Pakistani taxi-driver Parvez and prostitute Bettina find themselves trapped in the middle when Islamic fundamentalists decide to clean up their local town.

The title pretty much says it all, folks: A gorgeous ET cosies up to an eccentric scientist (a disarmingly straight Dan Ackroyd) in an attempt to save her dying planet and falls in love in the process. Much wackiness ensues. Art it ain't, but this likably lightweight film does deliver the laughs, with assured leading performances (for once, Kim Basinger's formica loveliness is utilised as an effective comedic asset), a surprisingly bawdy sense of humour and a riotous supporting turn by a then dewy-fresh Jon Lovitz. --Andrew Wright

My Wife Is an Actress ("Ma Femme Est une Actrice") stars Charlotte Gainsbourg--ex-child star, daughter of Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin, beautiful and accomplished actress--alongside her real-life husband Yvan Attal, who also directs. Attal is a humble sports journalist married to a famous international star (played by Gainsbourg) and uncomfortable with her celebrity. His first film as a director plays knowingly with off-screen reality: the two leads even use their own names, Charlotte and Yvan, for the characters they play.

In the film, Charlotte goes to London to appear in a romantic drama opposite British movie icon John (Terence Stamp, sending himself up with some luvvie-ish posturing). Left at home, Yvan torments himself with thoughts of his wife playing sex scenes with John and his jealousy puts their marriage at risk. His visits to her on the set in London only make things worse.

There's scope here for some good comedy, as well as an interesting exploration of how, in an actor's life, reality and artifice can snarl each other up. But Attal, who also scripted, makes his characters so shallow and two-dimensional that it's hard to believe in them, let alone care about them. A sub-plot about the squabbling between Yvan's sister and her husband over whether their unborn son should be circumcised (she's Jewish, he's not) feels tacked-on and tiresome. In aspiring to script and star in his directorial debut, Attal may have overstretched himself. Given a stronger script, this could have been a funnier or more searching film, or both.

On the DVD: My Wife Is an Actress comes to disc in a clear full-screen transfer, although the dialogue's a little muffled here and there--a fault of the original, not the transfer. By way of extras we get the theatrical trailer, a likeably relaxed 16-minute "making of" featurette and a handful of not very interesting deleted scenes. --Philip Kemp

As Chris Morris ventures into the realms of the short film with My Wrongs Number 8245-8249 and 117 it makes complete sense that the king of vicious satire should team up with Warp Records' new film section. Warp have constantly strived to subvert the norm in music--signing acts such as Boards of Canada and the mad yet beautiful music of Aphex Twin--and so Morris has been able to lay a superb soundtrack over the top of his film.

Having merged the spoken word with Warp-style music in his earlier release Blue Jam, Morris goes one step further with My Wrongs and adds multiple layers to the visuals. Imbued with surreal and macabre comedy, it follows one man's descent into an off-kilter world where dogs and babies become lawyers defending everything he has done wrong since the age of four. Don't expect any political Brass Eye-type wranglings from this Morris creation, though, since My Wrongs is more concerned with the turmoil of the subconscious mind. As such it looks set to become a darling of the alternative scene.

On the DVD: My Wrongs Number 8245-8249 & 117 offers a surprising amount of extras for such a short film, including a commentary from one of the production runners, a number of remixes (including a superb mix of Barbara Woodhouse's dog training sessions) and an inner-monologue from the starring man. --Nikki Disney