Written by Lars Von Trier (DANCER IN THE DARK, DOGVILLE) who with director Thomas Vinterberg, were the initiators of the dogma rules of filmmaking, DEAR WENDY is a film that wisely abandons the strict restrictions to include cross-cutting, extensive voiceovers, artificial lighting and song/music by cult band the Zombies.  DEAR WENDY is effective filmmaking for primarily those factors.  The Danish town of Filmbyen just outside of Copenhagen stands in for a typical western American town.

WENDY is the name of the gun used by a pacifist, the young Dick Dandelion (BILLY ELIOT’s Jamie Bell).  Von Trier’s script carefully charts the purchase of what Dick thought was a toy to his (literal) marriage to Wendy.  DEAR WENDY is poetic for the sweet nothings Dick coos to her.  The story concerns Dick’s group of gun-totting supposedly also pacifist friends who call themselves the Dandies.  Their aim is to learn all they can about guns, in the privacy of an abandoned mine.  No filming can be done, Dogma style with no artificial light here.  The Dandies set their rules that among other things, each member has a bonding ceremony with their weapon, and that no shooting should take place outside the clubhouse etc.  The Dandies are basically losers who hold their self-esteem high only because of their newly found confidence from the guns carried.

METAL: A HEADBANGER’S JOURNEY is a comprehensive study of heavy metal culture.  One of the directors, Sam Dunn sets out to prove that these METAL rockers are smart and intelligent (though not all of them obviously are) and that the music is not just heard by social rejects.  Extensive interviews are conducted with the likes of Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath), Bruce Dickenson (Iron Maiden), Alice Cooper, Vince Neil (Motley Crue) among others, the most charismatic of all being Dee Snider of Twisted Sister. 

Though THE THREE BURIALS OF MELQUIADES ESTRADA is, according to director Tommy Lee Jones a study of emotional, psychological, spiritual and social implications of the U.S and Mexican borders separating two highly different cultures, the film can also be looked upon as the antithesis of Woody Allen’s MATCH POINT – both of which films premiered at Cannes last year.  In MATCH POINT, the murderer gains from his good luck.  In THREE BURIALS, every character is a victim of unforeseen circumstances, which in the case of the story happens to be the worst luck that can befall an innocent human being.  Melquiades Estrada is accidentally shot.  The culprit is border patrolman, Mike Norton (Barry Pepper – the bible quoting sniper in SAVING PRIVATE RYAN) whose married life is mired in boredom.  By chance, local ranch foreman Pete Perkins (Tommy Lee Jones) discovers who killed his best friend, who again he has promised, out of the blue, to grant his last wish which is to be buried back in a little known spot in Mexico.  So the main story has Pete kidnapping Mike and with Estrada’s corpse in tow, heading out to the new burial ground.

Coming to terms with the drug past!  This recurring theme is given a fresh look in LITTLE FISH, Aussie style.  Tracy Heart (Cate Blanchett), is an ex-addict, living with her non too tolerant mother, Janelle (Noni Hazlehurst) in the Little Saigon (Vietnamese district) of Sydney.  Her ex-boyfriend, Jonny (Dustin Nguyen) is Vietnamese and she scrapes a living by working in the neighbourhood video store.  But all hopes are on poor Tracy as she struggles to get her act together by getting a loan to start a business.  But other complications arise in the form of her junkie stepfather (the excellent Hugo Weaving) and Jonny, who is still in the business.

If you are not black folk, you would probably be wondering who Tyler Perry is.  But before the starting credits have finished rolling, his name has been flashed no less than six times on the screen.  A Tyler Perry production company, a Tyler Perry production, starring Tyler Perry, music by you-know-who, produced by again the same guy and then written and directed by Tyler Perry.