People often say to me, they say, “Dave, you need to do more of your Underground columns, because my foreign cinema selections live and die by your very word!”  Or something along those lines.  But the truth is, lately there just haven’t been that many new movies from overseas (that I’ve been able to get my mitts on, anyway) that have warmed my loins.   

Well, there was one that came highly recommended, and one that I’ve actually (and shamefully) yet to grab.  But someone at Paramount did, and so we’re getting a remake of the recent French police thriller 36 Quai des Orfevres (the title refers to France’s version of Scotland Yard).  The acclaimed original starred Daniel Auteuil and the sublimely handsome Gerard Depardieu as competing investigators on the trail of violent thieves.

The remake, currently just going by 36 since the rest of the title would have no meaning to American filmgoers, will be penned by Dean Georgaris and helmed by Monster’s Ball director Marc Forster.  I have to say I’m impressed with this guy’s refusal to get associated with any one genre – besides Oscar-bait like Ball and Finding Neverland, he’s done a psychological thriller (Stay) and is working on the Will Ferrell comedy Stranger Than Fiction, and now a suspenseful and action-filled cops-and-robbers flick.  Robert DeNiro’s Tribeca is also producing, which is ironic since the original’s co-star Auteuil is basically his French doppelganger.

Now I have to go and order the import DVD and see what I’m missing…

Look as good as Depardieu on our message boards!