Slovaks hostile to horrific 'Hostel'

GOVERNMENT officials in Slovakia are up in arms over the new US horror movie Hostel, in which two American tourists fall prey to torturers in a Slovakian town. Politician Tomas Galbavy declared, "I am offended by this film. I think that all Slovaks should feel offended."

He described Hostel, which was shot in the neighbouring Czech Republic, as "a monstrosity that does not at all reflect reality". Slovak culture minister Linda Heldichova commented, "We are unanimous in saying that this film damages the image of our country."

According to director Eli Roth (Cabin Fever), his aim in making the film was not to offend Slovakians but to highlight the ignorance of US cinemagoers. "Americans do not even know that this country exists," he says. "My film is not a geographical work but aims to show Americans' ignorance of the world around them."

A nervy, slickly orchestrated horror movie made with true genre panache, Hostel opens here on March 24th.

Beat captures Césars' heart

The Beat That My Heart Skipped swept the board last weekend at France's most prestigious awards ceremony, the Césars, where it won in eight categories, including best film. However, the movie's dynamic star, Romain Duris, lost out in the best actor category to Michel Bouquet's portrayal of the former French president in The Last Mitterand. Nathalie Baye was named best actress for Le Petit Lieutenant.

Two heavily touted films collected just one award each: March of the Penguins won for best sound and Les Amants Reguliers took the best male newcomer award for Louis Garrel, whose father Philippe directed the film. Million Dollar Baby was voted best foreign film. Honorary Césars were presented to actors Pierre Richard and Hugh Grant.

DOA for UMD?

Raising renewed scepticism about whether consumers are interested in watching feature films on portable devices, Variety reports that sales of movies in the UMD format for Sony's PlayStation Portable device are falling behind expectations, and that four studios which have been releasing videos in the format are cutting back.

"We are re-evaluating our position on any future releases at this time," said Jeff Baker of Warner Home Video. "We're disappointed with consumer demand." And Chris Anstey, buyer for the Virgin record stores, said: "There is a modest demand for new titles, but there simply hasn't been a consistent growth of this new format to justify making more space for it."

Virgin gets knocked up

Writer-director Judd Apatow will follow the success of his hugely profitable debut film The 40-Year-Old Virgin with Knocked Up, a comedy following the complications when two people spend a night together, realise they are not right for each other, and a pregnancy ensues. Anne Hathaway stars in the movie with Virgin actors Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd and Apatow's wife, Leslie Mann.

Hathaway, who currently co-stars in Brokeback Mountain, is set to play the young Jane Austen in Becoming Jane, which starts shooting in Ireland next month. Directed by Julian Jarrold, who made Kinky Boots, the Austen film also features James McEvoy, Maggie Smith and Julie Walters.

Big laughs for Irish short

The Irish short film Jellybaby collected the award for best comedy at the Golden Star Shorts Festival in Hollywood last weekend.

Ronan and Rob Burke's film, which features Tadhg Murphy and Katie Kirby as a young couple driven demented by their newborn baby, was screened at the celebrated Egyptian Theatre. The festival flew the Burke brothers to Los Angeles for the event and arranged for them to meet Hollywood agents and studio executives, to whom they pitched their first feature film, Genius, scripted by Jellybaby writer Pierce Ryan.

To Sir with sneers

Sir Ben Kingsley has denied insisting that his title should be used in the credits for Lucky Number Slevin, which opened here last Friday. The use of the title attracted much media comment and was described by former producer Lord Puttnam as "barmy". However, Sir Ben says it was all "a faux pas" by the film's producers. "I was shocked when I found out what had happened. I've always been proud of the title, but I've learnt to be quietly proud."