Father Geek here with our editors in Paris' eighteenth Monday morning column for you to start your work week with. And it is brim filled with news for you. Tuesday I take Harry to the airport to catch his flight to Prague to cover a couple of stories he got wind of in Eastern Europe, he'll be there all week, and then he and I both will be on the continent the 1st week in August to cover some news that's brewing down in Madrid as well as to just plain enjoy ourselves. But for now here's a fresh new Euro report from our regular gang of AICN reporters, plus a few new voices...

EURO AICN 18

by Edgard & Darth Bond

Hello... Edgard here with yet another news report from Europe... This week Ozymandias goes crazy (again) with tons of news; Grozilla gives us a "press" look at the movie scene in France, Andymation reports from Norway, Meat Takeshi from UK, Simplicius Simplicissimus from Germany, and much much more... Hope everyone will find something they like (or dislike, that's the fun parts of news too). So let's not wait more... here're all the "European Heroes" who cover European Movie News for you...

FRANCE

* Grozilla sent us this long report on two different press conferences held here in France, and many other infos too : The first press conference with Tom Cruise and John Woo was quite dismaying as most of the questions were from enamoured fans of Tom asking if he did indeed his own stunts and other useless things. We could just learn that Cruise did everything to let Woo be as creative as he wanted, which sounds true if you look at the film. For the rest, nothing to remember really from this conference, except the usual secrecy from the stars in these conditions. The second press conference was with Mel Gibson and Roland Emmerich, and was certainly more exciting even if Mel Gibson seemed really exhausted (a Parisian party from the day before ? his world tour for THE PATRIOT ?). Still Mel was not really talkative ("When will you direct another film ?" "After sleeping a bit") letting Emmerich & Devlin defending themselves against the attacks from the British press and an open letter from Spike Lee (accusing the film of revisionist and Hollywood propaganda). Expressive reaction from one of the producers: a cynical laugh followed by a "Who is Spike Lee ?". Nothing really interesting then except Gibson announced that he would take a one year break as an actor, to concentrate on his producer job, making it clear that the "Fahrenheit 451" remake project was still in the works and certainly not dead.

As for THE PATRIOT, I thought it was a decent blockbuster, not too good, not too bad. Gibson is good in it. Special mention to the bad guy of the film. As we always say : "Better the bad guy, better the movie". To get entertained, it's worth the look. But to see a great film on the same period, better see Michael Mann's "Last of the Mohicans" again, again and again… Bonus during the press projection : 20 minutes of trailers from Columbia. Obviously to avoid, "Center Stage", kind of revival of "Fame"... Those who had to endure Luc Besson's new production "The Dancer" (not to be mistaken from "Dancer") will understand what I mean.

More exciting, at least for what I could see, was "Loser", the teenage comedy from Amy Heckerling with Jason Biggs and Mena Suvari. It smells like "American Pie" but less stupid. Even if Heckerling is able to do terrible like the "Look who's talking" serie, let's not forget she's quite good with teenagers (Fast times at ridgemont high, Clueless). Very impressive action sequences in "Vertical Limit", even if it doesn't allow you to really judge the new film from Martin Campbell it really makes you want to see it... Hard to say the same - from the trailers - about "Urban Legend, final cut", and mostly "The sixth Day", which seems to be a copy of all the old classic Schwarzy vehicles. You feel between "Eraser" and "Total Recall"... You will have to explain to me why Joe Dante was fired from that project that was really exciting on paper... Let's forget about the "Charlie's Angels" teaser which looks more like a commercial for L'Oreal than a trailer. I really hope Bill Murray will save that film ! All this was quickly swept away by the trailers of "All the pretty horses" and "Final Fantasy"… The first clearly announces an epic film, but also that the Oscars hunting season has started. The second announces that the world of animation broke a new step.

I also saw these last days the very strange JULIAN DONKEY-BOY from Harmony Korine, a film very close of the experimental style and very disturbing from time to time : the scenes between Ewen Bremmer (quite worrying as a half-crazy character) and Werner Herzog, and the final, are all really distressing.

LOS SIN NOMBRE (The nameless) is a very interesting Spanish thriller from Jaume Balaguero, who has created a really tense and scary world (especially during the meeting between a mother and the leader of a sect). But by using too many sounds and visual effects (inserts, flashes), and by playing too much with the viewer, the ending falls a bit flat : the stakes of the "ecstasy" the sect is looking for are a bit light (but scary).

I've also seen THE ACID HOUSE. A new reading in the cinema of Irwine Welsh after "Trainspotting". Two shorts - even if the credits of a third one and the short duration of the film (1h16) indicate that a third short was cut during the editing - trash and funny around Scottish preoccupations according to Welsh : beer, soccer, sex... Pleasant but not essential.

More amazing is THE WISDOM OF CROCODILE; the very elegant approach on vampires by Po Chih Leong with a great Jude Law. It seems like a reverse version of "Blood for Dracula", from Morrissey with Udo Kier. Here the vampire needs love to survive. Intriguing even if not totally successful.

Also exciting was "Possessed", a Danish thriller in which Udo Kier hunts the devil who disguised himself as a virus like the Ebola one. Very sober, the film gives a depressed look on Europe a bit like Lars Von Trier in "Element of crime". And it's Von Trier's production company Zentropa who produced that film full of good ideas.... That's all for today folks… Grozilla®

NORWAY

We don't get enough from Northern Europe, but hopefully Andymation is there :

*Andymation here.... I don't know if this can be called a scoop, but anyway...Norwegian director, Erik Gustavson, who was the man behind the movie adaptation of Jostein Gaarders "Sofies Verden" ("Sophies World"), is going to make a WWII comedy called "Øst For Månen" ("East Of The Moon"). It has the budget of 45 million Norwegian crowns (NOK, worth about seven times less than an American dollar). The movie is going to be located on Iceland'cause the plot is: A group of American soldiers are sent to a small mountain village in Iceland in the year 1942, to build a watch tower. The villagers do all they can to stop this project because they believe that the mountain is inhabited by elves (!!!!). The movies producer, Snorri Thorisson recently said to a newspaper that they have already have gotten positive responses from well-known American actors, but that they can't say more because of contracts and all that. He also says that the people in Iceland still believe in elves (!!!) and supernatural creatures. When the main road out of Reykjavik (Iceland's capitol) were to be changed, a large amount of resources where used to move a huge rock to the side, 'cause elves supposedly lived in it. Erik Gustavson says that he is also going to make a movie named "IL NORVEGESE" about the author Henrik Ibsen's stay in Italy in 1867, but this project doesn't even interest us Norwegian movie buffs, but anyway. I hope this was interesting news.

GERMANY

* From Simplicius Simplicissimus : Here's another tidbit of info, this time about the 18th Filmfestival Munich (the second biggest festival in Germany after the Berlinale). From http://www.moviedata.de I took this review about DOPPELPACK (formerly known as BESSER ALS BIER) which was shown on the 18th Filmfestival Munich and tried to translate it (taking a few licences): "We don't have dates and don't need any" - that's the tagline and a quote from Matthias Lehmann's first feature film 'Doppel-pack' (working title: 'Besser als Bier'). Any yet, since his award-winning shortfilm 'Pas de deux' he probably has had more dates than he really wanted. While 'Pas de deux' already was looking back on the carefree time of youth, the long version 'Doppelpack' is even more laconic, almost a little sad. But just a little bit, because it is a comedy by rights. Lehmann wanted, as he says, to capture the magic of those days where nothing really happens and still you're drunk in the evening. Or: the magic of those days "where I didn't have any dates and didn't need any". It's the actors who give Lehmann's personal retrospection humour and tension. Eckhard Preuss (Lehmi), who also collabo- rated on the script, is the taciturn, stubborn, and shy type of person, while Markus Knüfken (Hoffi) perfectly embodies the ever cheerful tumbler-doll with an irresistible smile. With 'Doppelpack' they prove that they belong to Germany's best actors. The often long dialogue sequences (sometimes 3 minutes without any cuts) never appear artificial or affected; they have their characters internalised. Buddy-ism in perfection, something which is rarely achieved in a German film. And there is another main character: Lehmann's hometown Dortmund. The director of photography Jo Heim accompanies Hoffi and Lehmi through this city with a camera that never draws attention to itself and perfectly serves the story. Oh yes, the story. What is 'Doppelpack' all about, you may ask? One morning the likeable, yet dim-witted Lehmi & Hoffi wake up in the zoo of Dortmund amongst some buffalos. They take break- fast at mom's. Hoffi announces that he wants to make a passport photo of himself as a birthday present for his sister Petra. In the evening they want to go to a punk music concert. In between they go through an odyssey with the stages "beer in the park", "dreamwomen", "Jägermeister", "drinking coffee with the lady", "Horst and his shitting problem", "Pommesbude" and a few more. Sound simple, but as a viewer you relish these trifles which Lehmann stages brilliantly with love for details, for his actors and for his hometown. He has the courage to tell his story about "real" people with a dramaturgy that defies the established rules. Let's hope that the film becomes a success so that Leh- mann will get the money to realize his dream project: Lehmi and Hoffi fall through a dimension-hole into a LOTR-like fantasy world. That's what we want to see! Some other new German films which became audience favourites at the Munich Filmfestival: - EINE HAND VOLL GRAS (by Roland Suso Richter), an edgy thriller about a 10-year old Kurd who is (ab)used as a drug-courier by his relatives in Germany. A former cop who's working as a taxi- driver befriends him and tries to tear him away from the clutches of the drug dealers. - KANAK ATTACK, the aforementioned, very cool gangster-film by Lars Becker. - VERGISS AMERIKA (the debut of Vanessa Jopp) tells about the hopes and dreams of three young adults in a hicktown in East-Germany. More on these and other German films can be found at this site: www.german-cinema.de

UK

* From Screendaily : UK actor Ian Holm is to play Napoleon in FilmFour's The Emperor's New Clothes, a historical fantasy being produced by The Full Monty's Uberto Pasolini and directed by Palookaville's Alan Taylor. Pasolini's UK production outfit Redwave Films confirmed that Holm, whose credits include The Madness Of King George, is to appear alongside Iben Hjejle of High Fidelity and Mifune. Adapted from the novel The Death Of Napoleon, the story tells how Napoleon did not die in exile but returned to France in disguise to reclaim his throne. On his return, Napoleon finds that the battleground of Waterloo has become a theme park and that Paris asylums are full of delusional Bonapartes. The UK's FilmFour is financing the project, which is set to shoot from September on location in Italy for nine weeks. James Wilson, deputy head of production at FilmFour, brought the project to the company.

* And now from the too rare Meat Takeshi... : Hey News Hounds, Meat Takeshi here with some gossip gleaned from a variety of sources from the UK :

"Harry Potter & The Philosophers Stone" (sorry Sorcerers if your American). The question surrounding this film is who is Jamie Bell? The young actor garnering rave reviews at Cannes for his role alongside Julie Walters in Dancer, is, according to Empire Magazine (July Issue) up for the role of the titular mage. In related Potter news, The Guardian on the 30th June reports that Canterbury Cathedral have refused permission to Warner's to transform the sacred (If your a Christian) monument into the school Hogwarts.

Hush, hush Aardman rumours, not confirmed, or printed anywhere, Michael Caine is up for vocal duties on Tortoise & The Hare, spotted having lunch in Bristol. Wallace & Gromit will be the third feature as part of their 5-picture deal with Dreamworks. Dependent on takings, as it's on its way to $100 Mill in the US there's a good chance, the fourth feature could be a Chicken Run sequel. Incidentally Chicken Run is the first film I've seen in the UK that elicited a round of applause from its audience at several points throughout the film and at its conclusion. We're a very reserved bunch, what, what, and the concept of clapping a piece of canvas with moving images on is very strange to us.

The Guardian also reports that Liverpool city council is up in arms (we Brits always seem to be at the moment) over Mel's Patriot. Liverpool's Mayor, Edwin Clein, is demanding a public apology over the portrayal of Banastre Tarleton in the film as a bloodthirsty butcher who enjoys infanticide. Tarleton who returned from America in 1782 was celebrated as hero in Liverpool and went on to represent the city in Parliament for 20 years. Bet he has no Scouse accent in the film.

An interview with Omar Epps in this months Empire, reveals that Takeshi Kitano (Who clearly thieved my pseudonym) has just wrapped Brother his first English language film set in LA. Hopefully I will get to see Kikujiro and the making of film Jam Session, when they open at my local Art House in a couple of weeks and will send word. Meat Takeshi, who is personally up in arms over the fact that Emmerich and Devlin are still permitted to make films.

* Jason sent us this report which could be depressing if it was really true; but hopefully it's only singer chit-chat : I was watching Saturday Morning TV this weekend when Ronan Keating of Boyzone fame was plugging his latest single. He was asked by one of the presenters if he fancied progressing his career into films. His reply was that he'd been in LA for a couple of months looking at scripts but nothing had caught his attention, he then went on to say that the film he would most like to do is "Mission Impossible 3". I don't know if this means he's seen a script and is interested or if it was a flippant remark. I hate it when pop stars use there star status to inflict themselves upon on the big screen.

THE OZYMANDIAS CORNER

Do I need to introduce THE man ?? Guess not... this week, it's a real festival of news from everywhere... so enjoy !

* Hey guys, First off my heartiest congratulations to Edgard on France winning Euro 2000, best to Father Geek on Sister Satan's little one and a great 4th of July to our friends in Austin..... Don't know if this one has surfaced your side of the Atlantic yet - it comes from the Press Association in London: Patrick Stewart, who plays Captain Jean Luc Picard in Star Trek, has said that a 10th Trekkie movie is in the works and he's going to be in it. The new film will feature the crew of The Next Generation, Stewart told SCI FI Wire www.scifi.com Stewart said talks with Star Trek's producer, Rick Berman, were continuing. "A director has not been selected. We're really at the very earliest stages if creating a possible story for this film and perhaps in a couple of months, I will have more to say," said Stewart. From Empire Online http://www.empireonline.co.uk The tenth installment of the Star Trek series, tentatively titled Star Trek X, has a writer confirmed, the official Star Trek website revealed. It's John Logan, whose previous credits include Bats and, according to the site, "work on the screenplays for "Any Given Sunday" and "Gladiator". Executive producer Rick Berman told Star Trek Communicator magazine that the movie will be, "a very action-oriented story that revolves around a remarkable villain. A higher percentage of this film will take place in outer space than in our previous films." The Next Generation cast will star, but no official plot details have been announced. (Muad'Dib (from Ananova source) also confirmed that story)

* This one also from the PA: Soccer hardman-turned-actor Vinnie Jones has set himself a new goal - losing his English accent. The star, who shot to big screen fame in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, told Radio Times he is working with a voice coach to acquire an American accent. "I'm going to work really hard, let the next two films come out, sit back and see what offers arrive," he said. "I want to be a major player and have everything that comes with that. My goal is an Oscar. It has to be." He added: "Hopefully, 30 movies down the line I might get offers of 20 million, but I'm not talking tomorrow, know what I mean?" Jones, currently starring with Nicolas Cage in Gone in 60 Seconds, said he decided to hire the voice coach after being refused a part in John Travolta's next film because he sounded too English.

* This one from our freinds at Showbiz Ireland www.showbizireland.com : Woody to honour the Fleadh... Ex-Cheers star Woody Harrelson will be guest of honour at the Galway Film Fleadh this month. Woody-who played Woody Boyd in the long-running TV comedy will introduce a documentary about cannabis, which he narrates, called Grass. The Fleadh is to screen 60 films. It opens with the world premiere of Rat, by director Steve Barron, a black comedy starring Father Ted actor Frank Kelly with music by Bob Geldof. And it is due to close with the long-awaited debut of Kevin Liddy's Country, a powerful drama about the tensions between locals and travelers. Festival spokeswomen Paula Shield said: "Another highlight from this year's packed programme is the Irish premiere of Borstal Boy, a first feature from theatre director and author Peter Sharidan."

I'm putting the call out now - if anyone who's attending the Fleadh wants to write reports or just send info to Euro AICN then let me know at the address below!

* I know the original story was possted last week but now it looks as if Tony Hopkins may be getting involved.... From the PA: Sir Anthony Hopkins and Rhys Ifans are tipped to team up in Tower, a £7 million movie drama based on the true story about Welsh coal miners who took on the Government and won. Sir Anthony, who has claimed American citizenship, badly wanted to find a truly Welsh story to bring him back to the UK and he told friends that the account of the closure of the last deep mine in the Rhonda Valley was deeply moving.The 239 miners organised an international campaign to fend off the Tory government in 1994 and buy out the mine's owners. The Welsh acting star, who is still pencilled in to make the sequel to Silence of the Lambs, will star in Tower as a recently retired miner who leads the legion of younger workers on a march to Westminster. Ifans, who starred in Notting Hill, plays the slightly wild, most passionate and militant of the labour force. The film is being made by Working Title who created Notting Hill, Four Weddings and Elizabeth. Colin Welland, who penned Chariots of Fire, has scripted the story .

* Chicken run takes £4m at opening weekend Animated movie Chicken Run had one of the top 20 biggest openings of all time at the UK box office - grossing nearly £4 million. The film, which marks the big screen debut of Wallace and Gromit creators Aardman Animations, soared in at number one this weekend. Its UK opening was more lucrative than those of US blockbuster The Matrix or home-grown hit Notting Hill, which went on to become the biggest grossing British film of all time. Chicken Run's huge success here comes a week after it scooped £11.5 million in its first three days in America, where it was narrowly held off the top spot by new Jim Carrey comedy Me, Myself and Irene.A spokeswoman for the film's UK backers Pathe said: "It's been an absolutely fantastic weekend for Chicken Run in Britain, so we're absolutely delighted. The film made £3,848,755, putting it among the top 20 openers of all time." She added that early indications suggested that, by the end of America's Fourth of July Bank Holiday celebrations on Wednesday, the movie will have made around 50 million dollars across the Atlantic. Chicken Run, based loosely on classic Steve McQueen war movie The Great Escape, features the voices of Hollywood idol Mel Gibson and Brits Miranda Richardson, Jane Horrocks and Julia Sawalha. It is the first of five full-length films to be made by Bristol-based Aardman in partnership with Steve Spielberg's Dreamworks company. Until now, the firm has been best known for the work of three-times Oscar winner Nick Park, creator of Wensleydale-loving Wallace and his faithful dog Gromit. Last week, Chicken Run attracted stars of the calibre of Sir Sean Connery to its premiere in London's West End.

* The latest from Empire Online www.empireonline suggests that more casting work is afoot from the new Gilliam flick: Three more principal actors have signed to Terry Gilliam's The Man Who Killed Don Quixote - all of them British. Miranda Richardson, Christopher Eccleston and Bill Paterson are to join Johnny Depp and his wife Vanessa Paradis in the movie which begins filming this September, reports ScreenDaily.com. The three British actors will appear in the modern-day segment of the film in which Depp plays a modern-day advertising executive who somehow ends up in the 17th century. Richardson will play Depp's boss's wife, Eccleston a psychiatrist and Paterson will be a film director.

* Looks like my fave actress in the whole wide world is branching out.... Wonder if she has a job for me (he says wistfully....) From the BBC : Actress Kate Winslet and husband Jim Threapleton are hoping to boost the British film industry with their new production company. Based at Shepperton Studios in Surrey, Telltale Films was initially formed about a year ago to develop and produce UK and European-based films. But it is only recently that the company has signed an exclusive first-look deal with sales firm Intermedia, which will distribute the finished features worldwide. Winslet, 25, who most recently starred in Holy Smoke with Harvey Keitel, said she and Threapleton were looking forward to the challenge of developing their own projects. "We are both enjoying the exciting depth of writing on offer in the UK and believe we have a number of strong ideas that, with work, will make powerful films," she told Hollywood trade magazine Variety. Speaking to BBC News Online, Jim Threapleton confirmed the company was looking to develop British talent - but added they saw the outfit as part of the wider European industry. "The British issue is very important but we realise that we can't isolate ourselves in this business if there is going to be any chance of trying to compete with the US film industry," he said. The 26-year-old said they formed the outfit to have greater control over their careers.

* Gentlemen, Anthing the lady has to say about anything is good for me.... :-) From popcorn.co.uk: With her reputation for tattoos, knives and a hell-raising lifestyle, it's no surprise to find Angelina Jolie enjoying life on the set of 'Tomb Raider'. And she tells Popcorn that she particularly likes the physical side of the role. "I'm learning to do so many things," the 'Girl, Interrupted' star explained at the UK premiere of 'Mission: Impossible 2'. "I just was doing bungee-ballet today and they are getting me on a motorcycle again and knife-throwing, and I'm learning about all different weapons and kick-boxing." Should come in handy in downtown LA.Jolie is, of course, starring as the on-screen embodiment of every man's favourite computer chick, Lara Croft, and the role has required the actress to bulk up. "I never really do this," Jolie notes, "but it should be funny when I go home, because I am certainly looking different every day." She adds that the downside is she's "starting to get really aggressive". Now there's a scary thought. Working in London means Jolie has had to spend time away from her new husband, Billy Bob Thornton, but the 25-year-old says she won't be working away from home after 'Tomb Raider'.When the couple do get to spend some time with each other, it sounds like they're going to be living in a bizarre movie 'Twilight Zone'. Thornton is currently working on the Coen brothers' 1940s-set film noir pic 'The Barber Movie', and Jolie says they're both speaking different languages at the moment. "It's like every once in a while I'm saying 'lovely' or 'a bit of that', and he's going, 'What are you saying?' I'm picking up the English, and he's saying things like 'dandy' and words that are from the '40s."It's like living in a black and white movie," she continues. "So it's kinda like Lara Croft and a guy from the 40s in a black and white movie are going to be in bed together in 24 hours. It's going to be odd." You said it, girl.

* This looks like it could be one well worth looking out for - the Booker prize winning novel and the director of the excellent TV mini series Longitude (Jeremy Irons, Michael Gambon) From popcorn.co.uk: Charles Sturridge has signed up to direct an adaptation of JM Coetzee's Booker Prize-winning novel 'Disgrace'. The book, set in South Africa, tells the story of a middle-aged university lecturer who is disgraced after conducting an affair with a student. Sturridge, who directed the TV film 'Longitude' - based on Dava Sobel's book - and the movie 'FairyTale: A True Story', is looking forward to his next project, describing it as "a film for the new century" that is "adult, violent, emotionally powerful and truly original". The options for Coetzee's novel were picked up by Granada Film (who also worked with Sturridge on 'Longitude') alongside Sturridge's Firstsight Film company.

* From popcorn.co.uk: It's been on the cards for a while now, but BAFTA has officially announced that its annual film awards ceremony is to take place before the Oscars from 2001. The Orange British Academy Film Awards will be held on February 25, 2001, with nominations to be announced on January 31. According to the Academy, any film released in 2000 is eligible for the competition, as are those due for release in early 2001. The British ceremony has traditionally been held several weeks after the Oscars and is often seen as almost an exact repeat of the US show. Despite that, this year's event was considered the biggest yet, with stars such as Michael Caine, Kevin Spacey and Mena Suvari all attending. The Academy believes it will "undoubtedly attract even more international talent to the ceremony, increasing its stature and influence considerably".

* Sean Connery was knighted by Queen Elizabeth. Veteran James Bond actor Sean Connery has been knighted by the Queen, two years after he was reportedly denied a knighthood because of his passionate Scottish nationalism. Wearing full highland dress in the dark green MacLeod tartan, 'Sir Sean' emerged from the hour-long ceremony at Edinburgh's Holyrood Palace to meet reporters and cheering crowds who had gathered to see him. His wife Micheline and brother Neil were by his side. "It's one of the proudest days of my life," said a beaming Connery, 69, proudly showing off the gold medal on its bright red sash. "It means a great deal for it to happen in Scotland." Wednesday's ceremony was the only time in the year that the queen awards honours in Scotland. Connery's knighthood was announced in the queen's New Year's Honours list. But many believe the Hollywood star should have been honoured before now. In 1998, he was at the heart of a bitter political row after it was widely reported the Labour party had blocked plans to award him a knighthood. The 007 actor is a high-profile supporter of the Scottish National Party, now the official opposition in the Scottish Parliament, and a vocal campaigner for an independent Scotland. But Sir Sean refused to comment about his long wait. The return to his native Edinburgh for the knighthood is a poignant reminder of Connery's extraordinary rise from a poor upbringing to global superstardom as the suave British secret agent, James Bond. He grew up in a four-storey tenement in Edinburgh, working as a milkman on a horse- drawn float before serving a three-year stint in the Royal Navy. His move into acting followed and he quickly shot to stardom 40 years ago in the first Bond film, Dr No. But despite his love for Scotland the star now lives in Marbella, Spain. (Thanks also to BC for that story)

* Further confirmations on two upcoming movies, bith from Popcorn.co.uk: It may not have the catchiest name in the world, but John Woo assures us that the title for his next film, 'Windtalkers', does make sense. "It's a phrase from the Indian Navajo tribe," Woo explains. "The Navajo people, for their language, they never had it written. And they used it as a code-talker [in World War II], that's why the Japanese couldn't break it." 'Windtalkers' stars two men who are no strangers to John Woo - 'Face/Off' star Nicolas Cage and 'Broken Arrow' star Christian Slater - plus a relative unknown, Adam Beach, in the pivotal role of a Navajo Indian. According to Woo, the film is a "World War II movie about the Marines, and how they were using this Indian tribe as a code-talker. So it's a story about these two guys, how they work together, learning from each other and how they become friends. The whole film is about friendship, it's a sad movie." The film starts shooting in Hawaii next month, hot on the heals of Michael Bay's WWII epic, 'Pearl Harbor'. Woo points out that although the film will contain his trademark action sequences and explosions, "It's a war movie, so the action has got to be very realistic and powerful." Liam Neeson has confirmed that he's in final negotiations to star in Martin Scorsese's new £100million picture, 'Gangs Of New York'. Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz are already attached to the period crime movie and, speaking at the Taormina Film Festival, Neeson revealed that "I am pretty sure I will be in 'Gangs' as the character who plays Leonardo DiCaprio's father".Shooting on the Disney-funded movie is due to begin next month at Rome's Cinecitta Studios, and Oscar-winning Italian costume designer Dante Ferretti (who previously worked with the director on 'Kundun') is hard at work recreating 19th-century New York. Neeson said that, if all goes well and a deal is struck, he will be filming at Cinecitta this autumn.

Mail me at MY BRAND NEW ADDRESS: ozymandias@dublin.com

MISCELLANEOUS

* Don't know what to think about that one as it's quite short, but if it's true this could be REALLY great... From Rizla : Just heard that a company called "dark and light" just received a £20m contract to do the CGI for War of the Worlds movie...heard this 3rd hand so not positive.

* Cyrano sent us this little advice (I can't comment on it as I never heard about that film... AICN readers who know, please let us know too) : go get a movie called THE DELIVERY (made in 1999). This movie goes straight-to-video here in USA this month, but we think it is what the TAXI movies would have been if the pre-5eELEMENT Besson who made LEON had himself made TAXI in 1995.

Well that's it folks... remember if you know something about European movies, or about Movies from Europe (which is the samething, I know, but then my conclusion seems longer), send us everything directly to the Euro AICN Offices at Euro-AICN@yahoo.com here in beautiful Paris, France.