Where did the week go?

I have returned from my journey to the west, but have yet to be visibly productive. But. I am here promising that I am busy working on things, some that will appear on this very blog and some that won't. Mostly I'm just trying to catch up with everything that has happened since I was gone. Just for starters:

• Tony Leung and Carina Lau really did get married! After years (19 to be exact) and multiple rumors that these two long term companions have tied the knot, it seems they have really done it. The wedding took place in Bhutan, and for those who just can't believe it, check out this wedding photo and news story here.
• The Lagoon, part of the "nation's largest theatre chain dedicated to exhibiting and marketing independent film," is using three of their five screens for mainstream releases, two for Batman and one for Mama Mia. (And for those who think Landmark is simply making smart choices for quality large releases, read this hilarious review of Mama Mia in the NYT here.) And while I totally under why they might do this (it's not like there is a shortage of people in Uptown), but it makes me sad. It also makes me wonder what the Lagoon is not showing in the place of Batman and Mama Mia. Mad Detective? The Exiles? The Roman Polanski documentary? I'm still torqued that the Herzog film Encounters at the End of the World only played one week - the week I was out of town! (I skipped this at MSPIFF thinking I would catch it when it was released....not!)
  
• The Chinese continue to battle the running dogs looking to sabotage the Olympics. If its not those darn protesters or that nasty pollution its the bumper crop of locusts.
  
• Speaking of Batman, people seemed to have lost their minds about the winged one, or at least the movie he's in. Don't try to go to a evening showing of The Dark Knight at the multiplex without movie phone, because it will probably sell out. The Dark Knight is a good movie, but is it really that good? I also picture the suits thrilled that they picked Heath Ledger for the Joker (admittedly a standout performance amongst average showings from the rest of the cast), and were able to cash in on this man's tragic fate. I am just surprised how The Dark Knight has turned into a sort of film event where sold out theaters are filled with a collective energy of anticipation.
• While people were going gaga for Batman here in the US, South Korea was distracted by Kim Ji-Woon's highly anticipated 'Kimchi Western' The Good, The Bad, and the Weird and China was busy romancing with the Three Kingdoms in the form of John Woo's Red Cliff and Japan was getting giddy with Hayao Miyazaki's new animated feature Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea. Who knows what was going on across the Atlantic....
  
• How can it be that the one movie I miss in Loring Park is Duck Soup? A travesty.
• And lastly, I am awash with edible green things. Why did I plant so much kale?