A few of the same shorts (and still 16 of them) are present. Duplicated from the PAL DVD edition  are Copy Shop - Virgil Widrich (Austria), Nanni Moretti's Il Giorno Della Prima Di Close-Up (The Opening Night Of The Close Up), Harlig Ar Jorden (World Of Glory) by Roy Andersson, L'Homme Sans Tete (The Man Without A Head) - Juan Solanas, Nocturne - Lars Von Trier (Denmark), Valgaften (Election Night) - Anders Thomas Jensen (Denmark), Jabberwocky (Zvahlav aneb Saticky Slameného Huberta) Jan Svankmajer 1971.

Unfortunately missing (possibly for a legal rights situation) are films from notables Godard, Kieslowski, Moodysson, Leconte and Tykwer (among others). These are healthy omissions although it does maintain the award-winning films; Anders Thomas Jensen's Oscar winner 'Election Night', Juan Solanas' Cannes Jury Prize winner 'The Man Without A Head', and Virgil Widrich's Oscar nominated 'Copy Shop'....

New shorts for the series - not available on the PAL edition - are Wasp by Andrea Arnold from the UK, Christopher Nolan's Doodlebug, Toby MacDonald's Je T'aime John Wayne, Lynne Ramsay's Gasman, Matthieu Kassovitz's Fierrot Le Pou (France), Rabbit by Run Wrake, Ridley Scott's Boy and Bicycle, Before Dawn by Balint Kenyers from Hungary, Election Night - Anders Thomas Jensen (Denmark) and Six Shooter by Ireland's Martin McDonagh. Memorable for me were Jensen's and Ramsay's films.

Certainly transfer-wise it is inferior - interlaced (ex. Wasp) with a few 16X9 enhanced (but some are letterboxed), all have English subtitles (but a few are actually burned-in - ex. World of Glory) and there are director commentaries (one for each film - same ones from the PAL release from 2006 for those films that are duplicated). Just to mention - Nocturne appears very dark - darker than I recall it being on PAL release.

I think I still enjoyed it more than the American shorts (reviewed HERE) and I loved the commentaries sometimes more than the films themselves. These are great to show friends who drop by if you don't want to settle in for a full feature film. I've done that before with Solanas' The Man Without A Head (anamorphic in the European version but letterboxed on this DVD). It's a kind a amusing diversion that requires very little attention.

This is such an eclectic selection that it's hard to give anything but a personal opinion and I feel certain everyone would get, at least, something out of package. I'm appreciative that these DVDs were put together and enjoyed my viewings although I was slightly disappointed at having so many rehashed from the one I saw last year. As far as price goes this has great value. 

NOTE: This DVD is in the NTSC format, Region 0, the same as the American Shorts which have the same standard and coding.

Gary W. Tooze