GreenCine presents another edition of the Dispatch newsletter, which this week is so jam-packed with releases, reviews and announcements that we won't spend too much time welcoming you. Jump on in!

"Actors want to work," says Peter Riegert. In a summer when audiences are demonstrating their disapproval with standard Hollywood fare en masse, Riegert (Animal House, Local Hero, The Sopranos) is offering them an alternative in the form of his first feature as a director, King of the Corner, featuring Isabella Rossellini, Eli Wallach, Eric Bogosian, Beverly D'Angelo, Rita Moreno and a host of other excellent yet underexposed performers. Of course, he's having to criss-cross the country to promote the film himself. Francine Taylor hears his story.

Coming very soon: David D'Arcy interviews veteran documentarian D.A. Pennebaker, for an illuminating talk and a fine overview of his long career on the occasion of his 80th birthday.

What's happening on the GreenCine Daily, winner of awards, keeper of film links and commentary, bestower of information? A nod to Wim Wenders on his 60th birthday (lots of birthdays going around), Reverse Shot on Jarmusch, online listening and viewing tips, fests and shorts, and more.

Video-on-Demand: Athens GA: Inside/Out (1986).

"It's been pretty simple so far, vacation in Athens is calling me," sang R.E.M. in their song "Letter Never Sent" (Reckoning, 1984), and they weren't referring to Greece, but their Georgia hometown, a college burg that spawned a host of other equally talented, though in some cases, less famous bands. Many of them are featured in Tony Gayton's loving little rock doc, Athens GA: Inside/Out. Richard Harrington in the Washington Post wrote then: "Gayton's film reflects the energy and the self-made spirit of Athens. And in these days of assembly-line rock bands, that counts for a little more than something." The film includes Michael Stipe, Mike Mills and Co., more famously known as R.E.M., The B-52s (some of whom are pictured at right), as well as the late, lamented post-punkers Pylon, Love Tractor, The Bar-B-Q Killers and others. It's a grassroots film about a grassroots community of musicians, a regional movement with surprising complexity and variety. In some ways Athens Inside/Out is a time capsule piece, and yet it hasn't dated much at all. You can check it out now or any time you wish via GreenCine's ever-expanding Video-on-Demand collection.

GreenCine Staff Pick of the Week: Powwow Highway (1989)

Lumbering Native American actor Gary Farmer has made quite a few memorable turns, from "Nobody" in Dead Man ("stupid f***ing man") to his Arnold Joseph in Smoke Signals, but in my mind no role was more perfectly suited to the actor's abilities than his Philbert Bono in Powwow Highway. Philbert, a truly wonderful creation, calls his old Buick Protector and talks to it like a war pony, has an enormous heart (and appetite), and who predictably but rewardingly softens the harder heart of his fellow Cheyenne Buddy (A. Martinez, also fine), a more militant activist. On the surface, Powwow Highway would seem like yet another road movie (and, literally, a "Buddy" picture), but underneath it's more of a journey in the Native American sense - one that involves a spiritual quest, an appreciation of the land - making quite a few digressions along the way. The plot - which revolves around Buddy's attempts to get his sister out of jail - is not the thing here, the film does wear its heart a bit too much on its sleeve, and Jonathan Wacks' direction (he produced Repo Man) is a little flat - but it's crisply shot (by cinematographer Toyomichi Kurita) and is one of the few films in recent memory to properly tackle the issue of modern day Native Americans struggling to maintain a connection to their past, without pandering. "You tell everybody fairy stories," Buddy complains. "The stories of our ancestors," Philbert corrects him. "How they solved problems. Often the problems never change. Nor the people." And it has Gary Farmer looming throughout like a gentle totem. (Double-feature idea: See Farmer in Heater, available via VOD.) -- Tamara Lees

Some high profile titles highlight this week's new releases, but our favorites include a rather obscure film from China, two anime treats, and a little indie gem that's quite funny (ha ha). That, and a few song and soft shoe classics, and you have a pretty darned good week:

Sin City. (2005). What's black and white and red all over? It's Sin City and it's "like no other movie you have ever seen, and will most certainly go down as [Robert] Rodriguez's best film to date," wrote Greg Wilson in Film Threat. "It is bare, and bold, and necessary. In the end, Rodriguez shows us [comic artist Frank] Miller's Sin City dream world and creates something new and disturbingly exciting in the process." With Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, Clive Owen, Benecio Del Toro, Jessica Alba and a host of other stars in supporting roles and featuring an extended scene guest-directed by Quentin Tarantino.

Funny Ha Ha (2003). The few people who initially caught Andrew Bujalski's subtly perceptive debut feature at festivals have tended to become evangelists for the modest filmmaker. Bujalski was helped by the Independent Spirit Awards which, in 2004, named him "Someone to Watch." He was helped by Amy Taubin, who interviewed him and sang Funny Ha Ha's praises very early on at Film Comment's site. And he's been helped by a private investor who's funding the film's current theatrical distribution even as, obviously, it's now out on DVD. Little wonder. As Reverse Shot editor Michael Koresky wrote at indieWIRE, "like early Linklater or Jarmusch, its aesthetics are perfectly wedded to its characters' lack of spatial self-awareness. To invoke those names may seem a bit heady for an unpretentious 16mm charmer focused on the unthreatening romantic travails of a rootless recent college graduate named Marnie (Kate Dollenmayer), but then why does Bujalski's film, in tone and in spirit, feel like something of a revelation?"

The Ballad of Jack and Rose (2004). Rebecca Miller directs real-life hubby Daniel Day-Lewis as Jack (as well as Camilla Belle as Rose, Jack's daughter, and Catherine Keener as Jack's possible love interest). "Visually, The Ballad of Jack and Rose is a lolling, luxuriant experience," wrote Andrew O'Hehir in Salon.

Flic Story (1975). Little wonder there are so few reviews to be found of this policier starring Alain Delon. As Kino writes at their site, "Jacques Deray follows in the footsteps of French crime film master Jean-Pierre Melville by bringing unsentimental verve, intelligent pacing, and refreshing honesty to Flic Story. Featuring multi-layered performances by Delon and [Jean-Louis] Trintignant, this classic of 70s French film noir is now available for the first time ever in the US."

And while we're on a Delon kick: Two Men in Town (1973). "Fantastic Delon crime film about a bank robber let out of jail after time served - seeking help - but is tormented by a cop and things just get really really unfair," raved Harry Knowles. "This film is just badass. This really is a great film about the downward spiral one can go on after making one mistake and how life sometimes just never gives you that second chance, even if you are a good person. Great little film that hardly anybody has seen."

Along with Chaplin vs. Keaton, one of the greatest and longest-running debates among cinephiles is Gene Kelly vs. Fred Astaire. As far as we're concerned, Kelly's got the power, but Astaire's got the pure movie magic. For far too long, though, his greatest performances, both as a dancer and a singer, have gone unreleased on DVD. Now come four made in rapid succession when Astaire was in his prime; and working with his greatest partner, Ginger Rogers:

Top Hat was not only one of the best musicals to come out of Hollywood, but also "the apotheosis of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers," writes Alan Vanneman in Bright Lights Film Journal. "It has five dances, a total they matched in only one other film (Follow the Fleet). All five are first-rate, and several are among the best that Fred and Ginger ever did. Irving Berlin's score is one of the most famous in film history... 'Top Hat, White Tie, and Tails' is the song most closely associated with Astaire throughout his career, while 'Cheek to Cheek' has become a symbol of the Astaire/Rogers relationship as a whole (their onscreen relationship, at least). Top Hat inflated every device of the previous three Astaire/Rogers picture to the bursting point. With each film, the icing on the cake got thicker and thicker. Top Hat was pure butter-cream. Cake this rich was never baked again."

Also out: Follow the Fleet (1936). "'Let's Face the Music and Dance' [is] one of the most elegant performances ever put on film." (Vanneman) Swing Time (1936). "The last Fred & Ginger musical to have it all." (Vanneman) Shall We Dance (1937). A sheer delight. "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" features Fred & Ginger on roller skates. And The Barkleys of Broadway (1949). Fred & Ginger reunite after a ten-year break; features the Gershwin's "They Can't Take That Away From Me."

Little Britain (2003). Wildly successful series was a winner of British Comedy Awards. "Combining a series of wickedly funny sketches observing life in modern Britain with Tom Baker's sublime narration ('What is them, who do they and why?') the series is a triumph for BBC3." (Off the Telly UK)

New Anime:

Pom Poko (1994). "With the international attention and praise heaped upon Hayao Miyazaki in recent years, one would almost forget that there is another genius at work in the offices of Studio Ghibli," wrote Tom Mes at Midnight Eye. What's more, he finds Isao Takahata "the more interesting director... Pom Poko is a delightful, often uproariously funny film, at once childishly irreverent and thoughtfully mature. Being a Ghibli work, it is beautifully rendered and technically impeccable, with a great number of memorable set pieces."

My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999). "Visually striking and quite unique... somewhere between My Neighbor Totoro and the collective works of animator Bill Plympton." (Anime News Network) Pure wackiness.

Mind your p's and queues: Try to have a minimum of ten titles for every slot you have, i.e., forty titles if you're on the four-out plan. If you're having trouble thinking of titles to rent, here are a few ideas: check out member lists (which you can look at chronologically, alphabetically or by average rating) and editorial top lists, browse through primers and our active discussion boards, look at our lists of titles coming soon, among other ideas. So queue away! And if you need to watch something right now, take a gander at our rapidly expanding Video-on-Demand offerings. And for ease of browsing, you can look at our currently available VOD titles by genre; go to the main page for a list of all genres.

Lastly, a word about spoilers: please try to refrain from including spoilers in your review (spoilers = revealing crucial plot elements that could spoil a user's enjoyment of a film they haven't seen previously). If you do include a spoiler in your review, please add a note at the beginning of your review which says: "Warning: Spoiler(s) in Review!" or you can add a [spoiler] just before that part, and then /spoiler when it's safe to look. This is a disclaimer which gives the reader an option, to read, or not to read (that is the question). Thanks for your cooperation!

Congratulations go out to winners of some recent GreenCine trivia contests: Fox WWII classics winners were (brace yourself for the onslaught): Stumpypeeps, castar, godan, raphaelc, windychien, Dboyd, Egregersen, woozy, Rparson, blindeh, reiermann, o556 and Rjensen (the answer was the Solomon Islands); Remington Steele winners were CountYorga, pounce and rhiannon0919 (the answer was Henry Mancini); and X Files Mythology winners were WoodyAllenFan90, tamaho, and DropDeadRed (the answer was The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy). We'll announce more winners in this space next week. Meanwhile, Friday's trivia contest giveaway will be for The Silent Star, the classic sci-fi film from East Germany's DEFA studio.

Member list of the week: Cinenaut's Puzzle Movies.

GreenCine's next film screening will be on September 7, at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, as we proudly present Finger Man (1955), a little-seen, hardboiled noir by Harold Schuster, better-known for his TV work on The Twilight Zone. More details forthcoming!