Ever since Sept. 11, there has been talk of violence in the movies and what is acceptable. A slew of films have been altered and/or delayed as a result of that seemingly never-ending question.

This summer, it just may be answered.

At the advance screening for The Sum of All Fears – release date May 31 – the audience, including myself, was shell-shocked in silence for more than two minutes following a harrowing scene.

The film, based on Tom Clancy’s novel about terrorists plotting to set off a nuclear bomb at the Super Bowl, depicts one of the most horrifying sequences in film history. But not because nuclear bombs have never been dropped on cities before or because films haven’t shown such gruesome violence – rather because in the wake of Sept. 11, the fictional film reminds us of a harsh reality.

Never before would we be taken out of the escapism that films bring us into as a result of a show-stopping scene. But now, this could really happen.

The producers for The Sum of All Fears are not to blame for releasing their film. And Clancy certainly shouldn’t be condemned for writing the novel a decade ago.

But that will almost surely take place once the public sees the film.

Maybe that’s why Paramount’s marketing department chose to include most of the sequence in its theatrical trailer. It certainly wasn’t because the advertising geniuses assumed everyone has read all of Clancy’s novels about the heroics of CIA historian Jack Ryan.

While Ryan previously has been played by Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford in adaptations of Clancy’s other novels, the popular role now belongs to Ben Affleck. (Editor’s Note: If you see The Sum of All Fears, do not compare it to Clancy’s novels or previous films. If you do, you will be confused or infuriated, or both.)

But Paramount’s marketing department did make a gaffe when it designed the theatrical posters – or one-sheets – for Fears and Affleck’s other film, Changing Lanes (see review above right).

Both show a stern-looking Affleck on the left side of the poster and complemented by his co-star on the right side. It wouldn’t be so much of a problem except for the fact that his co-stars are Morgan Freeman and Samuel L. Jackson. When looked at opposite each other, it could appear as if Affleck is the consummate star, while the spectacled Freeman and Jackson simply make for the token black guy.

However, the saddest part of both films is how strikingly similar Affleck’s characters are. In fact, I can’t remember the last time he played something other than the boyish, charming, lovable yet flawed hero. How are the characters he played in Armageddon, Bounce, Pearl Harbor or Reindeer Games different? That’s not to say Affleck isn’t one of the most charismatic movie stars to come along in some time – because he is quite funny and entertaining in just about everything he does – rather it appears he has become just that: a movie star.

It’s just disappointing that the Oscar-winning screenwriter and one-time dramatic actor (Good Will Hunting, School Ties, Chasing Amy) will next be seen in Daredevil, a film about – you guessed it – a super hero. I can only assume he’ll be charming, as well.

It seems that once Affleck hit the Hollywood mainstream, he hasn’t looked back.

Another young actor that may follow in those unfortunate footsteps is Hayden Christensen. The talented thespian impressed in the independent The Virgin Suicides and last year’s Life As A House, for which he even earned a Golden Globe nomination.

But will his looming starring role in the new Star Wars film give him too much exposure that he won’t be able to go back to smaller films with richer roles?

Either way, he may very well have been the right choice for Episode II. As seen from the trailers, he looks like he will have to use some of that range he showed in Life As A House when the young Anakin begins to turn to the dark side, as well as his romantic leading-man sensibilities for the love angle.

But one troubling aspect of the new Star Wars trailer is the sudden appearance of so many recognizable faces. I thought Samuel L. Jackson’s cameo appearance in the previous one was just a nice gesture; now he is one of the major supporting players. And was that Jimmy Smits I saw in a quick flash?

It’s as if George Lucas is catering to the has-beens of Hollywood for the sake of drawing in the NYPD Blue crowd. In Episode III, he’s gonna have Dennis Franz as a young Jabba The Hut doing a commercial in the background protesting, “I don’t do commercials.”

However, there is one movie out right now where you won’t have to worry about recognizing famous faces. Y Tu Mamá También (see review above left) is a comedic import from Mexico with virtual unknowns – at least stateside – playing sexed-up characters who take a road trip together.

The funny thing about Mamá is that theoretically, a 13-year-old can walk right up to theater booth and buy a ticket. While the Motion Picture Association of America usually suggests ratings to theater owners (such as PG-13, R, NC-17), Mamá’s distributors bypassed the system.

While no whippersnappers showed up to the Sunday evening showing at Channelside, that didn’t stop people with the mentality of 13-year-olds from attending.

Just when I thought I figured out the perfect system – see a foreign film, with adult themes and go to the local independent theater – my pleasurable movie-going experience was foiled again.

In one of the later scenes, there is an underwater shot of a woman holding a small child. The immature girl behind me gasped to her date, “Oh no, it’s a shark.” Come on. There hasn’t been a shark or any Jaws-like reference mentioned throughout the whole film and you think a shark attack is going to occur?

However, like the scene in The Sum of All Fears, there were some raw and brutally realistic images in Mamá. But does the girl behind me gasp in disgust during the male masturbation scene? No, instead when she saw the boys’ penises, she indiscreetly whispered, “Yes!”

Well, I guess she got what she wanted. After all, the marketing for Mamá is nothing but sex, sex and more sex.

Maybe Paramount can take a cue from our neighbors south of the border, and just have Affleck having sex on posters.

But hey, that’s just my opinion, man.

Contact William Albritton at oraclewill@yahoo.com