Father Geek here with the latest from Downunder... Got to run to SXSW screening so have at it...

Just think of your mind as a movie, you can pause, slow down, rewind, and fast forward.

AICN-DOWNUNDER

Someone asked me recently about smoking in films. Where I stood on the subject.

See, there's a big debate (which hasn't, to my knowledge, flared up recently but I bring it up anyway) about whether people should smoke in films, on TV. One school of thought it that it should be banned, so kids don't ape their heroes. The other extreme says that censorship in all its forms is wrong.

What's the solution? If ignoring the problem is irresponsible and censorship is dangerous, what do we do? I reckon the answer's simple. We include it under the drug ratings system. If there are different degrees for the rating of 'Drug Use' (as in, smoking a joint is down the bottom and injecting heroin into your eyeballs is up the top), smoking cigarettes should be in there as well. Admittedly, right down the bottom, but still there.

Anyway, I'm throwing that idea into the debate. Anyone else got one?

NEWS

* Heath Ledger, who hasn't identified the term 'historical drama' with the term 'lack of box office success', has signed on to Lasse Hallstrom's biopic of Cassanova. The film will apparently follow Cassanova's pursuit of the only woman who doesn't instantly fall for her affections. People surprised at that plotline were also surprised to hear that the next James Bond film will feature an explosion.

* Jennifer Lopez, best known for her performance in AMERICAN DARLINGS, will star alongside Nicole Kidman in AMERICAN DARLINGS, a WWII-set film about an all-female swing band in the 1940s nightclub scene. Our Nic will do her own singing in the film, but Lopez will mime to Debbie Reynolds who will be singing from behind a curtain.

* Dark Horizons, Australia's premier film news/animal porn website, reports that HATING ALISON ASHLEY is hitting some casting problems. What problems aren't made clear, but it is said that Steven Bahusen ("Fergus McPhail"), Christopher Anderson-Peters ("The Captives") and Megan Harrington ("Fergus McPhail") have joined Delta Goodrem in the adaptation.

* Australia tends to get DVDs of TV shows before the US. I point this out to regain some pride, as we get theatrical-release movies a looong time afterwards. And, in some cases, nearly a decade later. SAFE, directed by Todd Haynes and starring Julianne Moore, was released in the US nine years ago. It's now getting a limited release in Australia, starting (and perhaps finishing) at Melbourne's Lumiere cinema.

BOX OFFICE

Ashton Kutcher made more money than Jesus this week. And everyone needs to get over the word "The".

Annnd here are the week's winners...

• 1. THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT
• 2. THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST
• 3. THE MISSING
• 4. THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
• 5. THE MONA LISA SMILE

RELEASED THIS WEEK

Merchant Ivory deny selling out with their latest production, George Armitage proves it's never too late to adapt an Elmore Leonard novel except maybe in this case, Robert McNamara headlines an Academy Award winning blockbuster (bet you never thought you'd read that, huh?), Strider puts on a strange American accent, and Ben Affleck stars in a film called PAYCHECK.

And here they are...

• AGENT CODY BANKS 2: DESTINATION LONDON
• THE BIG BOUNCE
• THE FOG OF WAR
• HILDAGO
• PAYCHECK

REVIEWS

INFERNAL AFFAIRS

I caught this a bit over a week ago, finally. I'd missed it at the Melbourne International Film Festival, I'd missed it at the Astor, but I've finally seen it now. The Chinese crime flick everyone kept talking up.

First thing that threw me? Andy Lau and Andrew Lau. According to the IMDb, they're different people, but sitting in the cinema it looked like the one guy had done everything on the film but decide what he should be credited as. Also, he called his character 'Lau'.

But then the opening happened. What a kick arse opening. Talk about keeping the pace up. It was one of those 'Oh yeah, *that's* how you do it!' openings. Brilliant editing, brilliant music. Really brilliant music. Absolutely sensational.

And who can really resist the setup? A cop undercover in a crime syndicate? A criminal undercover in the police force? Each trying to find the other whilst pretending they're looking for the mole in their ranks (which, in both cases, is themselves)? What a great hook.

The film lives up to it, too. It rarely relents, keeping the action going and the suspense real. But when it falls, it falls hard. The scenes with the psychiatrist do not work, and caused titters in the small audience. Even the formerly-brilliant music took a nose dive into ridiculousness during these scenes. Some tragic misfires during an otherwise sensational film.

If you're near a cinema playing it and have the chance, take a look. Take someone who wouldn't normally see this sort of film. It's well worth it.

NEXT WEEK

- Producers deny that Clive Owen is being tapped for the title role in AGENT CODY BANKS 3

- Michael Caine travels to Australia to take part Channel Seven's new reality show "My Cider House Rules"

- Ashton Kutcher to star in period piece R&J;, about a guy and a girl from two warring families who fall in love, which Kutcher describes as 'sort of an olden days WEST SIDE STORY'

Peace out,

Latauro

AICNDownunder@hotmail.com