Many of you won't have a chance to catch these films in theaters (although I'm sure you're dying to see them!), but here we are in a world of fantasy, and if you don't see the films, or even really know about them, you can still be a great Mogul ... if you listen to the right people. Like me. OK, I'm not always right. Once again, however, I'll try my hand at being wise and guiding you through three new limited releases scheduled to open June 11 and June 20 (we're squeezing in two weekends because of last week's Cannes break). Reseachers in Antartica, Bangladeshi women and American dolls are on the menu this week. Let's see what you'd like to order ...

There was a time when Werner Herzog was mostly known for his infamous onset fights with Klaus Kinski. That love-hate relationship between the director and the actor fascinated, and often resulted in stunning films such as Aguirre: The Wrath of God and Fitzcarraldo. Kinski may be gone now, but Herzog is still doing vivid work, and he has played a notable part on the arthouse scene recently, thanks to a couple of films that made a great impression on cinephiles, the documentary Grizzly Man and the survival-in-the-jungle drama Rescue Dawn, starring Christian Bale.

Herzog, admired for addressing both real life and fiction in his filmmaking — both at once in some films —  is clearly "a name." A name that guarantees an audience will be there to pack the few theaters where his films are shown. On June 11, his latest documentary will open in New York City, Encounters at the End of the World (June 11). Like many of Herzog's films, this one deals with environment, as it takes place in Antartica, at the McMurdo research station, and documents the lives of those living and working in this beautiful, cold and deserted landscape.

Along his whole career, Herzog has proven himself a master at filming the wild, and this one should be no different. Produced by the Discovery Channel, like Grizzly Man, Encounters at the End of the World should have no problem collecting excellent reviews and generating fantastic word of mouth. In fact it's already happening, so I would not exactly be surprised if this one came out on top of the PTA race during the June 13 weekend, although it opens on a Wednesday. Herzog's films rarely fails to collect strong PTA numbers, a User Rating in the high 7s, and box-office revenues of somewhere between $3 million and $5 million. Given the excellent early reviews and the already high 8.9 User Rating on IMDb, Encounters looks to be an arthouse hit. Beware of the price tag though, $10 in Ultimate Movie Moguls leagues. It will need long-term legs to be worth its price.

I don't know if you need to be a 7-year-old American girl to know about the American Girl line of dolls, but I had never heard of them until the movie derived from the toys, Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (June 20), was made. A few months back, I probably would have barely taken a look at this film before focusing on something else. But since Hannah Montana demonstrated the power that teen and 'tween girls can have at the box-office, I can't help but keep an eye on that Kittredge kid.

So what did "they" come up with to get a feature film out of a doll line? Well basically it's a 10-year-old in Depression-era America, living her life with her friends until she launches an investigation ... blah-blah-blah. That's what you basically get out of the trailer, and that will probably be enough for people hanging around this site. (I can't picture any of you guys and girls desiring to actually see Kit Kittredge, and I hope I'm right about that)

Let's concentrate, rather, on the important facts concerning this film. First, although the director, Canadian-born Patricia Rozema, is not exactly a household name, the cast of Kit Kittredge is quite impressive. (Children's movies often get good actors, probably because actors sometimes want to act in films they'll be able to watch with their kids.) You've got Joan Cusack, Julia Ormond, Stanley Tucci, Chris O'Donnell, Jane Krakowski and Glenne Headly, all of them gathered around "it" girl preteen idol Abigail Breslin.

The second important fact about KK is that the G-rated, family-friendly film will get a platform release from its distributor (the soon-to-disappear) Picturehouse. Opening in about five cities on June 20 (probably in only one theater per town, NYC, LA, Chicago, Dallas and Atlanta), it will expand to a wide release on July 2, facing down Hancock in multiplexes and The Wackness in arthouse theaters.

The third and last important fact to consider about KK is its value in the Fantasy Moguls leagues. Only $2 in Box Office Moguls leagues, and $6 in Ultimate. Now, even though I mentioned Hannah Montana, you certainly shouldn't expect those kinds of numbers from this film. I'd be surprised, however, if, with its less-than-10-theaters initial launch, and its wide expansion a couple of weeks later on a fairly open weekend (even if it opens at just 1,000 theaters), KK did not grab a few PTA points and a few million dollars at the box-office. Maybe even more than the $12 million Fantasy Moguls predicts. I doubt it will be able to collect 3 Top 5 points. One or two maybe, but that's all. And the User Rating should be very low, probably under 5. But it's still probably one of the most interesting $6 offers in June-August Ultimate leagues, and likewise for $2 in Box Office.

I'm pleased to conclude this week's Dances with the Arthouse with a gem of a film. European cinema has been steadily interesting these past few months, and Brick Lane is further proof of that. Adapted from a renowned novel by Monica Ali which has many fans, it is destined to equally disappoint and charm, like many book adaptations. It's a portrait of a woman, one Nazneen, a Bangladeshi beauty, who, when barely older than an adolescent, was married by her parents to a much more grizzled (and uglier) compatriot who'd "made it" in England. That's where she's living 15 years later, the mother of two teenage girls in a popular East London neighborhood with a strong community from Bangladesh. Nazneen is at a defining moment in her marriage, and begins to realize that there may be another life for her out there.

Brick Lane sometimes reminds of Mira Nair's The Namesake, which also dealt with uprooting, conflict of generations and dreams of a different life than the one your family and community expects from you. A first feature film by Sarah Gavron (who's also directed a made-for-TV movie), Brick Lane is as much part of a social cinema, as it is a moving story of a woman's journey. But London is not New York, Gavron is not Nair, and the Bangladeshi community is not as strong as the Indian one. So it's unlikely that Brick Lane will enjoy a career as healthy as The Namesake, although the film is just as good.

But the profile of the film leads one to speculate that there's a niche where it could fit in, with the savoir faire of distributor Sony Classics. Not to the tune of $10 million at the box-office and 10 PTA points, but a couple of million and 3 or 4 PTA points are possible with a Los Angeles and New York launch. The User Rating should be a steady 7. If you're short on prestige on your Ultimate slate and need a good UR and a few PTA points rather than millions at the box-office, then Brick Lane is an interesting opportunity at $7. Leave it behind in Box Office leagues though.

And so this Dances with the Arthouse reaches its completion. I did not manage to stretch from Bangladesh to India to make a reference to Bollywood, and its goddesses of the screen. Don't worry, I'm sure I'll do plenty of that in a future column. For the moment, however, I am going to plan my next outing to a movie theater ... probably to see JCVD, one of my very most anticipated films of the year which was just released in Paris. Van Damme playing Van Damme. I'm sure it's going to be l-l-l-l-legendary (grin). Due to the lack of any arthouse release available to Fantasy Moguls players on the weekend of June 27, I will most likely not be around next week. Unless Terrence Malick or Gong Li writes to me and ask me to come up with something, because he (or she) is an avid reader of your truly ... I know, I know, that's never gonna happen.

Indie Jones doesn't KNOW that it's never gonna happen. After all, Gong Li uses the Internet (probably). And maybe she even sometimes Googles her own name. And if that happened, and if she clicked through about 10 pages of links, then ... hey it could happen. And if couldn't, then don't e-mail danceswiththearthouse@gmail.com to say so.