PARENTS are flooding cinemas with queries about whether “Sex And The City” is suitable viewing for their teenage daughters.

The movie has an MA15+ rating but parents can accompany 13- and 14-year-olds. The high number of graphic sex scenes, including a depiction of a threesome and a glimpse of a penis, have prompted at least one Canberra cinema to advise parents against taking young teenagers.
A staff member at Canberra’s Dendy cinema said: “Our staff do advise against it.
“Those who’ve seen it say it’s MA for a reason, so we try to help parents if they ask us specifically about it.”
The cinema had initially posted an 18-plus sign on a “Sex And The City” promotional poster to advise ticket buyers about its sexual content, but it was taken down after the movie received its official rating.
Jennifer Johnson, the cinema’s general manager, confirmed staff would always assist parents confused about what was suitable for teenagers.
Sex And The City is still the No.1 film at the Australian box office after taking close to $17.5 million in ticket sales.
A Classification Board spokeswoman said it did not consider the film suitable for under-15s. “It is a legally restricted category. People under 15 can only attend the movie if they’re with a parent or adult guardian.
“It does include several scenes of implied sexual activity.
“The classifications are intended to be a guide but ultimately it does become the responsibility of the parent or guardian to make the decision.”
She said in many cases cinema operators had been forced to ask for ID from teenagers who were not accompanied by an adult.
The board conceded there might still be some confusion among parents trying to work out the movie ratings system.
The spokeswoman said the board sometimes received calls from concerned parents.
“I think cinemas have to deal with a lot of inquiries from parents, asking, ‘Should my kid go and see that?’ ” she said.
There is already talk of a Sex And The City sequel starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis.

Daniel Craig is negotiating to return to Sydney for the premiere of the next Bond film, “Quantum Of Solace”.

The suave star, who wowed Australian film fans with his cool portrayal of James Bond, may be here in late November for a red carpet premiere of the film.

A source from the film’s Australian distributor, Sony Pictures, said: “We’re in negotiations about that at the moment - we’re certainly trying.”
Asked whether Craig would be the star guest at an Australian-based Bond event, she added: “We hope so.”
Of course, Craig is in demand all over the world as the hype begins to build towards the next Bond instalment. “Quantum Of Solace” is a sequel to “Casino Royale” - the film that was a smash-hit starring Craig - and picks up the storyline only hours after the last movie finished.
At this stage, the film is due for release in Australia in late November. If Craig visits for a Bond premiere, he is likely to make a whirlwind trip to Sydney as part of a global jaunt promoting the film.

Elisabeth Fritzl, the Austrian woman who was locked in a cellar for 24 years, has refused to testify against the father who imprisoned her, saying she is not yet ready to face him.

Doctors caring for Ms Fritzl, 42, have told the Austrian media she needs more time to prepare for the encounter, which will require her to give evidence against 73-year-old Josef Fritzl via a video link.
While she would not be in the same room as him, she would be able to see him and could also face questioning from him if he chose to challenge her evidence.
The hearing was due to start in a week’s time, on Ms Fritzl’s insistence, so that her father’s trial could begin as soon as possible. It has now been put on hold indefinitely and doctors will determine when she is fit to testify.
It is expected that Ms Fritzl will give evidence from the clinic in Lower Austria where she is being treated with her six children, all of whom were fathered by Fritzl during her incarceration. Doctors will be on hand to ensure that she takes adequate breaks and that she is not overwhelmed by the encounter, which will be the first since her kidnapping ordeal ended two months ago.
Her mother, Rosemarie, who denies knowledge of her husband’s double life, is due to give evidence via video link at the same time.
“A video recording of it will be shown at the main trial, because the victims will not be required to appear in person to give evidence before the court,” said Franz Cutka, a spokesman for the court in St Polten, where the trial is due to take place.
Acknowledging the intense worldwide media interest in the case, Mr Cutka said journalists would be required to accredit themselves for the trial and would be issued reserved tickets to cover the proceedings.
The court would film and photograph the trial and make images available to media.

A woman locked up her son in a room for 12 years because he was disrespectful to family members and planned to run away from home, police in the south-western Colombian city of Cali said after arresting the mother.

” I locked him up to protect him and to prevent him from committing vices” , mother’s explanation was.

Charges will be filed against the mother, 50, for domestic violence, police said.
The son, now 28, was found in a room without windows and with steel bars to prevent exit. He was reportedly naked and ate on the floor the food he was given in plastic packaging.
“I locked him up to protect him and to prevent him from committing vices,” the woman reportedly said.
She said that she locked up the then teenage boy after he finished secondary school.
Authorities sent the son to a psychiatric hospital.

Ambitious plans to build a revolutionary 420-meter shape-shifting skyscraper in Dubai have been unveiled by architects.

The 80-story Dynamic Tower, described as the “world’s first building in motion,” will also be the first skyscraper constructed from prefabricated units, according to a press statement released by New York-based architect David Fisher’s Dynamic Group.
Each floor would be capable of rotating independently, powered by wind turbines fitted between each floor.
“You can adjust the shape the way you like every given moment,” Fisher said. “It’s not a piece of architecture somebody designed today and that’s it. It remains forever. It’s designed by life, shaped by time.”
Apartments will sell for about $3,000 per square foot, making each unit range in price from about $4 million to $40 million. Work on the tower is to be completed by 2010, according to Dynamic’s Web site.
Fisher said that plans to build a second rotating skyscraper in Moscow were at an advanced stage and that the group intended to build a third tower in New York. He said developers and public officials in Canada, Europe and South Korea had also expressed interest in the project.
But some have expressed skepticism. Fisher has never built a skyscraper before. He says he has teamed up with reputed architects and engineers in the United Kingdom and India.
Although he has received a development license for construction in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, he has not disclosed the site of the building. The Moscow mayor’s office said that it was looking into the project and that a decision had not been made.
Fisher has called prefabricated construction techniques the “future of architecture” and says they will radically transform 4,000-year-old “brick-on-brick” building methods.
By using preconstructed parts, Fisher said each story could be built in just seven days, resulting in environmentally cleaner building methods.
He said that just 600 people on an assembly site and 80 technicians on the construction site would be needed to build the tower, compared with about 2,000 workers for a traditional project of a comparable scale.
“It is unbelievable that real estate and construction, which is the leading sector of the world economy, is also the most primitive,” Fisher is quoted as saying on Dynamic’s Web site.
“Most workers throughout the world still regularly use trowels that was first used by the Egyptians and then by the Romans. Buildings should not be different than any other product, and from now on they will be manufactured in a production facility.”
Dubai is experiencing a construction boom, with the Burj tower set to claim the title of the world’s tallest building when it is completed in 2009. It is already home to the world’s largest mall, and despite being in the Middle East, it boasts the largest indoor snow park in the world.