Sex-abuse film not yet seen by censor

Irish film censor John Kelleher tells Reel News that Murder-Set-Pieces, which was recently banned outright in Britain, has not yet been submitted to his office.

Directed by Nick Palumbo, it stars Sven Garrett as a serial killer, a German fashion photographer who is the grandson of a Nazi officer.

Released in the US three years ago, Murder-Set- Pieces was rejected as a DVD release by the British Board of Film Classification, which describes it as "a feature with a single- minded focus on the activities of a psychopathic sexual serial killer, who, throughout the film, is seen raping, torturing and murdering his victims. Young children are among those terrorised and killed, and their inclusion in this abusive context is an added concern. In relation to the adult victims, there is a clear focus on sex or sexual behaviour accompanied by non-consensual pain, injury and humiliation."

Nonromcom from Richard Curtis

The remarkably versatile Philip Seymour Hoffman plays a pirate radio DJ in The Boat That Rocked, which is set in the 1960s when illegal radio stations were moored off the coast of England and provided round-the-clock pop music. Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans and Nick Frost also play DJs in the film, with Kenneth Branagh as a government official intent on closing down the stations.

Now shooting in a rusty fishing trawler, The Boat That Rocked follows Love, Actually as the second film as writer-director for Richard Curtis, who scripted Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill. This is his first venture outside of romantic comedy.

World's first online film fest

Babelgum, the Dublin-based interactive web TV portal, has launched the first-ever online film festival, with Spike Lee heading the jury. It has received more than 1,000 entries from 86 countries. The first phase is an online voting process whereby internet users may log on to www.babelgum. com to view and rate the entries. The top 10 films from that vote will be assessed by Lee's jury. He will announce the winner at the Cannes Film Festival in May.

Scarlett stays in costume

Having played a secret lover of King Henry VIII in The Other Boleyn Girl (released here today and reviewed on page 13), Scarlett Johansson will next take on the title role in Mary, Queen of Scots, which starts shooting shortly. Its director, Philip Noyce (Rabbit-Proof Fence), has been mulling the options of shooting it in Ireland, England and Scotland.

The screenplay is by Jimmy McGovern, whose many notable credits include the movies Priest and Liam, and, for TV, Cracker, Hillsborough and The Lakes. He scripted the 2004 TV mini-series Gunpowder, Treason and Plot, which featured Clemence Poesy (from In Bruges) as Mary, Queen of Scots, a role most recently played by Samantha Morton in Elizabeth: The Golden Age.

Coens see funny side of CIA

While Joel and Ethan Coen's Oscar-winning No Country for Old Men is still playing in cinemas, the brothers are in post-production on their next movie, Burn After Reading, which has been set for September release in the US.

Based on an original screenplay by the Coens, the comedy-drama revolves around an ousted CIA official whose memoirs fall into the hands of two bumbling Washington DC gym employees. The formidable cast includes George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand and John Malkovich.

© 2008 The Irish Times