiere Melb. Potential. 140 mins. Thriller. France. Alain Delon (Corey), Andre Bourvil (Mattei), Gian Maria Volonte (Vogel), Yves Montaud (Jansen), Andre Ekyan (Rico), Francois Perier (Santi)D: Jean-Pierre Melville (Second Breath). Corey (Delon) is an aristocratic thief who is released from prison the same day a murderer (Volonte) has escaped the custody of a police superintendent. The thief ends up robbing his mob boss (Ekyan) and enlisting the help of the murderer and an ex-police sharpshooter (Montand) for a jewel heist. Meanwhile, the mob boss persuades a nightclub owner and a pimp (Perier) to help him trap the thieves, while the police officer is also looking to apprehend the convict.
	Perfect Strangers (M): Selected. Fox. 20 screens. 98 mins. Thriller. New Zealand. Joel Tobeck, Rachael Blake, Sam Neill. D: Gaylene Preston (debut). NSW 6, VIC 5, ACT 1, QLD 3, SA 2, WA 3. A woman goes home with a good-looking stranger only to discover she's been kidnapped. Gaylene Preston's romantic thriller has completed its eight-week shoot on the West Coast of the South Island. Sam Neill and Rachael Blake play a pair of unconventional lovers in this darkly funny, deadly serious story. For the first time Gaylene Preston directs her own original screenplay. Perfect Strangers was developed with assistance from the New Zealand Film Commission. This project is the second film to be supported by The New Zealand Film Production Fund. The Fund was established to support the production of New Zealand films by established film makers.

16 OCTOBER
	Alex & Emma (M): National. Roadshow. 95 mins. Drama. Kate Hudson, Luke Wilson. D: Rob Reiner. "Adam Shipley had given up on love. Art was to be his mistress. And so it was that in the summer of 1924, he took a sabbatical from Andover to write, if not the Great American Novel, certainly something that would make the world sit up and take notice." Alex Sheldon (LUKE WILSON) is an author whose writer's block is the least of his problems - he also happens to be flat broke and owes Cuban loan sharks $100,000. After hanging him out the window and destroying his laptop computer, the thugs give Alex an ultimatum: pay up in 30 days or wind up dead. The only way Alex is going to get that kind of money is by finishing his novel, which is currently less than one sentence long. He's got some idea of what he wants the story to be; as he puts it, "It's about the powerlessness of being in love, how it devours the insides of a person like a deadly virus. It's a comedy." He just can't seem to get it out onto paper.
	Broken Wings (M): Selected. Rialto. 84 mins. Drama. Israel. D: Nir Bergman. This is a realistic drama that takes place in a middle-class Israeli neighborhood and involves the Ulman family Dafna and her four children. The father has recently died under trivial circumstances and his death has left the family hurting, and in economic straits. It is the beginning of September, the first day of school. In most families this occasion generates excitement; for the Ullmans it produces one crisis after the other. As the day starts their stories develop and intertwine. The five-year-old girl suffers from feelings of abandonment, the ten-year-old boy tries to break the world record in the free jump (into an empty swimming pool), the teen-age boy has quit school and works handing out flyers disguised as a mouse. Two women try to function as mothers. One of them, however, is herself only 17 years old.
	Deeper Than Blue (M): Selected. Sandra Sciberras.75 mins. Australia. Comedy. Colin Friels, Genevieve Picot, Bruce Myles, Robert Taylor, Gabriel Strangio. D: Sandra Sciberras. Deeper Than Blue is a dramatic comedy about hope, recovery and change. An ensemble of funny, yet sad characters come to life in a bitterly honest way: from the romance of the leads, Rose and Mark, to the last chance of an old demented man, George, or to Max, the innocent in all of us. These people weave in and out of each other's lives as if fate is looking from above and somehow coordinating it all.
	Head Of State (M): National. UIP (Uni). 95 mins. Comedy. Chris Rock, Bernie Mac, Robin Givens, Dylan Baker, Tamala Jones, Lynn Whitfield, Tracy Morgan. D: Chris Rock (debut). Rock stars as Mays Gilliam, a Washington D.C. neighborhood Alderman, who's about to be red-lined out of his job. But after the untimely death of the party frontrunner, Gilliam is plucked from obscurity and thrust into the limelight as his party's nominee -- for President of the United States. Bernie Mac stars as Gilliam's older brother Mitch, who becomes his running mate, Robin Givens is the ex-girlfriend who dumped Gilliam.
	Kill Bill - Volume One (TBA): National. Buena Vista. 95 mins. Action. Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Michael Madsen, Jason Biggs, Sonny Chiba, Vivica A. Fox, Daryl Hannah, Lucy Liu, LaTanya Richardson, Michael Jai White, Woo-ping Yuen, Samuel L. Jackson (cameo). D: Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs). Much like “Pulp Fiction”, “Kill Bill” will employ a unique chronology and told in chapter format making the narrative flow seem like a book come to life on screen.Thurman headlines the cast, playing a character known simply as The Bride, who had once been part of a group of world-class female assassins until her employer and husband, Bill (David Carradine), and others in the group turn against her and have her shot. Five years later, she awakens from her coma. She heads off around the world seeking revenge with plans to kill each person involved, saving Bill for the grand finale. (Which will be in Vol 2 in Feb 2004, natch).
	A Tale Of A Naughty Girl (M): Selected, Syd. Potential. 90 mins. Drama. India. In Hindi/Bengali with subtitles. Samata Das, Rituparna Sengupta. D: Buddhadev Dasgupta (Red Door). Based on a short story by Bengali writer Prafulla Roy, this is the story of a girl, Lati, whose mother Rajani is a prostitute living and working in a brothel in rural India. Rajani plans to offer her daughter to an older man, a rich husband and protector to her daughter. Lati, however, wants to return to school and finish her studies. Unwilling to sell her body, she runs away to Calcutta, where her discovery of a new world runs parallel to other stories of emancipation, such as that of three young prostitutes, of an aged couple going nowhere and mankind’s first steps on the moon. A sweet and gently ironic story about the daughter of the village prostitute who desperately seeks a better life than the one endured by her mother. The film beautifully captures traditional Bengali life circa 1969 while unfolding the powerful confrontation between the restrictions of tradition and the promise of a new life.

23 OCTOBER
	The Comedian (M): Selected, Syd/ Melb. Doco. 80 mins. An inside view of the post-Seinfeld life of Jerry Seinfeld. Neither a concert film, nor a biographical documentary, the film examines the birth of a comedy act and offers a window into the details of backstage life and the challenge of making people laugh. Seinfeld is revealed in ways no one has seen before: struggling with difficult material; confronting self-doubt; accepting the help of friends and colleagues, simply as another comedian trying to put together an act. On stage, Seinfeld talks about marriage, recalls his time as the country’s most eligible bachelor and offers new perspectives on the observations of the every day. But it is off-stage--where he shares the struggle with other comics including Colin Quinn, Chris Rock, Gary Shandling and Jay Leno--that a more personal, alternately funny and surprising, portrait emerges.
	The Finished People (TBA): Selected, Syd. Dendy Cinema. 80 mins. Australia. 1 screen:- Dendy Newtown. D: Khoa Do. The Finished People is the first feature film set in Sydney's infamous Cabramatta. Made from local community donations and a shoestring budget, the film was cast and co-scripted with 'at risk' youths from the Cabramatta youth welfare and charity organisation, Open Family Australia. Fiction is heavily merged with reality in this powerfully honest film which takes you behind the media stereotypes of Sydney's street kids and into their world of daily struggles, their troubled past and their dreams for the future. Three stories of family, love and relationships intertwine amidst crime, drugs and homelessness. Recently selected to screen at the prestigious Montreal World Film Festival 2003, The Finished People is a remarkable film that everyone should see.
	Freddy Vs Jason (MA): National. Roadshow. 97 mins. Horror. Robert Englund, Ken Kirzinger, Jason Ritter, Monica Keena, Jason Bateman, Brian Thompson, Kelly Rowland, Odessa Munroe, Danielle Harris, James Callahan, Lauren Lee Smith, Gary Chalk, Brendan Fletcher, Chris Gauthier, Jesse Hutch, Katherine Isabelle, Jake Kaese, Lochlyn Munro, Chris Marquette, Joshua Mihal, Paula Shaw, Brian Thompson, Kenneth Tsang. D: Ronny Yu. It has been almost 10 years since one of the scariest horror characters of all time, Freddy Krueger (Englund), invaded the dreams of a generation to exact his deadly form of revenge and murder. Now, Freddy has entered into the dreams of another master of evil - the unstoppable Jason Voorhees -- plunging cinema's two greatest titans of terror into a battle to end all battles.
	Intolerable Cruelty (M): National. UIP (Uni). 100 mins. Comedy. George Clooney, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Geoffrey Rush, Billy Bob Thornton, Paul Adelstein, Kristin Datillo, Julia Duffy, Edward Herrmann, Stacey Travis. D: Joel Cohen (Barton Fink). The story of a fabulously successful Los Angeles divorce attorney, Miles Massey (Clooney). Sated on success, he is seeking new challenges when he meets the much-divorced Marylin Rexroth (Zeta-Jones), a hard-headed woman pursuing financial independence through serial matrimony. What follows is the mother of all battles of the sexes as the two square off, personally and professionally.
	Mambo Italiano (M): Selected. Icon. Comedy. 89 mins. Luke Kirby, Ginette Reno, Paul Sorvino, Mary Walsh, Sophie Lorain.D: Émlie Gaudreault. Angelo is a travel agent trying to become a television writer in his late twenties. Nino is a well-respected law enforcement officer, also in his thirties. Maria and Gino, Angelo's parents, emigrated in the 1950s and married after their arrival in "the new world", a world they never quite got used to. Angelo's slightly older sister, Anna, is an unmarried schoolteacher still living at home who has a weakness for pills and a penchant for the dramatic. Nino's mother Lina, a widow, is a demanding and controlling woman who would give Mussolini a run for his money. Maria and Gino's world is shattered when their son decides to get a place of his own. "What is so wrong with living with your parents until you get married?" they ask. They are relieved however when Angelo's childhood buddy Nino decides to move in with their son. After all Nino is an old friend of the family and he's a cop. Their relief is short lived as they find out that Nino and Angelo are more than just roomates -- they're (gasp) lovers!
	Prisoner Of Paradise (G): Selected. Imagine Entertainment. 100 mins. Doco. Kurt Gerron (archive footage), Ian Holm (narrator). D: Malcolm Clarke (Chasing Holden), Stuart Sender (debut). This documentary depicts the true story of actor, cabaret star and filmmaker Kurt Gerron (1897-1944), a German Jew, who was sent to a concentration camp during World War II where he was forced by Hitler's henchmen to make a 23-minute short film of Nazi propaganda called "The Fuhrer Gives a City to the Jews". For this short, the Nazis constructed a completely fake "city" at the Theresienstadt camp, with the intent of "proving" to the world that Hitler was so kind as to "give a city" to the Jews that had been exported out of Germany. After the film was completed, Gerron and most of the cast were shipped off to Auschwitz, where many died. Over 33,000 Jews died at the Theresienstadt concentration camp.
	Raising Victor Vargas (M): Selected. Hopscotch. Drama. France/ USA. 88 mins. Victor Rasuk, Judy Marte, Melonie Diaz, Altagracia Guzman, Silvestre Rasuk, Krystal Rodriguez, Kevin Rivera, Wilfree Vasquez, Donna Maldonado. D: Peter Sollett (Five Feet High And Rising). Set in the Latino community of New York City’s Lower East Side, Raising Victor Vargas captures the melting orange light of New York in the summer and evokes a sense of almost instant nostalgia for the innocence of youth. Even though teenage Victor lives at home with his younger brother, sister and grandmother, he still imagines himself as the greatest ladies man the neighborhood has ever seen. But when word gets out that he’s sleeping with an overweight, unpopular girl he finds himself in danger of becoming the laughing stock of the neighborhood. Victor sets his sights on ‘Juicy Judy Ramirez’ the most beautiful girl in town in an effort to save his reputation.

30 OCTOBER
	Holes (PG): National. Buena Vista. 118 mins. Comedy. Sigourney Weaver, Jon Voight, Patricia Arquette, Shia LaBeouf, Tim Blake Nelson, Khleo Thomas, Jacob Merten Smith, Byron Cotton, Brenden Jefferson, Miiguel Castro, Siobhan Fallon, Max Kasch, Henry Winkler, Nathan Davis, Scott Plank, Dule Hill. D: Andrew Davis (Under Siege). Based on the highly popular, award-winning novel by Louis Sachar, “Holes” is a funny and poignant coming-of-age adventure. It tells the story of Stanley Yelnats (LaBeouf) – an unusual young hero, dogged by bad luck stemming from an ancient curse. Perpetually in the wrong place at the wrong time, Stanley is unfairly sentenced to months of detention at Camp Green Lake for a crime he didn’t commit. There, he and his campmates – Squid, Armpit, ZigZag, Magnet, X-Ray, and Zero – are forced by the menacing warden (Weaver) and her right-hand men Mr. Sir (Voight) and Mr. Pendanski (Blake Nelson) to dig holes in order to build character.
	Jet Lag (M): Selected. Comedy. France/ UK. Buena Vista. 84 mins. France- subtitled. Juliette Binoche, Jean Reno, Sergi Lopez. D: Daniele Thompson (Queen Margot). A contemporary romantic comedy about an encounter at the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris between a world-weary frozen-food businessman (Reno) and a troubled beautician (Binoche). Jet Lag is a delightful new comedy about falling in love, starring Juliette Binoche (Chocolat) and Jean Reno (The Professional). Rose is running away from a bad relationship. Felix is running after a woman he thinks he loves. She has a cheap ticket to Mexico City. He has a first-class ticket on a flight from New York to Munich. She is outgoing. He is discreet, taciturn and totally withdrawn. Felix and Rose are so unready to meet each other. But one night at a Paris airport they do... AKA Décalage horaire.
	Laurel Canyon (MA): Selected. Palace. Drama. 103 mins. Frances McDormand, Christian Bale, Kate Beckinsale, Alessandro Nivola, Natascha McElhone, Marcus Ashley, Lou Barlow, Lauri Johnson. D: Lisa Cholodenko (High Art). Set in Los Angeles, the film centers on a strait-laced young man (Bale) who, after completing medical school back East, decides to return to his now-vacant childhood home with his bride-to-be (Beckinsale) in tow. Much to his chagrin, he finds his pot-smoking, record-producing mother (McDormand) still living in the house. Initially, he feels contempt for her lifestyle, but when his priggish fiancée is seduced by the rock 'n' roll lifestyle, mother and son attempt reconciliation.
	The Medallion (M): National. Columbia. 88 mins. Action. Jackie Chan, Claire Forlani, Lee Evans, Christy Cheung, John Rhys- Davies. D: Gordan Chan. This is a police thriller set in the world of immigrant smuggling, described as a cross between Lethal Weapon and Ghost. After getting killed on the job, a Chinese immigration officer (Chan) soon learns that he's still alive, but now has amazing supernatural abilities. Even as he's still learning how to use them, he's challenged to, you know, fight the bad guys. Eddie Yang (Jackie Chan) is an indomitable Hong Kong cop who, after a near-fatal accident involving a mysterious medallion, is suddenly transformed into a Highbinder - an immortal warrior with superhuman powers. Eddie enlists the help of fellow agent Nicole (Claire Forlani) to determine the secret of the medallion and face down the evil Highbinders who so desperately want it back.
	Runaway Jury (TBA): National. Fox. Drama. John Cusack, Rachel Weisz, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, Jeremy Piven, Melora Walters, Bruce McGill, Nick Searcy. D: Gary Fledler (Don't Say A Word). This is Gene Hackman's and Dustin Hoffman's first film together. At the Pasadena Playhouse they were classmates and were both voted "Least Likely to Succeed". A member of the jury for an explosive trail against a gun manufacturer joins forces with a beautiful woman to manipulate the panel. With millions of dollars at stake in the precedent-setting lawsuit, the mysterious jurist finds himself battling a high-priced and ruthless jury "consultant" who will stop at nothing to secure a verdict.
	Ten (TBA): Selected, Melb. Potential. Drama. Iran. Mania Akbari, Amin Maher, Roya Arabshahi, Katayoun Taleidzadeh, Mandana Sharbaf. D: Abbas Kiaristami (Taste Of Cherry). In TEN, celebrated Iranian writer-director Abbas Kiarostami (Taste of Cherry, Through the Olive Trees) once again casts his masterful cinematic gaze upon the modern sociopolitical landscape of his homeland -- this time as seen through the eyes of one woman as she drives through the streets of Tehran over a period of several days. Her journey is comprised of ten conversations with various female passengers -- including her sister, a hitchhiking prostitute and a jilted bride -- as well as her imperious young son. As Kiarostami's "dashboard cam" eavesdrops on these lively, yet heart-wrenching road trips, a complex portrait of distaff Iran comes sharply into focus.