The big story
Two stories stand out this week, both of them concerned in their own way with people power, and together offering a succinct explanation of the enduring magnetism of cinema. First came the news (particularly well read on our site – can't think why) that Chinese, er, cineastes are flocking to Hong Kong feast their eyes on what is claimed as the world's first 3D porn film.
Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy based on the classic erotic text, The Carnal Prayer Mat, promises to "leave audiences feeling like they are sitting right there at the edge of the bed". That might not sound so appealing to everyone, but apparently in China the idea has gone down a storm. With the ruling regime's stance on adults' rights to view sexual content being what it is, however, pioneering porn fans are preparing to travel to the more permissive "special administrative region" in the south to see the film in full. There have been reports that tour groups will make the journey.
Such a tale of feverish excitement naturally sends our thoughts racing towards Penrith, where this week they were celebrating the rescue of their Edwardian local cinema, the Alhambra. The Cumbrian town faced the loss of the 100-year-old building that houses the cinema until a campaign, backed by stars such as Eddie Izzard and Richard E Grant, won the offer of a new 10-year lease.
What could be more symbolic of the mingling of the exotic and the local that lies at the heart of cinema's appeal than the Alhambra, with its name conjuring visions of Moorish Andalucia? As the Harry Potter films' effects boss Tim Burke said: "The Alhambra is vital for all the people of Eden, young and old. It gives them the ability to experience different genres of film, from years gone by to present day, from all over the world, be it the Sunday alternative or the latest Hollywood blockbuster."
The Chinese porn pilgrimage and the Cumbrian coup neatly demonstrate how film can at once push boundaries and strengthen communities, can be, at the same time, subversively global and reassuringly local.
In other news
• Meg Ryan turns director with new project Into the Beautiful
• Tilda Swinton: I was never curating Edinburgh film festival
• Stephen Daldry and Richard Curtis pick up Trash
• Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday to ride again in Wild Guns
• Will Smith and son Jaden to star in new Shyamalan film
• Tilda Swinton, Mark Cousins and Lynda Myles depart the Edinburgh film festival
• Shut it: Plan B to star in new Sweeney film
• Hollywood studios sue Zediva movie-streaming site
• Berlin Philharmonic comes to British cinemas – in 3D
• Bust Blockbuster goes on the block
• Lily Collins enters battle of the Snow Whites
• Universal withdraws from Martin Luther King biopic
• Keira Knightley and Steve Carell set for apocalyptic road trip
• Michael Moore to take Weinsteins to court
• The King's Speech resounds in Germany
• Andrzej Wajda film will shine new light on Lech Walesa
• Martin Sheen says his addict son Charlie needs 'help and sympathy'
• Britain's tough new actresses look to redefine our heroines
• Nicolas Sarkozy biopic provides unwelcome platform
• James Franco buys rights to Hollywood novel Zeroville
• Fade out from the UK Film Council ... to the British Film Institute
• Selling point: Spock's ear to be auctioned
• Hollywood video on demand plans anger cinema owners
On the blog
• Selling out The King's Speech
• Has The Tunnel uncovered a way around the BitTorrent threat?
• Christian Marclay's The Clock: a masterpiece of our times
• Anthony Asquith emerges from Hitchcock's shadow
• A short history of Polish cinema
• Bill and Ted's return: too bodacious?
• Oranges and Sunshine wasn't just a false promise
• Autism on film: can cinema get it right?
• ¡Viva! Latin America is brought to life in Manchester through film
• Justin Bieber and Ashton Kutcher: the worst buddy film ever?
• The must-have release of 2011: a $1,000 Scarface Blu-ray
Multimedia
• Film Weekly podcast: Frederick Wiseman's world
• An exclusive trailer for Win Win, starring Paul Giamatti
• Armadillo director Janus Metz on 'blood rush' in Afghanistan
• Exclusive extended trailer for 13 Assassins
Other site highlights
• Jesse Heiman, the actor Hollywood goes to for a little extra help
• Windsor is just Woody Allen's type
• Katarzyna Klimkiewicz: 'In Poland, everybody is an expert on everything'
• Tom Wilkinson: down with the big boys
• The best films for spring 2011
• A Roommate to avoid. In more ways than one
Coming up in the paper
• In tomorrow's Film & Music, Ellen E Jones considers the rise and rise of the director's cut; Geoffrey Macnab reports on a St Trinian's school reunion, leaving Ryan Gilbey to interview Neve Campbell.
• Saturday's Guide can offer an interview with Meek's Cutoff director Kelly Reichardt, while John Patterson looks at the infantilisation of our culture via Red Riding Hood.
• The Observer comes at you this Sunday in the company of Attack the Block director Joe Cornish and Mike Leigh.
Guardian film masterclass
Join our two-day course The Anatomy of Star Wars and explore how George Lucas's classic film was created with its producer, Gary Kurtz, and former 20th Century Fox vice-president Sandy Lieberson. More information here .
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