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Mathew Scott

Paul Fonoroff

New Releases

All About My Dog (Japanese and Cantonese versions) (I): Romance blossoms between a man and  his neighbour, his pug and her Pomeranian. Not reviewed.

Bug Me Not! (Cantonese) (I): Director Lo Chi-leung  opts for family fare and a tale that follows a bunch of kids with psychic powers. Leading the way is starlet Isabella Leung,  who learns her  life lessons from a ladybug.  Not reviewed.

General Releases

Basic Interests (Putonghua) (I): Semi-documentary follows Liang Yurun  (Gou Da)  who fights fellow party members' entrenched interests, dishonesty and indifference to promote the  rights of downtrodden peasants. PF

Batman Begins (IIA): Christopher Nolan reinvents Batman (Christian Bale) as a darker beast - and the film is the better for it.

We go back to how the Caped Crusader came into being - from the death of his parents to his emergence as the saviour of Gotham City. MS

Dragon Reloaded 2 (Cantonese) (IIB): Funny man Ronald Cheng returns as the gormless cop Dragon in this sequel to the box office smash of 2003. This time he is left brokenhearted when his girlfriend goes to Africa - and so his father suggests he visit a health resort to forget his woes. PF

Fantastic Four (IIA): Marvel Comics' four genetically altered heroes must wage battle with Doctor Doom (Julian McMahon)  - and come to grips with the powers they develop after a space trip goes wrong. If you like your cheese laid on thick, you might have a pretty good time. MS

Initial D (Cantonese) (IIA): Jay Chou stars as a young man with racing in his blood. He accepts  the challenge laid down by his motoring-mad father (Anthony Wong) and takes on all comers. PF

Innocent Voices (Spanish) (IIA): Mexican director Luis Mandoki  places his action in and around the civil war in El Salvador in  the 1980s and follows a young man (Carlos Padilla)  who must decide whether to join the army  or the guerillas. MS

Kamikaze Girls (Japanese) (IIB):  Taken from the  girls' comics of Novala Takemoto, it follows the lives of two girls - Momoko (Kyoko Fukada)  and Ichiko (Anna Tsuchiya) - as they fight for their individuality in the backblocks  of Japan. MS

Land of Plenty (IIA): Director Wim Wenders  returns with a portrayal of America, post 9/11 in which  a Gulf war veteran (John Diehl)   and his niece (Michelle Williams)  travel across country in search  of a killer. MS

Madagascar (English and Cantonese versions) (I): Animated hijinks following a band of New York zoo inhabitants (led by Ben Stiller  as a lion and Chris Rock  as a zebra) who plot an escape - but  find themselves washed up in the wilds of Madagascar. MS

Mr and Mrs Smith (IIA): Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie pair off as a squabbling couple with a secret - they're both assassins. Fun, for the most part, but all a bit pointless. MS

Steamboy (Japanese) (IIA): Animated tale about a boy in 1866 who gets a  steam engine as a present from his grandfather.   The engine's powers are in hot demand and he must hide his  gift from a bunch of nasties. MS

Tony Takitani (Japanese) (I): An isolated man, Tony Takitani (Issey Ogata),  falls for a woman (Rie Miyazawa),  but soon finds that sometimes love ain't all it's cracked up to be. MS

War of the Worlds (IIA): Steven Spielberg takes H.G. Wells' classic tale and moves the action to New Jersey, where Ray (Tom Cruise) must save his two children from aliens - and reunite them with their mother in Boston. MS

Art House

1st InDPanda International Short Film Festival: Featuring  shorts  of different genres and topics. Today-Jul 27,  various times, Broadway Cinematheque, Prosperous Garden, 3 Public Square St, Yau Ma Tei, $50. Inquiries: www.cinema.com.hk

International Children's Film Carnival 2005: Showcases feature films, animated films and shorts.  Today-Aug 21, various times and venues, $40 Urbtix. Inquiries: www.lcsd.gov.hk/fp

Twentidentity (The 10 of Part II):  A group of Korean directors collaborated to produce  shorts under the theme of '20'. Shorts include Twenty, about a man  who turns 20; Looking for Sex, an animation focusing on love; and a couple meet on a rainy night in At 2 o'clock. In Korean with English subtitles. Today, 9.40pm, Jul 24, 2.30pm,  Broadway Cinematheque, Prosperous Garden, 3 Public Square St, Yau Ma Tei, $50. Inquiries: www.cinema.com.hk

i-city: Nine animations by local artists, including The Tired City,  about an office worker who finds the meaning of life, and Nonsense Noise,  about a city's fast pace.  In Cantonese with Chinese and English subtitles. Tomorrow,  7.30pm, Sat, 5.30pm, Agnes b. Cinema, HK Arts Centre,  2 Harbour Rd, Wan Chai, $50 Urbtix. Inquiries: 2582 0200

The Eight Hundred Heroes:  Silent war film from the 1930s about  800 soldiers who defend an area  of Shanghai.  With Chinese and English subtitles. Tomorrow, 7.30pm, HK Film Archive, 50 Lei King Rd, Sai Wan Ho, $60, $40 Urbtix. Inquiries: 2739 2139

Hong Kong 1941 and The Fall of Hong Kong: Chow Yun Fat  plays a disillusioned actor who gets caught up in a love triangle with a rice-seller's coolie (Alex Man)  and the boss' daughter (Cecilia Yip).   Jul 24, 2.30pm, HK Film Archive, 50 Lei King Rd, Sai Wan Ho, $60, $40 Urbtix. Inquiries: 2739 2139



Film