I'm always fascinated by the choices different countries make for their Best Foreign Language Film submission. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences leaves the selection process up to each country. Rule Fourteen states in part: "Selection of the best picture from each country shall be made by one organization, jury or committee that should include artists and/or craftspeople from the field of motion pictures." A few days ago, The Netherlands chose to submit Duska, a romantic tragicomedy, and now two more countries have announced their submissions. Variety Asia Online reports that Thailand is backing The Legend of Naresuan: Declaration in Independence, while indieWIRE has the news that Austria has selected The Counterfeiters.

As noted in the Variety article, Naresuan is the second film in a trilogy and is based on the 16th century adventures of the King of Siam. The Variety review by Richard Kuipers, which gives the subtitle as The Reclamation of Sovereignty, says the film "is a much more entertaining, if still confusing, proposition for foreign observers than the first." Action fans should be delighted -- Kuipers says more than one half of the running time is devoted to "massive battle scenes" -- but, sadly, I don't think that translates into Academy favor. Local audiences made Naresuan the country's all-time box office champion earlier this year.

The Counterfeiters (pictured) features one of my favorite actors, August Diehl (Tattoo, Distant Lights, Love in Thoughts). He's forced into service as part of a huge counterfeiting operation set up by the Nazis in 1936. The team is led by Karl Markovics, a convicted criminal facing a moral dilemma. Based on a true story, the film was directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky (Anatomy). The Counterfeiters won the Golden Bear at Berlin; Sony Pictures Classics plans a 2008 release.

The best-looking film I saw at AFI Dallas this year was the gorgeously photographed documentary Buddha's Lost Children. Fortunately, the subject matter is equally as absorbing as the imagery. The film is about the Golden Horse Monastery and the monk who runs it, Khru Bah. He travels throughout the Golden Triangle region of Thailand, bringing villagers food and supplies donated through the monastery, and often returning with boys whose best hope of a successful life is through joining the monastery as novices. The Golden Triangle villagers are often poor and many suffer from problems related to drug addiction. He is assisted by Khun Eud, a nun who believes strongly in Khru Bah's causes.

Khru Bah's monastery also takes care of horses, many of which are rescued from slaughterhouses. The novices and monks all have horses to care for and ride, and the boys learn how to take care of themselves as well as the animals. Many of Khru Bah's ideas on raising and educating children are reflected in his treatment of horses. The novices also all learn how to box, since Khru Bah was a championship boxer in Thailand until he joined the monastic order in 1990.

After a flurry of 9/11-related films and Hurricane Katrina docs, Hollywood is now setting its sights on the 2004 tsunami that devastated parts of Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India, with an official death count somewhere in the range of 230,000.

Variety reports the always reliable David Strathairn (Good Night, and Good Luck) has signed on to star in Hereafter, to be produced by Chris Bender, Ben Katz and Madeline Ryan. Michael Patwin will make his directorial debut (from his own script) with a story that centers around an American clothing designer who goes on a frantic search for his wife and children after the tsunami separates him from his family. Pic will begin shooting in Thailand early next year, with filmmakers donating a portion of the proceeds to orphaned children forced into child labor following the tsunami.

Here is an interesting little tidbit of comic book news for you truly dedicated fans, coming to you straight from -- of all places -- Thailand. That's right, Thailand has produced its very own superhero cinema epic, Mercury Man, with action scenes by the same fight choreography team which put together Ong-Bak.* According to the plot synopsis provided by Movies Online, the flick is about an everyday Joe firefighter who finds himself granted special powers from holy objects. With these powers, of course, he can fight evil, particularly evil in the form of a Thai mafia which is trying to take his special powers. If you are curious -- And why the heck wouldn't you be, with a description like that? -- I suggest you swing by Movies Online via the link above and check out the short trailer they've provided. It is in a weird mix of Thai and bad English, but it is well worth the watch.

This means it will have very exciting and fun to watch fight scenes.

What would be worse for you, seeing a blockbuster movie with no conclusion, or not seeing the movie at all? Thailand's film censorship board has declared that it's one or the other for The Da Vinci Code, which is scheduled for release there on Thursday. So far we've heard about the protests, the lawsuits, the boycotts, the calls for disclaimers and the attempts to ban the film by offended religious parties, but would Thailand really show the movie without its final 10 minutes? It seems so. Thus far, distributor Columbia TriStar Buena Vista (Thailand) has not made any official decision on what they will do with the picture.

I haven't read the book. I doubt that I'll see the movie. But right now I'm curious what is so sacrilegious in that last few minutes. I mean, the whole film is an issue with Christians all over. So, if they are willing to release the rest of the film, sans end, and be okay, then there must be something even more extremely blasphemous than we're already aware of. What could it possibly be?

And for a follow up question, what would produce more complaints: The Da Vinci Code shown in its entirety in Thailand, or X-Men: The Last Stand shown all over the world without its ending? 

Update:  After an appeal from the distributor, the Film Censorship Board has decided to show the film uncut, a decision made by a vote of 6-5. The subtitles will instead be rewritten and a disclaimer will show at the beginning of the film, declaring it to be a work of fiction.

Another good title for Beyond the Call would be The Santa Claus 3, if only it didn't sound too similar to a very different movie scheduled for release later this year. Nonetheless, Beyond the Call is a perfeclty fine name for Adrian Belic's extraordinary documentary about three old men -- occasionally with white beards -- traveling the world with presents. Unlike Santa, they don't travel just once a year and they don't cover all of the earth in one mission. Also, instead of toys, they give out food, medical supplies, clothing and blankets. Sometimes, though, they bring something like a solar-powered oven, which certainly looks like a big toy.

Meet Ed Artis, Jim Laws and Walt Ratterman, aka Knightsbridge, a three-man humanitarian organization that provides aid to needy people, one impoverished country at a time. In the Tribeca Film Festival guide, the film's synopsis describes them as "part Mother Teresa and part Indiana Jones," which earned a few rolled eyes from the Cinematical staff at first. Well, wouldn't you know their interpretation is spot-on? Sure, they don't recover artifacts or fight Nazis, but their role is just as much adventurous as it is altruistic.