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After a lacklustre Summer of overblown Hollywood turkeys like Stealth and the barrel-scraping Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo, I’m sad to say that it’s rarely worth going to the movies these days. It seems the best movie experiences are to be had on DVD right now, as new titles from earlier in the year begin to filter through and older gems make surprise appearances at street stalls everywhere.
Things are set to change on Friday 14th October when Bangkok's third World Film Festival (www.worldfilmbkk.com) returns to spoil us for choice. However, for this week, put the popcorn in the microwave, dim the lights and make sure you get your favourite chair…
Here’s a guide to the current cinematic crop on release from all good bootleggers.  Carlito’s Way: The Rise to Power (2005)
If, like me, you are a lover of Brian De Palma’s beautifully haunting Carlito’s Way (1993), you really should dodge this straight-to-video prequel.
There's not a shred of originality in script or direction by Michael Scott Bregman, whose father Martin produced the original so I won’t bore you with the plot.
As you can probably tell by its cover, Rise to Power is squarely aimed at the hip hop fanbase that adopted De Palma’s masterpiece as their own.
Where the nineties gangster classic featured celebrated performances by Sean Penn and Al Pacino, this estranged bastard offspring boasts a turn by Puff Daddy and the unknown Jay Hernandez posing as a young Carlito.
Verdict: don’t even barter.
 Hotel Rwanda (2004)
Like me, you may have missed this one when it was in theatres. With its serious subject matter, Hotel Rwanda lay between The Life Aquatic and Agent Cody Banks 2 as the 98th largest release last year, despite its Oscar nominations.
Based on actual events, the movie follows a hotel manager, played magnificently by Don Cheadle, as he tries to save innocent lives in the chaos of a horrific genocide. In 1994, the ruling members of the Hutu tribe began a calculated effort to wipe out the Tutsi minority, with the world largely ignoring their plight.
The film’s shockingly realistic scenes are tempered by strong performances throughout. The copy we watched was slightly squashed horizontally, but we were able to adjust this by changing the aspect ratio settings on our DVD-player.
Verdict: go ahead, you know you need to see it.
 Team America: World Police (2004)
If you missed this first time around, then you owe it to yourself to buy a copy, head home and humbly make amends.
The creators of South Park switched to Thunderbirds-style puppet animation to tell the timely tale of an international police force dedicated to maintaining global stability.
Learning that power hungry dictator Kim Jong Il is out to destroy the world, the team recruits a Broadway star to go undercover. Opposed to this, is the Film Actors' Guild, or F.A.G., whose misguided members include Alec Baldwin, Tim Robbins, Matt Damon, Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn.
Musical highlight include Jong-Il’s heart-warming lament, "I’m Ronery" ("I’m Lonely") and a whole song devoted to how bad the film Pearl Harbor was.
The DVD is loaded with extra features including "making of" documentaries, but be careful: there are some copies out there that just don’t work. It wasn’t until our second trip to our friendly neighbourhood bootlegger that we got a decent version.
Verdict: you’ll want to skip back to your favourite parts at the end – laugh out loud funny.
 Battle Royale (2002)
This frenetic, hyper-violent Japanese cult classic is unlike anything you will have seen before.
A randomly-chosen class of ninth-grade students are taken to a small isolated island and each given a map, food and various arms. Forced to wear explosive dog-collars that detonate if they break a rule, they must murder each other for three days until the last one remains. Best friends turn on each other when it becomes clear they must kill or be killed.
Some familiarity with problems in modern Japan, such as school violence and overwhelming bureaucracy, give some necessary perspective to this controversial movie, and helps frame it as more than exploitation. It is a political statement, with a subtle message underlying the extreme violence.
The copy we saw was high quality, just make sure you’ve turned the subtitles on first.
Verdict: worth battling for.
 Mean Creek (2004)
If, like me, you find yourself returning to such gems as Stand By Me and Bully every now and again, you will find yourself in familiar waters with Mean Creek.
When shy Sam (Rory Culkin – yes, Macauley’s younger brother) confesses to his protective older brother Rocky that he is getting pummeled by the towering school bully, George, they plan the perfect payback.
Inviting George on a birthday river trip tailor-made to end in the bully's humiliation, Sam begins to see George in a new light as a lonely kid desperate for friendship and attention.
Sam decides to call the whole thing off, but the boat and the plot are already in motion, and no one can foresee the surprises and accidents that are to come.
There are some powerful performances from the young cast, most notably Rory Culkin, as their characters are forced to make decisions that could affect the course of their lives.
Be warned: the first copy that we bought stopped playback during the crucial last few minutes. If, however, you have a friendly bootlegger, you should be able to exchange it.
Verdict: one to buy, but where possible, ask your dealer if he can skip to the credits to make sure that the ending is there.
What’s in your DVD player? Let us know the bootlegs that proudly grace your collection, or left you howling with frustration.
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