An independent contractor hired to cast extras for The Hobbit has been fired after rejecting non-white applicants.

Are you wondering what to do with your spare time? Do you sit around the house, saddened by the prospect of having no idea what films to see? Are you tired of me asking you questions? Then fear no more because here are the top 20 films to see at the cinema in 2011! Film 2012 round-up also available now!

Legend of the Guardians is a CGI fantasy kids film featuring a war between owl empires. Starring Australians, directed by Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen) and based on a novel, this is a quirky cinematic treat worth paying the IMAX ticket price for. Did we mention it features owls?

Warner Brothers has rescinded its decision to move The Hobbit away from New Zealand following disputes with actors’ unions.

The Hobbit will begin filming in February 2011, unless a giant eagle comes and crushes Peter Jackson’s head on behalf of underpaid Kiwi extras. What? Only a wizard could delay one project for SO BLOODY LONG.

Iggy Pop. You may know him as the lead singer of The Stooges, David Bowies’s Berlin boy, or the rather frightening topless puppet from the swiftcover car insurance adverts. What a life he’s had! Which makes it all the more of a shame that he has now pulled the plug on a film biopic. Why, Iggy, why?

In a stunning move of deep fatality, we look back over the most-hyped films that turned out to be absolute train wrecks. Arm yourself with tear ducts of concrete and a stomach of fists – this is not a pretty trip down memory lane…

We have a Fringe Season 2 DVD Boxset to give away! Fringe is a sci-fi TV series made possible by the longevity and success of The X-Files. Just what is this trippy, whimsical, conspiracy-laden sci-fi series up to now?
Competition ends 28 October 2010.

If you haven’t got a series of ten hour bus journeys around India in which you need to entertain yourself with some light reading material, then help is on the way! Paradise Lost, the twelve book poem is being turned into a film. So once you’ve dallied around the Taj Mahal, come and be enlightened.

When will we be put out of our misery? After months of rumours, scuffles, drop-outs and new additions we’re still no closer to knowing when The Hobbit will start shooting. If ever. The last we heard was that once Peter Jackson reluctantly agreed to helm the project, MGM’s money troubles set them back even more. So what’s the latest?