Father Geek here with the 14th edition of our Euro-AICN Monday morning column fresh from the keyboards of our faithful continental crew. This week they have script and movie reviews as well as dozens of news items from all corners of the European Film Market. I hope all you readers of this report appreciate all the effort these reporters and editors spend putting these together for you, alot of time and hard work goes into each of these columns. You ought to drop them an E-mail now and then, and thank them if you haven't already. Euro-AICN would be nothing without their constant energy gathering and writing it all up for you.

EURO AICN 14

Hello Folks, welcome to EuroAICN, the weekly column with the added twist and shout. This week we got the usual poison for you, film reviews and news, plus a script review for a film in progress. Hope all these scoops ‘n’ news tickle your fancy and leave you satisfied ‘till next week, if it doesn’t please email us at our Euro-AICN office and tell us why - we are always trying to improve and expand our column but we need your help too.

Anyhow, without further ado we present...

NEW DAWN FADES

Script review (no big spoilers) by Darth Bond

What would you do if you were the last and only person on Earth? What if you wake up tomorrow and everybody has mysteriously disappeared? No family, no friends, no society, no morals, no restrains. This post-apocalyptic high-concept is dealt with in this screenplay by Brit. MJB and is planned to be shot in 35mm with an initial budget of half a million quid.

This dark, nightmarish tale about a young man coming to terms with the revelation that he’s the last person alive, this takes up the first part of the movie and reads very much like an outer limits episode, but the plot darkens as it takes a little detour into trainspotting-mode, aka main character gets lost in drugs; hallucinations, imagery and near-madness ensues (yes, very much like Richard/Leo in The Beach). And after that Danny Boyle phase the tone changes to a Sam Raimi, B-mobie, action world when the main character transforms into an Escape from NY’s Snake, bad-ass, type of character. This developed character is then see charging against an army of zombie-like creatures (where are they from and what do they want? -Apparently we are not supposed to ask) that are slowly taking over the desolated planet.

The movie finally concludes with a cheap ending that will leave people mustering "That’s it?" . Even though the movie goes into different directions (if this technique will be pulled off on the screen is the biggest mystery here) the nightmare-ish desperation that is the atmosphere of the whole story is well achieved, at least on paper. In conclusion, an interesting screenplay that ,while offering nothing incredibly new, could prove to be a lot of fun to watch. If you are interested by this, let us know and we can put you in touch with MJB....

ITALY

* At last someone from Italy just joined the Euro AICN gang... ThinMan will report from us on what's going on in beautiful Italia... : Dario Argento is currently filming in Torino a back-to-his-basic thriller with Stefano Dionisi, beautiful Chiara Caselli and Max Von Sydow. The title is "Non Ho Sonno" (I CAN'T SLEEP) and it's about a hunt for a serial killer that goes on during several years. For the first time the killer hands we'll see on the screen won't be Argento's, since he's tired to do that kind of thing (as he said to an Italian leading newspaper). He needs to concentrate himself on the various murder sequences that, always as Maestro Argento says, must be visually stunning and terrific. The film is due to be released in Italy before Winter. I'll keep you informed.

See ya!! - Signed: ThinMan

FRANCE

* The new comedy from Coline Serreau will be titled TEMPETES ("Storms"). Serreau was the director of French smash hit TROIS HOMMES ET UN COUFFIN (which was remade in the US as Three Men & A Baby) and LA CRISE. Catherine Frot and Vincent Lindon star. Shooting starts this July.

* French actor Richard Berry (L'UNION SACREE, PEDALE DOUCE) will make his first film as a director called KURTZ. It's about a man meeting a woman in a bar, and all the gossips from people around who will dream a life for them. Patrice Timsit should star. Shooting will start this Summer.

* I saw this week on French TV a short report on HIGHLANDER 4. As you all know by now, Christophe Lambert (from the films) & Adrian Paul (from the TV serie) star in this one. Lambert claims that this one will be his last and a lot closer to the first one's spirit (hopefully, because the 2 and 3 suck big time). This episode will take us across Europe and to New York. Obviously Heather (MacLeod's wife in Scotland) is back, and Lambert said that Rachel will appear too (it's the little girl he saved during WW2 in the first one). The report said that HIGHLANDER 4 will come out in the USA this August... but personally I haven't heard anything about it.

* The next ASTERIX movie has found its Cleopatra... and I am very happy she will look like the very beautiful Monica Belluci. If you don't know who she is, then you're stupid... OK, maybe not... but check DOBERMANN or L'APPARTEMENT. She will be seen soon in THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLVES and in the Hackman/Freeman thriller UNDER SUSPICION.

* You speak or understand French ? You are a fan of ROMANCE ? Well then check the website of the magazine "Les Inrockuptibles" on June 15th at 6.00 pm (Paris Time) if you want to chat with the director : Catherine Breillat. She's well known for a movies about women's sexuality. Her first film, UNE VRAIE JEUNE FILLE (1976), will be shown again in French cinemas this month. So do not hesitate and click on her site next Thursday.

* Not really a French news in itself, but last time I heard about this RASPUTIN project, a French producer was behind... so that's why this news is here. Brought to you by Muad'dib : The mad Russian monk Rasputin is about to come under the Hollywood microscope in a huge £40 million all-action epic which will rival Dr Zhivago. The success of the Roman bloodbath Gladiator has convinced director Paul Verhoven - he made the blockbusters Robocop, Total Recall and Starship Troopers - that it's time to head East and turn the celluloid clock back. Verhoven has been fascinated since childhood by the charismatic Russian peasant/mystic who cast a spell over the weak willed Czar, Nicholas II and his wife the Empress Alexandra. And insiders say he wants to film the adventure in Moscow and St Petersberg next Spring in order to capture the end of the harsh Russian Winter and be able to film in the sunshine. Among those tipped to take the lead role in the movie are Val Kilmer, Gary Oldman and Ralph Fiennes - with Minnie Driver already the hot favourite to play the Royal beauty he seduces into his chamber. A friend of Verhoven's said: "A number of studios are already in the frame with Paramount and Universal both interested. The cost is a problem. There is no way to bring something like this in cheaply." There have been four main attempts to bring Rasputin to the Silver Screen. The Russians had a crack themselves with a black and white classic called Rasputin and the Empress in 1933. But Alan Rickman's attempt to breath life into the demonic holy man failed badly in 1996 in Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny. A superb supporting cast of Ian Mckellen, Greta Scacchi, David Warner and Diana Quick wasn't enough to appease the critics. The film, directed by Uli Edel, sank without trace. All done and dusted. (Source : Ananova)

DENMARK

* It seems that the unlucky ones who were not in Cannes (most of you, me, my mother, my cat,...) will have to wait a bit more to see the Palme d'Or winner DANCER IN THE DARK, as actress/singer Bjork recently announced she wants to work more on the music of the film. The opening of the movie could be then be delayed...

GERMANY

* This year's top audience prize at the Emden International Filmfest went to Irish-UK production A LOVE DIVIDED. Directed by Syd Macartney and produced by Dublin's Parallel Film Productions, the film competed against titles such as "Human Trafic", "Dreaming Of Joseph Lees", "Bodywork", "Milk and One More Kiss". The northern German event, which specialises in showcasing smaller UK and Irish films for the German-speaking market, opened with "Beautiful People". This year's festival, the event's 11th edition, included 12 UK and Irish features, as yet unreleased in Germany, of which seven were in competition. Sidebar events included a Michael Winterbottom retrospective and a workshop led by screenwriter Philip Parker. (source : Screendaily)

* Juliette Binoche (THE ENGLISH PATIENT, BLUE) will star in THE ASSUMPTION OF A VIRGIN, the next film from CENTRAL DO BRASIL's director Walter Salles. Anthony Minghella will produce. Rumours say that Al Pacino or Robert De Niro could co-star.

* Isabelle Adjani will be back on the big screen soon. In March 2001 she will start to shoot LA REPENTIE (The penitent) with director Laetitia Masson. But before that Adjani will be seen on stage in October in LA DAME AUX CAMELIAS (directed by Robert Hossein).

U K

* Prime Minister's Question Time isn't normally noted for devoting time to things as trivial as movies, but yesterday the row surrounding "U-571" threatened to turn into a full-scale diplomatic dispute between Britain and America. Following various excitable editorials on the matter in British Tabloids, Tony Blair has now waded into the affair by saying he entirely agreed with a fellow MP's comment that the film was an 'affront' to the British navy and war veterans. Commenting on the film's depiction of an American rather than British crew capturing a crucial Enigma machine during World War 2, he said, 'we hope that people realise these are people that, in many cases sacrificed their lives in order that this country remained free.' Culture Secretary Chris Smith, who has pledged to raise the thorny issue in Hollywood, commented on the furore earlier saying, ' I think one of the things we need to make clear to Hollywood is, yes you're in the entertainment business but people see your movies, they're going to come away thinking that's information not just entertainment. You've got to make it clear where the dividing lines between these things lie.' (Source : Empire)

* I know it's dangerous to play with STAR WARS rumours... but here's a tiny bit on Episode 3 brought by Muad' dib. Remember... it's only a film.... : "After checking the news at the BBC (www.bbc.co.uk) I came across an interview with Dave Prowse where he mentions that he had heard the James Earl Jones had said that he had recorded some dialogue for Episode 3". The full article can be found at their web site.

* Hetre is some news we got on a new film in the making... : I thought I would drop you a line about my film that I am making over here in England. It's name is DIARY OF A BAD LAD. It is a documentary with reconstruction sequences. We are following a criminal responsible for the majority of criminal activity (prostitution, illegal gambling, drugs, underground boxing, Euro porn) in the North West of England (and also other parts of Europe), who is currently posing as a legitimate businessman (so nearly everyone talks like Alex from Clockwork Orange). It is a very dangerous thing to do, but this is a satire on how hard it is to make your first movie in the outworld of England. And we are hoping to poke fun at the spate of bad British gangster movies (from Lock Stock onwards) by showing what a real gangster is actually like. Check out the production company website Right Here

* And for more UK news, don't forget to check our good friends at the Netribution SITE .

IRELAND

- aka Ozymandias News

* The race is on among the world's leading actresses to play the deadly Lucrezia Borgia in a film about the Italian society hostess who polished off her loved ones with poison. Top movie maker Neil Jordan is hunting for the woman to play the infamous figure who once threw an orgy at the Vatican. On his short-list already are Julianne Moore from his last outing "The End of the Affair" and Julia Roberts who showed such superb form in "Erin Brockovich". Also in the running is French beauty Juliette Binoche from "The English Patient" and the Swedish actress Lena Olin. On the British front he is believed to be considering overtures from Julia Ormond and Olivia Williams. Not surprisingly, Oscar-winning Gwyneth Paltrow who has just had an Italian outing in "The Talented Mr Ripley" with director Anthony Minghella has expressed interest in the script while there is talk of Friends favourite Matt Perry - said to be recovering from kidney failure - taking a support role as Lucrezia's surviving husband. Much has been written about the grasping, sexually insatiable Pope's daughter who had a predilection towards bumping off husbands and lovers who bored her. However, she spelt death to programme makers in 1981 when the BBC's series The Borgias was laughed off screen by the critics with Anne Lousie Lambert in the title role. Jordan, says sources, wants to give the lady "body and soul" presenting an ambiguous part of Renaissance history with authenticity for the first time. Hollywood is impressed. He is said to be working on a £40 million budget and ready to film in Florence and Venice. "He wants to make an historic epic with Lucrezia as his Cleopatra. It is, obviously, a part any actress would kill for," says an insider.

* John Travolta's £50 million movie turkey "Battlefield Earth" has bombed at the UK box office - but still managed to double the takings of All Saints' mega-flop HONEST. The sci-fi extravaganza, ridiculed by critics who have dubbed it the worst film this century, is predicted to be one of the biggest movie disasters of all time. And in its opening weekend, during which most films are expected to begin to recoup the film-makers' outlay, the film took just £207,832. However, the figure was enough to get it into the box office top 10 at number seven and it outshone the All Saints film which took just £111,309. Honest's poor showing was enough to get the film dropped by many cinemas when it took only £500 per screen in its first three days.

* Blackadder star Tony Robinson has ousted rival TV funnyman Hugh Laurie for the part of Cruella De Vil's ace henchman in the new £60 million doggy yarn 102 Dalmatians. The 53-year-old actor, who played Rowan Atkinson's scruffy, smelly sidekick-cum-dogsbody Baldric in the comedy series, has grabbed the prize part of Glenn Close's valet in the sequel to the real-life blockbuster. Robinson, who has recently been presenting TV wildlife shows, joined French legend Gerard Depardieu, new Welsh star Ioan Gruffudd and newcomer Alice Evans in the line-up to make the movie in London and Paris. Another Blackadder star Tim McInnerny - alias slimy Captain Darling - had been pencilled in for the role but he was forced to opt out at the last moment. Gruffudd, seen playing Horatio Hornblower in the ITV series, and Evans, who has worked in French movies, take over from Joely Richardson and Jeff Daniels as the husband and wife Dalmatian lovers. But the real villain of the piece is award-winning Gerard Depardieu who starred in Green Card and Cyrano de Bergerac. He plays a Parisian furrier M. Le Pelt who schemes with Close to butcher more puppies. The story unfolds with Cruella being released from jail and being made to work at an animal shelter run by Gruffudd. But she soon goes on rampage again. Director Kevin Lima revealed that Walt Disney had already cast three "star pups" to take on Cruella and her evil mob of sidekicks. He said: "I was sceptical about how we could improve on the original movie until I saw the script. It's a really great new story." The film will be released at Christmas in the UK.

* "It's proving to be a good year for Aardman Animation with the studio's first feature-length film, CHICKEN RUN, getting great early reviews on the net. It's not suprising therefore that the duo behind the plasticine action, Nick Park and Peter Lord have been talking about their next projects with equal gusto. Speaking to the Guardian newspaper, the pair confirmed rumours that a full-length Wallace and Gromit movie was in the offing, and also revealed that they would be working on an updated version of The Tortoise and the Hare, but only as executive producers. 'I'ts amazing how things grow,' enthuses Lord, talking about the studios which have grown from a grand total of two original partners to a complement of around 300 staff. But Lord was quick to dismiss rumours that the studio would move to California, 'we won't be upping sticks and moving to Burbank,' he told the paper, adding; 'we have made our own culture here...whatever we do, we don't want it to be too slick.'" (Source : Empire)

FILM REVIEWS

We will finish this week's Euro AICN News with Grozilla who helped us a lot during the Cannes Festival. He is back with two short reviews on Summer blockbusters... First is the new Jim Carrey/Farelly Bros. film... For once this movie will come out in Europe on the same day that in the States... it's too rare not to mention it... On the other hand, M:I 2 is coming here in France late July. I know that most of the reviews are negative... It's so depressing to hear so much negative reviews in advance, but again... maybe it will be in my favor, as now I expect something bad I might enjoy it more than you (like MISSION TO MARS, AMERICAN PSYCHO,...). Let's hope so. Anyway here's Grozilla....

I saw two days ago ME, MYSELF & IRENE. I firmly maintain that DUMB & DUMBER is still the best Farelly movie. Still, "M,M & I" is quite good, maybe a bit long (2 hrs), and in my opinion less laborious than THERE IS SOMETHING ABOUT MARY. Of course everything is on Jim Carrey, really amazing, who outshines totally Renee Zellwegger (good also). Even if there are some really funny jokes, I am not totally convinced by the "unpolitically correct" side at any cost (the albino character has no real interest in this film). On the other hand all the sex jokes are really good. Curiously I had the feeling that some jokes that were in the trailer shown in Showest have disappeared. As much as I remember, there was a scene in the train where Charlie asked Irene what Hank - his other self - had more than him. And she replies that Hank has "a bigger one" ! I didn't see that in the film.

I also saw this morning the first press projection of MISSION : IMPOSSIBLE 2. Well, apparently I must have been one of the only ones to like the film. Most of the journalists there hated it or were just OK about it. Inevitably M:I2 has nothing to do with the first one. This one is a more in the James Bond style than the serie with Mr Phelps. The first encounter between Cruise and Thandie Newton confirms this "007 option". As does the emptiness of the script and the "suspense plot" (in my opinion). On the other hand, and that's how M:I2 carried me away, the film is stamped with glamour (see the Spanish sequence until the car chase and the final "hugging"), making it really attractive. These 15 minutes reminded me of TO CATCH A THIEF (which is even literally named here). If the action sequences are impressing, it's mainly because of a high volume, the violence being almost off camera, shootings happen almost with regrets; Woo prefers to make Cruise (impressive) look like a physical action hero. Okay the film has problems with the rhythm, some heaviness (aarggg this long mountain opening)... Still there 're the themes beloved by Woo : the mask, "killer angels" and of course the mandatory doves (THAT is too much). M:I2 is certainly not a great film but it's an interesting case of derivative film. Face/Off fans will be bored but altered Bond fans should love it !

That's it for this week... It's Football time in Europe now (soccer for our Alerican friends), but that doesn't mean we're not there anymore... so send us any news to Edgard and Darth Bond here in Paris, France.