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Saori Hara, 3D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy Whereas sexually explicit and semi-explicit material is shunned in Hollywood for fear of incurring the Nc-17-rated wrath of the Motion Picture Association of America's censorship board, 3-D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy has become a Category III-rated (no one under 18 allowed) hit in Hong Kong. Inspired by Yu Li's 17th-century erotic classic The Carnal Prayer Mat, the Cantonese-language 3-D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy, which has been erroneously described as a "porn film," features both nudity and sex scenes of various types and number of participants. According to one reviewer, however, not much is actually shown on screen. But moviegoers don't seem to care. On its first day out, Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy took in a reported Hk$2.8m (Us$360k), outperforming James Cameron's Avatar, which collected Hk$2.6m. In its first week, Extreme Ecstasy has grossed $2.1m.

BRUSSELS -- Tommy Lee Jones' directorial debut The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada won the Grand Prix at the Flanders International Film Festival in Ghent this weekend. The jury -- which included Brenda Blethyn, Arthur Lappin, Dominique Deruddere and Jose Luis Castineira de Dios -- awarded the festival's prestigious best music prize to Stephen Warbeck for John Madden's Proof. Best screenplay went to Singapore's Eric Khoo and Wong Kim Hoh for Be With Me, also directed by Khoo. China's Li Yu won the best director prize for his film Dam Street. The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, which won awards in Cannes for best screenplay (Guillermo Arriaga) and best actor (Jones), also stars Barry Pepper, Julio Cesar Cedillo, January Jones and Dwight Yoakam. A gruesome tale of a man who is shot in the Texas desert and hastily buried before being twice disinterred, it is already tipped to feature strongly in Oscar nominations.