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B.C. mulls allowing movie theatres to serve alcohol

British Columbia is considering changes to liquor laws relating to movie theatres, B.C. Minister of Public Safety Shirley Bond said on Wednesday. “We are aware of the challenges that these establishments have faced with current regulations and in fact over the last several months have been examining the policy implications and are currently considering what changes may be appropriate,” Ms. Bond said in a statement. “We look forward to having to more say about this in the near future.”

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Two National Film Board of Canada animated shorts nominated for Oscars

Montreal-based filmmaker Patrick Doyon heard the news that he’d been nominated for an Academy Award first thing Tuesday morning – and then the rest of his neighbourhood likely heard it too. “I was screaming,” the 32-year-old laughed in a telephone interview shortly after the nominations were announced. “I was with my girlfriend and my daughter, and we were screaming in front of the computer.”

Oscar nominations: Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese top list for best director

Veteran filmmakers Woody Allen (”Midnight in Paris”) and Martin Scorsese (”Hugo”) will compete for the best director Oscar at the 84th Academy Awards, it was announced Tuesday morning. Also nominated for the director prize were Michel Hazanavicius for “The Artist,” Terrence Malick for “The Tree of Life” and Alexander Payne for “The Descendants.”

Jackson’s ‘Hobbit’ doubles film speed to 48 frames a second to cure blur, improve images

Peter Jackson is making his hobbits and dwarves march double-time in his “The Lord of the Rings” prequel, which he’s shooting in a faster film speed than the Hollywood standard. Jackson hopes the 48-frames-a-second rate – twice the 24 frames that has been the custom since the 1920s – will help bring about a gradual transition to faster speeds that can bring more life-like images and action to the screen.

Sundance Film Festival opens with 4 films and 4 inches of new snow