Festivals, and more Festivals, and still more Festivals. Father Geek here in Austin Texas where we're in the middle of the Heart of Texas Screenwriter's Conference and Austin Film Festival, as well as the Cinematexas Film Festival. So please excuse the tardy Euro-AICN report with it's news of several Euro-festivals and other worthy tidbits.

Harry and I just got back to Geek Headquarters from a radio station were he was on a live chat show talking about BW2, CHARLIE'S ANGELS, DIRTY HARRY, CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON, SLAP SHOT, and his fave feature of the Austin fest, ABCD written by James McManus and directed by Krutin Patel. Its a bittersweet comedy/drama about the lifes and loves of Indian immigrants trying desperately to blend into modern American society and balance their native culture with work, sex, and family. Its a real treat that deserves a wide audience. A very excellant "Date" film! It will probably pop up at other fests over the next several months, if you spot it showing at one near you grab your girl or guy, go eat some fine Indian cusine and SEE this motion picture. Father Geek promises it is a wonderful icebreaker, a real mood setter, a total delight.

Later tonight we'll be at the Paramount Theatre where Harry will present ABCD and the brillant, must-be-seen short IN GOD WE TRUST (By Jason Reitman) to the multitudes. Buuuuut for now on to Edgard, Ozy and the rest of our Europe crew for this week's Euro-AICN column...

EURO AICN

Edgard here....

Another week, and another review of CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON.... it seems this film can't get enough of good reviews and that makes me happy. For the rest, I had a really really good surprise with MEMENTO (which is reviewed here below). Ozymandias sends us his usual Irish news and we got other news from all over Europe. Lots of news on different festivals taking place accross Europe, so remember to send us your reviews, reports and other stories if you have the chance to be there... You know it's generally in the festivals that small wonderful films are discovered so be part of that process (like MEMENTO that was presented last September in Deauville) !!

UK

* From Screendaily : Chicken Run, The Iron Giant, Stuart Little and Toy Story 2 will vie for best feature film at next month’s British Academy Children’s Film & Television Awards. The so-called children’s BAFTAs will also see awards handed out for animation, drama, entertainment, factual and international. Rounding out the ceremony at the London Hilton, Park Lane on November 12 are prizes for pre-school animation and live-action, schools drama and primary and secondary schools factual. Awards will also be presented for writing, presenting and long-term contribution. Another prize will be voted for by 16 children. John Morell, the academy’s executive director, said that this year’s event had attracted a record 188 entries. "We are particularly delighted at the response from the film sector," he commented. "Children’s film output over the past 12 months has been stunning. On film and TV, our juries have had long nights trying to pick winners from such a wide range of excellent entries."

SWEDEN

* The 11TH STOCKHOLM INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL will take place on 9 - 19 NOVEMBER 2000 ( to see for more info Click Here ). 150 films are shown non stop; there will be an ifestival, ten short films competing on the Internet and the Guest of Honour is Lauren Bacall... Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon will open the Festival. Fellows swedish AICN readers we're counting on your reports !

SPAIN

* From Screendaily : Portuguese actress Maria de Medeiros’ directorial debut, April Captains (Capitaes De Abril), will inaugurate this year’s 26th annual Iberoamerican Film Festival of Huelva, Spain (Nov 10-18). Medeiros will also sit on the festival’s official jury alongside Spanish director Juan Pinzas, Spanish critic Mirito Torreiro, and Brazilian producer Esdras Rubim, among others. The 12 titles competing in the festival’s official section for the top award, the Colon de Oro, include:

Francisco D’intino’s Los Dias De La Vida (Argentina).

Cecilia Roth-starrer Una Noche Con Sabrina Love, from Alejandro Agresti (Argentina-Spain).

Las Aventuras De Dios, by Eliseo Subiela (Argentina).

Jorge Perugorria-starrer Estorvo, from Ruy Guerra (Brazil).

Zelito Viana’s Villa-Lobos, Una Vida De Pasion (Brazil).

Ciro Duran’s La Toma De La Embajada (Colombia-Venezuela-Mexico).

Coronacion, by Silvio Caiozzi (Chile).

Fernando Huertas’ Terca Vida (Spain).

En Un Claroscuro De La Luna, from Sergio Olhovich (Mexico).

Ciudad De M, by Felipe Bygregori (Peru).

Manoel de Oliveira’s Palabra E Utopia (Portugal).

Oro Diablo, from Jose Ramon Novoa (Venezuela-Spain).

The Colon de Oro comes with a $27,000 (PTS5m) award and $13,500 (PTS2.5m) in distribution assistance for the winning film. Huelva is also preparing sidebars dedicated to the latest in European cinema, the decade of Mexican cinema, Luis Bunuel, Iberoamerican films from the last year (not included in the official section), and Youth and Marginalisation in Iberoamerica. Tributes to veteran actors Federico Luppi of Argentina and Spain’s Sara Montiel are also planned.

* Also from Screendaily : Tom Tykwer’s The Princess And The Warrior, controversial French film Baise-Moi and US indie title Chuck And Buck are among the titles that will compete in the official section of this year’s Gijon International Film Festival in Spain. The festival, which takes place November 24 - December 1, is known as the "Spanish Sundance" for its dedication to independent and newcomer talent. The competition line-up also includes:

Cannes Critic’s Week selection Les Autres Filles.

Lukas Moodyson’s Fucking Amal follow-up, Together.

South Korean festival favourite Peppermint Candy.

Chinese director Lou Ye’s Suzhou.

Fruit Chan’s tragi-comic Little Cheung.

The award-winning Noites, from Portuguese newcomer Claudia Tomaz.

Spanish director Pablo Llorca’s La Espalda De Dios.

Bahman Ghobadi’s award-winning A Time For Drunken Horses.

Julien Temple’s rock documentary The Filth And The Fury will screen out of competition.

Gijon has also organised sidebars and retrospectives dedicated to US director Todd Haynes, New Scottish Cinema (co-sponsored by the British Council and Scottish Screen) and Portuguese director Pedro Costa, among others.

FRANCE

* If you are a fan of Tod Browning (FREAKS, DRACULA, and many other classics) and you live close to Paris, here's a chance to see some of his masterpieces in good conditions : the Musée d'Orsay organises a restrospective of his films from October 13 to November 5. If you want to know more on the programme check here : To Visit Their Site

* Is this just a rumour or should we already celebrate this possible reunion ? French magazine Premiere announced on its website that after ROLLERBALL, Jean Reno will make a new film with Luc Besson, in French, and between France and Japan... We will follow that story...

* "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is at the top of the French box-office for the second week since its release... That's just nice to see...

ITALY

* Co-production between France ands Italy, VAJONT will tell the story of one of the biggest tragedy of the 20th century in Italy: in October 1963, in the Dolomites, a landslide caused the destruction of a huge dam. The result : a 200 m. high wave will break on the valley and surrounding villages, causing the death of more than 2,000 persons. If it sounds like a Hollywood blockbuster, it will probably focus more on the human drama. French actors Michel Serrault and Daniel Auteuil should star respectively as Semenza, the world's specialist of dams, responsible of the building of the one that will be drestroyed, and Biadène, his partner. Italian actress Laura Morante will play a journalist who's against the construction of the dam. Renzo Martinelli is directing since the end of September.

OZYMANDIAS CORNER

* Still lots of will it, won't it stuff going down here about the new Bond..... Our friends at ShowbizIreland http://www.showbizireland.com have this to say: Pierce Brosnan has revealed exclusively to ShowBizIreland.com that he will be back in Ireland next year to make a new movie. However, the star refused to comment on if the movie would be the next James Bond film "Beyond the Ice." "I don't know if Bond will be made here," Brosnan told ShowBizIreland.com at the opening of Jeffery Rush's new play in Dublin last week where 007 was attending with the director of his and Rush's latest film, John Boorman, who is based in Ireland. Brosnan, who was born in County Navan, is in Ireland to shoot the final scenes of Boorman's The Tailor of Panama. He met with the Irish Minister for Arts Sile De Valera and confirmed that he would be bringing his production company Irish Dreamtime to Ireland next year for a secret production. The meeting with the Minister was due to Brosnan connecting with the Irish Screen Commission of which he is a member. Speaking to ShowBizIreland.com Brosnan who was wearing a Buddhist necklace after his recent meeting with the Dali Lama in India said "I don't know if our wedding is going ahead in Ireland but Keely is fine and the baby is doing great. But, I don't know when it's due." Pierce is on his trip to Ireland with his son Sean who is in school in England and who's car accident was the reason Pierce and Keely's wedding was canceled a few months ago.

* More from Showbiz Ireland....... : The ex-wife of Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher, actress Patsy Kensit has flown into Ireland to make a movie in the same place that Alec Baldwin will film next month. Kensit has taken the role of an insane woman in the thriller Bad Karma which is currently shooting in County Galway according to the Irish Star newspaper. The actress who split from Liam earlier this year plays women who goes off the edge. The character escapes from a mental institution and then goes on a crazy spree ending up in her kidnapping a man and child. A local women who won £2.5m on the Irish lottery has given her house over for the filming of the movie in the picturesque fishing village of Kinvara. Patsy has asked that no photos be taken of her while she is in Ireland but has met locals who say she is a delight. Bad Karma is being made by Roger Corman's Connemara based Concord films and is due of next year. Next month Hollywood star Alec Baldwin will come to Galway where he will shoot a new action thriller.

* More from Ardmore Studios just south of me here in Wicklow...... This one again from the fountain of information showbizireland.com: American Psycho star Christian Bale is reported to be the first confirmed to sign on the dotted line for the new Disney movie Reign of Fire. The actor who is currently in cinemas with the remake of Shaft will start filming in Ireland's Ardmore Studios in February. The $60 million dollar film is being directed by the director of the X-files movie Rob Bowman. According to Ardmore sources the film is a special effects thriller in which British and American's team-up to defeat dragons that have taken over the earth after a nuclear war. The search is still on to find the actor to play the American Dragon Slayer. Bale is set to play 'Fire Captain' whose mission is to battle the Queen Dragon. The team behind the movie are the same people who are currently making The Count of Monte Cristo in Ardmore starring Richard Harris, Michael Wincott and Guy Pierce. In the past Ardmore has helped make Mel Gibson's Braveheart and Liam Neeson's Michael Collins.

L8r, Ozymandias

Euro AICN Ireland/UK Office, Penthouse Suite, Ozymandias Towers, Dublin, Ireland.

If you're involved in the Irish or UK movie industries I want to hear from you!

Mail me at ozymandias@dublin.com

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REVIEWS

CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON (by Mad Dog)

I realise it's been reviewed quite a few times already but last night I managed to get a look at last at Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon at the Viennale (Vienna International Film Festival) There was an excellant turnout for the film and after a bit of pushing and shoving everyone got seated and really got into the film, applauding the fight scenes and really seemed to be enjoying it. Personally I've never been a great fan of wire work, but I have to agree with previous reviews, the film doesn't take itself too seriously and it is made clear from the first truly amazing fight scene over rooftops that the following events will require a certain suspension of disbelief, but the audience really seemed to get it as this garnered the largest surge of applause. In a way it struck me as kind of a tribute film to the old dodgy mystical martial arts films that were so much fun, with larger than life characters and special powers like ninja's burrowing underground and disapearing with a smoke bomb and yet with a much more artistic and realistic presentation. This is more Saviour of the soul than Enter the Dragon, but all the better for it because it is truly, honestly a huge amount of fun, I really enjoyed it although I left the cinema a bit confused as I was not expecting what I got.

The story is fun and there's some laughs in there aswell, the martial arts are extremely good with plenty of weapon oriented action and the actors complement the unbelievably stunning cinematography throughout the film. I would recommend this film to all, be it male, female, kung fu fan or not it's a fun night out and I can not wait to get my hands on the DVD whenever it becomes available.

Well there ya go.

Mad Dog

MEMENTO (by Edgard)

Last week, I was praising the weird facts of film distribution that brought the new Coen diamond and the new Ang Lee masterpiece here first; now I got to add also MEMENTO which is - if I am not mistaken - opening here first too... I haven't seen FOLLOWING, the first film of British director Christopher Nolan, but after seeing MEMENTO (his second film) I can say that this director deserves certainly our attention in the near future. But I can already guess that MEMENTO will annoy some of you as it is totally built around one gimmick. The question is : will you let yourself buy it or are you going to resist it ? I totally bought it and that's why I also really loved that film...

The movie starts with Leonard shooting a man in the head... Leonard's wife has been raped and killed, he was looking for the killer. He found him and killed him. If it sounds like the ending of a regular thriller, it's normal as the movie begins where the story ends. From there you go literally backwards to the beginning... Scene after scene you find out why Leonard came to the conclusion that the guy he killed was the murderer of his wife. Each scene ends where the previous one started (if you follow what I mean). And the movie ends where the story begins. You get the last piece of the puzzle (which is incidentally the first piece) at the end. Of course this requires a total implication from the viewer. Not that it's really hard to follow, but you can't miss anything without taking the risk to get lost. So no visit to the bathroom or the opo-corn lady.... don't move from your seat ! The question is why would Nolan do that ? Just to be different ? Of course not, this backwards structure finds its reason to be in the mental condition of the hero, Leonard. During the killing of his wife, he was himself injured in the head. Since then he can't create new memories. Meaning that after a while he forgets what he's doing (and why he was doing it); he forgets about the people he met the day before, he forgets about what car he's driving, which hotel he's staying at... His only solution then is to create "memento's" of everything : pictures, notes, tattoos on himself... everything is good to help him remember the facts that will lead him to his wife's killer. In that way, the backwards structure allows you to feel like him : you don't know what happened before... you just live the events as he does wondering why and how he got to that point.

Many people will mention USUAL SUSPECTS after seeing that film. Not that these films have a common story, but both are smart thriller with a structure that requires from you to really look down all the details on the screen. And like Usual Suspects, I bet MEMENTO will become a cult favorite to watch at home over and over again... Maybe the DVD edition will even allow you to see the movie in the good order.

Actors are excellent : Guy Pierce as Leonard proves once again that Hollywood should use him more, he's perfect in the role of this husband, lost in his own memory with only the desire for revenge to keep him alive. Carrie-Anne Moss proves also that she has what it takes to be among the great actresses, especially as her character is not easy to handle. And Joe Pantoliano is as always excellent in a "maybe nice, maybe not" role...

But again the name to remember here is Christopher Nolan who offers here a really good surprise... As I said before I guess some of you might be annoyed by the fact that the movie is built around one big gimmick, but you should not resist... Let yourself drawn in Leonard's memory, you won't regret it.

That's t for this week... don't forget to send all your reports, reviews and news to the EURO AICN Offices in Paris at euroaicn@yahoo.com