CriterionForum's Poll of the Best Films of the Aughts

Last July, I posted the results of CriterionForum's user poll of the best films of the 1990s, which placed Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man at the top of the rankings. Last month, they caught up with the 00's, and predictably, it went neck and neck between Wong Kar-wai's In the Mood for Love and David Lynch's Mulholland Drive (like so many others). We'll see how things line up in five or so years. Michael Haneke had the most showings on the list, with four of his films representing; he also has claim to the only official 2009 film to make the list as well. Speaking of '00 lists, I had promised a defense/explanation/overview of my own Decade List a while back. I've begun and abandoned it at least three times, and while I have two people barking up my tree in regard to this (you know who you are, and I do thank you), I thought I'd see if that was still of any interest. I would like to complete it, and I'm probably better suited to do so after spending nearly two months away from it. Let me know. The results of the CriterionForum poll are below.

01. In the Mood for Love, d. Wong Kar-wai, Hong Kong/France
02. Mulholland Drive, d. David Lynch, France/USA
03. Yi yi, d. Edward Yang, Taiwan/Japan
04. The Royal Tenenbaums, d. Wes Anderson, USA
05. Punch-Drunk Love, d. Paul Thomas Anderson, USA
06. Werckmeister Harmonies [Werckmeister harmóniák], d. Béla Tarr, Ágnes Hranitzky, Hungary/Italy/Germany/France
07. The New World, d. Terrence Malick, USA
08. There Will Be Blood, d. Paul Thomas Anderson, USA
09. Zodiac, d. David Fincher, USA
10. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, d. Michel Gondry, USA

11. Spirited Away, d. Hayao Miyazaki, Japan
12. Goodbye, Dragon Inn, d. Tsai Ming-liang, Taiwan
13. Caché, d. Michael Haneke, France/Austria/Germany/Italy
14. Dogville, d. Lars von Trier, Denmark/Sweden/Norway/Finland/UK/France/Germany/Netherlands
15. INLAND EMPIRE, d. David Lynch, USA/Poland/France
16. Talk to Her [Hable con ella], d. Pedro Almodóvar, Spain
17. No Country for Old Men, d. Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, USA
18. Elephant, d. Gus Van Sant, USA
19. Memories of Murder, d. Bong Joon-ho, South Korea
20. The Intruder [L'intrus], d. Claire Denis, France

21. Platform, d. Jia Zhang-ke, China/Hong Kong/Japan/France
22. Children of Men, d. Alfonso Cuarón, UK/USA/Spain
23. The Son [Le fils], d. Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Belgium/France
24. Before Sunset, d. Richard Linklater, USA
25. Y tu mamá también, d. Alfonso Cuarón, Mexico
26. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, d. Andrew Dominik, USA/Canada
27. Memento, d. Christopher Nolan, USA
28. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days [4 luni, 3 săptămâni şi 2 zile], d. Cristian Mungiu, Romania
29. A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, d. Steven Spielberg, USA
30. Grizzly Man, d. Werner Herzog, USA
30. Still Walking, d. Hirokazu Koreeda, Japan

32. 35 Shots of Rum [35 rhums], d. Claire Denis, France/Germany
33. A Christmas Tale [Un conte de Noël], d. Arnaud Desplechin, France
34. Syndromes and a Century, d. Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand/France/Austria
35. Tropical Malady, d. Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand/France/Germany/Italy
36. The World, d. Jia Zhang-ke, China/Japan/France
37. A History of Violence, d. David Cronenberg, USA/Germany
37. The White Ribbon [Das weiße Band], d. Michael Haneke, Austria/Germany/France/Italy
39. Summer Hours [L'heure d'été], d. Olivier Assayas, France
40. The Headless Woman [La mujer sin cabeza], d. Lucrecia Martel, Argentina/France/Italy/Spain

41. What Time Is It There?, d. Tsai Ming-liang, Taiwan/France
42. Russian Ark, d. Aleksandr Sokurov, Russia/Germany
43. Nobody Knows, d. Hirokazu Koreeda, Japan
44. You the Living [Du levande], d. Roy Andersson, Sweden/Germany/France/Denmark/Norway/Japan
45. La ciénaga, d. Lucrecia Martel, Argentina/France/Spain
46. Millennium Mambo, d. Hou Hsiao-hsien, Taiwan/France
46. The Piano Teacher [La pianiste], d. Michael Haneke, Austria/France
48. Friday Night [Vendredi soir], d. Claire Denis, France
48. The Gleaners & I [Les glaneurs et la glaneuse], d. Agnès Varda, France
50. Lost in Translation, d. Sofia Coppola, USA/Japan
50. Three Times, d. Hou Hsiao-hsien, Taiwan/France

52. 2046, d. Wong Kar-wai, Hong Kong/China/France/Germany
53. Let the Right One In [Låt den rätte komma in], d. Tomas Alfredson, Sweden
54. Miami Vice, d. Michael Mann, USA/Germany
55. The Return, d. Andrei Zvyagintsev, Russia
56. The Squid and the Whale, d. Noah Baumbach, USA
57. Lilya 4-ever [Lilja 4-ever], d. Lukas Moodysson, Sweden/Denmark
58. 25th Hour, d. Spike Lee, USA
59. Bad Education [La mala educación], d. Pedro Almodóvar, Spain
60. Amélie [Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain], d. Jean-Pierre Jeunet, France
60. Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, d. Hong Sang-soo, South Korea

62. Adaptation., d. Spike Jonze, USA
63. Code Unknown [Code inconnu: Récit incomplet de divers voyages], d. Michael Haneke, France/Germany/Romania
64. The Death of Mr. Lăzărescu [Moartea domnului Lăzărescu], d. Cristi Puiu, Romania
65. L'enfant, d. Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Belgium/France
66. The Man Who Wasn't There, d. Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, USA/UK
67. In the City of Sylvia [En la ciudad de Sylvia], d. José Luis Guerín, Spain/France
68. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, d. Wes Anderson, USA
69. Antichrist, d. Lars von Trier, Denmark/Germany/France/Sweden/Italy/Poland
69. Birth, d. Jonathan Glazer, USA/Germany

71. WALL•E, d. Andrew Stanton, USA
72. The Hurt Locker, d. Kathryn Bigelow, USA
73. Still Life, d. Jia Zhang-ke, China/Hong Kong
73. Who's Camus Anyway?, d. Mitsuo Yanagimachi, Japan
75. Margot at the Wedding, d. Noah Baumbach, USA
76. Woman Is the Future of Man, d. Hong Sang-soo, South Korea/France
77. Synecdoche, New York, d. Charlie Kaufman, USA
78. demonlover, d. Olivier Assayas, France
79. Kill Bill (Volumes 1 and 2), d. Quentin Tarantino
79. The Man Without a Past [Mies vailla menneisyyttä], d. Aki Kaurismäki, Finland/Germany/France

81. Eureka, d. Shinji Aoyama, Japan/France
82. I'm Not There, d. Todd Haynes, USA/Germany
83. Linda Linda Linda, d. Nobuhiro Yamashita, Japan
84. Paranoid Park, d. Gus Van Sant, France/USA
85. George Washington, d. David Gordon Green, USA
86. Morvern Callar, d. Lynne Ramsay, UK
87. Ghost World, d. Terry Zwigoff, USA/UK/Germany
88. The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada [Los tres entierros de Melquiades Estrada], d. Tommy Lee Jones, USA/France
88. Woman on the Beach, d. Hong Sang-soo, South Korea
90. All the Real Girls, d. David Gordon Green, USA

91. Mysterious Skin, d. Gregg Araki, USA/Netherlands
91. Wendy and Lucy, d. Kelly Reichardt, USA
93. Tokyo Sonata, d. Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Japan/Netherlands/Hong Kong
94. Pan's Labyrinth [El laberinto del Fauno], d. Guillermo del Toro, Mexico/Spain/USA
95. Brand Upon the Brain!, d. Guy Maddin, Canada/USA
95. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly [Le scaphandre et le papillon], d. Julian Schnabel, France/USA
95. Songs from the Second Floor [Sånger från andra våningen], d. Roy Andersson, Sweden/Norway/Denmark
98. Café Lumière, d. Hou Hsiao-hsien, Japan/Taiwan
98. Innocence, d. Lucile Hadzihalilovic, Belgium/France/UK
98. Pulse, d. Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Japan

Surpringly (or maybe it isn't), only five of the 100 aren't yet on DVD in the US. Though naturally, The White Ribbon and Still Walking are on their way; and Lilya 4-ever, while not for purchase, is available to rent through Netflix, leaving Eureka and In the City of Sylvia as the remaining two.

All My Friends: Millennium Mambo, Take 4: Blake Williams

Blake and I met somehow through the ol' blosophere. I typically assume it's related to Jacques Rivette, as most of my relationships with other like-minded film bloggers seem to stem from that (or maybe it comes later, I'm not sure). Blake is a Yankee residing in Canada, where he's a grad student at the University of Toronto. Please check out his blog R and G and B. His film list is a tentative one (like all of ours are), as he's waiting until the end of next year to publish the "official" one on his site. Thanks, Blake.

On Film: The first 5 films (maybe 6) I imagine will rank in my favorite 100 films on the day I die.

01. Inland Empire, 2006, d. David Lynch, USA/Poland/France

Basically, my favorite film. I kind of hate saying that about a David Lynch film, since he's like the weird director that college freshmen wig out over and tell all their friends to rent at the video store so they can watch their confused faces at the end and say that they should totally smoke out while watching it next time so they can understand it more. But alas, it is. Can't imagine many better things to do with 3 hours of my time than watch this film for the nth time.

02. Syndromes and a Century, 2006, d. Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand/France/Austria

Contains the single greatest shot I saw this decade, preceded by an hour and a half of relaxed, unstrained spirituality and whimsy (the good kind). Very funny, too.

03. Punch-Drunk Love, 2002, d. Paul Thomas Anderson, USA

The film that motivated me to devote a majority of my time to seeking out 'art cinema.' No film I have seen captures awkwardness - in most of its forms - as thoroughly and concisely. Not to mention the Jeremy Blake factor, making the film just that more uneasy.

04. RR, 2007, d. James Benning, USA/Germany

Last April, I took a 14-hour bus from Toronto to Boston to see this film (and a 22-hour trip back (#won'tdothatagain)) after missing it in the Toronto Film Festival. Basically, it was worth it, especially when it was followed by a wonderful QA with Benning. Could be the perfect structural film project, matching the speed, lengths of trains with the qualities of the reel, and the origin of the medium. Helps that every shot is beautifully framed.

05. Melancholia, 2008, d. Lav Diaz, Philippines

Not here because it's the longest film I've ever seen; I think that if it was edited down to 2 hours, retaining the key elements, it could still be in this position. One of the only things the length contributed was the possibility of fucking up an amazing idea by making it unnecessarily long, which didn't happen. Instead, what would be 'just another amazing cinematic experience' is drawn out to a euphoric, almost day-long immersion in role changes, mysticism, performance art, Tropical Malady-esque jungle hunts, and, naturally, melancholia (AKA, right up my alley).

06. In the City of Sylvia [En la ciudad de Sylvia], 2007, d. José Luis Guerín, Spain/France
07. Tropical Malady, 2004, d. Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand/France/Germany/Italy
08. La ciénaga, 2001, d. Lucrecia Martel, Argentina/France/Spain
09. The New World, 2005, d. Terrence Malick, USA/UK
10. The Gleaners & I [Les glaneurs et la glaneuse], 2000, d. Agnès Varda, France
11. Synecdoche, New York, 2008, d. Charlie Kaufman, USA
12. Code Unknown [Code inconnu: Récit incomplet de divers voyages], 2000, d. Michael Haneke, France/Germany/Romania
13. Dogville, 2003, d. Lars von Trier, Denmark/Sweden/UK/France/Germany/Norway/Finland/Netherlands
14. Mulholland Drive, 2001, d. David Lynch, USA/France
15. A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, 2001, d. Steven Spielberg, USA
16. Wild Grass [Les herbes folles], 2009, d. Alain Resnais, France/Italy
17. Talk to Her [Hable con ella], 2002, d. Pedro Almodóvar, Spain
18. Hairspray, 2007, d. Adam Shankman, USA/UK
19. About Schmidt, 2002, d. Alexander Payne, USA
20. There Will Be Blood, 2007, d. Paul Thomas Anderson, USA
21. 25th Hour, 2002, d. Spike Lee, USA
22. Colossal Youth [Juventude Em Marcha], 2006, d. Pedro Costa, Portugal/France/Switzerland
23. The Romance of Astrea and Celadon [Les amours d'Astrée et de Céladon], 2007, d. Eric Rohmer, France/Italy/Spain
24. Ratatouille, 2007, d. Brad Bird, USA
25. The Triplets of Belleville [Les triplettes de Belleville], 2003, d. Sylvain Chomet, Belgium/France/Canada/UK

On Music: Pardon the Pitchforkousness, but these are the 25 most played, post-1999 albums in my iTunes since 2006 (the last time I cleared out my Library and started fresh). It's a pretty accurate hierarchy, too, with the Kate Bush album having a play count nearly twice that of the second highest play count, Antony's debut.

01. Kate Bush - Aerial (2005)
02. Antony and The Johnsons - Antony and The Johnsons (2000)
03. Burial - Untrue (2007)
04. Antony and The Johnsons - I Am A Bird Now (2005)
05. Joanna Newsom - Ys (2006)
06. Joanna Newsom - The Milk-Eyed Mender (2004)
07. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago (2007)
08. The Fiery Furnaces - Blueberry Boat (2004)
09. The Microphones - Mount Eerie (2003)
10. Fever Ray - Fever Ray (2009)
11. Björk - Vespertine (2001)
12. Mount Eerie - Singers LP (2005)
13. Mount Eerie - Seven New Songs of Mount Eerie (2004)
14. Boards of Canada - Geogaddi (2002)
15. jj - jj n° 2 (2009)
16. Arcade Fire - Funeral (2004)
17. The Knife - Deep Cuts (2003)
18. Sam Amidon - All Is Well (2007)
19. Lindstrøm - Where You Go I Go (2008)
20. Akron/Family - Akron/Family (2005)
21. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois (2005)
22. Appaloosa - Easter Demos (2008)
23. Radical Face - Ghost (2007)
24. Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood (2006)
25. The Notwist - Neon Golden (2002)

All My Friends: Millennium Mambo, Take 1: Jason Huettner

Jason and I established a cyberspace amity based on two great mutual obsessions: PJ Harvey and queer cinema. He's my go-to man when it comes to PJ news and rumors, a job of no small importance for someone like me. He currently resides in New York City. I'm happy to have Jason as the first entry in this series. Neither of his lists are in preferential order.

On Music: "I hate lists that are aimed at developing some kind of consensus about art. Here are ten albums, in no particular order, released in the 00's that are essential to my 00's experience. This list isn't definitive at all (plenty of other 00's albums that I love).. but all are quality and have sentimental value. The music speaks for itself."

Life Without Buildings - Any Other City (DCBaltimore2012, 2001)
Diamanda Galás - Guilty, Guilty, Guilty (Mute, 2008)
Various Artists - Give Me Love: Songs of the Brokenhearted - Baghdad, 1925-1929 (Honest Jon's, 2008)
Scott Walker - The Drift (4AD, 2006)
Mayyors - Deads 12" (self-released, 2009)
A Frames - "1" (S-S Records, 2002)
Quasimoto - The Unseen (Stones Throw, 2000)
Stars of the Lid - And Their Refinement of the Decline (Kranky, 2007)
The Thing (with Joe McPhee) - She Knows... (Smalltown Superjazz, 2002)
Power Douglas - Pentecostal Fangbread (FiveSix Media, 2008)

On Film: "Again, sentimentality plays a big part here. Picking just ten is hard. I am prone to alarming lapses of taste in films."

Bad Education [La mala educación], 2004, d. Pedro Almodóvar, Spain
Brick, 2005, d. Rian Johnson, USA
Children of Men, 2006, d. Alfonso Cuarón, UK/USA/Japan
Dancer in the Dark, 2000, d. Lars von Trier, Denmark/Netherlands/Germany/France/USA/UK/Sweden/Finland/Iceland/Norway
Eastern Promises, 2007, d. David Cronenberg, UK/Canada
O Fantasma, 2000, d. João Pedro Rodrigues, Portugal
Mulholland Drive, 2001, d. David Lynch, France/USA
Notre musique, 2004, d. Jean-Luc Godard, France/Switzerland
Pan's Labyrinth [El laberinto del Fauno], 2006, d. Guillermo del Toro, Mexico/Spain/USA
The Proposition, 2005, d. John Hillcoat, Australia/UK
The Raspberry Reich, 2004, d. Bruce LaBruce, Germany/Canada
The Royal Tenenbaums, 2001, d. Wes Anderson, USA
Strange Circus, 2005, d. Sion Sono, Japan
There Will Be Blood, 2007, d. Paul Thomas Anderson, USA
Waltz with Bashir, 2008, d. Ari Folman, Israel/Germany/France/USA

Millennium Mambo, Part 2-ish

Two more big lists have been published asserting the finest films of the decade. The haughtier of the two came from The Toronto International Film Festival Cinematheque, which surveyed a group of "film curators, historians, and festival programmers" and named, in a surprise move, Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Syndromes and a Century the best film of the 2000s. I'm in agreement with almost their entire list, aside from Claire Denis' Beau travail (not because I don't absolutely adore the film, but because by my own regulations, it counts as a 1999 film) [Abbas Kiarostami's The Wind Will Carry Us falls into the same place for me], Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth (which is fine, but doesn't need to be that high) and Elephant, which should not be listed above Gerry (or Paranoid Park, which isn't on the list). I also don't have much affinity for I Don't Want to Sleep Alone, I'm Not There., Alexandra or Saraband (from what I remember of it), but that's part of the joy in lists like these, no? The list is as follows, with plenty of ties, the US distributor if applicable is listed after the title for assistance:

01. Syndromes and a Century, 2006, d. Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand/France/Austria, Strand Releasing

02. Platform, 2000, d. Jia Zhang-ke, China/Hong Kong/Japan/France, New Yorker Films

03. Still Life, 2006, d. Jia Zhang-ke, China/Hong Kong, New Yorker Films

04. Beau travail, 1999/2000, d. Claire Denis, France, New Yorker Films

05. In the Mood for Love, 2000, d. Wong Kar-wai, Hong Kong/China/France, USA Films/Criterion

06. Tropical Malady, 2004, d. Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand/France/Germany/Italy, Strand Releasing

07. (tie) The Death of Mr. Lăzărescu [Moartea domnului Lăzărescu], 2005, d. Cristi Puiu, Romania, Tartan Films
07. (tie) Werckmeister Harmonies [Werckmeister harmóniák], 2000, d. Béla Tarr, Ágnes Hranitzky, Hungary/Italy/Germany/France, Facets

08. Éloge de l'amour [In Praise of Love], 2001, d. Jean-Luc Godard, France/Switzerland, New Yorker Films

09. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days [4 luni, 3 săptămâni şi 2 zile], 2007, d. Cristian Mungiu, Romania, IFC Films

10. Silent Light [Stellet licht], 2007, d. Carlos Reygadas, Mexico/France/Netherlands/Germany, Palisades Tartan

11. Russian Ark, 2002, d. Aleksandr Sokurov, Russia/Germany, Wellspring

12. The New World, 2005, d. Terrence Malick, USA/UK, New Line

13. Blissfully Yours, 2002, d. Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand/France, Strand Releasing

14. Le fils [The Son], 2002, d. Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Belgium/France, New Yorker Films

15. Colossal Youth [Juventude Em Marcha], 2006, d. Pedro Costa, Portugal/France/Switzerland, Criterion (unreleased as of yet)

16. (tie) Les glaneurs et la glaneuse [The Gleaners & I], 2000, d. Agnès Varda, France, Zeitgeist
16. (tie) In Vanda's Room [No Quarto da Vanda], 2000, d. Pedro Costa, Portugal/Germany/Switzerland/Italy, Criterion (unreleased as of yet)
16. (tie) Songs from the Second Floor [Sånger från andra våningen], 2000, d. Roy Andersson, Sweden/Norway/Denmark, New Yorker Films

17. (tie) Caché, 2005, d. Michael Haneke, France/Austria/Germany/Italy, Sony Pictures Classics
17. (tie) A History of Violence, 2005, d. David Cronenberg, USA/Germany, New Line
17. (tie) Mulholland Drive, 2001, d. David Lynch, France/USA, Universal Studios
17. (tie) Three Times, 2005, d. Hou Hsiao-hsien, Taiwan/France, IFC Films

18. Rois et reine [Kings and Queen], 2004, d. Arnaud Desplechin, France, Wellspring

19. Elephant, 2003, d. Gus Van Sant, USA, HBO Films

20. Talk to Her [Hable con ella], 2002, d. Pedro Almodóvar, Spain, Sony Pictures Classics

21. (tie) The Wind Will Carry Us, 1999/2000, d. Abbas Kiarostami, Iran/France, New Yorker Films
21. (tie) Yi yi: A One and Two, 2000, d. Edward Yang, Taiwan/Japan, Fox Lorber/Criterion

22. Pan's Labyrinth [El laberinto del Fauno], 2006, d. Guillermo del Toro, Mexico/Spain/USA, Picturehouse/New Line

23. (tie) L'enfant, 2005, d. Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Belgium/France, Sony Pictures Classics
23. (tie) The Heart of the World, 2000, d. Guy Maddin, Canada, Zeitgeist
23. (tie) I Don't Want to Sleep Alone, 2006, d. Tsai Ming-liang, Taiwan/Malaysia/China/France/Austria, Strand Releasing
23. (tie) Star Spangled to Death, 2004, d. Ken Jacobs, USA, Big Commotion Pictures

24. The World, 2004, d. Jia Zhang-ke, China/Japan/France, Zeitgeist

25. (tie) Café Lumière, 2003, d. Hou Hsiao-hsien, Japan/Taiwan, Wellspring
25. (tie) The Headless Woman [La mujer sin cabeza], 2008, d. Lucrecia Martel, Argentina/France/Italy/Spain, Strand Releasing
25. (tie) L'intrus [The Intruder], 2004, d. Claire Denis, France, Wellspring
25. (tie) Millennium Mambo, 2001, d. Hou Hsiao-hsien, Taiwan/France, Palm Pictures
25. (tie) My Winnipeg, 2007, d. Guy Maddin, Canada, IFC Films
25. (tie) Saraband, 2003, d. Ingmar Bergman, Sweden/Italy/Germany/Finland/Denmark/Austria, Sony Pictures Classics
25. (tie) Spirited Away, 2001, d. Hayao Miyazaki, Japan, Studio Ghibli/Disney
25. (tie) I'm Not There., 2007, d. Todd Haynes, USA/Germany, The Weinstein Company

26. Gerry, 2002, d. Gus Van Sant, USA, Miramax

27. (tie) Distant [Uzak], 2002, d. Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkey, New Yorker Films
27. (tie) Dogville, 2003, d. Lars von Trier, Denmark/Sweden/UK/France/Germany/Norway/Finland/Netherlands, Lionsgate
27. (tie) The Royal Tenenbaums, 2001, d. Wes Anderson, USA, Touchstone/Criterion

28. (tie) Alexandra, 2007, d. Aleksandr Sokurov, Russia/France, Cinema Guild
28. (tie) demonlover, 2002, d. Olivier Assayas, France, Palm Pictures

29. (tie) Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner, 2001, d. Zacharias Kunuk, Canada, Lot 47 Films
29. (tie) Goodbye, Dragon Inn, 2003, d. Tsai Ming-liang, Taiwan, Wellspring

30. (tie) Longing [Sehnsucht], 2006, d. Valeska Grisebach, Germany, N/A
30. (tie) Secret Sunshine, 2007, d. Lee Chang-dong, South Korea, N/A
30. (tie) Vai e Vem [Come and Go], 2003, d. João César Monteiro, Portugal/France, N/A
30. (tie) Far from Heaven, 2002, d. Todd Haynes, USA/France, Focus Features

So to tally... directors with more than one showing: Apichatpong Weerasethakul (3), Hou Hsiao-hsien (3), Jia Zhang-ke (3), Gus Van Sant (2), Todd Haynes (2), Tsai Ming-liang (2), Aleksandr Sokurov (2), Claire Denis (2), Guy Maddin (2), the Dardenne brothers (2), Pedro Costa (2). Only 5 of the 54 are unavailable on DVD in the US, though both Pedro Costa films are planned (or at least strongly rumored) to be coming from Criterion. However, in looking at the list, there is a wave of sadness, seeing studios that are no more like New Yorker Films, Wellspring/Fox Lorber, USA Films, Lot 47 Films and Picturehouse, as well as ones that have fallen from grace but still existing in a smaller form like Palm Pictures and (meh) Miramax and New Line. Of course, a number of fabulous distribution studios have opened throughout the past ten years, from Cinema Guild, IFC Films, Benten Films and Oscilloscope as well as Palisades Tartan's restarting of the Tartan library, which brought Silent Light to screens this year. The biggest showing though for the studios still thriving would have to be Strand Releasing, who released 5 of the films above, including the "newest" of the lot, Lucrecia Martel's brilliant The Headless Woman [La mujer sin cabeza]. I wonder if it's an oversight that no 2009 film made the list or if the TIFF crowd was being overzealous with getting that list out. Also, notice only 2 documentaries and 1 short made the list, something I'm sure a handful of other lists will make up for.

Anyway, onto List #2 for Time Out New York, which polled a number of Big Apple-ish film critics, including Andrew Grant, Karina Longworth, Aaron Hillis and Kevin B. Lee (their individual top 10s can be found via this link). The list rounded to 50, but I'll only post the top 30 here, so you can check out the write-ups and #31-50 on their site.

01. Mulholland Drive, 2001, d. David Lynch, USA/France, Universal Studios
02. There Will Be Blood, 2007, d. Paul Thomas Anderson, USA, Paramount Vantage/Miramax
03. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 2004, d. Michel Gondry, USA, Focus Features
04. The New World, 2005, d. Terrence Malick, USA/UK, New Line
05. In the Mood for Love, 2000, d. Wong Kar-wai, Hong Kong/China/France, USA Films/Criterion
06. Yi yi: A One and Two, 2000, d. Edward Yang, Taiwan/Japan, Fox Lorber/Criterion
07. Dogville, 2003, d. Lars von Trier, Denmark/Sweden/UK/France/Germany/Norway/Finland/Netherlands, Lionsgate
08. Zodiac, 2007, d. David Fincher, USA, Paramount
09. A Christmas Tale [Un conte de Noël], 2008, d. Arnaud Desplechin, France, IFC Films/Criterion
10. Friday Night [Vendredi soir], 2002, d. Claire Denis, France, Wellspring
11. Spirited Away, 2001, d. Hayao Miyazaki, Japan, Studio Ghibli/Disney
12. American Psycho, 2000, d. Mary Harron, USA/Canada, Lionsgate
13. Inland Empire, 2006, d. David Lynch, USA/Poland/France, Absurda
14. Trouble Every Day, 2002, d. Claire Denis, France/Germany/Japan, Lot 47 Films
15. Domestic Violence, 2001, d. Frederick Wiseman, USA, Zippora Films
16. Punch-Drunk Love, 2002, d. Paul Thomas Anderson, USA, Columbia Pictures
17. Gosford Park, 2001, d. Robert Altman, UK/USA/Italy, Universal Studios
18. Femme Fatale, 2002, d. Brian De Palma, France/USA, Warner Bros.
19. I'm Not There., 2007, d. Todd Haynes, USA/Germany, The Weinstein Company
20. The Mad Songs of Fernanda Hussein, 2001, d. John Gianvito, USA, Extreme Low Frequency Productions
21. Brokeback Mountain, 2005, d. Ang Lee, USA/Canada, Focus Features
22. Synecdoche, New York, 2008, d. Charlie Kaufman, USA, Sony Pictures Classics
23. The Death of Mr. Lăzărescu [Moartea domnului Lăzărescu], 2005, d. Cristi Puiu, Romania, Tartan Films
24. I Heart Huckabees, 2004, d. David O. Russell, USA/Germany, Fox Searchlight
25. Inglourious Basterds, 2009, d. Quentin Tarantino, USA/Germany, The Weinstein Company/Universal Studios
26. Kings and Queen [Rois et reine], 2004, d. Arnaud Desplechin, France, Wellspring
27. Oldboy, 2003, d. Park Chan-wook, South Korea, Tartan Films
28. Before Sunset, 2004, d. Richard Linklater, USA, Warner Independent
29. Songs from the Second Floor [Sånger från andra våningen], 2000, d. Roy Andersson, Sweden/Norway/Denmark, New Yorker Films
30. Children of Men, 2006, d. Alfonso Cuarón, UK/USA/Japan, Universal Studios

While Time Out's list is certainly more US-centric than TIFF's, I can't find much bad to say about a list that includes Brian De Palma's Femme Fatale in the top 20 (and even included one film I'd never heard of: The Mad Songs of Fernanda Hussein... another highlight of checking out lists as these, if only that particular DVD wasn't already out-of-print). I don't know how I feel about Inglourious Basterds as the highest ranked 2009 film (and, in fact, the only one). The remainder of the list contains some real surprising and/or underrated treasures like Ramin Bahrani's Man Push Cart, Michael Mann's Miami Vice and Lukas Moodysson's Lilya 4-ever [Lilja 4-ever], as well as some contemptible ones like The 40-Year-Old Virgin (and, yeah, Donnie Darko). The only film that absolutely does not belong on the big 30 is I Heart Huckabees, while a few dangle on that line (American Psycho, Brokeback Mountain), keeping my personal preference against a couple out of the mix. So here's to the close of the '00s! More list, I'm sure, are on hitting the "printer" right now. I can't wait to hear what Cahiers du cinéma rounds up.

Le mépris, Ran and Others on Blu-ray in the UK This Fall

Despite the bad news that Criterion's planned Blu-rays of Jean-Luc Godard' Contempt [Le mépris] and Akira Kurosawa's Ran were scrapped due to the loss of rights, Optimum Releasing in the UK has both, plus a bunch of other exciting titles, set for a Blu-ray release in September. The other titles include: David Lynch's The Elephant Man, Alain Resnais' Last Year at Marienbad [L'année dernière à Marienbad], Luis Buñuel's Belle de jour, Joseph Losey's The Go-Between (which isn't even out on DVD in the US), Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter, Volker Schlöndorff and Margarethe von Trotta's The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum [Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum oder: Wie Gewalt entstehen und wohin sie führen kann], Luc Besson's Le dernier combat, Angel-A, Léon: The Professional, Le grand bleu [The Big Blue], Atlantis, Subway and Nikita [La femme Nikita].

In August, Optimum will be releasing Blu-rays of Mathieu Kassovitz's La haine, Alan Parker's Angel Heart and Kathryn Bigelow's Near Dark; in July, Alexandre Aja's Haute tension (which is called Switchblade Romance in the UK), Roman Polanski's The Pianist, Michael Winterbottom's 9 Songs, Rian Johnson's Brick, Gus Van Sant's Elephant and Stephen Frears' The Grifters. Apparently, the UK is the place for great international cinema in high def.

Also, thanks to Eric for the heads up, Artificial Eye in the UK is releasing a Jacques Rivette box-set, which includes La belle noiseuse, Secret défense and Jeanne la Pucelle I and II. This may be the first official release of the uncut version of Jeanne, but that has yet to be confirmed.

Fire Walk With Me on Blu-ray (in the UK... maybe) + Region 2 DVD Update for France

Now, I ain't tryin' to start any rumors or anything, but Amazon.co.uk does have a listing for Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me on Blu-ray, set for 14 September. Is this the long-rumored, long-pined-for edition fans have always wanted, or is it just a bare-bones release, or is it incorrect information altogether? I guess you'll have to keep an eye on that page for updates. As for more UK discs, I'll be posting those either tonight or tomorrow. Right now, I have a number of notable (or maybe not notable as I wasn't familiar with a few of these) DVD and Blu-ray releases from France which were released this year. Of course, I'm missing some of them; and of course, I omitted quite a few (usually in the realm of B westerns). And, as for the pending releases, I have gotten bogus information from DVDrama (they still have the film Le lien listed as Bergman's The Touch, when it's actually a WWII-era made-for-tv drama) and Amazon.fr (they still have a DVD for a film called Les possédés listed as the Andrzej Wajda/Isabelle Huppert film from 1988, though it certainly is not that) before, so there's a possibility that some of the distant titles won't come out.

Note 1: The most exciting release(s) I discovered was two films from Eduardo de Gregorio, one of Jacques Rivette's screenwriting collaborators on Céline and Julie Go Boating, Duelle, Noroît and Merry-Go-Round. From the little I could find about the films, Sérail [Surreal Estate] appears to be a companion piece to Céline and Julie (it also stars Bulle Ogier and Marie-France Pisier, and La mémoire courte [Short Memory] stars Ogier, Nathalie Baye and even Rivette himself. Both are scheduled to be released on 18 June (I couldn't find a studio listing), so I'll let you know if I hear more regarding these two. I also didn't include the 4 Oshima films that Carlotta released in March, but you can find them here.

Note 2: A number of these are re-issues (I know for certain all of Wild Side's releases on 1 June are such), as France seems to repackage their earlier releases more than we do in the US, and of course all of these films are subject to date changes, delays and cancellations without notice here. There might also be some studio errors as Amazon.fr isn't particularly helpful in that regard. You should also note, if you don't speak French, that most of these discs will likely not have English subtitles. I would direct you to ecranlarge to get substantial information about the DVDs, but as it's all in French, that would sort of defeat the purpose, eh? I hope this is help to someone; boredom can be a plague.

Also available on Blu-ray. As of today, MIA on DVD in the US (though some titles that are not in bold print might be out-of-print). They are listed in descending order of release date, with the Blu-ray only releases at the bottom.

* The Living End - Remixed and Remastered - d. Gregg Araki - 8 January - BQHL
* Totally Fucked Up - d. Gregg Araki - 8 January - BQHL - w. James Duval, Alan Boyce
* Whatever Lola Wants - d. Nabil Ayouch - 14 January - Fox Pathé Europa
* Mange-moi [Dein Herz in meinem Hirn / Your Heart in My Head] - d. Rosa von Praunheim - 20 January - Les films de l'ange
* Si c'était à refaire [If I Had to Do It All Over Again] - d. Claude Lelouch - 21 January - Opening - w. Catherine Deneuve, Anouk Aimée
* Vivre pour vivre [Life for Life] - d. Claude Lelouch - 21 January - Opening - w. Yves Montand, Candice Bergen, Annie Girardot
* Intimités [Intimitäten] - d. Lukas Schmid - 21 January - Optimale - w. Jörg Andreas
* Nos 18 ans - d. Frédéric Berthe - 22 January - TF1 Vidéo - w. Bernadette Lafont, Maruschka Detmers
* Le premier jour du reste de ta vie [The First Day of the Rest of Your Life] - d. Rémi Bezançon - 27 January - Studio Canal - w. Jacques Gamblin, Zabou Breitman, Déborah François, Marc-André Grondin - also on Blu-ray
* Rien dans les poches - d. Marion Vernoux - 29 January - TF1 Vidéo - w. Emma de Caunes, Lio, Alain Chabat, Nicolas Duvauchelle, Émilie Dequenne, Romain Goupil, Brigitte Sy, Esther Garrel

* Mariage à l'italienne [Matrimonio all'italiana / Marriage Italian-Style] - d. Vittorio de Sica - 4 February - Carlotta - w. Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni
* Fragments sur la grâce - d. Vincent Dieutre - 4 February - Éditions Montparnasse - w. Mathieu Amalric
* Bloody Kids [One Joke Too Many] - d. Stephen Frears - 8 February - BQHL
* Une flamme dans mon coeur [A Flame in My Heart] - d. Alain Tanner - 13 February - LJC Éditions
* Parlez-moi de la pluie [Let It Rain] - d. Agnès Jaoui - 17 March - Studio Canal - w. Jaoui, Jean-Pierre Bacri, Jamel Debbouze - also on Blu-ray
* L'empreinte de l'ange [Mark of an Angel] - d. Safy Nebbou - 19 February - TF1 Vidéo - w. Sandrine Bonnaire, Catherine Frot - also on Blu-ray
* Telepolis [La antena] - d. Esteban Sapir - 19 February - mk2
* Viridiana - d. Luis Buñuel - 20 February - Sidonis - w. Silvia Pinal
* Capitaine Mystère [Captain Lightfoot] - d. Douglas Sirk - 21 February - Carlotta - w. Rock Hudson
* Surveillance - d. Jennifer Chambers Lynch - 24 February - Wild Side Vidéo - w. Julia Ormond, Bill Pullman

* Inju, la bête dans l'ombre [Inju: The Beast in the Shadow] - d. Barbet Schroeder - 25 March - UGC - w. Benoît Magimel
* La fille de Monaco [The Girl from Monaco] - d. Anne Fontaine - 25 February - Warner - w. Fabrice Luchini, Roschdy Zem
* Antarctica - d. Yair Hochner - 25 February - Optimale
* L'expédition [Abhijaan / The Expedition] - d. Satyajit Ray - 26 February - Epicentre Films
* Back Soon [Skrapp út] - d. Sólveig Anspach - 3 March - BAC Vidéo
* Martyrs - d. Pascal Laugier - 4 March - Wild Side Vidéo - w. Mylène Jampanï, Morgane Alaoui, Catherine Bégin - also on Blu-ray
* Comme les autres - d. Vincent Garenq - 4 March - Gaumont - w. Lambert Wilson, Pilar López de Ayala, Pascal Elbé - also on Blu-ray
* Les amitiés particulières [This Special Friendship] - d. Jean Delannoy - 4 March - Europeart
* Affreux, sales et méchants [Brutti sporchi e cattivi / Ugly Dirty and Bad] - d. Ettore Scola - 4 March - Opening
* Be happy [Happy-Go-Lucky] - d. Mike Leigh - 5 March - mk2 - w. Sally Hawkins, Eddie Marsan

* Le sel de la mer [Salt of This Sea] - d. Annemarie Jacir - 5 March - Pyramide Distribution - w. Suheir Hammad, Saleh Bakri
* Swoon - d. Tom Kalin - 6 March - BQHL - w. Craig Chester
* Souvenir [A Thousand Cranes] - d. Im Kwon-taek - 11 March - Warner
* Le silence de Lorna [Lorna's Silence / The Silence of Lorna] - d. the Dardenne brothers - 17 March - blaq out - w. Arta Dobroshi, Jérémie Renier
* Les 7 jours [Shiva / The Seven Days] - d. Ronit Elkabetz, Shlomi Elkabetz - 19 March - TF1 Vidéo - w. Ronit Elkabetz, Simon Abkarian
* Rumba - d. Dominique Abel, Fiona Gordon, Bruno Romy - 19 March - TF1 Vidéo
* Un autre homme, une autre chance [Another Man, Another Chance] - d. Claude Lelouch - 24 March - Opening - w. James Caan, Geneviève Bujold, Susan Tyrell
* Entre les murs [The Class] - d. Laurent Cantet - 24 March - France Télévisions - also on Blu-ray
* La vie, l'amour, la mort [Life Love Death] - d. Claude Lelouch - 24 March - Opening
* Un homme qui me plaît [Love Is a Funny Thing] - d. Claude Lelouch - 24 March - Opening - w. Jean-Paul Belmondo, Annie Girardot

* Vinyan - d. Fabrice Du Welz - 1 April - Wild Side Vidéo - w. Emmanuelle Béart, Rufus Sewell
* De la guerre [On War] - d. Bertrand Bonello - 2 April - mk2 - w. Mathieu Amalric, Asia Argento, Guillaume Depardieu, Clotilde Hesme, Michel Piccoli, Aurore Clément, Elina Löwensohn, Laurent Lucas, Léa Seydoux
* La belle personne - d. Christophe Honoré - 2 April - TF1 Vidéo - w. Louis Garrel, Léa Seydoux, Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet
* Pirates - d. Roman Polanski - 2 April - TF1 Vidéo - w. Walter Matthau - also on Blu-ray
* Séraphine - d. Martin Provost - 2 April - Diaphana - w. Yolande Moreau, Ulrich Tukur - also on Blu-ray
* Le cahier [Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame] - d. Hana Makhmalbaf - 2 April - TF1 Vidéo
* Hansel & Gretel - d. Yim Pil-sung - 2 April - Wild Side Vidéo
* Un monde à nous - d. Frédéric Balekdjian - 8 April - Studio 37 - w. Edouard Baer
* La Chine [Chunf Kuo - Cina / China] - d. Michelangelo Antonioni - 8 April - Carlotta
* La voce della luna [The Voice of the Moon] / Fellini: Je suis un grand menteur [Fellini: I'm a Born Liar] - Édition Collector - d. Federico Fellini / Damian Pettigrew - 8 April - Opening

* Vicky Cristina Barcelona - d. Woody Allen - 8 April - Warner - w. Javier Bardem, Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johansson, Penélope Cruz - also on Blu-ray
* Yol - d. Yilmaz Güney, Serif Gören - 8 April - Films sans frontières
* Versailles - d. Pierre Schöller - 8 April - Sony - w. Guillaume Depardieu
* Premières neiges [Snijeg / Snow] - d. Aida Begic - 16 April - Pyramide Distribution
* Une histoire italienne [Sanguepazzo / Wise Blood] - d. Marco Tullio Giordana - 19 April - Océan Films - w. Monica Bellucci
* Kes - d. Ken Loach - 20 April - Les films du paradoxe
* Mademoiselle - d. Tony Richardson - 20 April - Doriane Films - w. Jeanne Moreau
* Salò ou les 120 journées de Sodome [Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma / Salò, or The 120 Days of Sodom] - Édition Ultime - d. Pier Paolo Pasolini - 22 April - Carlotta - also on Blu-ray
* Carnet de notes pour une orestie africaine [Appunti per una Orestiade africana / Notes for an African Orestes] - d. Pier Paolo Pasolini - 22 April - Carlotta
* Exhibition - d. Jean-François Davy - 5 May - Les films de ma vie

* The Element of Crime / Epidemic / Europa [Zentropa] - d. Lars von Trier - 5 May - Les films de ma vie
* Les chemins de la gloire [The Road to Glory] - d. Howard Hawks - 5 May - Les films de ma vie - w. Lionel Barrymore
* Bungalow pour femmes [The Revolt of Mamie Stover] - d. Raoul Walsh - 5 May - Les films de ma vie - w. Jane Russell
* Amants et fils [Sons & Lovers] - d. Jack Cardiff - 5 May - Les films de ma vie - w. Dean Stockwell
* O.H.M.S. [You're in the Army Now] - d. Raoul Walsh - 5 May - Les films de ma vie
* Serbis - d. Brillante Mendoza - 6 May - Equation
* L'héritière [The Heiress] - d. William Wyler - 6 May - Carlotta - w. Olivia de Havilland, Montgomery Clift
* La vie moderne [Profils paysans: La vie moderne / Modern Life] - d. Raymond Depardon - 6 May - Arte Vidéo - also on Blu-ray
* La passante du Sans-Souci [The Passerby] - d. Jacques Rouffio - 7 May - TF1 Vidéo - w. Romy Schneider, Michel Piccoli
* Parfum de femme [Profumo di donna / Scent of a Woman] - d. Dino Risi - 7 May - TF1 Vidéo - w. Vittorio Gassman

* Le lit conjugal [L'ape regina / The Conjugal Bed] - d. Marco Ferreri - 7 May - TF1 Vidéo - w. Ugo Tognazzi
* Possession - d. Andrzej Żuławski - 7 May - TF1 Vidéo - w. Isabelle Adjani, Sam Neill, Margit Carstensen
* Lake Tahoe - d. Fernando Eimbcke - 7 May - mk2
* La forêt de Mogari [The Mourning Forest] - d. Naomi Kawase - 7 May - mk2
* Poison - d. Todd Haynes - 11 May - BQHL
* Dream Boy - d. James Bolton - 13 May - Optimale
* Passion d'amour [Passione d'amore] - d. Ettore Scola - 15 May - LCJ Éditions - w. Bernard Girardot, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Laura Antonelli
* Les yeux sans visage [Eyes Without a Face] - d. Georges Franju - 19 May - Gaumont - w. Pierre Brasseur, Alida Valli, Edith Scob
* La grande menace [The Medusa Touch] - d. Jack Gold - 19 May - Arcades Vidéo - w. Richard Burton, Lino Ventura, Lee Remick
* L'hôtel de la plage - d. Michel Lang - 19 May - Gaumont - w. Guy Marchand, Anne Parillaud

* La gifle [The Slap] - d. Claude Pinoteau - 19 May - Gaumont - w. Lino Venutra, Annie Girardot, Isabelle Adjani
* Moscow, Belgium [Aanrijding in Moscou] - d. Christophe Van Rompaey - 19 May - BAC Vidéo
* Les marmottes [The Groundhogs] - d. Elie Chouraqui - 19 May - BAC Vidéo - w. Jean-Hughes Anglade, Jacqueline Bisset, André Dussollier, Gérard Lanvin, Marie Trintignant, Anouk Aimée, Virginie Ledoyen
* Phantom of the Paradise - 2-disc special edition - d. Brian De Palma - 19 May - Opening
* La femme fardée - d. José Pinheiro - 19 May - BAC Vidéo - w. Jeanne Moreau, André Dussollier, Laura Morante
* Hoa-Binh [The Bamboo Incident] - d. Raoul Coutard- 19 May - Opening
* Retour à la bien-aimée [Return to the Beloved] - d. Jean-François Adam - 19 May - Opening - w. Isabelle Huppert, Jacques Dutronc, Bruno Ganz
* Halfaouine - d. Férid Boughedir - 19 May - Aventi
* Quatre nuits avec Anna [Cztery noce z Anna / Four Nights with Anna] - d. Jerzy Skolimowski - 20 May - France Télévisions
* Dernier maquis - d. Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche - 20 May - Arte Vidéo

* Home Sweet Home - d. Didier Le Pêcheur - 20 May - France Télévisions - w. Judith Godrèche
* Tokyo! - d. Leos Carax, Bong Joon-ho, Michel Gondry - 20 May - mk2 - w. Denis Lavant, Sohee Park
* Stella - d. Sylvie Verheyde - 20 May - Diaphana - w. Benjamin Biolay, Guillaume Depardieu, Johan Libéreau, Karole Rocher
* L'homme a 1000 visages [Man of a Thousand Faces] - d. Joseph Pevney - 20 May - Carlotta - w. James Cagney, Dorothy Malone
* Les enfants sont partis [El nido vacío / Empty Nest] - d. Daniel Burman - 20 May - Océan Films - w. Cecilia Roth, Inés Efron
* Repulsion / Le couteau dans l'eau [Nóz w wodzie / Knife in the Water] / Cul-de-sac - d. Roman Polanski - 20 May - Opening
* Le général est mort à l'aube [The General Died at Dawn] - d. Lewis Milestone - 20 May - Opening - w. Gary Cooper
* Âmes à la mer [Souls at Sea] - d. Henry Hathaway - 20 May - Opening - w. Gary Cooper
* Two Lovers - d. James Gray - 26 May - Wild Side Vidéo - w. Joaquin Phoenix, Gwyneth Paltrow, Vinessa Shaw - also Blu-ray
* La loi de la haine [The Last Hard Men] - d. Andrew V. McLaglen - 27 May - Fox Pathé Europa - w. Charlton Heston, James Coburn, Barbara Hershey

* Body and Soul - d. Robert Rossen - 1 June - Wild Side Vidéo
* Double énigme [The Dark Mirror] - d. Robert Siodmak - 1 June - Wild Side Vidéo - w. Olivia de Havilland
* Lettre d'une inconnue [Letter from an Unknown Woman] - d. Max Ophüls - 1 June - Wild Side Vidéo - w. Joan Fontaine
* Le petit arpent du bon Dieu [God's Little Acre] - d. Anthony Mann - 1 June - Wild Side Vidéo
* Marché de brutes [Raw Deal] - d. Anthony Mann - 1 June - Wild Side Vidéo
* The Big Combo - d. Joseph H. Lewis - 1 June - Wild Side Vidéo - w. Cornel Wilde
* Le secret derrière la porte [Secret Beyond the Door] - d. Fritz Lang - 1 June - Wild Side Vidéo - w. Michael Redgrave
* House by the River - d. Fritz Lang - 1 June - Wild Side Vidéo
* Shock Corridor - d. Samuel Fuller - 1 June - Wild Side Vidéo - w. Constance Towers
* Caught - d. Max Ophüls - 1 June - Wild Side Vidéo - w. James Mason, Barbara Bel Geddes

* Macbeth - Version intégrale - d. Orson Welles - 1 June - Wild Side Vidéo - with Welles
* L'ange des maudits [Rancho Notorious] - d. Fritz Lang - 3 June - Films sans frontières - w. Marlene Dietrich
* Filatures [Eye in the Sky] - d. Yau Nai-Hoi - 4 June - TF1 Vidéo - w. Simon Yam, Tony Leung Ka Fai
* Le plaisir de chanter [The Joy of Singing] - d. Ilan Duran Cohen - 4 June - Pyramide Distribution - w. Jeanne Balibar, Nathalie Richard, Caroline Ducey
* Sparrow - d. Johnnie To - 4 June - TF1 Vidéo - w. Simon Yam, Kelly Lin
* Johnny Mad Dog - d. Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire - 4 June - TF1 Vidéo - also on Blu-ray
* Secret défense [Secrets of State] - d. Philippe Haïm - 10 June - UGC - w. Gérard Lanvin, Vahina Giocante, Nicolas Duvauchelle, Simon Abkarian, Aurélien Wiik - also on Blu-ray
* Sleep Dealer - d. Alex Rivera - 10 June - Fox Pathé Europa
* Hello Goodbye - dir. Graham Guit - 10 June - M6 Vidéo - w. Fanny Ardant, Gérard Depardieu, Lior Ashkenazi
* Baby Blues - d. Diane Bertrand - 10 June - France Télévisions - w. Karin Viard, Stefano Accorsi, Jean-Marc Barr

* Hunger - d. Steve McQueen - 11 June - mk2 - w. Michael Fassbender
* Tickets - d. Abbas Kiarostami, Ken Loach, Ermanno Olmi - 11 June - TF1 Vidéo - w. Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi
* La révolution française [The French Revolution] - d. Robert Enrico, Richard T. Heffron - 11 June - TF1 Vidéo - w. Klaus Maria Brandauer, Jane Seymour, François Cluzet, Peter Ustinov, Claudia Cardinale, Sam Neill, Vittorio Mezzogiorno, Jean-François Stévenin, Christopher Lee, Dominique Pinon, Michel Subor
* Mascarades [Masquerades] - d. Lyes Salem - 11 June - TF1 Vidéo
* Leonera [Lion's Den] - d. Pablo Trapero - 11 June - TF1 Vidéo - w. Martina Gusman, Elli Medeiros, Rodrigo Santoro
* Home - d. Ursula Meier - 16 June - blaq out - w. Isabelle Huppert, Olivier Gourmet
* Caos calmo [Quiet Chaos] - d. Antonio Luigi Grimaldi - 16 June - BAC Vidéo - w. Nanni Moretti, Valeria Golino
* La bande à Baader [Der Baader Meinhof Komplex / The Baader-Meinhof Complex] - d. Uli Edel - 16 June - Métropolitan Vidéo - w. Martina Gedeck, Moritz Bleibtreu - also on Blu-ray
* Timecrimes [Los cronocrímenes] - d. Nacho Vigalondo - 17 June - Fox Pathé Europa
* Mesrine 1ère partie: L'instinct de la mort [Mesrine: Killer Instinct] - d. Jean-François Richet - 17 June - Universal Studios - w. Vincent Cassel, Cécile De France, Gérard Depardieu, Gilles Lellouche, Roy Dupuis, Elena Anaya, Ludivine Sagnier - also on Blu-ray

* Sérail [Surreal Estate] - d. Eduardo de Gregorio - 18 June - w. Bulle Ogier, Leslie Caron, Marie-France Pisier, Corin Redgrave
* La mémoire courte [Short Memory] - d. Eduardo de Gregorio - 18 June - w. Nathalie Baye, Bulle Ogier, Jacques Rivette, Benoît Jacquot
* Le chant des mariées [The Wedding Song] - d. Karin Albou - 18 June - Pyramide Distribution - w. Albou, Simon Abkarian
* La terre des hommes rouges [BirdWatchers - La terra degli uomini rossi / BirdWatchers] - d. Marco Bechis - 19 June - Océan Films - w. Claudio Santamaria
* Le cousin - d. Alain Corneau - 23 June - Studio Canal - w. Alain Chabat, Samuel Le Bihan, Agnès Jaoui
* Pour elle [Anything for Her] - d. Fred Cavayé - 23 June - Wild Side Vidéo - w. Vincent Lindon, Diane Kruger
* Les vampires [I vampiri] - d. Riccardo Freda, Mario Bava - 24 June - Carlotta
* Duel au couteau [I coltelli del vendicatore / Knives of the Avenger] - d. Mario Bava - 24 June - Carlotta
* La baie sanglante [Reazione a catena / Bay of Blood] - d. Mario Bava - 24 June - Carlotta
* Lovers [Elegy] - d. Isabel Coixet - 24 June - Sony Pictures - w. Penélope Cruz, Ben Kingsley, Patricia Clarkson

* Il divo - d. Paolo Sorrentino - 1 July - Studio Canal - w. Toni Servillo
* Mesrine 2ème partie: L'ennemi public n°1 [Mesrine: Public Enemy No. 1] - d. Jean-François Richet - 1 July - Universal Studios - w. Vincent Cassel, Ludivine Sagnier, Mathieu Amalric, Gérard Lanvin, Samuel Le Bihan, Olivier Gourmet, Anne Consigny - also on Blu-ray, and also available in a set with L'instinct de la mort on both formats
* Le bon, la brute et le cinglé [The Good, the Bad, the Weird] - d. Kim Ji-woon - 2 July - TF1 Vidéo - w. Song Kang-ho, Lee Byung-hun, Hung Woo-sun - also on Blu-ray
* Che - 1ère partie - L'Argentin [Che: Part 1 - The Argentine] - d. Steven Soderbergh - 15 July - Warner - w. Benicio del Toro, Demián Bichir, Julia Ormond - also on Blu-ray
* Palindromes - d. Todd Solondz - 16 July - Diaphana - w. Jennifer Jason Leigh, Ellen Barkin
* Inland Empire - d. David Lynch - 28 July - Studio Canal - w. Laura Dern, et al.
* Carmen - d. Carlos Saura - 28 July - Studio Canal
* Harem - dir. Arthur Joffé - 28 July - Studio Canal - w. Nastassja Kinski, Ben Kingsley
* Central do Brasil [Central Station] - d. Walter Salles - 28 July - Studio Canal - w. Fernanda Montenegro
* Che - 2ème partie - Guerilla [Che: Part 2 - Guerilla] - d. Steven Soderbergh - 29 July - Warner - w. Benicio del Toro, Franka Potente, Demián Bichir, Catalina Sandino Moreno - also on Blu-ray

* Largo Winch - d. Jérôme Salle - 29 July - Wild Side Vidéo - w. Tomer Sisley, Kristin Scott Thomas, Miki Manojlovic, Gilbert Melki - also on Blu-ray
* Next Door [Naboer] - d. Pål Sletaune - 4 August - Studio Canal
* À l'est de moi [East of Me] - d. Bojena Horackova - 4 August - BAC Vidéo - w. Olga Kurylenko
* LOL (Laughing Out Loud) ® - d. Lisa Azuelos - 4 August - Fox Pathé Europa - w. Sophie Marceau - also on Blu-ray
* Diamant 13 [Diamond 13] - d. Gilles Béhat - 6 August - mk2 - with Gérard Depardieu, Asia Argento, Aïssa Maïga, Aurélien Recoing - also on Blu-ray
* La vallée des fleurs [Valley of Flowers] - d. Pan Nalin - 20 August - Diaphana - w. Mylène Jampanoï
* Un barrage contre le Pacifique [The Sea Wall] - d. Rithy Panh - 20 August - TF1 Vidéo - w. Isabelle Huppert, Gaspard Ulliel, Stéphane Rideau
* Le code a changé [Change of Plans] - d. Danièle Thompson - 25 August - Studio Canal - w. Karin Viard, Dany Boon, Marina Foïs, Patrick Bruel, Emmanuelle Seigner, Marina Hands - also on Blu-ray
* La vague [Die Welle / The Wave] - d. Dennis Gansel - 8 September - BAC Vidéo - w. Jürgen Vogel
* Welcome - d. Philippe Loiret - 11 September - Warner - w. Vincent Lindon - also on Blu-ray

* Harvey Milk [Milk] - d. Gus Van Sant - 16 September - M6 Vidéo - w. Sean Penn, James Franco, Josh Brolin - also on Blu-ray
* La journée de la jupe [Skirt Day] - d. Jean-Paul Lilienfeld - 25 September - Arte Vidéo - w. Isabelle Adjani
* Eden à l'ouest [Eden Is West] - d. Costa-Gavras - 11 October - Fox Pathé Europa - w. Riccardo Scamarcio
* OSS 117: Rio ne répond plus [OSS 117: Lost in Rio] - d. Michel Hazanavicius - 15 October - Gaumont - w. Jean Dujardin, Rüdiger Vogler - also on Blu-ray
* Coco avant Chanel [Coco Before Chanel] - d. Anne Fontaine - 22 October - Warner - w. Audrey Tautou, Benoît Poelvoorde, Alessandro Nivola, Emmanuelle Devos, Marie Gillain - also on Blu-ray
* Je l'aimais [Someone I Loved] - d. Zabou Breitman - 6 November - Warner - w. Daniel Auteuil, Marie-Josée Croze, Florence Loiret - also on Blu-ray

Blu-ray only releases

* La piscine [The Swimming Pool] - d. Jacques Deray - 14 January - M6 Vidéo - w. Alain Delon, Romy Schneider, Jane Birkin
* 36 Quai des Orfèvres - d. Olivier Marchal - 4 February - Gaumont - w. Daniel Auteuil, Gérard Depardieu, André Dussollier, Roschdy Zem, Valeria Golino, Daniel Duval, Francis Renaud
* Un thé au Sahara [The Sheltering Sky] - d. Bernardo Bertolucci - 17 February - BAC Vidéo - w. Debra Winger, John Malkovich, Campbell Scott
* Pulp Fiction - d. Quentin Tarantino - 19 March - TF1 Vidéo - w. John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, et al.
* Le labyrinthe de Pan [El laberinto del Fauno / Pan's Labyrinth] - d. Guillermo del Toro - 14 April - Wild Side Vidéo - w. Maribel Verdú, Sergi López
* Ridicule - d. Patrice Leconte - 15 April - Studio Canal - w. Charles Berling, Jean Rochefort, Fanny Ardant, Judtih Godrèche, Bernard Giraudeau
* Bound - d. the Wachowski brothers - 27 May - M6 Vidéo - w. Gina Gershon, Jennifer Tilly, Joe Pantoliano, Christopher Meloni
* Dune / Sailor et Lula [Wild at Heart] - d. David Lynch - 2 June - BAC Vidéo
* Dr. Folamour [Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb] - d. Stanley Kubrick - 10 June - Sony Pictures - w. Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden

* Nikita [La femme Nikita] / Léon [The Professional] / Le grand bleu [The Big Blue] / Atlantis - d. Luc Besson - 11 June - Gaumont
* Master and commander: De l'autre côté du monde [Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World] - d. Peter Weir - 17 June - Universal Studios - w. Russell Crowe, Paul Bettany, James D'Arcy
* Arizona Dream - d. Emir Kusutrica - 17 June - Studio Canal - w. Johnny Depp, Faye Dunaway, Jerry Lewis, Vincent Gallo, Lili Taylor, Pauline Prorizkova
* Dobermann - d. Jan Kounen - 17 June - Universal Studios - w. Vincent Cassel, Tchéky Karyo, Monica Bellucci, Romain Duris, Stéphane Metzger
* King Kong - d. John Guillermin - 17 June - Studio Canal - w. Jeff Bridges, Jessica Lange, Charles Grodin
* Le lauréat [The Graduate] - Édition Collector - d. Mike Nichols - 17 June - Studio Canal - w. Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft
* Leaving Las Vegas - d. Mike Figgis - 17 June - Studio Canal - w. Nicolas Cage, Elisabeth Shue