A PITTSBURGH cinema has stopped showing Get Rich or Die Tryin', after a man was shot in the lobby on the film's opening night last week. The victim, who was 30, died later in hospital.
The president of the Loews cinema chain, Travis Reid, said it was not clear if the people involved in the shooting had just left the screening of Jim Sheridan's film, which stars rapper 50 Cent. Loews will continue showing the movie at its other US locations. "There was a lot of preparation done for this film after Paramount's research told us that it was drawing a primarily young male crowd," Reid said. "We had taken all the precautions possible to limit any possibility of violence, but I'm sceptical that the film itself incited it. I think it was more an issue where the wrong people came into contact with each other."
There have been no reports of violence at any of the other 1,650 US cinemas showing the film.
Costuming The Queen
Irish costume designer Consolata Boyle completed work last weekend on The Queen, her fourth film directed by Stephen Frears, following The Snapper, Mary Reilly and The Van. The Queen is a follow-up to the award-winning 2003 Frears TV film, The Deal, which featured Michael Sheen and David Morrissey as Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
The new film, which is scripted by Peter Morgan, writer of The Deal, looks behind the scenes at the struggle between Tony Blair and the British royal family after the death of Princess Diana. It features Helen Mirren as Elizabeth II, James Cromwell as the Duke of Edinburgh, and Sylvia Syms as the Queen Mother, with Sheen reprising his role as Blair. Unlike The Deal, The Queen will go on cinema release before showing on TV.
Frears's latest film, Mrs Henderson Presents, opens next Friday.
Scorsese plans film on Japan
At the Marrakech Film Festival this week, Martin Scorsese announced that his next film will be The Silence, a martyrdom-themed story following the fate of two Portuguese missionaries in 17th century Japan. "I hope it comes together," Scorsese said. "I've been trying to make the movie for 10 years."
Scorsese was in Morocco for a festival tribute programme that included his latest film, the remarkable documentary No Direction Home: Bob Dylan. He is currently in post-production on The Departed, a Boston-set remake of the Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone, Alec Baldwin and Mark Wahlberg.
Fresh faces for film fest
The Fresh Film Festival is seeking out Ireland's Young Filmmaker of the Year for its ninth even, which takes place next March in Limerick.
The competition is open to anyone aged between seven and 18, and entries may take any form - fiction, animation or documentary. "The only limit is the imagination," say organisers Jayne Foley and Brendan Maher. The application form is available at www.freshfilmfestival.net
Reviewing the ratings
The film critics at the New York Times helpfully conclude their reviews with information elaborating on the film's certificate from the Motion Picture Association of America. For example, the new version of The Fog is rated PG-13, we are told, because it contains "some strong language, fiery deaths, creepy monsters and one arty sex scene". Domino is rated R because "there is a lot of gun violence and a scene in which someone's arm is forcibly removed from his body, but relatively little gore". And In Her Shoes carries a PG-13 rating because, critic Manohla Dargis suggests, "The sight of Ms Diaz walking around in panties, T-shirt and heels may cause some audience members to break out in a sweat".
