Kiss Me, I’m IrVsh.

May you have warm words on a cold evening, a full moon on a dark night, and a road downhill all the way to home.

A very happy St. PaVtrick’s Day to you and yours. I expect my own holiday will involve some permutation of NCAA basketball, slightly too much Guinness, and a vicinal viewing of Vendetta (which is getting mixed reviews thus far — Still, as far as Alan Moore adaptations go, it has to be better than LXG, and I’d only be moderately disappointed if it’s comparable to the Hughes Brothers’ take on From Hell.) At any rate, have a good one…and be sure to don some green!

Digital Empire.

“It costs about $1,200 for a print and about $200 for a digital print. So what you do is charge the distributor the same $1,200 they would ordinarily be charged, and $1,000 of it goes into a pot that eventually pays for all the projectors and everything. In about five years you would basically reconvert the entire industry.” TIME‘s Richard Corliss discusses Indy 4, the Star Wars TV show, and the future of cinema with a “retired” George Lucas.

Chef Free and Clear.

“There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others begins.” And that time is when the Church of Scientology comes a-knockin’. Apparently perturbed by last season’s “Trapped in the Closet” episode, Isaac Hayes quits his longtime role of Chef on South Park. Matt Stone responds: “In ten years and over 150 episodes of ‘South Park,’ Isaac never had a problem making fun of Christians, Muslims, Mormons and Jews. He got a sudden case of religious sensitivity when it was his religion featured on the show…Of course we will release Isaac from his contract and we wish him well.Update: Chefgate gets stranger — was Hayes forced to quit?

Lay Down Your Burdens / Who’s Next.

Those of you who care already know this — but still, the second season of Battlestar Galactica ends tonight with a 90-minute episode that includes cylon Dean Stockwell, a one year flash-forward, and a new Vichy-like storyline for Season 3, which begins airing in October. And The Sopranos Season Six isn’t the only big-ticket TV premiere coming up. March 17 is shaping up to be a doozy for the fanboy nation (particularly we anglophiles), as Guy Fawkes will be muscling in on St. Patrick in V for Vendetta and the Doctor will finally be returning to American television with a two-hour premiere on Sci-Fi.

A Handful of Dust.

I’m a few days behind on this one: Layer Cake‘s Matthew Vaughn is writing, producing, and directing an adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Stardust, which will star Charlie Cox, Sienna Miller, Claire Danes, Robert DeNiro, and Michelle Pfeiffer. I haven’t read Gaiman’s book, but all signs point to this being a very interesting project.

Two for III.

In today’s movie bin, the full trailer for Brett Ratner’s X3: The Last Stand shows up online. Hmm, I’m still not feeling it. To quote an AICN talkbacker, “Too much wire fu makes Homer go something something“…although I did kinda dig the scene with Juggernaut chasing Kitty Pryde. (Insert your own I’m the Juggernaut, b***ch joke if you’d like.) Also out today is the new Japanese M:I:III trailer, now with considerably less Philip Seymour Hoffman.