NEW RELEASES - June 27 HIGHLIGHTS

Caché (2005).

Winner of the Best Director, Fipresci (critics') prize and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at Cannes last year, Michael Haneke's Caché has also become what for these days is an extreme rarity, a non-English language box office hit in the US and the UK. The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw declares it a "masterpiece: a compelling politico-psychological essay about the denial and guilt mixed into the foundations of western prosperity."

With Daniel Auteuil and Juliette Binoche.

Ultraviolet (2006).

Take Cassavetes's Gloria, set it in the future, add mutants and fountains of CGI, cast Milla Jovovich, and here ya go.

Find Me Guilty (2006).

"What separates this courtroom drama ever so slightly from all the rest certainly isn't the narrative structure but the circumstances," wrote David Hudson when he caught Find Me Guilty at the Berlin Film Festival in February. "Based on the actual longest criminal trial in US history, Guilty compresses 21 months of 'Your witness' and 'No more questions, your Honor' into a couple of hours with few excursions elsewhere. And yet things bump along pretty smoothly.

"The real question at the heart of the project is, Can Vin Diesel pull it off? As Giacomo 'Jackie Dee' DiNorscio, the only one of 20 members of the Lucchese family who decides to forgo an attorney and defend himself (putting the other 19 at considerable risk, since the verdict on all 76 charges will turn on whether or not they've conspired to commit various crimes), the film rests on his doughy shoulders. You sense it's not much of a stretch for Diesel, but yes, he pulls it off. Jackie's robust gut tells him to win the jury over with his corny and slightly racy humor and then, what d'ya know, slip just enough smarts out from under the just-a-guy act to outwit the prosecution. Three performances, though, are particularly worth mentioning: Alex Rocco is chilling as, basically, the godfather; Peter Dinklage, as the first on the family's team of lawyers to realize that, while Jackie's a loose cannon, he may also be their best shot; and Ron Silver is so winning as the judge he had me forgetting all about the Republican Convention. For a few minutes there, anyway."

Madea's Family Reunion (2006).

Tyler Perry is a one-man pop cultural phenomenon. His "gospel comedies are crude and stagy; as moralizing, they're earnest and exploitative in ways that can't be disentangled," writes Jim Ridley in the Voice. "But for pure schizophrenia - a bone-jarring collision of slapstick, problem drama, wish-fulfillment fantasy, and come-to-Jesus sermonizing - they're a more honest expression of the nation's inner tumult than a lot of better movies."

Annapolis (2006).

From Justin Lin comes a "trite movie about a working-class kid with big dreams" that's "no winner, but you can't help rooting for it anyway." (Salon's Stephanie Zacharek)

Imagine Me & You (2005).

Frankly, this one doesn't appeal to too many critics, but IMDb users are giving it a 6.8 rating nonetheless.

The Films of Toshiaki Toyoda (2001 - 2003).

Collected here are Blue Spring, a "bleak portrait of life at perhaps the worst high school in Japan," writes SBurnham, and 9 Souls, "a larky, deeply poetic farce in which even the simplest scenes have a fascinating iconic charm," writes Michael Atkinson in the Village Voice.

Angel Guts: Nami (1979).

Giving it a score of 9 out of 10, DVD Times writes that Nami, the entry in the Angel Guts series that "refuses to trivialize serious issues such as rape," is "an arduous piece of psychological torture. Effectively directed with elements of horror, sadism and even humour it traverses its subject matter carefully and highlights its complexities in a hard hitting but effective manner."

Colt 38 Special Squad (1976).

Here's how NoShame describes their latest release: "Released in Italy as Quelli della Calibro 38 ('Those of the 38 Caliber'), Colt 38 Special Squad was the last film directed by Massimo Dallamano and is a no-holds-barred poliziotteschi that's an absolute winner on all fronts: a great cast ([Ivan] Rassimov and [Marcel] Bozzuffi tear up the town in their only screen pairing), high octane action, unflinching violence and a rousing Euro-funk score from maestro Stelvio Cipriani, plus a surprise guest appearance by Grace Jones!"

Convoy Busters (1976).

Once again, NoShame: "Known in Italy as Un Poliziotto Scomodo ('The Inconvenient Cop'), Convoy Busters features Maurizio Merli in one of his last poliziotteschi assignments. Gorgeous Olga Karlatos and the ever-evil Massimo Serrato costar in a fast-paced action vehicle fueled by slashed throats, charred corpses and 100% Italian machismo, directed by Stelvio Massi and with a cool Euro-Cult score by Stelvio Cipriani.

"NoShame is proud to present this rare latter day poliziotteschi in an eye-popping transfer, in its original aspect ratio with exclusive interviews with actors and filmmakers."

Yakuza Graveyard (1976).

"[Kinji] Fukasaku's considerable strengths and rather less significant limitations as a film-maker are once again highlighted by Yakuza Graveyard," writes K.H. Brown for Kinocite. "His facility for working on location using naturalistic lighting - sometimes too bright, sometimes too dark - frenetic hand-held camera work and ability to draw honest, believable performances from his actors, combine to really propel the viewer into the action, conveying strong feelings of immediacy and sponteneity. All told, he makes 'foreign films' that the person who doesn't like foreign films could appreciate - so long as they don't mind lots of violence."

Danger After Dark Collection (2002 - 2003).

Includes Suicide Club, Moon Child and 2LDK.

100 Percent Arabica (2002 - 2003).

"[T]he conflict in Mahmoud Zemmouri's 100 Percent Arabica is an old one," writes Stephen Holden in the New York Times, "familiar from innumerable rock 'n' roll, twist and disco movies in which young people discover and create a new sound or dance style that alarms, then seduces their wary elders. The message rings loud: you can't stop the music, and woe to those who try. The irresistible sound in this particular variation on the theme is the fusion of Algerian rai (pronounced rye) and Western rap and European pop into a sensual but lyrically pointed trance music that is extremely catchy and rhythmically sophisticated."

My Name Was Sabina Spielrein (2003).

"Using a combination of straightforward narration, voice-over readings of [Freud, Jung and Spielrein's] correspondences, dramatic reenactments of key events, and Ken Burns-style shots of old photographs, parchments, and knickknacks," writes Nick Schager at Slant, "[Elizabeth] Marton's quasi-documentary exhibits a gauzy, dreamlike atmosphere that taps into Freud's fascination with the bond between slumbering subconscious fantasies and reality."

Evil (2003).

"Evil, a well-made Swedish film directed by Mikael Hafstrom and set at an elite boys' secondary school in the mid-1950's, illustrates how cruelties exacted in the name of initiation are perpetuated year after year in a closed system of tit-for-tat violence," writes Stephen Holden in the New York Times. "The movie is as blunt as its title."

We Jam Econo: The Story of the Minutemen (2005).

A new film aims to school the world about the power of the seminal punk band The Minutemen, whose creative force was at its very peak when brought to a tragic halt. We Jam Econo is a sorely overdue eulogy of sorts; last year, Craig Phillips got co-director Tim Irwin on the phone to talk about the making of the film and the power of the music.

Why We Fight (2004).

In February, Hannah Eaves spoke with director Eugene Jarecki about his documentary, Why We Fight, winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, which addresses, in part, how the US ended up in Iraq. She also asks what it is he admires in Dwight Eisenhower and Frank Capra.

The Fire Next Time (1976).

"The people of the Flathead Valley in Montana were used to thinking they live in 'the last best place in America,'" writes PBS. "Kalispell, the county seat and valley's largest town, means 'prairie above the lake.' But as revealed by Patrice O'Neill's new film, The Fire Next Time, the last best place may become the next worst flashpoint in the country's running battle between the forces of economic development, environmental activism, and anti-government extremism."

Aging Out (2003).

The award-winning documentary Aging Out follows young people as they exit foster care and become parents, battle drug addiction, face homelessness, and even end up in jail. Despite their struggles, the film also shows these teenagers using the resiliency they developed during their years 'in the system' to take control of their lives.

The Witch's Mirror (1960).

A "truly surreal movie-watching experience," writes Dave Sindelar at Scifilm. "It's all part of the fun of dipping into the wide wonderful world of Mexican horror, where logic as we understand it is truly thrown to the winds. Bizarre, hallucinatory, jaw-dropping, and in its own weird way, essential."

Strangers With Candy: The Complete Series (1999 - 2000).

Brace yourself for movie, coming soon to a theater near you, by revisiting Amy Sedaris, Stephen Colbert and all your old... friends?

Love Hina: Anime Legends Complete Collection (2006).

"As far as 'harem' anime goes, this is the best I've seen," writes jeffs. "The strength of the series really lies in the characters."

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