1. The Library of Congress has selected 25 movies to be added to the National Registry in 2011. Among the diverse choices are Bambi, John Cassavetes‘ Faces, Robert Rodriguez‘s El Mariachi, Billy Wilder‘s The Lost Weekend, The Silence of the Lambs, Stand and Deliver… and, um, Forrest Gump. [via LA Times ]
2. In a new interview, Sinead O’Connor says that her 16-day marriage to fourth husband Barry Herridge was like “living in a coffin. It was going to be a coffin for both of us, and I saw him crushed… The whole reason I ended it was out of respect and love for the man.” Also, crack was involved. [via People ]
3. Kanye West is tweeting again, which means it’s just about time for him to attempt yet another name change. “If you book me you have to put YEEZY WORLD PEACE on the E-vite. Or I ain’t spinning,” he announced yesterday. How much do you think a DJ set by Mr. WORLD PEACE goes for these days? [via Vulture]
4. The top five most-watched cable networks of 2011 were: 1. USA, 2. Disney Channel, 3. ESPN, 4. TNT, and 5. History (which grew by a whopping 21 percent this year). Meanwhile, critical-darling channels didn’t fare nearly as well — AMC was #17, Comedy Central was #19, and Bravo came in 20th. [via Deadline]
5. Peter Jackson discussed the ways in which his new film will diverge from his previous J.R.R. Tolkien adaptations in an interview with Total Film: “The Hobbit is very much a children’s book and The Lord of the Rings is something else; it’s not really aimed at children at all. I realized the characters of the dwarves are the difference. Their energy and disdain of anything politically correct brings a new kind of spirit to it. And that’s why I thought, OK, this could be fun!” [via io9]
Bonus link: The top scientific discoveries of 2011