The judge presiding over the case of whether Dan Brown copied other works for his book, The Da Vinci Code, inserted his own special suprise into this final statement:

A sequence of italicized letters was sprinkled throughout the text, with the first 10 spelling out "Smithy code" - an apparent clue, and a play on the judge's name.

The rest of the letters seemed random: jaeiextostgpsacgreamqwfkadpmqzvz.

Tench, who brought the code to the world's attention last week, said the key lay within the pages of Brown's thriller.

Find out what it means here.

The Vatican have asked all Catholics to boycott the upcoming movie:

Monsignor Angelo Amato, the number two official in the Vatican's powerful doctrinal office, has urged Catholics everywhere to boycott the upcoming
Tom Hanks film on the basis that it patently "offended" the Christian faith.

Belfast Telegraph reports:

A short film produced by an Ulster company will be screened at the famous Cannes Film Festival next month.

The Linnet, directed and produced by Vincent Kinnaird of local company Notasuch Films, is a story of "the good, the bad and a bird."

It appears it was the local acting talent that caught the eyes of the organisers to earn it a sought-after oppurtunity for the film to be showcased to distributors across the world.

The Cannes Film Festival organisers have added a 20th film to the line up now. Chronicle of an Escape, also known as Cronica de una fuga, a political thriller from Adrián Caetano centers on a group of youths who escape from a detention center during a dictatorship.

The full lineup of films is now:

Three Australian films are set for the screening line up at this year's 59th Cannes Film Festival. Adelaide filmmaker Murali Thalluri's 2:37 will screen in the festival's Uncertain Regard category, alongside Australian films Ten Canoes and Suburban Mayhem.

This year's runner for the Palme is Ken Loach. Loach's reputation is well known across the industry, and his films have been nominated for the award 8 times in the past. Filmed in 20th Century Ireland, The Wind That Shakes the Barley, the film follows a path of the nation's people uprising against oppression. The film is set in the times before the 1922 Irish Civil War.

This year Loach hopes to win his first Palme D'Or, that can comfortably sit beside his other trophies including his Lifetime Achievement award, received in 1998 at The British Independent Film Awards.

The Palme D'Or, the Golden Palm, is the highly treasured award given to the winner at the Cannes Film Festival. Introduced in 1955, it is now regarded as one of the film industry's most distinguished prizes. Films that have won a Palme D'Or include Pulp Fiction, The Pianist and Farenheit 9/11. It is not uncommon for two Palmes to be awarded in one single festival, the last time this happenned was in 1997. This year's forerunner is Ken Loach with 'The Wind That Shakes The Barley'.

After looking on Amazon, it appears if you purchase all 4 Dan Brown books, you can get free shipping! 4 books for less than £16 - a total bargain. The books are: (in order of my preference)