Alot of things I want to talk about tonight but I am pretty tired so who knows how long this will be.

I will start things off with some rather sad news. Remember just a short while ago when I said I may have found a new favorite actor with Ulrich Muehe of The Lives of Others and Funny Games.

Well, the brilliant actor passed away just a few short days ago from stomach cancer. Apparently he was planning on working again with the always intriguing Michael Haneke in the not so distant future. He will be missed.

All the happy news department side of film, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Danny Glover, and (one of my personal favs) Gael Garcia Bernal are about to beginning film of the latest from Fernando Meirelles entitled Blindness. You may know this amazing director from his two previous masterpieces The Constant Gardener and City of God. I truly can't wait.

How I which I could go to Venice this year for their annual international film festival. The film slate is insane this year. Check it out:

In Competition

Todd Haynes' I'm Not There
Lee Kang-Sheng's Help Me Eros
Ang Lee's Lust, Caution
Takashi Miike's Sukiyaki Western Django
Wes Anderson's The Darjeeling Limited
Andrew Dominik's The Assination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Out of Competition

Claude Chabrol's La Fille Coupee en duex
Takeshi Kitano's Kantoku Banzai!
Shinji Aoyama's Sad Vacation
Jia Zhangke's Useless

And that is just a little taste of the films set for the festival. Not to mention a special tribute to Spaghetti Westerns with over 30 classic films of the genre set to screen. Amazing stuff.

Speaking of amazing stuff comes the announcement of two dvds I am really looking forward to in the coming months. First up is Magnolia Pictures release of Severance one hell of a great horror comedy which really could have gotten a Shaun of the Dead following if it was marketed a tad bit wider. Nonetheless check out the disc and its features coming to shelves on Septemeber 25th:

• Audio commentary by Smith, cast and crew
• Making-of featurette
• Not So Special Effects featurette
• Genesis of SEVERANCE featurette
• Fight Scene Training featurette • Being Danny Dyer featurette
• Deleted scenes
• Outtakes
• Alternate ending
• Storyboards

In October we should welcome the Criterion Collection release of Days of Heaven. With one beauty of a cover this release should be a definite for all film fans. While I have never seen this Terrence Malick classic (I am however a huge fan of his Badlands), I have heard nothing but good thing about it over the years. Below is the cover art and specs:

New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Terrence Malick, editor Billy Weber, and camera operator John Bailey

New Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack

Audio commentary featuring Weber, art director Jack Fisk, costume designer Patricia Norris, and casting director Dianne Crittenden

New video interviews with cinematographers Haskell Wexler and Bailey

PLUS: A booklet featuring essays by critic Adrian Martin and director of photography Nestor Almendros

While I am sure there is much more yet to say (including some long overdue film reviews I have discussed several times earlier) I will leave you all with the first poster from Tim Burton latest, his film version of the famed play Sweeney Todd. Tell me this isn't a bad ass poster. Enjoy...