The actor's guru by MATTHEW HAYS Though film studies types have written volumes on virtually every angle of cinema imaginable, performance remains an oft-neglected, mysterious realm. Working to change all that is Concordia film studies prof extraordinaire Carole Zucker, whose latest tome on the subject, In the Company of Actors: Reflections on the Craft of Acting (Routledge, hc, $40), hits bookstands this week. Lively and thoughtful, Zucker asks all the right questions of her subjects, who include such English and Irish thespian demigods as Stephen Rea, Nigel Hawthorne, Simon Callow, Judi Dench (who won an Oscar last year) and Janet McTeer (who's nominated for one this year). Zucker's latest is a must-read for cinephiles, a perfect companion to her equally excellent anthology of interviews with American actors and directors, Figures of Light: Actors and Directors Illuminate the Art of Film Acting. I strongly recommend panic buying! Zucker and hubby Mario Falsetto were the toast of the city's film intelligentsia earlier this week when they held a joint book launch for both of their most recent projects. Falsetto, also a Concordia film studies prof, has collected a series of interviews with indie directors (including Atom Egoyan and Nicholas Hytner). More on his book later, when it hits bookstores across North America. More news of Stephen Rea: the actor will be in Montreal next week (March 17-18) for a series of appearances for Ciné-Gael, the annual Irish Film Fest. Apparently, Rea will be introducing a number of his own films which will screen as part of a special retrospective. Stay tuned for details about Rea's appearances in this column next week. Starwatchers should also be on the lookout for William Hurt. The Oscar-winning actor (he scored for his poignant turn in 1985's Kiss of the Spider Woman) will arrive some time this month to make a period made-for-TV movie about Jews escaping fascist Europe during WWII. Congrats go out to Post Mortem, Louis Bélanger's most excellent film about banging the dead (yet another Canuck cinematic treatment of necrophilia, so soon after Lynne Stopkewich's '97 feature Kissed--what's our nation coming to?). The film netted 11 awards at the second annual Jutra Awards last Sunday night. Honours included best picture, best screenplay and best actor (Gabriel Arcand). The awards go out to honour excellence within Quebec's film community. As I wrote last week while plugging the Jim Jarmusch retrospective at the Cinéma du Parc, I wasn't so wild about his latest film, Ghost Dog. Forest Whitaker portrays a zen hitman, and some thugs have decided he must die at any cost. It actually starts out with great promise, Jarmusch's considerable wit around conflicting worlds in full bloom. But then some misguided pacing kicks in, and Ghost Dog gets mighty slow moving. Hardcore Jarmusch fans will flock to this no matter what anyone says; the film opens this Friday, March 10, at Ex-Centris. See repertory listings for showtimes. COMMENTS: matt_hays@babylon.montreal.qc.ca