US kids learn their letters the hard way

Stephen Fry's take on Evelyn Waugh's Vile Bodies

Screenplay by the author Calder Willingham, generic domestics handled by Duvall's Pop and Diane Ladd's Mom, sexual disruptions dispensed by major-outfitted, Oscar-nominated Laura Dern as the teenage housekeeper. Her Rose has an earned rep, but Mom leaps to her defence. Mom's had enough of the South, too. The Button, Lukas Haas, pants and ogles from the sidelines.

Insane collision of thriller and farce, with a kidnapping plot played at volume 11 and cast by a person on amyl. Kevin Bacon and Courtney Love are the bad couple, Charlize Theron and Stuart Townsend the goodies. Charlize attacks Kev with a scalpel hidden down her knickers, but is still less raving bonkers than Courtney. Gloriously dreadful.

OPENS OCTOBER 24, CERT U, 67 MINS Scooby Doo, you've gone all blue. And trippy, Daft Punk, the French techno-pop duo who've consistently worked with cutting-edge directors (Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry, Roman Coppola), have collaborated with their lifelong Manga animation heroes Leiji Matsumoto and Kazuhisa Takenouchi to produce this 'musical', loosely accompanying their 2001 album Discovery. It's fun, and sweet rather than radical. If you're a Manga buff you'll enjoy the quaint sci-fi plotline and imagery, and stare at the female bassist's lovingly-drawn arse.

OPENS OCTOBER 17, CERT TBC, VARIOUS MINS Boldly straddling the chasm between obscure gallery installation and provocative arthouse epic, The Cremaster Cycle, made by Björk's boyfriend Matthew Barney, is as sumptuous as it is obtuse, as impervious as it is ambitious.

Debut from 1988 gets the Deluxe Edition, two-CD treatment

Clint's back at his directorial best with a lean, mean adaptation of Dennis Lehane's gripping crime novel

Elevated kiddie flick tackles grown-up issues

Metal vocalist's impressive horror debut