"We'll make a movie, the darlings of cinema
You'll be director, and I'll be your movie star"

Man, oh man. I'm all caught up on my reviews. I can't quite believe it. It's been a busy month or so of moviewatching, but as of right now, I've got nothing on deck.

Not that everyone appreciates the effort. A certain G. Barlas writes to us from the Netherlands, which apparently became the center for comedy in the world when no one was looking.

I read your review of 'Tropic Thunder' and... I cannot believe my eyes... " highly recommended"!!!!????? Surely you must be joking! Such a disjointed, episodic and unfunny story!!!!! I guess you love Stiller and Downey Jr..... ach! Americans! You gave academy awards to Halle Berry, Braveheart and Jamie Foxx!!!! C' mon! Time to grow up!

If anyone is missing any extra punctuation, Chuckles Barlas here I think might be hording a few exclamation points.

I just got the Tropic Thunder (Unrated Director's Cut) on DVD (thanks, Scott!), so maybe I'll cook up some salted herring and meatballs and enjoy a little Stiller and Downey in honor of my new international pen pal!

UPDATED TO CRITERION CONFESSIONS...

* Band of Outsiders, a playful Jean-Luc Godard love-triangle heist picture, starring an adorable Anna Karina.

* The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, Luis Bunuel's savage send-up of middle class values.

* Mafioso, an Italian black comedy from the early 1960s with Alberto Sordi as an inadvertent hitman.

* Touchez pas au grisbi, a tough noir with Jean Gabin as an aging gangster looking for a way out.

THIS WEEK IN DVD REVIEWS...

* Fanfan La Tulipe - Criterion Collection, a fun 1950s French swashbuckler. (Also at Criterion Confessions.)

* Looney Tunes: Golden Collection, Vol. 6, an amazing new set of some of the greatest cartoons of all time. Includes a war-themed disc and a disc of one-offs and special creations.

* Love Songs, an annoying "21st-Century Umbrellas of Cherbourg." Barf!

* Paris, Je T'aime, a re-release of the two-disc version of one of my favorite movies of recent memory.

* Popeye the Sailor: 1941-1943, vol. 3, the third set in the Popeye series takes us into the war years and a shift in production companies.

* Roberto Rossellini 2-Disc Collection (Director's Series), a double dose of the Neorealist from the filmmaker's 1950s oeuvre.

* Roman Holiday - The Centennial Collection and Sabrina - The Centennial Collection, Audrey Hepburn's first two films get a major DVD upgrade.

* The Spy Who Came in from the Cold - Criterion Collection, the chilly spy thriller starring Richard Burton, directed by Martin Ritt. (Also at Criterion Confessions.)

Current Soundtrack: Pelle Carlberg, The Lilac Time