Trailer: Safety Not Guaranteed

Been hanging out to see some footage from this, a time travel rom-com starring mumblecore director/actor Mark Duplass (The Puffy Chair, Cyrus) and Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation) in her first big lead role. It doesn't look like anything life-altering, but it's received some decent press since playing at Sundance earlier this year (here's The Hollywood Reporter's take) and at the very least it'll probably be an endearing little comedy. If the plot sounds familiar, it's because it's based on an internet meme from 2005.

The Last Picture Show

A great David Bordwell piece here, about the family-run, single-screen JEM theatre in Harmony, Minnesota and their trials in getting their cinema converted to digital. It puts a human face to all this digital-conversion business that tends to be forgotten in the mad rush to upgrade. Moving stuff, get some hankies ready...

Fans of Hunger Games Disappointed Character is Black

While the makers of The Hunger Games are celebrating the record-breaking box office triumph of their franchise baby (third biggest opening weekend ever), a rather ugly twist has emerged to taint the success story: a number of ignorant fans have taken to twitter to express their displeasure over the casting of a black actress in the role of Rue. The head-slapping racism that's catalogued on this tumblr is truly stomach-churning and disturbing to say the least, even more so when you realise how young these fans are, and how such worldviews can be so quickly shaped at that stage in life. Also makes you wonder how popular the series would be if the main character Katniss Everdeen, portrayed by Jennifer Lawrence in the film, had been described as dark-skinned instead...

The Girl with the Pirated DVD-R

Sony's DVD release of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has confused some Redbox customers in the States due to the "pirated look" of the disc:

While I appreciate this from a design perspective, it's interesting and curious that a major studio would want to associate their product with piracy at all, even if it's in the spirit of the movie's rebellious, computer-hacking protagonist. Not sure if the NZ release will have the same design, but if it does, just so you know here first: we're not sending out pirated discs of the movie.

For the Star Wars Fan with Everything #19

This made me lol. I know it's comparing apples and oranges, but in this day and age of The Raid, these Phantom Menace fight scenes look awfully play-skool.

'Cos it's pretty dreary outside...

Let's watch aaall the breaking glass in Total Recall, and Bruce Willis sell his dignity in a couple of TV commercials for a Russian bank (from the director of Torque no less):

A Titanic Month Ahead

This April 15th marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, and those smart people in the entertainment world are making sure there's no shortage of viewing options for you to coincide with this occasion. Perhaps the biggest and most publicised is the 3D re-release of James Cameron's Titanic, but there are also a few home viewing alternatives from our local distros...

Often considered to be most historically accurate telling of the tragedy, Roy Ward Baker's 1958 classic A Night to Remember is getting a long-overdue remastered DVD and Blu-ray from Roadshow. Click here for the trailer.

More recently, ITV produced a four-part mini-series which Shock will release on April 9th. Here's a sneak peek:
And if you want something less dramatised, Madman's got a National Geographic double feature coming too.

Not enough? Try Asylum's shlocky Titanic II - you'll definitely have your fill of the sinking ship by then to last another 100 years.