Selected Canadian or Canadian coproduced fall ’98 feature releases from either Alliance Releasing or Odeon Films include Gilles MacKinnon’s dramatic wwii story Regeneration, a Canada/Scotland coproduction (from the Norstar Releasing library purchased by Alliance) starring Jonathan Price, Johnny Lee Miller and Tanya Allen; and Vincenzo Natali’s New Wave feature Cube (Odeon), starring David Howlett and Andrew Miller (picked up in the u.s. by Trimark.)

Also from Canada, Thom Fitzgerald’s gay-muscle flick Beefcake, starring Daniel MacIvor and Jamie Robertson (Odeon); Calgary director Gary Burns’ Kitchen Party, starring Scott Speedman and Laura Harris (Odeon, Oct. 23); Don McKellar’s Last Night, starring Sandra Oh and McKellar, the opening night film in the ’98 Perspective Canda section at tiff (Odeon, Oct. 23); and Francois Girard’s The Red Violin, a multilingual $15-million Canada/Italy coproduction starring Samuel L. Jackson and Greta Scacchi (Odeon in English Canada, Film Tonic in Quebec, Nov. 6.)

Canadian feature releases from either Odeon or Alliance in ’99 include Jacob Two-Two & The Hooded Fang and the David Cronenberg science-fiction thriller eXistenZ.

Selected American and international movie fare this fall from Alliance includes John Dahl’s Rounders (Miramax), which won rave reviews at the Montreal World Film Festival; Brent Rather’s Rush Hour (New Line), starring Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan; Brad Anderson’s Next Stop, Wonderland (Miramax); and Frog For Snakes (Artisan), which stars Barbara Hershey as a bit-part actor who teams up with an old mob crony for one final job.

Also on the boards, the Sara Kelly feature doc Full-Tilt Boogie (Miramax); Let’s Talk About Sex (Fine Line); Strangeland (Artisan), a psycho-thriller starring Twisted Sister lead Dee Snider, Elizabeth Pena, Robert England and other big-name rock stars; and Permanent Midnight (Artisan), based on the Jerry Stahl (Stiller) autobiography and starring Stiller and Liz Hurley.

Other upcoming fall release highlights from Alliance include John Waters’ rag-to-riches comedy Pecker (Fine Line), Condo Painting (October Films), starring George Condo and the late William S. Burroughs, and the Gary Ross feature Pleasantville (New Line), a strange tale of two contemporary kids trapped in the ultra-wholesome world of a ’50s family sitcom.

Also slated for this fall are American History X (New Line), Tony Kaye’s explosive tale of a racist skinhead’s struggle for redemption, and Richard Lagravenese’s Living Out Loud, starring Danny de Vito and Holly Hunter.

Set for release in late fall and beyond into ’99 include Peter Chelsom’s The Mighty (Miramax), a comedy about an outsized 13-year-old, starring Sharon Stone, Gena Rowlands and Harry Dean Stanton; the Rand Ravich suspense The Astronaught’s Wife (New Line), starring Johnny Depp and Clea Duvall; Todd Haynes’ Velvet Goldmine (Miramax), starring Ewan McGregor; and William Nicholson’s beautifully photographed British historical drama Firelight (Miramax).

Also hitting the screens in upcoming month are Hilary and Jackie (October); Dr. Agagi (Canal+), set in a small Japanese coastal village on the eve of surrender in 1945; The Idiots (October); Mammy (October), starring Angelica Houston; Muse (October) with Albert Brooks, Cherry Falls (October); Up at the Villa (October), starring Kristen Scott Thomas and Sean Penn; Andre Techine’s Alice et Martin (Canal+/October), starring Juliette Binoche; and Fortune Cookies (October), with leads Glenn Close and Chris O’Donnell.