A polite tussle between the Irish Film Censor's Office and Abbey Films, the distributor of the upcoming Irish horror comedy Boy Eats Girl, came to an intriguing conclusion last week.
The censor, John Kelleher, initially ruled that a certificate would not be awarded to Stephen Bradley's film unless one troublesome scene was cut. The distributor exercised its right of appeal and was, presumably, delighted when the Appeals Board unanimously ruled in its favour. To further add to the mystery, Boy Eats Girl was awarded a 15A, rather than a 16 or 18 certificate.
Neither Abbey Films nor the Censor's Office was prepared to confirm or deny rumours that the offending sequence touched on the ever controversial subject of suicide. Judge for yourself when Boy Eats Girl is released on September 23rd.
The clones of Kidman
In the future all films will star Nicole Kidman. It has just been announced that the icy Australian is to appear in a remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, directed by Downfall's Oliver Hirschbiegel. Perhaps the aliens really are hatching multiple Kidmans in pods. How else to explain the fact that she is also soon to star in films by Tony Scott and Wong Kar Wai, a biopic of the photographer Diane Arbus and some musical thing with Jennifer Lopez? Kidman addicts can get their next fix in two weeks' time when the big-screen version of Bewitched is released.
Asian titles top Venice
The Venice Film Festival begins on August 31st with an out-of-competition screening of Tsui Hark's martial arts fantasy Seven Swords. This year's festival, which focuses closely on Asian cinema, features fewer films than in 2004, but there is still room for Perry Ogden's fine debut feature, Pavee Lackeen. The recent prize winner at the Galway Film Fleadh will feature in the International Critics sidebar. Other highlights of the jamboree include Fernando Meirelles's The Constant Gardener, Terry Gilliam's The Brothers Grimm and John Turturro's intriguing musical Romance & Cigarettes.
Overnight sensation
Tony Montana, one of the directors of the hugely enjoyable Overnight, will answer questions in Dublin's Irish Film Institute both tonight and tomorrow night following a screenings of the film. The documentary details the rise and fall of Troy Duffy - briefly a friend to Harvey Weinstein, then a Hollywood non-person - as he fails to become the next Tarantino.
Was the director christened Tony Montana or did he change his name as a tribute to the hero of Scarface? Ask him yourself.
Indian greats in Temple Bar
Home and the World, a season of Indian film featuring work by Satyajit Ray and Madhushree Dutta, will run at the Project Arts Centre in Dublin's Temple Bar from August 12th-27th. The films have been selected to complement Project's visual arts programme and will be followed in later weeks by several performance pieces. German artist Matti Braun's theatrical presentation of Ray's unmade screenplay, The Alien, should be of particular interest to cinema enthusiasts. Further details from www.project.ie.
Filmbase on the move
Temple Bar's Filmbase, which has acted as an invaluable resource to emerging film-makers over the past 19 years, has escaped the tall, thin, many-staired tower over the Irish Film Institute and moved across the street to the building that used to accommodate Arthouse (whatever that was). To celebrate this happy fact, Filmbase, publishers of Film Ireland magazine, will host a celebration at the new premises on Tuesday, August 9th.
Over 500 guests have been invited and the speakers include Jane Doolan, film consultant to the Arts Council, and Jim Sheridan, whose daughter, Kirsten, was one of the many important film-makers to profit from a Filmbase training course. More info at www.filmbase.ie
Geeks with money to burn
You'd imagine that Luke Skywalker's light sabre from Star Wars would be priceless, wouldn't you? Not quite. An anonymous bidder purchased the buzzy weapon for $200,600 last week in an auction of movie props and costumes. Encouragingly for ethicists and all those on the light side, Darth Vader's sabre only managed $118,000.
Other items sold included two highly desirable leather jackets. The Terminator's went for $41,300, but Indiana Jones's - in another victory for virtue and decency - made a whopping $94,400. And you thought all the nerds went bankrupt when the dotcom bubble burst.
Wondering woman
Since we haven't had heard any nonsense recently about who is to be the next James Bond, we are reduced to discussing the casting of the upcoming Wonder Woman movie. The lovely, but apparently not very tactful, Lynda Carter, who played the character on television in the 1970s, has suggested that 41-year-old Sandra Bullock and 35-year-old Catherine Zeta-Jones may both be too old for the role. The current favourites are Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel and someone called Katie Holmes.
dclarke@irish-times.ie
