Father Geek here, fresh from a night at the SXSW MUSIC & FILM FESTIVAL here in Austin, Texas where I sampled the cool/hot sounds of Australia's Pop/Rock groups The Drones (Beerland Thursday afternoon), The Tenants (Speakeasy early Thursday night), and The Casanovas (Beerland later Thursday night), but my real Downunder treat was Auckland, New Zealand's "Garage" revivalist group THE D4 at Emo's late Thursday evening. No one died, or vaporized (that Father Geek witnessed at least), but their uber inflammatory punk set blew the crowded legendary hall away... easily living up to their vibratory 6Twenty sounds, my head is still ringing!

Well, as I'm sure you've noticed we haven't had a regular Downunder column in a while. Buuuuuuuut I've finally found a replacement for our lovely Tasmin who has moved on to bigger more glorious things in the film industry. We now have... Latauro . Send him all your Downunder scoops, let the world know what's going on down there. He can use scripts, production art, fest and preview tickets, set visits, etc... Give him the info and we'll see to it people hear about your project.

Now, here's Latauro's first report... remember he can't write about it if you don't let him know all the skinny...

AICN-Downunder

Latauro here with the goings-on and happenings in the land of convicts. (Cheap holiday tip for anyone living in England: steal a loaf of bread! Nothing says budget holiday like deportation!)

NEWS

* Australian writer Nikki Gemmell's novel LOVE SONG has been optioned by producer Jan Chapman (THE PIANO). The story concerns a woman from a religious community who is accused of murdering a man in England.

* Alan Tudyk has just been cast alongside Will Smith in I, ROBOT, directed by Alex Proyas. Pre-production is gaining speed on the project, which begins filming in May.

* Warner Brothers have pulled out of their multiplex joint venture with Village Roadshow and Greater Union. The slack will be picked up by Village and Greater Union, who will become equal partners.

* Scott Hicks is in negotiations to direct FIVE DOLLARS MORE for Fine Line Features. The story concerns a son who goes on a cross-country trip with his estranged con-artist father.

* JOSH JARMAN begins shooting in Melbourne next month. The comedy is written and directed by Pip Mushin, and stars Marcus Graham as a playwright.

AWARDS

It's an important time for Australians working overseas. A lot of controversy has recently surrounded the woman with the prosthetic nose... but despite Michael Jackson's publicity, Nicole Kidman is undoubtedly cuter.

Renee Zellweger took home the SAG award for CHICAGO, beating out odds-on favourite Our Nic (who is, for legal reasons, sometimes known as 'Nicole Kidman'). Traditionally, the SAG winner takes home the golden man, but the bookmakers are sticking with Nicole.

Currently, the Best Actress odds break down as: Nicole Kidman (4/7), Renee Zellweger (15/8), Julianne Moore (4/1), Diane Lane (25/1), Salma Hayak (33/1).

Odds that Hilary Swank will dash onstage and attempt to continue her speech again are currently being tallied.

The Australian short film THE PROJECTIONIST has been awarded the Grand Prix at the Tampere International Short Film Festival in Finland.

It's a rare occurance, but here in Australia we are in a position where we can actually see practically all the nominated films, either on vid/dvd or at the cinema. So get out there! Go see The Hours, go see The Pianist, go see About Schmidt, go see The Man Without a Past, go see City of God. Let's be up-to-speed for once when the big night rolls around! (That's if you care about the Oscars... if you don't see those films anyway. They're cool.)

AUSTRALIAN BOX OFFICE RANKINGS

• 1. Maid in Manhattan
• 2. Final Destination 2
• 3. Jackass: The Movie
• 4. Just Married
• 5. Chicago

THE PIANIST has shot to ninth place, despite playing only sporadically in mostly arthouse cinemas. It also has the highest on-screen average of any film in the top ten this week.

SOME BOXOFFICE STATISTICS FOR YA...

In 2002, Australian films grossed $41.8 million dollars domestic. This represents less than five per cent of the total box office tally from that year, and is significantly down from previous years (in 2001 Australian films grossed $63.4 million - 7.8% of the total gross - and in 2000, the figure was $54.2 million - 7.9% of the year's total gross).

The year's highest grossing films were CRACKERJACK, with $7.7 million, RABBIT PROOF FENCE, with $7.5 million, and DIRTY DEEDS, with $5 million.

This disappointing yet unsurprising trend may well continue, given the mixed critical response to YOU CAN'T STOP THE MURDERS, opening this week.

Also opening this week: CITY OF GOD, THE MAN WITHOUT A PAST, THE TRUTH ABOUT CHARLIE, ANTWOINE FISHER and KNOCKAROUND GUYS.

The box office should remain fairly quiet until next week, when DAREDEVIL (finally) opens here.

OPENING THIS WEEK

• ANTWONE FISHER
• KNOCKAROUND GUYS
• CITY OF GOD
• THE MAN WITHOUT A PAST
• THE TRUTH ABOUT CHARLIE
• YOU CAN'T STOP THE MURDERS

OPENING MARCH 20th 2003

• BELOW
• DAREDEVIL
• DOG SOLDIERS
• THE EMPOROR'S CLUB
• TUCK EVERLASTING

OPENING MARCH 27th 2003

• CRADLE 2 THE GRAVE
• NED KELLY

BRIEF EDITORIAL NOTE

'lo all. This is my first Downunder report for AICN, taking over from Tasmin who has gone on to greater successes in the fillum industry. Our best wishes for Miss T in her endeavors.

My aim for this report is to let the world know about what's happening with the Australian film industry, and give some much-needed publicity for local product. But the fun doesn't stop there. Australia is playing host to many big, Hollywood productions, not least of which being EPISODE III. So if you're somehow involved in any production taking place over here, drop me a line. Let's infiltrate yet another film industry with AICN spies... What do you say?

Email me at: downunder@aintitcoolmail.com

NEXT WEEK?

• Ice Cube and Salma Hayak decide to film NEXT FRIDA in Australia
• Paul Hogan revealed to be elaborate prank
• Revealing NUDE pictures of Garth Franklin

That's all this week...

Latauro

Well Father Geek here again, I'm off to rejoin SXSW and check out LUBBOCK LIGHTS, THE EYE and SPUN! Good job Latauro!