...

"This is the plush omen of doom."

Reggie (played by the great Terry Farrell, who hasn't been acting for a while now), in the CBS-sitcom "Becker". This shall be the motto for any economy-related post in the future.

Help them, help us

"Im Verhältnis zur eigenen Wirtschaftsleistung ist Österreich damit mit Abstand am stärksten in den osteuropäischen Märkten vertreten, was der Internationale Währungsfonds (IWF) zuletzt in einem Bericht als enormes Risiko eingestuft hat. Ein Rückzug der Banken hätte sowohl für Österreich als auch die Region fatale Konsequenzen, meinten die Experten des Fonds. Wörtlich ist von einem "Kreditschock" die Rede.
Das Problem sind vor allem die Devisenkredite, die sich für die Konsumenten und Unternehmen in der Region wegen des Währungsverfalls in mehreren Staaten verteuert haben. Es ist nun mit höheren Ausfallsraten bei den Krediten zu rechnen. Jetzt brechen auch die Immobilienmärkte weg, auf denen die heimischen Banken ebenfalls stark engagiert sind. "Ein Großteil der Projekte liegt derzeit auf Eis", heißt es in einer Analyse der CPB Immobilientreuhand. [...]
Faymann betonte, dass Österreich in den letzten Jahren sehr stark vom Osteuropa-Engagement profitiert habe. Daher müsse man auch in Zeiten der Rezession die Initiative ergreifen. Laut Pröll geht es nicht nur darum, den Ost-Töchtern der österreichischen Banken zu helfen, sondern ein Zusammenklappen des gesamten Systems zu verhindern."

Standard: Österreich ruft nach Hilfe für die Banken im Osten, 27. Januar 2009

I still can't find the IMF-report referred to but probably I am just too blind or too unimaginative to figure out the correct keywords - but here is a cheerful bit on how "the stimulus will go into a black hole" if the banking sector isn't reformed. It's always so nice when people who should know (in this case: IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn ) use such figurative speech.

Brown Kung-Fu Muppets

A girl who has never actually seen Star Wars pieces together the entire plot with the bits and pieces she does know. It's an amazing bit of narrative.


Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn't seen it) from Joe Nicolosi on Vimeo.

via Pop Candy Blog

A couple of months ago I tried to explain the first episode of "Heroes" to a friend without putting any spoilers in. I find explaining movies I have seen to friends who have not very difficult, but that might be partly the "fault" of the kind of movies I like (try to explain "Kontroll" to someone who hasn't seen it: well, there's this guy, but he's more like an otherworldly creature, and he throws people in front of the subway. Right, it's about a group of people who check tickets on the subway in Budapest. And the main character is this one guy who never really leaves, he sleeps down there. And the escalators only go down, never up. And there's this girl in a bearsuit) It adds a special edge to the task if the person you explain something to has no interest in Sci-Fi and Fantasy ("So where and when exactly IS Middle-Earth?")

WTA Australian Open, Quarter Finals

The Australian Open is the first Grand Slam Tournament of the season, following 4 smaller tournaments in Australia (which led to two wins by last-years Olympic gold medalist Dementieva, and one by Azarenka and Czech Player Ketra Kvitová). This year's event was overshadowed by the violence that broke out between Bosnian and Serbian fans over a match won by Serbian player Djokovic over Bosnian-born American player Delic.

Anyways: Last season ended strangely and I stopped following because I lost interest. Venus Williams won the Tour Championship in Doha, defeating Vera Zvonareva in the final.

Maria Sharapova, who won the Australian Open last year, is still injured and chose not to participate. Other potential favourites lost early into the tournament, like Ana Ivanovic who was beat in the third round by Russian player Alisa Kleybanova (currently ranked 31 due to her win). In Brisbane a couple of weeks ago she lost to Amélie Mauresmo (who made it into the semi-finals). Venus Williams was defeated by Spanish player Carla Suarez Navarro in the second round, and Jelena Jankovic lost in the third round to Japanese player Ai Sugiyama.

Quarterfinals:

Marion Bartoli - Vera Zvonareva
Dinara Safina - Jelena Dokic
Carla Suarez Navarro - Elena Dementieva
Svetlana Kuznetsova - Serena Williams.

I am looking forward to the Kuznetsova-Williams pairing: but judging from the past results, Dementieva probably has a better shot at winning than the American.

Das Lied zum Sonntag

Sleater-Kinney - The Drama You've Been Craving


[the video is from 1997 too, how amazing is that?]

Oh I wait
(I'm a time bomb)
For something more today
(I'm a fuse)

You know the place it stinks
(tongue is tired)
I smell like despair
(from over use)

All the bridges gonna burn gonna fall down
Burn it down it's so hot it's so hot hot
(is it all on you)

The clock I'm punching in
(I'm a monster)
Work till I can't give
(I'm a machine)
Now there's no time left
(and where I'm headed)
No time left for anything
(it's so obscene)

All the drama that you crave that you really want
That you crave that you want that you want want

(is it all on you)
Kick it out kick it in
Oh I wait
(I've got drama)
For something more today
(for the brain)

[auf "Dig Me Out", 1997]

By the way: kinda feel like dancing

The lyrics of "Jumpers" by Sleater-Kinney might not fit the state-of-mind right now (overcoming "Combat Rock" would be more to the point...) but still - it's one of my favourite songs, and it is, most importantly, my FIRST favourite song by the band, with a great video.



[there is a fantastic post on protest songs in those miserable eight years over at Carrie Brownstein's Monitor Mix).

Don't worry, I'll get over it eventually (but I'll enjoy it as long as it lasts...)

"At times, Mr. Obama seemed to chastise the nation, quoting Scripture to caution that “the time has come to set aside childish things.” It seemed a call to end an age of overconsumption and the presumption that America had a right to lead the world, a right that he reminded “must be earned.
The chiding, if most resonant of the last eight years, also harked back to an argument he advanced early in his run for the White House: that the nation had been ill-served by the social, cultural and political divisions of the generation that included Bill Clinton as well as Mr. Bush.
Every time Mr. Obama urged Americans to “choose our better history,” to reject a “false choice” between safety and American ideals and to recognize that American military power does not “entitle us to do as we please,” he was clearly signaling a commitment to remake America’s approach to the world and to embrace pragmatism, not just as a governing strategy but also as a basic value.
It was, in many ways, exactly what one might have expected from a man who propelled himself to the highest office in the land by denouncing how an excess of ideological zeal had taken the nation on a disastrous detour. But what was surprising about the speech was how much he dwelled on the choices America faces, rather than the momentousness of his ascension to the presidency. "

NY Times: Rejecting Bush Era, Reclaiming Values, January 20, 2009

I was not enthusiastic about Obama during the campaign. Before he became the candidate, I wasn't even sure who to root for - Clinton or him - but I knew the important thing was beating the Republican party, not which candidate appealed to me more. But right now, a couple of hours after the Inauguration, I actually feel kind of psyched about it. I feel... hopeful? That at least, for once, the speeches I'll have to read and the discourse I'll have to follow will be on a different, higher level, one that lives up to the standards of such an important job.

For the past eight years, I remembered nostalgically Clinton's two terms. Since I was only a child back then, I don't remember them very vividly, but I know that everything did not seem as dark and unfortunate (part of the reason might be that I remember the Lewinsky-affair more than Somalia or Yugoslavia...). What matters now is action. And the first thing the Obama-administration did? Halting these ridiculous military tribunals (does anybody else get goosebumps of horror just from the words?) in Guantanamo.

Guardian: Obama requests Guantánamo Bay tribunals suspension, January 21, 2009

The task ahead

The speech. It's simple, it's beautiful, it's everything it needed to be. Also, it is a speech. What matters now is action.






It's difficult to pick my favourite passage.

"Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents. So it has been.
So it must be with this generation of Americans. That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet."

"Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint. We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort - even greater cooperation and understanding between nations."

"It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate. Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths."

All of a sudden, the promised land looks slightly less appealing

While browsing through my favourite bookmarked sites that I didn't get around to reading over the past week due to exam-week-induced little-to-no-attention-span state of mind, I found a slightly unsettling post on A Fistful of Euros. Bascially what happened over the past few months was that whenever the financial crisis was discussed in relation to Austrian economy, the argument would eventually be made that, since Austrian banks are so involved in Eastern European economies, they are safer than those who make business with the US. This seemed like a ridiculous assumption made in the face of a GLOBAL crisis, that was still spreading. Any country stating it was better off than the others was hit, sooner or later, by awful results and perspectives. My question was: if the investments made in Eastern Europe were just as risky as those made everywhere else, why would the mere fact that this is an emerging region that really needs investment make it fool-proof or less likely to fail?
The cited Standard-article was hard to find - this was not widely picked up by Austrian news. And this is strange, since it paints a very grim picture for the coming months.

"Die österreichischen Banken geraten zusehends in den Fokus von Analysten, die sich um das hohe Kreditobligo sorgen. In dieses Lied stimmt nun auch der Internationale Währungsfonds ein, der bei seiner letzten Sonderprüfung die Vorherrschaft des österreichischen Finanzsektors in den Reformländern trotz einiger Hinweise auf die Gefahren unter dem Strich gelobt hatte.
Das hat sich geändert. In einem unveröffentlichten Bericht warnt der Fonds aus Washington vor einem Flächenbrand, sollten die Banken wegen des Konjunkturabschwungs zum Rückzug blasen und Gelder abziehen. "Die wahrscheinliche Folge wäre ein Kreditschock in der gesamten Region" , schreiben Andrea M. Maechler und Li Lian Ong. "

This is the short bit reported by Bloomberg. It was something I kind of expected to happen, but it's the first sign of it actually reported.

"Austrian banks have the biggest credit exposure to east Europe and would suffer from a credit contraction in the region, Der Standard reported, citing an unpublished report by the International Monetary Fund.
Austrian banks have loans outstanding that equal about 70 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, more than any other country, according to the report. "

Bloomberg: Austrian Banks Have Biggest East Europe Exposure, Standard Says

---one will be revealed.

Oh, and about the premiere of the second half of the last season of Battlestar? HOLY FRAK. I wouldn't even know where to start if I was to write a review.

I was right about the 13th colony. I was wrong about who the last of the final five is, although in retrospect it makes a lot of sense (and there were people who figured it out from the promotional picture that put parts of the crew in the Last Supper painting...). And KARA? AND DEE? Dude. I adore BSG because they set a date for the end of the show, which means that from now an, ANYTHING can happen. They could go back to the middle ages. Or all die. Or we find out it was all a dream. Science Fiction is about potential.

"We tortured"

"We tortured [Mohammed al-]Qahtani," said Susan J. Crawford, in her first interview since being named convening authority of military commissions by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates in February 2007. "His treatment met the legal definition of torture. And that's why I did not refer the case" for prosecution.
Crawford, a retired judge who served as general counsel for the Army during the Reagan administration and as Pentagon inspector general when Dick Cheney was secretary of defense, is the first senior Bush administration official responsible for reviewing practices at Guantanamo to publicly state that a detainee was tortured."

Bob Woodward in the The Washington Post, January 14, 2009

Via the can't-do-without Rachel Maddow Show.

The Washington Post: White House answers judge's finding of US torture, January 14, 2009

So what exactly is "Smart Power"?

Hillary Clinton used a new phrase in her speech to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (currently headed by former Presidential Candidate John Kerry):

"The President-Elect and I believe that foreign policy must be based on a marriage of principles and pragmatism, not rigid ideology. On facts and evidence, not emotion or prejudice. Our security, our vitality, and our ability to lead in today’s world oblige us to recognize the overwhelming fact of our interdependence.
I believe that American leadership has been wanting, but is still wanted. We must use what has been called “smart power,” the full range of tools at our disposal -- diplomatic, economic, military, political, legal, and cultural -- picking the right tool, or combination of tools, for each situation. With smart power, diplomacy will be the vanguard of foreign policy. This is not a radical idea. The ancient Roman poet Terence, who was born a slave and rose to become one of the great voices of his time, declared that “in every endeavor, the seemly course for wise men is to try persuasion first.” The same truth binds wise women as well."

[Transcript, New York Observer, January 13, 2009)

In international relations, the idea of "soft power" refers to the ability of a political body to indirectly influence decisions made by other political bodies (states etc.) - by cultural or ideological means. Whether or not a states is able to exercise this power depends on reputation and "credibility" (Joseph S. Nye - Propaganda Isn't the Way: Soft Power).
Hard power is probably best described by giving the example of Russian gas policy and how it is used to influence political outcomes in countries dependent on Russian gas. Hard power refers to political and economic means to outcome the decisions of political bodies. It is usually described as aggressive and threatening. In contemporary interpretation, an actor who has to resign to hard power to get his way is probably not as well-off as one who can rely on soft power - but probably that will change in the coming years?
"Smart power" is a term coined as a reaction to the US strategy in Iraq and refers to the combination of hard power and soft power to a "winning strategy" (Nye: In Mideast, the goal is 'smart power'). Clinton used it as a promise: during the past eight years, the State Department has lost its influence as the Defense Department exercised more and more influence on foreign policy.
When I wrote about Obama's and McCain's positions on foreign policy expressed in Foreign Affairs, I already mentioned that there are some differences, but possibly not quite as many as one would expect from two candidates who seemed so diagonally opposed during the campaign. So, what about the United Nations?

"We should also use the United Nations and other international institutions whenever appropriate and possible. Both Democratic and Republican presidents have understood for decades that these institutions, when they work well, enhance our influence. And when they don’t work well – as in the cases of Darfur and the farce of Sudan’s election to the former UN Commission on Human Rights, for example – we should work with likeminded friends to make sure that these institutions reflect the values that motivated their creation in the first place."

"Likeminded friends". That sounds nicer than anything previously said about the "coalition of the willing", but we will see how this idea plays out in the future. The common thread and most easily identifiable idea both in Obama's positions and Clinton's speech is the "renewal of American leadership" - the idea that in the past eight years, the US has not fulfilled its promise as the City Upon the Hill, a symbol apparantly nobody can question or do without. In her speech, Clinton calls this a "promise to humanity" - and this particular occasion a "new American moment".

Guardian: Hillary Clinton backs 'smart power' to assert US influence around world, January 13, 2009
Politico: Clinton endures light grilling, January 13, 2009

A literary recommendation before the Inauguration

"Then you refuse, sir, to wait for the Supreme Court to rule?" Morgan was now very tense. Seward looked at Lincoln, who, for no perceptible reason, was smiling.
"Sir, I will not wait upon anyone. The time for argument is past. If this is not agreeable to you, then we shall just have to see who is the stronger."
Seward felt an involuntary shudder in his limbs. He was also ravished by the irony of the moment. For nearly three years, a thousand voices, including his own, had called for a Cromwell, a dictator, a despot; and in all that time, no one had suspected that there had been, from the beginning, a single-minded dictator in the White House, a Lord Protector of the Union by whose will alone the war had been prosecuted. For the first time, Seward understood the nature of Lincoln's political genius. He had been able to make himself absolute dictator without ever letting anyone suspect that he was anything more than a joking, timid backwoods lawyer, given to fits of humilty in the presence of all the strutting military and political peacocks that flocked about him."

Gore Vidal: Lincoln, page 458f

Naomi Klein ("The Shock Principle") calls for a boycott of Israel

"Every day that Israel pounds Gaza brings more converts to the BDS cause - even among Israeli Jews. In the midst of the assault roughly 500 Israelis, dozens of them well-known artists and scholars, sent a letter to foreign ambassadors in Israel. It calls for "the adoption of immediate restrictive measures and sanctions" and draws a clear parallel with the anti-apartheid struggle. "The boycott on South Africa was effective, but Israel is handled with kid gloves ... This international backing must stop."
Yet even in the face of these clear calls, many of us still can't go there. The reasons are complex, emotional and understandable. But they simply aren't good enough. Economic sanctions are the most effective tool in the non-violent arsenal: surrendering them verges on active complicity."

The Guardian: Enough. It's time for a boycott, January 10, 2009

"Atomtestgelände des Kapitalismus"

Christian Petzold im Zeit-Interview über, of all things, Geld:

ZEIT: Die Figuren in all Ihren Filmen reden ohnehin so wenig, dass man sie manchmal fast anschreien möchte, damit sie aus sich herauskommen.

Petzold: Es geht aber nicht darum, dass Leute etwas verbergen, sondern darum, dass sie ökonomisch werden. Die Figuren von Jerichow haben keine Lust mehr, sich zu erklären. Das haben sie hinter sich. Ich mag Leute, die nicht mehr viel Zeit haben, die ungeduldig werden und den Zuschauer nicht noch an die Hand nehmen müssen. Der Zuschauer muss sich mit diesen Figuren und ihrer Komplexität beschäftigen, ohne dass die ihm sagen: »Ich hatte ’ne schwere Kindheit.«

Die Zeit: "Arm filmt gut? Das gefällt mir nicht"

...

If you want a sense of how something seems to be horribly off right now, out of balance, in a process of demise, go to Karlsplatz in the evening. I don't think it's ever been that bad before.

Not So Funny Now

This is Billy Wilder in 1961 ("One, Two, Three").



"The Road to Guantanamo" and "Taxi to Hell" had a couple of scenes just like that.
By the way: Watching Billy Wilder movies on a holiday is a good way to spend time!

Beginn der Bodenoffensive im Gazastreifen

"Mehrere Hundert Menschenleben hat der Gaza-Krieg bereits gekostet, 2000 wurden verletzt - und wie inzwischen fast immer triftt es am meisten die Zivilisten. Die israelische Luftwaffe setzt ihre Militäroperation gegen die radikal-islamische Hamas unterdessen fort. Kampfflugzeuge greifen Hamas-Ziele an, darunter auch das Hauptquartier des militanten Flügels. [...]

Vor allem im Norden des Kriegsgebiets versuchen jetzt viele Menschen zu fliehen, doch angesichts der ständigen Präsenz von Kampfflugzeugen, Hubschraubern und Drohnen ist eine Flucht schwer möglich - außerdem gibt es sowieso kaum eine Möglichkeit, sich außerhalb des komplett abgeriegelten Küstenstreifens in Sicherheit zu bringen."

Die Zeit: Keine Chance zu fliehen

Die Bevölkerungsdichte im Gazastreifen beträgt 4,118 Bewohner pro Quadratkilometer und ist somit die sechsthöchste der Welt. Insgesamt leben auf 360 km2 etwa 1,48 Millionen Menschen.

Die Zeit: Heftige Kämpfe im Gazastreifen, 4. Jänner 2009
NY Times: Is the Real Target Hamas Rule?, 3. Jänner 2009
NY Times: Isreali Troops Launch Attack on Gaza, 3. Jänner 2009
The Independent: Israel invades Gaza, 4. Jänner 2009
Detaillierte Karte des Gaza-Streifens (University of Texas)

Das Lied zum Sonntag

Bright Eyes - Make War

Our love is dead but without limit,
like the surface of the moon
or the land between here and the mountains.
Well, it is not these hiding places
that have kept us innocent
but the way you taught me to just let it all go by.
And so we've learned to be as faithless,
stand behind bulletproof glass,
exchanging our affections through a drawer.
And it was always horribly convenient
and happening too fast.
You should count your change before you're even out the door.
Yes, you should but please...

Return, return to the person that you were.
And I will do the same
cause it is too hard to belong to someone who is gone.
My compass spins. The wilderness remains.

Once too often, I have retreated
into the depths of my despair.
I built a barricade to block you on the road.
But standing there with all of my possessions,
piled higher than a house,
I felt closer to you than you ever would have known.
So let these tiny acts of charity
become common ground of which to build
a monument to commemorate our time.
And though, you say, you've found another
who will surely speed you on your way,
don't let the forest grow over that path you came there by.
But you will, so...

So hurry up and run to the one that you love.
And blind him with your kindness.
And he'll make war, old war, on who you were before.
And he'll claim all that has spoiled in your heart.

Well, now, I tell myself I've mended
under these patches of blue sky.
There are still a few holes that let in a little rain.
And so it is crying on my shingles.
My floorboards moan under my feet.
The refrigerator is whining, so I've got reason to complain.
But I am not gonna bless you with such compliments,
some degrading psalm of praise,
like the kind that converted you to me so long ago.
Because the truth is that gossip's
as good as gospel in this town.
You can save face but you won't ever save your soul.
And that's a fact.

So hurry up and run to the one that you love.
And tie him up in you likeness,
And he'll become, become the prisoner I was.
And know all that has spoiled in your heart.
And know all that has spoiled in your heart.

So hurry up and run to the one that you love.
And blind him with your kindness.
And he'll make war, old war, on who you were before.
And he'll claim all that has spoiled in your heart.
Yeah, he'll claim all that has spoiled in your heart.

(So hurry up and run to the one that you love.
And blind him with your kindness.
And he'll make war, old war, on who you were before.
And he'll claim all that has spoiled in your heart.
Yeah, he'll claim all that has spoiled...)

[auf "Lifted Or the Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground", 2002]

Sometimes these songs feel like they fit into my life, sometimes they remind me of something that happened in the past or somebody else entirely, and sometimes they are simply beautiful. This one is ancient. Today, I am one more year away from this point, 15.

Films for the early months of 2009

I've already started a movie project for the next couple of weeks: see the films that I missed last year, like the wonderful "Wendy and Lucy" that did so well at last year's Vienna Film Festival (I didn't even try to get tickets for that one, there was so much positive coverage in advance it sold out very quickly). The same applies to the Swedish horror vampire film "Låt den rätte komma in" - somehow, Holiday season always leaves me with an urge to watch horror movies (I started with "The Exorcism of Emily Rose") and this one seems to be really good. I might also try and get a look at some of the highly recommended Spanish horror flicks [rec] and "El Orfanato" (both originally released in 2007).

Låt den rätte komma in



More movies I missed this year: "W", "Zack and Miri Make a Porno", "Battle in Seattle", "My Winnipeg", "Ballast", "Synecdoche, New York", "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist"

I enjoy Gus Van Sant most when he makes small movies with an unknown cast ("Elephant", "Paranoid Park") but I'm pretty sure that "Milk" is a fantastic movie. It comes out in Germany on February 19th.

NY Times Review
PopMatters Review

Milk


David Fincher's new movie "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" is also something I look forward too: Fincher occasionally amazes me ("Seven", "Fight Club"), but now and then also kinda bores me ("Panic Room", "Zodiac" which I didn't enjoy at all, although I know it got rave reviews). I'm willing to give this one every chance to convince me, after all, the cast is amazing (Brad Pitt, Julia Ormond, Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton).

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button



also in a little wider time span: "Inglourious Basterds" by Quentin Tarantino, slowly assembling a stunning mix of actors (with Daniel Brühl and Til Schweiger acting alongside "The Office's" BJ Novak and Brad Pitt) and the next sadly postponed Harry Potter movie, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", set to open on July 16. Also possibly "Funny People", the next movie actually directed by Judd Apatow, featuring Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Eric Bana, Jonah Hill and Jason Schwartzman, but then, Apatow goes wrong as often as he goes right, so we'll see. According to the ever-so-useful imdb, Ellen Page's next project "Whip It!" is already in post-production but there seems to be no release-date yet: It's directed by Drew Barrymore and features, apart from herself and Page, Juliette Lewis (yay), Marcia Gay Harden and Alia Shawkat (from "Arrested Development"). In addition, one of my favourite directors, Claire Denis ("Nenette & Boni", "Beau Travail"), seems to be finishing production on a movie called "White Material", featuring Isabelle Huppert and Christopher Lambert.