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Cyborg She

Picture a Japanese romantic comedy based on the premise of The Terminator and you have Cyborg She. An inventor sends a “female” robot back in time to save himself from being killed, only for the younger version of the man to fall in love with the oddly familiar ’borg. But can she love him in return? It’s a question put to the test when utter calamity strikes Tokyo. Warm humor, an accessible love story, a generous helping of reheated ideas from Western and Asian films alike and remarkable special effects brought plaudits for this film, which, in keeping with its eclectic frame of mind, is directed by a South Korean.

10 Promises to My Dog

This is also a Japanese love story between species, as it were, but of the canine variety. A girl adopts a stray dog on conditions laid down by her mother that she care for it properly. Eventually the mother dies, the girl grows up and leaves home to study, start relationships and everything else an adult does, placing pressure on her desire to care for the poor creature. It’s a simple premise but one rarely covered in cute animal movies: Where should responsibility for pets end? Older kids will love this film, though the message is just as much for adults. The 10 promises, by the way, are on the film’s Chinese-language Web site.

The Fox and the Child

Here’s another cute animal movie, this time from France, though the animal is decidedly not a pet. A fox captivates the heroine of the title (perhaps it’s because they have the same hair color) and they make friends after the girl gets lost one night. But friendship with a wild animal only goes so far, as she will find out all too soon. From the director of March of the Penguins, some critics were not taken with the mix of strange human behavior and sanitizing of Mother Nature, even in a children’s film.

Inside

Taiwanese advertising for this short but sharp French bloodbath warns that pregnant women will not be admitted. That’s a pity; it’s not often the heroine of any movie, horror or otherwise, is fat bellied and on the verge of a quick trip to the hospital. For this homebound heroine, recently bereaved in a car accident, the challenge is to stay out of the morgue as a fetus-coveting psycho (Beatrice Dalle, who famously played an erotic psycho in Betty Blue two decades ago) closes in with scissors poised. Apparently Taiwan’s censors resisted the temptation of using theirs.

Sorry If I Love You

In this Italian romantic comedy, viewers are invited to feel sorry for a bunch of male friends approaching middle age who are beginning to feel a little lost in the carnality department. One of the group has an accident with a motorscooter, whose owner is a sexy and adventurous 17-year-old. “Though almost adults,” says the promo, “[she and her friends] can still get up to the most incredible mischief.” A-ha! Color by numbers from this point; the only challenge is guessing whether there will be a moral sting in the tail. Heartthrob Raoul Bova (Alien vs Predator, Under the Tuscan Sun) stars as the smitten older man.

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