The rest ain't nothing to scoff at, either.  Because of the shootout and subsequent escape of those responsible, the public's trust in their police has hit an all-time low.  To remedy this, the case is kicked upstairs and overseen by media savvy Inspector Rebecca Fong (Kelly Chan).  She limits the media's access to information, and manipulates the piss out of it before any details are released (rumor has it, she's gunning for a job at the White House).  Meanwhile, a rogue cop named Cheung (Nick Cheung) isn't so ready to hand over the case, and he remains in the thick of the investigation, even though he isn't supposed to be.  And then there are the criminals, led by the charismatic Yuen (Richie Ren), who hole up in a residential apartment building, which is where the bulk of News' remaining minutes play out.  Really strong police drama, so long as you can get past the fact that nobody -- cop or criminal -- can hit the side of a barn.

Old Boy – Winner of Cannes' Grand Prize this year, Park Chan-wook's Boy is the kind of big, beautiful, delicious mind-fuck that practically begs to be watered down and Americanized by some asshole like Brett Ratner to make as a vehicle for Vin Diesel.  Nuts to that.  This is, at least so far, my favorite film of the festival.

Boy stars Choi Min-sik, who plays an unlikable guy named Oh Dae-su.  One night, after being tossed in the pokey for being drunk and disorderly, Dae-su vanishes.  He wakes up in what look like a hotel room that he can't get out of.  Fried dumplings are slipped through the bottom of the door.  Whenever Dae-su needs a haircut, or the room needs to be tidied up a bit, a knockout gas is pumped in.  And he has television.  To me, this sounds like paradise, but I digress.

Dae-su is in this room for 15 years, and then suddenly, finds himself out on the streets with no explanation (thankfully, his dutiful television watching has kept him up to date on the goings on of modern South Korean life -- unlike, say, Jennifer Garner in 13 Going on 30).  Of course, revenge is the first thing on his mind.  Dae-su is able to track down the guy responsible, but is hesitant to kill him until he finds out why it all happened.  The rest, which had my head spinning, plays out over the next five days.  Min-sik's blistering performance leads the way in what is a flawless picture.

Eros – A hate writing about short films, but here it goes: Eros is a collection of three love-related shorts from Wong Kar-wai, Steven Soderbergh, and Michelangelo Antonioni, respectively.  The Hand is about a tailor's apprentice (Chang Chen) and his unusual relationship with a customer (the incomparable Gong Li, who is contractually required to be called "incomparable").  It's not as meaty or lovely as In the Mood for Love, but what is, really?  It's a nice break until 2046 finally sees the light of day.

Soderbergh's Equilibrium is unmistakably Soderbergian after just one or two seconds.  It's set in 1955, where a pitchman (Robert Downey, Jr.) goes to see a shrink (Alan Arkin) to figure out who the mysterious girl is he's been dreaming about.  Good performances, and an interesting, fun little twist at the end.  Glad to see The Man can still pump out something edgy in between shoveling loads of Ocean's 11 cash out of the Brinks truck.

Antonioni's The Dangerous Thread of Things was the more irritating of the three, but it also offered the most nudity, so there you go.  It's about a couple that can't stop bickering . . . until a second woman enters the picture . . . and takes her clothes off.  Seriously, all I remember about this one is the boobs.  Take that for what it's worth.

5 x 2 – Five Times Two – Like the Rolling Stones' album 12 x 5 (twelve songs by five guys), François Ozon's latest is five segments about two people.  And like Memento and Irreversible, these segments are played out in reverse order.  This means we get to see the unraveling of the relationship between Gilles (Stéphane Freiss) and Marion (Valérie Bruni-Tedeschi) from the moment they fell in love until their divorce.  Or the other way around.  You know what I mean.

The first scene depicts the divorce, but is followed by Gilles and Marion checking into a hotel and having some hot divorce sex.  Actually, it's not hot at all.  It's consensual (mostly) and pretty awkward.  It made me wonder if they had strange wedding vows that provided for this kind of unusual activity ("If you should part ways within five years, Gilles gets anal").  But then, when we get to the wedding scene, we see how very unromantic the ceremonies is in France.  I've seen more emotion on a miniature golf course.

Other scenes include The One Where Gilles Talks About Being In An Orgy, and The One Where Marion Has Pregnancy Complications.  I liked each and every one of them, but I'm kind of a voyeur.  5 x 2 is like being dropped into these people's lives at very integral moments.  As usual, Ozon gets very strong performances from his two leads, and his skill as a writer continues to grow, as well.

The Sea Inside – Alejandro Amenábar's Venice champion (it won three big awards there) might have been the film I was looking forward to seeing the most.  It makes sense, in hindsight anyway, that it would be the most disappointing.  I don't know what most of these movies are about before I see them.  I look at the schedule and say, "Solondz?  Gotta see that.  Alexander Payne?  You know I'm not missing that one."  Sometimes I'm surprised by the content (A Hole In My Heart) and sometimes there's no surprise at all (When Will I Be Loved).

It is with heavy heart that I report Amenábar's Sea is a Message Picture about euthanasia.  Worse yet -- it's a biopic about Ramón Sampedro (played by Javier Bardem), a Spaniard who spent 30 years of his life convincing a court he should have the right to die on his own terms.  The film is exhilaratingly dull and preachy.  It's made well, but that doesn't mean it should have been made at all.  Yeah, the issue is a tough, complicated one.  Yeah, both sides have interesting points.  I get it.  Now leave me alone (for the record, I'm pro-euthanasia, as I am in favor of anything -- abortion, death penalty, whatever -- that eliminates as much human life as possible).

Bardem, who somehow managed to win Venice's Best Actor trophy, does nothing but sit in a bed and ball up his little fists.  Aside from a flashback to the diving accident that paralyzed him, and a couple of short dream sequences where he can walk and fly, that's it.  A baked potato could have done just as well.  Very disappointing.