End-of-Week News Round-up

Howdy, it's been kinda hectic being back at work, hence the lack of blogging action lately, so I think it's time for another End-of-Week News Round-up post... some interesting film-related bits and pieces from the past week in case you missed 'em.

GENERAL NEWS

• In a recent interview with Men's Journal, Mark Wahlberg said he could've stopped 9/11: "If I was on that plane with my kids, it wouldn’t have went down like it did." The actor has since apologised for his "irresponsible" comments.
• The upcoming The Expendables sequel will be rated PG-13 because that's the way Chuck Norris wants it. I didn't care for the first film (which was rated R18 for graphic violence here) but still, really lame.
• Quentin Tarantino's revealed his best and worst films of 2011. As usual there are some pretty weird, crappy, WTF choices (The Three Musketeers? Green Hornet??) along with the year's favourites (Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Midnight in Paris).
• A massive (and hilarious) technical flub ruined a screening of Scorsese's Hugo, forcing patrons to watch the movie with ads playing on top of the film... more here.

CLIPS

• Trailer: Side by Side - documentary produced by Keanu Reeves investigating "the history, process and workflow of both digital and photochemical film creation." Looking forward to hear filmmakers like James Cameron, Steven Soderbergh and Christopher Nolan discussing the medium and where it's heading.
• Mash-up: "Hello" - Lionel Ritchie's hit ballad sung like you've never heard before.

DVD RELEASES

• A few Universal titles that were meant to come in Feb have now been delayed until March: Midnight in Paris, The Art of Getting By, Another Earth. I'm hoping Midnight will get a Blu-ray release, the initial order form showed no sign of this.
• Two of David Lynch's best films are coming to Blu-ray from Madman: Lost Highway, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.
• TV watchers take note: acclaimed HBO series Game of Thrones and mini-series Mildred Pierce - just watch them and thank me later!